ABU DHABI // Yousef Khoory is not worried about technology making watches obsolete.
“Even though time can be shown now on a very easy tool, which is the mobile, people cannot get rid of the watch,” said the executive director of Mohammad Rasool Khoory & Sons, a retailer of luxury watches and jewellery in Abu Dhabi.
“For us men, it’s become, maybe along with the pen, the only thing that satisfies our need to spend.”
The value is in the details, such as the materials and complexity of timepieces, say watch companies at the 22nd International Jewellery and Watch Show, which opened on Thursday at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre.
A simple watch has about 165 components, but a complex piece could have as many as 700, according to Guillaume-Alexandre Marx, the managing director of Parmigiani Fleurier Distribution JLT in Dubai.
Such a watch takes 600 hours to complete, meaning that some take up to a year to be finished.
“Usually they are ordered. They are unique pieces,” Mr Marx said.
Of about 600 mechanical brands in the world, only three companies – Rolex, Parmigiani, and the Swatch Group – could manufacture all parts by themselves, said Mr Marx.
Parmigiani makes 6,000 watches a year, he said. One of them is a Bugatti Super Sport limited edition watch, of which 30 pieces were made. They are priced at Dh1 million.
The watch is designed so that the clock face, angled at 45 degrees, allows a motorist to see the time on the watch while driving. It has a black-gold finish and can last 10 days on power reserve, while a normal watch may have 50 hours.
“The watch is the only, normally, jewel a man can wear,” he said.
“First, it is a symbol of status, usually. The watch reflects your personality.”
Isabelle Maujean, the chief executive of Glam Rock Watches, said the curvature of the back of the watch could indicate its value. Curved backs must be made by hand.
“Even if you have a petite wrist, you can still wear a big watch [with a curved back],” said Ms Maujean.
She showed how a Dh8,690 Bal Harbour line watch, made with a convex bakelite back, could be spun on a flat surface, unlike a watch with a flat back.
“The key would be passion,” she said.“To make a rare watch, you need an idea, you need a dream, you need a passion and you need to make it to perfection.
“Then when it is perfect, you launch it. That’s the difference between fine watchmaking and just watchmaking.”
A watch’s value can also be seen in its design. For instance, a Rolex watch with a fish-scale wristband and zebra-print dial, encrusted with black diamonds around the clock face, retails for Dh285,000.
A leopard-print timepiece, priced at Dh428,000, featured baguette-cut, orange-coloured rubies and diamonds near the wristband and on the dial.
The value of a watch can also be in its uniqueness. For a limited edition Alpina watch with a UAE flag to commemorate National Day, Mr Khoory said the company had to destroy 200 watches to make it a 100-watch collection.
Mr Khoory also said he had a passion for his business.
“It’s not just the essential things in life, it’s how to be happy as well,” he said.
More than 190 exhibitors participated in this year’s show.
The exhibition runs from 4pm to 10pm daily at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre until March 17. It will be open to women only from 11am to 4pm on March 16.
lcarroll@thenational.ae
