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This week, the watch world’s boldest and brightest all converged in the Middle East for Dubai Watch Week—a biannual celebration of all things horological that has quickly grown to serious prominence on the trade show circuit.
Dubai Watch Week was founded in 2016 by the UAE jeweler Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. Its the flagship event sees maisons both large and small come together in Dubai’s financial center to exhibit their new wares, meet with the press, and nerd out on anything relevant to timekeeping.
One of the best knock-on effects of DWW for watch collectors is the numerous special editions and new releases that accompany the show: There’s your typical array of new colorways and references, of course, alongside a handful of Middle Eastern market exclusives that feature the Eastern Arabic numerals now familiar to any auction catalog addict. Many of these hot-of-the-press timepieces are worthy of both your attention and hard-earned dollars.
I was on the ground in Dubai this week. These are the favorite pieces I saw at the event.
MING THEIN | MINGTHEIN.COM
Ming 29.01 Dubai Edition
Founded in 2017 by a group of passionate watch collectors, Ming designs and builds distinctly contemporary watches in limited production. Its most recent release before DWW broke the record for world’s lightest watch with a piece that is barely in the same weight class as two sheets of paper. Even by those high standards, the new Ming 29.01 Dubai Edition is special: A world timer housed in a 40mm titanium case, it features an Arabic-script sapphire dial with HyCeram ceramic Super-LumiNova fill that glows brilliantly in the dark, plus a Schwarz-Etienne for Ming Calibre ASE 222 movement with micro-rotor.
