Inside the Watch World’s New Power Center:Dubai Watch Week2025

To stroll around Dubai Watch Week’s packed exhibition halls and take in the festival-like atmosphere outside, it was impossible to disagree. Think Watches and Wonders meets Coachella meets the TED Conference, all set against the backdrop of an Arabian sunset. Nowhere else could you imagine seeing Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern, Rolex chief executive Jean-Frédéric Dufour, the footballer Mbappe, the musician and Audemars Piguet partner John Mayer and master horologists Philippe Dufour and François-Paul Journe walking steps ahead of you, surrounded by thousands of eager watch lovers. But it wasn’t all big brands and big names with global appeal. Part of the event’s success was its artful mix of personalities: the most respected names in horology (see above) with young upstart microbrand founders (like Studio Underd0g’s Richard Benc), traditionalists and futurists, the old guard and the new. At Dubai Watch Week, we glimpsed the future of the watchmaking industry and—ask anyone who was there—it sure looked bright.