Middle East Watchmaking Scene Overview

We will Explore the Watchmaking Scene in the Middle East and some of the people who are behind the long history of watches in the region.

Raul Tena Pearl Diver







While the watch was made in Switzerland the idea came from the UAE and for me captures the Culture of the Gulf beautifully in an Art Piece, prior to the discovery of Oil, in a feat of human endurance the fruits of the Pearl Divers would be traded throughout the world including adorning members of the Mughal Royal Court who were fond of natural pearls.







Vyntage Horology

Vyntage Horology watches are designed in the UAE by Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons and manufactured/assembled in Switzerland. While the brand is Emirati-owned, it utilizes specialized Swiss partners for its components and assembly.







Itay Noy





As per the GPHG "My name is Itay Noy. I’m an independent timepiece maker throughout the world. Since 2000 I have been creating limited-edition hand-crafted watches, one new collection every year.

My studio is located in the old city of Jaffa, where each watch is assembled to order, by hand; I make about 120 pieces a year, all in my own original designs, using components & movements of the highest quality integrated with in-house dynamic dials, modules and complications.

Watches in the Time Quarters series have faces divided into four quarters. Each quarter contains a time-display comprised of twelve dots to represent the hours.

One quarter of each time-display is a window that reveals three hours – one quarter – of the twelve-hour clock cycle.

As the time flows between the four time displays, the windows show the hour. The windows are gradually exposed and concealed as one hour moves to the next. A traditional analog clock is positioned in the center of the watch."



Maghnam

Maghnam is a Qatar-based independent watch brand founded in 2020 by Jordanian designer and mechanical engineer Sohaib Maghnam. The brand is known for blending futuristic automotive design with Middle Eastern cultural identity.





Beda'a

Beda'a is a Qatar-based luxury watch brand that blends Middle Eastern heritage with Swiss craftsmanship. Founded in 2016 by Hader Al Suwaidi and now led by CEO and chief designer Sohaib Maghnam, the brand focuses on unconventional, architecturally inspired timepieces.









Furlan Marri

Founded in 2021 by Andrea Furlan and Hamad Al Marri, the brand gained rapid fame through a successful Kickstarter campaign and by winning the prestigious Horological Revelation prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève (GPHG) just months after its launch.







Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons

The Legendary Purveyor of Horology in the UAE and the World through their Dubai Watch Week. Founded in 1950 by Ahmed Qasim Seddiqi in Dubai, Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons grew from a modest Old Dubai souk shop into the UAE's leading luxury watch retailer. A family run business, now in its 4th generation, it became the first UAE representative for Rolex in 1952 and Patek Philippe in 1960, later opening the world's largest Rolex boutique.



































PRJKT8

Founded in 2016 in Bahrain by Ali Mudara, PRJKT8 is a premier boutique specializing in independent watchmaking, located in Moda Mall. It was established to offer unique, creative, and non-conventional timepieces, featuring brands such as MB&F, H. Moser & Cie, and Parmigiani Fleurier.















Behbehani

This business family represents many American, European brands in the region and have a long history with watch retailing and collecting in the Gulf region.







In the 1938 Yacob Behbehani became of the distributor for West End Watch Co., a brand founded in 1886 in Bombay India by Constant Droz. The Watch was very popular with British soldiers during World War 1 and 2 and later on in the Middle East, Iran, Pakistan and India.





Members of the family are famous amongst all the watchmakers in Switzerland not only because of the sheer volume of watches they bought but because during the lean times they provided financing to some of the Big Name watch brands that have survived till today.













Rivoli

The Rivoli Group founded by Adel Mohammed Saleh Al-Zarouni and Ramesh Prabhakar headquartered in Dubai, is one of the largest luxury lifestyle retailers in the Middle East. Established in 1985, it evolved from a single wholesale watch distribution point into a regional powerhouse with over 230 stores across the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Bahrain.

Ali Bin Ali

Ali Bin Ali Luxury, founded by Adel Ali Bin Ali, is a retailer in Qatar and the region since 1945 by delivering high-end watches and jewelry. The company, part of the Ali Bin Ali Holding, curates collections from prestigious brands and serves as a purveyor for luxury timepieces across the Middle East, with a presence in Qatar, KSA, and Kuwait.











The Watch Collectors, Retailers are incredibly passionate about watches and have in recent years started to design and make watches as well. There is a long history and depth to the relationships built with brands and watchmakers which manifests in very unique special editions, which makes our hobby more fun 😊👍

Source: Waqt, Timekeeperkw, Europastar, Instagram, Google Images