The exhibition simultaneously underway at the Dubai Mall and DIFC includes watchmaking masterclasses and horology forums too.
The second edition of the Dubai Watch Week, an event that has become a key exhibition for watch journalists, collectors and enthusiasts in the region, kicked off yesterday with a special day reserved for the press. Beginning today, you too could swing by the exhibition to see some of the finest high-end watchmakers from Switzerland and Germany including A, Lange & Söhne, Chopard, Audemars Piguet, IWC, Hublot and Panerai, among other countries, show at this prestigious watch fair.
Audemars Piguet Supersonnerie
The exhibitions at DWW is spread across two locations. The first is in the Fashion Catwalk section of the Dubai Mall, where you will find a few pop-ups on the ground floor. One of the pop-ups titled 24 Hours in the Life of A Swiss Cuckoo Clock, includes a collection of 24 cuckoo clocks with a twist – imagine a scale-model cuckoo birds perched upon an iPad or another scale-model cuckoo bird speeding through a circular tube on the top of every hour. Walk a little further down and you’ll find the Mastery of Time Exhibition, curated in association with the Swiss premier watch organisation the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH), that shows historical and important models in watchmaking history, some of which date back to early twentieth century like the 1911 Cartier Santos Dumont. The exhibition at The Dubai Mall will be open until November 29.
The Dubai Watch Week exhibition includes modern interpretations on the rendering of time.
Once done, head to the DIFC Gate Village 10, where the second half of the event is underway. Here you can participate in watchmaking forums (moderated by the likes of Hodinkee and MB&F, among others) as well as participate in watchmaking masterclasses where you can tinker around with mechanical movements and receive a crash course in the craft of watchmaking. A big draw is the GPHG exhibition at the Ayyam Gallery in DIFC where you’ll be able to see some of the winners of this year’s Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève, the Oscars of the watchmaking world, on display. Be forewarned though, most of the forums and masterclasses have limited seats, so check online on the DWW website to book ahead and reserve a seat.
On the sidelines of the exhibition at DIFC, you will get a chance to meet with the owners of several independent watch brands like Romain Gauthier and Mortiz Grossman, and watchmkers like Eric Giroud and Jean-Marc Wiederrecht. The exhibition at DIFC will be on until November 19. There’s perhaps too much to do and too little time at hand – but then again you’re visit to DWW means that you’re going to surround yourself with those that manufacture time.