Visitors to this year’s Dubi Watch Week will be delighted to know that the Fondation Haute Horlogerie has announced that it will unveil a new connected art experience produced exclusively for DWW23. The installation will comprise twelve exclusive works, under the aegis of the foundation’s Watches & Culture pillar. Exhibited throughout the fair, these illustrations were created especially for twelve of the FHH’s partner brands.
The artworks feature key details of each brand’s iconic timepieces reinterpreted as an artistic abstraction. Visitors can scan the QR codes found alongside each artwork and an animation will appear on their mobile phones, immersing viewers into that brand’s universe. This makes for a potent mix of educational yet entertaining content, which visitors can use to answer in the subsequent Dubai Watch Week quiz, for the chance to win prizes.
Here is a selection of the watches that will be on display at DWW23.
Breitling x Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons – Two Special Edition Chronomats
Breitling presents two Special Edition watches – Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 ADMT and 40 DMT – exclusively for the UAE market in partnership with longstanding retail partner Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons. The Chronomat Automatic GMT 40 is Breitling’s travel watch featuring a dual time zone display.
The 40 ADMT Special Edition has an ice blue dial with a satin sunray finish, while the 40 DMT Special Edition features a bright blue dial. The dials of both feature 18k red gold-plated large numerals as well as 18k red gold-plated hour and minute hands coated with Super-LumiNova. The Breitling Caliber 32 powers the GMT complication which is housed in an all-steel case. These two COSC-certified chronometers have an impressive 200m water resistance and power reserve of approximately 42 hours.
Montblanc Star Legacy Full Calendar Midnight Blue
Montblanc’s Star Legacy Full Calendar, among the brand’s best-selling complications, is now presented with a new midnight blue dial as well as the addition of the Maison’s interchangeable strap system. The new blue guilloché dial indicates the hours, minutes, and seconds as well as the day, date, month, and moon phases in a simple yet elegant way. The timepiece comes in a 42mm stainless steel, pebble-shaped case. Another new feature of the watch is the addition of Montblanc’s interchangeable strap system, which allows easy interchanging between its stainless steel bracelet and the sfumato alligator leather strap in dial-matching midnight blue.
Artya – Green Emerald NanoSaphir Tourbillon
For its first participation at Dubai Watch Week, the newly launched watch brand ArtyA presents a unique piece: Curvy Purity Tourbillon NanoSaphir Emerald. NanoSaphir is an innovative technology that allows for the tinting of sapphire at the molecular level for an effect simply unattainable by coating treatments, resulting in a pure, totally transparent case. The Emerald Green – symbolizing joy, optimism, bravery and courage – was chosen as a nod to the flag of the UAE.
The watch also debuts an all-new Manufacture movement – Curvy Purity Tourbillon – distinguished by its striking axial symmetry and a crown at 12 o’clock. The tonneau-shaped case has been entirely redesigned to house the latest addition to the ArtyA movement family.
Beauregard – Lili Candy White Gold
Lili Candy White Gold is a sweet swirl of amethysts, topazes, carnelians, opals and garnets, all meticulously nestled in a circle of diamonds. The “White Gold” case is crafted by blending white gold with Palladium 500, an alloy that is harder and more durable as well as possessing an innate radiance without the need for rhodium plating.
This ensemble of jewels includes 70 diamonds on the dial, 80 on the bezel and 16 adorning the case, resulting in a watch that sparkles with 166 VVS-grade diamonds. The case measures 33mm in diameter and is 9.65 millimetres thick. Its hands and buckle, crafted from 18-carat white gold, add to its exquisite allure.
Ferdinand Berthoud Chronomètre FB 3SPC
Recently awarded the “Chronometry prize” at the GPHG 2023 after a year that has brought great success and multiple awards, the Chronomètre FB 3SPC celebrates its first anniversary with the unveiling of a new version. A 42.3 mm 18-carat white gold case houses a movement in black and anthracite tones, and embellished with gilded hands.
The FB 3 collection explores accuracy through a cylindrical balance spring, a mechanism particularly appreciated for its stability. The Chronomètre FB 3SPC is the first and only wristwatch with a variable-inertia balance and a cylindrical balance spring to be officially chronometer-certified by COSC.
Urwerk UR-230 “Eagle”
UR-230 ‘Eagle’ is the newest addition to Urwerk’s UR-200 family. It retains the distinct display concept of its predecessor, the UR-220, which is a sophisticated version of the brand’s signature revolving satellite complication. On a three-armed carrousel, rotating blocks each carry four hours’ numerals. They scroll along a 120-degree sector, with the face of the current hour pointing towards the observer. To display the minutes, these display cubes are embedded in an aluminium 3D retrograde hand. At the end of its 60-minute journey, this skeletonised hand returns to index 0, where it takes charge of the cube displaying the next hour.
The ‘eagle’ is powered by the new UR-7.30 calibre, which has dual variable-geometry turbines, a double shock absorber and a hybrid winding system. This watch is distinguished from its predecessor through the use of a CTP carbon case fitted with a mobile cover, aerodynamic lines, and a slimmer profile. The UR-230 ‘Eagle’ is a highly sophisticated and distinct watch produced in a limited series of just 35 pieces.