HOL Picks — Edition 01 The Watch I Would Buy at Every Budget in Dubai Right Now

The most common questionI receive, from friends, from collectors, from people who have just discoveredthat watches are more interesting than they thought, is some version of thesame thing: what should I buy? The budget varies. The taste varies. The levelof knowledge varies enormously. But the question is always the same.

HOL Picks is my answer.Once a month, a curated selection with a specific brief and a genuine point ofview. No hedging, no ‘it depends,’ no diplomatic non-answers. Edition 01 is thebroadest brief I will ever set myself: one watch at every meaningful budgettier in the Dubai market, from accessible to extraordinary. These are thewatches I would spend my own money on. Every single one of them.

Let’s begin.

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TIER 01  ·  Under AED 10,000

Oris ProPilot Date

On Black dial · Suede leather strap

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The brief at this tier is simple: a watchthat does everything it promises, costs less than it appears to, and will never embarrass youon any wrist in any room. The Oris ProPilot Date answers that brief completely.

Aviation watches have a long history of doing more than theyneed to at their price point: the category demands legibility, durability, andfunctional credibility, which forces brands to deliver actual substance ratherthan aesthetic promise alone. The ProPilot Date is the best current expressionof this philosophy. The 41mm stainless steel case balances satin-brushedsurfaces with polished bevels, an interplay of textures that reads asconsidered rather than casual. The textured black dial, red-accented hands, andapplied indices with SuperLuminova coating make it as readable in a darkcockpit as it is elegant in a meeting room. This is a watch that knows what itis, and commits to it entirely.

The movement is the Oris Calibre 733 — based on a SellitaSW200, which some will hold against it and most shouldn't. Sellita movementsare among the most reliable and serviceable ébauches in Swiss watchmaking. Whatmatters here is not movement exclusivity. It is what Oris has built around it:a coherent, well-executed tool watch at a price point that leaves nothing tocriticise and everything to appreciate.

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“On a suede leather strap with the LIFT folding clasp,the ProPilot Date becomes something else entirely; a watch that travels withyou, does its job without demanding attention, and never once lets you down.Cleaner than it needs to be. More versatile than most people expect. And pricedin a way that makes the decision easy.

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One hundred metres of water resistance. Asee-through caseback showing the movement. A date window at six o'clock,balanced and unobtrusive. Most people at this budget look past the ProPilotDate because it doesn't shout. That restraint is precisely the point, andprecisely why it deserves to be here.

• Reference:  Oris ProPilot Date, Ref. 01 733 78054164-07 6 20 14LC
• Case:  41mm, Stainless Steel
• Movement:  Calibre 733 (Sellita SW 200base), 41-hour power reserve, automatic‍
• Dial: Black, textured, red accents, SuperLuminova Indices
• Strap:  Suede Leather with LIFT foldingClasp
• Water resistance: 100metres
• Price (approx.): AED8,500–9,500 at authorised dealers in UAE

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TIER 02  ·  AED 10,000 – AED 25,000

Christopher Ward C63 True GMT

Blue Turquoise integrated rubber strap

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I want to be direct aboutsomething before describing this watch. Christopher Ward is British-designedand Swiss-made. They sell direct to consumer, cutting out the boutique markup.They are independent. They are taking the fight to the established order - andwinning.

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“In-house movement. True GMT complication. COSCcertified. Open caseback with a movement worth looking at. 120 hours of powerreserve with a power reserve indicator. British designed, Swiss made. All ofthat for less than $5,000. Don’t forget this is an independent brand taking thefight to the big boys. That is not a steal - that is a statement.”

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The C63 True GMT doessomething that most watches at five times its price do not bother to do: ittracks a second time zone properly. A true GMT hand moves independently of thehour hand, allowing you to set it to any time zone without disturbing yourlocal time.

The movement is theCalibre CW-002, developed in-house by Christopher Ward. An independent Britishwatch brand with an in-house movement, COSC chronometer certification, a120-hour power reserve, and a power reserve indicator, at this price point.

The Blue Turquoiseintegrated rubber strap is the configuration I’d choose. It makes the watchfeel purposeful and contemporary without tipping into sportswear territory. Theopen caseback is worth spending time with.

Christopher Ward havebeen taking the watch industry by storm quietly, and I cannot wait to see whatthey do next. This tier should be the most difficult to navigate. The C63 TrueGMT makes the decision easy.

• Reference:  Christopher Ward C63 True GMTC63-40APG3-S00K0-RB
• Case:  40.5mm, stainless steel
• Movement:  In-house Calibre CW-002, trueGMT, COSC certified, 120-hour power reserve
• Dial:  Black, grained texture,turquoise accents on GMT hand, date window at 3 o’clock, small seconds sub dialat 6 o’clock, power reserve sub dial at 9 o’clock
• Strap:  Blue Turquoise integrated rubberstrap with a Clous De Paris finish, and a stainless-steel Bader deployant clasp
• Water resistance: 100metres
• Price (approx.): AED14,500–16,000 — christopherward.com (direct to consumer)

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TIER 03  ·  AED 25,000 – AED 50,000

Two Options — Because This Tier Deserves It

Trilobe Une Nuit Fantastique Ombre Edition · IWCPilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun Ceratanium

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This is one of two tierswhere I am giving you two answers. Not because I cannot decide, but becauseboth watches make such different arguments about what a serious watch at thisprice point should be that presenting only one would be a disservice to you.

The first is the TrilobeUne Nuit Fantastique, Ombre Edition, reference NF05NAG. Trilobe is aParis-based independent founded by Charles Ferrigno, and the Une NuitFantastique is the watch that announced to the world that this brand was doingsomething genuinely new. Time is displayed through three rotating discs: hours,minutes, and seconds; arranged on a dial that looks like nothing produced inSwitzerland or anywhere else.

Trilobe sits in thetradition of French independent watchmaking: intellectual, artistic,uncompromising. At this price tier, it is the watch that tells the mostinteresting story about who you are as a collector.

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The second option is theIWC Pilot’s Watch Chronograph 41 Top Gun, in Ceratanium. Where the Trilobe is astatement about the future of dial design, this is a statement about the futureof materials.

Ceratanium is IWC’sproprietary material: developed entirely in-house, combining the lightness andbiocompatibility of titanium with the hardness and scratch resistance ofceramic. The case, crown, and pushers are all Ceratanium. The result is a watchthat looks like it should be fragile and is, in reality, almost impossible tomark.

“Two very different watches. One reimagines how time isshown. The other reimagines what a watch is made from. Both are correct answersat this tier, and your choice between them tells me something about you.”

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Option A:  Trilobe Une Nuit FantastiqueOmbre Ref. NF05NAG - approx. AED 45,000–46,000

Option B:  IWC Pilot Chronograph 41 Top GunCeratanium - approx. AED 50,000

Where to buy:  Trilobe: trilobe.com / selectindependents · IWC: IWC boutique, Dubai Mall

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TIER 04  ·  AED 50,000 – AED 100,000

IWC Portugieser Perpetual Calendar 42

Ref. IW344207 — Green Sunburst Dial

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This is the only tierwhere I have no hesitation and no runner-up. One watch. One answer. The IWCPortugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 in green.

The Portugieser case isamong the most elegant in Swiss watchmaking: clean, round, unhurried. At 42.4mmit sits confidently on the wrist without demanding the room. The green sunburstdial shifts between forest and emerald depending on the light, and it providesthe kind of depth that makes you look at your watch for reasons beyond tellingthe time.

But the heart of thiswatch is the Kurt Klaus perpetual calendar movement, and specifically the wayit is operated. Kurt Klaus was the IWC engineer who, in 1985, designed aperpetual calendar mechanism that could be adjusted entirely through the crown.No pushers. No fine-tipped tool required. Every calendar function accessiblethrough a single crown in a single sequence.

“The perpetual calendar is my favourite complication.At this tier, the IWC Portugieser is my favourite expression of it. Green dial,Kurt Klaus movement, crown-only adjustment. This is the one undebatable choicein this entire list.”

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At the top of this tier,it represents genuine value for what it delivers; a manufacture movement, agrand complication, and a case that will be as beautiful in twenty years as itis today.

• Reference:  IWC Portugieser PerpetualCalendar 42, Ref. IW344207
• Case:  42.4mm, stainless steel
• Movement:  IWC Calibre 52610, perpetualcalendar, Kurt Klaus design, crown-only adjustment
• Dial:  Green sunburst, perpetualcalendar display
• Strap:  Black alligator leather, foldingdeployant clasp
• Water resistance: 30metres
• Price (approx.): AED100,000 at IWC boutiques across the UAE

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TIER 05 · Above AED 100,000

Breguet Tradition GMT 7067

Ref. 7067PT/NM/5W6 — Platinum

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Abraham-Louis Breguetinvented the tourbillon. He invented the self-winding watch. He invented thepare-chute shock absorber. He invented the overcoil hairspring. He suppliedwatches to Napoleon, Marie Antoinette, and the Tsar of Russia. When we talk aboutthe history of watchmaking, we are talking, in large part, about Breguet.

The Tradition collectionis his house’s greatest living argument. Most watchmakers hide the movementbehind the dial; they show you the face and conceal the mechanism. Breguetinverts this entirely. The Tradition places the movement on the dial. Thebalance wheel, the oscillating heart of every mechanical watch, sits exposed atfour o’clock, visible and in motion.

“What moves me about the Tradition is the visualmovement of energy that powers a mechanical watch. You can see it travelling.From the barrel, through the gear train, to the escapement, to the balancewheel — the entire journey of stored energy becoming measured time, visible onyour wrist.”

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I have tried on a BreguetTradition. The experience of wearing a watch where you can see the mechanismthinking, where every glance at the time is also a glance at the physics oftimekeeping, is unlike anything else in watchmaking. In platinum, the reference7067PT/NM/5W6 is among the most beautiful objects currently being produced inGeneva.

Above AED 100,000, you can buy almost anything. TheBreguet is, to me, the most compelling argument for what that money shouldbecome: a watch that doesn’t just tell you the time but shows you the soul oftimekeeping; the actual physics of it, moving, visible, on your wrist.

• Reference:  Breguet Tradition GMT 7067, Ref.7067PT/NM/5W6
• Case:  40 mm, platinum
• Movement:  Breguet Calibre 507DRF,manual-winding, GMT, day/night indicator, power reserve display, exposed ondial
• Dial:  Off-Centered “Grand Feu” enameldial with hand-satinated finish; black and green colour treatment
• Strap:  Rubber, Platinum Ardillon Buckle
• Water resistance: 30metres
• Price (approx.): AED263,000 at Breguet boutique, Dubai Mall

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HOL PICKS — EDITION 01 SUMMARY

Under AED 10,000: OrisProPilot Date on suede leather strap

AED 10,000–25,000: ChristopherWard C63 True GMT; Blue Turquoise rubber strap

AED 25,000–50,000: TrilobeUne Nuit Fantastique NF05NAG  OR  IWC Top Gun Ceratanium Chrono 41

AED 50,000–100,000: IWCPortugieser Perpetual Calendar 42 Ref. IW344207 — green dial

Above AED 100,000: BreguetTradition GMT 7067PT

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