Timepieces

The Gulf's guide to watches and horology — buying intel, collector culture, investment
analysis, and the stories global media ignores.

The full archive

THE CRAFT

The Engineer Who Built Other People's Watches for a Decade Just Debuted His Own; With an Escapement Nobody Has Used Before

Mathieu Cléguer spent over ten years constructing movements for Akrivia, Breva, and Emile Chouriet without his name ever reaching a dial. His debut, the Cléguer Inspiration One, changes that, and it runs on a proprietary escapement geometry he calls Innate.

By Jad Sahyoun

6 min read

THE CRAFT

Resonance: The 350-Year-Old Physics Trick an Ill Man Noticed on His Wall, and the Watch That Finally Made It Reliable

In 1665, a bedridden Dutch scientist watched two clocks quietly agree with each other. It took watchmaking over three centuries, and one small manufacture in Biel, to turn that accident into something you can wear. This is the story of resonance and Armin Strom’s interpretation

By Jad Sahyoun

5 min read

NEW RELEASES

The Baltic × SpaceOne Seconde Majeure — Two Brands That Shouldn’t Work Together, and a Watch That Proves Otherwise

A jumping hour display built on sapphire discs. A crown at twelve. A massive seconds hand orbiting the lower dial. The most unexpected collaboration of 2026 is also one of its most compelling — and most Gulf collectors have no idea it exists. It opens for pre-order on May 12th. Here is what you need to know.

By Jad Sahyoun

8 min read

THE CRAFT

The Perpetual Calendar — The Greatest Complication Ever Made, and Why It Matters

In 1762, a watchmaker in London solved a problem that had confounded civilisation for centuries — using nothing but metal, springs, and geometry. More than 260 years later, the solution still runs on your wrist. This is the story of the perpetual calendar: what it is, how it works, and why it is the complication that moves me most.

By Jad Sahyoun

9 min read

THE INDEPENDENTS

The Watchmaker Who Taught Himself Everything — And Then Built Something the World Couldn’t Ignore

Hajime Asaoka never went to watchmaking school. He bought a book, watched videos online, and built Japan’s first tourbillon alone in Tokyo. His more accessible brand, Kurono, is one of the most compelling stories in independent watchmaking today. I tried one on at Dubai Watch Week. Here is what happened.

By Jad Sahyoun

9 min read

THE BUY GUIDE · INVESTMENT

If I Had AED 50,000 to Spend on a Watch in Dubai Right Now, This Is What I'd Buy

A certified horologist's honest personal pick, and the reasoning behind it that no spec sheet will ever give you.

By Jad Sahyoun

8 min read

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

Five budget tiers. Five genuine recommendations. No safe answers, no brand partnerships, no recycled consensus. Just the watches I would actually spend my own money on — from under AED 10,000 to the open sky above AED 100,000.

By Jad Sahyoun

6 min read