It’s been an incredible few weeks for watches in Asia, last week the inaugural fair IAMWATCH, presented by The Hour Glass was the place to be in Singapore, and this week, Dubai Watch Week‘s Horology Forum ran it’s tenth instalment (HF.10) in the heart of Hong Kong, and Revolution was in the thick of the action.

At first, you might be struck by some dissonance in the sentence ‘Dubai Watch Week in Hong Kong’, but bringing Dubai to the world is a key part of the DWW mission. Horology Forum has been held in London and New York — not to mention online for 2020. So Hong Kong, well known as one of the key global hubs of fine watchmaking, makes perfect sense for the 10th showing of the forum.

In case you’re not familiar with how Horology Forum works (and what makes it special), it’s a scheduled program of discussions and debates, interspersed with masterclasses and plenty of opportunities for discussion and discovery, with a real focus on the culture and passion around watches. This is about as far from a sales event as possible; there are no SAs wandering around with payment machines, and no one’s putting the hard sell on anyone. And that’s what makes it so special. But before we get to highlights of the panels and programs, there were a few top-line news items.

The first mic drop moment was when Hind Seddiqi, CEO of Dubai Watch Week, formally opened the event and had some major updates about the upcoming 2025 edition of Dubai Watch Week, which will be running from the 19th to the 23rd of November, in a brand new location. Dubai Watch Week will now be held at Dubai Mall, Burj Park — at the base of the iconic Burj Khalifa tower, on top of that, the event has doubled its footprint for next year, a strong sign that there’s significant interest from watch brands to have an expanded presence at the regional fair.

As if this wasn’t enough, Hind Seddiqi took to the stage later in the day with our very own Wei Koh. She announced the Dubai Watch Week x Grail Watch Design Competition. This ambitious and impressive multi-year initiative is open to everyone — from seasoned industry insiders, to someone with an idea and a dream. Shortlisted entrants will pitch their concept (Shark Tank style) as Seddiqi Holding HQ, to a panel of judges, including Hind Seddiqi, Mohammed Abdulmagied Seddiqi and Wei Koh, as well as Jean Claude Biver, Sylvain Berneron, Ming Liu, Jerome Biard, and Carole Kasapi Forestier. And it’s more than just a design you’re being evaluated on — it’s a business plan, product pipeline and cohesive brand identity. But don’t worry, it’s worth it, as the winning watch will be prototyped and produced, before being unveiled at Dubai Watch Week 2025.

To illustrate how the process would work, Justin Walters from Alterum Watch Co and Jerome Biard from white label manufacture Roventa-Henex debuted their minimalist Worldtimer, with Walters explaining the design origins, as well as the pipeline for future development, while Baird provided insights into the production process. Besides being an incredibly good-looking world timer, the example of Alterum demonstrated many of the considerations future entrants into the design competition would need to consider.

Once these headline announcements were out of the way, it was business as usual for HF.10, and by that, we mean plenty of thought-provoking panels. Unsurprisingly watch culture in Asia was a particular focus, and noted collector and founder of WatchProfessorAcademy.com, Carson Chan explored the theme of excellence in Asian watchmaking with Jill Chen from Christie’s, Atelier Wen co-founder Robin Tallendier and Johnathan Chan of The Horology Club. For many in the audience — even those based in Asia, the depth and breadth of Asian brands were eye-opening, from pioneering independent Kiu Tai Yu to up-and-comers like Norifumi Seko and Logan Kuan Rao. In a telling example of how narratives of patrimony and heritage differ in European watchmaking, Carson Chan noted that, outside of Audemars Piguet, Seiko was the brand with the longest period of uninterrupted family ownership.

Even when panels didn’t explicitly address the regional issues, the topic came up. In a panel on the secondary market, moderated by Wristcheck’s Austen Cho and including noted dealers Ali Nael (FutureGrail) and Zoe Abelson (Graal), along with the perennially stylish Mark Cho from the Armoury, provided some great insights into how Hong Kong-based collectors differ from enthusiasts in Europe and America (tl;dr, they like in person deals, and have historically been very transactional. Interestingly, the panel credited Watchbox’s (now the 1916 Company’s) presence in the region as significant in shifting Hong Kong collectors to a more experiential retail experience.

Not all the panels were traditional talks, though. On the second day of HF.10, guests were treated to ‘The Watch Industry Starter Pack: How to Build a Watch Brand in 60 Minutes.’ With Moser’s Bertrand Meylan in change of brand identity, Fiona Kruger looking after watch design and journalist Suzanne Wong taking on the marketing and communications. Once again. Wei Koh stepped in to keep everyone on track, and let me just say, chaos of the best possible kind ensued. Things started off slow and sensible until the realities of the ticking clock became apparent, and from then, it was a high-pressure incubator. The brand name (suggested by a local collector in the audience) was Junk, a reference to the iconic boats of Victoria Harbour. The watches would be made in Hong Kong, and feature a smaller size, with an emphasis on metiers d’art techniques, perhaps made using recycled (or junk) materials.

The key moment in this talk for many though was when Fiona Kruger decided that watch design by committee wasn’t the best way forward and, after taking on board the feedback she created, on the back of a digital napkin so to speak, a quite serviceable initial concept: an asymmetrical design that drew inspiration from the duality of Hong Kong’s geometric towers and organic peaks, with a jump hour and retrograde minutes, leaving plenty of room for interesting dial finishes. At the end of the session, one lucky guest walked away with a custom sketch of the Junk watch, which was created backstage by watch artist Sunflowerman.

While this was very clearly a tongue-in-cheek session, and there were several times when you could see Bertrand Meylan’s inner watch executive physically react to some terrible brand-building decisions, it was an enlightening process to see experts in their respective fields do what they do best in a very short time. Junk watch may not be winning any GPHG awards, but it’s not the worst brand concept I’ve ever come across.

Alongside the discussions that put the ‘forum’ into Horology Forum, there was a range of masterclasses guests could take part in — if they were quick to register their interest. Wristcheck’s watchmaker ran a class taking people through re-luming watch hands, a nice change of pace from the typical ‘assemble this Unitas’ experience, and one that highlighted a different aspect of the precision and craft of watchmaking. Guests could also try their hand at making a tin clock, or their very own automata (courtesy of Fiona Kruger), or try their hand at some less horological experiences, like blending tea, or trying their hand at traditional Chinese calligraphy with Elaine Wong.

HF.10 ended on a high note, with an exuberant and entertaining overview of 300 years of horological history, masterfully navigated by the one and only Tim Mosso. It’s a challenge to make the nitty gritty details of escapements understandable, let alone entertaining, but Mosso managed it with his trademark style and deadpan assurance. Watch it here, you won’t regret it.

There’s been an explosion of interest in regional fairs in the last few years. For example, guests at HF.10 had, within the last week, been at IAM Watch, Wind Up in New York, and even events in Mexico. Dubai Watch Week is a pioneer in this space because even though they didn’t invent the concept, their approach is special. It’s clear in every aspect of the event, from the on-the-ground experience to the marketing and communications, that sales is not the aim of the game. It would be easy for the line about ‘celebrating watch culture’ to come across as insincere and disingenuous — certainly, I can think of instances where that’s been the case. But for Hind Seddiqi and the Dubai Watch Week team, it feels authentic. There’s great care placed in the quality of the programming, and the investment into celebrating this passion is commendable. Horology Forum is one of the shining lights on the watch calendar, and if it ever comes to a city near you, you should check it out (until then, it’s all on YouTube).