Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons is celebrating its 70th anniversary this year. With a formidable portfolio of over 60 high-end watch and jewellery brands including Rolex, Patek Philippe and Audemars Piguet, retailing out of more than 50 locations across the UAE, it has become one of the largest luxury watch retailers not just here in the region, but in the world.
Mohammed Abdulmagied Seddiqi, chief commercial officer at Seddiqi Holding, is the third-generation family descendant running the business – one that has, like all the other luxury retail businesses globally, encountered significant headwinds this year due to the pandemic.
Taking a contrarian stand though, the company didn’t stop ordering timepieces even during the UAE’s lockdown period in which malls and retail stores were shut. “We took the risk of ordering from the companies during the lockdown because we believed that the pandemic is a short- to mid-term situation and we required pieces for our clients readily available for when things got back to normal,” says Seddiqi.
Bolstering those assertions were recently released figures by the Federation of Swiss Watch Industry, which showed that the UAE was Switzerland’s eighth biggest export market for its watches from January-June this year, with exports valued at CHF307.7m.
He says that the demand for watches hasn’t waned during the pandemic. To support that claim, Seddiqi cites the example of a limited-edition collaboration with independent watchmaker MB&F and Moser & Cie in June. The collection, limited to 15 watches exclusively made for customers in the UAE, was sold out before the watches even arrived in the country.
This story is from the September 2020 edition of Gulf Business.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2020 edition of Gulf Business.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Green lights
It hasn’t even been a full year that Stellantis, one of the world’s biggest auto companies, has been in existence. Still, its wheels are spinning furiously. Here’s what it has in store for the region
Purpose through corporate responsibility
Every organisation must deeply reflect about whether they are leaving behind a legacy or a liability, says Abdulaziz AlSowailim, EY MENA chairman and CEO
Analysing the layers of a coconut
When we have a sense of clarity as to our purpose in life, then we institute the correct practices and habits around us, and set realistic and achievable results
DUNES TO DOMINION
FOR A COUNTRY RICH IN TRADITION AND DRIVEN BY AMBITION, THE UAE’S JOURNEY DURING THE PAST 50 YEARS HAS BEEN UNPRECEDENTED. WHAT’S IN STORE FOR THE NEXT 50?
Building strong
International investors are boosting Dubai’s residential property market, which has rebounded strongly from the Covid crisis, writes Aarti Nagraj
CHASING THE AMERCIAN DREAM
FOR SHAI ZAMANIAN, THE US IS A LAND OF LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES, AN AVENUE HE AIMS TO OPEN FOR FAMILIES WORLDWIDE VIA IMMIGRATION. HERE’S HOW HE IS BRINGING HIS GOAL TO FRUITION
OBITUARY: JOCELYN HENDERSON (1921-2021)
THE GRANDE DAME OF ABU DHABI – THE WIFE OF A FORMER DIPLOMAT – PASSED AWAY IN THE UAE CAPITAL AGED 100
THE DIGITAL DISRUPTORS
IN THE COMING YEARS, THE GCC IS EXPECTED TO PLAY A SIGNIFICANT ROLE IN SECTORS SUCH AS HEALTHCARE, MANUFACTURING, EDUCATION AND RETAIL, WHICH WILL HELP BOOST THE GROWTH OF ITS NON-OIL ECONOMY
Signed, sealed, delivered
Nicolas Baretzki, CEO of Montblanc, partnered with one of the world’s most recognisable luxury brands, Ferrari, earlier this year. Here’s where the partnership, and the German company as well, is headed next
UP, UP AND AWAY
AS THE FIRST IN-PERSON AIRSHOW TO TAKE PLACE SINCE THE OUTBREAK OF THE PANDEMIC, THE EVENT SAW SEVERAL DEALS ANNOUNCED
