With her Issey Miyake dress, avant-garde jewellery and distinctive hairdo – part shaved, part shock of red – Sara Sandmeier stands out like a Swatch at the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), where the high-end watch world unveils its new creations each year in Geneva. In part, it’s her style, set against a sea of conservative suiting. But more so it is because she’s a woman. “This is a man’s world,” concedes Sandmeier, the watch designer for Baume & Mercier, and the woman behind its new contemporarily classical Clifton model. “You have to be a strong woman to survive in it. But it means the results are different too – watches are softer, more detailed, more about colour and less about aggression. Put it this way: when I first showed my portfolio of designs, they said it was very ‘poetic’. And that was their way of saying it wasn’t very good.”
Such an approach may, however, be in strong demand now as watch companies – buoyed by increased consumer spending on watches, such that the once nearly extinct mechanical watch has become more mainstream – seek to assert a strong identity. For some, that means, in different ways, underlining the masculinity that Sandmeier is conscious of: Montblanc, for example, has announced the actor Hugh “Wolverine” Jackman as its new “ambassador”; IWC – as much an engineering as a watch company – has relaunched its Aquatimer line, which now includes a model capable of operating 2,000 metres below the surface or in the shower. Yes, IWC “is a little macho,” admits its marketing director Goris Verburg. “We’ve even toned down the headlines in our ads now for PC reasons, although we still get away with it in Germany.”
Even Cartier, synonymous with Parisian chic, has gone back to its action-packed roots – as creator of the first practical wristwatch, 110 years ago this year, for the aviator Alberto Santos-Dumont – with the launch of its first diving watch, the Calibre de Cartier Diver. Water-resistant to 300 metres, it combines the practicalities of the international criteria for a diver’s watch with the brand’s distinctive, bold style, and comes in three versions, all resplendent with Roman numerals.
Meanwhile, Panerai, pioneer of the enduring big-watch trend, keeps its offerings as chunky as ever. “Our smallest watch is 42 millimetres,” notes Panerai’s dapper boss Angelo Bonati. “A brand identity is not easy to build, but easy to lose. And ladies’ watches from us just wouldn’t be right. That said, around 10 per cent of our sales are to women. They must think our watches provide a good piece of armour.”
On the other side of the equation are the likes of Van Cleef & Arpels or Piaget – jewellers as much as watchmakers – with new models, even those for men, that veer towards delicate classicism over sporty cool. Indeed, the greatest division in high-end watchmaking among those companies with historic pedigree now seems to be between those for which a fresh, modern aesthetic is important and those for which exploring new feats of mechanical ingenuity is key.
For the former, trends have their place, and it’s possible to see any one of various companies’ new propositions catching on: matte finishing or “yellowed” numerals from Panerai; wooden dial insets from the likes of Ralph Lauren and Roger Dubuis; 1950s-era, raised, gold numerals, as seen at Montblanc and Baume & Mercier; the use of bronze and other live materials for casing, as seen at IWC; and, at last, downsizing, after years of the out-sized, with Ralph Lauren taking the unusual step of issuing a smaller, rather than an even bigger, edition of its rugged Safari model.
For the latter, it’s more about the art inside. Take Vacheron Constantin: two of its latest models include its Patrimony Traditionnelle 14-Day Tourbillon Openworked, a Gothic-architecture-inspired skeleton watch with the longest power reserve for a tourbillon on the market, and its Patrimony Contemporaine Ultra-Thin Calibre, the thinnest manual-wind minute repeater on the market (at least for those with around €300,000 [Dh1.5 million] to spare). Or A. Lange & Söhne, a company with products that are so elite, if you haven’t heard of it, you can’t afford them – certainly not the likes of its new Richard Lange Perpetual Calendar Terraluna, a watch with a price tag that doesn’t mean that its patent-pending orbital-moon-phase display won’t eventually need adjusting, even if that won’t be for another 1,058 years. As its CEO Wilhelm Schmid puts it: “We’re about rarity, because the number of watches we make is the number of hours in the day times the number of watchmakers we have. And that’s not many. Rarity is the only luxury now. It’s why, although nobody really needs gold, still it’s highly regarded.”
Intriguingly and perhaps in response to a growing understanding of and appreciation for watchmaking – as opposed to merely the marketing fluff – this year, even makers of relatively mainstream watches now seem keen to underscore their watchmaking credentials: Baume & Mercier launched a tourbillon, its Clifton 1892 Flying Tourbillon, “a master haute horlogerie piece that is reassuring to buyers of our more affordable pieces,” the CEO Alain Zimmermann notes, almost with the suggestion that he doesn’t expect many sales. IWC has launched a new tourbillon too. “You could well say that a sports watch really doesn’t need a tourbillon. But you may well see a sports watch worn on the red carpet now, not for sports – it’s about the wearer projecting a certain image,” says Verburg. “Besides, we like to show that we’re also a watchmaker, and that’s hard to do if you only make automatics.”
Indeed, given that the internet has made those people who are into watches more knowledgable than your average watch-store salesperson – even interest among women is said to be on the up, as the founding of such sites as Eve’s Watch suggests – maybe the future lies in those companies that can blend character in looks with credibility in cogs and wheels, in equal measure. For that, Richard Mille is setting the bar right now.
“Many watch companies are afraid of moving forward, because they’re afraid to lose what they call their ‘personality’,” says Mille, who has made asymmetric watches out of carbon nanotubes and in the colours of the Jamaican flag, developed others in which the movement is suspended on four 0.35mm-thick braided steel cables, allowing it to cope with huge G-forces, and who this year has launched his poetic RM 63-01 Dizzy Hands. It has a button that freezes the hands but then sets the dial turning, thus disorientating the wearer as to the true time; another press of the button reveals it again. “When the watch business is doing as well as it is at the moment, it’s easy for watchmakers to feel comfortable,” he adds. “But then I’m not a watchmaker – and that’s why we’re creative.”
Making moves like Jaeger-Lecoultre
It was something of a surprise last summer when the then CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre, Jerome Lambert, left the brand to become the CEO of Montblanc, and was succeeded by Daniel Riedo. One of the first things that Riedo did in his new capacity was travel around the world, taking stock of the business, meeting employees and familiarising himself with different markets. We caught up with the 53-year-old when his travels brought him to Abu Dhabi at the end of last year.
The UAE, he says, is a big market for the brand: “We‘ve been present in this market for 27 years – we’ve had ups and downs in this time, but, at the moment, it is definitely up. The market is growing and we are growing with the market.”
There’s one thing that Riedo knew before he embarked on his journey. He was at the helm of a solid business that wouldn’t require any massive changes – his job would almost certainly not entail a reinventing of the wheel. Instead, he found himself in the enviable position of heading up a brand that cannot keep up with demand.
“Demand is there. If you look inside our shops, there is lack of stock in every store around the world,” he says. “There is more demand for products than we could possibly deliver to the market. Basically, now, we are limited by our own production capacity. We have to develop that a little bit faster than we expected.”
This is easier said than done, as Riedo himself will acknowledge. The company’s manufacturing base in Vallée de Joux, where inimitable timepieces have been carefully crafted for over 180 years, has inherent limitations. “We are exclusive by nature. There is no strategy to limit the production. It is just physically impossible. To develop a Hybris Mechanica takes between three to five years and there are very few people capable of assembling these kinds of watches. We continue to ramp up production, but, at the same time, we cannot only have simple movements on one end of the scale and the Hybris Mechanica on the other. To push a watchmaker from the simple movements to the highest level, we need all the products in between.”
If Jaeger-LeCoultre is a company that takes fierce pride in its craftsmanship and history, then Riedo is exactly the right man to lead it. He is a watchmaker’s watchmaker. He remembers buying his first watch at the age of 19, and while he is too discreet to reveal what make it was, the impetus behind his choice is telling. “The form of this watch was not really common – it was octagonal. I also chose that watch because, at the time, the brand was well known to be a manufacturer themselves. They produced the movements.”
Results:
Men's 100m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 15 sec; 2. Rheed McCracken (AUS) 15.40; 3. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 15.75. Men's 400m T34: 1. Walid Ktila (TUN) 50.56; 2. Mohammed Al Hammadi (UAE) 50.94; 3. Henry Manni (FIN) 52.24.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Awar Qalb
Director: Jamal Salem
Starring: Abdulla Zaid, Joma Ali, Neven Madi and Khadija Sleiman
Two stars
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
Russia's Muslim Heartlands
Dominic Rubin, Oxford
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
23-man shortlist for next six Hall of Fame inductees
Tony Adams, David Beckham, Dennis Bergkamp, Sol Campbell, Eric Cantona, Andrew Cole, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba, Les Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Robbie Fowler, Steven Gerrard, Roy Keane, Frank Lampard, Matt Le Tissier, Michael Owen, Peter Schmeichel, Paul Scholes, John Terry, Robin van Persie, Nemanja Vidic, Patrick Viera, Ian Wright.
The specs
AT4 Ultimate, as tested
Engine: 6.2-litre V8
Power: 420hp
Torque: 623Nm
Transmission: 10-speed automatic
Price: From Dh330,800 (Elevation: Dh236,400; AT4: Dh286,800; Denali: Dh345,800)
On sale: Now
THE SPECS
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbocharged V12 petrol engine
Power: 420kW
Torque: 780Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh1,350,000
On sale: Available for preorder now
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The specs: Rolls-Royce Cullinan
Price, base: Dh1 million (estimate)
Engine: 6.75-litre twin-turbo V12
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 563hp @ 5,000rpm
Torque: 850Nm @ 1,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 15L / 100km
Company profile
Name: Infinite8
Based: Dubai
Launch year: 2017
Number of employees: 90
Sector: Online gaming industry
Funding: $1.2m from a UAE angel investor
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Company%20profile
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EXare%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EJanuary%2018%2C%202021%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EPadmini%20Gupta%2C%20Milind%20Singh%2C%20Mandeep%20Singh%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDubai%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EFunds%20Raised%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2410%20million%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E28%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3Eundisclosed%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EMS%26amp%3BAD%20Ventures%2C%20Middle%20East%20Venture%20Partners%2C%20Astra%20Amco%2C%20the%20Dubai%20International%20Financial%20Centre%2C%20Fintech%20Fund%2C%20500%20Startups%2C%20Khwarizmi%20Ventures%2C%20and%20Phoenician%20Funds%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
