In Dubai, there are few names as synonymous with the city’s story as Ahmed Seddiqi. This year, the family-run business marks 75 years, an anniversary that predates the country’s modern founding.
While Mohammed Abdulmagied Seddiqi – or Mams to those in the know – talks about everything from retail spaces to the vision of the city he calls home, he always circles back to the same point: passion.
“The soul is my grandfather,” he says immediately, when asked what still anchors the group today. “He had this passion for watches from a young age, importing them from Kuwait and Bahrain while working for another family in Dubai in construction products.
That passion became the foundation of a business, which started with one store in 1950 and now spans a retail empire that represents more than 100 brands in horology.
“He built the identity of Ahmed Seddiqi and Sons at that time, and now we have changed it to Ahmed Seddiqi.” The change is to reflect that far more of the extended family now populates the halls of its ultra-modern headquarters in Umm Al Sheif.
Clearly, the company is larger and more influential in the world of horology than ever. And if family is the engine, Dubai is the road. Ahmed Seddiqi has been a significant part of the city’s development into a luxury hub and the emirate has played a big part in its vision.
At the heart of the family’s own vision is the retail experience. Much of luxury buying might have moved online elsewhere, but here, retail remains a ritual. “Buying a watch or any luxury product is all about emotions,” he says. “Whether it’s a graduation, a marriage, a first job or a bonus after 20 years, our job is to deliver the best experience possible.”
The company has not been afraid to experiment. The Edit concept was aimed squarely at a younger generation, blending watches and fashion. More ambitiously, the family has even moved into watchmaking itself with Vyntage Horology.
Dubai Watch Week, which is organised and run by Ahmed Seddiqi, is perhaps the clearest sign of how the Seddiqi name now extends beyond retail into the global horological conversation and how Dubai as a city keeps expanding when no one thinks more is possible.
