We are talking with Muhammad Abdulmajid Seddiki, CEO of Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons, at a watch store in the BurJuman Center in Dubai. Thousands of expensive and complex watch movements are inaudible here, counting seconds, minutes and hours of success of one of the most famous Dubai private firms, which has been going on for half a century ...
Mr. Mohammed, the activities of the Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons company, which sells luxury brands of Swiss watches, is well known both in the UAE and abroad. Please tell us about her latest achievements?
Over the past five years, we have focused more on the latest in the global watch industry and the newly launched watch brands. For example, such as FB Jorn, Richard Nill, Orvic. This watch is definitely for those who are versed in watches. And I must say that our Russian customers are among the few who know a lot about expensive and complex watch movements. We are expanding our watch assortment, introducing these and other new brands of young watchmakers in the UAE market. Often the prices for these products are very high, but the true works of watchmaking are worth it.
Surely, this is a big risk - to offer customers new, unknown brands? In your case, does the buyer go to Ahmad Seddiqi & Sons stores familiar to him or just peek out of curiosity that a new one has appeared?
My grandfather started this business more than 50 years ago, so we have excellent relations with both customers and partners. Business is growing and developing within the family, and today the third generation of Seddiki is at the helm of the company. Ahmed, whose name appears in the name of the company - this is my grandfather, and sons - this is my father, his two brothers, and also my sister, my aunt. She was not mentioned in the title (laughs). My father and uncles continue to be actively engaged in business, aunt is a "sleeping" partner. And the third generation is me, my sister and three cousins. For us it is a challenge, an opportunity to prove ourselves in modern conditions, which are very different from what it was 50 years ago.
Grandfather Ahmed, by the way, is alive and well, and is always interested in our successes. To date, we have seriously expanded the range of brands offered by our stores, we have watches that no one has. We offer very competitive prices.
But the most important thing in working with clients is trust. We do not play with prices, that is, we do not set high price limits in order to give a big discount later. We offer normal, fixed prices. And another important aspect, we provide services for all watch brands that are sold in our stores. This is very relevant today, and people are willing to pay a little more, then to get a decent service. Plus, our stores always have complete collections. For example, if you look at a catalog with one or another collection, you can be sure that we have any model. This is a little risky, because there is a possibility that some models will not appeal to customers, but we consciously take this risk.
And how many stores does Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons have?
We have a total of thirty-two stores throughout the United Arab Emirates, twenty-eight of which are in Dubai (there are nine in the Burjuman Center alone), two in Abu Dhabi, and one each in Sharjah and Fujairah.
Why are there only two stores in the capital?
We recently entered the Abu Dhabi market because other agencies worked with many of the brands that we represent in the capital. Literally in the last seven years, we began to bring in new agencies and represent them throughout the UAE. Initially, we did not represent watch brands throughout the country, only Dubai was our key market, and we worked within its framework. If you remember, fifty years ago, each emirate, today part of the UAE, was a separate state. Therefore, taking into account the presence of twenty-eight stores in Dubai alone, you can imagine how many hours we have.
Who are the main buyers of your company? Who among them is more - citizens of neighboring Gulf countries, Europeans, Russians, natives of Southeast Asia?
Hard to say. It all depends on each particular store, the collections presented in it and its location. I would say that our customers are an excellent mixture of all little by little. For example, we are talking with you in a store focused on the sale of very expensive mechanical watches, so the main buyers of this store are UAE citizens, collectors from Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and other CIS countries, as well as Europeans. In other stores - other watch brands, respectively, there are differences in the consumer segment.
And how do collectors find out about the availability of certain watches in your stores?
With collectors, everything is very simple. Professional gatherers, as a rule, know each other, and all the news in their environment is transmitted “by word of mouth”. Each of them knows what the other needs, so they constantly share information with each other. If one of the collectors turns to us for a specific watch model, and sees the watches that his colleague needs, he will inform the latter. And his companion will come to Dubai, even from America, and buy what he needs.
Quite a strange situation, we are not in Switzerland - in the homeland of the most famous watch brands, but in Dubai. Why do people come here and not to Switzerland? And how can you assess the future of Dubai in the luxury watch trade?
Our business has been successfully developing over the past fifty years, and I see no reason why it should stop growing and flourishing. I believe that the third generation of the Seddiki family will further strengthen the reputation of our business in the UAE and expand its borders.
Already today we are witnessing increased interest of buyers in complex watch movements - tourbillons, turbillons, chronographs and so on. Moreover, not only men, but also many women began to pay attention to complex and expensive mechanics. Buyers have become more discriminating and, therefore, more demanding than even 20-30 years ago. Man's attitude to watches has changed a lot. Few people buy watches in order to simply keep track of time, or because the watch is decorated with a large number of diamonds. Watches become sentimental gifts, which are then passed on from generation to generation, or some kind of investment. Now the demand for complex mechanisms is very high, as I said, large sports watches are also in fashion. Of course, gold watches do not give up their positions. Many women today also prefer watches with large dials, which would previously be attributed to men's models, and are now considered to be representatives of the unisex line.
Does this apply to Baume & Mercier? S latest limited edition Classima Executive Dubai watch series?
Yes, of course. By the way, a model of this watch was created here in Dubai. Actually, I came up with it. And he persuaded Baume & Mercier to release a limited series in order to use the profits from its sale for charity. You know, Baume & Mercier has never done anything like this in its entire history. And we managed to find a common language with them.
As far as I know, this is not the first charity event of your company?
You are right, a couple of years ago we had a charity dinner together with Harry Winston, at which the famous singer performed. As part of the dinner, we sold three watches at auction, and all the money was transferred to a children's rehabilitation center. I am sure that successful and wealthy companies, such as ours, should help the weak, protect them.
We talked about the fact that Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons offers customers a post-sale service. Does this mean that you accept all the watches sold in your stores for repair, cleaning?
It’s very good that you asked about this. We are the only company in the Middle East that has its own service center and specialists capable of repairing any watch model from any collection. That is, unlike many other companies selling Swiss watches of varying complexity, we do not send broken watches to Switzerland to the manufacturing plant. We repair them on the spot in Dubai. Each of our repair specialists has been trained and certified at Swiss watch factories, and can carry out qualified repairs of one or more brands. I invite you to visit our repair shops. I am sure they will simply amaze you. Everything is there, as in an operating expensive clinic. Come, do not regret it.
Thank you, I will definitely come. And the last question. Tell me why your customers always come back to you, and what can you wish them in the new year?
All our customers are aware that they are attentive in Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons stores, honest transactions based on trust, impeccable service and a huge range of watches. We try to maintain friendly relations with our regular customers, congratulate them on their birthdays, other holidays, periodically send them letters inviting them to get acquainted with new collections and so on. I believe that respecting the customer is the most important element of business success. In the new year, I want to wish everyone good health and good luck. And come to Dubai. For shopping and just like that. You will like it with us.
Interviewed by Elena Olkhovskaya and Olga Adigamova
