In an exclusive interview with Arabian Business at Dubai Watch Week, Pruniaux outlined why the city matters strategically for his brands describing a customer base that is uniquely curious, educated and willing to make rapid purchasing decisions on high-value timepieces.
“Dubai is probably one of the 10 cities in the world that shape taste and appetite for watches. There are a lot of customers here but beyond they’re knowledgeable, they’re curious,” Pruniaux said.
He identified characteristics that distinguish Dubai and Middle East buyers from other markets, emphasising their appetite for novelty and emotional engagement with products.
“The people are open-minded. They want to discover new things. They want to engage with the emotional language of the timepiece,” he said. “Some purchases are more rapid and faster. It’s more, I feel it, I feel it’s right, I just go for it.”
This contrasts with markets where purchasing decisions involve extended deliberation. “In some parts of the world it just takes longer. There is nothing wrong or good or bad, it’s just different.”
The UAE luxury watch market was valued at $390 million in 2024 and is projected to reach $578.96 million by 2033, according to IMARC Group data. The UAE secured second position in the Middle East and Africa for average gross income in 2024, experiencing a 2.9 per cent real increase in per capita disposable income.
He challenged assumptions about regional market differences, arguing that Dubai shares more characteristics with other global luxury hubs than with its immediate geographic neighbours.
“There are some characters from Dubai, Singapore, New York that have more in common, regardless of the place where they live, than with the rest of where they live,” he said. “We see that spike immediately all over the world when we launch specific watches. The interest comes at the same time in different parts of the world.”
This simultaneous global demand reflects both digital connectivity and the educated nature of contemporary watch enthusiasts. Dubai welcomed over 18.72 million tourists in 2024, with the city serving as a shopping hub that attracts international luxury consumers.
Both Ulysse Nardin and Girard-Perregaux position themselves for customers already familiar with watch collecting rather than first-time buyers.
“We’re not mass luxury. You come to us when you’re on a journey from a watchmaking point of view,” Pruniaux said. “We’re almost never the first watch. We are welcoming with our message but we appeal to watch enthusiasts when they’re somewhere in their journey to discover something else, something new.”
This positioning requires education on technical aspects before emotional connection. “You have to go through the technicalities and feel reassured with the product to then go as well with the emotion,” he explained. “It’s the mix of the two.”
The strategy reflects broader industry dynamics. The current downturn has seen demand concentrated into only the biggest and most bankable brands.
At this year’s Dubai Watch Week, Girard-Perregaux unveiled the Laureato Three Gold Bridges marking the 50th anniversary of the Laureato collection with a new three-bridge movement. Ulysse Nardin presented the UR-FREAK, details of which were revealed during the event.
“When Girard-Perregaux team discovered what Ulysse Nardin team launched, it was on the day of the launch,” Pruniaux said, describing his management approach. “There’s no reason for information sharing between the two brands.”
This separation maintains distinct brand identities despite shared ownership. “Teams are completely different. Part of my business education was done at Apple. The concept of need-to-know is very important. You just need to focus on what you have to do.”
The strategy reflects lessons from Pruniaux’s previous role launching the Apple Watch in the UK and Ireland before joining Kering in 2017 to lead both brands.
Pruniaux explicitly rejects the term “group” to describe Sowind’s structure, preferring “collective.”
“Group sometimes implies more financial dimension, whereas we keep the spirit super strong and super different from one brand to another,” he said.
This approach has yielded results. Sowind Group was recognised by Deloitte Private as one of Switzerland’s Best Managed Companies of 2024, becoming the first winner in Switzerland’s luxury industry.
The brands operate from separate teams with distinct creative directions. Girard-Perregaux, founded in 1791, focuses on heritage complications and the Laureato sports watch. Ulysse Nardin, established in 1846, centers on the Freak collection and marine chronometers.
Sowind’s partnership with Dubai-based retailer Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons represents a long-standing relationship that predates Pruniaux’s industry entry.
“I’ve known the Seddiqi family for more than 20 years,” Pruniaux said. “We’re very lucky to still be in an industry where personal relationships matter big time.”
The trust-based approach extends to collaborative projects. “The personal relationship still matters a lot – the trust, the level of trust, the willingness to do things together,” he said. “I really wanted to work with the Seddiqi family.”
When asked about the Middle East’s role in stabilising global luxury watch demand amid broader market softness, Pruniaux projected long-term confidence despite near-term challenges.
“It’s going to continue to grow here, I think. Right now for the watch industry, it’s a time of changes and the market has been softer,” he said. “But regardless, when you’ve been around for 200 years, you always have to step back and take the longer view. The Middle East should continue to play a major role in decades to come.”
The brands experienced turbulence following their 2022 management buyout from Kering. Girard-Perregaux and Ulysse Nardin are on track to sell around 20,000 timepieces this year at an average selling price of around 21,000 Swiss francs ($24,785), positioning them between global powerhouses like Patek Philippe and smaller niche manufacturers.
Pruniaux emphasised consistency over expansion when asked about future product direction.
“There’s one word I like to use as a promise,” he said. “For Ulysse Nardin, every year when we have a new product, you have a couple of things that stand out: the consistency of the creativity and also to some extent in a product, it’s a different chapter of the same book.”
He cited the Diver watch launched at Watches and Wonders as evidence that the brand’s identity extends beyond its signature Freak collection. “It’s not a Freak, but clearly you could feel it’s the same manufacturer that made it. Strong brands have icons, but they can also express clarity of message with different types of watches.”
“We believe we can make high-complication watches that are wearable every day, that fit your daily life, and that can meet high standards of quality,” he said. “Very often, the more expensive the watch is, the less functional and reliable. We don’t believe that.”
When asked about targeting younger demographics through bold colours, both brands featured vibrant dials at the exhibition, Pruniaux rejected age-based segmentation.
“I wouldn’t define any age group or any gender,” he said. “We see consumers coming to us from all over. It’s about the taste and the understanding of the watch more than the geography or the age.”
He ruled out significant volume expansion explaining that controlled production is central to brand positioning.
“We don’t have the intention to grow massively,” he said. “We’re exclusive in terms of volume, number of units sold, and we have no intention to change that. Our promise is to remain exclusive.”
“We invite people that won’t be able to afford one of our watches anytime soon, and it’s absolutely fine. I think our message is pretty inclusive but in terms of our production, there’s just so much we can produce.”
The strategy reflects lessons from the brands’ recent history. Sowind Group put around 50 of its 320 employees on short-time work in summer 2024, utilising Swiss government support during the market downturn rather than pursuing aggressive growth.
Pruniaux has insisted the business is debt-free, profitable and not looking for further investment, claiming both brands are gaining “significant” market share despite turbulent conditions.
The Middle East luxury watch market sits within broader growth trends. The UAE dominated the Middle East quartz watch market with 41.40 per cent revenue share in 2024 while the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar together account for more than 8 per cent of global Swiss watch imports according to Federation of the Swiss Watch Industry data.
Dubai’s GDP per capita is projected to reach approximately $48,000 in the coming years, enabling consumers to allocate more funds toward luxury items. Dubai now counts more than 86,000 millionaires, 251 centi-millionaires, and 23 billionaires, according to New World Wealth.
For Pruniaux and Sowind Group, these demographics represent sustained opportunity rather than short-term speculation.
