‘In Dubai, everyone has a rolex, which starts at Dh20,000’

Watch lovers who want to grow as connoisseurs and collectors here are stymied by the lack of a healthy secondhand market. While rich visitors from around the world swamp the UAE to buy new watches, residents who are used to certified second-hand shops in Europe and Southeast Asia are literally groping in the dark. Of course, there are a couple of players like Tariq Malik, who runs the Momentum vintage watch shop in DIFC. Malik agrees that a healthy secondhand market, which offers certification and warrantees, is required to prop up watch lovers. But he laments none of the second-hand retailers in places like gold souqs offer certification. Explaining why a quality used market is difficult to grow in this part of the world, he says that in places like Singapore, there are more than a dozen Rolex watch dealers. “Here, we have just one. It’s a monopoly. I don’t think it’s in the interest of the economy and the industry to have a very good second-hand market here. I don’t think the retailers want that.”

He isn’t sure if a used market here could help collectors. “People with a budget of Dh7,000-10,000 for a watch would be one-time customers. I don’t think they will make it as collectors. In Dubai, everyone has a Rolex, which starts at about Dh15,000-20,000. They buy one and keep it for their entire lives. “But if you’re talking about a budget of Dh20,000-30,000, those are the people with disposable incomes. They start with one, then inform themselves... Then buy another one. And another one!”