Marking The Hours With Hamdan Bin Humaid At The Perpétuel Gallery In Dubai On Collaborations, Independent Watchmaking & More

Recently we had the opportunity to visit Perpétuel Gallery in Dubai and speak with founder Hamdan about his passion for independent watchmaking. In our conversation, Hamdan shares what inspired him to open Perpétuel Gallery, highlights some of their special collaborations with brands like Fiona Kruger and Singer Reimagined, and gives us a peek into his own watch collection.

THM: To begin with, what is the Perpétuel Gallery? 

Hamdan: Perpétuel Gallery is essentially a gallery that showcases numerous exceptional independent watchmakers as well as numerous independent micro-brands, all of which we think are lovely, enticing, and essentially draw in a lot of youthful watchmakers from all over the world, not just the Middle East. 

THM: It is a very welcoming lounge for watch lovers. What inspired you to come up with this concept? 

Hamdan: In addition to making sales, the goal is to inform the public about the commercial offerings we have to offer. It's a really fascinating feature of collaboration. However, we also create any kind of collection from other manufacturers. We work together to simply represent our ideas, opinions and designs that our Middle Eastern collectors would find appealing. Fortunately, collectors from all over the world and the global market provide us with a lot of positive comments. Fantastic. And I believe we've arrived. I believe that a large number of collectors enjoy what we do, which can be challenging at times since it forces us to try new things. 

THM: Talking about collaborations, we saw a very interesting fracture by Fiona Kruger. Tell us a little bit about the collaboration. 

Hamdan: This is the fracture by Fiona Kruger. We worked on this project for close to two years. We're doing only seven pieces for the gallery in titanium salmon dial with the Eastern Arabic numerals that reflect a nice green with the lights. Fiona Kruger is an artist. That's why you see every artist in a painting or a sculpture. You see her signature down in the corner of the dial. We're very happy, honestly, to see the result, which is exceptional. A lot of work has been put into this timepiece. Kari Vouitalenen also worked on it closely. That's why the results today we see are really amazing. Even from a movement perspective, you see the finish in the back. Even the movement finishing is the colors of Perpétuel. Hopefully, we can cater to our clients. We did share it with our VIP clients or the clients who are regular in Perpétuel. And we sold most of the collection. 

THM: What is the other collaboration we have here? 

Hamdan: The other collaboration is from Singer Reimagined. It is one of the hot watches due to its size. This is a new casing. It's a 40-millimeter case diameter in stainless steel. Full bracelet with a beautiful automatic movement that looks like a manual. But the rotor is under the dial. We did it as well with the Perpétuel colors, which is terracotta. And Marco added a beautiful shade of beige around it to give this vintage look to the watch. We did a limited edition of ten pieces. We got amazing feedback on the regular collection, which they released, which is the black piano. And we were lucky to collaborate on that reference for Perpétuel on that special event. 

THM: You clearly are a watch collector. Do you only collect Perpétuel collaboration watches? Tell us a little bit about your collection. 

Hamdan: Not at all. I like many of the watches that we represent here. They are here because I like to collect them before being here. I like Roger Smith, Krayon, Fiona Kruger, and Singer. But I do collect many brands that are not under Perpétuel, which I fancy like Patek Philippe, especially the vintage Patek Philippe, Vacheron Constantin.

THM: I also noticed you have some very interesting vintage Pateks? 

Hamdan: Yes, from time to time we like to showcase some shaped watches from certain eras and to educate people. We have a lot of interest as well from many parts of the world. And that's why we rotate and then change the collection of the vintage Patek that we showcase in the corner of the gallery. 

THM: Lastly, Hamdan, I noticed that you have a mix of everything. You have the Patek Philippe also, but you also have, like you mentioned, Singer, Fiona Kruger. A lot of budding and existing independent brands. So what are your thoughts on independent watchmaking? 

Hamdan: I mean, every watchmaker, you see, you just saw different watches. Every timepiece reflects the taste of the watchmaker. From the techniques, and dial to the movement, everyone has their own way of working. Many of the watchmakers would allow you to collaborate to a certain limit without changing the identity of the watch. We respect this. 
The conversation ended with Hamdan sharing his favorite timepiece! Catch the full interview on our YouTube channel: https://youtube/cxm8zE7FFLE