DUBAI — For decades, the global watch industry has operated on a well-established axis: Geneva for Watches and Wonders in the spring and the various Swiss exhibitions that punctuate the calendar. But last week, as the chief executive officer of Rolex took the stage alongside executives from Bulgari , Chopard and Breitling — all gathered not in Switzerland but in the shadow of the Burj Khalifa here — it became clear that the geography of haute horlogerie has a new location.

Dubai Watch Week, founded in 2015 by the Seddiqi family — whose 75-year-old retail empire has long served as the region’s gateway to Swiss watchmaking — has grown from a niche collectors’ gathering into the world’s largest watch event by brand count. The seventh edition hosted more than 90 brands across 200,000 squ

See Full Page