Brand loyalty that goes back 60 years

Dubai: Just as a parent refuses to pick his/her favourite child, Mohammad Abdul Majid Seddiqi, vice-president of sales and board member for Ahmad Seddiqi & Sons, refuses to pick his favourite watch from his vast collection. The man likes to wear a different watch every day.

For the interview, the man who owns a watch worth over Dh5 million wore a piece from his fashion collection worth not more than Dh3,000.

He gives his wife watches as gifts.

"What I love for myself, I love for my wife. She has almost all brands and we usually have a pair of the same brand depending on the occasion," he said.

From the collection in one of his desk drawers, it appears that Sediqqi also collects mobile phones.

Early next year Seddiqi will be adding another Swiss watch brand to his legendary collection — Cabestan, that costs Dh1.5 million. The watch is fully mechanical, but the time is shown on a digital display. The timepiece, which has been in design for more than four years, will be on show in their shop in BurJuman.

New products

On the risk of launching a new product, Seddiqi said that although the watch is very complicated, he would rather take the chance than not have the brand.

For now, Seddiqi doesn't believe that it is a good idea for the retailer — who is known across the Arab world and beyond — to have its own brand. However, he added: "It might be in the future. But it is very difficult for a retailer to create his own factory and brand image. We are good in our business and if we are going to be a supplier and retailer at the same time it will lead us to a totally different business environment. The performance will not be the same."

Balance

"Sales make money and marketing spends money in a nice balanced way. They are very much together and very different. Here is the same, if we don't have the balance as a supplier and retailer the product will lose."

Seddiqi has been dealing with the same brands for more than 60 years because of the strong relationship their grandfather had built with the brand owners since he started the business.

The company's top brands are divided into different categories, price segments and departments.

There are the luxury brands such as Rolex, and those that are linked to fashion such as Chopard, Van Cleef, de Grisogono and Piaget.

Others are related to independent jewellery makers such as Richard Mille, Max Busser, F.P. Journe, Greubel Forsey. These watches are very exclusive and a maximum of 200 are produced worldwide. Seddiqi only gets two or three of these unique, very high-tech pieces that are very much in demand.

Then there are the high-end brands: Patek Philippe, Audemars Piguet and Daniel Roth; the medium-high, IWC Panerai, Hublot and Romain Jerome; and finally the middle range; Baume & Mercier and TAG Heuer.