Nothing is cooler than a simple watch, says Abu Dhabi's young watch-designer

For Hamdan Ahmed Al-Mehyas, watches have never been just about telling time. They have marked milestones, carried memories and, eventually, become a canvas for creativity.

The 24-year-old Abu Dhabi Entrepreneur is an urban planning student at Sorbonne University. He has been fascinated by watches since childhood.

His earliest memories of wearing them date back to around the age of three, but one particular timepiece stands out: a black-and-orange swatch that he received in the fourth grade. It was considerably larger than his small wrist, but that did not matter. Wearing it made him feel older, more mature and, as he recalls, ‘like the cool kid’.

And soon that ‘cool kid’ designed his first watch in September2025, gave it a brand and called it ‘deem’.

“I always had a passion for architecture and art and watches. I tried doing art before-I painted, and I've been part of Abu Dhabi art, now called Frieze Abu Dhabi. But I felt like designing watches is my creative outlet,” Al Mehyas said.

Why analogue still wins

There is nothing cooler than a small, simple watch telling you the time, says Al Meyhas. “People are going back to analogue stuff and like going away from the digital world because we're so stressed and busy with everything going on online and videos and shows,” he added.

For him, a smart watch is an extension of his phone, but an analogue quartz watch is “basically like what TV shows are to books.”

Watches that left a mark

Over the years, he collected more watches, some as gifts for good academic results, some from friends as presents and some passed down from family members. He considers the most important piece in his collection to be a watch his aunt found at his grandfather’s house and gave to him.

He recalled the gold-and-silver watch, that his aunt wasn’t sure if it belonged to his late grandfather or it could have been his uncle’s. The watch was broken, so he had it repaired in Hong Kong; where he was told that its movement dated to 1973.

From then on, the watch has remained among his timeless collections. He called it very special and sentimental, and said it was probably his most valuable watch to him. “I’m careful about wearing it because it’s old and not very water-resistant,” he added.

Another piece he kept so close to himself was a gift from his beloved cousin. A Swatch collaboration with Louvre Abu Dhabi featuring Hokusai’s The Great Wave of Kanagawa was a birthday gift from his cousin Omar in 2022.

“He knows I like the museum. He knows I like the painting, and he knows I like swatch,” he added, calling it a unique one, that he still wears, on his visits to the Louvre Museum.

Making a brand for watch wasn’t an overnight story. He began asking himself a different question: instead of buying watches, why not create his own?

Al- Mehyas developed the watches from scratch though sketches and iterative revisions while working with manufacturers in China. He visited more than five factories, including in Shenzhen, and attended the Hong Kong Watch and Clock Fair to learn about manufacturers and the market.

Designs inspired from landscapes

The decision to establish a watch brand was driven more by passion than financial prospects. “If I wanted to make money out of it or just think about the business side, I would open a café or something,” he says. “I'm taking a huge risk, but the passion and the fun are worth it.”

One of the early inspirations came from an ordinary moment at home in November 2023, when Al Mehyas noticed the patterns formed when the wind moved across the sand. He photographed the scene, unaware that the image would eventually become the starting point for a watch design.

To him, the desert and the sea symbolizes the two tribes of the UAE, the Bedouin and the seafaring heritage. Al-Mehyas’ family were the pearl divers The waves on his new watch face, point towards northwest, reflecting the stated wind direction in the UAE and Gulf countries. He described the designs as a tribute to heritage and ancestors.

He later drew inspiration from the approach of Japanese watchmaker Grand Seiko, known for incorporating elements of nature into its designs. It prompted him to consider the landscapes closest to home.

“When you have a beautiful, affordable watch, it says that you have a taste,” he added. His message to new watch collectors is to start with any budget, because everyone begins with just one watch. “You can even start with a Dh50 watch and have a good collection.”

He hoped his designs will stand apart, watches that are not simply inspired by a landscape but rooted in a sense of place and belonging.

His next collection is designed to match the Military watch design, that he plans to release ahead of the UAE national day. This model has a lot of unique features, including design elements referencing December 2 and the UAE’s 55th anniversary. It also includes a Rotar, styled like a UAV radar that pilots see in flights.

The case-back carrying the Arabic calligraphy by Mohammed Mandi, the famous Emirati Calligrapher, recognised internationally for an individual style combining letters and words, that says the military oath in Arabic- ‘to be dedicated’

“It is a military watch because Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan always likes military watches,” Al Mehyas said, showing an image of the President of UAE wearing a similar watch.

Future ahead for the watchmaker

Al Mehyas is realistic about the scale of the ambition ahead. Establishing a watchmaking industry in the UAE will take time, investment, technical expertise and the development of local manufacturing capabilities.

His goal is to help position the UAE alongside established watchmaking centres such as Switzerland and Japan. He estimates that realising this vision could take between 10 and 20 years, although he hopes it might happen sooner.

And for a young founder who once wore an oversized watch simply because it made him feel grown up, the ambition has grown considerably. He has moved beyond collecting time, he now works in capturing the moment.