Building a Watchmaking Hub in Bahrain

New York Times

07-04-2025

Mahmood Qannati stood before a roomful of students at Bahrain Polytechnic and delivered the university's first-ever lecture on the fundamentals of watchmaking.
The two-hour presentation in February opened the university's first undergraduate course on watches. Through May, Mr. Qannati and his team are providing lectures and hands-on training in key aspects of watchmaking, from history to assembly to marketing, to about two dozen college students, laying a foundation for the country's horological future.
'There was a huge demand for this course when we first put it on the roster in December,' Mr. Qannati said by phone from Manama, the capital of Bahrain, where he lives. 'But we decided to limit the size of the class because this is a first, and we didn't want it to get out of control.'
Mr. Qannati, a marketing executive at a bank in Bahrain, is also a watch entrepreneur. In 2019, he founded Qannati Objet d'Art, a brand specializing in one-of-a-kind métiers d'art watches designed with intricate dials and sculpted details made from precious materials. Powered by Swiss movements, the Objet d'Art watches are crafted in France.
Since introducing his debut collection in 2022, the Bahrain native has won awards in the Middle East and has sold timepieces to clients from Palm Beach, Fla., to Hong Kong.
In 2024, he decided to pursue another vision: to locally develop Bahraini expertise in watches.
'I thought about producing a collection here in Manama,' he said. 'But the question was how can I do that and help Bahraini society at the same time. That is why I decided to invest in educating our first generation of watch professionals.'
While Bahrain has no watchmaking tradition, the Middle East region is an important consumer of watches. Last year, exports of Swiss watches to the region were valued at 3.8 billion francs, or $4.3 billion, an increase of 622 percent in 25 years, according to figures published by the Swiss watch federation.
Bahrain Polytechnic partnered with Mr. Qannati last year to introduce a watchmaking course led by him. In exchange for his time, he is allowed to use the classroom for his business outside of class hours to produce his Lab Edition watches, the brand's first generation of métiers d'art watches assembled in Bahrain, and a more affordable take on the brand's 'wearable art' timepieces.
'We call the space a lab, but it is a fully functional watchmaking workshop,' Mr. Qannati said.
'The collaboration with Qannati,' Ciarán Ó. Catháin, chief executive of Bahrain Polytechnic, wrote in an email, 'has opened avenues for students to delve into innovative business concepts that might otherwise be unattainable.'
Mr. Qannati said, 'I have a staff of four Bahrainis for the Lab Editions; two in watch assembly, and two in dial customization. By the end of this semester, I hope to hire one of my students to help with watch servicing, which we outsource at the moment.'
The strategy behind Qannati's Lab Edition watches was to expand the reach of the brand with a more accessible price point while preserving its exclusivity. Lab Edition watches retail for $2,000, while the higher-end métiers d'art watches are typically priced in the six figures, depending on the materials used.
Made of stainless steel with a Swiss automatic Sellita SW100 movement, the Lab Edition watches come in two case options: a 41-millimeter round or a 44-millimeter tonneau, or barrel, shaped design, paired with a rubber strap. Above the watch dial, under the sapphire glass, a space is designed to accommodate a small bespoke sculpture, 3-D-printed in resin and designed using A.I.-based technology.
'We use A.I. to create any small three-dimensional design that the client requests,' Mr. Qannati said.
'I say this without shame, A.I. is the principal designer of our Lab Edition,' he said. 'For our Objets d'Art watches, nothing can replace the human touch.'
Since the Lab Edition collection's debut in November, Mr. Qannati said, he has sold 102 pieces online or at trade fairs.
The students enrolled in Mr. Qannati's class come from different educational backgrounds, but all are curious about watches. Half are women. 'Most of the students come from an engineering background,' Muhannad Alqassab, 22, a senior majoring in web media studies, said by phone from Manama. 'I am interested in luxury marketing and in 3-D techniques to design a watch.'
'Everyone here is interested in watches,' Mr. Alqassab said. 'Some dream of owning a watch brand.'
The class curriculum covers the evolution of watch movements, with a comparative study of quartz and mechanical mechanisms. It also delves into watch design and modeling, precision assembly, and customization. Additional modules address luxury branding, A.I.-assisted design, as well as techniques in watch photography and digital presentation.
Next, Mr. Alqassab said, 'We will be assembling our own custom-made watches.'
To graduate from the program, 'every student must design and assemble their own Lab Edition watch,' Mr. Qannati said. 'We will provide only a Swiss quartz movement and a sapphire crystal. The rest is up to them.'
For the hands-on training this month, Mr. Qannati retained the services of Pierre Christe, a seasoned Swiss watchmaker and instructor who taught at Bulgari for 30 years. The two met in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in November at a watchmaking seminar hosted by a Saudi influencer.
'I was invited to Riyadh to present a history of watches followed by a watch assembly demonstration to a group of 25 watch fans,' Mr. Christe said by phone from Lausanne, Switzerland, where he lives. 'There was a lot of enthusiasm in the class. Many of the students had expensive watches on their wrist, but few had any notion of what makes a watch tick.'
In Bahrain, Mr. Christe will show the university students how to assemble a mechanical movement from the Swiss company ETA. 'We will do things properly, the Swiss way,' he said. 'It won't be tinkering.'
Looking ahead, Mr. Qannati said he planned to expand this educational model beyond Bahrain and establish similar 'teaching labs' in Saudi Arabia and Qatar. 'The Bahraini government is aware of our partnership with the university,' Mr. Qannati said. 'If we produce tangible results, we might ask for state backing. For now, we are pushing forward on our own.'
'Being in the lab has become the most enjoyable part of my day,' he said. 'We are creating Bahrain's new generation of watch entrepreneurs.'