Organizers of The Escapement, a planned gathering aimed at attracting thousands of watch collectors and enthusiasts, featuring major independent brands and scheduled for November in Abu Dhabi, canceled the event due to corporate travel restrictions related to the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East. They say they will now stage the three-day show in Las Vegas in February, 2027.
Neeshu Hajra, a U.S.-based luxury event-planning executive who is among the shareholders of the group organizing the event, said some watch brands and executives would have been unable to attend the show at the Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi due to travel policies affected by the ongoing war in the region. The Escapement will now hold its inaugural event next year at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas from February 5 to 7.
“Our decision was mainly made due to corporate travel policies that affected certain brands and the ability to come. Ultimately, because this is our inaugural edition, we want to make sure that we have the strongest showing and the best surface area for success,” Hajra said in an interview. “The community experience in its totality, both leading up to the event and on site, led us to really believe in Vegas,” he added.
Biver watches is one of the many brands expected to exhibit at The Escapement.
The event’s cancellation and rescheduling underscore the challenges and disruptions to global business and the watch industry amid military conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, and dramatic shifts in international relations and trade policy led by the U.S. The Escapement was offering VIP tickets for the Abu Dhabi show priced at 4,400 United Arab Emirates dirhams or the equivalent of about $1,200 U.S. dollars. General admission tickets were priced at 1,600 UAE dirhams or about $435. Ticket holders for the Abu Dhabi event will receive an automatic refund from the arena, organizers said.
The Abu Dhabi event promised high-profile guests and speakers including Akrivia’s Rexhep Rexhepi and Jean Arnault of LVMH, who heads the revived Daniel Roth and Gerald Genta brands, among others, at the luxury conglomerate. Additional watch brands attending included Armin Strom, Biver, Czapek, Fleming, Greubel Forsey, Romain Gauthier, Simon Brette and Ming, according to The Escapement website.
The organizers said that following the rescheduling, attendance at the Vegas event next year by Rexhep Rexhepi and Jean Arnault has yet to be confirmed. However, most of the other brands originally slated for the Abu Dhabi event are expected in Las Vegas, Hajra said.
Horologer Ming is among watch brands expected to participate in The Escapement.
Photo courtesy Horologer Ming
The Escapement had initially planned to sell as many as 1,000 VIP tickets and 8,000 to 10,000 general admission tickets to the Abu Dhabi event. Projected ticket sales for the rescheduled event in Las Vegas, which may be priced at 10% to 15% above the Abu Dhabi event, have been scaled back to 500 to 750 VIP tickets and 4,000 to 5,000 general admission passes.
The original event had aimed to take place in the off-year of Dubai Watch Week, the Seddiqi Holding-organized event which takes place every two years in Dubai. Additional Escapement organizers, co-founders and shareholders include Anish Bhatt, the founder of WatchAnish, as well as Faheem Khan, the Editor-in-Chief of Substack blog Screw Down Crown and the kingflum account on Instagram.
A scene from Dubai Watch Week 2025.
Khan, who has spent the majority of his career in the energy industry, said moving the three-day event to Las Vegas will allow the organizers to have full oversight of the program, which is expected to include a charity auction as well as performances by musical and comedy acts, and not be subject to geopolitical events beyond their control.
“That overhanging uncertainty was the issue, and so us moving to Vegas allows us to then focus on doing something with the certainty that it will happen,” Khan said.
Other participants in the inaugural event include Loupe This founder Eric Ku, U.K. watch writer and content creator Justin Hast, as well as Robert-Jan Broer, the founder and head of Fratello, the watch website majority-owned by Chrono24.
For more information on the event, click here.
Lead image provided by The Escapement.
