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I'm here in Portland airport of all places, tying this up. We reached the soil of the US an hour late, so promptly missed our san Francisco connection. 3 more hours to kill....
Yesterday, our final full day in Switzerland started with an appointment with the Watchland folks more commonly known as Franck Muller, Pierre Kunz, European Company watch and a couple more watch brands. Having been out to Watchland on one other occasion, I was amused to be driven out in a new Maserati Quattroporte by a lovely lady. The use of fine cars goes hand in hand with our world of watches. On arriving in Genthod, we were greeted by an incredible carbon fibre clad exotic car by the name of Pagani. I suspect as I've not heard about these, that this is a particularly rare hand built sports car that goes extremely fast. You can be the judge from the pictures!
The main reason for being out here away from the main SIHH show was to see the Pierre Kunz collection and meet up with our old and dear friend Ed Suhyda of ex-Hublot fame. He was in my opinion solely responsible for the brands past success in the US. His tireless support of the retailers and the many Hublot fans he helped create around the country are a testament to his passion. I was excited to hear about him joining Pierre Kunz as I liked what i saw last time out in Genthod. Well they didn't disappoint, using an ETA 2892 base automatic caliber, Pierre Kunz has created a stunning line of great looking watches. His signature trademark is a retro-grade complication on the watch. All his watches sport at least one retro-grade complication and many have several. My favourite was the Moonphase with retro-grade seconds at 6 o'clock. He makes a lovely biretro-grade perpetual calendar with vertical retrograde indicators for the day and date. The dials are beautifully executed and well designed, with the black roman numerals over silver encircling the black center of the dial.
We spent 2 hours out in Watchland and were rewarded with a spectacular view of a snow clad Montblanc on leaving. In the six years since I have been attending the show in Geneva, I have not had such an incredible view of the mountain. It is usually hidden by clouds. In one of the pictures from Watchland, behind Greg, one can see many of the craftsmen, watchmakers and machinists taking a welcome break. I must say what in inspiring place to work with that view. As we jumped into the Maserati for the return journey to the SIHH show, what should have arrived to be parked next to the Pagani, a MC12, for those unfamiliar, Maserati's recent super car built in small numbers for the public to qualify in the GT race car series. A white and blue balls out race care with a derivative of the V12 found in the Ferrari Enzo. For a car guy, quite a visual!!!
At 4pm we met with Girard Perregaux to view their new pieces. They are in that exclusive group of manufacturers producing their own in house movements across the board. The lady's Cat's Eye line is beautiful, well designed and will be enjoyed for many years by those lucky enough to get one. The Laureato Evo3 line of sport watches is compelling and of course my old favourite the vintage line. The showed an incredible triple bridge tourbillon in the Laureato case with clear sapphire bridges, housed in a titanium case. Whether or not we'll be working with these guys will have to be seen.
We did get to meet with Marcia at Lange & Sohne briefly, the appointment we thought we made the previous day, turned out not to be. Owing to her graciousness and long standing relationship from the IWC years she kindly spent 5 minutes between appointments to chat with us. We are still hugely excited about the possibility of carrying Lange, but that is still not be presently. The new Richard Lange is stunning in pure Saxon style, just an hour and minute hand. So we keep in contact and hope for the future!
We then headed next door to pick out a potential order of Dubuis, some great lady's steel pieces, the new steel Excaliber, chronos and time only watches! In Carlos Dias' inimitable style, these aren't for the faint of heart. The new micro-rotor self-winding chronograph movement is superb, a testament to the continued creativity of the Dubuis watches.
We finally left for the hotel at 7pm, jumped in a cab and quickly got stuck in traffic! After sitting in very slowly moving traffic, we paid our driver early and jumped out in the middle of Geneva to walk the remainder of the way back to the President Wilson hotel. We were scheduled to dine with the Dubuis team, but ducked out as we had a very early start this morning, up at 4.45am. In celebration of Greg's birthday on Monday, we went out to a Lebanese restaurant that allowed us to get back to the hotel at a decent time to pack and get some sleep.
At this time of writing it is the equivalent of 12.10am, having got up in Switzerland at 4.45am and flown back here. I will look forward to seeing you back in the store and can regale you with more stories of our exploits, with tons of pictures. All in all a great and successful trip, long but worthwhile for Jackson Square.
Warm regards as always,
Tim
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Tuesday/Wednesday
April 4/April 5
2006 |
Quite an impressive trip thus far. I am on a 3 hour train ride from Basel to Geneva reflecting on what I’ve seen.
Our first appointment was with Peter Speake-Marin. Two things I am most excited about are the 42mm Picadillies he introduced at the show in which we ordered 5 pieces in both Red gold and Stainless Steel. His Vintage Mark II Tourbillion was my personal favorite. He added an enamel dial which is absolutely beautiful! We ordered #1 in both Red and White gold. These are sure not to stay in the store for very long.
Hublot was the next appointment in which I was anxious to have. My first question for them was obviously “Where are my Rose gold Big Bangs?” I am happy to report that they will be trickling out at a quicker pace. These watches have been a huge hit in the last several months…probably even more than Hublot anticipated. There will be a few more variations to the Big Bang as well. An all black, which was a little hard to read, an all grey which will be called the “Ice Bang” and an all red Big Bang which was pretty cool. There will also be a 41mm Big Bang which actually works on my wrist a little better. Will they call this smaller version the “Lady Bang”? Let’s hope not. All in all, it was quite the “gang bang” at Hublot.
It is Ulysee Nardin’s 160th Anniversary this year so besides the fantastic party on their boat last night with beautiful Brazilian feathered go-go dancers, they introduced their 160th Anniversary watch with their own movement. It is their dual Ulysse escapement which is also used in the “Freak ll”. We ordered both Red and White gold. They came out with a new watch called “Macho” which is slightly oval and a very nice looking tank style watch for the ladies called “Donna”.
Speaking of the ladies, we ordered some great jewelry pieces from Luca Carati and Cede. Did I mention the beautiful Brazilian go-go dancers??
That’s all for now. I will take in the very scenic Swiss Alps and wine hills and report back to you from Geneva.
Ciao,
Greg |
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SPECIAL WRITE-UP FROM GREG
Monday
April 3
2006
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Hello,
After spending a whole day at the SIHH Show in Geneva, I'm tired and should be going to bed, but I'm not. Reporting the watch news for all is my job these two days here. We arrived at 10am, after a good breakfast in the hotel. this show is completely different than Basel. "Terribly civilised" was one description from an East coast retailer who was heading over to Basel tomorrow for the first time, having resisted all these years. It is a show that boggles the mind on seeing it for the first time. All the Richemont brands are here, we are here to see Vacheron Constantin and Montblanc today from the large conglomerate and Roger Dubuis. As some of you might have got wind, there is a change going on with the North American distribution, which we were rather skeptical about. Well, having met with them and seen the new watches they are producing for 2006 and beyond, I can re-assure you that they are still on the amazing path of creativity that reflected their past 7 years since we have known them. Introducing 6 new calibres in 2006 is remarkable. Carlos Dias is pushing on as my Dad would say and there is no rest for the weary at Manufacture Roger Dubuis.
Vacheron was our first port of call. The new inhouse selfwindinding calibre that graced the "Jubilee" edition last year is being slowly (this is Vacheron after all) implemented into the line. A 40mm Patrimony with a date indicator at 6 o'clock is one model to start with. The dual time zone premiered last year in the toneau Malte has found it's way into the Overseas line. A good looking sports watch. Otherwise nothing terribly out of the ordinary for V&C.
Having had a splendid lunch at the restaurant, we met with Montblanc apres dejeuner. My french from 8 years of compulsory teaching at school in the UK is slowly filtering back! Ordering at restaurants is OK here in the french speaking part of Switzerland. Montblanc has made huge strides in the watch world and is providing a good product.
Roger Dubuis was at 3pm and after an intensive 2 hours, we will return tomorrow pm to possibly move forward with them. Great new watches in a variety of executions, new "Easy Divers", including Titanium cased watches and a lady's tourbillon in the "Golden Square" and new "Excalibur" case. I particularly liked the new lady's "Easy Diver" in a 38mm case some with diamond dials in steel. the complicated watches that put dubuis on the map initially are still coming thick and strong. Lots of developments to share on our return.
We finished with securing an appointment for tomorrow with Lange & Sohne. Whether or not we'll be able to do anything, meeting Marcia (ex IWC) will be very good. Of all the larger brands, these guys are doing something very special and I'd love to be a player in this arena.
It is now very late and I must retire,
Warm regards,
Tim |
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Monday
April 3
2006 |
Sunday was spent traveling to Geneva, so there won't be a blog today.
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Sunday
April 2
2006 |
Having planned a slightly later start, due to our rather extended evening up in Alsace last night, we met up with Martin Braun. He has a new complicated astronomical watch, called the Notos, which together with the equation of time, shows the earths declination in degrees and has a month indicator. I have to say the dial execution was spectacular and although strictly speaking not terribly practical from a useful standpoint, never the less a stunning looking watch. With the success of the Grand Prix Chrono, Martin has decided to expand the line with a green and orange version. His "Blue" line has also expanded to include two time only watches, one manual, the other self-winding with a date. We passed Peter and Marco who were mobbed with fans of superb watch-making, this being the first main day the public shows up.
Heading over to the main jewelry hall we stopped in with our dear friend Conny from Cede, a constantly evolving jewelry line from Germany. Great new designs using a "Milanese" style stainless steel in a mixed variety of colors.
We the failed to meet with Peter from Urban Jurgensen due to a variety of factors, so settled for a horrendously expensive lunch outside in the outdoor cafe. Fuel though for the afternoon’s meetings! We made our way back into the jewelry hall to meet with Victor Mayer, one of Germany's top jewelry companies, who are the most expert enamelers. I excused myself, left Greg and met up with Peter from Urban Jurgensen for an intro to his world. We will get to see the watches in Geneva in a couple of days time, finished to the finest levels, currently using Frederick Piguet base movements. We'll see if it is a fit for us. I rejoined Greg for another brief meeting at a potential new jewelry line from Italy that is very unusual and well designed using an old technique for the stones.
We left here and dashed outside for an informal meeting with one of Austria's finest current watchmakers, Richard Harbring. My friend Dave, has commissioned Richard to make a tourbillon for him, and after meeting him and his lovely wife, I can see why. This is a man of true passion and straightforwardness that I think we might well be able to work with in the future. A technical genius who has been making Tourbillon watches for private clients since the 80's. His Harbring 2 series are currently being produced and he has many potential watches in the plans, although with his tiny production these are rare watches!
Masriera was next before going back to Luca Carati to join them for a superb wine tasting, where we got to taste a lovely Barolo amongst others. This was the same fellow who supplied us with wine back in the fall last year during our Luca Carati event. Great salami, proscuitto and Reggiano to boot.
We followed this up with a Ulysse Nardin evening aboard the three master that Rolf had brought up the Rhine for the 160th Anniversary. Great fun with Rolf and his dream team. Many old friends were in attendance. A fitting end to our Basel portion of the trip, as we head off to Geneva tomorrow morning by train for the SIHH show.
I'll sign off now as it's again way past my bedtime...
Next report from the lovely city on the lake. Looking forward to visiting the new Vacheron facility for their dinner on Monday.
Cheers,
Tim |
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Saturday
April 1
2006 |
Friday morning, 9am rather too early for meeting with a vendor in Basel, but meet we do! Glashutte Original is just that, original watches from Saxony. With last years revamping of the Senator line, this year produced a new look to the Karree, slightly rounded and rather bland in my opinion, however it was well received by many other dealers. Their interesting development was a 44mm military dialed watch modeled after a 1940's vintage watch for the German air force, housing the Cal. 100. Two versions are coming, one with a big date, the other with a hour and minute scale separated for the two hands. A limited edition in platinum of the Panomatic Chrono, sporting a military green dial and a brushed finish case is going to be coming.
Leaving the behemoth of the Swatch group area, we headed up to Anonimo, where we made the tough decision to part ways. Having given it a good go, we feel our resources are best placed elsewhere. It was as I hoped a gentlemanly exchange and we parted ways friends, which is for me a good accomplishment. Met briefly with Guy, our colored gem dealer who arranged a rendezvous for later, and then headed over to Hearts on Fire for a short meeting.
Lunch was working with our friends at Luca Carati, one of the brilliant Italian Jewelers whom we have partnered with for many years. Luca's friend provided his usual salami for us to nibble on whilst picking out this year’s goodies. We then bid them farewell and made a stop at Maurice Lacroix, here a company who is in transition, making more and more in the interesting mechanical arena. Whether or not we decide to do anything with them will be determined in the future, but they premiered a new in house manufactured manual wind column wheel chrono that was lovely. We followed this up with Tutima. Our long relationship with Gustavo and his team has provided us with a great value for the entry level mechanical watch, they showed us a couple of new watches that I think will be winners, my favourite was a big date with power reserve in steel on a blue dial on strap.
We finished up here at 4.45pm and then made our way to the bus to meet up with our friend the colored gem dealer. We made a trek with them up to Alsace to the original B&B where we have stayed in previous years for a reunion dinner. It was superb and finally getting back to Basel via a train from Colmar that was 45 minutes, allowed us to find our accommodation around 1am. Rather late and why the blog is coming now a day late!
More to come from Saturday... |
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Friday
March 31
2006
[Posted Saturday]
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Officially day one for the fair, not for Greg and I though. Hopefully you have got to enjoy some news by now. We started off this morning with a bang, OK poor pun, Hublot was up first. Having heard through the grapevine about a couple of new executions in the Big Bang line up, I have to say I wasn't prepared for what was on offer. New color dials and corresponding kevlar inserts, I happened to enjoy the red version, although probably on the black rubber strap, not the red one as shown. A much anticipated smaller Bang, at 41mm it will offer the lady's an option, especially the diamond bezel piece. The piece that blew me away was the Bigger Bang, a limited edition flying tourbillon mono-pusher skeleton chronograph. Here a classical column wheel chronograph in a very modern format. Something for the technical appreciator. The "All Black" was a novelty, not sure how practical it is, but that's the whole point... Not actually having to know the time. Well I suppose that is the dream world we are looking for. Limited to 250 pieces, with a black ceramic case, black kevlar inserts, a black dial with black indices and an almost impossible dial to read in non bright light, a treat for those who aspire to that lifestyle! Similar but actually legible is the "Ice Bang" sporting a tantalum bezel with grey indices and hands. All in all a continuance of the Biver overhaul of Hublot, a good thing as I see how they are implementing the huge changes within the company.
Heading out, we made our way back to the AHCI stand to catch up with Peter and Marco. Having said our "Good mornings" we made our way towards Ulysse Nardin. The 160th anniversary of Ulysse Nardin was much anticipated by the watch world and UN didn't disappoint. The first piece shown was something that resonated with me, a genuine enamel dialed limited edition Anniversary 1846 maxi marine chronometer. Bigger than it's predecessor by a couple of mm, it was a stunning watch, only being made in 160 examples of platinum and red gold each. Next in line, the new 160 Anniversary. A slightly oval cased watch with a big date at 2 O'clock with an indirect seconds hand at 6 o'clock, sporting the brand new in house self-winding movt. using the Dual Ulysse escapement.This is a new venture for UN and one that bodes well for the future. Being released in white and rose gold, sure to be snapped up. A replacement for the sold out "Blue Wave" comes the "Blue Surf". A derivation, keeping in the "Blue" line, of the maxi marine diver. I loved it and will be adding one to my growing UN collection. A new lady's watch, the "Donna", was shown. We ordered several variations in steel with diamonds and a rose gold version, again great stuff.
Dashing over to the Seiko booth, we met with the head of US operations and went over one of our newest ventures, that of the "Spring Drive". My initial skepticism has been quickly over turned as we have found homes for 11 pieces since we started in November. Not a lot of watches you might be saying, but considering that they only make 6 versions, 3 on a bracelet and 3 on a strap, not bad for an unknown item. The technology involved is cutting edge and will be giving the traditional makers a cause for alarm I suspect in the coming years. A new moonphase version is coming, limited to 200 pieces worldwide. I've secured a selection for us! The other new piece is a GMT version of the Spring Drive, again a lovely execution on a bracelet. I continue to be pleased with these very rare and special watches, with only 5 watchmakers in Japan able to assemble them!
Vianney Halter was next and what an anticipation for me to finally handle and view the Trio. All I can say is, wow... Again, Vianney has created a superb piece that is true to his style and will please the discerning collector immensely. We are scheduled to receive our first one (pre-sold I'm afraid) around May in red gold. I only got to see the white version, and I'd say wait until you see the red gold version as it will be stunning. A long and much needed meeting with Vianney and Philippe produced I think an understanding and real agreement on how to proceed within the US market to everyone's benefit, especially the client who uses one's hard earned cash on his art work. I have to mention that Vianney enjoys life also and in keeping with this, he has from a beer on tap for us to sip whilst we discuss our partnership, made by a friend of his in the village of St. Croix. A little welcoome respite from the usual "all business" form at this show!
Finally at 5.30pm we made our way to Bedat to check out their watches, primarily as a potential lady's watch line. Beautiful designed and executed watches, with and without diamonds in steel and gold for those that want.
Another long day at the fair, although the icing on the cake was the dinner kindly laid on by Lang & Heyne at the famous St. Alban Stuebli. A lovely Basel restaurant where they serve one of my favourite "Steak Bearnaise" main courses. Accompanied by Marco's choice of Brunello di Montalcino, a very fitting end to our first official day.
My, it is again 11.45pm, bed beckons, so til tomorrow,
Cheers,
Tim |
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Well, here we are again in the north west of Switzerland at the Basel watch & jewellery Fair as it is known over here. Having spent a full day inside, having posed as press and gained entry, we bring you some pictures of new pieces by my favourite craftsmen in the watch world. First stop, was Peter Speake-Marin, where we were shown the new 42mm cased Piccadilly watches. In the current market of bigger is better, these will be very well received. Our old friends we all present, enamel dials in roman and Arabic, hand frosted and the superb hand engraved red gold version. This you can see on a wrist shot, loved it and I know Mark (you know who you are) will very much too. A Mark 2 Vintage Tourbillon is coming with an enamel dial to add a twist! All in all, excellent pieces.
Next stop, Marco Lang from Lang & Heyne. Here was the much anticipated Albert in platinum. A classical chronograph, mono-pusher co-axial to boot. On examining the movement, I was thrilled to see how he has constructed and finished it. That so far has been the highlight for me. Whilst still in the AHCI area, we visited with Thomas Prescher, the multi axis tourbillon genius. He has the only triple axis flying tourbillon on the market!!! A couple of new introductions, Kari Voutilanian and Volker Vyskoscil, who are the "hand made" masters, producing watches entirely by hand, conceived and executed in their own workshops. This is another level entirely. Now whether or not we would be able to get any pieces from these two fellows is at this stage doubtful, but a great introduction non-the-less for Jackson Square.
After about 3 hours spent in the AHCI arena, we plodded off to look at the big boys, many of the new pieces were not on show, being held back til tomorrow, when the show opens. We did see a few interesting pieces though, and some horrendous ones. Another reminder of the one of my favourite sayings, "if we all liked the same watches, life would be pretty boring" , still, I do think some of the designers need their heads examined!
We finally snuck out for a bite to eat at 4pm and piled back in for another hour before heading out. Crossing the Rhine by foot we snapped a couple of pics of the Ulysse Nardin boat moored in town for the show. Looking forward to Saturday evenings entertainment abourd as guests of Rolf and his team.
Signing off as I'm in need of sleep and it is 11.30pm here in Basel.
More tomorrow,
Cheers,
Tim |
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