Veni, vidi but without vici. The spring Fairs conquered me this year, BaselWorld not only by its size, but by the inspiration and creativity of its exhibitors; at the SIHH it was the vastness of its exclusivity. Nevertheless, it was a good year!

Wednesday, March 30th
After the annual BaselWorld Official Press Conference on Press Day, (the only time when we get a chance to look around without battling through hordes of buyers, distributors and the general public) the greeting of old friends, colleagues and exhibitors and a buffet lunch, work began in earnest – or to be exact with Glycine.
Founded in 1914, Glycine remains a family company co-owned and managed by Hans and Katherina Brechbühler. One of the first 29 exhibitors at Basel in 1938, the brand quickly established its own niche and still continues to create exciting new products.
This year we were treated to the luxurious, but functional Airman 7 Gold, a three-time zone timekeeper. A conspicuous 53 mm in diameter, the 18 carat rose gold watch houses an ETA 2893-2 automatic mechanical movement at 3 o’clock (42-hour power reserve) and two 2671-2 automatic mechanical movements at 8 and 10 o’clock (38-hour power reserve). This outsized watch has excellent readability with its black guilloché dial and luminescent hands and indices. It has a sapphire crystal front and back and is water-resistant to 50 metres. As Larry Geisler, Glycine’s American distributor underlined at the press conference, “The Airman 7 is treasured by pilots for its precision.” Katherina Brechbühler added, “In watch manufacturing, noble materials can also be used generously.” The Airman 7 is a Limited Edition of just 50 pieces and should be quickly snapped up by Glycine’s admirers. Gylcine also introduced its Lugunare Chronometer, the brand’s first chronometer since the 1950s.
With just a few minutes to spare before the Maurice Lacroix press conference, I dropped by the Alfexstand to say a brief hello to the charming Michela Bressan (one of the brand’s partners) where the latest colourful ladies’ watches from the Modern Classic Collection were being introduced. Light, stylish and elegant, these rectangular watches with their crowns at 12 o’clock and their uniquely cut wide straps in white, light blue and rose leather are real value for money since they retail at under 200 Swiss francs.
The Maurice Lacroix press conference is a popular event. This year, Keith Strandberg, Europa Star’s American correspondent, acted as moderator in a question and answer period with Philippe Merk, the CEO of Maurice Lacroix and the brand’s Product Managers – Patrick Graells, who is responsible for the development of the new Maurice Lacroix Rétrograde Tourbillon and Sandro Reginelli, the designer for the highly innovative Divina Collection.
Philippe Merk explained that the company was in more than 60 countries in around 4,000 retail shops and that he considers their Masterpiece Collection to be the “…crown jewel of our collection and today very important for the image of the brand,” underlining that, “… we will concentrate even more on our competence in mechanical watches and important technical developments in-house.”
Strandberg then asked why they had decided to make their own tourbillon. “The Masterpiece Tourbillon Retrograde is not a common tourbillon like others on the market,” Merk said. “It is our own development and shows with the combination of tourbillon and retrograde indication our watchmaking competence.”(see Europa Star 2.05)
Patrick Graells then added that what made the watch special was the rare combination of a classic tourbillon with retrograde date indication and power reserve indication, adding “… the Calibre 110 is not an added module to an existing product … all functions are integrated in the tourbillon movement.”
There then followed a much-admired act whereby two incredibly supple female acrobats tied themselves into various knots whilst doing unbelievably athletic things with ropes at vertiginous heights in the open area of the three-story stand. Visually stunning, one wondered if the act was a subtle hint of the mechanical machinations of Maurice Lacroix’ Retrograde Tourbillon.
Maurice Lacroix produced its first watch in 1975 with a launch in Austria. The subsequent years saw a steady growth of sales throughout the world and by 1994 the brand’s facilities in Saignlégier in the Swiss Jura had been modernized and extended in order to keep up with the ever-increasing demand for the Tomorrow’s Classics Collection.
Still a youngster in watchmaking terms, Maurice Lacroix, in addition to the launch of the tourbillon, also introduced in its Masterpiece Collection a Lune Rétrograde and a Regulator. In its Pontos Collection there was a new Chronograph and a Power Reserve model (to be discussed in the next issue of Europa Star – 4/05). However, the model that had me personally overflowing with superlatives is the exquisite Limited Edition of the Divina Étoile de Mer. Designed by Sandro Reginelli, the watchcase has literally been given a twist around the middle thus creating a curvaceous and very feminine ‘waistline’ silhouette to the watch. The Étoile de Mer (starfish) has its centre in the heart of the dial and its black and white diamond arms spread elegantly across the dial, continuing across the bezel and gracefully gliding down the side of the horns of the 18 carat white gold case. Equipped with a Swiss quartz movement, this eye-catching watch is water-resistant to 30 metres and is enhanced by a galuchat strap. Other versions set with rubies, pink, blue or yellow sapphires and diamonds are available. (Illustration) Another Divina model in stainless steel utilizes the same case form but has diamonds uniquely on the bezel, a mother-of-pearl dial and two specially designed bowed and elongated Arabic numerals – the 12 and 6.




Glycine, Alfex, Maurice Lacroix



Both of these ladies’ watches are superb and the Divina Étoile de Mer is one of my highlights of this year’s BaselWorld.
With the end of the afternoon looming I rushed off to a meeting with Alan Wong, the Deputy Executive Director of the Hong Kong Trade and Development Council (HKTDC). At the morning press conference Alan Wong had underlined the fact that Hong Kong was the world’s second largest exporter of watches (a 9% increase in 2004 over the previous year) and jewellery (+19%) and stressed the importance of BaselWorld to the 347 Hong Kong exhibitors. Mentioning that there was an “enormous demand from China … attracting a growing number of overseas companies to use Hong Kong to reach these new customers,” he emphasized that “… the Hong Kong Trade Development Council stands ready to help these companies – just as they help our own home-grown companies – to benefit from China’s competitive production base and growing consumer market.”
A charming and erudite man with a wry sense of humour, Alan Wong explained how Hong Kong watch manufacturers are at last developing branded watches – especially with an eye to moving into the lucrative Chinese market where the Hong Kong made watches are regarded as far superior in quality to the mainland products.
At present, he explained, HKTDC is helping brands to install shop-in-shop outlets in China and with a soft sell via television and talk shows is educating the Chinese people as to the benefits of ‘Made in Hong Kong’ watches.
Because of the CEPA agreement between China and the Special Administrative Region of China (Hong Kong) there is now a 0% import duty on its watches going into the mainland from Hong Kong. The important message, however, is that Swiss watch brands wishing to enter China could do a lot worse than contacting the Hong Kong Trade & Development Council.
Having enjoyed my afternoon tea meeting with Alan Wong, I was then entertained at Zenith by Thierry Nataf, the CEO, who presented to me the brand’s new collection (see Pierre Maillard’s Basel article). At the end of a brilliantly choreographed presentation, Nataf made me close my eyes and make a wish as he slipped a Zenith lucky charm over my wrist. Thierry, my wish hasn’t come true yet – I’m still waiting for a ChronoMaster Open El Primero!
The first day ended with a Press Dinner organized by Sylvie Ritter, the BaselWorld Show Director and Bernard Keller, the Communication Manager, at the Hotel Merian. A good meal, enough wine and a joke session with René Kamm, the CEO of MCH Swiss Exhibition, rounded the day off perfectly. It was also the only night I got to bed before 1 o’clock in the morning.

TO BE CONTINUED...
In the forthcoming days, the rest of this lenghty survey will be added to our europastar website.

BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 1
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 2
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 3
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 4
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 5
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 6
BASELWORLD & SIHH: Part 7

Source: June/July 2005 Issue

Click here to subscribe to Europa Star Magazine.