Heading to meet up with Romain Gauthier, I was excited to see what he had to share. Prior to Basel I was aware of his 10th Anniversary "Prestige HMS Ten" edition that is lovely and an update from the original. As many of you are aware, I'm a big fan of Romain's work. His designs are brilliant and with an engineers viewpoint to improving efficiency and timekeeping. The hand finishing that happens in his workshop is superlative. Philippe Dufour is a good friend of his, and has obviously given his input and expertise, as the resultant Romain Gauthier calibers are exquisitely hand finished.

Upon entering the booth, I was warmly greeted by Ana, Romain's dear wife before we sat down to business. First up were the 10th Anniversary models, ten pieces each in platinum, RG & WG. The blue dialed piece is the platinum, the silver dial for RG and a dramatic anthracite dial for WG. The platinum is killer, my choice of the three.

Platinum HMS Ten

The lovely HMS caliber in the platinum piece.

On the wrist, the RG Prestige HMS Ten, which is classic and elegant.

Great contrasting dark anthracite caliber with the RG case. All the elements of very fine classical hand finishing, Geneva stripes, black polish, perlage and beautiful anglage on the bridges and plates.

As Romain is apt to a little theatrics, he had covered the next watch with a black polishing cloth upon the suede tray. The previous watches were taken away and with a flick of the wrist he uncovered the Logical One, sitting alone on the tray. This was the WG model, now revealed for the first time. I love this watch, simply the best watch of Basel 2013. Initially, available only in platinum and RG in tiny editions of 20 pieces each, this model is the unlimited precious metal piece. The movement has a lovely contrasting frosted finish in rose gold for the plates and bridges. An enamel white dial finishes off the watch, so that the time is easily read. All in all, a superb watch, finished to the highest degree.

The WG Logical One.

As with many watchmakers, the temptation to succumb to the trend of "black" sport watches, was in evidence here. Maybe it's a Swiss thing, wanting to differentiate between dress watches and "Sportive" watches, even though it's the essentially the same watch. Casing a superlative caliber in titanium with a black ADLC coating, does make for a no dress watch. Romain released the Logical One in this garb. Not typically my speed, this watch will appeal to certain collectors, who wish to remain very much under the radar with a sport watch, that really is fantastically complicated and exquisitely hand finished. I think if I was to get a blackened Ti watch from Romain, I would prefer the HMS in Titanium. I have to say the combination of high polish Ti and brushed Ti in the case, makes for a good looking watch. I'll let you be the judge:

On the wrist, the Titanium Logical One

The strap is rather attractive with the red stitching!

The HMS Titanium, the red accents against the dark dials and on the tips of the hands, definitely sporty!

Next, I headed right over to the AHCI stand, a mere 15 yards down the aisle, to see a few friends. As this year is the 30th Anniversary of the founding of the AHCI, some heavy hitting early members were exhibiting. One of whom is quite humble and a brilliant watchmaker. Recently lauded by Harry Winston Fine Timepieces to create the Opus 13, Ludovic Ballouard was sitting enjoying an espresso when I accosted and greeted him. His English isn't brilliant, so we communicate in a combination of French and English. We manage! On his wrist is the prototype of the Opus XIII. Cased in platinum and featuring an ingenious design for telling time. Individual white tipped hands for every minute appear from the exterior ring with every 5 minute denoted by a red one. The Hour is a Jumping triangle that emerges from the center section in the hour of choice. There is a lot of moving parts and to reduce the friction, this caliber sports 242 jewels! Ludovic was wearing the prototype in somewhat protest, at least that is what I deduced. Since the Swatch Group acquired the Harry Winston company last year, the Opus program has come into question, and I suspect that Ludovic has been messed around. Swatch Group is not known for doing the right thing when it comes to business. They are all about the bottom line, and I personally know several folk who have worked for them in the US, and have experienced this first hand. So I'm afraid the Opus XIII may never come to fruition...in the meantime you can enjoy it here.

The great Ludovico inspecting my Keaton Myrick 1 in 30 series.

The HW Opus XIII, showing 9:56

Here it is showing 9:57. Once the watch gets to the top of the hour, all the minute markers flip out of sight, the hour triangle jumps to the next hour. In effect, the hour triangle flips around so that the tip faces in toward the center, while the next hour triangle flips 90' to point out towards the bezel.

The amazing caliber by Ludovico.

From here I wandered next door into the Grönefeld/Voutilainen/Sarpaneva/Loupe System stand to meet up with Stephen McGonigle. It was after 5 O'Clock, so the beer was flowing. Stephen was keen to check out Keaton's watch too.

Tim & Bart Grönefeld with Stephen McGonigle

Irish focus, Dutch fun!

Tim Grönefeld, Stephen (yes, those are his brows) McGonigle and yours truly.

After this I headed over with Stephen to find Peter Speake-Marin in Hall 1. Stephen was keen to meet with Peter and see his stand. They are old friends having worked alongside one another at a couple of firms many years ago prior to going independent in Switzerland.

Yes, Stephen is great fun and allways fairly irreverent. He enjoys life on his terms and is a great friend at this point in time. Being able to spend time with these guys after hours, cements the relationships. During the fair they are "On" and typically in overwhelm mode. Not so once the public heads out at 6pm.

Dinner that evening, was at a local Thai restaurant with collector friends and several watchmakers, plus a new friend from Scotland, the amazing Fiona Kruger, whose watches are getting a lot of press as of lately. She is an art major and designed the watch around the skull and Day of the Dead style wise. Comprised of several layers, the case and dial is to my knowledge unique and quite clever. Notice the Speake-Marin hands, Peter as a friend helped consult with Fiona on this project, and obviously lent his expertise and hands to the final result. Stepan Sarpaneva, the Grönefeld brothers and Kari Voutilainen were all in attendance. A fun evening ensued and I left with full stomach, aching more from laughing than the food consumed!