Amazingly this is my 16th year attending the annual fair in Basel and it becomes quite familiar now, with the overpriced food and beer around the exhibition center known as the Messe! Expertly coiffed watch and jewelry marketing and sales personnel from the approx. 1800 exhibitors from 41 different countries, stroll around the exhibition halls, as though what they are doing is actually meaningful in the big scheme of life...I suppose one could argue that some of the big brands do contribute some portion of their millions to deserving charities and causes, but essentially for most it is hard core business, albeit a bit sexier than selling computers or insurance!
Exhibition Square tram stop, Basel.
Jaded, perhaps, but the reality of the "Watch business" has made me see the ugly underbelly and it isn't pretty. I love many of the products the watch houses create, but I can't abide by their business practices and in particular their lack of customer service when it comes to watch service and repair. Much of the watch world is consolidating and in a wait and see mode, or outright free fall, with too many watches being produced for the market. So, I spend my time in the rarified world of the Independent Watchmaker, found in the AHCI or typically the Palace areas of the Baselworld show.
Since I arrived in Switzerland from the west coast of the US, the 9hr time difference can be quite a challenge if I go right to the show, so I typically take a couple of days to decompress and adjust to European time in the UK (visiting family) and sometimes a day in Switzerland visiting a watchmaker if possible. This year was similar to previous ones and I got to spend an evening with Thomas Prescher and his lovely family together with the following day spent touring Alsace ending up in Strasbourg on Wednesday.
Quite exquisite hand-carved stone work inside, the trusty L&H Moritz to keep me company.
Thomas Prescher is one of the rare breed of truly brilliant watchmakers, whose body of work speaks for itself. As the guy who designed and built the very first and only Flying Triple Axis Tourbillon back in 2004, I'm allways excited to see what he's up to. I got to spy in on his workbench and lo & behold there was a vintage Minute Repeater caliber. This is going into a custom Prescher piece commissioned by a collector. Here is an image of it:
I got to see Marco from Lang & Heyne first on Thursday, he exhibits next door to the AHCI stand in Hall 2. This year the only new aspect of his previous offerings was a black dial for the Johann model that I love.
Discussing future business, I decided to order another Friedrich III in steel for stock with the new solid silver frosted dial and romans. Previously this model in steel was only offered with a black dial with the roman numerals, and as a change I thought this would make a good addition to the inventory in Solana Beach. It will come with blued steel cathedral hands, so quite a classical watch for the enjoyment of many years.
Friedrich III with solid silver frosted dial and killer blued steel L&H "Cathedral" hands
I typically spend anywhere from 30mins to an hour with the watchmakers, going over new product, discussing client needs and wants, ordering new pieces if needed and generally building my relationships, that many times are more like friendships. As with a good friendship, there is a certain level of comfortableness and that creates great trust, which after all is really important in our world of hand shake agreements. No lawyers overseeing legal docs. to sign before one strikes up a business relationship, etc. This is real old school, people working together for the betterment of all parties, including the end user who after all supports this fragile world of the Independent Watchmaker and allows him/her to follow their chosen path of micro-mechanical artistry. Lest anyone belittle what these guys & gals do, I can tell you that they are integral to the workings of the big watch business too. They are the ones who can actually make watches from scratch and preserve the knowledge of true watchmaking for generations to come.
To be continued...