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Friday, March 16, 2012

VirtualBasel: Final Impressions


Ed wraps up this little "Social Media" experiment - as it turns out we weren't the only ones covering this show long distance - nod to Anthony DeMarco (get well soon)!

Hello one last time from the BaselWorld ether. As I mentioned in my last post, we were barely scratching the surface and it was time to close. I’d like to offer a final tip of the hat to my friend and fellow jewelry junkie, Robyn Hawk for giving me the opportunity to experiment a little with covering the show virtually.

At first, I thought I’d try to give daily reports about watches and brands that caught my eye. Then I decided I needed to give an overview of the show for those who may not have known much about it. Then it became clear to me that I’d never be able to do anything justice.

I’d simply miss too much if I took that approach. Nearly 1900 exhibitors, six halls – most with two or three floors – totaling roughly 1.6 million square feet, over 3000 press representatives, over 100,000 visitors (including the Governator himself, Arnold Schwarzenegger).

Credit: Altman Gadi 

And what did we miss?

We missed Hublot’s $5M diamond-encrusted Big Bang.


A friend of mine who’s not into watches but knows I am, couldn’t imagine who would buy or wear such a watch. I responded, “Who knows? But if nothing else, it’s a great buzz piece for Hublot.” Indeed, I’ve been seeing this watch pop up all over the internet, in social media outlets as well as the online arms of the conventional media.

We missed the Bell & Ross WW1 Jump Hour series.

Credit: www.clicktempus.com

Ummm… a great look, but WW1? As in World War 1? I guess, if you understand that it takes some of its inspiration from the pocket watches of 100 years ago. Still…

And we haven’t even mentioned the dozens of other high profile brands, Breitling, Rolex,  IWC, Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre (who’s been celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Reverso, the legendary Art Deco watch inspired by the needs of polo players), etc. etc.

I’m overwhelmed just thinking of all I couldn’t cover for you.

However, here’s a final impression of this year’s show...


Wait! Tools!? Did you see tools in that video? And cars? Race cars?

Yes, we were only able to scratch the surface of this terrific watch and jewelry – or jewellery – show. Maybe next year VirtualBasel will turn out to be BaselWorld Live!

A note for those interested in attending - next year’s show is happening a month later. April 25, 2013. The show does float around the spring calendar a bit, but I think the extra month before next year is so construction on the new halls has a chance to conclude.
Credit: BaselWorld

Maybe I’ll see you there!

A Little About Ed Estlow:
Guest watch geek – er… blogger Ed Estlow resides in the Northern Time Zone. A self-professed chrono-junkie, he writes compelling story-filled copy for his clients from wherever he happens to be. Contact him at Ed@EdEstlow.com, on Facebook (look for NorthernTimeZone), or check him out atwww.about.me/edestlow.

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