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 80^th 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.

Virtual Basel: BaselWorld – On Social Media For Sure!

Ok - we're back with another installment from our favorite Watch Geek - Ed Estlow!

Hi again from VirtualBasel. Sorry I missed yesterday – nasty ol’ root canal ruined my day! But I’m back now, with no trouble but a sore jaw, so here goes!

One thing I did learn while leaning into the pain yesterday is that VirtualBasel is alive & well. Turns out the problem with covering BaselWorld via the web and social media isn’t whether a person can find stuff to write about. The problem is weeding through ALL there is out there!

At the risk of giving away my web-sifting secret, use #baselworld if you’re on Twitter. Updates flow regularly, and while some are just offering opinions, there are plenty of links too.

Here’s a sampling of Twi-pinion:

#BASELWORLD is way too big but we are done with the Hall 1 and Hall 5 :)

We'll have to wait till @couture_jeweler to see #beautiful #jewelry. #baselworld is more focused on #watches.

London bound...top #baselworld and now need a rest..show me my bed...

Without further ado, my #baselworld #top5

I want so many of the new #Omega watches being shown at #Baselworld it isn't even funny.

Now for a sampling of noted watches.

Several places across the web – private parties, bloggers, and trade magazines – are heralding the Patek Philippe white dial Nautilus. While I usually prefer a dark or black dial, this is a great, light casual/dress look.

Photo credit: The Prodigal Guide and Patek Philippe

Another showstopper is the OMEGA Seamaster Aqua Terra GMT. I’m a big fan of most things Omega (my personal daily wear watch is a 3570.50 Speedmaster), and ALL things Seamaster! The Aqua Terra GMT doesn’t disappoint. And hey! There’s that black dial!

Photo credit: Omega Watches

OK… what else can we find?

Why yes! @Suitopia pointed out to earlier in a retweet of “@mikegold90: Most daring piece at #baselworld 2012? This machine from @mb&f #amuk:”

Most daring piece at #baselworld 2012? This machine from @mb&f #amuk twitter.com/mikegold90/sta…
— Mike Goldstein (@mikegold90) March 10, 2012

Now that’s one whacky watch! It’s the MB&F Horological Machine No. 4 (HM4).

Photo via Luxuryes 

When I first saw the HM4, I was reminded of the pod-racer the young Anakin Skywalker drove in Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. Indeed, MB&F created a one-off custom version containing a similar scenario – with a Panda bear of all things! If I remember right, the internals from the two sides, or pods, of this watch are interconnected. Much of the custom movement is housed – and visible through – a custom machined piece of sapphire shaped like a figure 8. For more on the watch, check the MB&F website. 

Gee… we’ve barely scratched the surface as I write this, and as @TorneauTimes said a few minutes ago on Twitter, “#BASELWORLD is close to wrapping up. What has everyone learned, enjoyed or is looking forward to the most?”

Tomorrow I’ll jot some of my conclusions about our little experiment. 



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.

Virtual Basel: BaselWorld – Impressions of the Halls

Guest Post by Ed Estlow: Are you having fun yet?  Ed is back for day two at BaselWorld!!!  ...well Virtual Basel!

OK watch fans! I’m back for Day 2 of this virtual adventure through the horological halls of BaselWorld. Yesterday I promised I’d take a step back and try to give you an overall idea of the show.

BaselWorld is spread across six “halls,” or buildings set a few blocks from the east bank of the Rhine River in Basel. The halls are numbered 1 through 6, but they’re also named: the Hall of Dreams, the Hall of Visions, the Hall of Elements, the Hall of Sensations, the Hall of Inspirations, the… well, you get the idea.

These buildings are HUGE. Some are bigger than others, but they’re HUGE! And more interesting to me, they’re more or less permanently dedicated to BaselWorld. I have to believe other things happen there during the year, but this whole facility is purpose-built for watch and jewelry exhibitions.

I remember six years ago when I ventured into Hall 1 for the first time. This is the Hall of Dreams, the main hall where the BIG brands have their pavilions. There’s really no way to convey just how big these pavilions are. At a regular trade show, a booth might be as big as 20’ by 30’ – and that’s a big one.

At BaselWorld, the “booths,” or pavilions are perhaps 30’ or 40’ square (some easily two or three times that), and are typically two or three – count ‘em, 3 – stories high! Inside of Hall 1!

Source: BASELWORLD

The first floor of most of these pavilions are generally open to the public. The second and third floors are offices and meeting rooms. Open to the public? Yes, BaselWorld is a public show. I was fascinated to see the occasional family milling around the place, sometimes pushing the stroller of an extremely young watch fan.

Here’s a short video to give you a sense of the place:

And here’s another video to give you a little better idea of what you might be up against if you accidentally pull your camera out of your pocket:

Now, somewhere in those videos you may have seen an escalator. Yep, several Halls have a second floor. Up there, some of the less-well-known brands and the up & comers have booths that are a little more sedate. Single-story, but still nice sized, and also fitted with private areas for client meetings.

Halls 2 and 3 are given over to jewelry, and I confess, I didn’t spend much time there (although my wife did). Halls 4 and 5 contain more watches, including some high-end boutique brands. Hall 6 is where many of the Asian brands – both watches and jewelry – call home.

Evolving in recent years is the BaselWorld Village – temporary restaurants and bars set up in the courtyard amongst the six halls. When we were there in 2006, this consisted of a single semi-permanent structure that housed a small café. You could get a sandwich and a beer or glass of wine, and you sat on the concrete side of the courtyard’s fountain pool while you ate.

Now…  well… restaurants and bars.

OK! That’s a brief overview of the venue. Tomorrow I’ll be following blogs and tweets – the REAL VirtualBasel, and getting back to individual timepieces that are jazzing folks (while dealing with a root canal, but that’s another story).

I’ll be trying to give you a sense of someone individually wandering the “Halls.”

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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 at www.about.me/edestlow.

Virtual-Basel: BaselWorld through the Ether

GUEST POST:  OK - are you ready for a little fun?  follow the fabulous Ed Estlow (self avowed watch geek) as he takes you on a Virtual Tour of BaselWorld!  Ready?  lets go...

I’ve been lamenting the fact that I’m not in Basel, Switzerland for BaselWorld right now. BaselWorld of course, is the huge annual watch & jewelry show. My wife and I attended in 2006 and had a fabulous time. In fact, we left with hopes of attending every two or three years. Well, that didn’t work out.

Now you have to understand, I’m self-confessed watch geek. So for the last six years I’ve been frustrated and worse, taunted from afar. See, I’m on BaselWorld’s mailing list so I get updates and invitations every year. Just haven’t been able to pull the trigger.

Well lo and behold, last evening my friend and online co-conspirator Robyn Hawk offered me a chance to vent my pent-up frustrations in a positive way. Her premise? With social media, blogs, and online press releases, sitting at my computer might just be the next best thing to being there. So she asked me to sift through the ether and send her reports from Virtual-Basel.

Here goes… how about a little taste of Germany to start?

Glashütte Original, one of my favorite brands, is releasing at least seven new models. I don’t have enough room to cover all seven, but I do want to talk about the new PanoReserve. The uncluttered asymmetric dial on this gentleman’s dress beauty provides plenty of visual interest. There’s a standard two hand display with small seconds at six, sits to the left of center. A power reserve indication and panoramic (big) date to the right keep things in balance.

All this covers a manually wound 48 jewel, 42 hour power reserve in-house movement, contained in steel or rose gold, strapped down with genuine Louisiana alligator in either black or brown.

The stainless steel version with grey ruthenium dial caught my eye, but the watch is also available in stainless steel with silver dial, and rose gold with silver dial. Personally, I also think a version in rose gold and the grey dial would be a looker.

The next Glashütte entry is the Lady Serenade. Classic and feminine, with just enough diamonds to catch a lady’s eye, the Serenade offers a traditional dial with applied indices and decoration. The rose gold version features four symmetrically placed arcs of small diamonds set in thin lines of rose gold. This certainly kicks the looks up a notch from previous entries in the line.

The Lady Serenade is available in three versions of stainless steel, and an additional three versions of rose gold. You can add a diamond-set bezel to any of the six models.

The Serenade is strapped to your wrist via beige, brown, or tangerine (?!) Louisiana alligator or bronze satin to compliment the case materials and dial decoration.

Glashütte’s Manufacture Caliber 39-22 powers the Lady Serenade. The date resides at 6 o’clock, and the movement has a power reserve of 40 hours.

OK! How’m I doin’?

Unfortunately, we can’t cover every new watch this way and give you a sense of what’s going on. So stay tuned here for another report from VirtualBasel tomorrow, when we’ll backtrack a bit and try to give you an overall audio-visual sense of Hall 1.

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 at www.about.me/edestlow.