Baselworld

Well what kind of watchmaker would I be if I was in Switzerland and did not attend the Basel Fair? Baselworld is a huge watch and jewellery fair held here in Switzerland every year with retailers and wholesalers coming from all over the globe to attend. The day began with both John and Hakan sleeping in. We were to leave at eight but when I was ready I went to see if John was ready I woke him up but not to worry Hakan didn't arrive till nearly nine anyway as he had done the same thing. So whilst waiting I had a fresh croissant from the bakery and a cup of tea (the only one open on sunday and its right next door ;-) they made a wise business decision to close saturdays and open sunday and they are always busy). It is really quite mind boggling the extent some of the companies go to. The stands cost some of the companies millions of dollars and take months to construct all for one week. As an example Brietling had a huge tropical fish tank in the side of there display which I think had three or four levels to it. There are six different halls, one for big swiss watch brands, one for tools and one for brands from China, Hong Kong etc. My favourite part of the show was seeing the pieces individual watchmakers had hand made, there was a section set aside for these people that only had three or four pieces on display each but the craftsmanship and creativity displayed in this small corner would almost out do anything else I saw. I was a little disappointed to find some of the brands I really wanted to see, Audemars Piguet and Jageur-LeCoultre, did not attend Basel this year having opted to go only to one of the other fairs :-(. There are thousands of people to weave your way around, creating very tired feet and weary minds after a day. It was a great experience and as we had free tickets compliments of Rolex and Patek Philippe I had to go and now I can say I have been but unless I have an actual purpose of going I am not in a hurry to go back.

We got home at about half seven or eight I think and I went straight to bed without dinner. Day light saving started that saturday night and we had had a farewell dinner for someone leaving Champreveyres which all contributed. The week was very long and I went back to sleep after my alarm three mornings in a row! Well that is all for now plenty of study to be done but once again my blog is well overdue, can't believe it is April already!

Happy reading Budha ;-)