My first BaselWorld day kicked off with the traditional fair press conference where I discovered that Swiss exports were up 1.9%, that I was one of a staggering 4,000 journalists visiting the show, and one of the 50 percent of people working in the Swiss watch industry who aren’t actually Swiss! I wasn’t quite sure what to make of these statistics so I decided to head off to Hublot and get some good fusion vibes from Jean-Claude Biver who didn’t disappoint as he sang The Beatles “All you need is love” in his annual press conference!

Biver was flanked by two of the Swiss Olympic ski champions, Maria Hoefl-Riesch and Dario Cologna, and presented them with gold watches to accompany their gold medals. Ricardo Guadalupe then took the microphone to present a series of photographs for a new campaign for the Brazilian Football World Cup, plus a new watch, which I couldn’t actually see as there were so many people on the stand, but I did get a picture of the ball (see photo)! I promise to return this week.

Next stop was Tudor where Davide Cerrato continues to rock watch design with two fantastic new collections—the Ranger and the Style—with irresistible pricing that starts at 1,900 CHF. He also presented a new Black Bay timepiece with a midnight blue bezel and black dial that is just gorgeous (see Tudor posts below).

My favorite watch of the day though had to go to Christophe Claret and his new ladies’ collection called Margot. I have never really trusted men designing women’s watches, but I tip my hat to Claret who presented a beautiful complication for women with a daisy whose petals disappear on demand…he loves me, he loves me not…it is romantic, seriously technical, and fitted me like a glove, despite its large size and my skinny wrists, and I want one!

The afternoon was also filled with excitement as I saw Colin Firth at Chopard and learned about their initiative to incorporate Fairmined gold into their L.U.C tourbillon; then I discovered a new take on the double tourbillon at Corum; a custom made Harley Davidson at Bell & Ross, and an upside down staircase at the Hermès cocktail party plus an upside down watch! But more about that tomorrow as I kick off day two with a Hermès product presentation at 9am…so until then, fellow watch lovers.

 

Daily Statistics

Weather: 1 | 13 °C – 50-80% of sunshine

Morning run: 30 minutes / 5km

Km covered around the show: 7 km

Brands seen: Hublot, Tudor, Christophe Claret, Chopard, Corum, Bell & Ross, Hermès

Watches tried on: 38

Favorite men’s watch: Tudor Ranger

Favorite ladies’ watch: Christophe Claret Margot