Our “first time” at BASELWORLD 2017.
We’re excited, exhilarated, delighted… Blimey! Sometimes even seasoned Magpie is lost for words to describe the largest and the most luxurious watch and jewelry fair in the world. We’re of course talking about BASELWORLD 2017, where each year the whole watch industry and press of the world gathers to see the watch novelties for 2017. But to see them you need a special invitation from the companies. Are you curious who invited Pica Pica to Baselworld?
Let’s start visiting…
With invitations in our iPhones we get through the gates. We are starting our walk around Baselworld with watching the stands of brands shaking the jewelry world – 2 thousand stands, 100 thousand visitors (Breitling even brought a huge aquarium with jellyfish, nearby a while before on the Hublot stand Depeche Mode gave a concert) – and each stand is of the size of a historical tenement house. One more beautiful than the other.
I’ll tell you that it looks as if the companies had really unlimited budgets and were participating in an unofficial beauty pageant for the stands. But this time we pass on juroring. I’ll tell you instead how another of our dreams came true and we’re here!
Invitation to Baselworld
And all of this thanks to APART brand who is distributing Breitling, Zenith Watches, Albert Riele, Edox Swiss Watches, Bergstern, Elixa, Aztorin, AM PM watches in their salons. You have to know that the watches you are buying in Poland have their premieres at Basel. (- Can you feel the prestige?). APART deserves of course a round of applause. And let’s make it double. One for inviting Magpies and allowing us to give you a relation, and the other one for…
A beautiful stand (You’ll see it in the photos in a minute!) – bigger and in a better location than a year ago. On top of that well prepared smiling consultants and homely atmosphere – all guests invited by the company are welcomed by the President Piotr Rączyński himself and the service treats them with freshly brewed coffee, delicious snacks and prosecco.
There is one more thing you need to know. APART is the only Polish brand you will see at Baselworld. The insiders know how many requirements need to be fulfilled and how well one has to prepare and endeavor to be here.
Do you know that for your watch to be legally * Swiss Made it had to fulfill three criteria, that is:
- it was assembled in Switzerland,
- it was imported by the manufacturer in Switzerland,
- at least 50% of its components was manufactured in Switzerland (regardless of whether it uses parts from other countries. The law also requires the assembly works of the watch and the mechanism and final tests were made only in Switzerland).
That’s why when buying one of models from APART recommended by as you aren’t buying “a pig in a poke”. Now you know what to pay attention to when buying a watch. And I’m calm that you’ll invest in not only a beautiful but also a sturdy watch.
* Swiss Made is a high quality sign (signature) regulated by Swiss law (pursuant to the Regulation regulating the use of the watch brand of 23 December 1971 – the state on 1 July 1995), defining the origin of the watch or mechanism.
Meeting with Zenith and Breitling
Am I not looking around too much? I hope you are still with me, because we’re pulling out a next invitations and running to two very nice meetings. When we are covering new kilometers through the fair I will tell you why the invitations are so important. The answer is simple. Without them you won’t make a step through the threshold of any dream company’s stand (- Bribery, big blue eyes and fluttering eyelashes and other tricks won’t help!), at most you’ll take a look and leave the fingerprints on the outside showcases.
So smiling and cheerful we enter the ZENITH stand. Motorcycles, a barber precisely cutting beards for elegant men and a bootblack. Apart from this impeccable setting, the company prepared new models of watches. Among them a fantastic Heritage model with 38 mm steel watch case, available in two colors – brown and blue – powered by legendary El Primero werk. Gorgeous, isn’t it.
I’ll will soon tell you about it in details and now we are going to another meeting. We go back to a huge stand with aquarium full of jellyfish. At Breitling’s door we are welcomed by perfectly dressed hostesses (Would you believe each day they had different outfits, hairstyles and make up?). We get enameled necklaces with the brand’s logo and we go to third floor for the individual show of the latest watches in a small conference room. Oh! Such things only at Baselworld…
Elixa event
A relaxing moment at the end of the day. The day is ending with a delicious dinner in one of the most fashionable and cult places in Basel, that is Volkshaus-Basel. At the table next to us sits Olivier Janiak and tells us that we are so nice that he would like to record our opinion to his program “What a week (Co Za Tydzień)” (- And so it happened!) Here you have a link (in Polish). Apart from that at the party we had exquisite food, a magician and delicious Swiss wines. The day couldn’t have ended better!
Pssst. I can’t stop from gossiping with you. I’ll tell you, Magpie, that nearby – but in the same venue – Patek Philippe (that is a total watch GURU) is having their party. One watch is worth as much as four apartments in Warsaw! Congrats, APART for choosing the place and organizing a fantastic event of world standard.
We came back from the fair absolutely inspired. And this is because our “first time” on BASELWORLD was simply… DIVINE. We have something like untouchable dates in or Magpie calendar – Baselworld 2018 is one of them. See your next year. <3