Last night was the grand opening party for my exhibition of fine art watch photography at Starhill Gallery, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pending any unforeseen changes, the images should be up for the next two weeks on the first (Adorn) floor. The exhibition was co-sponsored by Jaeger-LeCoultre and Leica, with CEO Jerome Lambert, Swiss Ambassador Dr. Rolf Lenz and Malaysian Tourism Minister Dato Ng Yen Yen doing the honors. Some images from the launch party follow. Images courtesy KH Yeo and myself.
I’ll be putting up a full set of the photos from the exhibition in the next couple of days for the readers who can’t make it to Kuala Lumpur. An article on how the series was shot is here on my blog. MT
Setup.
With George Wong from Leica.
The entrance
Arrival of Malaysia’s Minister of Tourism, Dato Ng Yen Yen
Jaeger Le-Coultre CEO Jerome Lambert shows Dato Ng Yen Yen around the exhibition
Signing the big print.
L-R: Yours truly, Tan Sri Francis Yeoh (MD, YTL Group), Jerome Lambert (CEO, Jaeger Le-Coultre), Dato Ng Yen Yen (Minister of Tourism), Dr. Rolf Lenz (Swiss Ambassador to Malaysia), Sunil Kaul (Leica Asia-Pacific MD)
Showing Jerome Lambert the setup used to shoot the images
Private tour for Alexis Delaporte (JLC Asia-Pacific MD) and Jerome Lambert
There is a lot to love about Basel World – the obvious, like 1300 exhibiting timepiece manufactures all within a square mile – and there is a lot one can do without – the long days, endless meetings, bathrooms oddly placed in smoke-filled stairwells and seeming total unavailability of lunch food beyond bratwurst. But, without a doubt the best thing about Basel World is getting to see friends you don’t often see, sitting down over a beer and just having fun. You see, the watch world is, at the end of the day, a rather small one, and the majority of us are dear friends. Sure, we may write for this blog and they might write for that blog, and person X might slave away tirelessly and brilliantly with little aclaim, while person Y might be a media darling, but at the end of the day, we are all friends and while Basel is business for all of us, we make sure to take a night off from the glad handing to do what we want to do – and this post shows you exactly what we want to do.
Since I’ve been coming to Basel World, i’ve joined some good friends, like Frank from Monochrome, Gerard from In2Watches, and Robert-Jan from FratelloWatches for a saturday night of schnitzel and beer. Last year, the group grew to include several other friends, like Ernie from Watchuseek, the Grönefeld Brothers, and Stepan Sarpaneva. This year, the group grew to include several more friends – so many friends in fact that we took over the entire restaurant. And, since we were all together already, it seemed like the perfect place for the folks from Timezone to present the “Watch of the Year” award to the Gronefelds.
Click through for a detailed photo report on our favorite night of the year at Basel World – schnitzel saturday shared with many of our friends, and many of the greatest watchmakers in the world. See who you can spot after the jump, and we hope you enjoy this look at the very human side of the watch industry.
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A quick pre-edit of the flight I had in the Breitling DC-3 HB-IRJ from Bern (Switzerland) to Bern. I’ve deliberately not added any music for the numerous people who love the sound of this mythic aircraft!
Late last month, JLC’s Unique Auction took place in Paris, bringing out some serious bidders from around the world. Thanks to stiff bidding competition, 10 world records were set on such examples as a Deep Sea Alarm Europe, and even an Atmos. Vintage pieces enjoyed the most success, with pocket watches, some divers and chronographs pulling in strong numbers, even if within their estimates.
Other notable performers include a Militaire SHOM, which sold for 15,000 €, a Polaris 1968 brought 23000 €, a QP Staybrite got 70,000 € and a Reverso Cadran Bleu that got 38,000 €. All of those prices exclude fees and VAT.
Head over to PuristS for further insights on the auction results including some interesting commentary.
Maybe one of the most interesting Mondaine watches I have worn lately – this “Night Vision” version of their famous Swiss Railways watch comes with tritium gas tubes as well as a big date indicator. Still, it retains that classic look one seeks when wearing a watch like this.
You really need to travel in Switzerland a bit (at least by train) to fully understand that this indeed is the look of the clocks in the train stations around Switzerland. The national railway logo in red and white accompanied by SBB CFF FFS is right there on the dial as well. I still have no idea what those nine letters stand for by the way. They seem a bit excessive if you ask me. Oh well, that is Swiss tradition for you.
I would never consider a standard Mondaine watch a sport watch. It is much more a simple casual watch in my opinion. Though Mondaine brands this one as a sport piece. It’s full name is the Mondaine Men’s Night Vision Tritium Sport (ref. A669.30308.14SBB). Is the sport name because of the tritium gas tubes? Sort of, but I don’t think that should automatically make it, or any other watch that you can see in the dark more easily a sport watch. Tritium gas tubes are small tubes filled with a mild (and safe) radioactive compound that glows naturally for about 20-25 years. These tubes are placed in the watch hour and minute hands, as well as near each hour marker. This allows for rather easy viewing of the time in the dark.
Aside from the tubes in the hands, you really can’t see the other tubes unless you are in the dark. They are integrated into the flange ring and seen through the 12 little angular holes. The standard applied hour markers in white are what are more visible in normal light. What I believe Mondaine was going for here was to retain the core look of the watch but also add the functionality of the gas tubes.
The watch comes in both black and white dial versions. The white dialed version has black hands and hour indicators. Both are highly legible. On the dial is also the big-date indicator which is part of the Swiss quartz movement (from Ronda I believe). The dial is covered with a domed mineral crystal – which is acceptable for the price. The crystal is very clear with almost no dial distortion.
On the wrist this model is 41mm wide in a brushed steel case. I love the inset red lacquer in the crown where the “M” logo is. That is a nice stylized touch. The watch case is water resistant to 30 meters. A bit low for a watch with “sport” in the name. Adding a screw down crown could easily have increase that to 50-100 meters I believe. The watch actually wears smaller than 41mm because the widest part of the case is in the middle. You’ll notice that the bezel rounds in a bit, helping to create the illusion that the watch wears smaller than it is.
Attached to the case is a nice rugged feeling leather strap in black with white contrast stitching. There is a Mondaine signed buckle on it. Wearing comfort for the watch is what you’d come to expect from this watch size and shape. It will become increasingly comfortable as the strap rounds to your particular wrist. For a convenient and slightly avant garde conservative watch with some added functionality, the Mondaine Big Date NIght Vision Swiss Railways watch is an easy choice. Price is $ 325.
Thanks to Mondaine for the review unit. Opinions are 100% independent.
Written by Mr. Ariel Adams – aBlogtoRead.com, trusted independent watch media.
The mosque is the largest place of worship in Bahrain. It is located next to the King Faisal Highway in Juffair, which is a town located in the capital city of Manama. The mosque very close to the Royal Bahraini Palace, the residence of the king of Bahrain Hamad ibn Isa Al Khalifah. The huge dome built on top of the Al-Fatih Mosque is made of pure fiberglass. Weighting over 60 t (60,000 kg), the dome is currently the worlds largest fibreglass dome.The mosque was built by the late Sheikh Isa ibn Salman Al Khalifa in 1987. It is named after Ahmed Al Fateh, the conqueror of Bahrain.
He said John Cena has no talent, like Cena or not he’s a 9 time world champion… If John Cena has no talent and is nothing compared to The Rock, what does that say about the rest of the roster? Triple H got a lot of heat within the IWC for saying the locker room holds no more challenges for himself or The Undertaker… I’ve seen no one yet complain The Rock buried anyone in another Via Satellite segment… John Cena has victory’s over HBK, Triple H, Big Show, Edge… he’s beaten pretty much everyone on the roster.
Why does The Rock get to bury the roster? Should The Rock have really said that?
Thought/opinions.
Yes i get its scripted so if your only answer is to tell me that you missed the point, this question is >>> IN CONTEXT OF THE SHOW/ WWE UNIVERSE WHATEVER YOU WANT TO CALL IT <<< Now if you can't understand that save me the trouble of having to read your answer, two points really aren't worth proving you can't understand questions in context.
Ohh how witty someone used The Rock's out dated catchphrases to answer because they can't actually think of an intelligent reply... *sigh*
Fan boy? That all you have kid? Thanks for proving you can't understand a question in context and assume I'm a John Cena fan because of what is said in this question... *sigh*
I can see this question is going to leave me wishing i'd never bothered even trying with the WS again... *Massive sigh*
Being buried has nothing to do with agreeing with the comments, how do i explain this... What The Rock said made the whole roster look bad in context of the show, IE wrestlers winning because they are better ect. you know the Kayfabe of the show is your champion is your best wrestler? When a 9 time world champion is insulted for having no talent and being a poor wrestler ON THE SHOW, it makes the whole roster who couldn't beat him look bad... We all know that's not how wrestling works BUT how it works and how its presented are two worlds. Triple H and John Morrison said whatever they did in the real world outside of the WWE universe, The Rock said it within the WWE Universe and in turn appeared to make everyone that beat John Cena look worse in comparison... The whole roster looks weak if John Cena is the top guy but The Rock tells everyone he's not in the same league as The Rock.
Does anyone actually understand this question in the kayfabe/context of a wrestling show? Anyone out the
A heel coming out and saying "you can't wrestle" is VERY different to a so called "WWE Legend" coming out and saying it, if Hulk Hogan had come out and said something like this to The Rock when they feuded it would have destroyed everything The Rock had worked to build. Peers playing a role and a WWE legend coming back and saying how much worse everything is now compared to when the legend was on top just makes the whole current era and roster look bad... is it just me? Am i going crazy? Oh i get it because "no one" likes John Cena its easier to overlook it right? If The Rock said the same thing about Orton it would have the same... might have got a different reaction though.
Best answer:
Answer by The Corre Of NexSES Master Of The Poontang Pie because he can know shut ur mouth and know ur role.
On Saturday the 27th August at 9.15pm Party Time by Sekonda watches are sponsoring a new one off music special; A Night With Will Young. The show is hosted by Loose Women’s Kate Thornton and will be a feast of Will’s music including some of his biggest hits and tracks from his new album ‘Echoes’, he is also sure to perform his new single ‘Jealousy’. All of the songs were performed live in front of a studio audience. He opens with a rendition of ‘Your Game’ backed by a London Gospel Choir, other elements of the show are also quite theatrical, giving him an opportunity to relax and enjoy his new sound, which is definitely much more electronic than his previous music.
Will Young will be taking questions from his fans giving a unique viewpoint on his career and life so far. He also will be providing a few unexpected surprises for the studio audience and the viewers at home.
Will has sold over 8 million records so far since he won the UK talent show Pop Idol ten years ago. His new album is sure to add to the total when it is released on August 22nd. It is the follow up to his platinum selling ‘Hits’ album and his 5th studio album so far.
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If you would like to view our Sekonda Party Time watches please follow the link.
