Baselworld By the Numbers

Thursday March 27 Day two at the expo, and opening day for the general public

Some numbers and other info from Basel:

* an estimated 100,000 people will attend the show;
* There are approximately 4,000 journalists here from all over the world;
* 22 billion Swiss francs of watches were exported from Switzerland in 2013, making watches the backbone of the Swiss economy, even ahead of tourism;
* a room at the Ramada Hotel, across from the fairgrounds, starts at 640 Swiss francs (about $755 US) per night, and goes up from there, and they are sold out. By comparison, my room at the InterCity is $148 per night, plus $58 daily round trip for the train ride between Frieburg and Basel.
* The mayor of Basel, attending opening ceremonies, declared Baselworld the city's most important (read $$$-producing) event; and
* the new buzzword this year is "Swissness," a noun to designate a singular origin of a watch to Switzerland. The Swiss watch industry successfully petitioned the Swiss parliament to trademark the word, which will give the industry group the right to sue any non-Swiss company that might try to use the word.

I tried to get an earlier start this morning and may have overcompensated slightly. Sleep came quickly Wednesday night, but I woke up around 3 a.m. and never got back to sleep before my alarm went off at 5 a.m. The nice thing was I had the breakfast bar nearly all to myself when it opened at 6 a.m. More of the same, but tried some brie with my scrambled eggs, very good. Tried the public computer in the lobby, but the SD slot was disabled. I may be fucked on the photos until I get home. Technology marches on, and I guess SD cards are the latest media to be left the dust. The preferred removable media seems to be the USB thumb drive.

Bought my train ticket at a vending machine today, and it worked. The German vending machines must be wired into a different (and U.S.-compatible) network than the Swiss, where I had no luck on Wednesday trying to buy a tram ticket to the media party. I bought an all-day tram ticket in case I needed the tram for anything. Arrived at the expo center a half hour before the media center opened, so I had some time to kill, and what better place to kill it. And speaking of kill, smoking is very big here. You walk through a cloud of cigarette smoke upon entering/exiting the hall entrances; guess they haven't heard the news yet over here.

I had two "events" here today. One, I snagged an invite to a press conference/lunch at the Frederique Constant/Alpina booth; and had a pre-arranged interview with a rep of the Edox Watch Co. Here is a photo of me, rare moment in a suit, with my all-important press pass:




"I'm with the media. Do you have any swag or free food for me?"

The press conference at FC/Alpina was mildly interesting, with the segment on Alpina announcing their latest sponsorship of two adventurers: Norwegain Borge Ousland, and Frenchman Vincent Colliard, who are in the midst of a mission to cross the 20 largest world glaciers together. This section of their journey, under sponsorship of Alpina, will take them across the Severny Island glacier in Russia, and Grant Ice Cap in Canada, all the time wearing the Alpina "Alpiner 4 Chronograph" strapped to their wrists. I guess no matter what your passion, if you are savvy enough, and your idea is "marketable" enough, you can find someone to give you money and a nice watch to wear. The expedition's mission statement is "Believe, preserve, transmit," and these guys are doing research and drawing attention to world governments to increase efforts to fight the disappearance of glaciers.

What a job. I mean, how does this go over at cocktail parties?

"Good evening Mr, Ousland, what do you do for a living?"

"I cross glaciers on foot and on skies with a man approximately half my age."

Anyone have a response for that? Anyone? Anyone? Beuller?

Anyway, we got to meet the intrepid adventurers, and after the speeches, we were plied with champagne, canapés, and delicious one-bite desserts, all served by waiters and waitresses walking around in starched shirts and feigning happiness. It was all very fun, but I gleaned precious little about Alpina's history with regard to their beautiful dress watches and supplying movements to some of the worlds great watch brands during their heyday in the 1920s and '30s. They are moving in an entirely different direction, making Alpina the sportier brand compliment to their luxury fashion brand of Frederique Constant.

The afternoon interview with Laurence (female) Weimer of Edox was congenial and went well. But once again, as with Alpina, they were very short on information about their history, as all historical records were thrown away in the 1980s when the company moved from Biel. What I got mostly was the story of their current mission to create sport watches (which were always the company's bread and butter) that somehow separates them from the "pack" by virtue of unique construction materials, and sponsorship of "offbeat" and obscure sporting events, including curling and power boat racing. Laurence was a good, relaxed interview, and she presented me with a box of REALLY good chocolates as a small thank-you for my time, which I consumed half of back at my hotel room.

Upon return to my room, I decided to splurge on dinner (since breakfast and lunch were "free" and went to the restaurant Kreuzblume, recommended by the Lonely Planet travel guide series. It is fusion cuisine, or as it's known by its detractors, "little food on big plates." The emphasis is more on contrasting flavors and textures, to be savored by the palette, than on huge portions to be sucked up like a Hoover vacuum cleaner. Nathan, had you been along, you would have hated it. Chris (Nathan's spouse to those of you who don't know Nathan), had you been along, you would have loved it.

First course was a beet salad with fresh greens, fresh orange segments, a long sliver of brie, topped with crème fraiche  and sprinkled with almonds. A bread basket was also provided complimentary with three toppings. My main course was strips of ribeye steak prepared medium-rare, served with browned potatoes and a compote of caramelized onion. Surrounding the plate was a puree of fennel, making an interesting "dipping sauce" for the steak and potatoes. For my app/bread course, I had a glass of the house Reisling,  and with dinner a half liter pilsner glass of Ganter, the local brew mentioned previously. The bill with tip came to $75, and I didn't have dessert or coffee, opting instead for chocolates and coffee back at the hotel room.

Bone tired, I hit the sack at about 9:30. At about 12:30, I awoke and figured out the message I had heard earlier on Dawn's voice mail at work stating she would be out until April 7. A check of my emails confirmed the news that Aunt Pat had passed away earlier in the day.  Dawn and I were prepared for this possible (and likely) event, and the plan is for me to remain on this trip. I did say my goodbyes to Aunt Pat earlier, and I will go to Maryland soon after my return to pay my final respects.

Bruce