That looks like a lovely evening, I've signed up and looking forward to it!
Hi All
15 independent watch brands are hosting an evening in London on the 7th November (Update: Next event is June 5 2019 - See end of posts ) and I have 20 places for TZ-UK members should they want to come along.
Brands attending will be:
- Andreas Strehler
- Carl Suchy & Sohne
- Cyrus
- Czapek
- Dornblüth & Sohn
- Fabergé
- Fears
- Garrick
- GoS
- Lonville
- Moritz Grossmann
- Pinion
- Qlocktwo
- Vault Swiss
- Vertex
The event will be held at: M Restaurant, 2&3 Threadneedle Walk, 60 Threadneedle Street, London EC2R
Time: 18:30 - 22:30
It is a drinks and canapés evening and the informal structure will allow people to speak to the watch brands and get up close with their creations. It is of course free to attend, but strictly limited to invites only.
If you wish to come along, please go to the link below to register:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-w...ts-51627670753
Hope to see you there!
Piers
[ Disclaimer: I cleared this with Eddie before posting - Many thanks ! ]
Last edited by PIERS (UK); 15th April 2019 at 12:44.
That looks like a lovely evening, I've signed up and looking forward to it!
Thanks! Ticket booked. It will be good to see some independents. See you there. Martyn.
I’ve signed up, it’s not too far from work which is great.
Thank you very much for arranging this Piers, it sounds like it will be a lovely evening.
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Thank you for posting this!
Too far away for me Piers but i would have loved to attend.
This is wonderful, I’ve registered. Great chance to see more dornbluth in the flesh
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Thanks Piers. Registered.
Last edited by gbn13; 22nd October 2018 at 07:29.
Thanks for the responses so far - We have a few tickets left if anyone else wants to register. We'll need these by this Friday (26th October) so final numbers can be confirmed with the organiser.
– Piers
I am up for that.will try to sing up
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When you register, you should receive confirmation email from Eventbrite ( Might be a good idea to check spam folder if you cannot see it ) The ticket is in the email. If you haven't received an email, then PM me and I will check to see if it's on the system. ( Even if you don't have a ticket, as long as your name is down this will be fine for entry).
I’m in too. Thanks Piers. This promises to be a fantastic evening.
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I've signed up, looks great, thank you for the invitation.
I have signed up. Looking forward to it.
Thanks for the invite Piers.
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Absolutely brilliant!!
Thanks for sharing, I've signed up and am really looking forward to it.
What an offer, I can't attend but it's great to see how much you do for this forum Piers
Quick update - we now have 20 places filled - thanks. We do have space for a few more, but will only accept registrations up to the end of this Friday!
Piers
Looking forward to it . . .
Tonight is the night - looking forward to meeting some of you hopefully. So how we going to identify ourselves, secret handshake?
I shall wear a poppy
I'm wearing a lovely 38mm triple-date Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, in case anyone spots me!
Doh, didn't even occur to me to go with wrist spotting - I'll be wearing the Ming 19.01!
I'll be suited and booted too, with the Patek 3712 on my wrist.
All the best,
Paul
I cannot make it unfortunately: required at a formal dinner.
I’ll check to see whether I’m allowed to offer on my ticket.
Have a great time. Gutted to miss Dirk and Don (Vertex) as they are probably incoming pieces.
I’ll also be wearing an unconventional combo of db 99.1 and lumberjack shirt
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Good "do".
Particularly good to meet Dirk. What a nice guy.
As expected, the MG stand was very interesting - - but crowded.
The Andrea's Strehler movement in the new Garrick is a thing of beauty, and apparently you don't have to have the balance taking up a third of the dial. However I think that, were I to want to spend almost Ł20k on a watch, I might look elsewhere.
I made the mistake of looking at Strehler's own watches (annual output approximately 10 units), and fell in love. Papillon D'Or is quite something, and (in the flesh) quite understated.
At the other end of the scale, I got my first look at Pinion watches. The formula seems the same as that of Joerg Schauer at Stowa: use a reliable Swiss movement and put your design effort into the looks. Some really quite good looking pieces, but for the moment I think I will stay with Engelsbrand.
Didn't identify any TZers.
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I'm on my way back after an enjoyable couple of hours having a nose.
Had a good chat with Giles at Schofield, love their watches and also impressed by the Grossman watches.
Have to say the Faberge new models were quite something especially the GMT and Chrono.
Dornbluth had a very good display. I could of spent ŁŁŁŁ's.
Thanks to Piers for organising the invite.
Fully agree!
Great to meet Dirk and his Q-2010s. They’re an option for the future. A big premium on the 99 line, guess that’s due to the movement.
The MG Atum 37 in rose gold was my second favourite watch of the evening. My favourite was a strangers dark grey oysterquartz - increasingly interested in those.
Also my first time seeing Czapek in the flesh. Wonderful finishing and the movement casing is very unique.
Great evening and I only realised at the end our passes got us free beer...
Thank you again Piers
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Great event, thanks again Piers for sorting us out.
Got the chance to check out Vertex, Moritz Grossmann, Dornblueth, Garrick and naturally Pinion.
My favourites were Dornblueth, was totally sold on their product and their approach.
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Thanks to Piers for organising. Cracking night of watches! Also nice to meet a few of you but wish I could have met a few more!
Here are some pics (a bit lame so sorry) and my thoughts on what I saw. A bit of a long post so sorry!
Starting with Pinion - much nicer in the flesh and well made watches. Particularly liked the Pure - I do prefer sub dial second and hand wound movements. Lovely watch.
Vertex - pricey but it is a nice watch. Not sold on how they sell to customers (their referral system). Watch fund is depleted but I would consider buying one. I like the use of lume to create a more 3D dial.
Garrick - some excellent Guilloche work and I thought their regulator was well thought out. For the price, I think it’s great value actually and certainly worth seeing.
Faberge - 2 products using Agenhor movements - crazy complicated both the GMT and chronograph and excellent execution. I think they don’t great recognised enough - maybe due to the brand name?
Dornblueth - this was a brand I used to really like. Quite expensive now though and maybe my tastes have changed but left me a bit cold. Good luck to them as they are nice people and I think continuously busy.
Vault - interesting watch where you set it by rotating the entire movement. Whimsical in its philosophy and they’ve spent some serious money to get it working. Too expensive for me at 50k!
G&S - all about the Damascus dials - seriously outstanding work. Hard to capture in photos, but certainly a unique watch. I forgot to take a pic as well. Silly!
Fears - the Brunswick is a nice watch and the dial is not easy to make, but sorry too expensive for me with the movement. Personally I’d have aimed at a better movement and higher price.
Lonville - like my Ming 1901 they use Schwartz Ettiene movements. Their micro rotor watches are awesome! Very well made watches - not the styling for me, but if that sort of stuff is for you (and you have the cash) worth looking at.
Finally Andreas Strehler - a real legend watchmaker and all round nice guy. His watches are simply astonishing - I had to pull back ddm27 from the constant drooling which was perfectly understandable. We had dead seconds, remotoir, tourbillon you name it. Phenomenal.
I missed Grossmann as I had previously spent some time with them, I totally forgot about Czapek got caught up in everything else and they were one of the brands I wanted to see as well!
As an independent watchmaking fan I came away with some general observations we well -
- It's tough at the lower/cheaper end of watchmaking. Getting decent movements ramps up the pricing massively. Hence why the Miyota's are so popular at the moment. Even an ETA 2824 will push prices for independents easily past the 1k mark.
- Good Independents are moving slowly away trying to compete at the lower end/micro brand level - to do things properly it gets expensive. Also the collector who buys the nicer pieces will likely buy again from you - which is where you make money and can continue doing business.
- Selling directly becomes the norm - retail, margins etc means these sort of events will become more important so I hope this has been a successful night!
- Lastly, I think all the Independents such as Piers are pure bonkers for pursuing this profession - so I take me hat off to you!
Last edited by crazyp; 8th November 2018 at 17:19.
I really enjoyed the evening.
Many of the watches were too fancy for my tastes, but I did spend some time at:
Pinion - Great to finally meet Piers & see his watches which I thought were great & very decent value for money.
Moritz Grossmann - Very nicely designed and finished pieces, but I completely forgot to ask about pricing.
Schofield - These were much nicer in the flesh than I expected, albeit pretty chunky. Some of the straps were way too "out there" for my conservative tastes.
Dornbluth - It was great to finally meet Dirk, after conversing with him quite extensively when I bought my 99.1 back in 2010 and subsequently when he wrote to thank me for all the interest he'd received after I posted pics of my watch on several UK fora. We spoke about the 99.3. a model I really like apart from the heavily nibbled 2, 4, 8 & 10 numerals. I suggested it might look much better without those to which Dirk replied I could have one without them, so he's going to send me a drawing of the watch without & I may well be placing another order.
Vertex - A nice enough design, but seriously overpriced @ Ł2,800 IMHO and I'm not really interested in having to be referred, or get to know the proprietor before he'll sell me a watch.
Fears - I agree with crazyp
Paul - thanks for the enjoyable chat about cars. I hope you enjoy the new acquisition and please accept my apologies for not complimenting you on your PP - very nice indeed.
Oh, and I blagged a couple of free drinks by flashing my wrist band.
Last edited by andy tims; 8th November 2018 at 17:17.
Andy
Wanted - Damasko DC57
An enjoyable evening. Thanks to Piers for organising the tickets.
A couple of pics, of brands not already covered.
I was impressed with Pinion and can envisage buying one at some stage. The Czapek was my favourite of the evening. Almost missed them, as they were tucked out of the way.
Hi Guys
This is Dave Brailsford - founder of the Watchmakers Club and Garrick watches.
I would like to thank you for attending and also for the great feedback. I did try my best to greet most people but unfortunately being the organiser meant I was running around all day and night like a headless chicken.
Virtually all of the brands are members of the club and we all work together to make this work.
We are already planning our next event in May 2019 and I will try to make more tickets available but please bear in mid we first offer them to people who sign up on the website. If you would like updates and first refusal on tickets please register on the website (bottom of the page) https://thewatchmakersclub.com/
Btw, yes, it was free alcohol at the bar but unfortunately, the bar tab ran out around 9.30pm.
Thanks again!
I can send you the MG price list if you want Andy
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Thanks for coming to the evening guys and for the follow up reports!
- Piers
Just to let you all know, another Watchmakers Club Event will be taking place in London this June.
As before, entry is FREE.
More information about the event can be found here:
https://thewatchmakersclub.com/annou...-summer-event/
Register for ticket / Free entry here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/watch...ts-59372302154
As spaces are limited, register to avoid disappointment.
As SalonQP has been cancelled for this year, this will perhaps be the only quality watch multi-brand event to attend.
( I'm not exhibiting at this one, but am planning to attend ).
Piers
Last edited by PIERS (UK); 15th April 2019 at 12:45.