WATCH POP

Tradition has it that we do a dinner every Basel and SIHH. This started in 1997 when the first dinner was held in Basel, and during which I was presented a very nice pin - handmade in 18k gold, done by the watchmakers themselves, holding up an enlarged crown with an embedded diamond endstone.
Shown below is the first picture of Mr. Blumlein presenting the pin. Pardon the old photograph...scanned from a 4R print.
a closer look at the pin
When Lange moved to SIHH 2003, the traditional dinner also moved. The Perle du Lac was the venue of the first dinner...and we even had an interesting twist to the evening...somebody decided to run off with the rose gold half of the first Luna Mundi ever made...but though the thief was never caught, we did a search of the premises, and I found the watch in a waste bin, covered by paper in a cubicle in the ladies toilet.
This year, we had the pleasure to be hosted at the Lion D'or...a superb restaurant sited in Cologny, a town just outside of Geneva, right at the lake.
We had a sumptious dinner...apologies for not taking photographs of the wine and food presented...but it was excellent.
The guests arriving. In 1997, there were 2 of us who attended the dinner together with Lange staff and a dealer from the Far East...this year, we were 36 - all collectors, admirers of the brand and enthusiasts! We occupied the entire top floor of the restaurant.
Some portraits:
Walter Lange
Movement designer and creator of the Lange 31 - Axel Bobe
Chief of Public Relations at Lange Arnd Einhorn
Technical Director Tony de Haas
And of course the ever hospitable MD of Lange Fabian Krone
Examing watches...with light from a cigarette lighter...
Philippe Dufour attended again this year.
Jeff Kingston
Jerome Bordat
Dmitry Sabirov
Alberto Schileo
Francois Xavier Overstake
Steve Rostovsky
Leaving parting thoghts...the lion...
thanks a lot for, once again, organizing everything.
jérôme
Toutes les heures blessent, la dernière tue. Thanks again Peter for sharing those wonderful moments and pictures with us.
Life is short! Great pictures. Esp. the one with Mr. Krone; that is a great shot!
Nice story of the RG Luna Mundi piece that went missing ... you found it in the ladies room???
Edwin
What a great pin btw!! Do you wear it often?
Edwin
Thanks Peter for the organization of the presentation and the dinner. It was a fantastic evening. Would you mind emailing some of your photos to attendees?
Erol