The last fortnight ending November 15, 2015 was a rather busy one as far as horological happenings go, we have 6 events to report. We begin with the Gala screening of the latest James Bond movie: SPECTRE.
Horological Happenings for the fortnight ending November 15.
Omega sponsors pre-opening Gala of SPECTRE Nov 3
Omega hosted a Media evening and a Retailer evening to the latest Bond movie: SPECTRE at the Gold Class Golden Village in Vivocity. Before the dinner, the guests were greeted by Jose De Cardoso, the newly appointed President at Swatch Group Singapore and Swatch Group Malaysia. Jose recently replaced David Ponzo who had been head of the Swatch Group in the region since 2004.
Omega dinner and gala showing of the latest Bond movie: SPECTRE
The evening began with a sumptuous dinner at Jamie’s Italian at Vivocity. Jose was introduced to the guests. After dinner, the guests were trooped upstairs the GV’s Gold Class Cinemas, and watch the pre-release gala viewing of the James Bond movie: SPECTRE.
MB&F Global launch of the new LM Perpetual, Nov 4
As has become the custom, Max Büsser launches his new watches in Singapore, making a special nod to the importance of the market here. The Press Launch was held on Nov 4, and the same evening was the Private Collector Dinner.
MB&F LM Perpetual Press Lunch
As usual, Max explained the motivations behind the creation of the LM Perpetual. Interestingly, he had vowed never to make a perpetual calendar as the complication was frequently very fragile and very prone to user error. Max calls the standard perpetual calendar, a boomerang watch…sell one, and it comes back very soon for service. It was until Stephen McDonnell proposed a very special interpretation of the perpetual calendar, that Max accepted. For full explanation on the workings and our full review of the LM Perpetual, click here.
HYT Singapore Launch of the H4 Alinghi and Metropolis Nov 5
Similar format, private collector dinner on the evening of November 4, and a press briefing on the morning of Nov 5.
HYT H4 Singapore Launch event
HYT CEO, Vincent Perriard was on hand to explain the intricacies of the new H4 and its innovative Light Module. We carried a full review and explained the watch in detail in this article here. Vincent also gave us a preview of the HYT Skull Maori, shown in the collage picture above top left. This was embargoed till November 10.
Ferdinand Berthoud Singapore Launch Dinner Nov 6
Karl-Friedrich Scheufele, co-President of Chopard and President of Ferdinand Berthoud hosted a special private dinner for collectors at the popular db Moderne restaurant at Marina Bay Sands. Guests were entertained with great discussions on LUC watches with Karl-Friedrich and his lovely wife Christine, and Chopard Asia’s Managing Director Chris Neff. And Karl-Friedrich unvieled the new Ferdinand Berthoud FB1.
Private dinner with the unveiling of Ferdinand Berthoud for LUC collectors.
We carried a detailed review of the Ferdinand Berthoud FB1 here. As we were privileged to have a chat with Karl-Friedrich, we were able to carry his insights on our review.
Informal Scotch, Cheese, Cigars and Hat gathering at Hat of Cain Nov 10
Bill Cain, the owner of Hat of Cain invited a few friends for an evening of cheese, fine scotch, cigars to discuss the intricacies of the Panama hat. Made in Ecuador, the hat makes an excellent headgear for both ladies and gentlemen in our hot and humid climate.
Celebration of the panama hat party at Hat of Cain
We learnt how the hat is made, how to care for it, and hat etiquette.
We aim to do these educational evenings with other artisans in Singapore to expand our role in the Sartorial Musings: the Gentleman’s Essentials, a column which we started recently and featured Hat of Cain in our first episode.
Longines Singapore Gold Cup, and launch of the Dolche Vita Nov 15
Longines have been long associated with the equestrian sporting events, sponsoring various such races around the world, including the famous Royal Ascott. The Singapore version was on November 15, where on Race 10 of the day, the Longines Gold Cup was offered as a prize to the winner. The winner for the day was No.3: Cooptado.
Longines Singapore Gold Cup
Guests were hosted at the Member’s Lounge with a great view of the race track in air conditioned quarters with free flow of drinks and ice cream at hand. A Best Dressed contest was being secretly conducted, and the surprise winner, Deployant friend Ann Toh was announced. She won a Longines Heritage Chronograph.
The new Longines Dolce Vita was also shown.
