New Lange Boutique opens in Singapore

A. Lange & Sohne opens boutique in Singapore.

Soft opening, with the boutique open for business and showing. The official opening is currently scheduled for February 28, 2013. Singapore Lange fans can expect some celebration and exhibitions during the first week of March to mark the official opening.

Here is a glimpse of the new boutique at Ion Orchard.

Within, the Lange boutique DNA is apparent...

A closer look at one of the corners

And a semi-private room within the main entrance hall

Photograph was taken just before Christmas 2012, hence the Christmas tree.

And special for the boutique, the Honey Gold Tribute to FA Lange set, comprising of the 1815 Moonphase, the Pour le Merite Tourbograph and the Lange 1 Tourbillon in honey gold. Set numbered 1.

Photographically speaking this is a challenging interior to shoot. The mix of lighting modes created spots with different colour temperatures. And the high intensity lamps used for lighting the display cause havoc to the dynamic range of the photograph. I decided to let the window displays washout, as the rest of the interiors were more critical. In a print, the window display can be saved to show some detail, as print media has a larger dynamic range and lattitude than the web.

A little Italian town by the shores of Lake Como

Hotel and interiors in Bellagio, Italy

I am travelling on assignment to visit the Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este...a major vintage car show in Cernobbio by Lake Como in Italy, on invitation by one of the sponsors: A. Lange & Sohne.

I arrived one day earlier, to visit the lake region, and am staying at the Grand Hotel Villa Serbelloni in Bellagio, a small town amongst many which dot the shores of the beautiful lake.

This a grand old hotel...quite beautiful, classical architecture

The hotel is right by the lake

The interiors are particularly beautiful...the bar

And the grand sitting room (click for a 1920 wide pano)

A customary wrist shot of the Datograph enjoying the weather...21C and sunny. Magnificent.

I caught a cyclist...amongst many who ride the hills of this rugged countryside...this one on a Van Nicholas titanium frame bike...stopping to take a photograph of the scenery.

On the drive to Bellagio, we passed many great steep slopes and an an equal number of wonderful downslopes...I am a bit fearful of riding the mountains...perhaps another time...perhaps...

Malmaison by The Hour Glass at Knightsbridge: most beautiful store in the world?

Malmaison by The Hour Glass in Knightsbridge stands as one of the most beautiful stores purveying luxury in the world. A brainchild of Michael Tay, this store is a treasure house to showcase luxury. Not satisfied with just offering the world's best watches, Malmaison now also offers a beautiful line of menswear, luxury perfumes and jewellery.

I undertook this little project as part of the Leica S2 review, and spent a happy afternoon with my friend Christopher Lee photographing the store.

Covering a total of approx 6,000 sq ft, the entire ground floor is dedicated to the usual high end watches carried by The Hour Glass, but also a little corner of gentlemen worldly goods...like suits from Rubinacci, shoes by Corthay, and many other interesting treasures. But upstairs, we find a small book nook, carrying titles from TeNeuss and is the only retail outlet in the world to carry my "Pour le Merite Collection" title.

Click on the image for a 1920 wide image.

Looking around, the general view of the upstairs

Another view

And an interesting experiment...a 6 panel stitch of the Summarit 35 each done in portrait orientation, covering approximately the same field of view as a single shot with the same Summarit 35 in landscape mode. First the stitched photograph

Single shot

My conclusion, if it is not for a gigantic print, I rather prefer the single shot...so no need for all the trouble to stitch. Perhaps for super large prints, I do mean really big print, as the regular S2 file is some 36 Mpixels is good enough for very large prints. A0 is certainly exhibition quality, larger possible at larger viewing distances.

SIHH 2012: A tour of the booths

The Booths at the SIHH get more and more amazing each year. This year is no different. As with last year, I took some time to go around to photograph the booths. Here is a selection

I omit the largest display - the one by Cartier, because it is spread across several booths...in fact it occupies one whole corner with its own refreshment area, and a museum like display which links their watches to icons of each era when the watches were introcduced. And inside the main double booth, the novelties were displayed a la musee. The appointment rooms and presentation rooms were in a seperate booth.

But let me start with what is perhaps the most well done booth in the show, one where everyone was talking about...IWC

As one enters the booth, one is greeted with this reception table, manned by lovely ladies in what looked like US Navy uniforms. A life sized model of a fighter aircraft...one which one can climb up the stairs (yes, live size stairs) and take a flight simulation in the cockpit. Incredible. And all over the booth was made to look like an aircraft carrier. Reminded me of USS Midway which I boarded in 2010. USS Midway is a large aircraft carrier, now a museum anchored in San Diego. Even the sound of the engines rumbling...perhaps its my imagination, but I thought I smelt grease and sensed a rumbling on the floor too.

Incredible. Gotta hand it to George Kerns and his folks. Last year they transported the Italian town of Portofino to Geneva. This year, they have done it with their amazing aircraft carrier.

Baume Mercier booth looked like it was teleported from the Hamptons...a house, quaint, and beautiful:

Lange had a giant image of their novelty - the Lange 1 Tourbillon Perpetual Calendar.

An an amazing piece of Germany...weighing some 3.5 tons - a piece of rock from the Ore Mountains. And of course, their little bit of Germany in Switzerland came complete with Radeberger beer vom fass, and pretzels.

Another interesting booth, though perhaps a bit out of character to have lasers shooting all over the place when one of your key products is a line called Excalibur, but nevertheless a beautiful booth is the Roger Dubuis:

Right at the entrance of the SIHH is the Richard Mille booth, with a giant glass etched movement...much like the ones they have in their boutiques worldwide. Note Richard himself talking to a group at their foyer.

The Parmigiani booth exuded a quiet elegance, and looked more like the reception of a luxury hotel.

Greubel Forsey had a very traditional looking booth, except for a huge wall paper which flows over to the ceiling. The custom wall paper was inscribed with sketches and drawings of the conceptual development of their watches. And housed, in a workshop on the far left in the picture, is Philippe Dufour's workshop.

Vacheron Constantin also had a rather traditional looking booth, celebrating their Malte...a huge poster with images of the Malte.

And finally, a look at what some of the independents were doing. This is the Urwerk suite at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Geneva:

Quiet and elegant. Felix in his red suit deep in the room at the far end of this photograph.

SIHH 2011: The booths at the show

Year after year, the Salon International de Haut Horologie (SIHH) showcases the best of watches in the industry in the huge, invitation only show in Geneva. This is my 10th year attending SIHH. And with each year, the booths become more and more amazing.

As the Founder of the Lange Owner's Group, I naturally use the Lange booth as my base, as I know almost all the staff and management onsite. This year, a huge, and I mean really huge, measuring probably 3m in diameter facimile of the Richard Lange Pour le Merite Tourbillon, with working time display adorns the wall facing the main entrance. The reception is at the right.



Behind the wall is a watchmaking workstation where Ralph Knoll exhibits the wonders of the Pour le Merite, and on the reverse of the wall is a facimille of the reverse of the watch, showing the movement.



Further in left and right are the sales rooms, and auditorium. As well as a nice lounge area, serving drinks, pretzels and Radeberger beer.



Walking around, my favourite lobby is the one presented by Piaget



Beautiful models, amazing jewellery, and a very cool blue hue adorns the lobby. Mesmerising and beautiful.

The VC booth is also quite interesting, with snipets...reminiscent of an old time travel agent's office.



Roger Dubuis was dressed like a casino, complete with a roulette table below the magnificent chandelier.



IWC was transported to the town of Portofino, Italy, highlighting that their offering this year was the new refreshed Portofino line, complete with beautiful waitresses in their huge swinging skirts



The Dunhill booth was like a page out of the 1920s...a scene reminding me of the genteel making either travel arrangements or discussing details with their accountant.



The keen eyed might spot my friend James Dowling on the sofa...a bit blurred as he moved during the photograph.

And finally, but certainly not least, the business like Jaeger LeCoultre lobby, showing a display of perhaps a hundred watches.

Grand Seiko Evening in Singapore

I had the pleasure to organize a Grand Seiko evening for fans...to help fans be more informed and have more information on the marvel of Grand Seiko (indeed there is a model called The Marvel in the history of Grand Seiko).

Some pictures of the event:

Attentatively listening to Akashi-san from Seiko:



Masuda-san assembling a GS Spring Drive chronograph without loupe and in double quick time...showing the master craftswoman's capability:



We then progressed over to Orchard Central and had dinner at Kuriya Penthouse. A blog entry on the dinner will be made at my Ho Chiak site, but for here, a few pictures of the interior of the restaurant...rather beautifully decorated, I must say:

The main dining area, showing the tables, and wine cellar.



The sushi counter:



The group that evening:



And the mandatory tableshot...all the Seiko and Grand Seiko watches worn by the attendees and Seiko staff that evening:



Click here for my friend, Harry Tan's report of the event.