Early American historian and Harvard professor Laurel Thatcher Ulrich titled her 2008 book ‘Well-Behaved Women Seldom Make History.’ Ulrich would probably be very interested to know about three famous Swiss and French brands whose very first wristwatches were made for – and in a way by – women. Their watches have made history.
The Hermès Arceau Millefiori introduced at Baselworld 2014 represents a few hundred years of expertise that comes from a little-known location in the Alsace-Lorraine region in the northeast of France called Pays de Bitche, home to the country’s finest crystal makers including Cristalleries de Saint-Louis.
Welcome to the inaugural Quill & Pad Baselworld “awards,” in which we highlight a few of the watches and goings-on that caught our eyes at the world’s largest watch exhibition. Here’s what caught our eyes at Baselworld 2014 in no particular order.
While static images are great for appreciating details, they are less effective at conveying the scale and sense of place of large exhibitions such as Baselworld. So to add another perspective to Baselworld 2014, we are please to share these interactive 360° views of Baselworld 2014.
And as much as I appreciate high-end complications, bright colors catch my eye just as much as the next person and here is a small selection of colorful timepieces from Baselworld 2014.
Hermès’ introduced two exceptional timepieces at Baselworld 2014: a playfully complicated watch called Dressage L’heure masquée and Arceau Millefiori, which features an artisanal crystal dial made by Cristalleries Royales de Saint-Louis, an Hermès manufactory in Alsace, France.
* Maurice Lacroix announces a three-year partnership with FC Barcelona as its official watch partner. Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona is considered one of the world’s most prestigious “footie” clubs and boasts an emotional global fan base of over 300 million admirers and 100 million social media followers.
Before we get inextricably drawn into the horological maelstrom of 2014, let’s take a few minutes to reflect on a few highlights of the year that was.
As the first big watch show of the year, the SIHH usually sets the mood for the following 12 months, and 2013 was no exception. Though bereft of Girard-Perregaux and partner brand JeanRichard, which were bought by the Kering group and thus exhibited later at Baselworld, it was an excellent show with a great number of interesting new releases