Aloha all!
It was a long haul for me to get to SIHH but absolutely worth it and everyone should try to go at least once. In my case I waited for the Year of the Pilot since I'm fan of the Big Pilot.
My Trip:
I left on Monday morning and was in such a rush I didn't want to bang up my IWC watches so I wore my " beater" watch for my first flight segment - Honolulu to Tokyo (10 hours) - thanks to frequent flyer miles I had a great seat and a pleasant ride.
From Tokyo I flew to Hong Kong (5 hours) and from Hong Kong I flew to Zurich (13 hours) and then the short hop to Geneva.
It was the first time I flew on Swiss Air and I really enjoyed it - by now I had switched to a more appropriate watch and a glass of champagne.
Swiss Air gave us a neat tin souvenir container instead of the standard amenity pouch.
I arrived on Wednesday morning and the sunrise flying into Geneva was so beautiful that I had to sneak a quick picture even after the "Please turn off all electronic devices" warning.
The Program:
What can I say that hasn't already been said? IWC's booth was unbelievable!
What can I say about the Program and the watches that hasn't already been said? Unbelievable!
In particular, I really enjoyed the "touchy feely" portion of the Program where we could examine and try on the new watches and ask questions.
The IWC staff had to field a lot of questions from the collectors about the beautiful new World Timer and the recent time zone change in Western Samoa. (lol) American Samoa is apparently the answer but I wonder if everyone knows that American Samoa - like Hawaii - doesn't switch over to Daylight Savings Time with the rest of the world? That being said, I'm glad to see Hawaii on the dial!
The People:
I really enjoyed meeting almost all of the Forum members for the first time and in particular Big Pilot collectors Nelson Herring and Arne Mueller, and long-time forum members Larry, Kevin, Mark, and Ralph.
I also finally got to meet Michael after being a participant on the Forum for many years and I have to especially thank him for taking the time to introduce me to the IWC staff and for sharing some sneak pictures of some special edition pilot watches that weren't even at the show - including another Big Pilot!
An Unexpected Bonus:
After I accepted IWC's invitation to SIHH, I received word that former German Forum Moderator Alexander Linz was hosting a group of former German Forum members from Switzerland, Germany, and Austria at SIHH. Although I was only a participant on the German Forum for a little more than a year before it closed, I was really surprised and honored that they invited me to their dinner which was fortunately the night before the IWC dinner.
It was really great fun to finally meet the former German Forum members in person and in particular Andreas, Dean, Claudio, Big Pilot collector Thomas, Adrian, Freddy, and Markus. I also met Daniel (Hans Daniel) who is an active participant on the current Forum and I hope he got a chance to meet the Forum invitees.
At SIHH the next day, I finally got to meet and have lunch with Alexander - what a dynamic and larger than life character - it seemed like he knew everyone at SIHH and everyone knew him!
Alexander also invited me - and Thorsten ("Perlmutt") - to attend "touchy feely" programs with his group at IWC sister brands Lange, Panerai, Audemars Piguet, Jaeger-LeCoultre, and Mountblanc. I've never handled so many watches before in a single day and after doing so I'm even more convinced that IWC is my brand!
Thank You:
First, thank you Michael, Oliver Siegle, and IWC for putting on such an excellent program for us! Michael and Oliver were constantly scurrying about and I regret that I didn't have more time to speak to both of them.
A special thanks to Alexander and the former German Forum members for their hospitality both at SIHH and when I was a participant on the German Forum.
I must also give special thanks to my good friends and SIHH veterans Nelson Herring and Alan Ross for providing me with a lot of pre-departure info about the event. I'm such a country bumpkin here on my tiny island in the middle of the Pacific that I was getting nervous about the event and I really appreciated all their tips.
Also, thanks to Shing for bringing me a very nice present from the IWC Hong Kong Boutique!
Finally, a very, very special thanks to my good friend Thorsten who picked me up at the airport, drove me all over, took me wherever I wanted to go, and made sure that I was where I was supposed to be the entire time I was in Geneva. I visited Paris 25 years ago and had a terrible time getting around but Thorsten speaks German, French, Italian, and English - and now some Hawaiian (lol) - and we had no problems at all. I would have never come from so far away for such a short time without knowing that I would be able to rely on his assistance.
Well, after two memorable days in Geneva I'm back in the air again!
-Tracy
