Basel World Photo Essay: A Night Of Friends, Watches, And Schnitzel

March 22, 2012

There is a lot to love about Basel World - the obvious, like 1300 exhibiting timepiece manufactures all within a square mile - and there is a lot one can do without - the long days, endless meetings, bathrooms oddly placed in smoke-filled stairwells and seeming total unavailability of lunch food beyond bratwurst.? But, without a doubt the best thing about Basel World is getting to see friends you don't often see, sitting down over a beer and just having fun.? You see, the watch world is, at the end of the day, a rather small one, and the majority of us are dear friends.? Sure, we may write for this blog and they might write for that blog, and person X might slave away tirelessly and brilliantly with little aclaim, while person Y might be a media darling, but at the end of the day, we are all friends and while Basel is business for all of us, we make sure to take a night off from the glad handing to do what we want to do - and this post shows you exactly what we want to do.Since I've been coming to Basel World, i've joined some good friends, like Frank from Monochrome, Gerard from In2Watches, and Robert-Jan from FratelloWatches for a saturday night of schnitzel and beer.? Last year, the group grew to include several other friends, like Ernie from Watchuseek, the Gronefeld Brothers, and Stepan Sarpaneva.? This year, the group grew to include several more friends - so many friends in fact that we took over the entire restaurant.? And, since we were all together already, it seemed like the perfect place for the folks from Timezone to present the "Watch of the Year" award to the Gronefelds.Click through for a detailed photo report on our favorite night of the year at Basel World - schnitzel saturday shared with many of our friends, and many of the greatest watchmakers in the world.? See who you can spot after the jump, and we hope you enjoy this look at the very human side of the watch industry. William of Timezone, Bart & Tim Gronefeld Max of MB&F Looks On As The Gronefelds Receive Their Award Felix of URWERK watches as Bart and Tim celebrate Tim and Bart with the Timezone "Watch of the Year" award Two Royal Oak Jumbos Gerard, Tim, and Frank A Gronefled One Hertz and Two AP JumbosCan you spot all the watches below? Alex from Watchonista and Charris from MB&F Blake from HODINKEE and Jeff from XETUM Anne from Harry Winston, Mrs. Romers from Watchuseek Frank from Monochrome Cissy and William from Timezone Blake from HODINKEE, Max from MB&F, Ernie from Watchuseek Joanna from Ladoire, Charris from MB&F, Cyrano from Urwerk, Jeff from XETUM Robert-Jan from FratelloWatches Schnitzel.