Had the most pleasant visit from Claude in our booth today at Basel Switzland. Claude let us pick his genius brain a bit (he swears he is just NEAR genuis) and we had a pleasant talk.

Ball, a newly refreshed company is a babe in the woods compared to the knowledge installed in Claude's head.

Our Own Kent Singer and Ed Uberall were big topics of (positive) discusssion at the Ball booth as well (more on that later).

Big press people were here to learn about the history of Ball Watches.

Working hard and learning much, Jeff Hess

Jeff, now that you've returned, any new-found knowledge you'd like to share? New directions for the watch industry, or unexpected turns of event?

How is the new Ball Watch Co. evolving?

Jessica

We are still here.. Basel is over but we are now attending the SIHh show in Geneva. The so-called "haute-Horologerie" show. LeCoultre stole the show here... with that funky gyro tourbillon and Roger Dubuis double tourbillion (don't ask).

The stars of the Basel show were the Tag Heuer 1/100 second chronograph (automatic!) and the Ball Hydrocarbon TMP thermomoeter watch. (my faves of course..

Full report when I get back. Had dinner tonight wih Joe Urich of HR magazine and going to visit Antoine Preziuso at his castle. I mean there is the Gyro-tourbillon from Jaeger-LeCoultre, the double and triple axes by Thomas Prescher and all but this guy Antoine Preziuso is nuts!
Maillard described hiim best... "This creative master watchmaker, who has sometimes been criticized for not having developed his own calibre but working essentially with existing ones, has just shown, and oh how brilliantly, another example of his talent. This new surprise is called the 3 Volution.
Antoine Preziuso says the idea came to him while watching a children’s amusement park ride - the kind where the teacups rotate on their own axis while turning with the unit - a sort of double rotational movement, if you will.
In the 3 Volution, the teacups are replaced by three flying tourbillons. Each of these tourbillons makes one compete rotation around its axis in one minute, while at the same time, all three are attached to a plate, which revolves in 2 minutes and 15 seconds. The effect is magical. "

So anyway.. I am going to see him tomorrow and will report back what I find.

This has been a good trip.. Jeff Hess