Impressions from the 'Die Presse Gala' in Vienna
- Part 3-
by Magnus Bosse
The 'Watches of the Year are'...:

The presentation of the watches of the year was performed in collaboration with the Austrian TV station ORF in co-moderation by our Alexander Linz, who is known as the moderator of the German version of IWC's own watch discussion forum. Mr Linz is also highly reputed as writer for several watch magazines. The fun he obviously had in presenteing the winners was really virulent.
Remember: There were four categories, in which three watches were elected (place 1..3). Importantly, the public choose the watches, and not a committee (like for example with the Geneva Watchmaking Prize). So there is no politics there, the target customers skope and the result therefore a reflection of what real people liked. Here we are:

  1. Ladies' watches:
    1.: Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso
    2.: Nomos Ludwig
    3.: Omega Speedmaster automatic MOP
  2. Trend & Design watches:
    1.: IWC Aquatimer
    2.: TAG-Heuer SLR McLaren
    3.: cK translucent watch
  3. Men's watches:
    1.: IWC Portugieser Automatic Steel
    2.: Glashütte Senator Perpetual Steel
    3.: Patek Philippe 5196 WG
  4. Complicated watches:
    1.: IWC Portugieser Automatic Tourbillon
    2.: Porsche Design Indicator
    3.: Jaeger-LeCoultre Gyrotourbillon 1

The result again demonstrated the strong support IWC enjoys in Austria.
Gala:
The announcement of the winners was nicely framed by a dinner reception and breathtaking performances of dancers and artists:

Three well-known people could call themselves very happy with the result of this evening (from top to bottom):
- Jérome Lambert of Jaeger-LeCoultre as well as
- IWC's Georges Kern & Hannes Pantli

As usual, the whole crowd of CEO's, artists and our Alexander Linz gathered together for the photographers.

One person made my evening: Walter Lange, who, although over 80 years old, never missed this event since several years. He just came back from Asia, and already had his schedule fixed for Munich. It was my first meeting with Mr Lange, but I meeting I never willl forget. This man is truely dedicated to saxonian watchmaking, but not to luxury as such. He was very eager to share his knowledge with some of the aspiring watchmakers I showed you in part 1 of the report, and stayed until they very end of the gala - loaded with energy to support the company A. Lange & Söhne!

I hope you enjoyed my little report, The fun thing on such small events is, that you can really appreciate the watches, and that you easily can get in contact with the CEOs.
A sincere thanks to the 'Die Presse' Team and Alexander Linz for organising this major event!
 

Magnus Bosse © January 2005 Last update 10 December 2006
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