Basel 2013: Independent Watchmakers' Gathering

Small-luxury-world offers a rare glimpse into the collaborative spirit among independent watchmakers at Baselworld 2013, focusing on a shared space featuring three distinct brands and four gentlemen. This post highlights the camaraderie and shared expertise that define this niche segment of haute horlogerie, emphasizing their common background in high-end watchmaking and familial legacies.

… and even when they are quite different personalities …

… they work, eat drink and sometimes even dance together - at least from time to time.

What else do they have in common?

All of them have been trained and worked in some of the best places in the industry and have great
experience when it comes to haute horlogerie in general and highly complicated pieces in specific.
At least three of them have “genetic endowments” from their families.

None of them is employed anymore and they took the decision to be entrepreneurs. They founded
their own brands and each with a strong DNA. Passion for details is not their only common ground,
even when the output may look quite different.

A few examples for attention to details :

Sidenote : When I was looking at their “brochures” I detected a picture from Oldenzaal
(home base of Groenefeld) which got my attention:

Looking at the outline of that town I thought immediately about some watches from Sarpaneva.
Stepan, if there is no more inspiration (hard to believe, I know) from Finland anymore, maybe you can
give it a thought. Your friends are based their … they also sell your watches in their shop … for sure
there will be some mystical stories as well ...

Like in the years before it was a great pleasure to spend some quality time with them – all of them.

Thanks gents for the warm welcome!

There will be three parts, one for each brand and I will post them step by step.