Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este 2016 Report

When I leave Rome every year, I don't forget to throw a coin into the Fontana di Trevi to make the wish to come back to the Eternal City. I don't remember if I did the same in the Lake Como 3 years ago when I attended for the first time the Concorso d'Eleganza of the Villa d'Este thanks to Lange & Söhne. But these days were so wonderful that I had the secret wish to attend this event again. My dream comes true this year and for the second time, I was able to spend several days with the Lange & Söhne team in Tremezzo, the city in which our hotel was located, in Cernobbio, the city of the Villa d'Este, and in several locations around the Lake Como.

To be frank with you, I had a small fear: the memories I had of my stay in 2013 were so amazing (it was at that time the best event I had ever attended) that I was maybe running the risk to be a bit disappointed. After all, the surprise to discover one of the most beautiful sceneries in the world didn't exist anymore. And I was already aware of the way the Concorso d'Eleganza worked and how impressive the gathering of classic cars could be. But I was wrong... my 2016 stay was even better for two main reasons:

- we were very lucky with the weather: the day before my arrival was awful, the day I left was full of showers... but the 3 days of the event were blessed with sunshine! At this level, it was a kind of miracle!

- the organization by the Lange & Söhne team was perfect with a well structured agenda. As you know, Lange & Söhne has become one of the main partners of the Concorso since 2012. So this year was the fifth participation for the Lange team and I could feel in each detail that they knew how to welcome impeccably the guests and the journalists.



Being a proud and luck owner of several Lange watches, the big question before boarding the flight to Milano was to know which watch would be on my wrist during the three days. The elegant Cabaret would have been a wise choice in such refined atmosphere. The 1815 chronograph and its pulsometric scale was maybe the most consistent with the event: when we are surrounding by numerous beauties, we need to check the behaviour of our heart! But it was the watch I was wearing in 2013. The Lange One Luminous could have been a good choice too having the same case side than the Lange One Timezone which is the present given to the owner of the car which wins the "Best of Show" category. But I thought that its black dial was not the best outfit for such event. And... I finally chose my latest Lange watch: the Richard Lange Boutique. Its size, its big second hand, its "observatory watch" context made it, in my mind, the right companion for these days in Italy.

But a surprise was expecting the journalists which were invited. The Lange & Söhne team gave the ability to loan a watch to us in order that we could wear a Lange watch during the  coverage of the event. We had the choice between two watches (Lange One Timezone and Saxonia Annual Calendar) and I decided to put on my left wrist the Saxonia Annual Calendar while the Richard Lange was on my right one! Well, sometimes, I swapped them! For me, the decision was obvious. I already took pictures by the lake of the Lange One Timezone and I was happy to have a watch powered by the Sax-o-Mat movement on  the wrist.

I propose you to accompany me during these three days, to take the boat with me and to discover the Villa d'Este cars exhibition with pics and videos. I hope that I will manage to depict the unique atmosphere of the event as faithfully as possible because I wish to make you understand why these days will remain in my mind forever.

The report is made of 3 parts, following the chronological order:

Day 1:
Tremezzo and the opening cocktail and dinner: www.watchprosite.com 1

Day 2:
The Concorso d'Eleganza and the Villa Sola Cabiati:  www.watchprosite.com 2

Day 3:
The Fiat 500 Jolly and the 2016 novelties: www.watchprosite.com 3


I would like to thank a lot the Lange & Söhne team for the perfect organization during the 3 days and the warm welcome of all the guests. It will remain an unforgettable memory!

Fr.Xavier

This message has been edited by foversta on 2016-05-30 14:02:09