• Connoisseur
    23 Feb 2017, 2:42 p.m.

    Hi there everyone!

    I know I am a couple of days late, but I wanted to share my 2nd year in review with you all :)

    It was a year with a lot of awesome friends, watches, women and cities. It was the year The Feminine Touch started and I went to the SIHH again. Long story short, I had a blast 2nd year on the forum.

    So what have I planned for this post?

    I will share pictures and some short stories of my adventures in chronological order. Each of them will have a small caption. Even when it's just one sentence.

    In advance, I would like to thank first of all: Bill Barker for helping me out with taking better pictures from an early stage, Nanique Prins for being my first model for The Feminine Touch, Bo van Borssum-Waalkes, Kimberley Mussé, Lotte Kamperman Leferink and Isabel van den Berg for participating in the series and for being fantastic models. HUGE thank you to all of you :)

    Also I would like to give my friend Jasper Lijfering a huge thank you for giving me the opportunity to photograph the most stunning vintage IWC watches at his shop Amsterdam Vintage Watches. Jasper gave me all the freedom a man can dream of to take nice pictures of the vintage pieces, for which I am very, very gratefull.

    Oké now we can go on an adventure!

    We start in March with the beginning of The Feminine Touch. As said many times before, I started this series to add some more feminine touches to the world of mens watches. I wanted to show the two worlds go together really well.

    So when I figured out that I wanted to do this series and what kind of pictures I wanted to take, I reached out to the always kind and gorgeous Nanique Prins. She is a friend of mine since when we met in highschool. I already knew she was doing modelling work. So she was the right person to turn to :). Luckily for me ( and for all of you), Nanique liked the idea and a couple of weeks later when we both had time, we took the pictures.

    As mentioned in the original post, the weather was as shitty as you can imagine. Which makes Nanique even more of a real pro to me that she handeld it really well. We both had a great day :)

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    When the weather became a little better again, of course I did my occasional macro-pictures.

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    Let's forward in time a couple of months to the Bill Barker GTG in Amsterdam! A total blast. We met at the regular place at the Vondelpark where we catched up with everyone. It was as awesome as always. Fantastic people, watches and overall atmosphere. After the lunch we had there, we went on a boat and chilled while cruising over the canals of Amsterdam. Afterwards, we met for diner at the Okura restaurant. The food was A-MA-ZING.

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    Then came The Feminine Touch Part 2. This time with the stunning Lotte Kamperman Leferink. I personally absolutely love the pictures from this series. She's freaking elegant. Combined with the leather jacket and the IWC...I think it's really nice.

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    Anyone reading this, you can refill your wine now.

    Ready?

    Oké nice. Let's continue with more random macro-shots :)

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    Back in the woods as usual

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    Then came this one...

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    After quiet some time of macro-shots, I decided to do again a new series for The Feminine Touch. Part 3 already! Again with the gorgeous Nanique.

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    Very soon after I took these pictures, I reached out to my buddy Jasper Lijfering and asked if I could take some pictures of his stunning vintage watches. This was absolutely one of the most fun shoots. I had all the freedom to do what I liked and everyone was very kind and enthousastic. Loved it!

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    Honesly, these watches were in a conditions like I have never seen before. That deserves a special mention on it's own.

    Back to the occasional shots!

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    Then came the launch of the BP PPC Limited for Benelux!

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    Not so long after that, I took the pictures for The Feminine Touch part 4 with no one other than Isabel van den Berg. Besides being next level gorgeous, she is a lot of fun to hang out with. She is super kind and funny. We had a superb day taking the pictures :)

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    Just a couple of days later I took the pictures for Part 5 with Bo. I highly recommend her to start her own comedy show. I recommend the audience to bring in some spare oxygen tanks. Hilarious and stunning lady :)

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    The day after I took the pictures of Bo, I had to catch a flight to Rome for business. Of course I took pictures there too!

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    Shortly after I arrived back home, Kimberley and I did The Feminine Touch part 6! This series was really fun to do. We were pretty much joking all the time and I took most pictures in those moments of laughter. Highly elegant ladies wearing nice smiles and masculine watches are always a great combo.

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    Aaaaaand before you know it, you are at the SIHH 2017 already!

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    New shoot at Amsterdam Vintage Watches with this piece of perfection!

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    And the Pilot Annual Calendar in white gold :)

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    Gents, it's been a great trip with all of you. Many more years to add.

    Love and hugs to all of you.

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    Ps. I will edit this post during the day. It's just that my fingers are hurting now.

  • Connoisseur
    23 Feb 2017, 6:10 p.m.

    Wow Koen, what a post and retrospective!

    I always think back with joy to the SIHH 2016. You were the first of our group of forum members that I met at the IWC booth and we talked about how we came to collecting IWC watches. You had your VC Portofino with you - a watch very well known on this forum now, thanks to your brilliant pictures.

    Reading (and watching!) your posts is always a ton of fun and I keep looking for many more to come, in many more years to come here in our circle of addicted IWC connoisseurs.

    Cheers,
    Jochen

  • Master
    23 Feb 2017, 9:26 p.m.

    Truly magnificent Koen. Keep those images rolling.

  • Master
    23 Feb 2017, 10:03 p.m.

    Koen, it was an honor to meet you a couple of years ago for your first encounter with this crew. We spent some time walking together through the streets of Brussels as we got to know each other better and to share our passions.

    As to "In advance, I would like to thank first of all: Bill Barker for helping me out with taking better pictures from an early stage", it is not the advice I was able to provide that matters, it is the subject matter of the photos you are taking.

    Congratulations on your 2nd Anniversary. Hope to see you at the next BBAMSGTG.

  • Master
    24 Feb 2017, 12:26 a.m.

    Dear Koen
    It is an honour to say I know you :o)
    What a wonderful summary of two great years on the Forum.
    Since becoming active, your contributions have added a touch of class and been entertaining as well.

    Great job

  • Master
    24 Feb 2017, 2:36 a.m.

    Beautiful photography...congratulations on your second anniversary!

  • Connoisseur
    24 Feb 2017, 10:11 a.m.

    Thank you all so much for your kind words :)

    I am very happy to read that my pictures bring joy to you. I feel really blessed with such kind people around me who I can share my passion with. You ladies and gents are the best :)

  • 24 Feb 2017, 5:42 p.m.

    OMG, what a great post, pictures and review. It would be very nice to meet you one day in person.

    Thanks for your great contribution and Keep more posts coming in your 3rd year.

    Cheers Chris

  • Master
    25 Feb 2017, 5:53 a.m.

    Thank you Koen for your wonderful contributions over the last two years! I also have really enjoyed your photographs and look forward to many more. It's been great to have been able to meet with you in Geneva!

  • Master
    25 Feb 2017, 12:39 p.m.

    What a fantastic post, Koen, thank you very much! I appreciate your efforts to show that IWC watches and ladies go very well together, adding bite to the whole picture. I like your ladies looking both beautiful and natural, making your cause quite convincing. I know about this combination since I saw a mountaineering lady in the train in Switzerland wearing a Mark XVI, it made quite an impression!

    The picture I liked most has no women or watches in sight, yet tells time in a very special way: the Pantheon in Rome! And it has some enigma to me: how is that spot of sunlight possible?

    Kind regards,
    Paul

  • Master
    25 Feb 2017, 9:43 p.m.

    Koen, you had an enormous year. Congratulations on that.
    And it was so great to meet you again in Geneva. It was great fun.
    I'm looking forward to your next year.
    Your pictures are awesome!

  • Connoisseur
    26 Feb 2017, 10:26 p.m.

    Thank you all so much again gents! I really appreciate all you kind words.

    As far for new pictures...next week I will be making the pictures for the next edition(s) for The Feminine Touch :)

  • Connoisseur
    26 Feb 2017, 10:26 p.m.

    Thank you all so much again gents! I really appreciate all you kind words.

    As far for new pictures...next week I will be making the pictures for the next edition(s) for The Feminine Touch :)

  • Master
    26 Feb 2017, 11:13 p.m.

    Hi Keon, Happy 2nd Anniversary on IWC Forum.

    I am sure your next 2 years will be just as enthusiastic, keep them coming!!!!

    Best regards!