If you are new to the forum, you might not know it yet. From everyone else I expect them to know that the BBAMSGTG is a major GTG. So before even thinking about going to this amazing meeting I had to think about some things first so that I would attend well prepared.Some questions are more important, such as: “Which watches am I going to bring?” and“Do I have enough space on my memory card for my camera?”. Others are less important. For example: “ Where am I going to stay?” and “ What would I be wearing”.Lets answer these questions briefly. Most of you on the forum know that I own three IWC watches.
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[]Portofino Vintage Collection in steel
[]Ingenieur Vintage Collection in steel
[*]1960’s calibre 854 in steel
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I considered it to be nicer to put the Santoni strap back on the Ingenieur so I could bring a nice duo of Vintage Collection watches on a Santoni strap. I also brought the third with me, so that’s the answer to question one.Question two. I did not have enough memory on my card for my camera. So I had to transfer some pictures to my laptop so that we would be good to go on Saturday. Now that I know which watches I am going to bring and that I can take pictures of the watches others will bring, I have answered the important questions.Now I had to think about where I would be staying and what I would be wearing!Everyone always takes a lot of pictures, so you better you look your best! On Thursday I went to my barber shop to get a proper IWC BBAMSGTG haircut and beard trim. I actually always go the same lady (Yes! I always get my haircut at the barber by a lady!) and she likes watches too. I think I might have talked her into it. We ended up talking for a little longer and even after my haircut was finished we had another coffee and talked some more watches.Now I was proper looking with my clean beard and hair, fresh shoes, shirt and blazer. Now only one question remains. Where to stay?Lucky for me, my uncle was out of town so I could stay in his lovely apartment which is right next to the Artis Zoo.On Friday I went to my other uncle in rainy Amsterdam and picked up the key there. We shared some coffee, stories and walked the dog. After that, I went to Schiphol to pick up Tilo
Now we can get this party started!Tilo and I first went to the hotel Tilo was staying in. We took the train and then walked from the central station to the hotel. After we parked our bags there, we went back to the central station to take the ferry to the restaurant. We were a little late , and the rest was already there.We had dinner at Madam Amsterdam. Which is a fantastic place. It is located in the old Shell tower (where my grandfather used to work!) and it is on the 19th or 20th floor. So you have an amazing view while having dinner. The place is also famous for having a swing on the top floor. So you can swing over the edge of the building! Daredevils Mark and Arne gave it a try.
Antonio, Mark, Jens-Kristian, Lyn, Jon, Arne, Tilo, Evan and I were present at the dinner on Friday. It was great to see some familiar faces, and of course also to see some new faces. At least new to me .After the dinner, we went to the hotel most of us were staying in and we went to have some great whisky. There we met most of the rest of the attendees for the next day. After some drinks and great conversations , Tilo and I went back to the hotel where Tilo was stayin in. I had left my bag there earlier. From there I walked back to my apartment for some well deserved shut-eye.The taxi could not drop us off at the exact location, so we had to walk a short bit, which was actually pretty nice, because nothing is as beautiful as the Amsterdam canals with all the street lanterns glistening in the water.
So know we are only a few hours away for the big day!
After waking up after a couple hours of sleep (yes that is literally) I slowly rolled myself out of bed got myself some coffee. I don’t go anywhere without having coffee first , because I will look like a total shipwreck.
So before going to the Vondelpark for lunch where we would all meet each other I had to do a quick check if I got everything: Watches? Check!Camera? Check!Phone/keys/wallet? Check!Excitement overload? CHECK!!!! Good to go!Mark, Antonio and Bob were already there and we got ourselves ready for a great lunch. Shortly after the four of us moved to our table the rest arrived and it was handshakes , hugs and kisses all over the place.A lot of collectors were present and we had the great pleasure of welcoming multiple ladies this time. Sadly, the real star of the show was absent this year. Bill, you were missed on this beautiful day, but we made sure we had a lot of drinks in your honour. We will definitely see you around next time and we make it even nicer with all of us together!We had a great lunch. I went for the tomato soup for appetizer and for the Carpaccio as a main. During the lunch I of course had the opportunity to catch up with a lot of you who I did not see for a long time. I know I can not mention everyone, so I will pick just a few. Don’t feel left out, because I enjoyed talking to all of you!It was really great to catch up with Captain again. That was way to long ago! We have to catch up more often when you have a flight scheduled to Amsterdam/Brussels/Paris. We happened to wear the same watch. Only captain his watch is in white gold. Which to me proves, we are both gentleman with an unparalleled impeccable taste ;).
I also had the great pleasure of catching up with Bob again. We had a pretty elaborate talk about watches in general and about what keeps me busy both regarding watches and with University. That was really, really nice. I enjoyed it a lot!Bas again present this year and this time in the company of his lovely wife Coosje. I had a really nice conversation with Coosje and Ursula about multiple subjects. Both watch and non watch related. A true pleasure to have such a great talk which such lovely ladies.Coosje her watch:
Bas his watch:
Of course I also talked with Martin. I asked Martin if he could maybe bring a certain piece in which I have a particular interest. And he delivered like no other could. He showed me two extremely fine and nice watches. What I think is also extremely cool is this. I swaped my strap for my watch, but it was a little too tight, so when I swapped it back it was maybe 0.5mm to narrow for my Inge. Martin spotted this from across the table without having told him this. If that is not having an extreme eye for detail, I don’t know what is. I think that is very , very cool. Again, thank you so much for showing me these lovely watches!
Some other beauties:
And the real winner of this GTG
A perfect ref 325
After we had lunch we went like tradition dictates to the IWC boutique, which lucky for us, is right around the corner of the Vondelpark. We were all warm welcomed by the boutique staff and had all the time in the world to check out some new pieces of the Jubilee collection , as well as other pieces of the collection. I personally really like the new perpetual calendar with the lacquered dial. Both with the double moon and the tourbillon executions are truly spectacular. I also noticed that a Portofino hand wound was displayed on a Milanese bracelet. Which indicates that there is now one available that should fit my personal Portofino too. I tried it and it looked surprisingly nice. Some serious food for thought.After that we had a presentation from Walter upstairs in the boutique. This was a presentation regarding IWC’s view on their sustainability and environmental footprint. I cannot go into details here, and I won’t. But I can do tell that I was very pleasantly surprised and once again IWC truly went the next mile for the environment and their stakeholders. Not in the last place their customers. Which was a true focus for their development. You want to keep an eye on this.When the boutique visit was over we went to walked towards the Rijksmuseum. Across the museum is a step-up point for the boats to take a canal tour. After the ladies in our company boarded the boat, the rest of us went aboard and we set off for a lovely cruise around the Amsterdam canals. The weather was really good, so we were in great luck. After just a couple of minutes the boat already stopped suddenly and Arne got of the boat. Where was he going? Is he going to the toilet? No was have toilet here. Where was Arne going?? After a couple of minutes Arne returned. And he brought something with him…True Dutch POFFERTJES! Because let’s face it. Was your trip to Amsterdam really worth it without the poffertjes (with or without butter? I know what my preference is…thumbs up for team butter). We continued our trip with a couple of beers, poffertjes and typical Dutch cheese and sausage. Everyone was having a great time with each other showing watches, having drinks and talking either watches or life in general. Old friendships were blossoming again and new friendships were in the making. A lovely view against a pretty background of Amsterdam seen from the water. On the boat, we had another typical Dutch thing. A drink called Jenever. Mark started to pour shots for everyone and that got us even more relaxed. I have great respect for everyone trying it. Because personally, I don’t like it that much (Mark, can we still be friends? J )When the boat tour was over , we had some time before we had dinner. Some went to a terrace for pre-drinks, other freshet themselves up a little at their hotel. I personally went back to my apartment to freshen up a little bit. Quickly I already went to the Leidseplein were we had dinner close by.We had dinner in a private room. We had a couple of different tables, and it was easy to switch seats to be able to talk to multiple people instead of just the ones at your table. Which of course was a lot of fun too. I was seated next to Anders and Jeroen. Which was really great because Jeroen is a watchmaker and Anders just acquired a very nice pocket watch. Which after some work turned out to be manufactured in 1935. Really cool!Anders also showed me this little fellah. What a magnificent and wonderful watch! It was really great catching up with you again Anders.
Of course there is no IWC collectors dinner without a speech from Mark. Mark gave a wonderful speech and presented Tonny a fantastic gift. A cabinet for his pocket watches. Truly a special moment of friendship and passion. After Mark gave his speech and Tonny elaborately thanked Mark for his great speech and gift, our friends from Schaffhausen also gave a really nice speech.There is another element that should always be there in a dinner with IWC collectors…But what is it Koen? Enlighten us!Of course I am talking about Tonny his quiz. At first I thought I might actually win it this year. Sadly, I was wrong. I always love this quiz and Tonny once again picked some great questions for both older and newer collectors.
Table Shot:
Dutch Pallweber:
And two of my favorite IWC friends :):
After the dinner was over we went back to the hotel again for after dinner drinks. This time, Jeroen arranged a phenomenal whisky tasting. We tasted fantastic whisky’s and had more great conversations.I can not emphasize enough how much I enjoy all of your company, friendship and passion. You always make my day.Ladies and gentleman,Once again I had a fantastic time and I would like to thank you all for your attendance and thank you Mark for a flawless organisation .See you all next time !
