Jaeger-LeCoultre Polo Experience London

From time to time I try to present you some aspects of Jaeger-LeCoultre that are not directly related to watches. Not easy for sure as we are so much into watches here and they are so much into watches there!

 

This June I had an extraordinary opportunity to explore one of theses aspects by myself. Let me try to bring you the more out of it!

 

Jaeger-LeCoultre Squadra Hometime

 

It was a short trip to London, 24 hours in England no more but a very pleasant trip to say the least.

 

It begun with the encounter of a man. A man we've heard about but maybe we've had some difficulty to identify with.

 

A very special blue note

 

This man was born in 1975 in Argentina. He may already be a star and you may soon be a fan, but you may know that his real stars are named Lili, Ilusion, Sospechosa, La Osa, or Colibri! Still don't worry because if you ever meet him you'll realize that he is not a star that will dazzle you, but a star that will absorb you to make you discover and share his universe!

 

A very special owner

 

Adolfo Cambiaso is the best polo player in the world. No kidding!

 

I won't say why of course, but I can say what Adolfo says about his journey to lasting success.

 

Adolfo Cambiaso

 

Horses are central in the life of his family. His father played polo before he did. Polo is the Cambiaso family sport. You may not be surprised to learn that the original family business is the breeding of polo horses. They breed around 120 horses per year (and only 3, 4 or 5 are really good for polo says Adolfo).  So no Adolfo didn't come to polo to help sell his range of clothing "La Dolfina" named after this polo team in Argentina.

 

Diego Maradona

 

No he is not also playing in a football team ! Other sportsmen from Argentina come to see him play (and win)!

 

In fact he could have become a great (as great?) player in another sport as his first objective was playing tennis (a long time ago). He is still playing tennis, and golf too!

 

Another great sportsman from Argentina

 

But what he preferred and what decided him when he had to choose, was his love for horses. Polo is  a team play, it's a fight between two teams, it's a game that you play to win, gentlemanly or not, sometimes violently like every sport, but with your horses!

 

Challenging David Nalbandian at pool

 

Adolfo says that you can be whatever man in town, do whatever job, be rich or not, you are what your horse makes you do. So you have to be close to your horse, you have to teach your horse how to run, how to stop, how to turn, how to play!

 

The Cup

 

So the reason why we are in England this time is a Jaeger-LeCoultre Cup, a special one we'll discuss later in this post.

 

I may not be able to explain easily how the polo competitions are organized. Polo teams of four players play championships. There are different championships in different countries. Adolfo Cambiaso for instance won the Argentine Open, the British Open, the US Open, and also has 25 titles of winner of Polo Master Cups, such as 6 Queen's Cup, 6 Prince of Wales Trophy…….

 

What you may remind is that he plays seasons, one season in Argentina for three months, one in the States and a third one in England. There is a holiday season (resting in Argentina) to complete his year. He plays in a different team for each season. He is currently playing the UK season in the Dubai polo Team, in fact finishing to play the Gold Cup!

 

For the future he plans to keep playing but wants to concentrate on the most important games. He still keeps playing charity games that are the only games he plays out of the major championships. So don't worry he is not planning to retire yet and you still have time to see the best player of your new passion play!

 

Patrick Boutellier from JLC Netherlands

 

Did you wonder how Adolfo Cambiaso and Jaeger-LeCoultre got together? Of course we know that the Reverso was from the start linked to the polo world, but there is a more recent story, simpler but true to say the spirit of Adolfo Cambiaso.

 

Patrick Boutellier, currently head of JLC Netherlands, brought back Jaeger-LeCoultre in the polo world when he linked JLC to Clare Milford Haven back in 2002. Then in June 2004 he met Adolfo Cambiaso in an exhibition and gave him a watch in behalf of JLC. A friendship begun and later Adolfo Cambiaso became a Jaeger-Lecoultre ambassador, putting his conditions. I don't know all of them of course, but one of these conditions was for Patrick Boutellier and for Jerome Lambert to learn to play polo. He always wants you to come in and share his world!

 

Jaeger-LeCoultre Squadra Chronograph

 

In fact one of Adolfo's main objectives is to bring more and more people into the polo world. I must confess that for a very long time polo was associated in my mind with Prince Charles and the best Volante examples of the Aston Martin DBs. I was impressed, respectful, and out! Adolfo Cambiaso is a totally different image of the polo world, young, simple, open and performing! Dare we say sexy!

 

The result of his association with Jaeger-LeCoultre is a huge increase of international coverage out of the traditional sport press. An unprecedented light turned on the polo world is a success in Adolfo's mind.

 

Pete and Ariane, my angels in London

 

The gathering of international journalists in London that day is an example of this lever effect of Jaeger-LeCoultre on the polo discovery.

 

The Petersham Hotel

 

We were received on the border of the Thames river, at the Petersham hotel. A nice place!

 

Discreet

 

The night was spent at the Gaucho, an Argentin restaurant even closer to the Thames.

 

The Thames

 

The night was long enough to rest, although I was a bit lost with the one hour time difference ! I need a travel watch to help me master these timezone things.

 

The polo clinic

 

After a very serious breakfast the day begun with the polo clinic. If you don't like horses avoid the clinic!

 

Clare Milford Haven herself

 

The clinic went perfect. I actually fastly forgot Adolfo Cambiaso, being charmed by the talented JLC ambassador Clare Milford Haven. The spirit of the clinic is to experiment by yourself the greatness and difficulty of polo, or at least try!

 

I can go the other way too, cool

 

We begun by a demonstration from the lady in white.

 

Where is that ball?

 

There are horses and there are riders.

 

Here it is

 

So you had guessed the objective is to strike the ball to send it to the goal.

 

Got it

 

The easy part of the demonstration is that you're alone after the ball, what makes it much easier!

 

I hope they're not afraid yet

 

Clare was very patient and helpful to help us try and feel something. To be honest I had never been on a horse before so the ball was like a cherry on the cake.

 

Classy isn't it

 

The French magazine "Sport et style", the life style supplement from the well known daily "L'Equipe" was represented by Katia Kulawick.

 

Katia went first

 

I in fact don't know another sport that you can try as a journalist! I mean that you would have probably not done by yourself.

 

Still not my turn

 

Obvisouly others had a slight advantage, they had known a horse before ! 

 

Prof. Dr. Stefan Hencke

 

I'm not worried, it's just that the helmet is too tight. In fact I can hardly talk!

 

No, that's not me.

 

Clare is very nice in that she really wants you to feel OK on the horse. This is a game after all.

 

Still not me

 

By the way you know what OK means ? O killed! I felt OK!

 

That's not enough to give me a horse, I have to take this stuff

 

In fact I was quite happy on that horse. I would have liked to spend more time over there.

 

Let's try on reverse first

 

In fact I felt guilty to make her run while I was quietly seating on a horse. Her horse!

 

Yes that's my truck

 

Honestly that was my first time on a horse, but not the last. I'm thinking of trying again, perhaps out of a polo field.

 

That's the one I was looking for

 

I had to leave the field as my future career as a polo player was not the subject of the day.

 

The team is coming

 

The morning was polo clinic and then we had a press conference with Adolfo.

 

The press conference

 

The press conference was finally like the interview we had the day before. Adolfo ended up cool  and open, nice and fascinating.

 

Smiling

 

The interview was immediately followed by the beginning of the cocktail party, attended by the guests from I suppose the polo club and the JLC boutique.

 

I can't resist to show it  again it's so beautiful

 

The Ham Polo Club is the oldest London polo club, the last polo club inside London, established 1926.

 

An engraved polo Reverso

 

We had already been welcomed by the London Polo Club chairman Nicolas Colquhoun- Denvers the evening before. It is easy to understand how this place and its members can become a hot spot in the London society as they are really happy to receive.

 

That's not the same one, look closely

 

The cocktail was a good excuse for a nice exhibition of a few old pieces, either engraved or enamelled. Some Squadra models were complementing the vintage beauties.

 

I'm looking for Adolfo

 

The attendance was also a great exhibition of JLC watches as I saw several Amvox models from 1 to 2, a few pink or yellow gold Reverso models, and a very nice steel Master Tourbillon that remains dear to my heart!

 

No wrist will take me

 

So the theme of the day was the Jaeger-LeCoultre Charity Cup, for the benefit of the Fundacion Ideas del Sur !

 

The party was really classy

 

Ideas del Sur is very close to Adolfo Cambiaso, or maybe Adolfo is very close to Ideas del Sur.

 

As Adolfo says "polo gives a lot and we have to give back what polo gives us".

 

Polo

 

So out of the game financed by Jaeger-LeCoultre, the day was also marked by an auction of four special prizes for the benefit of the foundation.

 

The players trophy

 

You could have bid for a unique Reverso signed by Adolfo, for a dinner with Adolfo, for Adolfo's helmet, or for a horse from Adolfo's stables, to choose in his hacienda in Argentina.

 

Clare showing her Reverso to a friend

 

The cocktail was followed by a nice lunch so that we could rest before the charity game.

 

Christian Monnard from Lounge Man and Fabio Capello the UK national soccer team manager

 

The auction was quite an animation during lunch as several ladies fought seriously for the cherished prizes.

 

The London Polo Club chairman

 

We took some time too to have a look at the watches exhibited, specially the new Squadra models presented this year.

 

Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Squadra Polo Fields in titanium and ceramic

 

I must confess a great personal interest for the titanium and ceramic Squadra Polo Fields. This watch is really gorgeous and modern.

 

The back with polo fields timezones

 

The pink gold version is quite beautiful too but my preference goes to the titanium simpler version, not that I don't like to mix pink gold and ceramic as the Amvox3 is my current dream watch.

 

The pink gold counterpart

 

I may just prefer the stealthier look of the titanium and ceramic combo.

 

Pink gold and ceramic

 

We rapidly finished the lunch to get out and have a look at the demonstration game that was played by Clare Milford Haven.

 

The polo demonstration

 

The Charity game was then played by Adolfo.

 

The presentation of the Charity game players

 

You can easily see and understand how serious it gets, even for a Charity game. It really makes me want to see a disputed championship game to know how extreme it must be.

 

Adolfo Cambiaso

 

Unfortunately the trip was too short and we had to leave too early after the beginning of the game.

 

They are not alone anymore

 

I'm sure and hope that Adolfo was the winner. Anyway Jaeger-LeCoultre, the London Polo Club and the foundation Ideas del Sur were the real winners of this marvelous day.

 

Go for it

 

Actually we were too!  

 

Everybody attended the game with great interest

 

Thanks a lot to the Jaeger-LeCoultre teams, Jerome Lambert, Isabelle Gervais, Guillain Maspetiol from JLC UK, Patrick Boutellier from JLC Netherlands, Ariane Ouizille and Yves Meylan from JLC France, Clare Milford Haven for the great and memorable lesson, Peter McCormack and Adolfo Cambiaso for transmitting so nicely the passion!

 

Dje