During my last couple of visits to watch shops in Vienna I was always handed out a booklet and a flyer for Vienna Time - possibly one of the rare watch exhibitions actually taking place in Vienna (but cannot say for certain)
While the booklet says nothing of the exhibition itself (launches straight into the brands presented there) there is at least the hint that the current security agency has been guarding it since 2009 - so it is at least that old.
Given the size of the event, all the exhibitors have been accomodated on one floor, and while you could definitely claim to have an A-Z (from Alexander Shorokhoff to Zenith) of the watch world there, it is a smaller event, where many of the more prominent brands or large groups remained absent. So there was Zenith, Montblanc, Seiko, Breitling, Ulysse Nardin, Girrard Perregaux, Junghans of the 'major ones' but lots of the smaller brands from the Austrian / German worlds thereby got some more room to show their wares and got more attention. I also suppose for them the show made more sense, since many do not have a dealer infrastructure in Austria yet.
One could also clearly see the difference between the smaller and larger brands in terms of their approach. Many of the smaller brands were represented by the watchmakers themselves, who also took an intense interest in your watch (it seems the Chrono One attracted quite some curiosity), whereas the large brands usually had sales staff present, who were probably somewhat less horologically inclined (not in a bad way)
I apologize for the quality of the pictures, as the lighting was not conducive to doing wonders with the iPhone (nor have my skills miraculously improved).
The D. Dornblüth & Sohn was definitely sharper in real life, and I found the Regulator - much larger size than I would generally wear - to be fairly facinating. The fact that the stand was manned by the 'Sohn' - Dirk - made it a very personal experience. Definitely got a lot higher on my wishlist since yesterday.
It was also the first time I saw a Rolf Lang live. With only 4 employees, it is quite bespoke and handmade and they are very flexible in terms of customization. While the watch cannot be faulted for the quality of execution, or its bespoke nature, I found it first of all a tad too large on my wrist (would have much preferred something smaller than 44mm), and one thing they did less well is the choice of strap - that was simply too low grade on the exhibition pieces. I do applaud their 20 years guarantee and the (almost) free of charge servicing during that period. They also had many samples of alternative dial designs / materials / colours with to demonstrate some of what was possible.
Another German - this time from Glashütte proper - had a relatively large and prominent showing, namely Moritz Grossmann. You could also see that it is a much larger manufacture both in terms of space they rented, the number of staff present, and the number of watches displayed. I found the execution immaculate but the pieces somewhat cold in their aura but my wife's friend was definitely taken with the female line
The power reserve is very nicely integrated IMHO but together with the brand logo just does not work that well for me. But the hands and the finishing of the movement were beyond reproach. If you want Lange like quality but not a Swiss corporate owner, it is possibly your best bet from Germany.
A German brand that got instant appreciation from both my wife and her firend was Nomos, also with a prominent presence. They were showing their new Minimatik line along with the more traditional offerings and had the most visitors throughout. These two seem to be definites in the coming years, probably in that very order (I may even get to wear the Zürich Weltzeit on occassion):
Have to say I was quite impressed with the operation of the Weltzeit - very smooth and a cool under the radar semi-worldtimer (more of a second timezone to be honest).
Before I get to the Swiss watches, a small aside with probably the most 'arresting' piece of the show:
So, Switzerland then. It was, relatively speaking badly underrepresented, with four major brands (UN, GP, MB & Zenith), a couple of smaller players (Oris, Corum, Alpina, Roamer, Frederique Constant, Carl F. Bucherer) and some higher end independents (Speake Marin, Laurent Ferrier). The UN stand was not manned when we were passing, nor was the Corum one (it was the last day of the exhibition but still not great). As my absolute favourite UN - the Sonata - seems not to be part of the current collection, I was not too disappointed.
I did want to see the MB Heritage Spirit Orbis Terrarum but that was sadly not to be. They had a non-working model there and were happy to explain how a world timer works with pictures from the catalogue but given that every other MB AD in Vienna has some for sale, I felt somewhat disappointed that there was not one to try on. Seemingly the Boutique also did not get any yet, so they could not provide them for the show. Not great.
The GP stand, though, was truly great. The salesman had the right mix of joviality and knowledge and they had some very interesting pieces there, too. Apart from the 1966 in steel, which is really great, I got to sample two others that I definitely enjoyed thoroughly.
First the 1945 with the blue saphire dial, which is even nicer in real life than in pictures. The only comment from my wife was that legibility is terrible. She has a point but then again transparent dials do not help in that respect generally. Loved the curvature of the case back - makes wearing it very, very pleasant. We tried that it works on my wife's wrist, too - just in case
Next comes my absolute favourite of the day. While the black version would have been even more spectacular - this is still simply sublime. The picture is terrible, as the lighting in that part of the hall was not at all conducive to taking them but what a watch. It has a definite wrist presence, both optically and weight wise but it sits very nicely on my wrist, in spite of its size. This may take a lot of saving but I can certainly see it being worth it
Speake Marin was next, and it was the first time I had the chance to handle their watches live. Looked at the Serpent Calendar, and it definitely looked appealing. They had both the older and newer versions and of the two the older one was my definite favourite. Very distincive.
Also had a look at Ressence and have to say I liked it a lot. I can certainly understand the appeal a lot better now.
Still not sure if I prefer the black or guilloche dial version - both have a certain appeal but for me at least they work only in casual settings. But then again it is a decision everyone needs to make for themselves
The penultimate watch of the post is the Oris Divers Sixtyfive. Price wise it is completely from another end of the spectrum but I found it to be excellently executed for a retro watch costing not all that much. Sure, the WR is only 100m but it is small, very comfortable to wear and very close to the original in design (the date has been moved from 3 to 6 and is on a dark background - which for me is an improvement). Could certainly imagine it - not that different from the Longines Legend Diver in that respect IMHO. They also had a new grey / dolphin blue dialled version, which looks good but is a lot less legible.
And no show in Austria can be complete without Habring2. I had to do two rounds to find them - they had a tiny, tucked away stand. I finally got to try the Felix and it is a lovely time only watch. I'd probably go for a slightly different version from the one they had but something tells me there shall be one soon, and not only on account of our living here. It is understated, relatively thin and light, nicely finished - in fact a great everyday watch!
In any case - the event was probably nothing comparable to the major ones but still had a great atmosphere and gave one the opportunity to get closer to many brands that are otherwise not represented in the market. I also came back with a wife much more understanding of the hobby, different manufacturers and the reasons why watches cost different amounts
So for that alone... On a more serious note, I feel it is a great instrument to showcase the watch industry for people with a lesser involvement and I can see us going much morei n the future
