Sorry it took a while....

Hello,

It's been three months since I moved BACK to Tokyo after up and down 15 years of life in New York.  Needless to say, I am still trying to adjust myself in the new environment - the Summer weather as well as the new office, work process, etc.   I sometimes don't understand certain things and feel being treated like a foreigner   But, overall, it is getting comfortable because after all, this is where I was born and grew up, and family (mother, sister, etc.) is here.   Having been a bad son, thousands of miles away for 15 years when they needed me most, it feels good to take care of (or to be taken care of by) a parent.  Regrettably, I couldn't do that while father was alive, though.

Now back to the watch topic.  The event was the first such event I attend since I came back.  The boutique is 3 years old located in the ground/lobby floor of The Peninsula Hotel, which is close to the center of high end shopping zone including but not limited to the numerous watch boutiques, restaurants, theaters, touristic places such as the imperial palace. In other words, very convenient for both the local shoppers and tourists.

Prior to the evening reception, there was a talk session hosted/ moderated by the Japanese watch magazine, "Chronos Japan" where Messrs. Gruosi (the founder, president and the inspiration of dG designs), Roden (CEO of the brand), and Mao (PuristSPro), and the top watch authorities of Japan - CEOs of the three major watch retailers.   Dr. Mao and PuristSPro were invited and presented as recognized independent watch authorities in the world of high horology collecting, with the platform for such collectors worldwide.  I defer the details to the magazine, but it was a very candid and fruitful discussion such as what more can be done to enhance the brand image in Japan - the comments are honest, sincere, and sometimes blunt partly because those gentlemen do carry the brand in their shops and naturally they have upper hands.  Would like to report on that article later when it comes out as well.

The roundtable discussion (photos courtesy and copyright of Chronos Japan):

Those top watch authorities of Japan are:

Mr. Toru Kamine: CEO of KAMINE
Mr. Yasuyuki Iima: President of EYE EYE ISUZU
Mr. Atsushi Momoi: CEO of THE HOUR GLASS JAPAN
and Mr. Naomasa Furukawa: Editor-in-Chief of Chronos Japan, as the moderator

Some of them came to Tokyo only to attend this event from afar.

The evening finally started.

The guests and hosts - a lot more turn-out than anticipated!

Now the presentation:

Welcome speech by Mr. Fawaz Gruosi : 　 Founder & president of de GRISOGONO

© Courtesy of de GRISOGONO

Meccanico dG up-close:

Watch Dimensions: 51.4mm wide, 55.0mm high, 15.4mm thick

Movement Dimensions: 34.4mm wide, 37.51mm high, 11.05mm thick

Jewels: 111

Frequency: 28,800

The number of the parts: 651 (!)

Power Reserve: 35 hours

• Limited Edition: 177 Units

RG version:

On the wrist:

Other models - 10 ^th anniversary Uno:

© Courtesy of de GRISOGONO

All in all, personally, quite impressive presentation a nd demo, which made me think that we should not dismiss dG as just another jewelry brand with watch division.  This is a seriou sly innovative watch made by serious people.  Also, the design (outside=case) is very tempting - not only this model, but o ther existing models do have the signs of the jewelry brand with consistent obsession to the details in the finish.  Finally, we did feel the spirit of the people behind the scene by actually meeting the founder and the CEO.  DG has just 10 years of history as a watch brand but with new much experienced CEO on board, I believe it is worth paying attention to from now on.

Thank you very much for reading through.

Ken