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Scottish Watches Podcast #759 : International Women In Watches Day And Much More
00:45:16
In this episode of the Scottish Watches podcast, we welcome back Barbara for a wide-ranging catch-up after her latest run of international watch events. Fresh off flights from Italy, the...
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- [00:01]
A
Welcome to the Scottish Watches podcast. We have got Barbara Bulmer with us because every time she comes on, she has good stories to tell. At least one story. Sometimes it can be multiple because her passport never gets cold. It's always warm. It's warmer than my dinners because Simona usually leaves them downstairs for me because I'm busy working or at the gym or doing something stupid. But she is the international woman of mystery. She is all over the globe.
- [00:22]
B
Thank you so much to the listeners, especially those who listen from all over the world. And when I am all over the world, they come and they approach me, whether it's in the US or in Italy or in Germany. I love the fact that so many people from all over the world listen to this podcast. This is so good for you guys. This is so good for me. This is so good for the watch community. So hello to everybody who is listening. Hi. Yes, Ricky, I had a laugh about, like, when Simona makes your dinner and it's cold. That's, like, so great. Such a great response as a person who loves to cook. Yeah, man. I mean, happy 2026. Vicenza Oro started off the year in January. Off to a rado event for a major tennis match in Dallas, Texas, and then literally just getting back last night, not even 10 hours ago, from Munich, Germany, for the Inarganta Jurian Watch Fair. So, yeah, let's definitely talk about that. But let's absolutely start with a wrist check if we can.
- [01:29]
A
On you go. Because I don't have anything on the wrist today.
- [01:31]
B
Well, okay, go grab something. Come on. You want me to go first while you go get something?
- [01:35]
A
I'll go and get something. You go first.
- [01:38]
B
All right, so I have a wrist check and then I have a finger check. Don't. Please don't make some inappropriate joke about that. But yes. So on my wrist is a watch that is that I actually received when I was in Italy in Vicenza, and I was hanging out with Miguel Sciabra, who's our dear friend, who is one of the very few watch writers out of Portugal. He also writes about the tennis industry. We have partied with Miguel. We have done. We have done too many bad things with Miguel, including being in New York and doing karaoke. We have so many memories with Miguel. He's a great hang. He's a brilliant writer. He knows about watches, and he always comes to Vincenzo Oro, and he and I actually received matching men's and women's mate watches when we were in Vicenza, Italy. So what I'm wearing today, which you're going to see on my wrist is Matatiso multicolor. It's a limited edition piece. Very reminiscent of Duran Duran. It's very 80s, very pop art. Um, I actually have number three of the limited 999 pieces. It is obviously, I mean, for that, for the price that it is, which is sub, you know, $300. I think it goes for 200, roughly $230American, depending on where we are, because our. Our dollar continues to. To sink. But yeah, I mean, it's. It's a relatively inexpensive watch, but it's so cool. It's so Funky. It's so 80s. It's so. What? Grew up in it. So, like Rio, Duran Duran album cover, just so mtv. And I loved it and Miguel loved it because he and I are about the same age. But yeah, this is. This is a great.
- [03:35]
A
He looks a lot older.
- [03:36]
B
What, than 80s or. I do. He looks a lot older. It looks a lot older.
- [03:41]
A
He. Hell, you're deaf. He looks a lot older than you, Miguel.
- [03:46]
B
Well, he's a few years old, that I am. He's still in good shape. Look, look, Miguel's. You know, Miguel's. Miguel. But no, he. He keeps himself up to date. Anyway, it's a quartz. It's a rot of quartz, but it's just fricking fun. And. And we're going to post this. I'm sure Mizzael, he knows that. We've posted on my Instagram page. I've got some other pictures of it, but I love it. It's super fun. And Matetiso did show at Inorganta, which we'll talk about a little later on. So what are you wearing, Ricky, today? And I'm sorry, my voice is so hoarse right now just from the travel and the train and the train travel and the plane travel and everything. I'm like, I'm definitely coming down with something from that. So. But what are you wearing, my friend?
- [04:30]
A
I went digging through the watch box to find the most inappropriate timepiece I could find, and I found it. So that's what I'm wearing today. Oh, my God.
- [04:40]
B
Oh, my goodness. I can't. What is that? Oh, gosh. What is that? Why? Why? Why is that inappropriate? You tell me.
- [04:47]
A
Because I like to tell the story in the podcast, but my origin Getting into watches, 2017, buying a Rolex didn't work.
- [04:54]
B
Blah, blah, blah.
- [04:55]
A
Turns out in the past I have owned watches and there wasn't such a big gap. I thought it was around about 96. 97 was the last time I Bought something potentially that could be the case. But the watch I'm wearing today was gifted to me back around about 2004, 2005. So we're talking a couple of decades ago. And it was a company, I believe, based out the States called Ducty Duc Ti. The Raison d' Etrap was basically taking duct tape and producing products out of it. So I have got this watch. It looks to be made of duct tape. It's not made of duct tape. It's a genuine quartz watch. But it is strapped into a duct tape gauntlet, a bun strap. And I thought this was super cool because back in the early 2000s, you were talking about the 80s and 90s, 90s was a little bit skater, it was a little bit Avril lavigne leading into 2000s. So this kind of style, this was all the rage. And it sat in the watch box ever since. Never ditched it, obviously. The battery is long since expired. But it's a watch I kept because I did wear it back in the day, back in the early 2000s. So the company, from what I can gather, is no longer. Because I did go looking for them recently, but they had a ton of things. They had wallets made out of duct tape, they had these watch straps made out of it, bands made out of it. They had female accessories, handbags, clutch bags, purses, all kinds of stuff. But I suppose like anything that is a little bit fashion orientated, if you're a one trick pony, sometimes that pony has to get put down. So this company no longer around, sometimes you do find them on ebay, but I think it's pretty cool.
- [06:23]
B
Okay, so I actually freaking love this because obviously mate is you'll actually find them at vintage events. The old school mate. So which obviously when we go to Vio Vintage and Vicenzor, which we'll get into, I see a lot of antique, a lot of vintage Mateico watches. Obviously they're under a different realm right now, but they're bringing it up to a more modern era. But even that modern era is a vintage era. And since you brought up the 90s, the other watch I'm wearing on my finger right now, which you can't see because we're having video difficulties, is a finger watch, a ring watch that I picked up when I was in Munich, which is a fossil, which, hello, very popular in the 90s. I picked up a fossil fossil ring watch while I was there. I have not owned one. I know that these are becoming more and more popular, like Kathleen from, from Red Bar. She Constantly talks about her, the ring washes, she's picked up. This has become sort of a thing. People are going to ebay, they're picking up like these vintage ring watches which were popular in the 80s and the 90s. I went and visited the, the Fossil booth when I was in Munich. I talked to Fabian, shout out to him. The whole reason I went there, obviously I was there to cover watch brands. But our dear friend Matthew, who on Instagram is known as Sunflower man and everyone who listens to your program, I know you haven't had him on yet, but let's get him on. Definitely. He's one of the very few watch artists that exist. If you were in Dubai a few years ago, you knew that he was
- [08:07]
A
at the Frederic Constant part.
- [08:09]
B
Yes, he was. That's exactly what I was about to say. He was the artist at the Frederic Constant event and he did live drawings of people and he has done debut. He has done so many watch brands throughout the years where he just live, he live paints and Fossil brought him in to Munich for Inorganta to live paint their newest editions. And I got as a gift from Fabian because I was there and I was covering it and he said, you know what, I know you're into. I know obviously you have a jewelry background and you cover watches and all. You know, this is maybe like 150 US this, this great ring watch, but it's super adorable. And the watch that I was gifted was the one that won the Inorganta design award last year, which was so cool. And I have to tell you Ricky, since I've been divorced, I've only worn two rings on my finger. One is the Oura ring that I was gifted. And so yeah, so I'm wearing the Oura ring which tracks my sleep and my blood pressure and my activity data. And so yeah, now I'm wearing this. I haven't taken off this Fossil watch ring which is so cool. So I'm wearing both the Mete Tissot and the Fossil watch ring.
- [09:26]
A
Right. Question time. Babs Fossil. I thought they were dead.
- [09:30]
B
What I know right now about Fossil is first of all, and I do want to go sort of like in a timeline. So I do want to talk about Vicenza Aura first, then the trip with Rado and then in Argenta last because literally I just got back from that last night. So we can discuss Fossil now, but. But I'd rather like sort of put that aside and bring it, you know, like in the future at the end of this recording I've Never. I've never. I've always been like, okay, it's Fossil. So Fossil owns, you know, Michelle watches. They own Zodiac watches. Like, obviously they're an umbrella as well. So. And we've been seeing, like, people posting about Zodiac watches showing up on the US Side in TJ Maxx, in, you know, Marshalls. Yeah, okay, yes, we get it. But Fossil itself is actually, I think, Fossil itself, Fossil as a watch brand, you're going to be surprised at what is coming up for them. And I can't talk about it because it's under embargo. And that's the stuff that I saw when I was in Munich. So I can't really. But. But I am going to say, like, I don't think it's a whole. Yes, there probably is sort of like a restructuring. That's the umbrella. But the Fossil brand itself is continuing to move forward, and they're doing things showing that some of their pieces are going to be American brands. They're doing things with regard to automatic watches with. They haven't done a whole lot with before under the Fossil brand themselves. So, I mean that. I think that's something that a future podcast, we could talk about a little bit more once the embargoes are lifted.
- [11:07]
A
Well, let's move things forward. And that country you pretend you're from, even though you know you're American through and through, that other country, what happened over there, you were recently there.
- [11:17]
B
I never pretend I'm from Italy. I just say that I am very, very proud to be of Italian American descent. I am my IO Bisnono, IO Napolitano. So, yes, my great grandfather was from Italy. He came over in 1890. If you go to Ellis island, you will see his name, Nicola Palombo. My daughter got to go last year. She did the whole, you know, like, picture. You can kind of scribble out their names. That was her great, great grandfather. I love that.
- [11:52]
A
Could you. I'm Italian because the Romans invaded the uk.
- [11:56]
B
Sure, yeah. You're Italian. You're Italian.
- [11:58]
A
Love it.
- [11:59]
B
Yeah, definitely. Yeah. You know, Italians, they have lovers in this country and lovers in this country and lovers in this country, and then their wives, and they still live with their mothers at the end of the day. But that's just the Italian men, anyway. Yes, I love being of Italian descent. I love it. I cook like an Italian. I've had my Italian. I've had at least one Italian lover say to me, you cook like a girl from Napoli. Which is such a proud moment for me because that means I cook really, really well. Southern Italian went to Vicenza, was excited to be invited again. Shout out to Michaela and the Mateos and everyone out, the whole team, which Ricky, you know, they're the warmest people. They really are incredibly warm and loving and caring. And I got to go. Back in January, VO Vintage was happening. So I don't get to attend a lot of vintage shows. You know, I don't go. I'm here, but I don't visit. Miami is one of the biggest shows for. For vintage timepieces, and I don't really get to go to that much as a person. If I'm hosted, it's one thing. If I'm not hosted, I have to determine, like, okay, it's, you know, if finances can afford me to go, I'll go, like with Vegas. If not, I sort of have to skip out. Skip out on that. But Veo Vintage has been just, you know, as, you know, I mean, you. I wore my longines that you gifted me for my 50th birthday. I. When I go to visit the Vio Vintage, I always have that on. And over the years, I've purchased a Bulgari, a coin watch, which I gifted to my best friend. I've purchased an Omega, a small Omega vintage watch that I got last year. I came very close this year to purchasing an Hermes vintage watch. Um, I opted not to because I actually, like, Googled online and found that it was the person who was selling it. It was like, way more than what you could buy it for online. So I was like, okay, you know, if you can't price match, I'm okay. That was just the person that, that I spoke to this year. But overall, Veo vintage is always a great experience. I think they do a really good job with it. And Mateo is fantastic. They do talks and, you know, obviously they treat the press really, really well. They put us in Albano Turme this year, which is sort of a. A retreat for folks in Italy to come. It's like a spa city. I. I know we've kind of loosely talked about this. It's a city that they. That is built. All the hotels are built on top of actual hot springs. And it's incredible because all of the pools and all of this, all the indoor pools and everything is like hot springs. And I've been put up there before, but I had never taken advantage of that until this year. And, and, and I've been going to Vicenza Oro for the last 11, 12 years. Sometimes we're in the city like you and I. When you were there, we went, we stayed very close to the, the fair at that beautiful hotel. But these last couple years, they put us about four to five minutes outside of the city. And I've always been kind of reluctant to like the hot springs, whatever. And I did it for the first time this year at a. The last decade. And I hate myself for not taking advantage of it sooner because it was an extraordinary experience to be in like natural hot. I mean, I, I don't like, in the US we don't have a lot of cities. Like there's a city in Arkansas, obviously in the Midwest, there are cities that actually are built sort of on top of these natural hot springs. And I don't know, it's something that's incredibly uplifting and peaceful and beautiful and I loved it and I loved Abanor Jeremy and the vast majority of the press was staying there and it was really wonderful. Again, I love the team at vo What I want to mention is in September, the September show, they have been in the process of building and I think even when you were there with me, they started the process. They were starting to build this other whole section. So they knocked down some of the older buildings and they're building this grand new hall. So September is when that's supposed to launch. And I think once that does launch it, like Vicenza Oro has been around for decades, decades, if not, I mean, multiple decades. I think when this new, like state of the art hall opens for them in September, it's going to be just completely change. It's going to change the European jewelry and watch community. So I really, it was great because they actually took us in to see the process, what the process has been and what it's kind of going to look like. So that there was a toll tour of like, okay, we're almost finished. So you got to see like the guts and the roots of it. And that was super special. But for those who are, again, like I said, meet Miguel was with me and several international watch journalists were there. And I think it's going to be really something special. Especially with Baselworld gone. You have a few shows that are, I think, going to take the space of Baselworld, Innergetta being one, obviously, Vicenza Oro being another. Italy and Germany, I think they're going to step in where Baselworld doesn't exist at this point as well as the international shows like Dubai Watch Week and then Watches and Wonders, which is, you know, I hope, I hope doesn't become like Baselworld used to be. I love the speciality of watches and wonders. I love that it's still intimate and it's still like, I don't know, just. I hate to say classy because that seems like such. But just like that whole where the Plexpo is, it just seems such a. Like a bit more highbrow.
- [17:47]
A
It's regal.
- [17:48]
B
Very good. Yes. That's a great, great term. Perfect. It is. It's regal. The breakfast, the lunches, the, you know, the dinners, the brands. You're right. You're right. Extraordinarily regal. Yeah. But with regard to booths and, and the whole, like the, the grandeur of it, you know, Vicenzoro can step in as well as Inorgante now that I've been there. So. And we'll talk about that a little bit later. But yeah, Vicenza was great, Always great to see my Italians. And then. Yeah, so that was, that was really the. That was January. And then there was a press trip with Rado to the Dallas Open. So this was. This is a major ATP tournament. So it's a major tennis tournament coming off of the Australian Open. So it's a lot of the players who played at the Australian Open and sort of pre. I don't know what's next. Is the French Open next or the. Yeah, so I. Maybe the French Opens next, then the US Open, then Wimbledon or maybe women. I can't remember like the four major tours in what order that they go. But the Dallas Open is sort of like a pre. Event but still having some major players. So Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, a lot of international players were there.
- [19:06]
A
You don't hear of Anna Kournikova much these days.
- [19:10]
B
I mean, remember her? Yes, of course. So Nadal, whom I. I actually got to meet at the Richard Mille event in. In France. Lovely, lovely human being. I love Federer. I think he's super nice, super calm Again, that was like Rolex, Richard Mille. But now we have. I, I think the newbies are the whole like the Spaniard and the Italian. So Sinner. Right. The redhead, the ginger. You have. No, I'm talking to. You have no idea. Okay. For another podcast. All right. But let's talk about the Dallas Open. So the Dallas Open. The Dallas Open clearly was in. Was in. We think it was in Dallas. It wasn't. It was in Frisco. So Frisco is a city outside of Dallas.
- [19:57]
A
See, I'm British. I think when somebody says Frisco, they're shortening San Francisco.
- [20:02]
B
No. Right. Doesn't it sell it? Yes, you're right. A lot of people think that it's like, oh, they. Yes, you're right, because people go to Frisco, and, yes, that's a shortened version of San Francisco. But if you're from.
- [20:13]
A
Sometimes you hear American people say Newark, and I think they're shortening New York.
- [20:18]
B
It's Newark. So there's Newark. Newark, New Jersey, which is close to New York, and there's also Newark, Delaware. So there are two cities very close on the east coast that are spelled the same way. N, E, W, A, R, K. One is northern New Jersey. One is central Delaware, Newark. But Delaware distinguishes itself because they say Newark instead of Newark. Jersey says Newark, which sounds closer to New York. Yes, but they are actually quite close. I'll teach you. I'll teach you about the American cities. That's where you and Simona should come. Dallas open. This is with Rado. I love the Rado team. I love Rado watches. I have a couple of their Captain Cooks. I freaking love these watches. To me, I think they're an underrated watch brand. They sent me out there. I was with three of the best, nicest American journalists, Troy and Zach and Ed, and shout out to those three guys. I had really the best time, and I had a friend come up from Austin who met me up there. We had a really, really wonderful time. But they showed us their novelties for the year, so. Which was great, because this is one of the things that Swatch Group does, at least here in America. I don't know if they do it. Where you are in the UK is like, so Longines. I'll be with Longines in the next couple weeks. So they invite. Back in Dallas, they invite us out, and they show us. They're very planned out. They show us like, okay, these are the releases for April and June and September, like, going forward, obviously, I can take pictures because I don't want to break embargoes or anything. And I know myself. You know, my menopausal brain is like, oh, I'll just post something, and it'll break an embargo. I'm never gonna do that. I've never done it. It's really disappointing to me that as a person who three months ago was a member of the GPHG for the second time in the last 10 years that I've been going to Washington, wonders. I'm gonna have to, in a sense, sleep on a floor of a colleague's room. On March 8, 10 years ago, I launched what's on Her Rest. And I did it to give a voice and space to women who were trying to make their way into the watch industry or had already been in the watch industry, Whether being a watchmaker or a marketing head or somebody who was making their ranks and, you know, up to becoming vice president or president or CEO, there weren't enough voices that were female in this, in this industry. And 10 years ago on International Women's Day, I launched my blog and I'm about to celebrate 10 years. And I feel really proud about what's been accomplished in the last 10 years because I see so many more female voices, so many more women's voices right now than I've ever seen in this industry, especially coming out of America. Because when I first came into this industry, there were only a handful of voices. They weren't exactly welcoming to me. If anything, they were territorial and they were trying to stop me from becoming something different. And I fought through it and I continue to fight through it. And it's exhausting to me to continue to fight for a place because I feel like I'm in, I'm in purgatory. I'm in the middle. Like, I wasn't a member of the old guard, but I'm also not a member of the new community. And I'm just kind of in this new middle Gen X groundhood while continuing to fight for, for women's voices in this industry. So there are brands that recognize that, and I am so appreciative of them. The community worldwide considers me to be a voice that Nicholas Folks, himself, the head of the GPHG for five years, considers me to be a voice. Someone I've written for at Vanity Fair for five years considers me to be a voice. I just really, it's really gotten to me. So Dallas, it was really funny to me. I'm going to have a little personal story here. So I'm from Philadelphia, as many of your listeners know, and if we're talking about American football, the Philadelphia Eagles are arch rival is the Dallas Cowboys. Well, the. Where the event was being held was actually at Ford center, which is a 4 center at the Star, which is the Dallas Cowboys practice complex and where all of their offices are.
- [24:39]
A
So did you leave a number two on the steps?
- [24:43]
B
I did not. I may or may not have flipped a bird for personal reasons in a picture, but I would never post that because my hosts were having me at the Cowboys. So it was called the Quarterback Club. Like the Quarterback corner. It was called Quarterback Corner. Quarterback Corner. I'm literally in like, in the, in the freaking realm of the entity. Like, like, like our enemy. Like, so we're there. And all I'm looking at is, like, Roger Starbuck, which means nothing to you, and like Troy Aikman and all of this Cowboys paraphernalia. Sneakers, shoes, cleats, footballs, jerseys. And my skin is crawling. My skin is crawling because I'm an Eagles fan. And that is our arch rival. Whatever that would mean to you as someone from Glasgow, whatever, your arch rival, whether it's football or rugby or. And I know you're not necessarily a sports guy.
- [25:37]
A
We're so elevated over above the top of the rest of the world that there aren't any rivals, really.
- [25:43]
B
All right, well, for the US Football, the NFL, the Dallas and the Eagles are our tribals. So I hated the fact that I was in the Lions den because it was the Dallas Cowboys complex. But thank you, Dorado. I love the new releases coming out. Everything's been brilliant. Let's go inorganta.
- [26:02]
A
We're coming up to the final hurdle. We're going to talk about those folks that. Well, the UK and Germany, there's a long standing bit of history there, but everything's fine, everything's good. And a little bit like Basil Fawlty. Don't mention the war.
- [26:15]
B
Don't mention the war. I tried it once, it didn't work out. Yes, don't mention the war. It's kind of like. God, I love. I love Fawlty Towers. I miss that show so much. Thank you for mentioning that. God damn, that was a great show. What, one? Two. One season. Two seasons. That's all. That's all. What was the one about the salad? Waldorf.
- [26:34]
A
I don't remember that, but I remember Manuel and the Siberian hamster.
- [26:39]
B
Yes, well, and there was also the Waldorf salad. That was. That was a good episode too. But yes, don't mention the war. I did it once. It didn't work out. Yes, well, the germ. My mother's German, so here we go. We're talking about my ancestry because we talked about it at the beginning of this episode.
- [26:53]
A
Hold on a minute. Germans and Italians. This isn't looking.
- [26:55]
B
Oh, my God. Growing up in my household, I had Hitler and Mussolini. The arguments between my parents were ridiculous, let me tell you. My father was Mussolini, the fascist. My mother German. Hitler. Terrible.
- [27:16]
A
Did you have a lot of Mercedes cars, Hugo Boss outfits?
- [27:19]
B
Oh, no, we were four. It was a little bit. Well, no. Fila. My father wore Fila. My father would wear, like, Fila outfits, like, you know, the little. Like velvet, like very Tony Soprano. Uh, my mother was built like a shoebox and very short Hair. So she was very German. She looked very German. Like, like, you know, the older German women are very like rectangular, very square and then they had the really short hair. So that was like the older German era of women. My father, very brown skinned, dark eyes because he was southern Italian, like black hair. He actually has fewer grays than I have to this day. He's still alive. That's a whole other episode. But anyway, yeah, so growing up in that atmosphere, very different. But I understand both, you know, I understand that usually the German, the Germans are very organized and let me tell you, this was no different. The organization at Inorganta was beyond just the Germans are organized, man. It's very Einstein, very numerical, very Prussian. Right? It's super organized. This is the first time I've ever been to this show. First of all, utterly gorgeous. The, the, the actual space, beautiful, beautiful space when they had a very much separated jewelry side, BC side, watch side, A side. So you went in, you scanned your badge, you knew exactly where to go. And unfortunately there was so much going on on the watch side. I never got to the jewelry side. I did want to see it and when I go next year, which they've already invited me, which I'm really excited about, I do want to see more of the jewelry side, but I. There was so much going on on the watch side that I just stayed on that side. So reminiscent of Baselworld with regard to booths. Obviously not the brand, like, obviously not like Rolex and Patek and you know, the LVMH brands. But I think mid level brands. I mean, Oris was there because they were, they were doing it as a part of fh, which was great. Foundation, foundation author, luxury was there. They had a massive booth which they were teaching classes, which I loved. So they were showing people how to do, you know, engraving and enameling and like, you know, playing with watchmaker parts. It was so cool, so great. Their whole area was just spectacular. And they've partnered with them the last two years. So Piaget was there the first two days as part of the fh, like exhibit, part of Hall A. And Oris, which was great, was there the last few days. I got to see Ralph Studer, which was great. Yeah, for a couple days that we were there. You know, he came over to me with his wife at the actual awards event. So we chatted great. And then I saw him the next day. But your friends at Maurice Lacroix, they were there and we saw Alex, so Alexander Shorokov, which I have one of his watches, the winter watch I wore it and got to meet with his daughter. We had a beautiful appointment. I love their brand. To me, I find they're one of the most intricate brands and most just their, their dials and what they do on their, their rotors and their, and their, their balance wheels, like the decorations and everything. He was born in Russia, she was born in Russia, but they're out of Germany now. What they're doing is just so above and beyond price points that what these other brands are doing. They don't get enough attention by any stretch. Alexander Sharkov, Mule Gazuta was there. I love Tilo Mule. I've been friends with him for 10 years. I got to meet his son and his daughter. They're now sixth generation Mulligazita. So his son and his daughter who look exactly like him, which is crazy because I, when I saw him I was like, oh my God, your kids are carbon copies of you. They were amazing. Again under the same umbrella. Meister Singer. We got to meet with Eberhard, with Junguns. Ebel was there. Tutima again, a Glazuta brand, German brand. Citizen had a massive booth. So it was Citizen and Bulova and all the citizens. Everybody under the Citizen umbrella. Casio was there. So G Shock, amazing. Huge, huge, huge Basel level booth. Porsche design was there. Maurice Aqua, like I mentioned your friends, mate. Tissot, which was the watch I'm wearing here. They were there with pillow. Timex had a massive, massive booth and everybody under their umbrella. Fossil as well. We talked about that. Llama. So Yema was in France, so the whole kind of like in Hong Kong. When I went to the Hong Kong show that you guys sent me to to cover the Hong Kong clock and watch fair, Yema was there under this French group umbrella, which was really cool. So they have a designated area for the French groups and Yema was there and they're doing this. I'll send you the picture. They're doing this really beautiful new watch using a mother of pearl dial, but also mother of pearl or on the bezel. Very cool. I haven't seen it before. It was super cool. Philippe Plein, I think you've been to their events before. Yeah, their booth was fantastic. They had this super cool. You could sit in an F1 car and it was a virtual. You could act like you were driving in the car with the screens and everything. So I have video of that, which was crazy cool. And they had a lot of their brands under that group. They were there. Who am I missing? Bauhaus, which is super cool. Yeah. Again, and I mentioned what Fossil was doing. So there were major brands, but I think aside from the fact that there were major brands with regard to notoriety, like brands that are showing in the everyday department stores around the world, you know, Macy's and Nordstrom or D1 Milano are buddies at Dua Milano. You guys did a show with them recently and he was there, but Dario. So we spent some great time together. The stuff that they're doing that's coming out now is freaking spectacular for their price point. Love, love, love. The. I think Mizzell reposted the gamer. Watch the, the Tetra. Was it the Tetris? Was it Tetris? You watched it? I think Mizzy Algis. Oh, boy. My God. Oh my God. That was so fun. The stuff that they're doing is so fun. And, you know, and Dario and I have been friends for almost 10 years and you know, nine years now, I think we had a great conversation and he's just, he's really, he's got it going on with what he's doing. They were showing there for the first time. So you had these brands showing for the first time. But little by little they're, they're gaining popularity.
- [34:08]
A
A quick question that I need to remember to ask at this moment in time. Is these two different events that you've mentioned so far, are they both open to the public or is it press retail media?
- [34:19]
B
No, no. So, okay, so the Chenza Oro VO vintage is open to the public. So if you are into vintage, you can get a separate vin. Like you're a public access so you have to register, you'll get a public access but you won't get like, you won't be able to see the Transo. You're the brand that you guys have posted about before, which you were introduced to the first time that we went to Vicenza Oro. Right. Bonanzianica, which they're getting popularity. They're in the actual B2B section. So public can't see them or like out of order or the other Italian brands that are there in the B2B.B section. The public can't see. But vintage is B2C. So you can come and just go to the VO vintage section. If you're just a consumer, you could buy straight out. You could buy right there, walk out with your vintage watch. I spoke to, which I, I was so happy to meet in person, which is the, the head of Inorganta and that is Stephanie. And I don't. I think it's like Malian or Meilin. I don't know how to say it in German. She's a younger, you know.
- [35:38]
A
And is their show B2B or B2C?
- [35:41]
B
No. So they're B2C, but they still bring in a ton of people. But I talked to her, I interviewed her, and again, I took some great footage of my interview with her about whether or not in the future they would be open even for a day or two days. Kind of like watches and Wonder does, or kind of like Vicenza Oro does if they would be willing to open to B2C. And, you know, I think that's something that they would like to plan on for the future. But with what she said, and I'm, I'm paraphrasing here, that all has to come down to security. And they've got to figure out how to make that happen from a security standpoint because the way that it is now, and they're very good with security. Like, you know, again, like, everybody's like, you know, badge, whatever, and everything's split. Stephanie is one of the very few women, again, if you look at him, Hind Siddiqi, which, by the way, I did get to see Hind. I'm gonna say this now. When I was at Vicenza Oro, I got to see Hind and Mara. They were there surprisingly, like at the lunch, which was so cool. And they were there as a guest of Paola Deluca, who's sort of like a trend woman. She's like, she handles trends on the jewelry side and it was nice. And see Hind and Mara there. And I'm like, oh, my God, what's going on? Like, what does this mean for the future of Dubai Water? Is there a reason they were there? But I got to put my arms around our Hinds, Dicky, whom I love so much. But yes. So Stephanie is, she's a, she's an absolute powerhouse and she's like the brain trust for what's happening in Argent right now. The fact that FH is involved with them, the fact that they are bringing in, yes, they have mid level brands, but again, Piaget, hello. And the fhh, hello. There's Piaget is still a Richemont brand. They're under the Richemont umbrella. They're bringing them in. And I think that by even next year, it only happens once a year, but by even next February, I think this show in February in Europe is going to continue to become like, it's going to grow. It's going to become a major show. And again, having like, I am Casa was there, Andrea was There, right. Our body. I am Casa. You had Kornando, the guy with all the watches on his jacket. He was there. Hodinkee was there. Andy from Hodinkee was there. So you've got major entities there at this show and I believe that's always from here on in, I think that's going to grow. So I'm really appreciative of them and their team and Stephanie and her whole team and Anya and Fenya and Thomas, everybody was great to me. They rolled out the red carpet. Their awards ceremony was freaking fantastic. Best award ceremony I've ever been to. And I fully expect that next year we're going to see a larger growing watch media community showing up at Inorganta and at Vicenza Oro as well. So if you look up Inorganta, that'll show. I believe it's the 19th through the 22nd and it's at the Messe. So it's at the Messeplatz at Iraqeto, which is the Messe Platz is, translates to their convention center. What is that? Like their convention center. So, you know, 30 minute ride from the airport, 20 minutes from downtown Munich. Massive space. Massive space. Again, very Baselworld type space. The booths, very Baselworld. Like, like the booths were cra. Marie Saquo had a two floor booth, a full bar and which was wonderful. And you know, it just, it was reminiscent of when Baselworld was slightly smaller, but reminiscent of the booths and how beautiful and big the booths were. And I do think, I. I genuinely do think it's going to be a growing community. Do I think Rolex and Patek will be there? I have no idea. Do I think larger groups will be there? Do I? You know, especially German groups. Like, I don't understand why Nomos isn't there. Why, why isn't Nomos there? They're a German brand. Why isn't Nomos there? Like I do feel or even like I know that Zeitfinkel. Zeitwinkel is a Swiss brand, but they're sort of Swiss German. Like I feel like Zeitwinkel should be there. There are brands that are either German or Swiss German that I think would do gangbusters because again, they were crowded. They had. Every booth I went into had people sometimes I couldn't meet with or Meister Singer because they were so busy with customers. So it was a solid fair. I mean, like, it was the first time I was there and they've already invited me back for next year to be a speaker for next year. They had great watch talks this year. But yeah, I hope to be back next year and I hope you guys join me.
- [40:26]
A
Well, before we finish up. Cause we're nearly at the end. What is on the agenda? Where's the passport gonna get stamped next?
- [40:32]
B
All right, so in a couple weeks, I'm in Dallas again for. For Longines. Longines will do their yearly release. So again, like I said, Swatch Group brands here in the US they'll do sort of. They bring the journalists in and then they show you. Okay, this is going to be what's introduced in April, May, June, July, you know, for the rest of the year, which I love that I can't talk about it because it's under embargo, but I get to see it up front. So that's Dallas with Longines, New York for gem awards and the 24 Karat association, which is jury and watch events that. That are going to be happening in New York. Black tie events. And then obviously Watches and Wonders. And then I can't remember after. After that, but I think there's other things come. Oh, no, no, no. Citizen. Citizen is actually next. They're ecospari. Citizen is next. They have a big anniversary for their Eco Drive movement. So I will be in New York at the Guggenheim Museum, which I've never been to the Guggenheim Museum, which is crazy. So I am there in the next couple weeks with Citizen Group. They've invited me for that, which is amazing. And then the other things that I talked about and then, yeah, Watches and Wonders. I'm not quite sure what happens after. Oh, no, no, no. JCK Las Vegas, which is. I'm helping them do. They're building up their watch entity. So fossil groups will be there and citizen groups will be there and a bunch of other groups are going to be there. So JCK is doing that. Couture, also in Las Vegas, is partnering with Time to Watches. So they're doing something with Time to Watches, which is cool. So that's in May, end of May, I believe, or beginning of June or Crossing over. Yeah. So I think that's what's going on from here on in. But I'm doing a talk there with jck. I'm hosting a Watch talk with Kathleen of Red Bar. And there's other things that are special coming out of that show which have not been announced yet, but will be announced very soon. Mm.
- [42:39]
A
Lots of things happening. Well, we are going to have to cut this episode just now because we have got lots to be doing ahead of heading to British Watchmakers Day, an event that you went to last year in my absence, you filled in on a lot of things. Last year when I was busy, you went to that, you went across to Hong Kong, flying the flag internationally for Scottish watches. And we're very appreciative of everything you do for us. And we will obviously catch up across Impal Expo in just about a month's time there or thereabouts, and we will make plans for the rest of the year because we don't know what the folks at Dubai Watch Week are going to be putting together for Horology forum towards the tail end of 2026, but no doubt we'll be involved in that in some way, shape or form and traveling across the globe. We don't know where the traveling roadshow will end up, but we will have our passports ready to get stamped for that as well. And that's pretty much it. Do you want to tell people where they can check you out?
- [43:26]
B
Yes. Okay, so the spring edition of Vanity Fair on Time comes out in April, literally on the day that watches A Wonder starts. So please pick up your edition because I both have the news excerpt as well as an article about Hermes and their Hermes new timepieces that are coming out. So please pick that up and please read it and please just support me in any way you can, as well as on what's on her wrist. On top of that, what's in her Wrist celebrates their 10 year anniversary on March 8th. And there's a couple of things in the words coming across with that. But I would love your support and I would love you to follow me and wish me well on 10 years of being a female voice in this industry.
- [44:09]
A
There we go. Couldn't have said it better myself. We do it twice a week, Mondays and Thursdays. Catch us on the Interwebs, scottishwatches.co.uk UKOttishWatches on Instagram and Google for us or search for us on YouTube. Obviously, if you want to get in touch, our email address is infooottishwatches.co.uk, never DM US. They just get lost. And amongst all the spam and the bots on Instagram and that is it. So until we meet again. We'll catch you soon, Barbara.
- [44:32]
B
Bye, honey. I'll see you very, very soon. And congratulations and happy anniversary, Sam.