Baselworld 2013, Day One: Blancpain, Hublot, Graham, Alpina

I got a glimpse of Hublot‘s headliner pieces on Baselworld press day, but yesterday was my first opportunity to see them up close and handle them. I was fortunate enough to be among the few to get a hold of the watch that is already a big conversation piece here at the fair, the 11-barrel La Ferrari (below), with a five-day power reserve. Away from the crowds of press day and with the watch out of its presentation case, I was able to glean a bit more about how to read it: the rotating, numbered columns on the right of the watch indicate the hours and minutes, while the ones on the right count down the days and minutes of the remaining power reserve. The barrels are stacked in the center. I also learned the watch comes with a special power-drill-like tool that is used to wind the watch via a crown at the top, which makes sense, since manually winding a timekeeper with a 50-day power reserve would be a daunting task. I also managed to snap a photo of the back of the La Ferrari, which is just as eye-catching as the front.

Onward to Baselworld Day Two. Keep checking WatchTime.com for my updates as well as reports from our sister blog, Alexander Linz’s Watch Insider, throughout the week of the show.