AlbertaTime
in China, China visit #3, Post #10 - covering 26th/2014... 25th AnnualChina Watch and Clock Fair/CWCF in Shenzhen
Still in
scenic and hot Shenzhen, we all had to move pretty quickly the morning of
the first day of the 25th Annual China Clock and Watch fair (June
26th/2014), so I didn't bother with the camera until we arrived at the
buildings of the Shenzhen Convention & Exhibition Center (SZCEC), the
location of the Fair. I took a quick shot outside and in we went, rushing
to get our passes and make at least part of the opening ceremony. We made
the tail end ;-)
Next on the
agenda was an opening press session where Fair organizers and other
industry notables were introduced and/or made opening comments to the
assembled press corp.
In this
photo, Mr. Wang Mengjin, the Vice-Chairman of the China Horologe
Association, addresses the assembled media folks, and the next photo shows
how we were loosely arranged behind for photographs. I wasn't asked to say
anything, but I was very kindly introduced :-) ...
...and -- as
shown close-up above -- both LiWei and I (far left/far stage right) were
proudly wearing t-shirts promoting the 100th Anniversary of Beijixing/Polaris
in 2015 that LiWei had ordered, custom-designed, for the show (three
only)...
here I'm
being introduced to Mr. Zhu Shunhua, the Secretary-General of the Shenzhen
Watch & Clock Association (SZWA) which co-organizes the CWC Fair with the
China Horologe Association (CHA)
The fair,
which is the largest watch and clock fair in China and the third largest
international horological fair in the world, includes over 500 watch and
clock-related exhibitors occupying over 45,000 sq. ft. of floor space over
two very large buildings at the Convention centre (that's over 10,000 sq.
ft. larger than last year).
Worthy of
note, although I didn't concentrate on that aspect: 2014 was the first
time any German company had exhibited. The German exhibitors were all from
the BBD Group: Braun, Burgmeister, Elysee, Laco, Nivrel and Zeppelin.
Zhu
Shunhua, executive vice president of the Shenzhen Watch and Clock
Association, the fair’s organizer, said Shenzhen-made watches and clocks
account for 60 percent of the country’s total market share. Shenzhen is
the biggest watch and clock manufacturing center in China, with more
than 1,000 clock and watch-making firms that have a total annual
production value of 10 billion yuan (US$1.46 billion).
So, on with
the show.
First stop
was the exhibit of Polaris Timepiece/Beijixing.
I thought I
recognized that gentleman speaking to a Fair attendee :-) ...
......and I was very pleased to meet again with the president of Polaris/Bejixing,
Mr. Zhang Zhao Ji, who I'd found to be
great company while in Yantai
when we visited the Beijixing/Polaris factory earlier in the month.
Mr. Zhang
joined us for our next stop at M.C.H TimeArt to visit with the very
friendly CEO and watchmaker of Longio, Mr. Mi Changhong.
I find the
dimensional detail on these next Longio/MCH pieces quite astonishing...
Some more
wandering...
I had been
looking forward to this next stop since obtaining my very solid and
eye-catching Jiusko dive watch.
There was no
opportunity this trip to see the Jiusko factory ;-( but the invitation had
been generously made to me, so I was grateful at least to be able to drop
by and say thanks for the invitation, face to face. When we got there I
was introduced to Morgan, whom I'd been told to ask for, and who was
expecting me.
I very much
wsh my camera-fu had been better on this next shot. It's a cool watch, and
I did it no justice at all.
...and we
learn that there must be some production connections between Jiusko and
the popular Chinese fashion brands Eyki and Kimio. That goes a long way to
explaining Jiusko's very modern and style-concious vision.
Next, some
wandering around...
We also made
a quick stop to meet with Adrian Choux of the Chinese Timekeeper (on our
way to see the folks at the Rossini exhibit) so we could arrange a meeting
in more depth the next day. So, more details about Adrian and his company
tomorrow...but to whet your appetite...
...and on to
Rossini...
...where
Galen, LiWei and I were very pleased to re-meet Ms. Tina Luo of the
overseas department at Rossini...
...and I was
fortunate enough to be introduced to Mr. Chen Sichu, Deputy General
Manager of Zhuhai Rossini.
It was well
after noon, and we'd been running around a lot, so we took some time at
the China Watch and Clock VIP lounge for some refreshments. Galen took
this photo of me happily holding our VIP lounge pass :-)
The
VIP lounge was also where I was introduced to
Jintuofei's Chief Watchmaker, Mr. Liu
Zhi Yang...
...and where
I was introduced to his tourbillon watches...
...including
the one I would buy a day or two later :-)
The last
stop before leaving the Exhibition buildings to get ready for the
evening's Banquet was a courtesy visit to the Meishijia/Yantai Messica
Timepiece Co., Ltd booth (we'll return there in a future CWCF post, as
well)
Then it was
out past the Polaris/Beijixing booth...
...and a
great aquarium...
...and some
Cosplay kids...
...to the
great outdoors of Shenzhen...
We returned
later that evening for the China Watch and Clock Fair banquet...
...attended
by over 1000 people :-).
I'll let the
photos speak for themselves. The food was wonderful :-)
These two
especially beautiful photos are courtesy ggalen at Watchlead.com...
...and the
balance are mine:
...and the
banquet's Grand Finale...
...which
seems a good place to end this post. All we did next was head back to our
hotel rooms, dead tired, to rest up for Day Two!!