NOMOS Glashütte Supports Doctors Without Borders With Limited Edition Watches

Tangente 33 and Tangente 38

NOMOS Glashütte has launched a limited edition of its classic mechanical watches to support Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières) and their relief operations worldwide. The watches are scheduled to be released in the U.S. this month.

The German watch brand has launched special models of the NOMOS Tangente 38 and Tangente 33 to benefit the Noble Prize winning international medical humanitarian organization. 

With these particular models the 12 o’clock indicator on the white silver-plated dial is in red, the name “Doctors Without Borders” is below the seconds sub-dial at 6 o’clock and an engraving on the back refers to the organization. In addition, these models have black oxidized hands instead of the Tangente’s usual tempered blue ones. Both watches have in-house mechanical movements.

NOMOS Glashütte is making 1,000 of each model to support Doctors Without Borders in the USA—namely the NOMOS classic Tangente in two sizes: 38mm and 33mm. One hundred dollars from the sale of each watch goes directly towards the organization. However, customers pay no more than they normally would for a regular Tangente, as NOMOS Glashütte and retailers are waiving a share of their margin.

The 38mm model costs $2,140 and the 33mm model is $1,840.

“We’ll be delighted if a large number of watch enthusiasts opt for the best of both worlds: to help and, at the same time, enjoy an excellent timepiece,” said NOMOS General Manager Uwe Ahrendt. “Every look at your watch will also remind you of the people around the world in need of help.”

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UBM to Launch Jewelry Fair in Germany during Baselworld 2014

Does Baselworld have competition? Hong Kong-based tradeshow and publishing company, UBM Asia, has been coy about this but its new jewelry show in Europe will butt heads with Baselworld in 2014.

This new tradeshow called, “Jewellery & Gem Fair – Europe,” will be held April 1 – 4, 2014, in Freiburg, Germany. The dates and location line up nicely with Baselworld 2014, which will be held March 27 – April 3, 2014. Freiburg is less than an hour away from Basel, Switzerland. In fact, it’s so close that when I attended Baselworld two years ago, I stayed in Freiburg

This announcement of a new tradeshow comes after the world’s largest watch and jewelry tradeshow finished a $454.5-million upgrade to the Messe Basel complex that came with several upset vendors. In fact, the 1,460 companies who exhibited at the recently concluded Baselworld 2013 was 355 fewer than those who exhibited the prior year.

The biggest player to exit Baselworld this year was David Yurman, after what was described as “‘exasperating’ back-and-forth with the powers that be at Baselworld.” People from several companies expressed their dissatisfaction to me with their booth placement, the substantial increase in the cost of participating this year, and the pressure to construct newer, larger and more expensive booths for the show. One company, which was one of the few companies to both remain in the same space and not expand their booth, told me they still had to pay 30 percent more than the prior year.

UBM Asia is refusing to acknowledge that they are creating a competing show, calling this new fair “a comprehensive sourcing fair offering a wide range of jewelry products.” It is being positioned “as a high-efficiency, high-level face-to-face jewelry business platform to create real business value for international suppliers and buyers.”

UBM says that more than 260 exhibitors from 25 countries and regions have reserved exhibition space a year ahead of its launch. “This figure represents more than 50 percent of the expected number of exhibitors and represents 60 percent of the total exhibition space which indicates the market’s enthusiasm for this new fair in Europe,” UBM said.

Exhibitors that have signed up are from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Colombia, France, Germany, Hong Kong region, India, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Poland, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States and Zambia.

The fair is open to the jewelry trade, business professionals and members of the media. Free admission to save €30 will be granted to preregistered visitors and online preregistration opens in June 2013. 

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Montblanc and the Couple of the Year Awards

The winning couples: Christiane and Herbert Knaup (“Creative Couple”), Sabine Christiansen & Norbert Médus ("Couple of the Year"), Annemarie Warnkross and actor Wayne Carpendale (“TV Couple”), and Olympic Champion Maria Höfl-Riesch and husband Marcus Höfl (“Power Couple”). Photo credit: Montblanc

HAMBURG, Germany — It’s not often that you see someone in the news business get emotional over receiving a bit of recognition. But there she was, one of Germany’s best-known journalists, Sabine Christiansen, being reduced to tears on stage, sharing the limelight with her husband Norbert Médus, as she spoke in German about being named “Couple of the Year.”

That’s right, you read correctly. Each year couples in this northern port city are honored and given awards for having successful relationships. In addition to the “Couple of the Year,” three other couples received awards at the April 23 event in the categories of: “TV Couple,” “Power Couple” and “Creative Couple.”

Couple of the Year Award 2012, German television journalist, Sabine Christiansen, and and her husband, French entrepreneur, Norbert Medus with their Montblanc TimeWalker watches. Photo credit: Montblanc

The criteria for receiving an award is largely undefined or unknown to the public (believe me I asked). Outside of the top honor, the categories change each year, again for unspecified reasons. Being married is often a criterion, although it isn’t set in stone as you will soon learn, and being in the public eye is certainly a top consideration.

The awards event in its 10th receives a great deal of attention from the German media. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

Montblanc along with Gala magazine, the largest celebrity publication in Germany, and the Hotel Louis C. Jacob, the romantic inn overlooking the Elbe River where the event was held, are sponsors of the event that celebrated its 10th anniversary. Despite its apparent vagueness, The Couple of the Year Awards has grown to become a very important part of the social calendar in Hamburg and increasingly well-known throughout Germany. It had all the trappings of big celebrity gala. Current and past winners stepped on a red carpet and were greeted by a large bank of photographers.

Past Couple of the Year winners, Sir Christopher Lee and his wife, Birgit "Gitte" Kroencke Lee. They have been married for 51 years. Photo credit: Montblanc

Among the best-known past winners in attendance were British actor Sir Christopher Lee and his wife, Birgit “Gitte” Kroencke Lee, who’ve been married 51 years; and American socialite, model and actress Olivia Palermo and German model, Johannes Huebl, who have been dating for about four years. Palermo and Huebl received the award last year for “International Couple.”

Olivia Palermo and Johannes Huebl, who have been dating for four years, received a Couple of the Year award last year for "International Couple." Photo credit: Montblanc

However, once inside the room where the awards were presented, it was a more intimate affair. In fact, you might say that minus the stage and awards presentation, it looked a bit like a wedding. But in many ways it’s better than a wedding because saying “I Do” is the easy part. Being successful at marriage or a relationship takes hard work and sacrifice. Add to that the demands of celebrity that most of these couples face and it becomes an even greater challenge and achievement.

German TV presenter Frauke Ludowig led the Couple of the Year presentation at the Hotel Louis C Jacob. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

“These are exactly the values for which Montblanc stands for,” said Lutz Bethge, Montblanc CEO.

Yours truly flanked by Lutz Bethge, Montblanc CEO, and his lovely wife Gaby. Photo credit: Montblanc

For example, Christiansen gave up her position hosting the most popular political talk show in Germany to move to Paris with her husband, Médus, an entrepreneur. As Couple of the Year, they received two Montblanc TimeWalker watches.

Montblanc presented the three other winning couples with jewelry from the Collection Princesse Grace de Monaco for the women and Montblance writing instruments for the men.