Malcolm Lakin, managing editor: “The morning started with breakfast with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC). Apart from a delightful breakfast, Ms. Lore Buscher, regional director for the council, Bob Chong, chairman of the HKTDC Watches and Clock Advisory Committee and Charles Chan, chairman of the HKTDC Jewelry Advisory Committee made a very brief presentation in which we discovered that there were 333 Hong Kong distributors, the largest number ever and Hong Kong remains the second largest exporter of complete watches and clocks in the world. Last year, Hong Kong's total exports of watches and clocks had increased by 1% to US$5.9 billion, which corresponds to a massive 5,916,000,000 watches and clocks. This was followed by a brief tour of the stands of Chung Nam, Peace Mark, Sweda and Trixie Watch Brand.
”Gant introduced a new line in their Maritime Collection, which is called the Volvo Ocean Race Timepiece, with the brand featuring Robert Kennedy, Jr. in their ad campaign. Gant is also the official race sponsor. The watch is a handsome stainless steel one with a very readable dial and is water-resistant to 500 meters, but with the weight of the watch, it'd be best to get it off your wrist before falling overboard.
“A good part of the afternoon was taken up by a visit to Zenith, where Thierry Nataf gave an extensive and inimitable presentation of the company's new collection. One of the highlights are the new watches in the Defy collection, featuring Zenithium, a new alloy created by Zenith, with prices range from 10,000 Euros for the power reserve model to 120,000 Euros for the Defy Tourbillon.
”Towards the end of the day, Jan Edöcs, CEO of Milus presented their new products and ambassadors, Ning Jing and Nada Zeidan in 'the tent.'"

Keith W. Strandberg, contributing writer: “I started my day with the Swatch Group, going from Hamilton to Omega to Tissot to Longines to Glashütte Original and more. I especially enjoyed the new watches from Hamilton — a good mixture of intriguing designs that push the company forward without leaving the past behind. One special limited edition from Hamilton is the watch that featured in the classic movie '2001.' Hamilton had never been able to make the watch work until now, and it's a cool watch.
”I also visited with TAG Heuer, which has again shocked the industry by bringing several of its concept watches to market. This Basel, TAG is introducing the production version of the Monaco Sixty Nine as well as the Carrera Calibre 360 (in three limited editions — rose gold, white gold and steel), and the 1/100th of a second chronograph that was a concept watch last year at Basel. In addition, TAG introduced a working model of the Monaco Calibre 360 LS Concept Chronograph, an intriguing watch with a linear second display.
“Finally, TAG has a working model of the Monaco V4, TAG's concept watch from 2004, which many watch industry pundits said they would never make work. Well, TAG has sure showed them.
”On another TAG note, congratulations to Christel Chaunsumlit, who has recently been promoted to director of training. I've gone to trainings held by Christel and she is the best I've ever seen. She has a depth of knowledge coupled with incredible enthusiasm, and retailers walk out of her training ready to do just about anything to help make TAG successful. Congrats, Christel!
“Finally, I met with two of my favorite women in the watch industry, Sue Rechner and Cheri McKenzie from Swiss Army. Swiss Army is really turning heads this Basel with a mixture of bold quartz watches and really cool mechanical products. The last thing Sue and Cheri showed me was the limited edition Legacy 2006, the Reserve De March Platin, a platinum power reserve automatic retailing for $19,500 (Swiss Army's most expensive watch ever). It's a very impressive watch and is sure to propel Victorinox Swiss Army forward.”