A Crazy Time At M.A.D Gallery, Geneva

Our final day saw us with stunning blue sky again and free time until our departures.

I set off for a walk around the main part of Geneva with plans to stop at the Patek Philippe boutique and the Vacheron Constantin boutique.

Looking back across the bridge.

My first stop was the Patek Philippe Boutique. Located on Rue du Rhone and facing the lake, the salon has maintained the heritage feel of the building and the interiors. Gorgeous embossed and gilded wall paper and many antiques fill the space. 

Watches are elegantly displayed and service is impeccable.

After Patek Philippe I headed to the Vacheron Constantin Salon where I was wanting to see the vintage pieces they had for sale. It was great to see a high end brand actively buying, servicing, restoring and reselling their own historic pieces.

While the salon is housed in an old building the interior is thoroughly light and modern with subtle references to the past.

Then it was time for a bit of exploring. Walking the cobblestoned streets was an exciting experience and great way to see the town.

I found Christie’s Auction house.

Perched on the hill above the city is the Cathedral of Saint Pierre. Builtin the 12^th century, the Cathedral became the local seat of the Protestant church in the 16^th century when it also underwent some modifications. Unfortunately I didn’t have time to climb the 157 steps of the north tower for the views over the city and lake.

The Palais de Justice, the courthouse of Geneva and the street out front of it. The cafes were quite busy.

Then it was time to head to M.A.D. Gallery and visit Max Busser.

The items for sale in M.A.D. Gallery are very eclectic and quite visionary. The Machine Lights by Frank Buchwald are quite amazing and I could see some of these looking great on a mantlepiece.  Prior to making these unique lights Frank Buchwald was a freelance artist and science fiction illustrator. He then moved on to making metal furniture and in 1993, entirely self taught, he started producing the lamps.

Machine Light Type No. 1. I could see this in a movie featuring a mad scientist.

Machine Lights Type No. 3, this would sit nicely on a mantelpiece.

While the art is important at M.A.D. Gallery, Max Busser also has the fantastic mechanical wrist art that is M.B&F Watches. It was great to again see the HM6, also known as Space Pirate, that I saw in Singapore earlier this year. Max was inspired to design this watch by a cartoon he used to watch as child called Capitaine Flam.

The front two bubbles tell the hour on the left and the minutes on the right. The central sapphire crystal dome houses a tourbillon which has an articulated titanium cover that can be raised and lowered by the wearer. The rear two bubbles contain the twin spherical turbines that automatically regulate the winding system in case of excessive speed to reduce stress and wear.  Very technical and very complicated.

Watches like this continue to astound me due the amount of research that goes in to the design and the movement. The sapphire crystal is incredibly hard to do as each dome is shaped from a block of crystal. Out of every 100 there is a 80 % reject rate. Incredibly time consuming and costly. Makes you appreciate why mechanical timepieces like this cost what they do.

Who doesn’t love robots, especially these Melchior ones. These are table clocks that put boring run of the mill table clocks to shame. The dome on the head houses the movement . The body has jumping hours and minute indicators and the eyes are retrograde seconds indicators. The left forearm detaches to become the winding key. The good thing? With 40 day power reserve you don’t need to wind it too often.

And Max’s latest idea was a clock in the shape of a spider. Called Arachnophobia, Max Busser’s over active imagination was inspired by the giant spider sculpture “Maman” by Louise Bourgeois and bought to life by L’Epee. The legs are articulated and it can either sit on a desk or be mounted on a wall. 

Arachnophobia on the wall and Damien Beneteau’s  kinetic sculpture ‘Spatial Variation’ in front.

Some of myfavourite pieces were the ‘comma men’ by Chinese artist Xia Hang. These delightful, highly polished stainless steel sculptures are quite whimsical and fun.

Hanging on one wall was one of the most unique musical instruments I have ever seen. UlrichTeuffel began making and designing guitars when he was 14. At age 30 he radically changed his approach to guitar making by focusing on conceptual design. His BirdFish design is now ranked among the best guitars in the world and used by people such as Billy Gibbons(ZZTop), David Torn, Kirk Hammett(Metallica) and many more.

I have a thing for steam engines and had previously looked at these Bohm Stirling pieces on line. They do not rely on water to generate energy but heat from a small flame that heats up the engine and gets it going. There was even one that can be placed over a mug of coffee and is activated by the heat rising off the hot liquid, also acts as a coffee insulator.

Also on exhibit were the works of Damien Beneteau. Originally a photographer, Damien began working with light and creating kinetic ‘light sculptures’. Moving parts within the pieces change the way light plays on them. Quite mesmerizing and somehow hypnotic.

Videos of the pieces can be found at the following link: http://www.mbandf.com/mad-gallery/creators/damien-beneteau/

For more on the artists featured at M.A.D Gallery including ones I haven’t mentioned visit their websitehttp://www.mbandf.com/mad-gallery/

After a look around the gallery it was great to enjoy a catch up and lunch with Max. 

I had a wonderful 5 days in Geneva and were very glad to have had the chance to go.

I would like to thank James Kennedy and the wonderful team from LK Boutique for inviting me on the tour, Patek Philippe for their wonderful hospitality and the opportunity to visit the factories and learn more about their watch making and design processes. 

Patek Philippe Tour Day 2

After breakfast in the hotel we hopped on to our coach for a short trip to Plan Les Ouates, an industrial area on the southern side of Geneva. I know what you are thinking, luxury watches in an industrial area? Plan Les Ouates is no ordinary industrial area. Locals give it the nickname Plan Les Watches as it is home to many Swiss watch brands (Rolex, Vacheron Constantin, Patek Philippe, Piaget, amongst others). It is also home to several Swiss beauty/cosmetic brands like Clarins.

Upon arriving we had a quick coffee, met our guides and then headed in to the lecture room auditorium for a presentation about the Patek Philippe brand.  After the presentation we were broken in to two smaller groups to begin our tour of the factory. 

Sadly we were not able to take photos inside the factory areas, but it was fascinating to see how the parts are manufactured and machined. 

The tour is really well planned and nearly every area of the factory has large picture windows where you can see in to the machining areas. Alongside the windows or doors are large illustrations of what components are made in that particular area, along with a photo of the actual size of the piece being made and the steps involved in finishing each piece. It is amazing to see a piece of metal go in one end and the finished piece at the other. 

When you see the tiny size of some of the pieces and then are told that they all get polished, you really have to marvel at the skill of the polishers.

After the tour it was time for lunch which was in the private dining salon. Mr. Philippe Stern was our host for lunch. What a lunch it was! Prepared by a chef poached from a Michelin star restaurant, we were informed that he also prepared the meus for the 2 staff cafeterias.

Lasagne style Zita pasta # 18, eggplant confit,poultry and Pata Negra ham.

 Brittany lobster, cauliflower and curry foam.

 Lemon cheese cake, thin vanilla crepes.

 Coffee and chocolates ended our meal.

After our fabulous lunch it was back on the bus for the short journey back in to Geneva central for our tour of the Patek Philippe Watch Museum. WOW what a museum! The Patek Philippe Watch museum houses thousands of watches and pocket watches, and has examples of  clock and watch making from the 1500’s right up to the year 2000. Mr Henry Stern has built up a fabulous collection and continues to add to it. The museum is broken in to tow sections, Antique watches 1500’s to 1800’s and the Patek Philippe collection 1839 to present. There is so much to see that we will definitely be going back for another visit, you could spend a whole day looking at these masterpieces of horlogerie.

http://www.patekmuseum.com/

After a wonderful short tour of this fascinating museum it was back to the Beau Rivage for a quick freshen up and then to dinner at L’Observatoire Restaurant. We knew it was close to our hotel but didn’t realise it was in the hotel next to ours, Hotel D’Angleterre. The hotel is very old school British in style, very elegant and sophisticated. 

Nothing quite like a unique butter presentation!

Mille-feuille of crispy potatoes, vegetable puree flavoured with truffles and crispy chips.

Veal medallion Gamay jus, stuffed vegetables and mushroom filled potatoes.

Caramel pear, pink praline custard and orchid ice cream.

After our second three course meal of the day we were very glad it wasn’t too far back to our hotel and another good night of sleep.

Patek Philippe Factory Tour With LK Boutique

Late September saw us jetting to Geneva, Switzerland for a tour of the Patek Philippe factory. We were invited by LK Boutique and Patek Philippe to visit the Patek Philippe factories and see behind the scenes of watch making. Unfortunately we were not able to take photos while in the factory but let me say it was a truly amazing experience.

We flew to Geneva on Emirates with a stopover in Dubai. Previous trips to Europe have  been after a week in New York so it was a novelty for Vikki to fly westward from Sydney. The flight is of course very long, nearly 14 hours to Dubai with 2 ½ hour layover and then a further 7 hours to Geneva. Of course First class lounges help. 

The first meal of our trip was dinner in the Qantas First Class lounge in Sydney. A glass of rose Champagne got the trip of to a nice start. I ordered minute steak with chips and salsa verde and Vikki ordered pork with kale and sweet potato.

For dessert we ordered the cheese selection and a fig, toasted hazelnut and honey tart with a rosemary infused cream, housemade ricotta whey sorbet. Great cheeses and the tart was delicious and light.

Flying First Class is a rare experience and when you can upgrade you really enjoy the treat.

We arrived in Dubai early in the morning and after going through all the barriers, we stumbled along to Emirates First Class lounge. I had been here earlier in the year so it was nice to see Vikki’s reaction to the Dubai First class lounge. She was impressed with the size and the fitout, water features, plenty of lounging areas, dining room, spa, business desks. The service was impeccable and the lounge very relaxing. 

The only thing missing from breakfast was some bacon but it is a small thing. The sausages that we had (veal or chicken) with our scrambled eggs were sensational.

Freshly squeezed juice and bakers basket.

Scrambled eggs, veal sausages, roesti and baked beans.

Back on to the plane for the second leg of the trip which saw us fly up through Iran, then across Turkey and the Balkans before crossing the northern parts of Italy, over the majestic Alps and then in to Geneva airport.

After landing we headed to our hotel, The Beau Rivage Geneva. Located across the road from Lake Geneva, it offers an old world touch of luxury that was very welcome.

Exterior Beau Rivage, Geneva.

Interior Beau Rivage.

Our room was one of several that had a balcony facing the lake and the Jet d’Eau, with views to the city centre, the Alps and Mont Blanc in the distance.

A few shots of our room.

After settling in we had a little time to ourselves and decided to take advantage of the sunshine to explore a little. Our group was given public transport vouchers for the duration of the stay. We decided to use ours to take one of the Mouettes Genevoise across the lake. The Mouettes Genevoise, are wooden boats that have a long history on Lake Geneva. There are three routes to choose from and we took the one that goes directly across the lake and offers good views of the Jet d’Eau fountain.

From our drop off wharf we walked back to the city centre, which took us around 10 minutes. Naturally, we had to find some watch boutiques. We were also successful in finding M.A.D. Gallery, where I was to catch up with Max Busser later in the week.

We also found the carousel/merry go round located in the street leading up to the cathedral.

A bit more walking found us at the Quai de l’Ile, historic headquarters of Vacheron Constantin. This building is now home to a Vacheron Constantin boutique as well as home to their heritage department.

At this point, Lake Geneva starts to narrow again and become the mighty Rhone River. We never realized that the Rhone River starts its 812 kilometer journey down from the Lepontine Alps in the canton of Valais to the Mediterranean Ocean. You can see the water starting to flow quite quickly in the photo above and below.

In the Jardin Anglais, near the lake, is the Flower Clock.

Peak hour traffic was a nightmare! We thought Sydney was bad, but the traffic in Geneva shocked us a bit. Although we were later told that the road in front of the Hotel is the main one people use to go around the bottom of Lake Geneva and there is only the one vehicular bridge at that point. 

Back at the hotel we had enough time for a quick freshen up before meeting the other members of our tour group at a welcome cocktail party. Only a few shots of the food but as it was dinner there was plenty of food and all delicious.

Tiredness was starting to catch up with us so we headed back to our room where we had this stunning view out the window.

Check back for more on our trip to Geneva