A Good Deed Rewarded!

So shines a good deed in a weary world.

Willy Wonka

Yesterday I had the very great pleasure of presenting the Frederique Constant slimline watch to Jennifer Ibaven here in Santa Barbara.  Jennifer's name was selected at random by the International Anti-Poaching Foundation from all of the people who donated $50 or more.  Jennifer was kind enough to battle insane traffic all the way from "down south" in the land where traffic lives to visit Santa Barbara and receive the watch.

You can tell I am a wee bit out of practice for these photo-ops, the watch is already on Jennifer's
wrist ; )

Peanut (the official spokes-elephant) and his buddy Samuel (the official spokes-rhino) were on hand to help with the presentation -

And A HUGE thank - you to Frederique Constant for providing such a wonderful thank-you gift. Yes, Yasmina Pedrini, Aleta and Peter Stas - THANK YOU!

And a very big Tempus Fugit thank you to Amy, Matt and Diane of 33 Jewels at El Paseo for hosting the presentation yesterday!

The Chinese Timekeeper Comes to Santa Barbara!

Adrien Choux 

Well, after a full day (and night) in Los Angeles, Saturday saw me putting on my retail hat again to help the team at 33 Jewels at El Paseo welcome The Chinese Timekeeper himself, Adrien Choux to North America!

The Chinese Timekeeper has in business for two years, and while they have their own boutique in Hong Kong, and a retail partner in Holland, this is their first foray into the North American market.  

Perhaps the two most popular piece yesterday was the CTK 13.  This is a 3-hand piece with real jade indices.

Courtesy of the Chinese Timekeeper

And its counterpoint, the CT14 -

Courtesy of the Chinese Timekeeper

While there may watches with jade out there, there is really nothing like these two pieces.  Burmese jade is used to form 10 of the indices.  The result is (unlike that "blingy" Rolex or Jacob & Co.) fairly subtle and tasteful.

The nice thing about the Chinese Timekeeper's offerings is that they are consistent.  They are not producing 10 thousand varieties of differing shapes and sizes.  All of the cases are 44 mm and made of stainless steel.  Some with PVD, some with alternating brushed and polished layers (each case is comprised of 4 individual layers).

Running a close second in interest was the CTK16, the Double-Hour automatic -

Courtesy of the Chinese Timekeeper

The minutes and seconds work as they would with any three-handed watch.  The hours, however, are measured out on a 24 hour scale (or 2 twelve hour segments), with the watch indicating the hours of the   Zodiac (Rat, Tiger, Snake, etc.).  The dial is enamel and the execution is first rate!  While there were two of these at the start of the event yesterday, there is now only one ; )

More coverage later today, but I have to get cleaned up and back to the store!

Many thanks to Diane and Matt for hosting us!  While Adrien will return to Hong Kong, there are still 8 pieces available for purchase at 33 Jewels for another month - or until they are sold.

Enjoy your watches!