First edition …
„It’s All About Watches” is a cyclical international festival of clocks and watches organized by the Association for the Promotion and Development of Watchmaking.
The first edition of the festival, held under the motto of „Watchmakers”, took place in Łódź at the European Institute from September 31st to October 1st, 2017.
The festival brought together Polish watchmakers, authorities of watchmaking and art historians, and was dedicated to the role that a watchmaker’s profession plays and should play in social life. Many celebrities of Polish watchmaking were in attendance. The festival was honored by the presence of:
ALOJZY SZARF Chief designer at Zakłady Mechaniki Precyzyjnych „Mera-Poltik” (Precision Mechanics Plant “Mera-Poltik”) in Łódź from 1956 to 1970. Creator of the popular alarm clocks B52, B56, B240. From 1970, he was the plenipotentiary for cooperation with foreign brands such as Hasler, Diehl,
Juhghans, Lavedtte and Roland.
FRANCISZEK WIEGAND A craftsman and qualified master of artistic crafts (Ministry of Culture and Art and National Heritage). A second-generation watchmaker, he created a private museum of clocks in Tarnowskie Góry. He is an eminent constructor of watchmaking masterpieces, and creator of astronomical clocks and regulators.
MAREK GÓRSKI Qualified master, constructor and creator of many tower clocks in Poland and abroad. The tower of the Royal Castle in Warsaw is decorated with a clock of his authorship, which for 42 years now measures time and breaks chimes. Drawings and illustrations by Master Górski decorate a collection of volumes about watchmaking and the clocks of the Franciscan brother, Aleksander Maria Podwapiński.
JAN WOJDA Long-time director at the Precision Mechanics Plant “Mera-Poltik „, constructor, author of, among others, the quartz mechanism used in the Polonez brand of cars and after technical modification, in wall clocks and alarm clocks.
JERZY BEZPAŁKO A graduate of the Precision Mechanics Department at the Leningrad Institute of Precision Mechanics and Optics, specializing in „Time Measuring Instruments”. From 1962, employed at the Precision Mechanics Plant “Błonie”, as a tooling constructor, then as a watch assembly technologist. From 1966 served as the deputy chief technologist for technical progress and in 1967-73, the plant’s chief constructor.
MAREK BIN A well-known and valued Warsaw watchmaker. A qualified master, authority (also in goldsmithing and jewellery), and expert witness. Co-creator and owner of a clock mechanism which is a faithful reflection of the clock from the tower of the Royal Castle in Warsaw.
A special guest of the festival “It’s All About Watches” was Maxime Gourgouillat, OMEGA Brand Manager for Poland. In the main part of the Palace of the European Institute in Łódź, Maxime Gourgouillat on behalf of the OMEGA company, gave a lecture in which he showcased one of the most famous and the finest watch brands in the world.
In addition to the masters of the profession, our festival has also been appreciated by watchmakers of small works of art. Augustin Matei, exclusively for „It’s All About Watches”, prepared a unique watch specimen. The shield made of aluminum, the elements of the piano keyboard are mother of pearl and stone, a rose gold case, and on the inside the Swiss ETA 2824 automatic. A hand-made band and a hand-engraved and painted shield reveal the amazing craftsmanship of the artist.
Another special guest of „It’s All About Watches” was Torsten Nagengast, a German designer, inventor, watchmaker, and founder of TNT Torsten Nagengast Timeline. Showcased for the first time, he presented a watch, built by himself, based on the Caliber EX001 mechanism. A manual movement with a 46-hour power reserve, it is entirely made of aluminum used for, among other things, building space
rockets.
Second edition
From the 29 th to the 30 th of September 2018, the second edition of the international festival of clocks and watches „It’s all about watches” took place in Łódź, held under the motto of „Collectors”.
Art-Inkubator / Fabryka Sztuki (Art Incubator/Art Factory) was chosen as the venue. It is an urban cultural institution located in the area of nineteenth-century factories at Księży Młyn in Łódź. The architecture and atmosphere of this place perfectly fit the character of the festival.
There were two days of lectures by eminent representatives of the watchmaker’s profession from Poland and abroad.
Once again, we could admire the unique clocks of master Franciszek Wiegand.
The organizers also paid attention to collectors.
Several dozen exhibitors showcased their valuable collections, and both visitors as well as exhibitors were able to admire unique collections.
Once again, Augustin Matei was a guest at the Festival. He is an artist and painter from Romania, who creates images on watch faces with incredible precision and attention to detail. The exhibition of his work was met with great interest from both fellow exhibitors and visitors.
The biggest surprise of the second edition of the international festival of clocks and watches „It’s All About Watches” was the presentation of the latest model of the OMEGA Seamaster Professional Diver 300M, which OMEGA introduced for the first time in Poland. In the new model Diver 300M, enlarged to 42 mm, you find the Master Chronometer Caliber 8800, thanks to which the collection enters the highest level of precision, efficiency and resistance to magnetic fields.
LONGINES, RADO, TISSOT were the next brands to presented themselves during the second edition of the international festival of clocks and watches „It’s All About Watches”.
LONGINES is distinguished by many years of experience as a timekeeper for world championship events and a partner of international sports organizations.
The LONGINES brand – famous for the elegance of its watches – belongs to Swatch Group Ltd, a leading manufacturer of watchmaking products in the world.
RADO is a world-renowned brand famous for its innovative design and the use of revolutionary materials in some of the most durable watches in the world.
TISSOT is a brand that remains true to its slogan „Innovators by Tradition”, constantly working on new pioneering solutions. TISSOT’s watchmaking precision had been repeatedly admired. TISSOT acts as the Official Timekeeper and partner for the NBA basketball league, as well as for the international basketball federation FIBA, and the Chinese basketball league CBA.
Also noteworthy is the young, small, and independent Polish brand BALTICUS, gaining the market in design and quality, definitively venturing outside the mainstream of watches. At the festival, they presented their basic collection as well as several prototypes. Every visitor to the fair had the opportunity to meet and talk to the owner of the brand, Bartosz Knop.
During this year’s festival, members of the Clock and Watch Lovers Club presented an exhibition of wrist watches, and conducted a lecture and presentation titled „Collectors’ Meanderings – Caliber 11”. The club is the largest and the most known Polish organization whose idea is to spread knowledge about watches and clocks.
It can therefore be said that the second edition of the festival „It’s All About Watches” enabled the integration of the entire watchmaking milieu. As such, the organizers of the festival can call it a resounding success. The event has once again been met with great interest from visitors.
The room dedicated to collectors was filled by both professionals and entire families with children.
We were happy to see that we, the organizers, were able to attract visitors with interesting topics.
More and more people appreciate the beauty of clocks and watches that come with a soul and history.
Often, after many years, such clocks and watches get a second life.
The Association for the Promotion and Development of Watchmaking – the host of the event for two days, took care that each of one us would discover a love for watches.
Third edition
On September 28-29, 2019, the third edition of the It’s All About Watches International Festival of Clocks and Watches took place at the headquarters of the Łódź Special Economic Zone in Łódź.
The theme of the third edition was „watches in space”, that is aviation watches and watches in outer space. The exhibitors presented models related to this topic, and subsequent speakers prepared presentations related to aeronautics and time measurement in space.
In the historic walls of the factory from the end of the 19th century, the world’s largest watch brands exhibited over 1000 m2. We could admire the most interesting and latest models of the most famous Swiss brands such as Omega, Ulysse Nardin, TAG Heuer, Carl Bucherer, Longines, Ball, Oris, Alpina, Tissot, Certina and others. There were also brandies from Japan, Great Britain, Scandinavia and Russia. In total, nearly 40 brands from all over the world presented themselves at the Festival.
The event gathered over 2,000 people for two days. There were also special guests at the Festival. General Mirosław Hermaszewski presented a limited edition of the Sturmanskie watch signed with his name. The most famous Polish climber, Adam Bielecki, was presented as the new ambassador of the Ball brand. The multiple world champion in precision aviation, Michał Wieczorek, talked about measuring time in aviation.
The festival also gathered many collectors from Poland and abroad. Over 20 collectors showed a total of several thousand watches. We could see classics, vintage watches as well as one-offs, almost 100 years old.
Fourth edition
On September 26-27, 2020, the fourth edition of the It’s All About Watches International Festival of Clocks and Watches will take place.
As this year is unusual and the restrictions related to the epidemic are very restrictive, the organizers decided to transfer the entire Festival to the Internet.
Nearly 20 watch brands from around the world will be presented on the websites of festivalzegarkow.pl, watchfestival.eu and on FB and YT profiles. There will be interviews with invited guests, including presidents of well-known global watch brands.