Marco is in Switzerland
by Marco Gagliano on July 20, 2009
tagged as: watches graff omega rolex patek geneva switzerland
My First visit to Geneva
Geneva is not a a very big city, but is packed with things to see. If you are a watch enthusiast, then the points of interest are endless. Since I am neither a good organizer nor an early riser, I did not plan any specific route. We parked the car and walked around for the entire day stopping in a few places for lunch, coffee, and drinks.
The first thing that struck me when entering the centre of Geneva was the famous view. Many important brand names have signs over the buildings that border the Lac Genève (as people from Geneva call it) or Lac Léman (as everyone else calls it). I always thought that these signs were fitted atop the manufacturers' offices or stores, but I found out that this is not necessarily true. Only a few buildings are used by the brands whose names adorn them. Most signs are just fixed atop residential buildings while the actual factories and offices of the brands reside elsewhere in the canton.
The shops in Geneva are numerous. High-profile stores such as Les Ambassadeurs carry all the brands, while the single brand stores try to wow you with exquisite architecture, interior design and impressive collections. Two stores impressed me the most. The Graff London store as always offers a glimpse at some magnificent - and giant - diamonds and emeralds. The second is the Patek Philippe Salon. It is situated in a 19th century historic building on rue du rhône. Once inside, the salon area is where all the collections are displayed in museum style. It is decorated with marble and a beautiful chandelier. Behind this room, the sales room is an impeccably restored showroom where you will be attended to at a private desk by a personal sales representative. The Patek site offers a presentation about their salon, which which will give you a better image then my description. Click here to see it.
Patek Philippe also has their watch museum that I will have to visit on an other day. I am sure that there will be some impressive pieces in there. Not to be outdone, the Swatch Group also opened their own attraction called the Cité du Temps. It offers special expositions pertaining to their watch brands in a historic building built on the water.
