Today is the 10th of October 2020, and it’ s 10.10 am. That’ s the time I chose to share with you a crazy dream: what if, starting from the 10:10 watchmaker’s hour, i.e. the “smiling” position of the hands of a watch, a world watchmaking day could be born?
Joël A. Grandjean, JSH® Magazine & Swiss Watch Passport’s editor-in-chief and publisher
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A 21st of June that became universal, the example to follow
And what if every year on 10 October, starting in Switzerland, this initiative was adopted worldwide? The Fête de la Musique was born 38 years ago: based on the simple idea of Jack Lang, the French Minister of Culture in 1982, what started out as an annual date dedicated to music throughout France has become a worldwide event, with celebrations in more than 120 countries on five continents. (Watch the historical announcement of the event).
I am convinced that such a simple and obvious idea can also be applied to watchmaking! Is it not, and I have been advocating this for 20 years, a proper expression of culture and therefore much more than an economic source of Switzerland? Doesn’t the passing time, a real common point between all living beings in the universe, deserve to be celebrated? Especially since the beating of a mechanical watch is strangely reminiscent of a beating heart, and the calibre of a timepiece, unlike all the domestic “motors” around us, is the only one designed never to stop, even during sleep.
Is the passing time, the real common point between all living beings in the universe, not worth celebrating?
All the peoples concerned
Watchmaking exhibitions often do not attract the lambda public. Indeed, the sector’s shows mainly bring together professionals from the distribution and industrial sectors. Baselworld, as an evolution of the ” Munster Messe ” which had become a world event, turned out to be a major urban, national and even intercontinental festival, despite any marketing intention on the part of its short-sighted organizer group. Around the event site and the halls, numerous happenings transformed the city into a hive of celebratory events, aperitifs and after-parties, sometimes even gigantic and memorable parties, such as those organised by Breitling. Its demise in 2019, with the move from Basel to Geneva of the behemoths Patek Philippe and Rolex, has created a hollow space: the festive and general public dimension of the sector’s events has disappeared, and the shows have been deprived of this general audience dimension.
From 2020, because “twice” 10 equals “20”
I therefore had the idea, since a certain symmetry seems to emerge from 10.10.2020, that from this year onwards, every 10 October, a federal 10.10, and then why not a world 10.10, should start. I could’nt plan the fact that the pandemic parenthesis paralysed and blocked everything.
However, and this day of official announcement is necessary, I am launching this almost banal seed of hope for the next few years, if the return to normalcy comes one day. For the repercussions could eventually be worldwide. Imagine being able to boost, like Black Friday, both sales (for example with a 10.10% special discount) and the image of brands, their know-how and their historical dimensions. Moreover, here and there, the need to increasingly involve the public is making headway, both through the multiplication of open doors in the watch-making regions and through individual initiatives such as The 24 Hours of Time in Besançon.
Current and upcoming 10 October
Well ahead of this October 10, 2020 publication, I had already put my money where my mouth is and reserved several domain names with my provider Infomaniak in Geneva at the end of March of the same year (just after the shutdown). These names will naturally become more generic, more universal, notably by removing the reference to the year 2020. And at the same time, inspired by this somewhat crazy idea, I discovered that on the existing lists of “International Days” and “World Days“, according to the UN, which manages them, there is, except by mistake, no celebration of this universal dimension of time.
Even better, I opened an unsuspected door to a world of improbable fantasies: on the same date as the Swiss National Day on August 1st, there is an “International Day of Belgian Fries“! So why not make every 10th October a World Swiss Watch Day? Admittedly, 10 October, Saint Ghislain’s Day, is already a little busy, but with subjects and themes that are totally unrelated to any desire for a festive occasion: a “World Mental Health Day“ (launched by the WHO, the World Health Organisation), an “International Day of the Amerindian Peoples“ (1977, UN decree), a “World Day against the Death Penalty“ (which was held in 2003 following the formation of a “World Coalition against the Death Penalty” in Switzerland)
A Swiss idea?
It is a pity that our politicians in Switzerland have so little regard for watchmaking as a culture. Because the idea is here, and it is “Swiss Made”! The seed has been sown in Switzerland. There is no doubt that it will make its way, especially if a prominent personality takes it up. Let us hope that it can be done from the historic terroirs of Swiss watchmaking.
