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We’ve recreated Baselworld 2020 on YouTube over three epic episodes, starting tomorrow. This is what you can expect We’ve recreated Baselworld 2020 on YouTube over three epic episodes, starting tomorrow. This is what you can expect

We’ve recreated Baselworld 2020 on YouTube over three epic episodes, starting tomorrow. This is what you can expect

Andrew McUtchen

The Home Delivery Watch Fair, Watches & Wonders Edition was hands down one of the most ambitious and fun things we’ve ever attempted. And, judging by the comments, you seemed to enjoy it. That’s about all the encouragement we needed to take that positivity forward and tackle the big dance. So, we’re doing it again. For Baselworld. But this time, it’s bigger. Because it’s a virtual Baselworld, and everything is bigger in Baselworld. More watches — there are more than 40 in the full three episodes. More glamour — there are movie stars and adult entertainers. More hangovers — there are cocktails. If the first Home Delivery Watch Fair was a roast chicken with chips, this is a 10-pound turducken with a couple of pounds of double-roasted potatoes on the side. How much of Basel is enough? You’re about to find out.

Chris Hemsworth gives some lockdown tips, including his current favourite series to binge.

When does it start?

Tomorrow! We have three episodes lined up for the next three Saturdays, starting with tomorrow at 10pm in NYC, 7pm in LA and midday in the home office of Melbourne, Australia. We tried to line up a cocktail hour for the whole world, and it wasn’t easy. Hit Instagram to put your timer on, or check your inbox if you’re a YouTube subscriber.  

Regular contributor Luke Benedictus and Australian Olympian Michael Klim join us to talk about Basel after dark…

The formula for this Basel series is pretty simple. How much can we pack in that gives the reader a genuinely ‘virtual’ fair experience? In addition to collating a bunch of new watches released by brands that have traditionally shown at Basel, that is. The answer was after-hours activities, and meet and greets with the brands, as well as the things you have already seen.  

What can I expect to see?

In the series we have … Hemsworth at home! Lockdown reading, watching and listening tips from Thor. Parties! We have blown the lid off the biggest after-hours party at Basel, with live pics and videos (episode 3 for that one). Rolex predictions! From the team that have got it right many, many times, in episode 2.

The Breitling Party was the peak Baselworld event, and it’s part of the Lost World that will never return again

What else?

The closed ‘Schnitzel Dinner’! We also stage a virtual ‘Indies and Online Guys Schnitzel Dinner’ with its creator, Frank Geelen. Fun! We have conducted an interview with our favourite current watch designer, Mr Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani. And he gives a sketching class, too. Regular segments like Deputy Editor Nick Kenyon’s entrance, What’s In The Box and the Top 10 are also in there for spice and flavour. Also Jack Black! John Mayer! A house band! A giveaway of a Time+Tide travel pack, just by listing your five favourite watches from the pack. Tune in tomorrow from midday AEST. See you on the couch!

Fabrizio Buonamassa Stigliani calls it a “tough mission”. He teaches us to sketch a Finissimo.