Paparazzi Launch Event in New York City

19/20-OCT-2004

Pictures and report by Brian Pier

Part 1

On Tuesday evening, 19-OCT-2004, some Swatch the Club Gold/Pioneer members met in New York to celebrate the launch of the Swatch Paparazzi watch.  After individual arrivals, we met in the evening at The Time Hotel (what a great hotel name for a Swatch gathering!). We first met in the bar for a drink and introductions.


Paco, Eduardo, and Ricardo at the reception

Swatch employees greeted us with wine and told us about the surprises on Wednesday. We were asked to keep the secrets until after the launch events on Wednesday. Frank Furlan, Swatch Brand Manager in the USA, showed us our first glimpse of Paparazzi and provided information about the Swatch. Our celebrity host for the evening was then introduced:


Tracey and her friend with Carl Lewis

Olympian Carl Lewis is very familiar to Swatch collectors – many of us have met him at other Swatch events. He was very gracious and went around the room for introductions and pictures.

We were then invited to the hotels penthouse for dinner.



The penthouse was a glass room on top of the hotel. The walls and ceiling were all glass so we had a nice view of Manhattan at dinner. The room was cozy and contained three round tables that sat about 12 people each.



Nancy Wong and Jonn Rico from Swatch USA ensured we were well taken care of throughout the event. (Sorry for the fuzzy photo!)



Tracey Waldron shows us the Amuse Bouche – a tasty treat before dinner. Tracey collects photos of her meals at Swatch events.



Appetizer was either a simple salad of local greens or this Colombian Style Shrimp with popcorn.


Main course was either Crispy Skin Organic Chicken or….


….ribeye steak


For dessert, many chose this Valhrona Chocolate Mousse cake. Very tasty!

Many photos were taken by the collectors. Some of the pioneer members had not seen each other for a long time, so we had a lot of news and updates to share.

After dinner, we were given samples of the Paparazzi Swatch to try along with instructions. We had a question & answer time with Swatch employees who gave us additional information about Paparazzi.

The next news was a surprise – Swatch announced that could all go to the Swatch Store in Times Square after dinner and be the first to purchase Paparazzi. They even gave us a special 50% discount (1 per person). Since Paparazzi sells for US$150 plus tax, this was a very good discount!

Click here to read part 2 of Brian's report about the Paparazzi Event.

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