By Roberta Naas of atimelyperspective.com
It was a wine and watch event like none other. This past weekend, I joined A. Lange & Söhne in the Napa Valley for the Akademie of watchmaking. Staying on the Meadowood Resort property and learning about watches in the adjacent Napa Valley Reserve was not too difficult a task. Fitting the mainspring into the barrel, however, was a bit of a challenge.
During a full day of watchmaking classes at the Akademie, I had the opportunity to learn more about A. Lange & Söhne, its history and German heritage, and its timepieces. Following that session, a small group of editors tried their hands at winding the mainspring and loading it into the barrel, at engraving and a few other key watch tasks – all under the eye of Joanna Lange, director of the Akademie.
It wasn’t all work, though. A. Lange & Söhne U.S.A. brand president Gaeton Guillosson treated the group to spectacular food and winery tours. Included in the event were dinner at the two 3-Michelin Star restaurants in Napa: The French Laundry (Chef Thomas Keller) and The Meadowood (Chef Christophe Kostow). Winery tours included a close-up look at Opus One, Napa Valley Reserve, Martin Estates and Continuum—the new venture by Tim Mondavi. While the wines were wonderful, the watches stole the limelight.
Roberta Naas is the founder and editor of atimelyperspective.com