"Its's What's on the Inside That Counts" – RWTH ALUMNI hosted by Watchmaker Hublot
The invitation for the Alumni meeting at Hublot had hardly been announced, when the 30 spots, as well as the waitlist, had already been filled. Small wonder! It was the first tour the company allowed that year and it took the RWTH Aachen alumni into the boutique of premium watchmaker Hublot in Munich.
Store manager Martina Fuchs and her dedicated team welcomed the guests with glasses of champagne. The organizer of the evening's event, RWTH alumna Stefanie Marek, thanked them for their invitation in the name of the RWTH Alumni Team with a gift of Aachen's famous Printen cookies.
In-house clock and watch maker Mr. Schneider had gone out of his way to travel here in order to give the technically interested alumni insights into a mostly unknown world to them with the help of his watchmaker table and precision tools. "What is it about a watch that enthusiastic 'Hublotistas' from all over the world are willing to invest amounts of five to six digit figures in, when they could just check the time for free on their mobile phones?"
Now we know - it is the special combination that is crucial: First, you need high quality, resistant materials, such as carbon, osmium or the patented "magic gold." Furthermore of the essence is a precision watch mechanism, whose technology is so beautiful that it isn't hidden under a lid, but made visible underneath sapphire glass. Altogether, you need a striking design, which admittedly may be a matter of taste, but it most certainly is exceptional and has many prominent fans – as shown by the cooperations with Ferrari or Usain Bolt. At any rate, Ms. Fuchs and her team managed to convey the enthusiasm held for their brand and its technology and also dispel any possible reservations about shopping at Munich's finest luxury shopping address Maximiliamstraße. Many a visitor later pondered, whether they should wish for the "Minuten Repetition" for Christmas for example, which renders time audible with soft sounds driven by a high precicion watch mechanism at a price tag of only 220.000 euros...Well, one can always just wish for something, right?
The Hublot team was happy to answer the many questions of the technically interested RWTH Aachen alumni. The alumni saw the luxury watches not so much as the prestigious objects, which they surely are, but much more as highly complex little machines. Quite a relaxed and well-adjusted view maybe, considering the lifestyle typically associated with the Hublot brand, but certainly characteristic of the atmosphere at RWTH alumni meetings. Great, how we were able to get a glimpse into this particular facet of the world with our group of alumni!
As usual, the get-together at the Spatenhaus after the visit to the company was a lot of fun – a good opportunity to meet some old and also new faces from the special group of people formerly having lived in Aachen. New ideas for other tours of companies were mentioned as well. This year, the plan is to visit TÜV Süd and the ESO Supernova Planetarium, while a theme night "Selling for non-sellers" is also in the works.
Conclusion: RWTH alumni are great company for visits anywhere – and a fun evening is guaranteed to be had by all!
Author: Ms. Stefanie Marek, RWTH alumna
Many thanks to Ms. Marek and Ms. Cullinane for organizing the event, for the detailled report and the vivid pictures.
You can find all the information about RWTH Aachen alumni meetings as well as any future events already announced – among others those taking place in Munich – here.