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THE HOUR GLASS UNVEILS WORLD’S FIRST FOUNDATION & MUSEUM OF CONTEMPRORARY HOROLOGICAL ART Inaugural Institution Aimed at Global Promotion of Contemporary Horological Art & Culture to be established in

The Hour Glass FOCHA & MOCHA

Singapore ‐‐‐ 22 September 2006, The Hour Glass today announced the formation of The Hour Glass Foundation of Contemporary Horological Art (FOCHA), the world’s first such institution aimed at promoting globally, the art and culture of contemporary watchmaking and appreciation. In conjunction, it also unveils plans for the world’s first Museum of Contemporary Horological Art (MOCHA).

Pledging an initial CHF2.0M (US$1.6M) to the establishment of the foundation, the move signifies the company’s unparalleled commitment towards building culture and cultivating contemporary watch appreciation - growing the art beyond an exclusive hobby enjoyed by watch aficionados, to members of the general public. It fulfills The Hour Glass’s mission to champion the mechanical watch as the primary symbol for high-end luxury self expression in contemporary culture.

Based in Singapore, the foundation will pay tribute to all forms of technological development and innovation in the field of horology created over the past 35 years. It will be driven by three principal initiatives namely, The Hour Glass Museum of Contemporary Horological Art, The Hour Glass Foundation Prize and Public Education Programmes.

(I) The Hour Glass Museum of Contemporary Horological Art - MOCHA

MOCHA, will in essence be a horological cultural temple. It will be a symbolic institution comparable to the likes of the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Tate Modern in London, the Guggenheim in Bilbao and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. More importantly, it will be the world’s first and only watch and clock museum to date that will exclusively promote contemporary production , showcasing timekeeping artefacts developed over the past three decades.

MOCHA will not only house some of the most important collections of contemporary horological art and design, it will also conduct joint collaborations with other international curators, museums and watch manufacturers for loans of their private collections and themed exhibits. Other primary activities and functions that may eventually be housed within the museum include hands-on watchmaking classes for enthusiasts, talks by world-renowned industry specialists and the ability to provide the public with creative access to the museum’s staff expertise and archived research.

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The museum sees itself as playing a pivotal role in providing its visitors with intellectually rewarding learning opportunities in the hope that they will gain invaluable insight into its collections as well as the historical and cultural contexts in which these works of mechanized art were created.

Conceived principally as a mobile museum, The Hour Glass will unveil MOCHA at “Tempus – The Temple of Time” in the 2nd half of 2007. The company aspires to secure a permanent site for the museum by 2009.

(II) The Hour Glass Foundation Prize

This pioneering award aims to reinforce the spirit of innovation in contemporary horological art, and to pay homage to this emblematic activity and the numerous artisans and industrial geniuses in the industry. It gives recognition to important contributions in the field of horology, publicises significant works and achievements to the wider public, and helps recipients realise their work so that they can continue pursuing their passion.

The Foundation prize will be a cash prize in the range of CHF 50,000 to CHF 100,000, and Foundation prize winners will be selected at the discretion of an independent jury.

(III) Public Education Programmes

These programmes aim to make watch making and appreciation accessible by cultivating interest and enriching the public in the field of horological art. A series of themed, travelling exhibitions, talks and educational outreach programmes will be conducted. “Unitime”, one example of the Foundation’s outreach programmes will collaborate with tertiary level educational institutions to engage the growing interest of youth collectors.

Why Singapore?

Elaborating on why both the foundation and museum were established in Singapore, Mr Michael Tay, Executive Director of The Hour Glass, said: “Singapore’s strategic importance to the watch-making universe is underpinned by the fact that despite its small physical size, it commands one of the highest watch per capita ownership worldwide. It also has a tremendous content advantage in both knowledge capital and specialist watch artefacts, to the point that Singaporeans are regarded by international watch manufacturers as leading opinion leaders on the subject of mechanical timepieces. Moreover, Singapore is a global city of the future and is viewed by all major international watch brands as not only a gateway to Southeast Asia, but also a window to the world. This is where Singapore’s key competitive advantage lies.”

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Tay added, “Haute horlogerie has successfully penetrated pop culture, as evidenced by watches worn by celebrities, musicians and even statesmen. Watch collecting and appreciation, globally, is a rapidly growing hobby. We hope to increase accessibility and elevate watch culture and education to the next level around the world.”

“With Tempus – The Great Watchscapade in 2004, Singapore was catapulted to the forefront of the world’s horological platform. We want to further stamp Singapore firmly in the minds of the world’s watch cognoscenti with global institutions such as FOCHA & MOCHA, thrusting the island onto the world map as the ultimate destination for collectors of contemporary production haute horlogerie”

The Hour Glass is Asia’s most geographically diversified, specialist watch retailer representing more than 60 international brands within its group. In its 27-year history, The Hour Glass has sold over SGD 6.0 billion (US$4.2BN) worth of watches.

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For more information, please contact:

Cornelia Lim Marketing Communications Manager The Hour Glass Limited Tel: +65 6730 1160 Fax: +65 6732 8682 Email: [email protected]

Charlene Liew Senior PR Manager Vibes Communications Tel: +65 6737 8883 Fax: +65 6737 9010 Email: [email protected]

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NOTE TO EDITORS:

Why the Foundation & Museum of Contemporary Horological Art?

For more than a century from the late 1800’s to the 1970’s the mechanical wristwatch remained unchanged. It was at its core a functional tool. But in the last three decades the wristwatch has been reborn as an artistic medium expressing our interest in new materials and avant-garde design, absorbing the prevailing aesthetics of contemporary consumer culture.

This transformation of the watch from time keeping tool to the embodiment of human creativity is rooted in the lessons learned from the quartz crisis. Before the quartz crisis of the 1970’s – in which the entire Swiss mechanical watch industry was nearly wiped out with the introduction of affordable quartz timepieces - a watch’s primary function was as a tool for measuring time. But the advent of the quartz movement democratized time keeping and eliminated accuracy as the focal point for watches.

The critical leap in logic made by the next generation of industry leaders was to focus on the message that since watches are no longer truly necessary, their primary purpose is to delight their owners as examples of high luxury self expression, mechanical performance and human artisanship. As such they took daring steps to create watches that portrayed time in new poetic ways. As it turns out, this transformation of the modern watch into a crucible for human creativity has a precedent in the history of art.

In the late 19th century, with the proliferation of photography, realism in painting had lost its significance. As such in 1874 a group of painters displayed a new method of depicting the world, one in which brush strokes and paint dissolved the real world into a fleeting glimpse – an impression – of an ethereal reality. Through this act, one of the most significant movements in art was born. Indeed the birth of impressionism signaled the beginning of what is commonly known as “Contemporary Art.”

Following this exact pattern in the late 20th century, as a result of the invention of quartz watches, the mechanical watch has become transformed into an artistic device. This seminal transformative process has enabled the Swiss watch industry to ascend to the highest level of commercial success in its 200 year old history. But while there are numerous galleries and museums dedicated to chronicling the birth of contemporary painting and sculpture, no one has attempted to tell the story of the birth of Contemporary Horological Art. No entity or individual has ever tried to place the revolutionary watches and watchmakers that have fueled this explosion of creative and commercial success into proper historical context. That is until the establishment of The Hour Glass Foundation of Contemporary Horological Art and The Hour Glass Museum of Contemporary Horological Art.

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ABOUT THE HOUR GLASS

The Hour Glass Limited is a leading contemporary specialist watch retailer in the Asia Pacific region. From a one-boutique operation in 1979, The Hour Glass Group has developed a regional network of 23 boutiques strategically located in prime shopping belts in , , , , Singapore, and more recently in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The Hour Glass brand of hospitality, attentiveness and in-depth knowledge of sophisticated timepieces has ensured that its clients are provided with a delightful shopping experience that is both modern and unique. Through a continuous programme of market research, The Hour Glass’ exquisite collection of brands has been specifically selected to meet the aspirations and lifestyle requirements of its regional clientele base.

In 2001, The Hour Glass was awarded the People Developer Award, certified by The Singapore Productivity and Standards Board, in recognition of its efforts towards implementing a comprehensive system for staff development. The Hour Glass is the first watch retailer to be awarded this certification of national quality. Again, The Hour Glass was honoured in 2002 as one of the top 14 winners of the inaugural Singapore Brand Awards by International Enterprise Singapore, naming it as one of Singapore’s premier brands. The Hour Glass is also an active member of the internationally recognized Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie (FHH) as well as a staunch supporter of the Academie Horlogere des Createurs Independants (AHCI) and Time Aeon, watch guilds aimed at preserving the traditional art of watchmaking.

In May 2002, The Hour Glass opened its first multi-brand boutique in Ginza, Tokyo’s most prestigious shopping district and continued its regional expansion programme in 2003 where The Hour Glass expanded its Thai and Malaysian operations, opening a 2,000 sq ft flagship store in Gaysorn Plaza, Bangkok in May as well as a third Malaysian boutique at 1 Utama in Kuala Lumpur in December. More recently, The Hour Glass was appointed the sole agent and distributor for Montblanc in Australia and opened its first franchised boutique in Sydney in March 2004 followed by two others in Melbourne and one in Brisbane.

In August 2004, in celebration of its 25th Anniversary, The Hour Glass presented TEMPUS – The Great Watchscapade. TEMPUS was a five-day exhibition cum conference, the first and only event of its kind and scale in the world featuring a collection of watches valued at $120 million coupled with over 150 hours of seminars and workshops aimed at enhancing the watch culture in Singapore. In 2005, TEMPUS – The Great Watchscapade won the “Best Retail Event of the Year” by The Singapore Retailers Association.

The Hour Glass has sold over SGD 6.0 billion (US$4.2BN) worth of watches in its 27-year history.

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