The other day I was having a lengthy discussion with Fabienne Lupo who I had just bumped into in the street in Geneva. The extremely pleasant chairwoman and managing director of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie had just come back from Hong Kong where her Foundation had organised the first Replica Watches UK & Wonders event. She was telling me what a brilliant success it had been and describing the logistical details that she and her team had had to deal with. One of these, and not the least by any means, was to plan the F&B which included management of free drinks provided for visitors in open-bar mode, in the same way as during the SIHH – whereas in this instance their numbers and attendance were a complete unknown. Would there be a crowd dying of hunger and thirst at this first such event on Hong Kong soil, of should they expect or fewer numbers including mostly green tea drinkers…

At this precise moment, a car passed right close to us and parked not far away. It was an advertising car, painted in glaring colours and we had time to read a surprising message on the side: RIVELLA, LA BOISSON OFFICIELLE DES HORLOGERS SUISSES (OFFICIAL DRINK OF SWISS WATCHMAKERS).

I asked her if her Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie had signed a contract with this typical Swiss drink. It seemed to me however that a vintage champagne or wine from Cahors from the estates of d’Alain-Dominique Perrin, Cartier’s former “must” would be better contestants for this title. She denied any agreement with Rivella and we went to interrogate the two salespeople who climbed out of their heavily branded car.

We asked them what “official drink of watchmakers” meant and if, by chance, it happened to be Jean-Claude Biver who was sponsoring them.

No, no, they said, they did not have a contract – and had simply decided all by themselves that they were the “official drink of Swiss watchmakers”. In Geneva they hesitated between watchmakers and bankers, but “official drink of Swiss bankers” might perhaps be counterproductive, from an advertising point of view… So they picked the watchmakers, feeling that it simply works better.

Fabienne Lupo revealed her position as the organiser of the Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie and asked if they might consider delivering a few cases of Rivella free of charge to the next SIHH. “Oh”, said one of the sales reps, “I don’t think we can do that for nothing; but I can give you a bottle!”

He was about to dive into the boot of his car but we refused his kind offer. Personally Rivella – with its highly confidential recipe featuring natural whey and herbal extracts – gives me heartburn.

After exchanging business cards, they went off to continue their prospecting. I began to daydream. What if all the Swiss replica Omega UK watchmakers were to seriously begin drinking Rivella rather than their glass of white wine after work – would that change the face of watchmaking? Maybe in the morning their hands would be a bit less shaky in the workshops and the adjustment of our chronometers would improve.

Official drink of Swiss watchmakers … here’s a niche that nobody prior to Rivella has ever really explored. One might multiply similar initiatives that would reinforce the Swissness of our products. “Cenovis, official spread of Swiss watchmakers”. “Toblerone, official chocolate of Swiss watchmakers”. “Vacherin Mont d’Or, official cheese of Swiss watchmakers”. “Papet vaudois, official dish of Swiss watchmakers “. “Gerber, official fondue of Swiss watchmakers “. “Calida, official underwear of Swiss watchmakers”. “Freitag, official bags of Swiss watchmakers. “Migros, official grocery store of Swiss watchmakers “. “UBS, official bank of Swiss watchmakers “. “Zurich, official insurance of Swiss watchmakers “. “Switzerland, official country of Swiss watchmakers”… Ok, so perhaps I’m taking it too far there. The exact wording would instead be: “Switzerland, 60% official country of Swiss watchmakers”. Thank you Rivella for this great idea.