WHY A HENRY B. FRIED MEMORIAL TOUR?

  As of today, we organized and led 34 annual overseas tours and seminars, for almost a thousand participants.  We thought you might want to know what to expect on a Henry B. Fried Memorial. Aside from air transportation from your hometown, First Class hotels, premium cruise ships, private motor coaches, most meals, taxes and tips the most important aspect of our tours is the human factor –our participants. They are Present and Past Presidents, Fellows and Directors of NAWCC and AWI; collectors, authors; publishers; professors; restorers; storeowners. For the last 17 years, 85% of our participants were repeaters – a high mark for our tours.

  While alive, Henry's simple presence on the tour combined with the high horologic caliber of the other participants made certain things possible.  These features are off limits on other regular tours, but always included on our tours. Below is a brief list of Henry "happenings" and firsts:

·    The very first Australian/New Zeeland Mart took place only when we toured these two countries.  Members of Sidney & Perth, Australia and Auckland, NZ Chapters who never met before, flew hundreds of miles to act as our Mart hosts.

·    We had a tour of the catacombs under the City Hall in Edinburgh not open to the public, guided by the Lord Mayor himself, dressed in traditional kilt. Even City Hall staff and their relatives joined us in order to see this site in their own city of which they learned in school but never saw before. The A.H.S Scottish Chapter members hired a hall to exhibit their long-case clocks for us, with a few members spending the night in the room for security reasons.

·    George Daniels, truly one of the “greatest watchmakers alive", twice received us in his private home and workshop on the Isle of Man. George gave us a tour at The Worshipful Company of Clockmakers of London, as he came down with two of his hand made watches, purchased by our Harry Blair and Tom Bales, the only two known American to own a G. Daniels Coaxial Escapement watches.

·    When we visit Vallee-de-Joux factories we are guided by accomplished watchmakers and owners of the business – Philippe Dufour, Francois-Paul Journe, Franck Mueller, etc. or top management – Patek Philippe, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Audemars-Piguet, etc. We are given the “press tour” while visiting these prestigious manufactures 

·    While in Milan, we visit a private collection of night clocks and other excellent timepieces, of museum quality, but unknown to specialists or public. The only condition - we never mentioned his name or address, for security and insurance reasons.

·    Museums or collections may be closed, but if Henry’s group is in town, they will open and curators, custodians and keepers will be honored to guide us, as was the case in Neuchatel where the Jacquet-Droz Automata was played only for us, Jerez de la Frontera, Spain and recently, the Medeiros Private Collection in Lisbon.

·    Our recent visit of Spasskaya Clock Tower, inside the mighty Kremlin! A special clearance was required for our people to go past security gates; we visited the Great Clock guided by the clockmaker himself and escorted by armed guards. We found out that no other Americans were ever admitted to the tower and our Mary Ellen Bell was the first woman to ever climb the 500+ steps.

In addition to these firsts, during the inter-city trips or days at sea, we hold horologic seminars on the bus or the ship. Qualified members of our group will take the mike and lecture us on topics of personal expertise- principles of watch and clock collecting, gemology, principles of negotiating, electric and quartz watches, anniversary clocks, etc.

Last, but not least, for the last 15 years, we were able to almost “freeze the price” of our tours, as per the chart below, illustrating not only the tour price but a per diem (day) rate. Many tours include a cruise, meaning:  3-5 daily meals, private bus shore excursions, on board meeting and activities, nightly entertainment and the tips to all cruise staff.

  So, we urge you to consider traveling with us on this Henry B. Fried Memorial. If you want to find out more about the tour or be placed on our mailing list for future trips, please e-mail at atc@warwick.net  or call Nick at 1-800-262-4284