Prodigal Meetup: Join us in Paris on 17 July
By The Prodigal Fool, published on 8 June 2010
We’ve been toying with the idea for a while now.
We love writing this nonsense, you seem to like reading it, and we love getting into discussions with those of you who leave comments. Our most popular posts – certainly the ones that elicit the most comments and hits – are often the watch-related ones. So…maybe, just maybe, it would be fun to meet up with you guys in the real world and indulge some of our common interests? Maybe we could cobble together some sort of watch-related event? And perhaps we could chuck in a great meal and a ton of booze too?
Hey listen, we’re not saying it’s without risk. You might turn out to be weirdoes. We might! You could be John Candy to our Steve Martin. But for the right event, we reckon it might just be worth the risk.
And we think we just found the right event.
In recent weeks you’ve heard us rave about L’Atelier du Bracelet Parisien (ABP). We were excited enough before our first visit and positively drooling after it. This place really is one of the finest watch strap suppliers in the world.
So taken were we with the whole experience that we decided we wanted to share it with you. Not with words, not with photos nor video, but really share it. So, we’ve negotiated a very special deal for friends of The Prodigal Guide.
On 17 July, we’d like to invite you to join us as we visit ABP, where owners Jean-Claude and Yann Perrin will give us a tour of the workshop, an explanation of the strap-making process and, crucially, an amazing 20% discount on any custom straps purchased that day. That’s right, you get 20% off the cost of any custom straps you buy.
The plan is to spend the morning with ABP then retire to a classic Parisian brasserie for a long, boozy lunch and lots of watch chat before hopping / crawling on to a train back to wherever you came from.
Into the bargain you get to meet two thirds of the Prodigal Guide editorial team: The Prodigal Fool is coming in from London (and looking for two straps: one for his Navitimer 806, one for his Speedmaster 321), Straight-Six from Brussels (he’s picking up the straps he ordered last time and fitting them to his vintage Rollers). We haven’t yet convinced Patito to join us but there’s time yet.
The point is: do you fancy joining us? How could you not!? The right strap can revolutionise the look of a watch. Whether it’s a vintage Jaeger-LeCoultre Polaris, a modern Panerai Luminor Marina or anything else in between, the guys at ABP can transform any timepiece for the better.
We have five free places. The only costs involved are those you incur yourself: your travel, your purchases at ABP and your share of lunch.
To put your name down for the inaugural Prodigal Meet-Up, simply email us (TheProdigalGuide@me.com) to tell us which of your watches you’d most like to see on an ABP strap. We’ll be in touch with further details.
See you in Paris!
Prodigal Meetup: Join us in Paris on 17 July
We’ve been toying with the idea for a while now. We love writing this nonsense, you seem to like reading it, and we love getting into discussions with those of you who leave comments. Our most popular posts – certainly the ones that elicit the most comments and hits – are often the watch-related ones. [...]
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15 Responses to “Prodigal Meetup: Join us in Paris on 17 July”
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You’d be more than welcome Jerome and I’d love to see what an ABP strap could do to the looks of a Marvin…
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Straight-Six
8 June 2010
Jerome,
It’d be a pleasure, and would certainly give Marvin food for thought about exactly what kind of straps make that crucial difference. Before visiting, I never had any idea it was so much…
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Patito
8 June 2010
I´ll be the shower curtain ring guy. See you in Paris!
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Yay! And so we’ll have the whole editorial team of The Prodigal Guide there. Who else is coming?
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Straight-Six
11 June 2010
Come on, folks! This is the world’s finest strap store. Period. And only a couple more places remain.
Big quick. Be smart. Be ABP.
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Gents,
Sending my regrets that I will be unable to make it to what will undoubtedly be a prodigal meetup! Sounds like great fun.
Kyle/Perpetuelle-
Straight-Six
13 June 2010
Kyle,
We forgive you…this one time only! But really hope you’ll be able to join us should there be a second opportunity to go back, or another Prodigal Meetup. That’s if we don’t kill each other after a boozy lunch in Paris. Reality often gets in the way of a perfectly groomed online persona…:)
Take care,
Straight-Six
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Gentlemen,
Thanks all for your invitation – two times today by two different people, damn, it’s been a while since I felt so important !!
Unfortunately, like I told Ian this morning, I will leave Paris for 2 days, July 17 & 18 precisely, to drop my son in Britain for a couple of weeks he’ll spend with his grand-parents.
If some of you (Jérôme ??) will still be in Paris on Monday, we could lunch around Place Vendôme. For instance.
Cheers,
Olivier – @O_Muller
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Sorry to hear you can’t make it Olivier.
Hopefully we can catch up at SalonQP this year?
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Sad news gentlemen…
I’ve just had word that Patito, the feminine erstwhile third leg of the Prodigal editorial team, has pulled out. A great shame since she is cleverer and prettier than the other two thirds of the team put together.
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[...] Back at the beginning of June, we retired to bed one evening having just read our own review of ABP, the incredible watch strap supplier in Paris and, as it turns out, having had one helping of Camembert too many. We later woke in the middle of the night possessed by both severe stomach ache and a seemingly crazy idea: why not make our way back to the French capital for another pilgrimage to this watch-fan’s Mecca, followed by a killer Parisian bistro meal and lashings of wine? But this time, why not invite our readers to come with us!? Foolhardy? No doubt – not least because who knows what our readers might turn out to be like. But, ever fearless, we decided to blog about it and see what happened. [...]
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[...] The inaugural Prodigal Meetup took place in Paris just over a week ago. Predictably is was a slightly shambolic and very drunken affair. So, what follows is our best – if not totally accurate – recollection of a day which was surprising, enlightening and fun in equal measures. [...]
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Prodigal Meetup: Join us in London on 15 October « The Prodigal Guide
15 September 2010
[...] When we announced our first Meetup in Paris back in June, we honestly didn’t know what to expect. Oh sure, our two readers seem pleasant enough in the [...]
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Keith
8 September 2011
Well, my strap – Ostrich leg – has been completed by ABP and should be shipped out by FedEx very soon. I’m sure I will love it, and Greg (the guy looking after my order) said it will look stunning on my Oris Miles Complication. If it doesn’t, then you guys will be hearing from my solicitors, because you will have definitely had a hand in persuading me to spend such an horrendous amount of money on a watch strap. Total cost for a little leather strap – 250 Euros. Hope you are sleeping well…lol
Jerome Pineau
8 June 2010
LOL had to laff at that pic it’s one of my all time favorite Steve Martin flicks
This little shinding sounds kinda nice. I might just join you guys and bring a couple Marvins see what happens…