Firstly, I want to say that I thought yesterday's GTG was one of the best gatherings of that type that I have attended, and I would like to thanks everyone who attended, Simon & everyone from the JLC Boutique and Marie & Caroline for making the day a special one. We had 22 people who spent five or six hours together sharing their enjoyment and experiences of a common passion, with no egos or oneupmanship. I truly believe that other parts of society could learn a lot from GTGs such as this, where people of diverse cultures, backgrounds and beliefs come together in an environment of friendship.

After a rainy night the sun shone down on us for at least the morning and late afternoon yesterday. I arrived at the JLC boutique at just after 10am and was greeted by the team:

Stephane Belmont arrived just as I did, and we discussed his presentation that he had planned. Stephane is an extremely nice person, very knowledgeable and very friendly:

Shortly afterwards the ever helpful Marie and Caroline arrived, and I must at this point thank them both immensely for the organisation that they did on my behalf to make our day more memorable:

Once we had things set up I was told by Simon at the boutique that it would be closed for the morning just for us and we had exclusive use of the premises - what a great thing to do and it was much appreciated. Simon is a really great person, and Marie certainly seems to think so (LOL):

Shortly after the boutique was made ready the Purists started to arrive. First were Sid and Al, who decided to fight over the Gyro II:

After that many people arrived at the same time, and as I was so busy behind the camera I forgot what order they arrived in.

Sid and Al asked for a picture with Marie:

Bill arrived next, and liked the Gyro II, giving a great James Bond pose for the camera (it was good to see you again Bill):

Then Graham, Allen, Mike & his lovely wife Laura (sorry to talk about knee operations over lunch Laura, and thanks for listening!) arrived:

More to come later as I have a busy afternoon and evening today, so apologies that this intro is short. I have done 74 pictures and have around 150 to go. You can see the first 74 here:

sclamb.zenfolio.com

The easiest way to view them is to press the slideshow button a the top right side.

Part 2 tomorrow.........

Simon

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CLICK HERE  for Purists London GTG - Report Part 2 - The Watches
CLICK HERE  for Purists London GTG - Report Part 3 - The Lunch