Giovanni’s is a local family-owned and operated authentic pizzeria and Italian restaurant located on Rt. 724 in Pottstown Pennsylvania. The restaurant has been providing quality large portion Italian cuisine to the area since 2009,
Since its inception, the restaurant has enjoyed steady repeat business and quickly became a local favorite not only for the dine in experience but also for their catering. The family wanted to build an online presence where customers could quickly obtain information on the restaurant and the catering services they provided. In addition, they wanted customers to be able to quickly see their menu and order from them online.
CMP Development Group designed a website that not only is informational but also allows customers to interact by joining the restaurant’s VIP Club where they can sign up to receive weekly specials and promotion. The site also feature our “send a menu” service that allows customers to receive a pdf copy of the menu in minutes delivered to their in box and one of the most popular features is the online ordering where customers can order food directly from a desktop, tablet or mobile phone.
July 2017 – It’s neither a Laurent Ferrier watch nor an URWERK, yet the signatures of both firms appear on its back. The existence of this unexpected watch defies logic because it is the joint effort of two watchmaking companies that couldn’t be more different. Each bases its identity on the opposite ends of watchmaking’s stylistic spectrum. On one side, the expression of time-honoured traditions; on the other, an anarchic effort to overturn conventions. Laurent Ferrier and URWERK have created a piece of work that is unique, for only one-of-a-kind watches qualify to be sold at the Only Watch auction in aid of the battle against Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Let’s deal with the case first. You can well imagine the perfect, almost aerodynamic, curves coming to life in the confident strokes of Laurent Ferrier’s pencil. “It’s a cleanly cut watch. My friends know my love of cars, a predilection expressed in this watch. This new creation is like streamlined coachwork, fluid and without any affront to the eye,” he explains. Such a design demanded a special material. “For that we turned to the Cendres+Métaux company in Biel.” The case was shaped from an exclusive alloy called ARPAL+, specifically developed for this unique watch. ARPAL+ is a alloy which contains precious metals and resists wear and scratches better than white gold or steel. Its colour never fades, nor does it oxidise. This alloy was first developed for the electronics industry where it is much appreciated for its strength and because it is easily worked.
The polished case of the Only Watch by Laurent Ferrier and URWERK is what first catches the eye. It reflects light like no other and seems to sparkle. In contrast, URWERK’s movement was created with every restraint. Unlike the case, it is almost self-effacingly colourless. The four hours satellites are in a matt pearly grey with diamond-polished outlines while the hours and minutes markers are painted in white SuperLuminova. “We undertook this project with the greatest respect for each other’s work” Felix Baumgartner declares. “We held a great number of operational meetings, setting up a dialogue and developing a friendship that is apparent in the final result. We were aiming for subtlety rather than performance” he adds.
The time is shown by four satellites, each bearing three hours numerals, which successively sweep past the track of minutes. This original and intuitive way of telling the time is aided by a cover in polyetheretherketone, a thermoplastic known as PEEK, which hides the satellites that are not engaged in indicating the time. The satellites turn on a hidden carrousel, at the heart of the successive passage of the hours. It’s no easy job to engineer the smooth and silent revolutions of a module that weighs 500 times as much as a conventional set of hands.
Martin Frei has the final word on this remarkable venture: “Throughout the undertaking we complemented one another perfectly, sending the ball back and forth. For example, the cabochon winding crown recalls the stripes of our satellite hours. There are many subtle ways in which we refer to each other’s stylistic codes. While URWERK has opted for discretion, Laurent Ferrier has raised the tone. The result is perfect equilibrium.”
Every two years, the leading names in watchmaking get together to raise funds for research into muscular dystrophy. Each company gives of its best to create a unique watch to entice an enthusiastic, demanding and generous gathering. This year, Laurent Ferrier and URWERK have subscribed to this remarkable initiative.
The story started behind the watchmaking scenes. It was in November 2015 at a watchmaking exhibition like many others, thousands of kilometres away from Geneva. There, two watchmakers, exiled from the cocoons of their respective workshops, made a tentative effort to escape the crowds and take a break. Slightly bewildered by friendly bustle, they sought refuge under a staircase. They hardly knew each other, though their paths had crossed, but destiny seemed to have brought them together. Thus did Laurent Ferrier and Felix Baumgartner meet.
“We simply introduced ourselves,” recalls Felix Baumgartner. “Of course, I knew him by sight and something about him. But there, we seemed to be alone in the world, lost in a bubble, and so we got to know one another.” Laurent Ferrier picks up the story: “I’m rather shy by nature, but I quickly found common ground with Felix. The place was peculiar, but the time was right.”
Their friendship was to blossom into a joint project — to build a bridge between two watchmaking companies and thereby to create an exceptional watch for a noble cause. Combining tradition with daring innovation was like mixing oil and water. But that is precisely what URWERK’s Martin Frei likes doing best. “When I learned about the project, I was immediately enthusiastic. Bringing together two visions, two cultures and two generations in a single creation seemed to me a splendid stylistic exercise.”