Last month I had a chance to visit the new
Audemars Piguet Boutique in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The
boutique was developed between a partnership between AP and
Westime. This the 3rd Audemars Piguet Boutique in the U.S. and
is located in The Shops at Crystals in the middle of the Las Vegas
Strip. I’m a frequent traveler to Las Vegas and it felt like
home arriving at Aria Resort and Casino which is one of the hotels in
the City Center complex, including
Crystals.
It’s an easy walk from the connection between
Aria and Crystals. Located on the first floor across from
Bulgari, next to Louis Vuitton, and below the Mastro’s Tree House, the
AP Boutique is easy to find. Here’s a quick photo of my AP
Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar posing in front of the boutique.
The boutique is over 1200 square feet and
has a spacious open feeling with displays in one corner and a lounge and
full service bar on the other. Double glass doors at the
front with regular door handles. A recent post on TimeOut
reminded me of the AP boutique in Dubai where they had awesome AP logo
door handles. I wish that the architects would have incorporated this here.
In the front display window were several Royal Oak
Offshores. I was very surprised to see a Masato. I
joined a few fellow PuristS to Tokyo back in 2009 and handled one of the
first production Masato LE pieces for delivery at the AP Ginza
Boutique. I noticed the red dial and upon closer inspection
saw the Masato 3 and 14 numbers on the dial.
Instead
of the Masato I was expecting to see the AP ROO LE ‘Las Vegas Strip’
that has a blackened watch with red accents limited to 400 pieces. I
remember when I first saw it at the Palazzo Las Vegas several years ago
and it came with a special presentation case with 2 sets of AP branded
playing cards. There was a gem set Las Vegas edition in a 18k
white gold case set with brilliant cut diamonds and limited to 60
pieces. And also a Royal Oak Chronograph Tourbillon limited
edition in 35 pieces. Plus a womens version in white gold and
diamond set bezel and case. But none of these were on display
probably because they were issued several years ago. It would
have been cool to see a prototype displayed in the store.
Perhaps AP will launch another LE for this boutique in the
future?
The display next to it had a steel Millenary,
and a Jules Audemars Perpetual Calendar in rose gold with brown
dial.
I like this version of the Royal Oak Tourbillon,
to me it looks more balanced and cleaner than the previous version with
the 2 subdial chronograph and tourbillon.
The outside display on the other side of the boutique
showcased some of the womens watches, all were diamond set ladies Royal
Oaks.
I went in as a regular customer and please to
say that the service here was excellent. The staff was very
welcoming and also knowledgeable about AP and watches in
general. Kudos to the AP Team on this, as it’s always nice to
see customers treated in such a professional and friendly
atmosphere.
I did have some time to try on a few
watches. One of the most interesting was the
Offshore Tourbillon Chronograph with the forged carbon case and ceramic
bezel. More pics in a separate post.
Then a few more Royal Oaks were taken out for me
to try:
And the other AP I’ve been waiting to see in
person. The Offshore Diver with the white ceramic bezel and
case. I’m sure my next watch will be a AP Offshore Diver but
can’t decide which version to get. I’m still leaning towards
the regular steel with black dial. But this white ceramic
version has beautiful blue accents on the dial, hands and hour
markers.
I’d like to mention a very cool detail
on the wooden desks at the boutique. These brass/gold colored
AP plaques set at an angle on the table reminds me of the Royal Oak
plots. And also the AP logo deeply engraved on the front of
the table. I like these little details.
Overall I had a excellent visit to the new AP
Boutique in Vegas. The staff was friendly and knowledgeable,
and was kind enough to show me some very nice
watches.
It was tempting to pick up the
Diver, but I’ll be back soon in the next few months to see the new
pieces that were introduced at SIHH 2015. I strapped back on
my AP Perpetual Calendar and head out for dinner.
Regards,
ED-209
