Yesterday evening, after Geneva, Milan, New York, Miami, Tokyo, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Kuwait and Dubai, it was Paris’ turn to inaugurate its new Audemars Piguet boutique. Taking as its theme A Midwinter Night’s Dream, enthusiasts of fine watchmaking were transported into an enchanted wintry world as a prelude to the magic of Christmas. It was also an occasion to discover the portraits taken by the photographer Thierry Bouët to mark the 35th anniversary of the Royal Oak.

The connoisseurs and collectors began the evening at the new boutique, on 380 Rue Saint-Honoré, in the 1st arrondissement of Paris. To mark the occasion, the facade of the boutique was covered in a thin coating of frost, turning it into a fairy-tale ice palace. All who attended had the impression of walking into a magical grotto that provided the perfect pure and crystalline showcase to discover the new premises designed by OÏ, the Swiss interior design firm. The clean lines and display windows provided an ideal setting for Audemars designs, including the Royal Oak Offshore Saint-Honoré, in a limited edition of 100 pieces created specially for the boutique. As they walked round, visitors discovered the world of Audemars Piguet and the values of the Manufacture, not only through the materials used, including wengé wood and leather, iridescent surfaces, glass and aluminum, but also through the finishing touches, with visuals of the Joux Valley, the Founders, and a number of famous timekeepers, etc. “Audemars Piguet France is our second most important market in Europe, and fourth most important worldwide. As a result, it is important for us to be able to receive our customers in premises that respect our values – Tradition, Excellence and Creative Boldness. A setting dedicated to our brand and to all enthusiasts, where all our collections are accessible and customers can enjoy a welcoming, attentive service. We hope we have achieved this,” said Georges-Henri Meylan, CEO of Audemars Piguet, during the evening.

After visiting the brand’s new setting, a carpet of sparkling snowflakes led the guests to the place where the true celebrations were to take place – the Castille Hotel, just a hundred meters away. Warm and welcoming, the hotel had been specially decorated for the occasion – the restaurant had been changed into a cozy lounge area with its open fireplace, love seats, parquet flooring, and a view overlooking an enchanted landscape on the patio, which is normally decorated with Florentine frescos. In the small courtyard, the fountain had been covered with ice, there were snow-laden pine trees, snowflakes on the ground, and a model of the 1972 Royal Oak sculpted in a block of ice one and a half meters high!

Dotted about the hotel’s entrance hall and on the walls of the reception room, a number of portraits of enthusiasts of fine watchmaking had been hung. The display had been put together using photographs taken by Thierry Bouët to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the famous Royal Oak, and showed 35 individuals – both famous and unknown – who had posed for the company, including the perfumer Jean-Paul Guerlain, the footballer Djibril Cissé, the international film director Nicolas Vanier, the chefs Jean-François Piège, Guy Martin and Cyril Lignac, the racing car driver Olivier Panis, the singer Anggun, the journalist Laurent Weil, and many others of the brand’s friends. Most of them were present.

PR