This past weekend, we had the pleasure of attending the debut of 'Watches & Wonders Miami' which took place from February 16th-19th, 2018. This event organized by the Miami Design District Associates in partnership with the FHH —Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie— presented 21 watch maisons including: A. Lange & Sohne, Armin Strom, Audemars Piguet, Bvlgari, Cartier, F.P. Journe, Hermès, Hublot, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Kari Voutilainen, Louis Vuitton, Panerai, Parmigiani Fleurier, Piaget, Ralph Lauren, Romain Jerome, Romain Gauthier, Tag Heuer, Vacheron Constantin and Van Cleef & Arpels. Following their official release at the SIHH 2018 back in January, the participating brands showcased all of their novelties with the attendees to the event. Hopefully our photo report will give you all a good taste of what this exciting weekend in our #WatchLife was like.
With an opening cocktail at the Miami Design District Palm Court on Friday February 16th, watch brand hosted cocktails/parties at every participating watch boutique within the Miami Design District, watch-centric lectures at the Moore Building, special exhibitions, horologists on duty, master-classes and even Phillips Watches present at the event, Watches & Wonders gathered Miami's crème de la crème —but not necessarily all the hard core watch collectors that Miami has to offer— during a fun weekend of perfect weather and sunny skies.
Some of the highlights of our time at Watches & Wonders Miami included perusing some incredible watches from Phillips Watches for their upcoming Geneva Watch Auction SEVEN and the Daytona Ultimatum Auction, attending the 'A Man & His Watch' Watch Talk at the Vacheron Constantin Boutique with writer Matt Hranek, interviewing Philippe Bonay —North American President for Jaeger-LeCoultre— and of course attending a few special functions with our friends from Audemars Piguet and ECJ Luxe.
Additionally, the event coincided with the Miami Design District Concorso —showcasing 100+ cars including iconic examples from Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Martin, Bentley and Rolls Royce— and the 30th Annual Miami Yacht Show which features the world’s most extraordinary and uniquely designed yachts from top custom boat builders and brokers.
In our usual Watch Collecting Lifestyle style we made the most of out of this wonderful event in our #watchlife that hopefully resulted in greater brand awareness and incremental watch sales for the brands present. And as we always do, no visit to Miami is complete without our obligated stops for Cuban food at Café Versailles, Mexican food at La No. 20 Veinte and a closing night of beef empanadas and well made drinks at the hottest boutique hotel in the city, Faena Miami. Thanks to all the participating brands but in special to Audemars Piguet, Hublot, Jaeger-LeCoultre and Vacheron Constantin for your hospitality.
For more info on the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie click here.
