darkoverlord
Tyme Master Jr.
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2014
- Messages
- 15,323
*i DIDN'T KNOW WHETHER TO PUT THIS IN THE WGT FORUM SINCE TIMECAT AND I GOT TOGETHER OR IN THE GENERAL SECTION TO GIVE THE WITS INFO ON A NEW RETAILER IN NYC- MODS DO WITH THIS THREAD AS YOU WILL*
About a month ago I got a notification (I believe it was from Hodinkee) that there would be a special Grand Seiko pop-up shop and exhibit in NYC running at a place called Watches of Switzerland, in the SOHO (South of Houston for you none New Yorkers) section of town. For the most part if your from city or the surrounding areas you associated Madison Ave around mid-town with high end horology as most brands have their own boutique somewhere between 50th-60th St and Park to 5th Ave along with many multi-brand and high-end jewelry stores. Sure there are certainly other shops scattered around Manhattan but Madison Ave is the nucleus and I've certainly never been to a shop in SOHO before. Certainly the excitement of a new store (only been there 6 weeks now) and a Grand Seiko exhibit was enough to get the boys together and brave the 8 degree, 20 below windchill MLK day right?
So Watches of Switzerland claim heritage all the way back to 1924 on their website. I'm sure this is true on some level but again as far as NYC goes, this is their 6th week of existence. The area of town has grown into a semi-chic area for clothing boutiques and odds and end shops so why not watches right? The building is located on a relatively charming cobblestone street with a few other shops. The entrance is non-descript enough but the shop is quite nice. Two floors. The first hosting watches from Breitling, Omega, Tudor, Tag, Rolex, Cartier, Patek, Ulysse Nardin, IWC, Hublot, JLC and Bremont. There are a few brands on their website that I don't think I saw in the store but they do have multiple locations. The downstairs had a swank coffee bar (apparently they have some harder stuff too) more Tudor, more Tag, a very nice selection of Hirsch straps and the Seiko pop-up. Overall the building was great. For a multi-brand I found it a slight more sophisticated than say a Tourneau but not quite as hoity-toity as a madision ave boutique. Bottom-line, if I were in the area or in the market for something they had I would 100% go back.
https://www.watchesofswitzerland.com/
enjoy some pics
First Floor
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Second Floor
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Coffee anyone?
Seiko Pop-up
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
They had 84 unique Grand Seiko timepieces. According to the Seiko expert there that's 30 more than have even been ear-marked for sale in the US.... and they have the Credor Fugaku Tourbillion. one of 8 that will every be made and (according to the expert) they haven't even made all 8 yet. As I said to him, it's like seeing the Mona Lisa. $500k if anyone is in the market.
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
They also have the Credor Cherry Blossom, almost as intricate and amazing.... but at only $40k why bother?
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
as for the rest of the day... Robert and I decided to hit the Occulus Mall located under the World Trade Center. Neither of us had ever been there before. One brief pic but the mall does hold a Montblanc, a Breitling, a Longines and Invicta store along with a Jewelers of London. So certainly there is reason to go if you're in the area and into watches.
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
now one more thing... the day started with the most important part of the day.. for me, lunch at my favoritre NYC restuarant. Pomme Frittes. All they do is make the world's best french fries. That's it.....
My poutine with Robert's Helberg
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Robert cone of goodness with my H2O chrono
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
That's it guys... have a good one
About a month ago I got a notification (I believe it was from Hodinkee) that there would be a special Grand Seiko pop-up shop and exhibit in NYC running at a place called Watches of Switzerland, in the SOHO (South of Houston for you none New Yorkers) section of town. For the most part if your from city or the surrounding areas you associated Madison Ave around mid-town with high end horology as most brands have their own boutique somewhere between 50th-60th St and Park to 5th Ave along with many multi-brand and high-end jewelry stores. Sure there are certainly other shops scattered around Manhattan but Madison Ave is the nucleus and I've certainly never been to a shop in SOHO before. Certainly the excitement of a new store (only been there 6 weeks now) and a Grand Seiko exhibit was enough to get the boys together and brave the 8 degree, 20 below windchill MLK day right?
So Watches of Switzerland claim heritage all the way back to 1924 on their website. I'm sure this is true on some level but again as far as NYC goes, this is their 6th week of existence. The area of town has grown into a semi-chic area for clothing boutiques and odds and end shops so why not watches right? The building is located on a relatively charming cobblestone street with a few other shops. The entrance is non-descript enough but the shop is quite nice. Two floors. The first hosting watches from Breitling, Omega, Tudor, Tag, Rolex, Cartier, Patek, Ulysse Nardin, IWC, Hublot, JLC and Bremont. There are a few brands on their website that I don't think I saw in the store but they do have multiple locations. The downstairs had a swank coffee bar (apparently they have some harder stuff too) more Tudor, more Tag, a very nice selection of Hirsch straps and the Seiko pop-up. Overall the building was great. For a multi-brand I found it a slight more sophisticated than say a Tourneau but not quite as hoity-toity as a madision ave boutique. Bottom-line, if I were in the area or in the market for something they had I would 100% go back.
https://www.watchesofswitzerland.com/
enjoy some pics
First Floor
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Second Floor
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Coffee anyone?
Seiko Pop-up
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
They had 84 unique Grand Seiko timepieces. According to the Seiko expert there that's 30 more than have even been ear-marked for sale in the US.... and they have the Credor Fugaku Tourbillion. one of 8 that will every be made and (according to the expert) they haven't even made all 8 yet. As I said to him, it's like seeing the Mona Lisa. $500k if anyone is in the market.
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
They also have the Credor Cherry Blossom, almost as intricate and amazing.... but at only $40k why bother?
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
as for the rest of the day... Robert and I decided to hit the Occulus Mall located under the World Trade Center. Neither of us had ever been there before. One brief pic but the mall does hold a Montblanc, a Breitling, a Longines and Invicta store along with a Jewelers of London. So certainly there is reason to go if you're in the area and into watches.
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
now one more thing... the day started with the most important part of the day.. for me, lunch at my favoritre NYC restuarant. Pomme Frittes. All they do is make the world's best french fries. That's it.....
My poutine with Robert's Helberg
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Robert cone of goodness with my H2O chrono
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
Untitled by Gavin Gear, on Flickr
That's it guys... have a good one