Report of the Audemars Piguet Yellow Gold dinner in Paris
foversta
Last Thursday, Audemars Piguet organized a spectacular dinner at the Pavillon Vendôme to launch the new Royal Oak Yellow Gold collection. Actually, this event gave the opportunity to François-Henry Bennahmias to deliver several important messages to the guests. But what were these messages? I could perceive four clear statements.
The first one is that Audemars Piguet is in a very good shape despite the very difficult environment for the industry. And we could feel it during the latest SIHH. The second one was to confirm the official inauguration of the new boutique located at the corner of the rue Royale and of the rue du Faubourg St Honoré. This inauguration which took place a few hours before the dinner symbolizes the ambition of Audemars Piguet on the French Market and the extension of the network of boutiques in the world. The third message was to announce that the famous French actor, Omar Sy, became at the very same day, an official ambassador of the brand. Not a surprise for the French fans of Audemars Piguet since Omar Sy has had for several years a very close relationship with the brand.
And the last message was obviously: Yellow Gold is back.
Well, but with the Audemars Piguet touch! Don't expect here a gathering of quiet dress watches using this material. Audemars Piguet takes advantage of the true color of gold to create a large range of Royal Oak full of energy and style. This dynamic could be perceived in the movie which was presented to the guests at the beginning of the event:
This collection is made of a quartz 33mm 3 hands watch, a 37mm automatic one (with two dials: white or blue), a 41mm chronograph (with two dials: white or blue) and a 41mm perpetual calendar. But I was forgetting the latest piece which joined the collection: the Tourbillon ultra-thin openworked, maybe the most impressive watch of the collection and the one which takes fully advantage of the warm and bright case.
The idea to bring back Yellow Gold can be considered as strange. After all, we may have the feeling that this case material is old-fashioned, having transferred its key role of being the prefered colored material to Pink Gold. But we all know that in collectors' mind, Yellow Gold remains THE reference because it offers the true color of this magic material. Moreover, in a world facing an economic crisis, as I often say, customers want entertainment, creativity and fun. We don't have to forget the optimistic feel created by Yellow Gold. A way for the owner of a Yellow Gold watch to say: I face the crisis and I go ahead without taking care of what the other people may think... The last asset of Yellow Gold is a very personal thought. I do believe that a blue dial works much better with a Yellow Gold case than with a Pink Gold one.
The event took place at the Pavillon Vendôme. This venue was chosen with a lot of care and was perfect for the launch of the new collection. Actually, the welcome dinner was organized in the vault of a bank which previously occupied the building. The entrance was protected by a 9 tons door so as I François-Henry Bennahmias said, the door wouldn't be opened again if the full set of Yellow Gold watches was not given back to the Audemars Piguet team at the end of the event! Fortunately, we didn't face any problem and I could be back home without any delay!
The dinner was prepared by Pierre Gagnaire, the famous 3 stars French chef. Following his principles, it was healthy (thanks to Audemars Piguet for having taking care of my diet!) and obviously delicious. Around 150/200 guests were served at the same time and preparing such dinner requires the same organization and precision than in a watches manufacture!
I propose you to discover some pictures I took during the event. For agenda constraints, I couldn't attend the inauguration of the boutique but the event which came later was more than a consolation!
Ready to enter the safe and to discover the new collection?
François-Henry Bennahmias during his welcome speech:
The dinner was about to start:
Let's find the right seat!
The instruments on stage were a good sign that we would have a musical interlude!
Everything was ready for a great dinner!
The first course with Spring Vegetables:
A delicious fish:
Before the dessert, time was coming to put on the wrist the stars of the event: the Yellow Gold Royal Oak!
The 37mm version on a lady's wrist:
The 41mm chronograph with the blue dial:
The 37mm version with blue dial:
And of course... the gorgeous Tourbillon ultra-thin openworked:
Thanks to Futoshita, I'm able to tell you that the band name who played on stage is Synapson!
And the wonderful red fruit dessert!
One of the nicest surprises of the event was this lovely gift, a Yellow Gold bracelet with blue "string" and "dial". I was proudly wearing my Millenary during the evening.
The bracelet on my wrist! It looks great and as I told you, yellow and blue are good friends!
This event was perfectly organized by the Audemars Piguet team and I had a lot of pleasure to attend it and to meet several friends at the Pavillon Vendôme. I wish now the best for the Paris boutique... and of course to the new Yellow Gold collection!
Fr.Xavier
This message has been edited by foversta on 2016-05-28 13:43:18 This message has been edited by foversta on 2016-05-28 15:15:58
The first one is that Audemars Piguet is in a very good shape despite the very difficult environment for the industry. And we could feel it during the latest SIHH. The second one was to confirm the official inauguration of the new boutique located at the corner of the rue Royale and of the rue du Faubourg St Honoré. This inauguration which took place a few hours before the dinner symbolizes the ambition of Audemars Piguet on the French Market and the extension of the network of boutiques in the world. The third message was to announce that the famous French actor, Omar Sy, became at the very same day, an official ambassador of the brand. Not a surprise for the French fans of Audemars Piguet since Omar Sy has had for several years a very close relationship with the brand.
And the last message was obviously: Yellow Gold is back.
Well, but with the Audemars Piguet touch! Don't expect here a gathering of quiet dress watches using this material. Audemars Piguet takes advantage of the true color of gold to create a large range of Royal Oak full of energy and style. This dynamic could be perceived in the movie which was presented to the guests at the beginning of the event:
This collection is made of a quartz 33mm 3 hands watch, a 37mm automatic one (with two dials: white or blue), a 41mm chronograph (with two dials: white or blue) and a 41mm perpetual calendar. But I was forgetting the latest piece which joined the collection: the Tourbillon ultra-thin openworked, maybe the most impressive watch of the collection and the one which takes fully advantage of the warm and bright case.
The idea to bring back Yellow Gold can be considered as strange. After all, we may have the feeling that this case material is old-fashioned, having transferred its key role of being the prefered colored material to Pink Gold. But we all know that in collectors' mind, Yellow Gold remains THE reference because it offers the true color of this magic material. Moreover, in a world facing an economic crisis, as I often say, customers want entertainment, creativity and fun. We don't have to forget the optimistic feel created by Yellow Gold. A way for the owner of a Yellow Gold watch to say: I face the crisis and I go ahead without taking care of what the other people may think... The last asset of Yellow Gold is a very personal thought. I do believe that a blue dial works much better with a Yellow Gold case than with a Pink Gold one.
The event took place at the Pavillon Vendôme. This venue was chosen with a lot of care and was perfect for the launch of the new collection. Actually, the welcome dinner was organized in the vault of a bank which previously occupied the building. The entrance was protected by a 9 tons door so as I François-Henry Bennahmias said, the door wouldn't be opened again if the full set of Yellow Gold watches was not given back to the Audemars Piguet team at the end of the event! Fortunately, we didn't face any problem and I could be back home without any delay!
The dinner was prepared by Pierre Gagnaire, the famous 3 stars French chef. Following his principles, it was healthy (thanks to Audemars Piguet for having taking care of my diet!) and obviously delicious. Around 150/200 guests were served at the same time and preparing such dinner requires the same organization and precision than in a watches manufacture!
I propose you to discover some pictures I took during the event. For agenda constraints, I couldn't attend the inauguration of the boutique but the event which came later was more than a consolation!
Ready to enter the safe and to discover the new collection?
François-Henry Bennahmias during his welcome speech:
The dinner was about to start:
Let's find the right seat!
The instruments on stage were a good sign that we would have a musical interlude!
Everything was ready for a great dinner!
The first course with Spring Vegetables:
A delicious fish:
Before the dessert, time was coming to put on the wrist the stars of the event: the Yellow Gold Royal Oak!
The 37mm version on a lady's wrist:
The 41mm chronograph with the blue dial:
The 37mm version with blue dial:
And of course... the gorgeous Tourbillon ultra-thin openworked:
Thanks to Futoshita, I'm able to tell you that the band name who played on stage is Synapson!
And the wonderful red fruit dessert!
One of the nicest surprises of the event was this lovely gift, a Yellow Gold bracelet with blue "string" and "dial". I was proudly wearing my Millenary during the evening.
The bracelet on my wrist! It looks great and as I told you, yellow and blue are good friends!
This event was perfectly organized by the Audemars Piguet team and I had a lot of pleasure to attend it and to meet several friends at the Pavillon Vendôme. I wish now the best for the Paris boutique... and of course to the new Yellow Gold collection!
Fr.Xavier
This message has been edited by foversta on 2016-05-28 13:43:18 This message has been edited by foversta on 2016-05-28 15:15:58
Comments:
MichaelC May 28th, 2016-13:51
Looked like a great AP event. Thanks for the report Amigo.
futoshita May 28th, 2016-14:59
thank you for the report and the band name is synapson
Mark in Paris May 28th, 2016-16:12
That must have been a wonderful evening Thanks for sharing Fx. About Yellow gold, I remember opening 2 threads during the last 3 years about the YG's possible come back and this is indeed something that would be really cool to see again for some specific models. As everything in the fashion ind...
foversta June 1st, 2016-13:29
Thanks Mark for your words and comments. We have to consider that it is not yet a trend but AP in a way created the spark! Fx
ns23 May 29th, 2016-00:23
Thanks For this great report and pictures! Very nice gift too..
watch-er May 29th, 2016-06:58
Beautiful watches My only complaint with AP, on the watches shown, is they are only pressure proof to 50m. With such a "robust" case I cannot understand why they cannot attain 100m so they can go into the water without concern. Otherwise they rock! Bob
foversta June 1st, 2016-13:26
You know, you have the ROO for that... The roots of the RO was to be the watch for the Yacht-Club, casual and elegant at the same time. ;-) Fx
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