Audemars Piguet

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

Now I have another place to temp me.

Thanks Jerry.  Hope you get a chance to visit the AP boutique on your next trip to Vegas.
Regards,
ED-209

with that wonderful piece of AP PC on your wrist )

You're probably right, I hope they extend the hospitality to everyone. 
Definitely a dangerous place for wallets with all the high end shopping at Crystals.  But if we're lucky on the tables and slots...
Thanks for reading the post.
Regards,
ED-209

I'll be next door at Cosmo celebrating a close friends Bday so Crystals is just a short walk across the overhead bridge.  Thanks for the report ED-209!

Let me know how you like the boutique compared to the ones we visited in Geneva, NY, Paris, Dubai, etc
Regards,
ED-209

Great Report Ed, how was Katsuya?

Thanks Salman.  Different feel from other AP boutiques I've visited, this Vegas boutique is very spacious.  I like the lighter colors but wished they had more watches on display. 

Katsuya was pretty good for Vegas but original LA one is better.  I posted the pics in TimeOut Please click here

Regards,
ED-209

ps - when are you planning to visit us here in SoCal?  We've got to do another epic PuristS trip

opened a branch here in Kuwait and our common friend was visiting us from BH, who knows the owners and the staff during the opening was from LA who recognized him.

When I was in Vegas in 2013, I found som watch Boutiques which were not very crowdy... Desert would have been a better word...

Best,

Nicolas

Thanks Nicolas for looking at this post.  I was visiting on a Saturday and there were two other couples that were picking up watches.  So maybe it was due to Valentine's Day, not sure how well they do. 
Regards,
ED-209

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Have you visited any other AP boutiques lately?
Regards,
ED-209

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thanks for checking out the post on the AP boutique visit. Hope you have a chance to visit. 

I was just there too and the store looked quite nice.