BigFatPauli
1709
I got my first "great" watch in 2004. Ah yes, I was a young lad then...
May 07, 2021,18:53 PM
----Cue the wavy screen effect with the liquid sound of a flashback sequence coming into focus----
New York has always been a special place for me. For whatever reason, I just love the city: We just click. My wife had never been and was given an opportunity to go through her job at the time so I tagged along. It was a last minute thing and my flight went from Edmonton, Alberta Canada to Salt Lake City to Las Vegas to New York... That was the cheapest way.
At the time, I had pined over the Wrist Watch annual catalog and they had the 18k version of the Breguet Marine in it. I still remember it well: $16,600 USD was the price and oh boy did I love that watch and brand. Spending hours pouring over the watch forms hoping for a photo, or opinion or anything on Breguet or the Marine... I was obsessed and in love. But living in Edmonton at the time, and as a new watch fanatic, seeing high-end watches in the metal was an impossibility.
Now I found myself in New York, my wife at work during the day, and I so visited every watch shop I could. From AP the Zenith, I wanted to see it. Chronosiwss? I was fascinated. Frank Muller? I mastered the search. Bovet? Bravo! I remember the Friday well: it was cold and raining. I stopped for a slice for lunch. I was damp and cold and the pizza was hot and delicious. I stood eating it, looking at the Empire State Building considering how I could make it here.
Going from store to store was a mixed bag. Some ignored me, which was fine, and some treated me really well. Most memorably a young sales associate at Tourneau could see my love for watches and put a JLC Master Minute Repeater in my hands to wind and start the gong. That is a such a special memory for me not just because of the watch, but because the sales person offered to show me a watch I clearly could not afford because he realized how much I cared about the craft.
On the subsequent sunny Saturday my wife had the day off and wanted to see a few shops herself, up 5th ave. Between her shops (which we did visit), the apple of my eye of watch brands, stoically stood the Breguet Boutique. Obviously we had to go in and see.
We were treated to first class service. Quickly after walking in with our old shoes and cheap jeans, they sat us down and gave me a catalog to keep which was quickly followed by, "Can we offer the two of you something to drink while you experience the magic of Breguet? Coffee? Champaign?"
My wife and I, already glazed eyed, looked at each other.
And then they started.
The associate, without ever asking a question, first pulled out a lovely chronograph in white gold for me to try on, then a perpetual calendar in yellow, then an alarm watch, then... All while explaining how the dials were made, the history of the company, how the cases were rolled.
Then, after a deluge of horological cocaine, he said, "I've been saving the best for last, what I think you will really love." As he reached from under the desk and pulled out my 5817. I looked, with the French bubbles chortling in my mind.
"Please have a look at this. It comes on a bracelet or silicon strap and is a sophisticated modern take on a timeless classic. It is really you."
"Wow... This is... Wow. I love..." I remember saying in a daze almost welling up.
"Do you preffer it on a bracelet or strap?" He asked.
"Well, I... Ahh..."
"I only ask so I know which to put it on for you. I will include both, of course."
And so my wife and I left about a hour later a little surprised, a little poorer, and a little buzzed but with my watch.
What really, to this day, stands out to me is that the sales associate never, not once asked either of us a question. Not. One. My wife did not call ahead or arrange anything. We simply found the Boutique by accident: I didn't know it was there. We were simply sat down, romanced, read, assessed and taken care of beyond reproach. To this day, I have never experienced a level professionalism and expertise in execution of customer care as I did that day. He was right: We certainly got to experience the Magic that is Breguet.
And that's the story of how I bought my first good watch and, in part, why I love the brand so very much.
As a quick aside we also went to Tiffany. I wanted to buy my wife a charm for her bracelet. We entered the elevator and valet looked at us, smiled, and said, "Engagement rings, 7th floor." And pressed the button.
My 5817, still with me today and and forever. We've been on many adventures and trips together and, hopefully one day soon, I can add to those globe trotting memories.