Private lounge spaces for important watch and jewelry buyers are now an important part of the retail environment whether it’s an internationally known luxury brand or a family owned jewelry store. However, what Swiss luxury watch brand Audemars Piguet created has elevated and expanded this concept to new levels.

Called AP House, Audemars Piguet has built these elegant and sophisticated retail spaces dedicated to the brand in about dozen major cities throughout the world. The first AP House in the U.S. opens to the public today. The AP House brings together Audemars Piguet’s heritage of craftsmanship, artistry and technological advancements and places it into an intimate space. Part library, part museum, part social meeting area you’d be hard-pressed to find signs that this is a retail store. Instead, AP House is a place for watch lovers to become immersed in the brand through this innovative, intimate and experiential approach to retail.

The AP House New York is located on the second floor of a 19th century building in the Meatpacking District. The building like the retail concept shows Audemars Piguet as embracing modernity of this gentrified lower Manhattan neighborhood while honoring its legacy of feeding much of New York by being the historic home of approximately 250 butchers.

From the moment one enters the 7,900-square-foot space created by Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture you’ve become immersed in this combination of history and contemporary design. The first room you encounter reveals the brand’s heritage through contemporary half-domed display cases that reveal a series of historic Audemars Piguet timepieces loaned from its museum in Le Brassus, Switzerland. The watches will be rotated intermittently. In the center of the room is a large exploded image of an Audemars Piquet caliber where each of the hundreds of pieces that make up the movement can be closely examined.

The main room is a lounge and dining area with neutral hues, exposed brick and a marble fireplace. A circular central seating area with table are modular and can easily formed into other shapes. A long dining table is at one end of the space and a bar at another. In one corner is a baby grand piano. An oak paneled gallery space displays Audemars Piguet’s novelty and current collection timepieces, including a selection of Royal Oak 50th Anniversary references. Sixty custom-designed, mirrored vitrines anchor the space.

The indoor space leads to a 2,800-square-foot terrace surrounded by lush greenery. This outdoor natural light is enhanced during the day with a combination of recessed, downlighting, and ambient lights indoors, presenting an even luminescence throughout the space.

the AP House New York also provides a platform for brand representatives to foster deeper relationships with clients and friends through exclusive experiences that showcase the manufacture’s creations and its sophistication. For example, the brand hosted several private events prior to its public opening.

The AP House New York is located at 52-58 Gansevoort St. Reservations aren’t required but are encouraged.

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