Ulysse Nardin Watches Throws A Show & Tell Event In Boca Raton With Its First US Boutique Opening
There is risk and there is reward, but during December's Ulysse Nardin event in Boca Raton Florida there may be only reward. Opening up a dedicated boutique for the first time in a specific market can be a challenge and a risk. It is an expensive endeavor and failure can hurt your reputation as much as it can your bottom line. High-end watch brands tend to do only one thing well – and that is make watches. Being sales people isn't always their bag.
Lucky for Ulysse Nardin that they don't need to worry much about managing the store with their name on it. They opted for a cleverer means of opening their first US boutique store. Have a successful existing dealer in the area do it for you.
Sprightly and young for a man of his wealth, Bobby Yampolsky who owns and runs East Coast Jewelry can claim to operate one of the most successful watch selling businesses in the US. An existing Ulysse Nardin watch dealer, he was chosen to have the honor of starting and operating the Ulysse Nardin boutique. In the Boca Raton Town Center Mall located relatively close to his main store in South Florida, he put on quite a show for the boutique's opening event.
Inviting his VIP client list, the Ulysse Nardin boutique opening party was as much for the Boca Raton area mall visitors as it was for the high-end watch buying clients. Bobby was clever to not only have the opening party in the middle of the mall, but also to do it during prime holiday shopping time when the mall floor would be well-populated. The high-end mall parking lot was packed, and so where the stores. Shoppers passing by the closed-off party in the middle of the mall arcade would have noticed what brand puts on a vodka and caviar party complete with an ice sculpture and trophy wives.
The attendee list included a healthy volume of existing Ulysse Nardon brand owners. Sporting their prized watches, the luckiest (and richest) of the bunch brandished the Freak. Highly innovative for its time, the Freak is a watch first debuted in 2001 by Ulysse Nardin with a bottom price close to $100,000. The boutique also contained a pair of Ulysse Nardin Royal Blue Tourbillon timepieces – a newer watch with a retail price of $1,000,000.
Debuting at the event was the release of the Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine Diver "Boutique" watch. A limited edition of 250 pieces timepieces to be sold exclusively at the Boca Raton boutique store. In titanium with an 18k rose gold bezel, the watch is interesting for being mostly covered in black vulcanized rubber. A perfect mixture of sport and luxury to appeal to the showy populous of the area, who regularly enjoy such lifestyle purchases.
Ulysse Nardin thankfully has more than just ostentation to show off. The Swiss watch brand has impressed many with its experimentation in terms of design and technical innovation. They were the first (or among the first) watch brands to utilize silicon (silicium) parts in their watch movements to make them more accurate and last longer. Since then, even brands like Patek Philippe have followed suit.
The Boca Raton boutique serves a number of functions including the sale of Ulysse Nardin timepieces. According to brand owner Rolf Schnyder, the store also serves as a brand showcase to display the fuller extent of the brand collection, as well as potentially act as a distribution hub for disseminating inventory to authorized Ulysse Nardin watch dealers around the US.
A good time was had by all. Bobby's skilled event planning skills paid off with a large attendance – signaling the power of his client base. The residual effects of curious passersby helped brand notoriety. In this writer's opinion, this was a watch store opening event done right. A statement worth mentioning because so many such events are mere glorified photo-opps.
Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com
