The Second Edition of Top Marques Watches & Jewellery, which returned to the Hotel Hermitage’s Salle Belle Époque Thursday, ends today.
A spin-off of the world-renowned Top Marques Monaco – “a supercar show for the one percenters” – held in April, Top Marques Watches is the Principality’s only show dedicated solely to Haute Horlogerie and Jewellery under the patronage of HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, who inaugurated the event during a private visit Thursday.
Following the success of the launch event last year, an extra day has been added to the “Pop-Up” show. Open to the public (visit from 10 am to 7:30 pm Saturday), it gives watch connoisseurs, lovers of all things luxurious or simply the inquisitive a rare opportunity to see collections from some of the world’s most exclusive watch brands, such as the esteemed Swiss horologer Franck Muller and Greubel Forsey, creator of one of the rarest current-production timepieces, the Quadruple Tourbillon.
The event also provides the perfect backdrop for watch aficionados to discover some of the newest and most exciting names emerging in the world of haute horlogerie and jewellery.
Exhibitors Top Marques Watches & Jewellery, organised by the same team behind Top Marques Monaco, include the highly original timepiece designers Urwerk who “make art that tells the time”, and “niche brand” Maison Dewitt, from Geneva.
Meanwhile the world of jewellery is represented by some of its most creative and elegant contributors such as designers Elena Silvodaeva and Jasre, both from Monaco, as well as award-winning Austro-Swiss designer Claudia Schweitzer with her Design for Desire brand.
There’s also a display of rare, limited-edition high precision table clocks and marine chronometers from London-based Thomas Mercer, whose legacy firm had made one third of all of the world’s chronometers by 1980. The company, which supplied the chronometer Sir Ernest Shackleton used to navigate the Antarctica in 1914, was revived four years ago and now creates beautiful pieces for yachts and living spaces.
In association with private bank The Edmond de Rothschild Group, other partners of the Second Edition of Top Marques Watches & Jewellery include La Société des Bains de Mer, Monaco’s Department of Tourism and Conferences and Monegasque real estate agency Attol.
Top Marques Watches & Jewellery is open to the public from 10 am to 7:30 pm Saturday. Tickets for Top Marques Monaco 2017, which runs April 20-23 at the Grimaldi Forum, are now on sale.