retail-world


Breguet opens biggest-ever store in Shanghai

Español
June 2013


Breguet last week celebrated the opening of its largest store, located at the Langham Hotel in the Xintiandi area in Shanghai. The 598m2 three-floor store, which also features the third Breguet museum on its second floor, is the brand’s 33 store worldwide. It was opened in the same week that sister brand Blancpain also opened its biggest store in the same district of Shanghai.

The new store boasts a full freestanding glass façade that is decorated with a “Clous de Paris” guilloche pattern that extends on to the building’s stone façade. A unique LED technology is employed to allow light beams to propagate through the glass over a distance of 8 metres.

Exterior view of the new Breguet boutique in Shanghai
Exterior view of the new Breguet boutique in Shanghai

Like the fine detail work on the façade, the shape of the new store harks back to the brand’s historical creations. For the first time, Breguet welcomes customers in an ovoid space, echoing the shape of the first wristwatch in history, created by Breguet between 1810 and 1812.

Interior view of the new Breguet boutique in Shanghai
Interior view of the new Breguet boutique in Shanghai

The second level of the shop houses the third Breguet Museum in the world after Paris and Zurich, which showcases some twenty outstanding pieces spanning 200 years of history at the brand. Among these masterpieces, pocket watch No 2667 is one of three watches made by Breguet with two movements to illustrate the phenomenon of resonance. The other two, sold respectively to King George IV of England in 1818 and King Louis XVIII of France in 1821, are conserved in a museum in Jerusalem. Dating from 1814 and purchased in May 2012 by the Breguet Museum, this piece of incredible rarity is the most expensive antique Breguet watch sold at auction to date.

The Breguet museum at the Breguet store in Xintiandi, Shanghai
The Breguet museum at the Breguet store in Xintiandi, Shanghai

Finally, the last level of the shop transports visitors to Switzerland. Through interactive thematic films, Breguet lovers are invited to discover the work of artisans who work in the Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux. The art of guilloché work and the fine bevelling, polishing or chasing operations are some of the disciplines to be explored there.

Source: Breguet