Viva Breguet!

The timing of the Breguet grand opening at Bal Harbour Shops couldn’t have been better planned. Just weeks after the St. Regis hotel had opened across the street, U.S. Brand President Michael Nelson welcomed a slew of Miami tastemakers to the company’s new boutique before hosting a dinner that gave said guests a VIP preview of the St. Regis Resort. Brought in specially for the store’s debut was Stephane Aubert, who was on hand to show guests what it is that he does so well as Breguet’s master engraver. On display for the evening were four antique pocket watches (we’re talking 18th and 19th centuries) previously on loan to The J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. Among the attendees perusing the selections were Ambassador Hélio Vitor Ramos Filho, shoe designer Lisa Pliner, philanthropist Lea Black and BHS Managing Partner Randy Whitman. Supper at the St. Regis was a much more private affair with Nelson toasting Breguet’s arrival in Miami before guests indulged in an extravagant meal that included Kobe beef short ribs and tropical fruit vacherin. The talk between courses? The ruby cylinder on the Breguet 988 Souscription first sold in France in 1803 for 692 Francs. Photography by Seth Browarnik/World Red Eye