Tourneau Guests Enter New Time Zone

No one needed to ask the time Saturday when Tourneau unveiled a multimillion-dollar collection of rare and expensive timepieces at its grand opening celebration at South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.

Tourneau, one of the world’s largest retailers of fine Swiss watches, assembled the timepieces for an after-hours reception that drew several hundred guests to the new jewelry store. The party was held in honor of Opera Pacific and the Orange County Philharmonic Society, which will later receive Tourneau watches to be auctioned at fund-raisers.

Million-Dollar Baby

Models in black body suits circulated among the guests, showing off the precious timepieces strapped to their wrists. Among the spectacular watches was the “Aura” by Piaget, valued at $1 million. The Aura sparkles with 237 diamonds that collectively weigh in at 55 carats.

“There are only two in existence, and each takes more than a year to make,” said Lyle Wienick, senior vice president of Piaget.

Other rare watches shown were the “Peary Meteorite,” fashioned from fragments of a meteor found by the explorer and priced at $23,500, and Vacheron Constantin’s “Kalla,” a gold watch set with 108 emerald-cut diamonds and valued at $500,000.

Among those admiring the merchandise were presidents of major watch companies and the consul general of Switzerland, Kurt Welte, who arrived from Los Angeles with his wife, Elizabeth.

“I’m here because Tourneau represents the most important Swiss watchmakers,” Welte said. “The Swiss are known for our cheese, chocolate and watches, but it’s the watches that demand high technology and quality.”

Welte carried around flash cards filled with watch facts: The oldest watch dates back to 1574, he said. The first wristwatch was built in 1790. The largest watch is a Swatch that measures 531 feet long and 66 feet in diameter.

Short on Time

Watchmakers Alain Silberstein of France and Remo Bertolucci of Switzerland came to show off the best of their collections.

A resident of Besancon, France, Silberstein allotted just three days for his Orange County stay.

“The problem is I have no time,” said Silberstein, without a hint of irony.

Silberstein’s avant-garde watches feature basic shapes such as triangles and circles in bold colors. His top-of-the-line model is the $19,000 Perpetual Calendar. The watch features the moon, sun, day and date on its dial, while a calendar wheel on the back indicates the month and year.

“It’s one of the most difficult movements to master,” Silberstein said. “This watch even takes into account leap year. It won’t need adjusting until the year 10,100, when they’ll have to change one day.”

Who can afford such pricey timepieces?

“A lot of people are collectors who have a fascination for luxury watches. They want to buy an heirloom to pass on from generation to generation,” said Robert Wexler, president of Tourneau.

Tourneau opened in New York City more than 60 years ago. This is the first store on the West Coast, where Tourneau already has a large following, Wexler said.

“We have a long list of celebrity clientele, heads and CEOs of major companies, rock musicians and superstar athletes who buy our watches,” said Anthony D’Ambrosio, director of operations of Tourneau.

Other guests were Bill and Laila Conlin, David DiChiera, Charles and Nora Hester, Judy Jelinek, Richard Owens, Charles and Maggie Price, Gypsy Pulliam, Bill Quarre, Elaine Redfield, Fred and Eva Schneider, Raymond and Kitty Schuler, David Scott, Gayle Widyolar and Wally Wolf.