Yesterday I had the afternoon spare so I thought I'd head down to the Vegas Strip for a wander (temporarily living out here for work). When I first started looking at purchasing a mechanical watch, Omega was my first and obvious choice. I have a vintage Constellation that was my grandfathers, and had always liked the Speedmaster. After loads of research, I realised there were so many other brands out there, some very expensive! So, I thought I'd have a look at a few of these brands. I started at the Omega boutique in the Bellagio (wasn't too impressed) then headed over opposite and had a look at a couple of Rolexes. Wanted to try on the new GMT Master BLNR but they didn't have one. In the same store they had JLC, Panerai and Patek Phillipe, three brands I hadn't seen in the metal before. The JLC's were beautiful, obviously very well made. The PP's were also nice, but they didn't have the version of the Nautilus I wanted to see. I was surprised at just how big the Panerai's were - they're huge! Not for me! I then wandered down to the Crystals Mall a little further down. Richard Mille. Wow. Audemars Piquet - only really looked at the Royal Oak Offshore but they didn't really sing to me. Went in to Tourbillon. Breguets, nice but a bit 'old' in style for me. Glashuttes looked well made. Anyway, I'm not really sure what the point of this post is, but I had a good afternoon ogling some beautiful watches, many of which I'll never be able to afford, and I learned a bit more about some brands I'm unfamiliar with! I only wish I'd taken some pictures!
Yes, Las Vegas is great for window shopping. I stay at Aria every 2-3 months and always make a quick trip through Crystals. Sensory overload!
I am also in Vegas (leave today). I actually took some time look at other watch brands including Blancpain, Hublot, and Moncblanc. Fifty Fathoms -wow Mont Blanc - pass Hublot - while I would never buy, still to over the top, they had some nice designs with how straps can be changed (by pressing button to remove) and their clasps were quite nice. Really illustrated how far behind Omega is in this category.