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Joshua Hendren

Contributing writer for Style by SCMP, specialising in jewellery, watches and pop culture


In luxury watchmaking, the experience surrounding a purchase is now as carefully constructed as the watches themselves, prompting a wave of new spaces designed for hosting clients.
Alongside their boutiques, a handful of watchmakers have opened environments that feel more like private homes, where collectors can spend time with the brand in a way that standard retail settings don’t allow. The shift reflects a broader push to build deeper relationships with clients through new hospitality concepts rather than sales appointments alone.
Audemars Piguet has developed one of the most recognisable takes on this idea with its AP Houses, first introduced in 2017. One of the brand’s newest openings in Manchester, unveiled in May last year, occupies a Grade II-listed Georgian town house on King Street. Spread over 425 square metres and three storeys, it is the brand’s second UK location after London.

Rather than a conventional showroom, the Manchester house blends homelike comfort with the city’s artistic and industrial character. Brass, metal and textured fabrics sit alongside hexagonal watch displays that echo the worker-bee motif, while references to Manchester’s music heritage appear throughout, including a room shaped around the city’s electronic scene and Factory Records.
A bar serving draught beer brewed exclusively for Audemars Piguet and a games area with traditional pub pastimes fold local culture into the space, which sprawls across three floors and out onto a roof terrace designed for long visits. Rotating art installations also make the townhouse feel lived-in and social – a place to spend time rather than simply view watches.
Earlier in 2025, the brand also opened an AP House in Singapore. Set within the Bar and Billiard Room of Raffles Hotel, it is the largest AP House in Southeast Asia and the first to include a café serving Swiss dishes adapted to Singaporean tastes. The space blends the maison’s origins in Le Brassus with the architecture of the hotel, using imagery and installations to trace the development of the brand’s perpetual calendar. It also offers a private salon where watchmaking demonstrations are held.

While some watchmakers are building urban spaces for clients, others are turning to retreat-style hospitality. A restored 19th-century farmhouse overlooking the town of Le Sentier forms the centre of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s hospitality offering. Developed in partnership with the commune of Le Chenit, the project turns the building into a private retreat for invited guests at 1,360 metres elevation, set on terrain marked by the region’s lapiaz limestone formations.

Much of the original timber has been preserved, including the thuyé chimney once used for making cheese. The barn has been reconfigured as a dining space with a mezzanine lounge, while the former milk room now functions as a kitchen preparing menus based on local produce, particularly the local cheese, Vacherin. Outside, the chalet is clad in hand-cut wooden shingles made using a Jura craft tradition dating back to the 15th century.

Other brands are integrating hospitality directly into flagship retail spaces. Richard Mille’s St Martin store in Singapore incorporates a more hospitality-style environment into the traditional retail space. The flagship occupies a former restaurant and is arranged as a concealed network of rooms accessed behind a discreet façade. Inside are 11 bespoke spaces, including a crafting room, restaurant, sports bar, riad, hidden library and a central hub set around a sculptural olive tree created by artist William Amor. Nearly 30 specialists contributed to the interiors, which use more than 250 materials selected for their craft and finish.
The same attention to detail appears in the brand’s newest openings. In Dallas, Texas, Richard Mille has introduced its largest boutique in the United States, a two-storey address in Highland Park Village. The layout spans seven zones organised around a floating staircase and a carved-glass installation, with lounges, a cinema room and a bar that includes a pool table and racing car simulator. In Sydney, meanwhile, the brand has opened its first Australian boutique inside a complex also housing Capella Hotel. The design incorporates curved ceilings, warm woods and native flora, along with spaces such as a meditation room and sports bar.

Club 1755 brings the idea of a private London members’ club into Vacheron Constantin’s universe. Set in a penthouse above Old Bond Street and open by appointment, the space moves between lounge areas, a bar curated by British wine and spirits merchant Berry Bros. & Rudd and a sun terrace overlooking Mayfair with cigars selected by Davidoff’s Eddie Sahakian. The interiors mix classical and modern details and feature commissioned pieces from British and Irish artisans, including backgammon boards by Alexandra Llewellyn.
Describing the penthouse as “a sanctuary where time pauses and inspiration thrives”, UK brand director Charlotte Tanneur Teissier positions the space as a setting for quieter, longer visits, supported by seasonal exhibitions and artist collaborations, including presentations by writer Nick Hornby and artists Rob and Nick Carter.
While the watches remain the focus, the setting around them is marking a shift. These new spaces let brands communicate through atmosphere as much as design, offering a slower, more considered way to build bonds with clients.


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Timepieces

How luxury watchmakers such as Audemars Piguet are redefining the retail experience for clients

Beyond sales appointments, luxury watchmakers are building deeper client relationships with new hospitality concepts. Photo: Handout

AP House Manchester echoes the city’s musical heritage. Photo: Handout

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Le Chalet in Switzerland is a restored 19th-century farmhouse complete with original beams. Photo: Handout

Indoors at the Jaeger-LeCoultre Le Chalet in Switzerland. Photo: Handout

The Richard Mille boutique in Sydney incorporates curved ceilings and warm woods. Photo: Handout

Club 1755 brings the ambience of a private London members’ club into Vacheron Constantin’s universe. Photo: Handout

Coveted watch and jewellery boxes – from Louis Vuitton, Hermès, Dior and Rapport London

Keep watch over your precious timepieces, when they’re not on your wrist, with a beautiful case like this one from Louis Vuitton. Photo: Handout

Rapport London 10-piece croc-effect leather watch box (US$1,800), at Mr Porter. Photo: Handout

This large Hermès Amalthee Tricolore watch and jewellery box (US$15,000) has a lid and sides sheathed in Epsom calfskin, and an interior lined with velvet lambskin. Photo: Handout

The Louis Vuitton Coffret 8 Montres in Damier Graphite canvas (US$9,580) is accented with black leather trim. Photo: Handout

Dior eight-piece watch case (US$8,480) in lacquered wood, velvet and straw. Photo: Handout

New Year, new watches: 4 timepieces for the Year of the Horse

Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac – Year of the Horse. Photo: Handout

Vacheron Constantin’s Métiers d’Art The Legend of the Chinese Zodiac – Year of the Horse watch in platinum. Photo: Handout

Longines’ Master Collection Year of the Horse watch features a gradient dial. Photo: Handout

Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Reverso Tribute Enamel Horse in pink gold on a black alligator strap. Photo: Handout

IWC Schaffhausen’s Portugieser Automatic 42 Year of the Horse. Photo: Handout

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Austy Lee’s The Caduceus of Hermès necklace. Photo: Handout

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Feng J Blooming Dragonfly Diva brooch. Photo: Handout

Feng J Pink Anthurium brooch. Photo: Handout

Gucci and Patek Philippe are reviving intricate goldsmithing techniques on their watches

Luxury watch houses are reviving skilled   goldsmithing techniques, such as hand engraving for the creation of the Vacheron Constantin Les Cabinotiers Tour de l’Île. Photo: Handout


Gold engraving at Piaget. Photo: Handout

Piaget’s Limelight Gala Precious watch. Photo: Handout 

Engraving a rotor at Breguet. Photo: Handout

Buccellati Macri watch. Photo: Handout

Patek Philippe Rare Handcrafts collection gold and diamond watch. Photo: Handout

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Rozanne First Bubblegum by RF. Photo: Handout

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Watches

Luxury watchmakers from Richard Mille to Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre now offer homelike spaces for deeper client connections


Luxury watchmakers from Richard Mille to Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre now offer homelike spaces for deeper client connections.


How luxury watchmakers such as Audemars Piguet are redefining the retail experience for clients

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Luxury watchmakers from Richard Mille to Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre now offer homelike spaces for deeper client connections

Luxury watchmakers from Richard Mille to Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre now offer homelike spaces for deeper client connections