Haute Time Spends the Day With Audemars Piguet for the Royal Oak Offshore LeBron James Edition Launch in Miami Beach

By Seth Semilof September 30, 2013

Haute Time Co-Founders Kamal Hotchadani and Seth Semilof both flew into Miami last week to celebrate the collaboration between Audemars Piguet and Miami Heat’s LeBron James, for the unveiling of the Royal Oak Offshore LeBron James Edition.

The event was hosted at the 1111 Lincoln Road building, on the top floor of the garage, giving an amazing 360-degree view of Miami Beach. The 5pm press conference hosted by Audemars Piguet CEO Francois-Henry Bennahmias was great. Since he moved into the Global CEO post and moved to Switzerland, we don’t see him as much, so it was great to see him back in the US, and highlighting a long-awaited partnership with one of the best in the NBA.

The press conference included a Question & Answer session with LeBron James and the press. Even Haute Time Co-Founder Kamal Hotchadani got in the mix, asking LeBron about his philanthropy dedication with his partnership with Audemars Piguet.

After the press conference, around 8pm, Audemars Piguet threw a party for 600 of the world’s top watch collectors. We met good friends from NY, LA, Brazil, London, and more. There were some stars like Miami’s Flo Rida, Michael Strahan, but the highlight and star of the evening was LeBron James. He was the evening’s highlight, alongside a video produced by Audemars Piguet, with CEO Francois-Henry Bennahmias speaking to LeBron on a cell phone via a Movie in front of the 600 guests.

It showed LeBron in his home, asking Francois if he should wear a tie for the evening’s event! Francois then asked LeBron where is he, as the party started, and then in the video, it showed him leaving his house, then hopping on his boat, then getting in a Ferrari 458, driving to the event, and pulling up in the top floor of the 1111 Lincoln Road Garage, where the party was located. It was really neat production, as it was a movie in real time, and was a huge attraction, along with when LeBron got there, showed the making of the watch, and him signing the back of the watch at the event.

The event was a huge success, and best of all, they only produced 600 pieces. The watch sells for north of $50,000, and per Audemars Piguet, all watches are allocated for customers, selling out before they even hit the stores. It was a great event, and Haute Time was glad to be part of it.