Part 4, Seven Days, Seven Watches, One Pagani – Art Basel Miami

This is Part 4 of my continuing Art Basel Miami series; for links to the prior articles click here for Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3.)

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For Art Basel Miami this year, I decided to have a little extra fun. I would mix three of my passions: my love of contemporary art with my love of watches and sports cars.

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Day 6 – Chopard VIP Party

Friday was all about Chopard. Chopard had asked Art Conductor to put together an out-of-the box, event for Chopard’s VIPs, in town for Art Basel Miami.  Naturally, my day started by getting in my Pagani Huayra, except that this time I did not know where we were going or, I should say, where we would end up.  Chopard mysteriously requested we meet in black-tie, at the docks of the Mandarin Oriental Miami, where we would be taken by boat to undisclosed location on a the Miami River.

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Chopard Classic Manufacture

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For such a black-tie event, clearly an elegant Chopard watch was in order. For me, the Chopard Classic Manufacture automatic, in 18k rose gold (image above), and for the missus, the Chopard Happy Sport Automatic, also in 18k rose gold (images below).

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At 38mm for the men’s and 36mm for the women’s, they are classically proportioned, more akin to vintage watches. The Classic Manufacture is made by Chopard fully in-house, including the movement.  And, glancing at the Happy Sport with those diamonds dancing on the dial, there is no mistaking it’s a Chopard. This particular Happy Sport is now available in a mechanical “automatic” movement, meaning it’s a watch for her that can be taken seriously by him.

Our boat arrived at the fog-filled studio of avant–garde artist couple Antonia Wright and Ruben Millares. (The following night, all Chopard guest were invited to an official Art Basel Miami Beach VIP performance piece title Suddenly We Jumped (Breaking the Glass Ceiling) at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens where Antonia Wright literally broke through a glass pane with her body.)

This warehouse is in a industrial part of town, but when the doors opened, it revealed a beautifully decorated studio.  The effect was even more startling for me when I realized I had been to this art studio before, and could hardly recognize the place now in its Chopard glory.

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Dinner was a decadent affair, with Chopard’s very own co-owner Caroline Scheufele in attendance, sporting a Chopard L.U.C. Tourbillon Lady no less.

We closed out the evening dancing at Galerie Perrotin’s party at Key Biscayne’s Marine Stadium with Le Baron’s DJs providing the entertainment. But not too late; the following day was the final event commemorating this grand week — the Gala at the new Perez Art Museum Miami.

This is Part 4 of my five part Art Basel Series. Part 1 link is here, Part 2 link is here. and Part 3 link is here. Stay tuned for Part 5 which are still coming up and follow me on instagram @novelawatch or twitter @mrnovela.

Shout-out to my friends at www.shopbasico.com for their great jackets, www.espiritutara.com for my bracelets and www.noble-experiment.com for their pocket squares and accessories.

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Photo Credits:  Nicolas Stipcianos, Worldredeye.com and Daniel Novela