Westime Celebrates New Flagship Store on Sunset Boulevard

Westime, a Southern California family-owned watch and jewelry retailer, toasted the opening of its new flagship boutique on Sunset Boulevard last weekend with three nights of festivities. Throughout the event series, local guests mingled with more than 30 watchmakers and executives from top watch and jewelry companies, while shopping the collections that included unique pieces and limited editions available exclusively at Westime during the holiday period.

Flagship Design
Westime Sunset debuted at 8569 Sunset Boulevard, among the chic restaurants and boutiques of Sunset Plaza and the legendary nightclubs of the Sunset Strip. The 6,600-square-foot store, designed by Wick Architecture & Design and LAND, reflects the bold buildings and signage of the Sunset Strip. Perforated and back-lit metal panels wrap the asymmetrical façade, while a front wall of windows allows passersby to see the brightly-lit scene inside.

Asymmetrical angles and high-contrast materials including glass, Venetian plaster, steel, walnut and polished concrete create a gallery-like setting inside Westime Sunset. Free-floating display cases on the ground floor allow customers to browse the watch and jewelry collections casually. The main floor also offers a corner customized to display Audemars Piguet's collection, a corner customized for Breitling watches, and two VIP rooms. The mezzanine level is accessed by a wide glass and wood staircase as well as an elevator. One-third of the floor is dedicated to a custom build-out of Buben & Zorweg collectors' pieces, hand-crafted and installed by the Austrian manufacturer in the same manner it would personalize a customer's walk-in closet, safe room, or entire wall of collectibles for high-tech safe-keeping. Elsewhere on the mezzanine, collections from Switzerland's independent watchmakers are on display, and a custom Richard Mille corner leads to an open-air terrace.

Store Celebrations
Parties marking the opening of Westime Sunset began on Thursday, December 13th with a cocktail party co-hosted by luxury lifestyle magazine Los Angeles Confidential. The magazine's readers, Westime clients, and customers of NetJets gathered in the store that was newly decorated for the holidays with a wintery white theme. While discovering the specialty watches and jewelry on display, guests enjoyed hors d'oeuvres provided by The Little Door that included salmon brioche, carrot ginger flan, and lamb tzatziki sliders. Disaronno mixed specialty cocktails for the evening. A special selection of watches and bracelets featured in the fashion shoot of Los Angeles Confidential's December edition took pride of place among the displays, and was also showcased in-store with a behind-the-scenes movie about the fashion shoot's jewelry.

The celebration continued Friday, December 14th with an intimate party for Westime's VIP clientele. The evening began with a single malt scotch master class conducted by Martin Daraz, America's Whisky Ambassador of the Year and brand ambassador for The Macallan and Highland Park Scotch whiskies. After an educational tasting of 20- to 40-year-old Scotch whiskies, guests made a final toast to Westime's new location with a whisky from 1958. Guests spent the rest of the evening enjoying the Scotch whiskies of their choice, sampling hors d'oeuvres selected to complement the various styles of whiskies, and shopping the collections on display.

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