The world first West Coast Hour Lounge collector event

At San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel, Vacheron Constantin recently hosted the West Coast Hour Lounge collector event at the glamorous and historic penthouse.

The penthouse at the Fairmont provided an elegant and enchanting backdrop for this first Hour Lounge event in the City by the Bay. Originally constructed in 1926 and accessible only by a private elevator, the 6,000 square foot palace in the sky includes a two-story circular library complete with a secret passageway, the door to which is concealed behind the bookshelves.

The hosts included Vacheron Constantin North America President Hugues de Pins, Artistic Director Christian Selmoni, Design Director Vincent Kauffmann, North America Marketing Director Ellen Sorensen, Hour Lounge moderator Alex Ghotbi, and West Coast Sales Manager Dorian Reily.

The penthouse has hosted world leaders and celebrities. Every president since William Howard Taft has spent time here, as have Prince Charles, Mikhail Gorbachev, King Hussein of Jordan, Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands, Mick Jagger, Elton John, Tony Bennett, Nat King Cole and Marlene Dietrich.

After a warm welcome from Hugues de Pins, Alex opened the floor to questions from guests, and a live discussion of the type often seen on the Hour Lounge forum followed.

Following the give-and-take, it was time for dinner in the splendid dining room, and after the repast, there was time for a game of pool, and of course further timepiece oggling.

Topics included watch design, technical developments, and collector preferences. Christian Selmoni and Vincent Kauffmann offered insights into the process of creating new models.