| EVENT REPORT 11.02.05 12:00 AM |
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| Watchmaker’s Party Has Time-Travel Theme |
| Vacheron Constantin invoked its 250-year history through time-machine-like passageways made from billowing fabric—and staff kept guests dry on the rainy night. |
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| Nothing diminishes a potential crowd faster than a cold, rainy night—but the 450 guests adventurous enough to turn up at watchmaker Vacheron Constantin’s 250th anniversary party were made more comfortable when staffers rushed to greet them on Fifth Avenue and whisk them up the stairs of the New York Public Library under big umbrellas. |
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PHOTO GALLERY |
 | | For watchmaker Vacheron Constantin’s 250th anniversary party at the New York Public Library, Relevent evoked time travel with passageways made from billowy fabric. |
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 | | Museumlike display cases showed off watches and watchmaking tools. |
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 | | In the library’s grand Astor Hall, a box made from sheer gold and white fabric concealed a 12- by 12-foot trussing system. |
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 | | For the event’s big reveal, the curtains hiding the trusses rose to expose commemorative collection watches. |
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So who were the heroes? “They were actually my PAs,” said event producer Tony Berger of Relevent. “We thought it would be a nice touch for arriving guests, so we purchased umbrellas about 20 minutes before we opened the doors, and dressed the guys in catering jackets from [caterer] Olivier Cheng.”
Inside, Vacheron Constantin’s marketing and communications manager Ellen Cohan worked with Berger to set up the party with a time travel theme. Relevent created three different spaces—Berger called them “universes”—and hung massive, billowing fabric panels to create corridors that guided guests through the ornate spaces, from the mezzanine, to the center hall, to Astor Hall.
In the first “universe,” plasma screens surrounded by baroque, gilded frames showed video footage of brand imagery, and a live watchmaker tinkered with timepieces. Guests walked along a path bordered by a 40-foot-long drape to get to the next universe, where credit-card-thin floor panels illuminated with the watchmaker’s logo when guests stepped on them, and faded out when they stepped off. (Relevent picked up the cool new product from Duggal.) Glass display cases exhibited watches and watchmaking tools.
The last “universe”—in the grand Astor Hall—served as the party’s main space, with round lounge seating and candelabras. DJ Donna D’Cruz (recognizable by the sparkly rhinestone headphones she wears at the turntables) performed for guests from above, on a platform built above the door to Fifth Avenue. A box made from sheer gold and white fabric concealed a 12- by 12-foot trussing system; after a performance by ethereal singer Sasha Lazard, the curtains rose to reveal Vacheron Constantin’s commemorative collection—including watches like the limited edition “Tour de l’Ile,” one of which sold for $1.6 million at auction in April—set atop an illuminated stage.
—Alesandra Dubin
Photos: Sara Jaye Weiss for Relevent
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