The First ever Hublot Boutique at Sea!
I just wanted to share a few 'live' pics from my vacation. I'm currently sailing onboard the Quantum of the Seas cruise ship. Its the newest, most-technologically advanced ship in the Royal Caribbean Int'l fleet.
Just minutes after boarding my cruise and even before I stepped into my stateroom, we toured the main promenade area on deck 4 and found a display for Hublot watches. I was really excited to see this sign for an event on Day 2 at sea for the Hublot Academy VIP event.
I was the first person to sign up for the event and chatted with the sales representative for a few minutes to find out more information on this event. It turns out that deck 4 watch store sells Hublot and several other brands such as Cartier, IWC and Omega. But more importantly there is a dedicated Hublot watch boutique on deck 5 as well.
The Hublot event included an interview with the Captain but even better was the fact that Hublot had an onboard watchmaker to take about the movements. Plus there were special pieces brought to the ship for the boutique. Not much details but this was all excellent news and I was really look forward to attending.
Before I get into the details about the event, I wanted to mention that the Quantum of the Seas is a new ship from the Royal Caribbean fleet. It first set sail in late October 2014 and has a lot of 'firsts' in the cruising industry. Everything is done by ipads in the restaurants. Guests are provided with wristbands (reminds me of swatches) that has all my info and can open my doors and even charge drinks. There's a iFly (RipCord) indoor skydiving simulator. In the SeaPlex activities center, they offer bumper cars! And they even have enhanced wifi where internet connectivity is really fast. So I wanted to test this out and post a few live pics onboard the ship.
Another 'first' of course is the Hublot Boutique. The concept started nearly 2 years ago between Hublot and RCI and it was decided to debut on the Quantum of the Seas as the first ever dedicated watch boutique ever (note the other at the same time is Bulgari which is situated next to Hublot).
So on day 2 right at 12:00pm I stopped by the Hublot Boutique for the event. It started with an introduction by Jimmy Rhodes, who is the Cruise Director and is in charge of all the fun activities. He was joined by the Captain of the ship, Schrecko "Felix" Ban. Both had just returned from a 2 month vacation and both were glad to be back on the Quantum. Jimmy was really enjoying a blinged out Hublot Big Bang and mentioned that he is will be wearing a different Hublot each day. Since he is very visible and active on the cruise I'll see if I can do a scavenger hunt and find out which watch he is wearing. Anyway, The Captain was also wearing a gold Big Bang for the event. Felix announced that he is typically a Breitling fan and has been for over 10 years, but he is very committed on getting a Hublot with a blue dial for his next watch.
Hublot Watchmaker on Board at the Hublot Boutique aboard the Quantum of the Seas!
Joining Jimmy and Felix was Susanna W. a master watchmaker from Hublot. There were several special watches brought for this event, but in my opinion having Susanna was the real highlight. She allowed the Captain and several guests to her table to disassemble a Hublot Big Bang watch.
The Captain was nervous, and after seeing how tiny the parts were, he joked that he would mess things up and wouldn't be able to put it all back together. luckily Susanna was very patient and great at explain the process.
For me I was surprised by the Hublot Big Bang Red Magic Carbon. This is the first time that I've handled this watch in person, and I really like the red tinted sapphire crystal and the carbon fiber case and bezel. More pics and details on this watch in a separate post.
Hope you enjoyed this post about the first Hublot Boutique at sea, and the watchmaking event on board the ship!
Regards,
ED-209