Gretchen Koback Pursel is the new chief people officer at the company formerly known as Saks Global.
Scotches & Watches with Circa
Last week I attended Circa’s “Scotches & Watches” event, which gave attendees a glimpse of what both a great scotch and watch collection look like, from entry-level purchases to the top-of-the-line product.
The event took place at Michael Jordan’s The Steak House NYC, which sits above the main concourse of the historical and bustling Grand Central Terminal.
Scotches are lined up next to their corresponding watches at Michael Jordan’s The Steak House NYC in Grand Central Terminal. Each watch was paired with a scotch of the same caliber, collection-wise.
While I’m not one for scotches, I do like watches and have always enjoyed conversing with the knowledgeable Circa team.
Jeffrey Singer, co-founder of Circa, curated the timepieces shown at the event, which included two wristwatches from Rolex and one each from Cartier, Audemars Piguet and Patek Philippe.
The “top” of the watch collection was a Rolex Oyster perpetual day-date, paired with a Johnnie Walker King George V scotch.
“We have a bird’s eye view of the jewelry and watch world, and we have an ever-changing vault,” said Natasha Cornstein, director of brand management at Circa. “Jeffrey (Singer) has encyclopedia-(like) knowledge of watches, and we see this is a great opportunity to educate watch lovers.”
Event attendees were invited to try on timepieces in Circa’s impressive watch collection.
Paired with each watch was a scotch of similar collecting value. For example, the “entry” collecting watch at the event was a 38 mm Cartier Pasha, paired with a Glenmorangie Signet.
An Audemars Piguet Royal Oak stood next to an Oban 18-Year Limited Edition Single Malt, and a Patek Philippe Calatrava was matched with a 30-year-old Talisker.
After trying on and ogling each of the watches, I did broaden my liquor horizons by tasting a few of the five scotches. While I am by no means a brown liquor connoisseur, the Johnnie Walker King George V took the cake.
While I left the event with a confirmation that I truly do not like scotch, I found that I like watches even more, and now I know how to build a collection of both.
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