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44 A n inscription on the façade of the former Bowery Savings Bank on 42nd Street in Manhattan declares that this edifice was built in 1834 to "serve those who save." Today, the historic Italian Renaissance- inspired s p a c e , w i t h its towering ceilings and marble columns, inlaid floors, a n d i c o n i c chandeliers, is the famous Cipriani 4 2 n d S t r e e t — a restaurant a n d v e n u e t h a t h o u s e s New York City's m o s t e x c l u s i v e society galas and multi-million-dollar celebrations. For 11 days this s u m m e r , C i p r i a n i w a s commandeered for a different kind of use, this time by one of the world's finest Swiss watchmakers, which transformed the space into a 13,218-square-foot masterpiece of a museum: The Patek Philippe Art of Watches Grand Exhibition, a free public showcase of watches illustrating the history of watchmaking and Patek Philippe's 178-year history. The company has created some of the world's most valuable heirlooms — purchasing a Patek is often considered a better investment than playing the stock market — so the building's charter could not be more apropos. After all, few serve those who save — and collect — in more exquisite fashion than Patek Philippe. This was the first exhibition of its kind outside of Patek Philippe's Geneva headquarters, where the brand has its own museum. The New York iteration was designed to replicate many of the Geneva museum's architectural elements, so there was much cause to celebrate. Denis Boulle, who owns Dallas and Houston fine jeweler de Boulle (the Houston store boasts an exclusive Patek Philippe showroom), along with wife Karen Boulle and son Nick Boulle, brought more than 50 top Texas clients and friends to New York for the occasion. During the whirlwind two days, the Boulles' guests were ensconced at the Plaza Hotel, lunched with Patek Philippe president Thierry Stern and USA president Larry Pettinelli at Gabriel Kreuther restaurant, and had a private tour of the Grand Exhibition, where there was much to see. The two-story, 10-room show was massive in its size, scale, and attendance, with lines forming around the block. Snippets of conversation made for dazzling eavesdropping as thousands descended upon the show from all corners of the globe: "There are still collectors of pocket watches; they are custodians of haute horology," remarked a Patek Philippe representative from the Geneva museum as she points toward the Graves Supercomplication — one of the most complicated watches ever made, and which sold at auction in 2014 for $24 million. "How much is that with the exchange rate?" asked one gentleman, eyeing a one-of-a-kind, hand-painted dome clock in the Rare James Ward Packard's Patek Philippe pocket watch, circa 1927 MANNER TIMELY IN A BY CHRISTINA GEYER