How luxury watchmakers such as Audemars Piguet are redefining the retail experience for clients
Luxury watchmakers from Richard Mille to Vacheron Constantin and Jaeger-LeCoultre now offer homelike spaces for deeper client connections
Audemars Piguet has developed one of the most recognisable takes on this idea with its AP Houses, first introduced in 2017. One of the brand’s newest openings in Manchester, unveiled in May last year, occupies a Grade II-listed Georgian town house on King Street. Spread over 425 square metres and three storeys, it is the brand’s second UK location after London.
Rather than a conventional showroom, the Manchester house blends homelike comfort with the city’s artistic and industrial character. Brass, metal and textured fabrics sit alongside hexagonal watch displays that echo the worker-bee motif, while references to Manchester’s music heritage appear throughout, including a room shaped around the city’s electronic scene and Factory Records.
A bar serving draught beer brewed exclusively for Audemars Piguet and a games area with traditional pub pastimes fold local culture into the space, which sprawls across three floors and out onto a roof terrace designed for long visits. Rotating art installations also make the townhouse feel lived-in and social – a place to spend time rather than simply view watches.
Earlier in 2025, the brand also opened an AP House in Singapore. Set within the Bar and Billiard Room of Raffles Hotel, it is the largest AP House in Southeast Asia and the first to include a café serving Swiss dishes adapted to Singaporean tastes. The space blends the maison’s origins in Le Brassus with the architecture of the hotel, using imagery and installations to trace the development of the brand’s perpetual calendar. It also offers a private salon where watchmaking demonstrations are held.
