A Visit To The Bellusso Watch Store In Las Vegas

Part III:  The Esquire "Best Dressed Real Man in America" Contest

April 26th, 2008

As much fun as Karen and I had the past few days, Saturday was definitely the best day.  After we got ready, we started heading toward the Wynn.  It was a beautiful morning - we walked past the Palazzo:

Spring  time in Vegas:

  The Wynn is just a short walk from the Venetian - along the way we see the progress that's been made on the 2nd tower at the Wynn called Encore - it's supposed to open sometime this Fall. 

We stayed at the Wynn last year - it really is an impressive property:

Once inside, we head over to the Wynn's buffet which is, for my money, the best breakfast in Vegas:

The atrium area is gorgeous and makes for a wonderful morning dining experience:

Waffles, eggs Benedict, and a crab quiche with some pineapple for good measure:

After breakfast, we did some window shopping at the Wynn - which of course included a stop at my favorite watch shop in Las Vegas:  The Rolex Boutique:  

Hands down, the Wynn Rolex boutique has the best selection of Rolex watches I've seen anywhere in the world - they had recently sold the most expensive model in the Rolex catalogue:  The jewel encrusted GMT Master II at $469,000.00.

We enjoyed a leisurely stroll back to the Venetian, and then enjoyed our last afternoon poolside afternoon.  But at 3pm, I had to get ready to go back to the Wynn the IWC watch company had asked me to cover an event they were doing in association with Esquire Magazine - "The Best Dressed Real Man in America" contest. 

IWC had a nice collection of their watches on hand:

Itallian designer Pal Zileri  was on hand showing their latest collection, and the cloths were being used in the competion:

Here's the director getting ready to start shooting the models:

I guess Pal Zileri cloths look good on women to

After I finished photographing the event and speaking with the IWC reps in attendance, I was asked if I would be willing to model some Pal Zileri cloths and actually enter the competition.  It's been MANY years since I was in front of the camera (I did some runway modeling briefly in my youth...in order to meet female models of course).  So I changed up, and IWC put one of their Portuguese models on my right wrist (my Daytona was already on my left of course).  So what do you think?  Have I still "got it?"  :D  :D  

I then headed back to the Venetian and Karen and I decided to do some more shopping - first at the Canal shops at the Venetian:

Then on into the Palazzo - one disappointment was that the Lamborghini dealership inside the Palazzo was not yet open.  However we did find the Ralph Lauren store (which relocated to the Palazzo from the Forum Shops at Caesars' Palace ).  Much to my surprise, the Ralph Lauren store had on display a collection of vintage Rolex watches!  Here's an all gold Daytona which they had priced at $70,000.00. 

They also had a vintage Daytona in stainless steel.  I asked the young man who came up to me to offer assistance how much the stainless model was, and if it had the original box and papers.  "Yes" he said to the question on the included accessories, and "I believe it's $25,000.00" was his response to the price.  My wallet was out (knowing I could turn a tidy little profit on the rare piece) when the store manager came over and corrected the original price quote - $45,000.00 and no original box and papers.  :(  Oh well....it was nice to try on anyway:

 We then headed over to the Forum Shops at Caesars' Palace - my favorite shopping venue on the strip:

I was hoping to find a new pair of dress shoes - no luck.  But I stopped in Hyde Park and they had this lovely white gold meteorite dial Daytona, which I'd never seen outside of photos before:

Since we didn't get to see any Lambros at the Polazzo, we stopped by Exotic Cars of Caesar's Palace:

After doing some window shopping, Karen and decided to have dinner at Trevi, and Italian restaurant inside the Forum Shops:

Karen enjoying some GREAT calamari:

After dinner, Karen and I headed back to the Esquire magazine after party held at the Wynn night club called Blush - many were lined up to get in the club that evening.....

....but the party was by invitation only.  Fortunately, IWC got our names on the guest list:

Karen and I had a really good time - it had been quite some time since we'd been dancing, but we don't have many clubs quite like Blush in Dayton.  :)

Our evening at Blush really put a cap on what was a fantastic long weekend together in Las Vegas.  But, as our flight back to Dayton left at 7:10am, our time at Blush was cut short.  Truth be told, we didn't want to leave, and we're already looking forward to getting back to Vegas. 

 *All text and images contained in this review are the original work of the author, John B. Holbrook, II and are copyright protected. Use of any of the information or images without the permission of the author is prohibited.

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