In 1979, Beirut scored a coup in the watch world when class act Audemars Piguet opened their first Middle Eastern boutique. Unfortunately, the revered Swiss horologists were ahead of their time — the Civil War arrested both commercial enterprise and the city. However, fast forward to 2015 and Audemars Piguet is back, bold and beautiful to behold in a new Downtown store on Weygand Street. The shop’s neutral palette of creams is balanced by dark wood and blends in nicely with the surrounding chic of the central district. Here, the past has indeed been erased, even if the boutique manager has no recollection of that first little shop opened so precariously during the war. Inside the boutique (which physically resembles one of its own showcase cabinets on the outside, with a polished glass façade and a ‘look don’t touch’ vibe), are some of the world’s most exquisite chronographs. Inoffensive jazz
