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:
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.
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: 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. 
