Frederique Constant Watches and Cohiba Cigars Light Up Manhattan

A collaboration between a watch brand and a cigar maker speaks to a luxury lifestyle.

Club Macanudo in New York City was the perfect setting for last week’s soiree
with luxury watch brand Frederique Constant and cigar maker Cohiba.

Mahogany woodwork, leather chairs, paneled and illuminated tray ceilings, and a
bar stocked with top-shelf liquor helped make the launch of Cohiba Limited
Edition Timepieces a success.

“There is an obvious tie-in between cigars and watches,” Ralph Simons, brand
president, told JCK at the event.
“Cigars and watches are true luxury products because they are connected to how
we enjoy life.”

The watches “reflect the style and atmosphere of the Cohiba brand,” according
to the watchmaker. Styles feature rectangular faces (a nod to the shape of the
cigars), ivory-colored dials, tobacco-brown leather straps, and automatic
movement. “There is also a second time-zone function that many of our customers
will appreciate,” Simons told JCK.

Each watch is limited in production to 188 pieces in stainless steel or rose
gold plate and come in presentation boxes filled with 25 cigars. The former
model retails for $1,650 and the latter for $1,750.

If preorders are any indication of the line’s success—from 40 percent of the
Frederique Constant network has already placed some—then the brand is well on
its way to a successful holiday season. To date, some 25 stores have ordered as
many as six of each model. Bonus: Cohiba sought out the watch manufacturer to
strike up the deal.