| Izah Azahari |
THE BIBD Perdana Privilege Banking invited over 100 of their Perdana customers for an Exclusive Viewing yesterday of the BIBD Timeless Timepieces which featured exclusive Swiss Made Horology by Avantist Watches, and special guest Swiss luxury watch brands – Hautlence and H Moser & Cie.
The event was held at the Royal Berkshire Hall of the Royal Brunei Polo and Riding Club, Jerudong.
The event began with welcoming remarks by BIBD’s Head of Retail Banking Group, Hajah Nurul Akmar binti Haji Md Jaafar, followed by talks by Chief Executive Officers of the luxury swiss brands.
This is the first time BIBD Perdana held such an event. The objective of this event was to promote Brunei’s local entrepreneur, Keeran Janin, who is the Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Avantist watches.
Keeran explained that he began diving into watch-making two years ago when he was with Wu Chun, who he worked with on a number of different projects, and they thought of doing something different by establishing the watch company.
Keeran Janin (right), Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Avantist at the event yesterday. – PHOTOS: DEAN KASSIM
Invited guests from BIBD Perdana taking a closer look at the Timepiece on display
A Timepiece displayed during the exclusive viewing of BIBD Timeless Timepieces
“I have always wanted to make a watch, I have been a jeweller for many years and I have had family living in Geneva for a few years,” said Keeran.
“During my travels there I found my passion for watches and I have always said to myself that I am either going to buy one of these big ones or build my own,” he added.
Keeran explained that when he embarked on the mission, he did not want to just look for a supplier to build a watch for him to stick his name on, he wanted to be a part of the process every step of the way from the design, to understanding the movements and making sure that the watch produced is top notch.
Spending a good year going back and forth to Switzerland, he felt the need to identify the best brands where he first connected with H Moser, one of the fast growing “new” brands that has been around for many years but are having a resurgence in the way that they are marketing and designing themselves as they are built around the spirit of entrepreneurship.
“Making a watch has been the hardest thing I have done in my entire life but the most rewarding,” said Keeran.
The watches on display for the exclusive viewing from Avantist comprised the 2017-2018 Legend Series Limited Editions which are watches made from the strings of the tennis racquet of Martina Navratilova, a Czech and American retired tennis player and coach, who won 18 grand slam singles titles during the Wimbledon Champion, French Open Champion and US Open Champion in 1984, the Wimbledon Champion and Australian Open Champion in 1985, the Wimbledon Champion and US Open Champion in 1986 and 1987, and the Wimbledon Champion in 1990, as well as the tennis racquet strings from Leander Paes, an Indian Professional Tennis player who won in the Wimbledon Champion, the US Open Champion and the Australian Open Champion in 2015, and the French Open Champion in 2016.
The guests were invited to talk with Avantist Watches, Hautlence and H Moser & Cie to know the brands, know the key people and know the watches including those on display for BIBD Perdana, sample the watches and be one of the few to purchase and own the beautiful, limited edition horological timepieces.
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