The inaugural SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS kicked off at Raffles Marina Thursday night. Friends from the media and VIP guests were on hand to enjoy a sneak peek at what can be expected over the coming days. Band on the Run got the crowd going with a rocking performance, followed by speeches from Raffles Marina President, Francis Lee, the Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore, His Excellency I Gede Ngurah Swajaya and Executive Director of the SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS, Gael Burlot.

This was followed by a spectacular lion dance performance in the main atrium of the marina clubhouse. Guests then headed out to the Jet Lounge for a spot of mingling, some groovy tunes from the DJs and champagne from Perrier-Jouët (who also had their own very lovely lounge next door on the lawn).

Classic Cars on display at Raffles Marina for the SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS

The evening didn’t stop there. World of Watches (WOW), Singapore’s premier watch periodical, held its 15th anniversary party overlooking the yachts at the marina. Guests from the watch trade and business partners from the global editions of WOW partied the night away. As Olivier Burlot, CEO of Heart Media reminded the crowd at the party, WOW has grown from a local title to having a footprint across Asia, with eight editions now.

Being that this party celebrated the world of watches and WOW, there were also showcases of what fine watchmaking is all about.

The Lawn at Raffles Marina with artwork by Artheline

Swiss manufacture Jaeger-LeCoultre showcased their Atelier Reverso collection. For those of you that don’t know, the Reverso is a properly iconic watch and Jaeger-LeCoultre was on hand to offer guests of the event the opportunity to customize their straps, dials and case back engravings.

Swiss watchmaking powerhouse Omega went a slightly different way with their display at the party. The firm showed off their unrivalled antimagnetic collection of watches and gave guests a demonstration of why they should care about the effects of magnetism on their watches. They demonstrated how household appliances’ magnetic fields have an effect on quartz and mechanical watches and how that differs from Omega Master Chronometers, which are built specifically to completely resist such fields.

The view from the JetLounge at SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS

One lucky guest also won Leopard Catamaran’s Lucky Draw. An incredible bare boat charter onboard the Leopard 40 sailing catamaran from Ao Po Grand Marina in Phuket, Thailand. The trip is worth $8,600 and the winner and seven friends will enjoy the beautiful Andaman Sea next year.

The SINGAPORE RENDEZVOUS is open to the public from October 21 -23^rd. An expected 5,000 visitors will be in attendance.