Rare Watch Dealer Goldsmith & Complications Goes To Bat For Horology

Luxury stores are more than just stores now. They are also lounges, galleries, event spaces and more. Goldsmith & Complications, a new watch salon in Delray Beach, Fla., illustrates how luxury watch retailing, for example, has changed. Danny Goldsmith, a watch dealer, collector and former New Yorker, designed his new Florida digs to be a go-to location for hard-to-find independent watchmakers, and a place for collectors to hold events. It is designed as a lounge, with a gallery to display art and watches.

In addition to brands such as Urwerk, Purnell and Bell & Ross, the store offers decorative, watch-related objects. For his opening last month, Goldsmith partnered with Berd Vay’e, the Brooklyn-based artists known for their Lucite sculptures containing rare vintage watch components that appear to float inside the structure. In this case, the work a series of 30 miniature baseball bats that measure 17 inches long and can be mounted for display on a desk or book shelf. They were created in collaboration with Chicago Cubs switch-hitter Ian Happ, incorporating pieces of his record-setting bats along with the watch components. The pieces are meticulously positioned at designated locations by hand inside the sculpture so that they seem to slide towards the tip as though the bat were in motion. They are created using 10 layers of Lucite, and then shaped and polished by hand.

The series is a tribute not only to watchmaking but also to America’s favorite pastime. “So many of my watch collecting clients are also into sports,” says Goldsmith. “And they love Berd Vay’e. We wanted to share our passion for watchmaking and bring something to the watch community that they’ve never seen before. It had to be something very cool that symbolizes what both companies are about, and appeals to collectors. The name Berd Vay’e is composed of various syllables from the names of  its artist partners, Eddie Kurayev and Albert Akbashev. The bats, which are titled America’s PasTIME, sell for $4,000.