Prestige Lifestyle: Time as an Asset Class
Curated Conversations hosted at The Press by Merivale.
Prestige Lifestyle is the first evening in Curated Conversations: One topic. One speaker who's actually lived it. Hosted by Robert Ian Bonnick.
This evening, the conversation turns to watches, and to a simple but uncomfortable question: what actually makes one worth having with Nicholas Hooper, Watch Industry Leader & Country Director for Jacob & Co.
Nicholas has spent his career on the other side of that question, advising collectors who've learned the hard way that taste and value don't always move together. He'll walk the room through what separates conviction from consensus in this market: rarity, provenance, brand discipline, and the quiet signals that tell you when a piece is being collected for the right reasons.
This isn't a masterclass in flipping. It's an evening for people who think independently about luxury, and want the market intelligence to back that instinct.
Watches have quietly become one of the most talked-about alternative assets in private wealth circles, and one of the least understood.
Who should attend Collectors and would-be collectors thinking about their first serious piece. Private wealth and family office principals exploring alternative and passion assets. Anyone who wants to understand what separates a good watch from a good investment and why those aren't always the same thing.
What you'll take away A working framework for evaluating a watch as an asset, not just an object. The market signals that separate long-term value from hype. Direct access to Nicholas and the Jacob & Co. network and to the room around you, which is exactly who you'd want to be comparing notes with.
The evening
5:30pm sharp — Doors open, arrival drinks
6:00–7:00pm — Nicholas Hooper in conversation with Robert Ian Bonnick
7:00pm — The Press Collective, live
Capacity is held to 50 seats. This one is built to stay a room, not become an audience.
Why this partnership exists?
House of XYZ doesn't run activations. We build unrepeatable moments, built around a shared standard, not a shared industry.
The Press by Merivale gives us the room they're known for: considered, hospitality-first, built to move. House of XYZ brings the moment, the calibre, the cultural currency, the discipline to make one evening unlike anything else on the calendar.
Together: Curated Conversations, one evening, one story, told by someone who's lived it, then live from The Press Collective. No presentations. No panels for panels' sake. Just a moment worth being in.