When it comes to his collection of antiques, Lance Burstyn figures if they’ve withstood the ravages of hundreds of years, then they can certainly weather a good party. And good parties are regular occurrences within his outwardly discreet, 1950s-style Miami Beach dwelling. On any given night, Eva Longoria, Shaquille O’Neal, Ryan Seacrest or Jamie Foxx might be lounging on Burstyn’s rust-colored Ralph Lauren sofas.

“I’ve been living on the beach for a long time, and I pretty much know everyone,” says Burstyn, president of Krieger Watch Corporation and an avid networker with a knack for getting his timepieces on the wrists of the rich and famous. “I do a lot of entertaining. I love to constantly have people over.”

Rather than remain tucked away in corners where they would be safe from coaster-less guests, Burstyn’s centuries-old antiques are as integral to his get-togethers as the newly reupholstered pool table that sits in the middle of his living room. They are functional conversation pieces: an ancient Moroccan door, encased in glass and set atop a matching stand, serves as the oversized dining room table for Burstyn’s formal dinner parties; an Indonesian closet frames a plasma television screen, ideal for sports nights; and a 150-year-old bar cart from Thailand, which even retains the original spokes on its wheels, continues to serve its original purpose.

In order to breathe life into his collection, Burstyn recently called upon interior designer Keith Powell. The two had an instant synergy, as Powell is also an avid traveler and collector who immediately appreciated the cultural significance of Burstyn’s antiques. “So many of Lance’s amazing pieces were going unnoticed,” Powell says. “We kept about 95 percent of his things when we redecorated, but people keep walking in here and asking if items that have been here for years are new.”

Powell credits that to his use of color. Burstyn initially resisted Powell’s choice of a chocolate-hued paint for the home’s interior (“I thought it was going to look like a black hole in here,” Burstyn says), but after the experiment, both men agree that the dark-brown walls make the room warm and inviting.

Powell also used color strategically to call attention to Burstyn’s art. Several large-scale prints by Miami photographer Robert Curran are found throughout the home. In front of a photograph from Curran’s “Asian Dreams” series that depicts a Vietnamese tuk tuk (known in the West as a rickshaw), Powell placed a bright red swing from an Indian palace. “The swing was meant for the outdoors, but it’s such a cool piece, and even though the idea of a swing conjures the concept of movement, it presents a very interesting contradiction when used as a type of framing,” Powell explains.

“It makes perfect sense placed in front of that photograph because it’s movement behind movement,” Burstyn concurs.

As a final touch, Powell filled a Balinesian canoe with 200 large candles and placed it before the sliding glass doors that lead into the Zen garden. At night, the light from the candles reflects the bright colors in the room and casts a saintly glow. The easy, low-maintenance effect is precisely what Burstyn was after. “If you get a scratch on your minimalist white chair by Philippe Starck, it’s ruined,” Burstyn says. “But if someone nicks an old piece of wood, who cares? It’s just as beautiful.”

Published in Miami magazine