Monthly Archives: June 2010

By Lauren Sherman at Fashionista

Following in the footsteps of competitors like Yves Saint Laurent and Gucci, Prada will launch an online boutique for US customers. The store is set to open this Thursday, July 1, debuting just as the privately-owned company revealed that it’s thinking about scheduling an initial public offering in 2012. (Some background: This is probably the seventh or eighth time over the last 15 years that Prada has toyed with selling shares on the Milan Stock Market, so it’s most certainly not a definite thing.)

Much like the rest of Prada’s online efforts, the site is well-designed, user-friendly, and perfectly on-brand. You can’t buy clothes, but you can buy leather goods and eye wear, which are the house’s bread and butter categories.Next up in the company’s online world? Japan will get its very own Prada E-store.

Administrator’s note: the e-Store already available at Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy of course, Luxemburg, Monaco, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and UK.

Click the image for entering the Prada site and watch Menswear Fashion Show SS2011

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AGERA – Created to celebrate 15 years of outstanding performance

  

by Anthony DeMarco at Jewelry News Network

The man who is credited with having saved the Swiss watch industry in the age of the “quartz” watch boom has died.

Nicolas Hayek, founder and chairman of the Swatch Group, died of heart failure Monday while working at the company’s headquarters in Biel, Switzerland, according to an announcement on the Swatch Group’s Web site. He was 82.

“Mr. Nicolas G. Hayek’s greatest merit was his enormous contribution to the saving of the Swiss watch industry and the foundation and the commercial development of the Swatch Group,” the statement on the company’s Web site read. “(His) extraordinary vision enabled him to realize and ensure the sustainability of a strong watchmaking enterprise with high Swiss added value. He is rightly recognized as a leading entrepreneur in this country.”

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by GolfGist.com   

Use your clubs as alignment aids when you practice. Lay one club on the ground parallel to the target line. Lay another from toe to toe to indicate the direction of your stance. Now, lay another club perpendicular to the target line . extending from the ball back toward your feet. This will indicate the ball position. Examine your alignment and ball position.

Hold a club across your shoulders and check alignment toward the target. Repeat for the hips and thighs. In a square stance the shoulders, hips and thighs should be aligned parallel to the target!

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Satisfying the new demands expressed by the market and, above all, suprise them. This is the motto adopted by STRAND CRAFT to break into the mega market.  STRAND CRAFT is preparing to launch the extravagant 122 , a high performance streamlined 38 metre Open super yacht, with an amazing Art Deco interior that can be greatly personalized. Interior includes four double and very large staterooms, heads, reception and salon areas and of course comfortable crew cabins. There are 52″ LED TV´s and Bang & Olufsen sounds systems in all rooms. The most stunning feature on this yacht is a special handcrafted supercar (Tender) powered by a 880hp twin turbo V12 engine with topspeed 375kmh can be housed in as a tender in the stern garage.

With a total of over 14.000 horsepower this amazing yacht breaks speeds over 50 knots

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Chosen by Charles Maclean, whisky expert 

Johnnie Walker Black Label Perfectly rounded, deep and full, this is the blended Scotch most admired by blenders. If I had to take only one whisky to a desert island, it would probably be this one. 40 per cent ABV Price: £20.45 – www.anybooze.com	Lagavulin 16 Year Old The prince of the Islay malts, this is deep and dark, with notes of fruitcake and sweet seaweed. A voluptuous texture and a fragrant, smoky finish. For drinking with poetry, late into the night. 43 per cent ABV Price: £41.95 – www.drinksdirect.co.uk
The Glenrothes 1985 A big, rich Speyside, with notes of dried fruits and peel and some spicy or tannic dryness. Drink with roast Aberdeen Angus beef. The last remaining drops of this vintage have now been bottled. 43 per cent ABV Price: £78.00 – www.bbr.com	Old Pulteney 12 Year Old An elegant malt from Wick in the far north of Scotland, this has a lightly “maritime” character and goes well with fish and seafood. The distinctive bottle features a traditional Wick herring drifter. 40 per cent ABV Price: £24.50 – www.waitrosewine.co.uk
Clynelish 14 Year Old A North Highland malt, from the coast of Sutherland. Fresh and heathery,  with waxy notes reminiscent of a High Church. Drink from the deep freeze in chilled glasses with dessert ? you will be amazed! 46 per cent ABV Price: £26.49 – www.thewhiskyexchange.com	Auchentoshan 18 Year Old A triple-distilled Lowland single malt, from a distillery overlooking the River Clyde. Refreshing, even invigorating, and light in style, this makes an excellent apéritif. 43 per cent ABV Price: £49.99 – www.thewhiskyexchange.com
Asyla An uncommon (and uncommonly good) blended Scotch, from the Signature Range of the artisan whisky maker Compass Box. Sweet and delicate, this is ideal as an aperitif. 40 per cent ABV Price: £24.46 – www.whiskyandwines.com	Highland Park 18 Year Old bA distinguished, rich, complex and slightly smoky malt from the Orkney Islands, to accompany coffee, dark chocolate and cigars. A most satisfactory balance of sweet and dry, with dryness winning in the finish. 43 per cent ABV Price: £48.72 – www.anybooze.com
Bailie Nicol Jarvie An entirely different creature ? light in style, clean and zesty. Easy to drink, this is a blended whisky from the Glenmorangie distillery in the Highlands, named after a character in Walter Scott’s novel, ‘Rob Roy’. 40 per cent ABV Price: £12.99 – www.oddbins.com	Talisker 10 Year Old From the Isle of Skye, this is THE malt to accompany haggis (and many other dishes). Sweet and lightly smoky, but watch out for the chilli-pepper hit in the finish. Robert Louis Stevenson regarded Talisker as “the king of drinks”. 45.8 per cent ABV Price: £28.95 -www.royalmilewhiskies.com

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Posted by Barry Silverstein at  

As the global economy recovers, hotel chains continue to look for creative ways to stand out. It isn’t enough to provide a comfortable bed in a clean room nowadays. Hotels need to appeal to a traveler’s lifestyle and offer something unique that makes a stay memorable, whether the individual is traveling for business or pleasure. That’s why Jumeirah Group, a luxury hotel chain based in Dubai, is launching a new hotel brand called VENU Hotels later this year. In announcing the brand extension, Jumeirah calls VENU Hotels a “contemporary lifestyle five-star hotel brand” that will express “the local soul for those who seek a sophisticated immersion in the destination.” In recent years, hotels chains have trended towards lifestyle brands.

Jumeirah Group’s First VENU Hotel Slated For Shanghai – Luxury Hotel To Be Co-Managed With Shanghai Zendai Group

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by Janhavi Kumar Sapra

ARTnews recently released its list of the world’s top ten art collectors. Not surprisingly, nine of the ten  featured are Forbes Billionaires. The list is geographically diverse and features: Russia’s Roman Abramovich, France’s Helene and Bernard Arnault and François Pinault,  Hong Kong’s Joseph Lau,  Greece’s Philip S. Niarchos and Americans Eli Broad, Debra and Leon Black, Alexandra and Steve Cohen, Emily and Mitchell Rales, The only non-billionaire is Sheikh Saud bin Mohammad bin Ali al-Thani from Saudi Arabia, who wouldn’t qualify for our ranks as his wealth comes largely from his position of royalty.

Arnault, Niarchos and Lau moved into the top 10 this year, replacing Ronald Lauder, Carlos Slim and Henry Kravis.

The Top Ten, in which the world’s most active art collectors, are listed in alphabetical order, is based on interviews of collectors, dealers, auctioneers, museum directors, curators, and consultants from 22 countries. ARTnews said in its article that the global art market in general is recovering from the global financial recession. “We’re genuinely surprised about how robust the market appears to be,” Christie’s chief executive officer Edward Dolman, told them. “It’s not just the top end of the market that is strong. It has much more depth than we’ve seen in recent times.”

They also quote CEO of Sotheby’s, William Ruprecht: “China continues to be unbelievably important. The growth in wealth and interest in art in many categories is quite remarkable. They have become very active all over— in Hong Kong, New York, Paris, London. They’re buying art, houses, diversifying their assets.”

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 by Anthony DeMarco at Jewelry News Network

If you were in London in late May hopefully you were able to pass Selfridges department store on Oxford Street and participate in the outside window display that allowed you to virtually try on a number of watches from the Tissot T-Touch collection before walking into the store. The touch-screen interactive interface is known as “augmented reality application.” It was created by a London-based company called Holition. The screen allowed potential customers to virtually try on and interact with a number of different watch styles, colors and sizes—as if they were actually wearing a T-Touch collection watch. The virtual watch is brought to life with what the company calls “real time light reflecting technology.” A person using the system was given a paper wristband that, when shown to the camera on the Holition system, allows them to view an image of themselves on a computer LCD screen in the window wearing the chosen watch. The person can experience the different designs of the watch by twisting his wrist.

You should be seeing more of this technology as the company is working with several luxury jewelry and other high end fashion houses. If you missed the live promotion, below is a video demonstration of the technology.

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Jean Schlumberger (1907–1987) was born into a prominent family of textile manufacturers in Alsace, France. As a child, he demonstrated a talent for drawing, which was not encouraged by his parents, who sent him to Berlin in the 1930s to pursue a career in banking. He developed neither taste nor talent for numbers, however, and soon moved to Paris where he could indulge his love of the arts.

Schlumberger’s designs at Tiffany & Co. were remarkable for their whimsical interpretations of natural forms. He was especially inspired by sea creatures and other animals. Diana Vreeland wrote that Schlumberger “appreciates the miracle of jewels. For him, they are the ways and means to the realization of his dreams.”

Here we can see few of Schlumberger’s gorgeous designs.

Schlumberger’s sense of whimsy and imagination brings this iconic design to life. The setting, originally designed in the 1960s, was recreated decades later to showcase the esteemed Tiffany Diamond brooch with an emerald-cut aquamarine and round brilliant diamonds in 18k gold and platinum. Price: $79,000	Delicate butterflies designed with Schlumberger’s signature attention to detail. Clip with oval pink tourmalines, pear-shaped amethysts and round brilliant diamonds in platinum with 18k gold. Price: $30,000
Jean Schlumberger’s legendary imagination comes alive in this eighteen karat gold fish clip with aquamarines, amethysts and pink sapphires. Aquamarines, carat total weight 5.75; amethysts, carat total weight .44; pink sapphires, carat total weight .17. Price: $28,000	So often Jean Schlumberger finds inspiration in nature’s forms. Clip in 18k gold with round brilliant diamonds in platinum. Price: $8,400

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