OFFICINE PANERAI 2010 ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIP OF THE BRITISH CLASSIC YACHT CLUB COWES REGATTA

The ninth British Classic Yacht Club (BCYC) Cowes Regatta (Isle of Wight, UK) will join the prestigious Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge Circuit (PCYC) from 2010 as part of a three-year sponsorship deal signed this month.

The BCYC Cowes Regatta whichwill take place from Sunday 18th to Saturday 24th July 2010 will be the first UK event to join the Panerai Circuit. 2010 will be the sixth edition of the Panerai Classic Yachts Challenge and marks the largest and most renowned classic yacht race in the world. Each year the Challenge draws yachting enthusiasts from around the globe and the most highly regarded Classic Yachts sailing today, in 2009 over 350 yachts and 1,500 crews competed overall in the Circuit.

The event will now be known as The British Classic Yacht Club Panerai Cowes Regatta - The BCYC Panerai Cowes Regatta is held in the tidal waters of the Solent, a stretch of sea separating the Isle of Wight from the mainland of England. The highlight of the week’s racing is the Classic Round the Island Race, starting on the Royal Yacht Squadron line before racing the 60 mile course either East or West around the Isle of Wight. The 2010 Round the Island race will be held on Tuesday 20th July.
The BCYC and Officine Panerai envisage that the 2010 event will be the largest Classic Yacht Regatta in the UK since the Americas Cup Jubilee Regatta in 2001, and are predicting that over 65 yachts will compete.








Source:

[ Officine Panerai Official Web Site ]



Possible Related Links:

[ British Classic Yacht Club ]


CHECK OUT!

Panerai Watches at Interwatches!

Tag Heuer Re-release: TAG Heuer Precious Silverstone Watch

 According to what Swiss watchmaker TAG Heuer revealed, it will retail for about $6,500.

 
Admired and claimed by Heuer fans and watch fans alike, the TAG Heuer Silverstone Wristwatch is getting re-released this month, February 2010, in a limited edition of 1,500 models of each color. The new Silverstones will be released in brown or blue versions, with perforated alligator straps and an updated Caliber 11 movement with a Dubois-Depraz module.

TAG Heuer Silverstone Wristwatch was first introduced in 1974 so as a way of emulating the curvature of the famous English racing track, with a design inspired by the distinctive square case of its predecessor, well known TAG Heuer Monaco Watch. Back in ’74, the Silverstone timepiece featured the Chronomatic Calibre 11, the first automatic self-winding chronograph ever made.

For its re-issue, Silverstone is now powered by an updated version of the Calibre 11 with Dubois-Depraz module. In order to celebrate TAG Heuer's history, it houses the brand's original Heuer logo, which is flanked on the dial by two silver counters at 3 and 9 o'clock. Stainless steel pushbuttons at 2 and 4 o'clock, a hand-applied date window at 6 o'clock and curved, sapphire crystal with double anti-reflective treatment complete the watch's look.

Sources:

[ TAG Heuer's Official Web Site ]

Possible Related Links:

Check our TAG Heuer Watches Gallery!

Veronica Verekova, ambassador for Hublot and the African Wildlife Foundation.

 (Veronica Varekova)

Hublot proudly presented, in New York, Veronica Varekova as the ambassador for the African Wildlife Foundation in order to embody the feminine expression of Hublot’s spirit as the top model and the watch brand share the same values and also their passion for extraordinary adventures, as well as a huge concern for our environment.

Unique, sporting, committed and vibrant, Veronica Varekova is now the ambassador for a watch brand that symblises fusion, innovation, vitality and creativity. Great lover of art, deeply involved with the African Wildlife Foundation after climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, the “roof of Africa”, she developed a profund appreciation for extreme environments and their wildlife, getting in contact with the urgent need of protecting and preserving them.

 

The foundation, now active for 50 years, chose her as it’s ambassador in order to promote and help to support their initiatives which aim to protect communities, wildlife, species and landscapes of Africa.

Source:

[ Hublot Official Web Site ]


Possible Related Links:

Hublot's Gallerie at Interwatches.com

Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, unveiled the Apple iPad device

( iPad is a challenging product, according to Steve Jobs)

Apple finally announced its iPad tablet computer last week, a magical, revolutionary and ambitiious product which price is just unbelievable.

iPad keyboard: a huge and bulky version of the iPhone keyboard, but with much more room between keys making easier and faster writing quick text, such as e-mails or chatting. It will also work with Bluetooth keyboards and, also, Apple will sell a charging dock with a built-in keyboard, even the on-screen one is more than enough to work and write.

(Apple CEO Steve Jobs presents the iPad at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Jan. 27, 2010)

(AP PhotoMarcio Jose Sanchez)

It’s software: iPad will virtually run all iPhone applications without modification, meaning it'll work with more than 150,000 programs on the day it ships.
Even though it doesn’t feature a camera or support for Adobe's Flash technology and only Apple's programs can run in the background (making possible listening to music while browsing the Web) and all applications run only in full-screen mode, they are not enough reasons for not giving iPad a try. Even though it comes with a splendid photo viewer, it doesn't have a USB port or memory-card slot, there's no way to print from the device.
What about price? Even it was expected to run $1,000 or so, iPad starts at $499 for the version with 16GB of solid-state storage and no 3G broadband, and tops out at $829 for one with 64GB of storage and AT&T 3G. iPad’s most impressive thing is that Apple came up with a user interface optimized for a touch-centric, no-keyboard computer.
Comparing to netbooks, the ones that have bought one in the past as a secondary computer will buy an iPad instead, specially if they're primarily interested in consuming music, movies, e-books and Web pages.
Apple announced a second-generation iPad in 2011 that fixes most of the biggest gripes and packs more features at a better price.

Virtual Breitling Chronomat B01

(Virtual Breitling Breitling Chronomat B01)

The new Breitling Chronomat B01 is now available as an application for the iPhone and iPod touch, It offers descriptions, technical data, video and 360º images of the match. It is also equipped with a configurator to customize the model. If you desire the real thing, the point of sale locations/tracking system will track down the nearest Breitling dealer.

Click here to have a 360º look at the wristwatch!

DOWNLOAD the application!

Sources:

[ Breitling ]

[ IW International Watch Magazine ]

Alinghi annouced Hublot as the team sponsor for the 33rd America's Cup

  

Alinghi, Duj defender of the 33rd America’s Cup, is proud to announce Hublot, the Swiss luxury watchmaker, as a team sponsor for the 33rd America’s Cup. Both brands share many common values, like their constant chase of precision and excellence, or their approach to developing technology to a maximum level. 

The creator of the gold Hublot was grown up in an Italian family of watchmakers. It was around1967 when he designed his first watch. [The History of Hublot]

Alinghi is currently training in Genoa, Italy, before transferring the team to Ras al-Khaimah, UAE, in the autumn to continue preparations towards the 33rd America’s Cup which starts on the 8 February 2010. 











[Hublot Home Page]

Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, King of Holland, and his Breguet, No. 1717

Louis Napoléon Bonaparte, Prince Français, King of Holland, Comte de Saint-Leu was born on September 2, 1778 and died on July 25, 1846. He was the fifth surviving child and the fourth surviving son of Carlo Buonaparte and Letizia Ramolino. His brother and third son were the first and last emperors of France, Napoleon I, and Napoleon III.

Napoleon made him the King of Holland on June 5, 1806. Though the older brother, Napoleon, had intended for the younger brother to be little more than a French governor of Holland, Louis took his duties as the King seriously, calling himself Koning Lodewijk I, attempting to learn the Dutch language and trying hard to be a responsible, independent ruler of Holland. His attempt at speaking the Dutch language earned him some respect from his subjects. Louis also forced his court and ministers to speak only Dutch, and also to renounce their French Citizenships. 

Two major tragedies occurred during the reign of Louis Bonaparte: the explosion of a cargo ship loadeded with gunpowder in the heart of the city of Leiden in 1807, and a major flood in Holland in 1809. In both instances, Louis personally and effectively oversaw local relief efforts, which helped earn him the moniker of Louis the Good.

(This Breguet, No. 1717, was sold to the King of Holland on June 7, 1808 for 2.400 francs).



Louis Bonaparte's reign of The Netherlands was short-lived, however, which was due to two factors. The first was that Napoleon wanted to reduce the value of French loans from Dutch investors by two-thirds, meaning a serious economic blow to the Netherlands. The second factor was the one that became the pretext for Napoleon's demand of Louis's abdication. As Napoleon was preparing an army for his invasion of Russia, he wanted troops from the entire region under his control, the allied border countries. Unfortunately for Louis, the English landed an army of 40,000 in 1808 in an attempt to capture Antwerp and Flushing. With Louis unable to defend his realm, France sent 80,000 militiamen and successfully repelled the invasion. Napoleon then suggested that Louis should abdicate, citing Louis's inability to protect Holland as a reason. Louis refused. Napoleon finally forcibly removed Louis from the Dutch throne and annexed the entire Kingdom of Holland on 1 July 1810.

 (It is an extremely fine and important Breguet 18K gold dumb quarter repeating pocket watch with duplex escapement built on the principles of the garde temps with Breguet gold chain and ratchet key)














 [Breguet Home Page]

Blancpain Spécialités Tourbillon Diamants Watch

 (Blancpain Spécialités Tourbillon Diamants)

When speaking about very expensive watches, we usually tend to think that the price must be proportional to the quantity of precious jewels it could contain. Most of these timepieces do not have any jewels (aside from synthetic rubies in the movement). An answer could be the time involved in making them.
Blancpain is one of the luxurius brands capable of producing a neatly pack with a healthy amount of impressive jewel work in the 40mm wide white gold case of its newest flagship haute joaillerie watch for men.
The Blancpain Spécialités Tourbillon Diamants timepieces were produced in a limited edition in which, the time of craftsmanship is gold as intense hours are required to simply select the proper stones and then cut them. Its timepiece dial, bezel, crown and rear reveal a complex patterning of various baguette cut stones. Twelve lines of diamonds form the dial in order to serve as hour markers.
The count of over 20 carats of diamonds in the watch might convey that Blancpain is attempting to present this Spécialités Tourbillon Diamants as merely a vehicle for diamond splendor, it is rather closer to an horological obligation. The high houses of watch making must continue to assert themselves mechanically as well as luxuriously. Blancpaine favors 18k white gold and a dizzying amount of diamonds being an obvious expression of this concept. It is then the responsibility of the brand to ensure its latest haute joaillerie offering is also aesthetically pleasing and awe inspiring. The privilege to call one yours comes with the approximate price of $1,342,700. 

Timepiece main characteristics: 

40mm wide 18k white gold watch case

Flying tourbillion carriage window

Caliber 25A in-house automatic mechanical movement visible through sapphire caseback

Reptile strap with matching 18k gold diamond covered buckle

164 baguette-cut diamonds on dial with total 20.14 carats of diamonds on watch

[Blancpain's Home Page]

Ulysse-Nardin Genghis Khan Complication

The visible one minute Tourbillon is integrated into the Aventurine dial. Opaque or translucent, containing crystals that were engendered by fire in molten glass, Aventurine scintillates, subtly flecked with all possible shades of red, yellow and grey. Forged by human hands, often compared to the philosopher's stone, Aventurine contains the secrets of the master jeweller’s alchemy.


This last edition limited Ulysse-Nardin Genghis Khan minute repeater in platinum features a 42mm case, Aventurine dial, and a crocodile strap with deployment buckle. The Ulysse Nardin Genghis Khan minute repeater watch also features a manually wound tourbillon movement with a Westminster chime carillon minute repeater and animated battle scene figures. This is the last limited edition 30 piece series. The previous two were in rose and white gold.

The Genghis Khan will be produced over the next 6-8 years in a limited edition of 30 pieces each in white and pink gold 18 ct.

 Ref. Nr. 789-80

Diameter 42 mm

Case Platinum case

Dial Aventurine dial with gold Automatons

Power-reserve Approx. 80 hours

Winding Manual Wind

Water-resistant 30 meters

Crystal Sapphire Crystals

Strap Leather strap

Buckle type Folding clasp

[Source: Ulysse Nardin Home Page]

Hamilton together with Conservation International and Harrison Ford gave birth to the “Khaki Conservation” Edition

Hamilton recently teamed up with Conservation International and Harrison Ford in order to create the “Khaki Conservation” edition. Created as an “eco-friendly” version of the Khaki Navy GMT, this unique timepiece features special design elements. It is a limited edition of recycled material for the packaging, Hamilton pledged to donate the proceeds to Conservation International.

Harrison Ford is an American film actor and producer. Ford is best known for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. He is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. His four-decade career also includes roles in several other Hollywood blockbusters, including Apocalypse Now, Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and What Lies Beneath. At one point, three of the top four box-office hits of all time included one of his roles. Five of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Khaki Conservation Automatic GMT: Harrison Ford & Conservation International Special Edition - Diving watch, Swiss-made automatic movement featuring Greenwich Mean Time 2nd time zone, Main dial warm khaki hour/minute hands with luminous accents and khaki sweep seconds, 2nd time zone displayed by black/khaki-tipped hand, Main dial tan/yellow luminescent Arabic numbers, Interior rotating 2nd time zone marked by white 24-hour display, Tan/yellow numbers reveal quarter seconds and inner/outer minute track, Analog date display at 3, Brushed silver-tone stainless steel round bezel and case with polished steel brown accents, 2 polished screw-in logo crowns for time setting, Polished screw-in crown at 9 selects Conservation International 'focus locations', Stainless steel screw-in skeleton caseback marked with Mr. Harrison Ford's signature and 'Conservation International' logo, Scratch-resistant sapphire crystal, 200 meters/660 feet water resistant













[Hamilton Home Page]

Watches in Movies: Anthony Zimmer, Body of Lies, I Am Legend, Get Smart and Iron Man.

Anthony Zimmer (2005)

(Chiara, Sophie Marceau, is wearing an IWC Portugese Wristwatch)

In Paris, the international police force and the Russian mafia are chasing Anthony Zimmer, who had an extensive plastic surgery, making not only his face, but also his voice, completely unknown. The means of reaching Zimmer is through his beloved mistress Chiara. While travelling François Taillandier is select by Chiara as if he were Zimmer and used as a bait to lure those that are pursuing her.

 

Body of Lies (2008)

(Ed Hoffman, Russell Crowe, is wearing a Breitling Emergency Wristwatch)

United State's Central Intelligence Agency's Middle East Representative, Roger Ferris, is based in Amman, Jordan, keeping a watch on a 'safe house' and believes it to be frequented by young Muslim males. He has information that Al Saleem may be behind terrorist attacks, but lacks any evidence to apprehend him or any of his associates.

I Am Legend (2007)

(Robert Neville, Will Smith, is wearing a Hamilton Khaki X-Wind Wristwatch)

It is the year 2012. In the ruins of New York city. Robert Neville, who is a military scientist lone survivor of a biochemical disease -which was supposed to cure cancer 3 years previous-. Robert is trying to discover a cure for this disease and to find out any other people who might have also survived.

Get Smart (2008)

(Maxwell Smart, Steve Carell, is wearing Hamilton Field Multi-Touch Wristwatch)

American Maxwell Smart works for a Government spy agency in an administrative capacity. The Chief decides to assign Maxwell as a spy and partners him with sexy Agent 99, much to her chagrin. The duo, handicapped by Maxwell's antics, will eventually have their identities compromised, and may be chalked up as casualties while back in America their attackers have already planted a bomb that is set-up to explode in a concert.

Iron Man (2008)

 

Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr., is wearing a Bvlgari Diagono Chronograph Wristwatch.

Tony Stark is a playboy and also an engineering genius. While in Afghanistan demonstrating a new missile he's captured and wounded in order to assemble a missile, but instead, he creates an armoured suit and a means to prevent his death from the shrapnel left in his chest by the attack. 

BLANCPAIN “SAINT-VALENTIN 2010”: An authentic jewellery creation.

For the first time in its history, Blancpain has created a special-shaped watch*. The Manufacture in Le Brassus is presenting an authentic jeweller creation set with over 500 diamonds and pink sapphires, and housing the world’s smallest self-winding movement, Calibre 615. This extraordinary timepiece is to be issued in a symbolically limited edition of 14 to celebrate Valentine’s Day 2010.

This exceptional creation is an anthem to Love and to Femininity, starting with the white and pink mother-of-pearl dial forming a heart and framed by a bezel set with over 500 diamonds and pink sapphires. A heart-cut diamond also appears at 12 o’clock, while the pin buckle is set with a pearshaped pink sapphire.

The exquisite beauty of this exceptional two-hand watch also lies in the slenderness of its movement. Blancpain is proudly reintroducing the famous “Lady Bird” Calibre 615, still regarded as the world’s smallest self-winding movement and which can be admired through the sapphire crystal case-back.

This shaped watch is delivered with two genuine satin straps – one black and the other white. It comes in an extremely elegant presentation box featuring a design reflecting the pure lines of this dainty Valentine’s Day model crafted in a strictly limited edition of 14.

[Blancpain’s Press Release]

Associated Press' Athlete of the decade: TIGER WOODS

(Tiger Woods - TAG Heuer)

The Associated Press, an American news agency, has named Tiger Woods its athlete of the decade.
AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists.

Tiger Woods is the first golfer to win four consecutive major championships. He is the youngest placer to have won 3 green jackets, he won the US Open in 2000 by an incredible 15 shots, and he has a total of 9 major championships to his name.

In 2001 he became the first golfer in history to hold all four major titles at once. Outside of golf, Tiger is one of the greatest sports champions in history. With his personality and his results, he is a perfect example of prestige and performance which are so important to TAG Heuer [Complete Post].













[AP]
[TAG Heuer]

Ben Bernanke: TIME Magazine's Man of the Year Nomination

( Ben Bernanke: the Man of the Year Award)

Last Monday, the TIME magazine's managing editor announced the list for 2009's Person of the Year, including Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, and giving the first award to Ben Bernanke.

Person of the Year, formerly Man of the Year, is an annual issue of the United States newsmagazine Time that features and profiles a man, woman, couple, group, idea, place, or machine that "for better or for worse, ...has done the most to influence the events of the year".

The tradition of selecting a Man of the Year began in 1927 as an attempt to remedy the editorial embarrassment earlier that year for not having aviator Charles Lindbergh on its cover following his historic trans-Atlantic flight.
Since then, individual people, groups of people, an invention or even a planet have been selected for the special year end issue. The only women to win the renamed recognition so far were those recognized as The Whistleblowers (2002) and Melinda Gates (jointly with Bill Gates and Bono in 2005). Four women were granted the title when it was still Man of the Year.
This 2009, the Time Magazine has nominated Ben Bernanke for the Man of the Year Award. He is the man sitting in his Washington office, talking about the economy without a commanding presence. His arguments aren't partisan or ideological; they're methodical, grounded in data and the latest academic literature.  

Bernanke is the 56-year-old chairman of the Federal Reserve, the central bank of the U.S., an independent government agency that conducts monetary policy. And ever since global credit markets began imploding, its mild-mannered chairman has dramatically expanded those powers and reinvented the Fed.

[Picture: Albert Watson]

[TIME Magazine]

[Ben Bernanke's Blog]

Vladimir Putin's $60,000 Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar Wristwatch

(Putin wearing his Patek Philippe)

Vladimir Putin is not only a Russian politician. He is the current Prime Minister as well as chairman of United Russia, and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when President Boris Yeltsin resigned in a surprising move, and then Putin won the 2000 presidential election. In 2004, he was re-elected for a second term lasting until 7 May 2008.
Putin is not only the Prime Minister, he is also passionate according to action activities. Apart from being a judo black belt, a fervent explorer of volcanoes, dips in Siberian rivers and plummets deep down lakes in mini submarines, he is a luxury Swiss watches looms large lover. Among the Russian politicians, Putin wears the most expensive watches, such as a $60,000 Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar watch and, also, he owns a Patek Philippe Calatrava.

(Patek Philippe Perpetual Calendar watch)

Price Realized $60,000

PLATINUM AUTOMATIC PERPETUAL CALENDAR WRISTWATCH WITH MOON-PHASE DISPLAY

Calibre 240 Q, 27 jewels, Gyromax balance, 22k gold minirotor, opaline-white dial with white gold applied hour markers and pearled minute divisions, two bevelled engine-turned subdials for the month with leap year and day with 24-hour indication, analogue date with integrated moon-phase display, two-part case, snap-on case back, platinum PP buckle, case, dial and movement signed.


Patek Philippe's calibre 240 Q is the most splendid illustration of the manufacturer's confident style and technical skills. It features 275 miniscule parts in a compact marvel incredibly thin due in part to the integrated off-centred 22k gold minirotor.













[Source: Patek Philippe]
Putin's picture: AFP

Silvio Berlusconi's Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar Wristwatch

(Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar)

The most expensive watch worth US$540,000 Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar, worn by Italian Prime Minister and mega-wealthy industrialist Silvio Berlusconi. This Vacheron Constantin watch is worth over five hundred thousand dollars.

The Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Minute Repeater Perpetual Calendar was produced from 1946 through 2006. The discontinuance was a good strike news to those collectors fortunate enough to own one. This watch is in platinum, with the Vacheron Constantin reference number 30020/000P/7596.

It features a platinum case, with Vacheron’s familiar flared lugs. Its front crystal is a sapphire one while the back crystal one is made of acrylic permitting the repeater tone to sound more purely and louder. Case dimensions: 37mm diameter by 10.5mm thick.

Dial is silver with applied hour markers and sunken subdials. The following calendar information is shown: day, date, month, leap year, moonphase and age of the moon.

Its movement: the manual winding Vacheron Constantin Caliber 1755 with 30 jewels and adjusted to five positions and temperature. The construction of this movement and its finishing are extremely beautiful. The repeater hammer and gongs can be seen at work, when the repeater is activated.

Silvio Berlusconi was born in September 29^th, 1936. He is an Italian politician, the current Prime Minister of Italy as well as a billionaire entrepreneur. He is the longest-serving Prime Minister of Italy, a position he has held on three separate occasions: from 1994 to 1995, from 2001 to 2006 and currently since 2008. He is the leader of the People of Freedom political movement, a centre-right party he founded in 2009. As of November 2009, he is the longest-serving current leader of a G8 country.







[Vacheron Constantine Home Page]
[Interwatches' Vacheron Constantine' Gallery]

Watches and Celebrities: Elvis Presley's and Will Smith's Ventura Chrono Wristwatch and Harrison Ford's Kakhi Twilight Hamilton

Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. was born on September 25, 1968. He is an American actor, film producer and also a rapper. Newsweek has called him the most powerful actor on the planet. Smith has been nominated for four Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and he has won multiple Grammy Awards.
Smith rose to fame as a rapper under the name The Fresh Prince in the late 1980s and his role in the television series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. His most notable films include Bad Boys, Independence Day, Men in Black, Ali, I, Robot, The Pursuit of Happyness, I Am Legend, Hancock, and Seven Pounds. He is the only actor in history to have eight consecutive films gross over $100 million in the domestic box office as well as being the only actor to have eight consecutive films open at #1 on the domestic box office as a Lead Actor.

( Will Smith's Ventura Chrono, Men in Black.)

Men In Black (1997)

The adventures of two federal agent men Agent Kay and Agent Jay also known as “The Men in Black,” who keep an eye on aliens in New York City must try to save the world after the aliens threaten to blow it up.




Elvis Aaron Presley was born on January 8, 1935 and died in August 16, 1977. He was an American singer and actor. Cultural icon, widely known by single name Elvis. Often referred to as the King of Rock and Roll or simply the King.
Presley began his career in 1954 as one of the first performers of rockabilly, counting with such a versatile voice and he had unusually wide success encompassing many genres, including rock and roll, gospel, blues, country, ballads and pop. To date, he has been inducted into four music halls of fame.
Throughout his career, he set records for concert attendance, television ratings and recordings sales. He is one of the best-selling solo artists in the history of popular music, with sales between 600 million and one billion worldwide, and he is regarded as one of the most important figures of twentieth century popular culture. Among his many awards and accolades are 14 Grammy nominations (3 wins) from the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received at age 36, and being named One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men of the Nation for 1970 by the United States Jaycees.

(Elvis Presley's Ventura Watch, Blue Hawaii )

Chadwick Gates (Presley) has just gotten out of the Army, and is happy to be back in Hawaii with his surfboard, his beach buddies, and his girlfriend. His mother wants him to go to work at the Great Southern Hawaiian Fruit Company, but Chad is reluctant. So Chad goes to work as a tour guide at his girlfriend's agency.

(Harrison Ford's Kakhi Twilight Hamilton)

Harrison Ford was born on July 13, 1942. He is an American film actor and producer. Ford is best known for his performances as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy and as the title character of the Indiana Jones film series. He is also known for his roles as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner, John Book in Witness and Jack Ryan in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. His four-decade career also includes roles in several other Hollywood blockbusters, including Apocalypse Now, Presumed Innocent, The Fugitive, Air Force One, and What Lies Beneath. At one point, three of the top four box-office hits of all time included one of his roles. Five of his films have been inducted into the National Film Registry.
In 1997, Ford was ranked # 1 in Empire's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. As of July 2008, the United States domestic box office grosses of Ford's films total almost $3.4 billion, with worldwide grosses surpassing $6 billion, making Ford the third highest grossing U.S. domestic box-office star.











 [Hamilton Web Page]

Morgan Freeman and Breitling: Thick as Thieves 2009

Morgan Porterfield Freeman, Jr. was born in June 1, 1937. He is an American actor, film director and also a narrator. He is noted for his reserved behaviour and authoritative speaking voice.
Freeman received Academy Award nominations for his performances in Street Smart, Driving Miss Daisy, and The Shawshank Redemption before winning in 2005 for Million Dollar Baby. He has also won a Golden Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
Freeman appeared in many other box office hits, including Unforgiven, Glory, Seven, Deep Impact, The Sum of All Fears, Bruce Almighty, Batman Begins, The Bucket List, Evan Almighty, Wanted, and The Dark Knight.

Thick as Thieves

In New York, the experienced art thief Keith Ripley invites the bold thief from Miami Gabriel Martin to team up with him. He plans to steal two valuable mysterious antiques Faberge eggs, located in a well protected Russian jewellery Romanov. Each egg is worth twenty million dollars on the black market, and Ripley needs his cut to free himself from his debt to a powerful mobster, known as Nicky. The reluctant Gabriel agrees to participate, after having a one night stand with Ripley's goddaughter Alexandra Karolin. Meanwhile, the persistent Lieutenant Weber, who has unsuccessfully tried to put Ripley in jail for twenty years, figures out how to anticipate the movements of the criminal in order to catch him.

Breitling, the wristwatch manufacturer of the world's finest men's timepieces, was formed in 1884 by Leon Breitling, who set up the company at the tender age of 24 in Switzerland. Together with The First World War, when aviation combat machine took off, Breitling turned its attention to the aviation field, to being able to time keep it. Then, as the Second World War came, they introduced the famous "Chronomat" watch which was the first in the world to be fitted with a circular slide rule to aid with navigation. The peak of Breitling's success came in 1962, when astronaut Scott Carpenter wore one of their watches in space - this watch became known as the "Cosmonaute" and is a very highly sought after timepiece today.
Breitling wristwatches remain the first choice of most of today's commercial and professional aviators and new models such as the Breitling Emergency which sends out a radio distress signal if the wearer becomes lost, continue to keep the brand at the forefront of technology as well as style.

Michelle Obama's Cartier Tank Francaise

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama was born in January 17, 1964. Michelle is wife of the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama, and she is also the first African-American First Lady of the United States.

Michelle Robinson was born and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She graduated from Princeton University and Harvard Law School. After completing her formal education, she returned to Chicago and accepted a position with the law firm Sidley Austin, where she met her future husband. Subsequently, she worked as part of the staff of Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley, and for the University of Chicago Medical Center. Throughout 2007 and 2008, she helped campaign for her husband's presidential bid and delivered a keynote address at the 2008 Democratic National Convention. She is the mother of two daughters, Malia and Sasha, and is the sister of Craig Robinson, men's basketball coach at Oregon State University.

Michelle Obama chose her steel Cartier Tank Francaise. A very popular Cartier Tank watch tasteful and also luxurious. It comes in both male and female models with various levels of gilding. 

The Cartier Tank Francaise watch, introduced in 1917 during the First World War, was Cartier's most famous collection. Louis Cartier was inspired by the tough new war-machine, which was introduced to the fighting in Europe, and designed a rugged yet beautiful watch that became a classic. The Cartier Tank watch is manufactured in stainless steel, all types of gold or combined, and is available in three sizes: Cartier lady watches, with a 25mm x 20mm case; mid-size with a 31mm x 25mm case; and Cartier man watches with a 35mm x 29mm case. The case is rectangular, may be decorated with diamonds and has a cabochon crown; the dial is very easy-to-read and has bold roman numerals; the bracelet has rectangular links combined in a particular pattern-design that is similar to the tank's track. Though the Cartier Tank watch is a classic formal watch, it is very reliable, and is also water-resistant.













[Cartier Homepage]

Audemars piguet Genève, “Jules Audemars –Grande Sonnerie Carillon” - 2002 limited edition

 Audemars Piguet Jules Grande Sonnerie Watch.

The minute repeater carillon is a mechanism of great complexity that strikes the hours, quarters and minutes on request. These indications are obtained by 3 hammer strokes on different gongs: a low pitched one for the hours; a high pitched one for the minutes and one intermediate pitch (the one that allows for a carillon effect on the quarter hours). Striking power is calculated to achieve subtle balance and, if this balance gets to be too strong, it would muffle the sound. But in case of being too weak, the sound would be inaudible. Audemars Piguet developed the first minute repeating mechanism for a wristwatch in 1985.

Repeater movements consist of tiny parts manufactured to extremely fine tolerances. During movement assembly, the watchmaker has to hand-finish many of these components to arrive at the desired result.

While minute repeaters chime hours, quarters and minutes on 2 gongs with 2 hammers, the present watch, part of  “Jules Audemars” series, will chime the quarters with 3 hammers on 3 gongs, adding a further tone to the “dingdong” enchanted connoisseurs are so familiar with. 

[Source: Audemars Piguet and Antiquorum's Magazine]