Friday at Rosewood

Mario Bellini For Meritalia

A luminescent air-filled furniture line by Mario Bellini for Meritalia.

Lady Dior – What’s In Her Bag?

On May 20th, the Dior fashion house will broadcast on the Internet a new thriller starring Marion Cotillard, muse of the legendary Lady Dior handbag.

In exclusivity for our readers, we are offering an 8 second scene, which brings to life the famous ad campaign by Peter Lindbergh.

What is she looking at? What’s in her bag? You can follow the Lady Dior Twitter for a daily clue to the mystery.

L’Hélicoptère Par Hermès

Falcon Aviation Services has received its first “Hélicoptère par Hermès” on Sunday at a ceremony held in Abu Dhabi.

Priced at $6 million, the EC135 helicopter is created by a collaboration between Eurocopter and Hermès, the French designer of luxury goods.

“This helicopter illustrates a fusion between design and technology, where every detail has been created for VIP and business travellers,” said Salem Al Kayoumi, FAS’s vice-chairman.

Atelier DeMonaco Care d’Or Roman Imperial Grand Tourbillon XP Watch

This new brand is founded on the idea of bringing the lifestyle of Monaco to the ingenuity of Swiss matchmaking. At least that is the idea. Atelier DeMonaco’s forthcoming live of watches are nice to look at with ideals that lay somewhere between classic and modern (a bit like Monaco itself). The watches start with the company’s proprietary XP one minute tourbillon movement that was designed to be as accurate a tourbillon as is possible. It does this through fine tweaks and optimization in the overall design of the movement using such items and features as a Silicium escapement and lever, a well adjusted balance cafe for the escapement, and ion etching for precise creation of individual movement parts. Note their use of incredibly well engraved gold rotors for the automatic movement.

I like that the XP one minute tourbillon movement is an automatic and uses a transparent sapphire tourbillon bridge. A major element of the watch’s allure is view into the tourbillon’s operation which is aided by such fancy parts, and the double sapphire crystals. The pictured model is the Care d’Or Roman Imperial Grand Tourbillon XP watch characterized by its square case and use of Roman numerals. Other similar versions of the watch come in white gold (as opposed to rose gold) and with Arabic numerals or simple hour index markers. The 44.3mm x 48mm case is quite complex using 33 parts and utilizes a core made of titanium to save weight. Case design is reminiscent of the Monaco’s architecture, while gold is used for much of the case, the hands, and the buckle on the alligator strap. Look for this and other very high end Atelier DeMonaco watches out soon, as the brand has been formally introduced only recently in the middle of April 2009.

Raymond Weil Lady Freelancer Chronograph Watch

Whether purposefully or coincidentally, I find it amusing that this new very feminine Lady Freelancer watch by Raymond Weil shares an almost identical dial and function layout to the very masculine IWC Top Gun Pilot Double Chronograph watch. Perhaps the similarity is no accident as Raymond Weil bills this new watch as a form of urban luxury offering a very large for a lady’s watch width size of 42mm in a stainless steel diamond set case. Diamonds are a major element of the Lady Freelancer Chronograph watch’s theme with 169 stones on the case and another 66 lining the bezel. Still, the watch seems to be confused, with such formal attire, the large dial still bears an exposed screw, and the baton hands and sharp edged hour markers are more aggressive in tone than you’d expect from a magenta colored watch. Perhaps this watch is for the lady packin’ a concealed Beretta under her evening wear?

The Lady Freelancer Chronograph comes in two colors, fuchsia pink and off white, with matching alligator straps. Inside the watch is an automatic Valjoux 7750 mechanical movement providing the time, 12 hour chronograph, and day and date complications. Price will likely exceed $4,000 given the amount of stones and might go higher is Raymond Weil is feeling particularly optimistic.

Fully Hand-Engraved Magrette Maui’s Fish Limited Edition Watch From New Zealand

This incredible watch was thought impossible given the level of detail all over the timepiece’s case – but passion made it possible. Graduating from having a limited edition watch with just an engraved bezel – New Zealand’s own and only watch company, Magrette, now presents “Maui’s Fish.” The watch is based on the Magrette Regattare model, but adds an incredible amount of decoration styled after the art and stories of New Zealand’s native people, the Maoris.

What I like so much about the engravings is the level of character as opposed to just being pretty. Expressive faces peek between waves and winds, with an overall visual effect of the watch being quite satisfying and appearing grand in scale. The images actually tell a story related to a Maori mythological tale relating to the creation of New Zealand’s northern island, you can learn more about it via the link above. A good story like that to share while showing off your watch is something you don’t get with most other timepieces.

Inside the watch is a Swiss automatic mechanical ETA 2824-2 movement, with a legible and attractive dial similar to Anonimo watch faces. The steel case is 44mm wide, and the watch comes in a limited edition presentation box crafted from New Zealand Kauri timber. Price is a very reasonable $3985, but the watch comes in a limited edition of just 10. A really great watch with a great story. See the gallery below for more images of the Magrette Maui’s Fish.

Vacheron Constantin Overseas Gray Watch Line For 2009

Please don’t tell me that gray is the new black. Vacheron Constantin’s new Overseas Gray watch at least wants to suggest that, and the slate colored look of the popular sports watch from the thankfully conservative watch brand seems to suggest just that. Having undergone but just a few minor tweaks over the past decade or so, the Overseas line of diver-themed watches from Vacheron Constantin is the watch to wear for those who like the idea and heritage behind the brand, but aren’t too keen on the highly traditional looks of much of the watch line (and who, like me, are not into the design of the “experimental” Qaui de l’Ile watches).

Another way to look at the Overseas Gray watch is that it has been pulled from a black & white movie. The tonalities of the watch in its multi-shade monochromatic glory suggest just that. Can’t you see picking this watch right out of a classic film before “glorious color” supplanted the days of forever noir. Accordingly, the Vacheron Constantin Gray is based on a design from 1933, which has been reinterpreted by the brand a few times over the ages.

Two versions of the 42mm gray nickel-coated 18k white gold cased watches are available. The three-hand and chronograph housing an automatic Vacheron Constantin caliber 1226 and 1137 respectively. The dial is a satin finish with white gold hands and hour indexes. The watch will come with a “mouse grey” alligator strap and a black rubber strap. Check for these new pieces of history soon.

New Tourbillon Watch Boutique on Wall Street

One of the most coveted watch models among collectors is the highly complicated tourbillon, which was invented in 1801 by Abraham-Louis Breguet as a means to improve the accuracy of timekeeping. Designed to counter the effects of gravity by mounting the escapement and balance wheel in a rotating cage, the tourbillon regulator is now employed by many high-end watchmakers. The feature is so desirable that the Swatch Group Ltd., owner of Breguet among several other brands, has assembled many of its complex tourbillon models in a new store dedicated to the complication on New York’s Wall Street. The Tourbillon Boutique, opened last month, showcases a selection of the top models from Breguet, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet Droz, and Omega watchmakers. The Swatch Group’s choice of a Wall Street location, with its close proximity to bankers with little time to shop a Fifth Avenue store, was quite intentional. “We found that Wall Street bankers are our most loyal tourbillon customers,” said a spokesperson, “with the least amount of time to go uptown to shop.” The Swatch Group already has 17 Tourbillon Boutiques in locations worldwide including Beijing; Nice, France; Singapore; and Los Angeles.

Rokin Koi Mid Black Leather Shoes

Rokin gets it right with this Portuguese made mid-top leather shoe. The lace-up mid height boot pulls from the deck shoe movement but makes it all its own by angling the opening on top and brightening the stitching in white. An overall great look in a shoe.