Wear your loved one on your watch?

Have you ever heard of a company LifeGem? Iit is a company with quite a unique product. They turn pure carbon derived from the remains of loved ones and turn them into man made diamonds. The concept may sound a little bizarre, but people are buying it.

In fact as reported on LifeGem's website, a lock of hair Micheal Jackson's hair, which was salvaged by his executive producer ,Ralph Cohen, when Jackson's hair became inflamed during a Pepsi commercial, will be transformed into diamonds. John Reznikoff, a highly regarded collector who has hair from Einstein, Lincoln and a host of other famous individuals who have now passed on, and LifeGem are expecting to collect a small fortune for the gems. It is not the first time. LifeGem and Reznikoff joined forces and produced a diamond from Beethoven's locks which fetched Two Hundred Thousand Dollars. Of course they are expecting quite a bit more for a diamond produced from Micheal Jackson's hair. One of the diamond's will be presented to Jackson's family free of charge.

LifeGem had this to say:“We specialize in creating diamonds from locks of hair. Our plan is to give people an opportunity to own a diamond made from Michael Jackson’s DNA,” said Dean VandenBiesen founder of LifeGem. “We are currently evaluating Jackson's hair sample to determine how many diamonds can be created. This will be a limited collection and we anticipate great interest.”
I must say once I got over my initial objections, I found the diamonds to be quite pretty, and the concept intriguing. LifeGem embraces the sensitive issues of loss with compassion. They even have a LifeGem for pets. It seems the website only has diamond rings, but imagine a luxury watch covered with diamonds from a loved one. The timeless factor is endless.

Swarovski Enters a New Dimension

As I mentioned in previous blogs, Swarovski the highly famed crystal company has introduced a line of exceptional watches. Many larger companies begin to manufacture watches in addition to their clothing and jewelry lines; however Swarovski has something new to add to the watch market, its superior knowledge of crystal craftsmanship. The latest in a arresting array of watches is the Oceta Sports Ladies Watch.

The Octea Sports Ladies Watch has a 39mm wide case, which is quite the fashion. The bezel is shimmering with Swarovski faceted crystals lending a light and airy look to the watch. Based on a diver's watch ,complete with a rotating bezel, the Swarovski Octea Sports Ladies Watch, is quite appealing both in look and functionality. The Octea Sports is available in numerous appealing colors such as dark blue, black, pink and magenta. The movement is Swiss Quartz and the watch is available with a rubber or metal bracelet. Priced in $800 range, this watch will looks great in the summer sun.

Corum Golden Bridge for the Ladies

Corum has taken a new position in regard to its iconic Golden Bridge collection by placing the he hand-wound mechanical baton movement horizontally. 2.5 carats of diamonds cluster on the bezel like flood lights illuminating a grand spectacle. And grand it is, the wheels in motion are captivating beneath the exquisitely engraved bridge.
The sultry curved lines of the bezel, perpendicular to the bridge provides exudes a sense of liquidity and elegance. The angled rows of diamonds are set with incredible precision.

As a result of the incredible complexity and craftsmanship required to manufacture a luxury watch with this degree of excellence, only a few Golden Bridge for ladies will be crafted each year. The watches will be available in either 18k red or white gold.

This watch is a true testament to Rene Bannwart, Corum's founder. Since Corum's establishment in 1955, Brannwart vision was to have highly unusual and aesthetically pleasing luxury watches. It was a given that movement of the watches were perfect, it was the perfect design Bannwart sought.

First in House Movement for Louis Vuitton

This is probably one of the most beautiful watch designs I have ever seen. The Louis Vuitton Tambour Mysterieuse. The movement within this luxury watch is Louis Vuitton's first in house movement, making this watch collection a rarity. Louis Vuitton watches are hard to come by; but, the Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy or LVMH group owns Zenith, Hublot and Tag-Heuer.

The Louis Vuttion Tambour Mysterieuse manually wound LV115 movement is suspended in the center of the dial between two layers of Sapphire Crystal. One cannot determine how the movement is attached to the crown or the rest of the watch. It is a mystery. Which we will leave unsolved.
The hands of the watch jut out from the edge of the movement adding to the illusion of complete suspension. These watches remind me of Cartier's famous mystery clocks of 1912 where the hands seemed suspended in mid air hence the name mystery. Both Louis Vuttion and Cartier are French Companies founded in Paris in 1854 and 1847 respectively.
The watch is crafted to expose the vibrant palette jewels. The Tampour Case might have been quite bulky except it is tapered providing an elegant unique look. The lugs balance the Tambour case.
Although the manual wind may seem like a burden, Louis Vuitton has crafted the watch with an 8 day power reserve.
Being that the Louis Vuitton Tambour Mysterieuse will cost you about $265,000, you can customize the watch to suit your style. You can choose to purchase the watch with its 42.5mm wide case in red,yellow or white gold or platinum. You can choose either diamonds, rubies or sapphires for your power reserve indicator and have the cut of your choice. If you are looking to purchase this watch anytime soon, you had better hurry and customize your choice. From the time you order until the time the watch is ready to ship, you will have to wait a year, but once the year is up you will have one handsome watch and quite mysterious too.

Urwerk's King Cobra UR-CC1

Although so many watch companies captivate the horological world, Urwerk latest masterpieces always cause a flutter of excitement. Each piece is so "out of the box" and refreshing, bending and experimenting with the ways of time display and watch movements. However,Urwerk's watches are vaguely familiar and the familiarity derives from shapes already within our schema, the shapes of members of the animal Kingdom. The new URWERK King Cobra UR-CC1 and the previous Tarantula Urwerk UR103T.

After three years of research and development, Urwerk unveiled the world's first production wristwatch with true retrograde linear displays. Felix Baumgartner gleaned his inspiration for this horological endeavor from Patek Phillipe one and only prototype its 1958 King Cobra designed by Louis Cottier. Now after fifty years, Urwerk pays homage to this unique design. Another inspiration were the linear speedometers in old cars.

The retro case is over 47mm tall and 43mm wide. The seconds display ,in the upper window, is comprised of a large ultra-light disc and a spiral with Arabic numbers at the disc's edge. The progression of the seconds can be viewed in two ways: digitally and linearly: via a small window whereby every other second is displayed and via the spiral which seems to progress in a linear manner along the gauge. Two large cylinders display the hours and minutes in a retrograde manner. Both jumping hours and minutes spring back to the zero position once they are extended all the way..

The watch also features a honeycomb patterned rack (visible through a window on the side) used to rotate the minute cylinder that’s actually made from silicon via a photo lithography process in order to keep it extremely lightweight but also very strong.

Only 50 pieces have been produced: 25 pieces in 18k gray gold and another 25 in 18k black gold.

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Automatic

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Compressor Automatic Mens Watch

The guy who stepped into my office was wearing a pretty nice Armani suit and a pretty nice watch.

I craned my neck trying to get a look at his watch, but I couldn't make it out. I really have to visit my optometrist to get a stronger prescription for my lenses.

"I love your watch," I exclaimed with much enthusiasm, "What brand is it?"

"Jaeger!" he said,

"Ooh nice," I said "Which one?"

He unstrapped the watch and peered at the back,

"Master Compressor Automatic" he said.

This watch is quite cool as the wearer can control the water resistance. The crowns are equipped with an external butterfly collar displaying red and white enamel indicating arrows to indicate whether the watch is water resistance or not. The white arrow indicates the crown is water resistant and the red arrow indicates the crown is non-water resistant. The water resistance occurs as the collar compresses a gasket preventing water from entering the watch.
As with all Jaeger-LeCoultre timepieces, this watch is subjected to a Master 1000 hour test where rigorous testing ensures that once the luxury timepiece is released to the consumer, it is at optimum condition and reliability of the highest standard.

Bell & Ross and the skull!

BOO! I hope I scared you didn't I? I mean not many blogs begin with a Boo, but hey it goes with the watch. Corum usually does the skull thing, but "Bell & Ross" has achieved a powerful Talisman Watch. The Limited Edition BR 01 Airborne was unveiled in Basel World. The watch is undoubtedly Bell and Ross with its square design and prominent screws. The skull icon originated in World War II and is accompanied by US Airborne motto, "Death from Above". A reminder of the courageous military paratroopers who jumped into enemy territory. The skull symbolized their incredible bravery . The skull motif was used by the military on fighter jets and patches. It was a symbol of strength and defiance of defeat even in the face of death. Today the skull is a tribute to all those brave men and women in combat who serve to defend this country.

The BR 01 Airborne is limited to just 500 pieces. The Automatic Mechanical ETA 2892 movement is powered by the swinging motion of ones arm. The case is 46mm and extremely resilient. 316L glass bead blasted steel with black finishing type carbon powder coating. The skull and hands are photo luminescent providing an eery night time glow and readability. The watch dial is protected by anti-reflection sapphire crystal - a hard scratch resistant material. The watch is water resistance to 100 meters.