Sunlight Journey: Piaget high jewelry collection ‘17
Shades of Sunset: The pink gold Viva l’Arte ring set with purple sapphires, pink spinels and diamonds with feather marquetry is the perfect representation of Sunlight Journey, depicting colours of dusk at the Amalfi coast

Piaget’s high jewelry collection for the year 2017 is breath-taking in its brilliance, attempting to capture Italy’s romantic Amlafi Coast in myriad glorious shades as it lies bathed in the rays of the sun. Depicting every minute change from dawn to dusk, and drawing in everything from wave to shore, each piece in the collection is a masterpiece. Named ‘Sunlight Journey’, Piaget’s high jewellery collection dedicated to the shades of sunlight on the sea features three main themes—Secrets of Dawn, Midday Festival and Nightfall Celebration—reverberating throughout in a tapestry of necklaces, watches, cuff and rings.

The Infinite Waves Watch with 78 brilliant cut diamonds and parchment marquetry paints a picture of the Mediterranean Sea at dawn
The Infinite Waves Watch with 78 brilliant cut diamonds and parchment marquetry paints a picture of the Mediterranean Sea at dawn

The soft light of dawn is reflected in the ‘Sand Waves’ Watch, which is set on an 18ct pink gold cuff and set with 428 brilliant-cut diamonds. Its secret cover is set with a white opal, and it has a white mother-of-pearl dial. The ‘Infinite Waves’ watch is another masterpiece set with 78 brilliant cut diamonds and parchment marquetry, reflecting the Mediterranean sky and sea at dawn.

Blue Shore Cuff Watch depicting azure sea and silver sky
Blue Shore Cuff Watch depicting azure sea and silver sky

The brilliant golden light of the noonday sun spread regally over the shimmering sea is captured perfectly in the fascinating, unusual ‘Verde Bisazza’ watch. Enchantingly depicting the ebb and flow of waves rippling at the shore, the watch flaunts a breathtaking assymetrical mosaic of emeralds, diamonds and green tourmalines. The Azzuro Bisazza necklace matches this theme, with its wave-like mosaic of emeralds, diamonds and green tourmalines that best capture the shifting quality of the midday sunlight on waves.

Verde Bisazza watch takes the shape of waves rippling at the shore with a mosaic of emeralds, diamonds and green tourmalines
Verde Bisazza watch takes the shape of waves rippling at the shore with a mosaic of emeralds, diamonds and green tourmalines
The Azzuro Bisazza necklace with mosaic of emeralds, diamonds and green tourmalines
The Azzuro Bisazza necklace with mosaic of emeralds, diamonds and green tourmalines

The colours of dusk at the Amalfi coast are represented perfectly by the Viva l’Arte ring and cuff. Adorned with red spinels, purplish pink spinels, pink sapphires and spessartitie gems, the Viva l’Arte cuff is the perfect echo of the shades of Mediterranean sunset: orange, pink and gold flecked with purple. The Viva l’Arte ring is a work of art in itself, featuring the very prominent Piaget motif of feather marquetry in pink gold, set with red spinels, purple sapphires and diamonds.

Viva l’Arte cuff is a representation of the colours of sunset, with red spinels, purplish pink spinels, pink sapphires and spessartitie gems
Viva l’Arte cuff is a representation of the colours of sunset, with red spinels, purplish pink spinels, pink sapphires and spessartitie gems

The Sunlight Journey collection is the fourth high jewelry collection by Piaget that pays tribute to the life-bestowing rays to the sun, after Mediterranean Garden, Secrets & Lights and Sunny Side of Life.

Pic 6 Sunlight journey ring

Pic 7 Convertible necklace Sunlight journey

Lake Como luxury vintage Ferrari experience with Mandarin Oriental Milan

Mandarin Oriental, Milan has launched a luxury, self-drive Lake Como package that offers guests a customised daytrip with a drive to Lake Como in a vintage Ferrari and experience a private tour aboard a classic Riva speedboat. The guests would be taken to Lake Como in a Ferrari Dino 246 GT Gallettoni—a one-hour drive north of Milan. Lake Como is the most exclusive of the Italian Lakes, its shoreline dotted with historic villas backed by magnificent gardens. The drive takes you through the most picturesque villages and some of Italy’s prettiest countryside. On arrival at Lake Como, guests will enjoy a private, three-hour boat ride aboard a glamorous Riva Aquarama. Champagne and canapés will be served on board, while they are shown their chosen places of interest round the lake. Although lunch is not included in the package, Mandarin Oriental, Milan’s concierge can advise on lakeside restaurants based on guest’s preferences, and arrange table reservations. A personal road assistant driver will accompany guests from Milan in a separate vehicle and be on call to ensure a smooth rental experience from start to finish, providing valet parking, car wash, refuelling service and technical support. On request, the package can include nearby Lake Maggiore, home to genteel towns with oleanders and palms lining the lakefront. The lake destination, choice of car, and duration of the drive and boat tour in the Lake Como Luxury Vintage Experience package can all be tailored to suit the preferences of the guest. Available until 30 September 2017, the Lake Como Luxury Vintage Experience is priced from EUR 5,100 ($ 5,985 approx) per room per night.

Williams 40th Anniversary Oris Chronograph celebrates F1 team landmark

The Williams 40th Anniversary Oris Chronograph is the perfect vintage timepiece that marks the completion of four decades of the Williams Grand Prix Engineering F1 team, a racing legend since 1977. A perfect specimen of fine horology, the Oris Chronograph is a tribute to the 1970s—a two-register chronograph with a vertical 12 and 6 design very popular forty years ago. The small 40mm case and the layout of the dial are both throwbacks to the 70s too. The movement used is their own cal. 673 automatic movement with a 48-hour power reserve. Priced at $3700, the watch is limited edition with only a 1000 units to be created —each carrying the number engraved on the caseback. You also get to choose between three band options—black rubber rally strap, beads-of-rice metal bands, or the all-time favourite small-holed weathered brown leather strap.

Gucci unveils Star Trek-inspired Fall/Winter 17 campaign

Who can forget Star-Trek, right? Well, Gucci certainly haven’t, for their latest Fall/Winter advertising is inspired by the immensely popular Star-Trek, among other sci-fi flicks of the 1950s and 1960s-namely the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Lost in Space, and The Valley of Gwangi. Shot by Glen Luchford, the campaign’s retro-futurist settings were dreamed up by creative director Alessandro Michele. According to Gucci, this campaign is all about a “parallel universe” with a mixed cast of “humanoids, aliens, robots and earthlings” that unite for the “Gucci invasion”! “ Human characters interact with extra-terrestrial creatures and dinosaurs on Earth and are then beamed up to surreal, psychedelic outer-space landscapes and trippy spaceship interiors, creating wild and fantastical compositions.” Says the brand. In addition to Michele as creative director and Luchford as photographer/director, Gucci’s Fall/Winter 2017 advertising campaign has been realized by art director Christopher Simmonds, hair stylist Paul Hanlon and makeup artist Yadim Carranza.

Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Revitalising Mask Noir with Diamond truffles

Estee Lauder has unveiled the Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Revitalizing Mask Noir, a unique mud mask infused with the exotic goodness of Black Diamond truffle. Accompanied by a self-exfoliating kabuki brush, this mask is priced at $340 for a 1.7 oz bottle. And with good reason. The Black Diamond truffle is an extremely unique substance created from the painstakingly-collected diamond extract of oak and hazelnut trees in the wild Southwest region of France. So exclusive is the ingredient that the truffles themselves are priced at $900 per pound . About 10-15kg of these super expensive truffles then yield merely 1kg of pure extract, which is further refined to create the Re-Nutriv Mask. So now you have some extra luxe loving for the skin.

Michael Kors buys Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion

Michael Kors just clinched the deal, buying Jimmy Choo for $1.2 billion. The purchase of the British fashion house is being touted as a shot in the arm for American fashion house Michael Kors, which had witnessed plummeting profits recently. This is a big step by the brand towards building a bigger international luxury group, according to the group’s Chairman and CEO John D. Idol. Idol reportedly said he was targeting more acquisitions, focusing on luxury companies that “lead in style and trend” but also “have got some size and scale” as well as “some heritage.”

2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso to debut in India on Aug 2

Italian supercar manufacturer Ferrari is all set to launch its tourer, the 2017 Ferrari GTC4Lusso, in India.The tourer made its official global debut at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show and is a successor of the Ferrari FF with some very cool style and powertrain revisions. Exterior updates include a new front grille with integrated air intakes, roof-mounted rear spoiler and a new diffuser and lights with a visibly sharper design. Inside, the GTC4 Lusso is equipped with a 10.25-inch tablet-style high-resolution infotainment touchscreen. What’s more, the GTC4Lusso also boasts of four-wheel steering. The GTC4Lusso is powered by the same 6.2-litre V12 as the FF but has been further updated to make 680bhp of power at 8,000rpm and 697Nm of torque at 5,750rpm. Ferrari claims that the GTC4Lusso can do 0-100kmph in 3.4 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 335kmph.

A. Lange & Söhne reveal new version of the 1815 Chronograph

As an extension of the 1815 watch family, A. Lange & Söhne has unveiled a new version of the 1815 Chronograph with the stopwatch function, combining a 39.5-millimetre white-gold case and a black dial with a pulsimeter scale. The latest version of the classic A Lange & Sohne chronograph comes endowed with the calibre L951.5 movement, a power reserve of 60 hours and a manufactory-made free-sprung balance spring. Its carefully calibrated interaction with the large, cam-poised balance guarantees excellent rate accuracy. Because it beats at a frequency of 18,000 semi-oscillations per hour (2.5 hertz), the watch can measure times with an accuracy of one fifth of a second.The rhodiumed hands ensure superb legibility against the backdrop of a jet-black solid-silver dial. Additionally, heart rates can be determined with the pulsimeter scale on the outer ring of the dial, graduated from 40 to 200 beats. When the time for 30 beats is measured, the peripheral scale indicates the heart rate per minute. This new member of the 1815 family is underscored with a black alligator leather strap and a solid white-gold Lange prong buckle. A sapphire-crystal caseback provides an enlightening glimpse of the complex switching sequences, displaying the column wheel that controls the chronograph functions, the levers of the flyback mechanism, and the snail of the precisely jumping minute counter. The escapement is readily visible as well. Hallmarks of the Lange style include the whiplash spring of the precision beat-adjustment system on the hand-engraved balance cock.

Mandarin Oriental Singapore unveils package to welcome Singapore Grand Prix

Mandarin Oriental, Singapore has unveiled the special Singapore Night Race package for the approaching annual Singapore Grand Prix. The package offers guests three-day tickets to either the Padang Grandstand, which offers an impressive view of the cars racing past the imposing National Gallery or the new Empress Grandstand, which rewards guests with perfect vantage points over the cars entering the historical Anderson Bridge. Both areas are located at Zone 4 which is lined with merchandise booths and other exciting offerings. Guests will be accommodated in the Marina Bay View Room and treated to international buffet breakfast and lunch at the sophisticated Melt Café featuring diverse Asian and European gourmet delights. The Singapore Night Race package is valid from 14 to 19 September, with room rates starting at SGD 1,350 per night.

Evora GT430: fastest, most powerful sports car ever from Lotus

Lotus has now unveiled its most powerful road-going model ever – also their fastest and lightest—the Evora GT430. A limited run model with only 60 units to be made, this Evora is powered by an updated version of the 3.5-litre V6 supercharged engine, producing 430bhp at 7,000 rpm and 440Nm of torque from 4,500 rpm. Additionally, Lotus slashed more weight from the sports car’s already svelte figure, fitting it with an extensive aerodynamic body kit made up of exposed carbon fiber.  So the Evora GT430 weighs just 1,258kg (dry) thanks to a lighter titanium exhaust, carbon body panels and lightweight interior components. The engine is paired to a 6-speed manual gearbox, and the Evora GT430 can reach speeds in excess of 305 kmph (190 mph.) The interiors are decked up in premium leather and Alcantara with an optional integrated touchscreen infotainment system which comes with iPhone connectivity, Bluetooth, satellite navigation, and a reverse camera. The Evora GT430 will only be sold in select markets around the world, namely UK, Germany, France, Italy and Japan.