Mumbai, September 27th, 2007 - Nabucco, the latest offing by the international luxury Swiss watchmaker RAYMOND WEIL, exclusively dedicated to men, was officially launched in India on 26th September 2007. Olivier Bernheim, President and CEO of the Geneva brand presented the inaugural watch to the celebrity guest who unveiled the watch - India’s first male supermodel, actor and producer today, acclaimed Milind Soman.
Caption: Lot 8, deLaCour ”Saqra Weekend Graphite” Unique piece. A very fine and interesting graphite and 18k pink gold self-winding gentleman’s wristwatch with day, date and 40-hour power-reserve indication. Sold: €14,000
(September 20, Monaco Yacht Show) In the presence of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco, the Only Watch 07 charity auction of 35 unique timepieces, first in series or prototypes raised the sum of € 2,756,500/ USD 3′878′946,/ CHF 4′553′186. All proceeds from this sale, organized by Antiquorum, will help fund important medical Research on Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy.
The collection draws on a diverse range of inspirations, from different peoples and eras in the history of the Silk Road. Many of the prints combine tribal Central Asian (Kazakh, Mongol, Kirghiz, Uzbek and Tajik) motifs with more familiar Han Chinese elements, such as peony flowers and the “Shou” symbol. The collection has a significant focus on outerwear, with luxuriant suede and leathers, embellished with studs and jade, evoking the nomadic lifestyle, where wealth and luxury were literally worn on one’s sleeve.
Featuring models such as Liu Dan, the fashion parade was unveiled with the Ikat hand knit coat. The Ikat motif, beloved by the Central Asian tribes of Chinese Turkestan, runs throughout the collection as a unifying thread, sometimes alone, sometimes juxtaposed with disparate elements.
Jeager-LeCoultre International Polo Tournament will take place in Antwerp the 22nd and 23rd of September. Each afternoon, 4 International Polo teams will play 2 matches. 10€ for gentlemen and free access for ladies and children. For more info, please visit www.polomasters.be
Mustang Fragrances, the new men’s brand from Aramis and Designer Fragrances, today announced the launch of the brand’s Web site and nationwide sweepstakes, calling on consumers to log on to www.mustangformen.com for their chance to win a VIP weekend during this year’s Ford 400 Championship.
Luxury is a culture and this website knows it…
Caption: Rebecca Gayheart, Robert & Luciana Duvall, Marie Louise Parker
On September 16, 2007, Harry Winston celebrates the 59th Emmy Awards (Beverly Hills, CA) by offering nominated actors the longstanding tradition of wearing the world’s finest diamonds and gem stones. This year, the diamonds seen on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards include pieces from Harry Winston’s newest design Diamond de Neige, a collection inspired by the crystalline forms of winter’s first falling snow. Also debuting on the red carpet is Harry Winston Men by Thom Browne. This collection features custom cut trapezoidal diamonds set in diagonal rows to recall the classic regiment stripe that is signature of the menswear designer.
Take a front-seat at the New Spring Fashion Show… Ralph Lauren’s website gives you a backstage pass by presenting exclusives behind-the-scenes video, celebrity interviews and photos from the lavish after-party.
Tiffany & Co. announced plans to open an 5,100sq-ft store in Westfield Topanga, a luxury retail center in the Topanga Canyon area of Los Angeles, California, in April 2008.
Located at 6600 Topanga Canyon Boulevard in Canoga Park, Westfield Topanga was expanded in 2006 to include more upscale retailers and amenities such as dining and entertainment. Flooded with natural light, the spacious center has become a luxury shopping destination for the San Fernando Valley and beyond.
The new store will be Tiffany’s fourth location in Los Angeles.
Source: Tiffany & Co. Press Release
De Beers Diamond Jewellers, a joint venture of De Beers and LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton formerly known as De Beers LV, is set to open a jewelry store in the GUM Russian shopping mall in Moscow (Russia) in November. De Beers’ Russian partner will manage the unit.
De Beers has approximately 23 boutiques worldwide (three in the United States, four in Europe, one in Middle East and 14 in Asia). New boutiques are set to open by the end of the year.
- Turnover: €488m (+15% at comparable exchange rates, +9% at current exchange rates)
- Gross margin: €311m (+9%)
- Operating profit: €62m (+17%)
- Net profit: €58m (+32%)
The Board of Directors of Bulgari S.p.A. approved yesterday the consolidated financial statements for the Bulgari Group as of 30th June 2007 which highlight a turnover of €487.8m increased by 14.8% at comparable exchange rates (+8.9% at current exchange rates) in comparison to the same period of last year. Operating profit and net profit increased by 17.0% and 31.5% respectively in comparison to the same period of 2006.
Revenues by product category and geographical area (All the variations reported below are expressed at comparable exchange rates unless noted otherwise)
The period January – June 2007 ended with outstanding sales results for the Group. The jewellery segment, core business of the Company, showed a significant growth (+20.8%), as well as watches (+10.2%), also thanks to the success of the new Assioma D model for women presented at the Basel Fair, and perfumes (+21.6%), whose performance is particularly brilliant considering the absence of relevant product launches in this first part of the year. Accessories registered a decrease (-8.2%) due both to the weakness of the Japanese market, where a very important part of the business for this product category is concentrated, and to the anticipation at the end of 2006 of the Spring-Summer 2007 collection deliveries. As far as geographical areas are concerned, the robust sales performance was very satisfying in the US(+26.6%), in Europe (+10.9%), where the performance in Italy was particularly remarkable (+15.7%) and in Asia, excluding Japan, (+55.0%). Japan continued to post a weak performance (-9.0%), showing however a sales performance in the directly owned stores much better than in the third party distributors. Middle East/Other, finally, registered a 7.8% growth at current exchange rates despite the high comparison base (+21.3% in the first half 2006 at current exchange rates).
Source: Bvlgari SpA Press Release
At the Annual General Meeting of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA held today in Bellevue, Geneva, the shareholders approved the results for the year, including the proposals of the board of directors for the appropriation of retained earnings at 31 March 2007.
A dividend of € 0.054 per Richemont unit will be paid to unitholders on the share capital of Compagnie Financière Richemont SA. The dividend will be payable to holders of ‘A’ and ‘B’ units on 17 September 2007 against presentation of coupon number 8, free of charges but subject to Swiss withholding tax at 35 per cent. The total dividend payable to unitholders will amount to € 30 272 912. No dividend will be paid on units held in treasury by the Group.
The Swiss franc equivalent of the dividend for the purposes of with-holding taxes, calculated at the €/Swiss franc exchange rate prevailing as at the time of the Annual General Meeting of 1.6446, is CHF 0.0888084 per Richemont unit or
CHF 49 786 831 in total. The remaining available retained earnings of the Company at 31 March 2007 of CHF 1 081 579 829, after payment of the dividend, will be carried forward to the next business year.
In addition to the Compagnie Financière Richemont SA payment, a dividend of € 1.196 per unit will be paid by Richemont SA, Luxembourg. This consists of an ordinary dividend of € 0.596 and a special dividend of € 0.60 per unit and will be
payable to holders of ‘A’ and ‘B’ units without deduction of withholding taxes or charges, on 17 September 2007, against presentation of coupon number 9. The total dividend for the year, payable by both entities, will therefore be € 1.25 per
unit, before deduction of withholding tax. All other matters on the agenda were approved by the shareholders. All the serving members of the board of directors were re-elected and, in addition, Mrs Anson Chan was elected to the Board.
Richemont owns a portfolio of leading international brands or ‘Maisons’, which are managed independently of one another, recognising their individuality and uniqueness. The businesses operate in five areas: Jewellery Maisons, being Cartier
and Van Cleef & Arpels; Specialist watchmakers, which is made up of Jaeger-LeCoultre, Piaget, IWC, Baume & Mercier, Vacheron Constantin, Officine Panerai and A. Lange & Söhne; Writing instrument Maisons - Montblanc and Montegrappa; Leather and accessories Maisons, being Alfred Dunhill and Lancel; and Other businesses, which includes, specifically, Chloé as well as other smaller Maisons and watch component manufacturing activities for third parties. In addition to its luxury goods business, Richemont holds a 19.2 per cent interest in British American Tobacco.
Source: Richemont Press Release
On September 12th, Hublot watches CEO Jean-Claude Biver presented his virtual island to Second Life residents and real-life journalists at a press conference held simultaneously both in the real world and in virtual reality…!
Jean-Claude Biver invited visitors on a tour of his new estate: a universe parallel to our own everyday lives, a fast-expanding cosmos attracting increasing numbers of Earth dwellers who go there to create the life of their dreams. An excellent way to increase visibility of Hublot around the world and even beyond!
But what is Second Life? It’s a virtual 3-D reality on the web, an imaginary living space and communication platform, inhabited by characters called “avatars”, who travel between islands, meet, buy, learn and do business together. To enter this world through your computer screen, all that’s required is a brief identification procedure… and then you’re free to unleash your creativity! To become a virtual consumer, you must buy “Linden $”, which can be used to purchase all sorts of products. More than 5 million people have already created their own avatar, and 200,000 active residents can be found on the space every day. It’s a tremendous opportunity for a brand to do a little self-publicity, make contact with a diverse audience, establish a new type of relationship with its clients and reach out to a potentially far larger number of people than in real life!
All of which, of course, could not fail to arouse the interest and curiosity of Jean-Claude Biver, a man with a passion for innovative projects and discovering future technologies. And this virtual world promises to bring Hublot watches extraordinary visibility. While plans for the future Hublot workshop were continuing apace in real life, Biver entrusted the task of designing the Hublot island to a specialist company responsible for establishing the watchmaking brand on Second Life. In this world, any expression of creativity and art is permitted. The island, in the form of the brand’s H-shaped logo, is one of the very first representatives of a luxury brand in this dimension! And certainly the very first high watchmaking brand to enable such interactivity. So, anyone wanting to go (or rather teleport their avatar) there to visit the complex and see the watch collection will be given a hearty welcome and plunged deep into the Hublot world. There they can admire Hublot’s design capabilities down to the very last detail illustrating its expertise in the juxtaposition of materials and textures, and they can even try out a vectorized reproduction of a Big Bang, the quality of which is truly breathtaking.
The entire Hublot environment is represented on the island, from the Wally boats moored in the Marina through to the football ground reserved for the Euro08 and windows in the shape of a ship’s porthole, from the animated catalogue through to the giant screen broadcasting Hublot TV, from the Bar terrace, reminiscent of the one at the Basel Fair, through to the exhibition room furnished with Raptor showcases… During the presentation, Jean-Claude Biver (we mean its avatar) welcomed the avatars of journalists, who each came away with a copy of the press kit under their arm!
Anything seems possible on Second Life, and this exciting new playground allows Hublot to be seen and visited by growing numbers of visitors every day, from all over the world, with whom he can communicate live. Already swept up in a whirlwind of success in real life, Hublot will no doubt be a popular topic of conversation on Second Life, attracting both seasoned “Hublotistas” and newcomers wishing to know a little more about the brand… whose avatars will always be welcome!
Source: Hublot Press Release
Aber Diamond Corporation announces its second quarter results for the period ended July 31, 2007.
“We are pleased with our strong results this quarter that have delivered a 24% increase in sales and a 27% increase in earnings from operations with both segments of our business contributing to the record results,” said Robert Gannicott, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aber Diamond Corporation. “Rough diamond production increased 21% in the quarter as a result of grade enhancements from improvements to the diamond recovery process. In our Harry Winston business, the demand for premier jewelry and watches continued to grow in our new and existing salons worldwide.”
Mr. Gannicott continued, “Our mining and retail businesses are strong and we believe we are well positioned for greater growth while retaining a focus on delivering shareholder value.”
Thomas J. O’Neill, President of Aber and Chief Executive Officer of Harry Winston added, “Our 41% increase in sales from our worldwide retail portfolio of 15 salons and selective watch wholesale network, reinforces the strong global demand for the premier diamond jewelry and watches of Harry Winston. Our newest salon, in Beijing, opened during the quarter and our clients have responded well to our collections. We believe we are well positioned for the important upcoming holiday season. While we are focused on the near term, we continue to build for the future. We are on schedule to open three additional salons in the third quarter in key regions throughout the world including Hong Kong, Chicago and Nagoya, Japan and we look forward to introducing our new clients in these dynamic cities to our collections and our service.”
