For upcoming Valentine’s Day or any special occasion, a luxury watch makes the ideal gift. Van Cleef & Arpels has just released a luxury collection titled, “Poetic Complications.”

Each Poetic Wish timepiece is presented in its own extraordinary cabinet made of precious woods and mother-of-pearl inlay. The boxes tell the story of the Poetic Wish watches and, when they are put together, the young lovers from within the story are re-united. The cabinet’s interiors have been conceived following the tradition of stringed instrument makers so as to enhance the sound of the Poetic Complications. The watch, placed in its customised box, becomes a collector’s piece.

You may be wondering what was the inspiration behind the Van Cleef & Arpels luxury watch collection. Here’s the magical story …

Once upon a time, Van Cleef & Arpels asked a diamond fairy to transform the colours of time. Thanks to her, complication movements, so precious to watchmakers and to watch lovers, became poetic. This was in 2007, Van Cleef & Arpels presented a Poetic Complication: the Lady Arpels Féérie watch, equipped with a retrograde movement.

A diamond fairy indicated the hours with her wand, the minutes with the tip of her wings. Her dazzling wand had granted another wish: to a baby girl in her cradle, she promised happiness, love and joy. A few years later, Van Cleef & Arpels added another chapter to its Poetry of Time with the Une Journée à Paris watch.

The child had become a girl and she discovered the City of Romance thanks to a series of symbols on the watch’s dial: the place Vendôme column, the giant Ferris wheel of the jardin des Tuileries… and the Eiffel Tower.

In 2010, the girl was back in Paris with the Pont des Amoureux watch. Two young people, on a summer’s night, walked along a bridge on the Seine river. The young woman’s steps indicated the hours; the young man’s marked the minutes.

Slowly but surely, they came closer to finally exchange a kiss at midnight. Since then, the two young lovers have stayed in Paris and a new chapter of The Poetry of Time has been written for them. The Lady Arpels Poetic Wish and the Midnight Poetic Wish symbolize this never-ending love story.

A story where the passing of time, and its precious hours and minutes, casts a spell of eternal renewal.

Alexandra Cipriani

Desire to conform diminishes with age. When I was high school, I wanted nothing more than to wear the same clothes, listen to the same music, and shop at the same stores as everyone else my age.

The older I get, as my sense of self identity increases, the less I want to look like everyone else. Now Mr. Calvin Klein, I’m sure you are very nice, but paying $35 for a t-shirt with your name in bold letters across the chest is sheer lunacy. Unique styles like ones designed by Alexandra Cipriani resonates with me more.

Although I personally do not wear leather, Alexandra Cipriani’s design style perfects the blend of fashion and edginess. Her silver-studded leather jacket and short leather party dress show off the key features of leather: form-fitting yet comfortable.

With clients like Paulina Rubio, Enrique Iglesias, and Lil Mama, Cipriani’s designs give each of its wearers the rock star treatment. Whether you are Jennifer Lopez from Hollywood, or Jennifer Smith from accounting, your garment will be hand-sewn and custom-made by request.

Alexandra Cipriani

Alexandra Cipriani chose to specialize in leather because of the animal instinct that remains behind the skin. She personally believes that leather and sexiness are two elements that can easily be married.

Cipriani states, “When people wear my garments for the first time, their reaction is priceless; they automatically exude confidence, as if they could achieve anything.”

To learn more about the Alexandra Cipriani Collection, please visit: www.alexandracipriani.com

Cartier

I’m a firm believer that no matter how fancy, as soon as you introduce gaudiness into an item, it begins to look cheap.

Diamonds is the ultimate symbol of luxury, but if one starts wearing diamond-encrusted coats with matching hat and scarf, the look screams more Jersey Shore than Audrey Hepburn; not to mention the backlash an overly flashy ensemble would elicit.

With the same concerns in mind, Cartier, the indisputable brand of sophistication is introducing discreet watches to assuage luxury-goods guilt.

With a prestigious client list that includes the star of Russia and the late and great Elizabeth Taylor, Cartier is focusing on watches with more understated class than ostentatious displays of wealth. Not skimping on jewels, diamond, gold, and other precious stones and metals, Cartier will show complicated timepieces and watches at the SIHH watch fair in Geneva.

The new product, Tank Anglaise, is available in three colors of gold as well as a gold and steel version. It’s said to be the biggest introduction since the Balloon Bleu. Balloon Bleu watches was first introduced to the market in 2007 and stood apart from its competitors with round cases and a crown set with sapphire.

Standard model of the Balloon Bleu begin at 10,000 euros while the diamond-encrusted versions are worth hundreds of thousands of euros.

Class, sophistication, and the agility to roll with the current socio-economic times are just a few of the reasons for Cartier’s revenue and market share growth.

Annie Diamantidis

Annie Handbags® are handcrafted in the USA by a team of artisans with impeccable artisanship. These luxury handbags are each made of maximum quality from the inside out, each lined with soft suede making them lightweight and versatile.

Modern beauty and timeless style are the grand ideas behind Annie Diamantidis’ namesake collection. Each Annie handbag is handcrafted from exotic skin such as crocodile, python, and ostrich, along with calfskin and accented with 14k gold jewelry, making Annie Handbags the most unique accessory on the market.

Since launching her namesake collection of luxury handbags in 2009, the Chicago designer is quickly gaining global recognition. Many famous celebrities own and show off their beloved Annie handbags.

For example, Hollywood starlet Angelina Jolie fell in love with the Athena leather clutch with 14k gold jewelry and now has it as a staple for her closet. Top winners such as Catherine Zeta-Jones and Scarlett Johansson of the 64th Tony Awards received the Eris clutch in their gift bags and celebrity Stylist JenRade carries our Kalypso compact in rose crocodile.

Annie has been labeled by Michigan Avenue Magazine a “Chicago Made, Power Designer”,  Fashion TV says Annie Handbags is a “Trend to Remember”, The Handbag Report has profiled her a “Haute Designer”, and Luxist features her ostrich Clio clutch as the “Handbag of the Day” just to name a few.

To view the entire Annie handbag collection from Annie Diamantidis, please visit their website at www.anniebags.com

Friends are hard to shop for. I try to give gifts that people both need and want. But fifty percent of the time, what they need greatly differs from what they actually want.

Case in point, the dinnerware set of 2009. Nice ceramic plates that bachelorette friend needs. So we can stop the indignities of eating from paper plates. But what she wanted was a sterling silver headband.

That is why I love wish lists and registries. That is where GiftVault.com comes in.

GiftVault.com fuses social media with luxury gifts by allowing users to search for their friends, see their wish list and buy exactly what they want.

When a gift is purchased on GiftVault.com, the item grays out and the “wisher” receives an email notifying them that someone has bought something from their wish list. This feature will be most helpful when it comes to items that come in multiple sizes or sizes.

GiftVault’s owners are Lee Greenberg, a formerly Beijing-based new media fundraising and venture capital specialist, and Violetta Gruosi, a luxury expert with degrees in business, gemmology and international management, and the daughter and step-daughter of the heads of Geneva-based jewellery brands De Grisogono and Chopard.

“At GiftVault we treat every gift with the same love and care as if it were for our own special occasion. Our social gifting network massively ups your chances of buying your friends a gift they’ll really adore,” says founder Lee Greenberg.

GiftVault.com is not an average online retailer site like Overstock.com. You won’t find Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, or Liz Clairborne on this site. Items tend to be more exclusive and unique. Brands such as Armand de Brignac, Carolina Bucci, and Christofle. Gifts tend to be pricey, so it would be an ideal Christmas, birthday, anniversary, wedding, or other special occasion gift site.

Savonnette White Quartz Pocket Watch & Chain: Tissot

Pocket watches have been a signature at luxury watchmaker Tissot, since 1853.

Tissot has introduced their latest watch release. They have redesigned one of their signature pocket watch pieces, the Savonnette White Quartz Pocket Watch & Chain. Price is $275.

The new Tissot Savonnette White Quartz Pocket Watch & Chai keep the romance of timekeeping alive with it’s modern but classic design.


Lady Heart Ladies White Automatic Classic Watch: Tissot

The stylish Lady Heart Ladies White Automatic Classic Watch by Tissot conveys a feminine charm and charisma.

The ladies watch features fine automatic movement that’s visible on the mother of pearl dial and crocodile leather strap. Price is $850.

Courtesy of: Hublot

Using a uniform range of black tones, luxury watchmaker Hublot has defined the term “invisible visibility” with the Black Caviar Bang luxury watch.

Now utilizing only black diamonds, Hublot created the ultimate, $1 million luxury watch – Black Caviar Bang.

The design of the Black Caviar Bang is incredible and the setting is quite complex. The watch features unusual lines of the Big Bang case. They are round but interestingly with sharp angles.

The Black Caviar Bang by Hublot is the highest level of micro-mechanic elegance.

The case is made with 18-karat white-gold and packed with 322 beautiful diamond baguettes.

Just when you think you can’t find another diamond, the Hublot Black Caviar surprises you. Diamonds are everywhere.

Hublot has also included 179 diamonds on the bezel, as well as30 encrusted on the watch clasp.

The Black Caviar Bang is powered by the Hub Solo T tourbillon movement.

The million dollar Hublot Black Caviar Bang is only available in very limited quantities. Due to the intricate design, it takes over 2,000 hours to make each watch.

http://www.hublot.ch/

Highball Pocket Watch Collection From Nixon

Offering a luxury pocket-watch style design with new range, the Highball Pocket Watch Collection from Nixon really makes a statement.

The Highball Pocket Watch Collection from Nixon takes us on a trip to old-world class.  The Highball Collection from Nixon offers a trio of watch products that are styled to look like a pocket watch.

The Highball Collection comes with a leather-clad, clam-shell lid plus a stainless steel chain, amongst other rich elements that make watch very appealing.

The trio of Highball pocket watch products features your choice of colors schemes – black and gold, all black, or black with silver features.

The Highball Pocket Watch Collection from Nixon is self-winding, so one doesn’t need to wind it to keep running.

I like the three-hand design, which features a separate second dial. This capability gives you creative ways of keeping track of time.

A seconds sub-dial featured on the south of the face makes it easier to read the time. This second dial is located within a leather inlay with a hardened mineral crystal window on the lid and caseback.

If this throw-back style, pocket watch isn’t for you, consider the Nixon digital watch option which can be worn on your wrist. The Nixon x Hawaii Lodown watch is a limited-edition timepiece from the watchmaker.

Caroline Murat – Queen of Naples

Luxury watchmaker Montres Breguet, will pay tribute to the Queen of Naples through an exhibition held in Geneva’s Cité du Temps.

The exhibition in Cite du Temps celebrates the 200th anniversary of the creation of the first wristwatch in horological history.

Ordered in 1810 by Caroline Murat, sister of Napoleon and Queen of Naples, the wristwatch was completed and delivered in 1812. In addition, Breguet also plans to immortalize the 10th anniversary of its stellar Reine de Naples ladies’ watch collection.

The Queen of Naples long admired the work of Abraham-Louis Breguet, and ordered a number of watches from him, including the aforementioned first wristwatch.

The No. 2639 model was made for Caroline Murat but has never been found, creating an unsolved timepiece mystery. The Breguet company archives has retraced this historical retrospective of the unprecedented creation of this unique wristwatch.

The exhibition in Cité du Temps will immerse show visitors into a feminine atmosphere, where they gradually discover the history of this watch model and all its fascinating mysteries.

Blue Ocean Watch – Grieb & Benzinger

The caliber of craftsmanship by the Grieb & Benzinger is undeniable.  Most luxury brands have their own line of timepieces.  Chanel, Bvlgari, Bulova, Tag Heuer, Tissot, and most notably, Rolex.  They are as much a symbol of status as they are appreciation of art.  But the “Blue Ocean” and the Platinum Collection from Grieb & Benzinger is in a league of its own.

In order to create truly unique timepieces, Grieb & Benzinger collect rare, historical watch movements from all over the world by renowned masters such as Vacheron Contantin andBrequet.

The watch movements are fully stored to normal function, then skeletonized and hand-engraved using tools and equipments from the time periods matching the movements.

Traditional and lost techniques such as hand “guilloch” (a form of engraved decoration from the 1960s) and Brequet style of oversize case mounting in silver and gold, or platinum are just a couple of the lost art techniques utilized by Grieb & Benzinger.  Owning a piece from Grieb & Benzinger’s collection is equivalent to owning a piece of ancient art; a restored DaVinci painting.

Their new artistic restoration is the Blue Ocean, a skeletonized monopusher chronograph based on a column wheel chronograph movement from 1926 housed in a solid platinum case.  In typical Grieb & Benzinger style, the historical movement within this oeuvre has been awakened to enjoy a new life.

Take a look for yourself, the level of artistic, meticulous, and technical soul infused into each timepiece to make it a true “Grieb & Benzinger.”

John Boultbee Criterion Mk1 Jacket – Brooks England

Synonymous with cycling, Brooks is a globally renowned, century-old British company. Their new collaboration, the John Boultbee Criterion Mk1 Jacket, continues to demonstrate why Brooks England and Timothy Everest of London will continue to thrive and inspire.

Designed by respected Savile Row tailer, Timothy Everest of London (mentored by the late, great Tommy Nutter, Tailor to The Beatles and Rolling Stones), the chic yet strong Criterion carries an intricate amount of detail.  Only 500 of the hand-made, hand-numbered, and hand-signed Criterion Mk1 jacket have been created.

Winner of the 2011 Eurobike Award, the Criterion Mk1 is engineered for cyclists, bicyclists and motorcyclists.  It was also one of the top five picks for Gear of the Show at the 2011 Interbike show.

With reflective seams, fold-out seat panel, concealed key pocket, windproof, waterproof, and various other features designed to improve the comfort and performance of cyclists, the Criterion Mk1 jacket is well worth its price.