Magellan

Magellan 1521 Watch

You can't discuss the interesting Swiss Magellan 1521 watch without the requisite mention of it giving you the "whole world on your wrist." Well, half the world to be exact. The 1521 is split up into two versions. The NH (northern hemisphere) and the very limited SH (southern hemisphere) that has been all sold out. You'll probably be more interested in the NH anyway. Essentially you have a classically mapped half globe surrounded by a ring of mother-of-pearl, with map indicators printed on the chapter ring. The entire 43mm wide watch is covered in a beautiful bubble of sapphire crystal. The case is in steel, but there are also 18k yellow gold versions available. The seamless look has no lugs and the crown is integrated into the case. Very art deco streamlined. The rear of the watch has additional map imagery via tasteful engravings.

The watch has a modified Swiss ETA 2893 automatic movement. Magellan needed to create tiny tubes to raise the base of the watch hands. All four hands start at the top of the globe and wrap around it. The GMT has is tipped with a mirror polished sun, and can be used to indicate the relative position of the sun over the Earth. There is lume applied on the hour and minute hands will addition lume dots are placed on the outside chapter ring of the dial. This version of the 1521 watch has a supple honey brown ostrich strap with a steel butterfly deployment strap (that has perlage polish applied to it). This amazingly unique timepiece comes with an outstanding level of finish (the mirror polish all over the watch is so impressive), while the price is reasonable when compared to other similar unique Swiss watches at $5,600.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 1521, globe, magellan, nh, review, swiss, watch

Retirement Home or Cruise Ship Condo? Tough Choice.

by Meg Massie (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Yachts & Sailing

When the time comes for you to move out of your home and into a facility, be it a nursing home, assisted living center, or just a retirement community, get ready to pay a huge rent check.

The estimated average annual cost of living in an assisted living facility starts above $30,000, not including the entry fee that could be over $100,000. Retirement communities that don't offer health care programs may have lower rent, but the waiting list can be long and the entry fees much steeper.

Some savvy seniors have put their savings into a much more lively retirement, like 89-year-old Beatrice Muller, who has spent the last nine years living on the luxury cruise ship RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. There are always physicians on the ship in case of a medical emergency, Muller gets all the food she can eat -- it's much better than nursing home cafeteria slop -- and she's seeing the world and meeting new people all the time. According to Muller, she pays about $7,000 a month, which makes this retirement cost about the same as, or even cheaper than, many high-end retirement communities.

The market is catching on, and now there are whole cruise ships dedicated to full-time residents. To purchase a condo for year-round residency on the Magellan will cost anywhere from $4 - $18 million, but fractional ownership (like time-shares) is available as well, starting under $200,000 for two-week ownership. This ship has 300 ports of call in 150 countries, and features luxury amenities like four fine dining restaurants, an observatory, tennis courts, swimming pools, and golf. Construction is due to be completed on this ship in mid-2010, but you can buy your condo now.

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Tags: cruise-ship, Magellan, residential-cruise-line, retirement, retirementhome, travel

Magellan Watches

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

The Magellan watches are named after the explorer Ferdinand Magellan, who is famous for completing the first circumnavigation of the world proving that the earth is round. The watches pay homage to that feat with a distinctive dial that is shaped like a half globe and is under a scratch-resistant anti-reflective sapphire dome. Thhe watch uses an automatic movement (a de-centric weight winds the main spring) with the crown fully incorporated into the case and the hands curved with the circumference of the dial. It also has a 24-hour hand which indicates the longitudainal position of the sun at any given time.

Their latest model is the Magellan 1521golf series which uses an actual golf ball. A section is cut from the ball and mounted in a bronze support. The cool thing is that you can get a custom edition made using your own golf ball (providing it is a solid core ball). What a perfect way to memorialize a hole in one. The gallery below has pictures of the rest of the Magellan watches including their classic line with the dial as the top part of a globe and the diamond version which has the same map done in diamonds and gemstones. There is also a Lady Magellan necklace.

[via WatchLuxus]

Gallery: Magellan Watches

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Tags: magellan, timepieces, watches, wristwatch

The Magellan Gets Even Larger

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

The Magellan, which plans to be the world's largest private residential cruise ship has just gotten a bit bigger. They have announced twelve additional residences and a new amenity, a tennis court. The Magellan is now 860 feet and weighs an astounding 72,000 tons. The new residences include four one-bedroom condos and eight two-bedroom condos. The Magellan includes an indoor pool, greenhouse (shown here), resaurants, a spa, an observatory and a 450-seat live, satellite broadcast theatre. Private residences on The Magellan range in price from $1.875 million to $8 million for penthouses and from $134,000 for fractional ownership condos. The Magellan is set to be completed in 2009 and the ship is designed to run for 100 years. With the residential cruise ship market just beginning, the Magellan is clearly seeking to be the most extravagant option for those looking for life on the seas.

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Tags: cruise ship, fractional ownership, magellan, residential, travel, yacht