Zurich

Volvo S60 Street Art Car Project at the Zurich Train Station

Commuters passing through the busy Zurich Bahnhof over the course of a week in February got a special treat. There Volvo set up its latest S60 luxury sedan against a white backdrop as an "art car" project, and invited ten graffiti artists to share their vision. The process was captured by camera at 10-second intervals to make a three-minute time-lapse video you can watch after the jump.

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Tags: art car, bahnhof, s60, switzerland, train station, volso s60, volvo, zurich, zurich bahnhof

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Zurich's Remarkable Widder Hotel

by Bobbie Leigh (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Art

The Widder Hotel, located in Zurich's historic old city, is a treasure. This is how most people would like to live, surrounded by art in bright sunny rooms with magical views furnished with every conceivable comfort. One example: Instead of wheeling a clumsy breakfast cart into your room, push a button at the coffee table and it rises automatically to convenient dining height. The waiter sets the tray on the table which by the way might have a basket of baked breads and pastries still warm from the oven.

Tags: Designer Hotel, switzerland travel, winter travel, Zurich, Zurich Old Town

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Swiss Deluxe Hotels, Synonymous with Quality and Luxury

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Mount Cervin Palace hotel in Zermatt is a member of Swiss Deluxe Hotels, the leading association of luxury hotels in Switzerland.

Planning an escape to Switzerland and in need of a luxury hotel? Look no further than Swiss Deluxe Hotels , which is synonymous with exclusive quality and superlative standards.

Swiss Deluxe Hotels, more formally known as the Association of Swiss Deluxe Hotels, comprises 39 of the most prestigious five-star hotels in all of Switzerland, of which 17 are city hotels and 22 are resort hotels. Each property must be independently run, or as a member of a hotel chain, be mainly autonomous.

Member hotels include The Dolder Grand and the Savoy Baur en Ville in Zurich, the Gstaad Palace, the Four Seasons Hotel des Bergues and the Le Richemond in Geneva (recently renovated and a member of the prestigious Rocco Forte Collection). In St. Moritz, members include the Suvretta House, the Carlton Hotel and Badrutt's Palace Hotel in St. Moritz (a Luxist Awards nominee for best international ski hotel).

Gallery: Swiss Deluxe Hotels

Four Seasons Hotel Des Bergues in Geneva

Tags: awards-main, Badrutts Palace, Carlton Hotel, Dolder Grand, Fairmont Le Montreux Palace, Four Seasons Hotel, Geneva, Gstaad Palace, Kandersteg, Le Richemond, luxist-awards, main-pedia, michelin, michelin guide, Mount Cervin Palace, Royal Park Hotel, Savoy Baur, summer-travel-pedia, Suvretta House, The Dolder Grand, The Savoy Baur, winter-travel-pedia, Zurich

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Ultimate Drives Launches Supercar Tours of Europe

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Luxury Cars & Autos

Taking a jaunt though Europe just got a hell of a lot more exciting thanks to Ultimate Drives, a new supercar touring outfit. The company offers a high-octane tour to Switzerland's swank St. Moritz and the neighboring Engadine region, which also takes in the stunning Stelvio pass and crosses the border into Italy. Prices for the tour start at about $1,800 per person, including equally stylish off-road accommodation. The eye-popping autos to choose from include a trio of Ferraris – the F430 Spider, California (above) and 599 GTB – as well as the Aston Martin DB9 Volante, Bentley Continental GTC and Maserati GranCabrio. Starting in July, the Ferrari 458 Italia and Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG will also be available for speed junkies. The round trip includes over six hours of driving, as well as lunch en route and a trek to one of the region's famed glaciers. More budget-conscious enthusiasts who still like to put their foot down can opt to do the tour in a BMW or Jaguar instead.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Europe, Ferrari, Ferrari 458 Italia, Italy, Jaguar, Maserati, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, St. Moritz, supercar, Switzerland, Zurich

Nomos Zurich World Time Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Using their brand new Caibre Xi mechanical world time movement, Glashutte based Nomos will release the Zurich World Time watch. One of at least two new watches to contain the new automatic movement. Nomos is one of the least expensive watch makers of hand-assembled in-house German watch movements (and watches). The Zurich (why named for a Swiss city if the brand is German I do not know), is one of their higher-end collection of timepieces.

The new Caliber Xi movement is an automatic and features black gold in its construction. It has about 42 hours of power reserve and had the time with subsidiary seconds, and a world time indicator on a second 24 hour disc. A pusher above the crown cycles through the references cities on a partially exposes disc. The time for the city shown under the 12 o'clock hour indicator, is indicator at 3 o'clock in 24 hour format. Minutes for the second time zone are referenced via the main time's minute hand. A simple, but elegant system for offering a world-time complication.

The Zurich World Time watch will be about 40mm wide in steel, with a sapphire crystal and caseback window. The white dial is easy to read, contained in the tasteful, thin-bezeled case. Price will be 3,400 euros.

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

Tags: Glashutte, Nomos, watch, World Time, Zurich

Historical Timepieces of the Swiss Watch and Clock Museum

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Art

Having always been fascinated by clockwork, on my recent trip to Zürich, I made certain to visit the Watch and Clock Museum Beyer Zürich. The museum, located in the basement of the exclusive Beyer watch shop, has approximately 500 timepieces, each more fascinating than the last. Some date back as far as 1400 B.C., while others are more modern -- and often quite strange. Ever tried to tell the time by checking which direction a couple of birds are facing (above right)? I hadn't before, but it's just the kind of thing I get excited about.

In the Watch and Clock Museum, you'll find rare and precious chronometry items like shadow sticks, intricate sundials, water clocks, oil-lamp clocks, grandfather clocks and marine navigation instruments. Some of the more fragile and complicated pieces which are too old to run all the time have adjacent video screens showing their mechanical capabilities.

The basement museum itself is somewhat unceremonious, with only the historical Beyer pieces carefully lit and resting on velvet, but the staff was warm and welcoming, and they provided me with all the English information they had available. Unfortunately, it wasn't much, so brush up either your German or your horology history -- or book a guided tour in advance -- before your visit. Even if there's no time for that (no pun intended), fertile minds will be titillated by the complicated, creative and mysterious artifacts on display.

With no further ado, here are some of the most intriguing and delightful watches and clocks:

Gallery: Highlights from the Watch and Clock Museum Beyer Zurich collection

The Watch and Clock Museum Beyer Zürich is located just off Paradeplatz and open from Monday - Friday from 2pm - 6pm. Entry is free if you have a ZürichCARD, otherwise there is a small fee.

My trip to Zürich was sponsored by Zürich Tourism and Switzerland Tourism, but the ideas and opinions expressed in this article are 100 percent my own.

Tags: clock, clock museum, museum, switzerland, watch, watch museum, WatchMuseum, zurich

Fabric Frontline, Buy Next Year's Fabrics by the Meter in Switzerland

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Sometimes, a fabric can sell a whole outfit. Whether it's a simple dress in an enchanting blue-green or a necktie with a labyrinthine print, designers know that the right fabric makes all the difference. They scour the globe for the perfect shades and patterns and weights, and we found one of their secret weapons: Fabric Frontline, a small, family-owned business in Zürich which curates and designs some of the best -- and most expensive -- luxury fabrics in the universe, specializing in silk and cashmere.

You have to be in-the-know to find it. The little shop's window, near the culturally diverse (and sex shop ridden) Langstrasse, seemingly leads nowhere; you have to go through a small courtyard to get to the showroom. Inside, you'll find a dazzling assortment of colors and prints which will take your breath away -- and which you'll see the following season from designers like Vivienne Westwood (who I'm told is a particular friend of the shop), Nina Ricci and Helmut Lang, just to name a few. In fact, according to our hostess, the fabric Isabel Toledo used to make Michelle Obama's inauguration ensemble came from here. Naturally, the fabrics travel to the most exclusive trade shows around the world, which is where the elite designers tend to shop. The public aren't typically allowed into such events, but they are allowed to shop at Fabric Frontline.

Gallery: Fabric Frontline - Zurich, Switzerland

Fabric Frontline gets their silk yarn from China and has it woven in northern Italy with all-natural dyes. A clerk was kind enough to show us how printed silks are screened, involving layers of stencils and meticulous craftsmanship -- and a lot of patience. Sometimes designers buy the fabrics right off the roll, while others will approach them with drawings like these:

Tags: cashmere, fabric, Fabric Frontline, silk, Switzerland, Zurich

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Peter Nitz Zurich the Ultimate in Understated Bejeweled Handbags

by Deb West (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Apparel, Jewelry

Peter Nitz creates unique leather goods that represent his own personal vision of what a sophisticated luxury aesthetic embodies. A former Assistant Director of Acquisitions at an auction house, Peter has a unique eye for quiet luxury and handcrafts each piece himself. He refined his abilities for two and a half years at the knee of a former Hermes craftsman, who he encountered on a weekend trip to Paris. During this time he mastered centuries-old techniques that, while demanding precision and patience, result in products that are truly refined.

Originally from South Carolina, Peter moved to Europe and traveled the globe in a quest to find the best producers of exotic skins, linen thread, hardware and other materials necessary to open his own atelier. Each bag is designed from an initial plan, but influenced by the specific exotic skin used, to produce a perfect union between design and material. Some of the bags feature vintage fine jewelry Peter acquires by scouring auction houses and private collectors, and each piece is one of a kind.

There are two main collections:
The Atelier collection, which include classic Peter Nitz designs, but can be special ordered in whichever skin and color a customer desires. This results in a truly bespoke bag that suits a clients specific needs.
The Masterpiece collection, which combines exquisite vintage fine jewelry with exotic skins resulting in a piece that is closer to art than a handbag.

Each piece comes in its own handmade leather-covered drawered box with a customized handle made from the same leather as the individual bag. Prices for the bags without jewels begin at $2,500 and can reach as high as $9,000 to $20,000 dollars depending on both the type of skin used and the value of the jewels that adorn the bag.

Gallery: Peter Nitz Bejeweled Handbags

Tags: handbag, Hermes, jewelry, Peter Nitz, PeterNitz, vintage jewelry, VintageJewelry, Zurich

Austria, Switzerland Top World's Best Places to Live

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

vienna Europe – the same corner of Europe, actually – claims the first three spots in Mercer Consulting's annual Quality of Living Survey. Vienna, Austria and Zurich and Geneva in Switzerland lead the list, followed by Vancouver, Canada and Auckland, New Zealand in a tie for fourth.

Little has changed for the top half of the top 10. Last year, Zurich nabbed the top spot, and Vienna and Geneva shared the #2 spot. Vancouver is unchanged year-over-year, and Auckland's #5 finish last year is roughly the same as its tie for fourth in 2009.

Not only are the top places to live ostensibly enjoyable, you're more likely to be there for a while. Life expectancies in these cities start at 79 years. It's better than living a nice long life in a dump, I guess.

The United States doesn't appear until the bottom of the top 30, with Honolulu and San Francisco. From Asia, only Singapore picks up a spot in the world's 30 best places to live. South America and Africa are not represented at all. It's strange, I half-expected to see Mogadishu on this list.

Of the 215 places listed, Baghdad has the distinction of finishing last. Sometimes, common sense prevails.

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Tags: africa, asia, auckland, austria, baghdad, california, canada, geneva, geneva switzerland, genevaswitzerland, hawaii, honolulu, iraq, iraq war, IraqWar, mogadishu, new zealand, newzealand, san francisco, SanFrancisco, singapore, somalia, south america, SouthAmerica, switzerland, vancouver, vienna, vienna austria, viennaaustria, zurich, zurichswitzerland

The Dolder Grand Reopens

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

The Dolder Grand in Zurich, Switzerland is re-opening after a four-year $400 million renovation. The hotel has been transformed into a five-star resort with 173 new guest rooms, a new spa, dining options and a geothermal energy concept. The new Dolder Grand was designed by London architects Foster and Partners.

The Dolder Grand has a long history. It was a health spa when it opened in 1899 and was a grand hotel for many years. The new design included restoring the hotel's main building and added two new wings, a spa and golf wing. There are also four unique suites inspired by cultural icons of the 20th century who were former Dolder Hotel: the Rolling Stones, Giulietta Masina (wife of Italian director Federico Fellini), "Maestro" Herbert von Karajan (conductor) and Alberto Giacometti (Swiss sculptor).

The spa is 43,000 square feet and has separate areas for ladies and gentlemen, an Aqua Zone with a Bisazza mosaic pool, a Snow Paradise room, workout, movement and mind-body studios, and 19 treatment rooms as well as two exclusive, over-the-top spa suites. The hotel has two new restaurants and terraces throughout The Dolder Grand offer fantastic views.

Before the construction began geothermal probes were buried under the foundation of the hotel and they draw around one million kilowatt hours of energy per year from the natural heat-storage system in the earth, reducing the energy and heating costs and consumption of the hotel. Rates start at 850 CHF per night/ double occupancy.

Gallery: The Dolder Grand

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Tags: dolder grand, DolderGrand, hotel, switzerland, travel, zurich

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