america

Chronoswiss watches have been gaining popularity as of late and they have finally cleared up one of my biggest questions. Why are they called "chrono-Swiss" when they are a German company? The official response is here: "Though [Chronoswiss is] a German company, every component of the timepieces is manufactured in Switzerland and then hand-finished and assembled in Germany." Oh... OK. That makes more sense now. I do like the watches too!

Just in time for what everyone hopes will be the big rebound shopping season, Chronoswiss will open a brand new shop in SoHo in New York City. I love that the store front is both inviting and eye catching. It has that charming brick look, with a few little tables inside and a cute little entrance way. There is no large intimidating sign for the brand, just a cool looking banner showing a portion of one of their watch dials. A soft sign with the brand name is in the window. I really hope the inside of the store is as well designed as the outside. The boutique is located in SoHo on West Broadway. Although the store is now open, their official grand opening event will be held on December 2nd from 7-11pm.

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

Beer might be the iconic way to celebrate American Independence Day, but maybe this year, times call for something a bit stronger.

Like, how about rum? The rum category is second only to vodka in the United States, according to Tommy Bahama, makers of ultra-premium rum. So while it's not exactly fair to make a bad pun about rum being the spirit of America, you'd be far from unpatriotic if you incorporated it into your July 4th plans.

Four reasons to toast with rum this Independence Day:

1. As a spirit, rum was first distilled in the Caribbean -- most likely Barbados -- but it quickly became popular of the northern colonies in the New World. It turns out that the country's founding fathers -- among them Paul Revere, George Washington, Ben Franklin, were no different than most manly men of their time -- they knocked back a few pints of the beverage distilled from sugar cane .
2. Rum wasn't just for Revolutionary War types. From John F. Kennedy who reportedly sipped it over dinner while watching the 1960 election returns, to Ernest Hemingway, who was a big fan of the daiquiri. (Although not for Papa would be the gussied up drinkable-dessert-Slurpees of today -- in Havana, he favored the daiquiri at El Floridita, which he liked to be made with two shots of rum, lime juice, ice, no sugar, and sometimes a touch of grapefruit juice and a few drops of maraschino liqueur, writes Wayne Curtis.)
3. Like most facets of American history, rum's history is complicated. The sugar cane that was used to create the molasses which became rum was produced by Caribbean slaves who existed under brutal conditions, writes Jan Rogozinksi in a Brief History of the Caribbean. Raise a glass in tribute, and in remembrance of a time when independence was not as widespread as it is today.
   
4. Rum innovation continues strong today. The finalists for the annual drink of this year's upcoming Tale of the Cocktail festival in New Orleans were all variations on the julep - the original American cocktail. But while a julep is typically made with bourbon, the winning cocktail was the Creole Julep -- made with rum. It was created by Maksym Pazuniak, bartender at Rambla and Cure. Here's the recipe:
   
   2 1/4 oz. Cruzan Single Barrel Estate Rum
   
   1/2 oz. Clement Creole Shrubb
   
   1/4 oz. Captain Morgan 100 Rum
   
   2 dashes Fee Bros. Peach bitters
   
   2 dashes Angostura bitters
   
   8-10 mint leaves
   
   1 Demerara Sugar Cube

The United States is a beautiful place, but it won't stay that way if we don't take measures to protect the natural and historic elements that make it so special. Founded in 1965, the America the Beautiful Fund encourages citizens to take initiative and make volunteer efforts to protect this country and keep it beautiful. In the last 40+ years the America the Beautiful Fund has developed over 50,000 projects in all 50 states, and as the population and environmental concerns grow the need for volunteers and financing will only get greater.

How much would you pay for a flag? What if there were four of them? A bidder at a Sotheby's auction paid a total of $17.4 million for four flags from the time of the American Revolution on Wednesday. The flags were captured by a 24-year old British officer and kept in his family since 1780; they were offered at the auction by one of his direct descendants.

According to a vice chairman at the auction house, flags were a primary target in the Revolutionary War because they were clear symbols of victory. The buyer and all the other bidders were assured that soldiers "suffered grievous wounds and made sacrifices to defend what were sacred objects," which gave these historic pieces additional significance.

Only 30 flags, excluding these four, from the period are known to exist today. All are housed in museums or other institutional collections.

[image via Seattle P-I]