atlas

The World Will Cost You $5,800. In Atlas Form...

Filed under: Books

Millennium House publishing presents its ginormous atlas EARTH as a legacy for the next generation. Depending on how big your own next generation is at the moment, it could be a few years before he's grown large enough to be able to turn the pages.

The two-foot-tall, 1.5-foot-wide, 580-page hardbound tome is packed chock-a-block with 400,000 words, 750 photos and illustrations, 160 pages of maps, and four pull-out gatefolds that are each six feet long. That basket of cartographical goodness is wrapped in a handbound leather cover that is then numbered by a calligrapher in Hong Kong. And that rather weighty leatherbound goodness is then placed inside a 33-pound preservation case composed of leather-wrapped hardwood.

Lest it sound like the Earth has been ravaged in order to create an atlas – wouldn't that be irony – there will only be 3,000 copies created, in two series: 2,000 Royal Blue, 1,000 Imperial Gold. That latter one will cost you $5,800. That might sound like a lot of money, but when you consider having the entire world at your fingertips, and your child's fingertips once he's out of college, then it might be worth it. And how else would you get the chance to hear your friends say, "My, what a big atlas you have!"

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Tags: atlas, book, earth, millennium house, publishing

2009 Tiffany Watch Co. Ltd Brand Watches Underwhelm

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Let me get this straight? For years Tiffany & Co. have been selling watches with their name on it. I don't just mean the watches that they append their name on, but their own watches. Now Tiffany & Co. Ltd. is claiming that they just launched something new with Tiffany Watch Co. Ltd. What about the existing watch brand? This leaves me scratching my head. They can of course claim that under the new Swatch Group ownership, their watch division is "under new management." Maybe that is what they mean. Just to clarify, Swatch now owns the watch making division of Tiffany & Co., not all of Tiffany & Co.

At Baselworld the new line of watches was displayed. There weren't many, and at least one line, the "Atlas watch," retained a name carried over from the existing Tiffany & Co. watch line. The new watches come in quartz and mechanical varieties - each heavy on the use of Roman numerals that Tiffany & Co. is well known for. The watch designs were nice, but not Tiffany & Co. nice. There was no magic appeal or charm, and the timeless look that Tiffany & Co. watches typically have was absent - in my opinion. As of writing, the Tiffany & Co. website is still stocked with their existing line, with no mention of the new watches, but that is to be expected so soon after launch.

While the Swatch Group has the ability to produce beautiful watches, I am concerned that due to their many brands, they will attempt to segment Tiffany Watch Co. into a niche, so as not to compete with its other luxury watch brands. On a plus side, Tiffany & Co. is also known for carrying other watch brands in their stores such as Patek Philippe and Baume & Mercier, so there will still be a nice variety of watches at each retail location.

It is likely that as the Swatch Group becomes more comfortable with the brand, design will improve. For now I feel like the watches don't have enough stylistic staying power to still look good a few years from now as poignant luxury watches. We are seeing a lot of the similar designs in entry level or designer watch brand, and that is simply not what buyers of Tiffany & Co. watches have come to expect.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

Gallery: Tiffany & Co. Watches Basel 2009

Tags: atlas, cocktail, swatch group, SwatchGroup, tiffany co., tiffany co. ltd, TiffanyCo., TiffanyCo.Ltd, timepiece, watch

Earth, A Big Book For A Big Subject

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Books

Earth is a big subject and Australian publisher Millennium House has created a book big enough to cover it. Their new book "Earth" is the the biggest atlas ever to be published and is nearly 2 feet tall and over 65 pounds. The 576-page books is the sum total of eight months work by 100 photographers, cartographers, geographers and oceanographers and it has 154 maps and over 800 photographs. The print run will be just 3,000 copies, 2,000 of the standard blue version at right and 1000 "Gold Earth" editions with gold leather, gold gilding and gold plated corners. The regular version will cost over $3,000. The book had its world debut in Sydney on October 9, hit the Frankfurt Book Fair and is on its way to the Sharjah World Book Fair in Dubai n October 29.

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Tags: atlas, books, earth