award

Herman Miller's Ardea office desk lamp just won both Gold and Silver honors at the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) for 2010. IDEA has been around for 30 years, and provides accolades to products that excel in the areas of form, function, packaging, and eco-design, and usefulness. The purpose of the Ardea desk lamps is to be beautiful, functional, and ecologically friendly. It starts with a nature based design that designer Yves Behar indicates as being included by the heron bird. Like the bird, the lamp has an elegant neck with a graceful twist and has a flexible head and based hinge. It is able to be pointed in any direction with easy, and lower and rise at the user's will. The base can be removed, and replaced with a table side clamp as well. Ardea was designed for use mostly in offices, but can really function at work or home based desks where task lighting in necessary. It was further designer to have a low energy consuming bulb. Price for the Herman Miller Adrea desk lamp is $379.

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

Easily the most distinctive moon phase watch out there today, Finnish watch maker Sarpaneva's Korona K3 line of watches have just been given more international acclaim. The watch cases are 44mm wide and utterly unique in character. Very edgy and dark with a designer twist. Stepan Sarpaneva is inspired by the long and gloomy Finland winters in the design of his timepieces. The mostly dark tones conceal mythic tales about world as told through aspects of European lore. The large moon phase disc itself has a highly expressive face that isn't happy or sad, but rather purposeful in its aura.

Very much a manufacture style watch, they use modified automatic Soprod A10 movements. The dial has been skeletonized like a web, with the main features of the watch all being transparent. The case is either in steel or DLC coated black while the movement can be had in various different metal tones. One of the coolest features is the face of the moon again visible on the rear of the watch as located on the automatic rotor.

The Sarpaneva Koronoa K3 watch collection won the prestigious Red Dot Design Award in the past, but has now also won another Good Design award by the Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design. This award was given specifically to the pictured Sarpaneva Korona K3 Black Moon limited edition model. A very impressive timepiece, it is limited to just 20 pieces. Keep watch for more fascinating horological creations from Sarpaneva.

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

This year a piece unique from Hublot won the Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Geneve prize for jewelery watch of the year, 2009. The watch is as ostentatious as it is pretentious. I actually like the look of the watch a lot, and even though inside of me I would like to wear the timepiece, it is hard to swallow the blatant excess built into the timepiece. The inflated price point is even built into the name of the watch. For me, a name like "Million $ Black Caviar Bang" sounds about as classy as "One Thousand Dollar Bubbly Champagne." Don't forget, "more bubbly, more buck!" Don't any of you go stealing my business ideas now...

Hublot made the million dollar big bang watch out of white gold and rare baguette cut black diamonds. almost 550 diamonds are all over the watch, with a total of 34.5 carats. Hublot took its time making the watch. Over 2000 hours went into it. The movement is a manually wound tourbillon. Functions include the time (tourbillon acts as the seconds indicator), and a power reserve indicator.

Why did it win best jewelry watch in Geneva? I am not sure. Perhaps because it is rare, took a lot of time to make, is for men, and is actually quite attractive. Is nice jewelry is supposed to inspire envy, awe, and a bit of anger? If so, then the Hublot Million $ Caviar Bang was a good choice to win.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch review site aBlogtoRead.com

I knew that the A. Lange & Sohne Zeitwerk watch had a lot going for it. When it was announced several months ago in May, I was sure that Lange was doing things right. Oddly enough, its parent company Richemont Group did not. Even though the brand has an almost fanatical following and continues to win award after award (for both the company and their products), there was enough tension over profits between former CEO Fabian Krone and Richemont Group corporate to lead to the former CEO's resignation. Shame that Richemont didn't value the skill and determination of the brand.

Like Zeitwerk... I mean clockwork, A. Lange & Sohne has won yet another award for their watches. The result of this year's Grand Prix d'Horlogerie de Genève has the Lange Zeitwerk watch winning the "Golden Hand" award. Roughly making it the top watch of the year. Through the various categories, this is the ideal award that any watch maker can strive to achieve for this highly watched annual horological recognition event.

The Lange Zeitwerk watch is a mechanical masterpiece that combines modern and traditional watch making. The dial shows the time digitally via two windows and has a analog subsidiary seconds dial and power reserve indicator. Prices for the watches average about $55,000 - $76,000 (gold and then platinum).

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

I recently mentioned how the Vacheron Constantin Historiques 1921 won the jury prize in Swiss Montres Passion's 2009 Watch of the Year Award. Well this Parmigiani Pershing Asteria watch won the Prix du Public (publicly voted award) for 2009, in the same magazine. I find it so interesting that the editors at the magazine itself would choose such a quirky classic watch, while the public would vote for a thoroughly modern in appearance sport watch - a women's version at that. Of course the Parmigiani Pershing comes in male variants as well.

This is one serious sport women's watch. The 42mm wide case is in white gold with a mother-of-pearl dial - and has all the hallmark features of a diving watch. Inside is a Parmigiani manufacture made 002 Chronograph automatic movement. On the dial there are two charming little features that compliment the easy to read chronograph subdials. At the end of the chronograph seconds hand is (not able to be seen in this image) a small octopus as the counterweight, while the seconds hand/dial for the time itself is a stylized, spinning sea star (starfish).

The luxury watch is also available with various levels of precious jewel decoration. I believe it is a winning watch because the public appreciates its sporty exterior, charming design accents, manufacture made movement, luxurious construction, and modern looks. Quite a departure from what the editors of the Montres Passion magazine took into consideration when giving their award.

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

High-end Swiss watch makers Greubel Forsey win the 2009 Gaïa Prize prize in the entrepreneurship category. The annual award is divided up into three categories and focused on the luxury watch industry. It is curated by the Musee international d'Horlogerie located in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland.

Last year's winner of the Gaïa Prize was Swatch Group Chairman Nicolas Hayek. To be placed in the same category as Mr. Hayek is likely a great honor for Greubel Forsey founders Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey. The award was given to them due to their craft of fine, traditionally made and crafted Swiss watches. Greubel Forsey watches are highly limited in production and in the several hundred thousand dollars each. The image above was taken by me of two Greubel Forsey watches (Tourbillon 24 Seconds and the Double Tourbillon pieces) at the Greubel Forsey dealer shop Chatel.

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

If you're heading to the ESPY Awards pre-party at the Playboy Mansion tomorrow night, be ready to clip and light a Camacho. The cigar company has been selected as the official cigar of the event. So, while you're hobnobbing with the wealthy and beautiful – athletes and other celebrities will be there – pick up a Camacho Select, Triple Maduro (a great, full-bodied smoke), Diploma or 10th Anniversary.

"Camacho Cigars is proud to be a part of the pre-ESPY festivities," said Dylan Austin, marketing director of Camacho Cigars. "The Playboy Mansion is an iconic location that every man dreams of visiting at least once in his life. This only adds to our excitement in being involved in this illustrious event."

The night will include dancing, entertainment, a few poker games and just about everything else you'd expect from a party at the Playboy Mansion. If there's a better way to smoke a Camacho, my imagination can't come up with it.

The Red Dot Award is of the more desirable "good design" awards out there. Emphasis is always on form and function. You'll find that most award recipients are often excellent selling products. The award is given by the Design Zentrum Nordheim Westfalen in Germany. This year two Tag Heuer watches received Red Dot Awards, and this is the fifth time in seven years that Tag Heuer watches received such Red Dot Awards for good product designs.

The two watches that received the award are the new Tag Heuer Grand Carrera Calibre 36 and the new Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500M with the Calibre 5 movement. The Grand Carrera Calibre 36 is an odd watch with a sound design concept for measuring 1/10 of a second accuracy in its chronograph complication - in a unique manner. The best way to appreciate it is to view the video here. It is a cool concept, but isn't going to be a high volume seller like the Aquaracer 500M.

The new Aquaracer model is very well done - really advancing the concept of a "professional diver watch" for Tag Heuer. You can read more on what I think about the Tag Heuer Aquaracer 500M here. It has an automatic movement, 500 meters of water resistance, and comes in various colors and materials that each have an strong industrial feel to them that is still inline with being a tasteful timepiece. Fair award recipients if you ask me.

Via Europa Star.

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

Prizes – in art, journalism or anywhere else – are intended to show that a particular achievement exceeds the others in its field. The Turner Prize is a prestigious contemporary art award in Britain is for artists under 50 and has been around for 25 years. Here's the problem: the Turner Prize has always gone to art that sucks. Nobody liked the work. So, this year, a prize that typically has gone to pieces that shock is doing some shocking of its own.

The judges hope that the Turner Prize will go to a creation that people actually like.

The four artists nominated this year aren't as controversial as past entries, but they do bring unusual perspectives. Roger Hiorns is described as a "modern alchemist," mixing a variety of household materials with liquid copper sulphate and an empty apartment to express his vision. Enrico David focuses on the human figure, while Lucy Skaer uses photographs as starting points for drawings and sculpture. Richard Wright, rounding out the list of nominees, works with large wall paintings tailored to the spaces in which they appear.

This work makes a bit more sense than at least one past winner (2001): Grayson Perry, a cross-dressing potter, and Martin Creed had an installation consisting of lights flickering in an empty room. Reaction: one visitor threw two eggs at the wall.

And, of course, Damien Hirst is a past winner, though I struggle to understand why. He's only done one installation that worked for me (a year and a half ago, at the Lever House in New York).

Judge and art critic Jonathan Jones observes, "People say 'my child could do that.' It's not conceivable that you could look at any of these artists (in that way)." He goes a bit too far, however, when he continues, "It shows there is a great deal of talent in contemporary art."

Maybe the Turner Prize will redeem itself in 2009. We'll find out on December 7.

Germany's greatest luxury watch maker has again been recognized for its masterful creations with an award for its Cabaret Tourbillon timepiece. The German newspaper Welt am Sonntag in collaboration with the popular Armbanduhren (wristwatch) magazine recently released its reader judged award of "Watch of the year 2009." The top choice among the German watch lover respondents was the A. Lange & Sohne Tourbillon Cabaret. The watch has a unique innovation included in the already complex tourbillon complication, that being the inclusion of a 'hack seconds' (stop seconds) feature. This simple concept stops the seconds from running when the crown is pulled out to allow for a much more accurate setting of the time. While the complication is simple on non-tourbillon based watches, adding the stop seconds feature into a tourbillon watch was extremely difficult feat, but A. Lange & Sohne was able accomplish it with a specially engineered hacking arm.

Aside from the unique "world's first" complication, the Cabaret Tourbillon features an 18k gold case with an outsize date complication, power reserve indicator, and subsidiary seconds dial. All laid out logically and beautifully. The Cabaret Tourbillon received the award for best watch of 2009 because it really combines each element that watch lovers and collectors seek: functionality, heritage, perfect finishing, beauty, and exclusivity. A. Lange & Sohne is a perennial winner of such awards - with the most recent recognition, having been chosen from 154 different contender watches. With this winning streak I expect A. Lange & Sohne watches to win again in the future.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

The value of an Oscar statuette is obviously more about the sentiment and experience than anything else, but what is that little gold man really worth in cold hard cash?

There are several ways of looking at it:

• Resale value for Oscars won after 1950 are limited because the Academy makes all winning celebrities sign an agreement that if they want to sell they have to first offer the statue back to them for $1.
  
• Based on the current price of the gold if melted down each Oscar is worth about $500.
• If sold on the sly (or for pre-1950 Oscars that can be sold in the open) big-name Oscars will easily clear $60,000+, with many hitting 6 figures.

That's not all that much, all things considered. I think if I ever win one I'll be happy to just keep it (hey, I can dream!).

Travel is big business, but with today's technology the world seems to be getting smaller and smaller. Having a truly memorable experience is less about where you go and more about the details that you experience while you're there, knowing what the best options are can make or break a vacation.

The Travel & Leisure Design Awards 2008 cite the best of the best in 15 categories covering everything from the best hotel to the best restaurant to the best travel gadget. How many of them have you experienced?

Bentl y - The Book has just won the "Best Book on Car Design" award by Motor Presse Club e.V., a German organization. The book is a history of the company and its cars, written by British motoring journalist Andrew Frankel. It was first published in 2003. Bentley beat out four other books for the title. The winner of the category was selected by a panel that included well-known car designers and journalists. Autoblog has the full press release.

Now in its second, revised printing, the book is available online for $69.50.