Award Winning Herman Miller Ardea Desk Lamp
Filed under: Decor

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.
Filed under: Decor

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches
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.Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Filed under: Cigars
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.
Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Filed under: Art
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.
Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

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.
Filed under: Celebrity Shopping
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? Filed under: Gadgets, Handbags, Luxury Travel & Hotels

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.