brown

Jewels and high-fashion design. What else do you need in such a watch? This particular piece capitalizes on the new "brown" trend, of watches where brown is a prominent color. The Instrumento Tondo RMS58 by de Grisogono (for women) looks as though it has been dipped in a number of caramel varieties. I feel like I should be seeing the "making of" this watch on Food Network's "Unwrapped" television Show. It just looks so much like candy.

Aside from the mocha brown guilloche machine engraved 18k pink gold dial, the warm brown tones come from 94 brown diamonds and orange sapphire (almost 7.5 carats of jewels). The look is enhanced by chocolatey tones throughout the watch. While a new look for de Grisogono, the watch displays their standard bold yet refined Italian style (though the brand is Swiss). The dial is still easy to read and contains a power reserve indicator (that looks a bit out of place in design) and a second timezone subsidiary dial. Why no date or seconds hand? At least the watch values legibility. The watch case itself is 18k browny brown gold (not sure about the size, and not kidding, that is the name of the gold that de Grisogono uses). Inside the watch is an automatic mechanical movement, and the case is water resistant to 30 meters.

The strap looks like some manner of chocolate treat, but are a light brown galuchat (stingray). The strap has a fold over de Grisogono clasp again, in browny brown gold (the worst name for gold ever). The final touch is the black diamond set in the crown (you know, for some exoticism right?). Price is gonna be high!

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

It is true that in the scope of things 42mm wide is still considered big for some people. 42mm wide would even seem totally ordinary on any other watch - but for a Panerai it stands out. I knew Richemont (who owns Panerai) would try to get us into smaller watches, and what a shock it is now coming from Panerai. I've even seen plenty of 44mm wide Panerai watches on women that look great. So why all of a sudden the shrinkage?

To make the watch even more enticing, Panerai is placing in it a new in-house made movement, the quite thin manually wound P'999 caliber. This allows the entire watch to be much thinner than we expect in a Panerai. The case is classic looking and in 18 rose gold - with handsome brown accents.

If you recall, I just mentioned that Panerai has made smaller watches in the past. I don't think that these sold too well, and I have a feeling they were meant for the Asian markets where much of the time a 40mm wide and under watch model is preferred. So while Panerai has made smaller watches in the past, I suspect that instead of doing so to pacify select important markets, it is part of a larger effort to get smaller watches in again. I think that the 42mm wide 2010 Panerai Radiomir looks nice enough that many people will get it, I don't see their standard 44mm watch losing popularity any time soon - and they would be foolish to abandon it.

Via World Tempus.

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

While the Tag Heuer Carrera Chronograph watch was getting bigger (up to about 44mm wide now I think) someone must have thought it was too big and too much. So here comes a three-hand version of the classic looking Tag Heuer Carrera with the Caliber 5 movement that has made its way into other Tag Heuer timepieces such as the Aquaracer. This Caliber 5 based Carrera is now 39mm wide and in steel.

Most of the watch is what we know and love about the Carrera save for the smaller size and more simple looking face. To help keep the dial from looking too bare, the designers added Clous de Paris texture (just a series of square boxes pattern) on the face, and gave it one of those "open" date windows that I am loathing more each time I see them. In my humble opinion, the watch would have looked better minus the half-banana shaped eye-sore of a date window. To preserve symmetry, would not have something smaller at 6 o'clock made a better choice? An interesting design point are the spelled out hours next to the hour markers. Look closely and you can see them spelled out, "ten," "three," five," etc...

Instead of the tachymetric scale on the aluminum bezel, there are now minute markers such as on a rotating diver's bezel, however I don't think this bezel rotates. The watch is available in the pictured brown color dial and (of course) black. Both are handsome in tone. The watches will be available soon and for a price that is likely a bit less than the Aquaracer automatic with the steel bracelet.

Ariel Adams publishes the watch review site aBlogtoRead.com.

I've commented before on brown watches and the winning combination of brown and rose gold. Iridesse Pearls has caught on to the trend combining Chocolate Tahitian pearls with rose gold. Their new collection pairs the luminous brown pearls and gold with cognac diamonds and pink sapphires in earrings and pendants as well as the bracelet shown here. The bracelet has big beautiful brown pearls and oversized gold links with a pink sapphire tassel. It sells for $4795.

The single most boring thing in the kitchen is a cutting board. Usually, it is a piece of plastic that sits near the sink. Recently, I got a bamboo one, which is very beautiful in addition to being sturdy, but it is still plain. I’m thinking about investing in something fancier, something more fun. Something like the Country Toys Electric Guitar Cutting Board, which is unusually stylish for a wooden kitchen accessory. The cutting board is 3/4-inch thick, so it will last for years of use and, if necessary, refinishing. Handmade from gorgeous purple hardwood, this would look great on a kitchen counter and take up a lot less space than a real guitar and in addition to being more wallet-friendly at $60. There is also an Acoustic Guitar version, for you more traditional types.