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Lois Hill, Traveling Joaillier - Exclusive Interview

Filed under: Jewelry, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Lois Hill is a jewelry designer who travels the world to unearth native and ancient methods of jewelry-making. From granulation (tiny silver dots) dating back to King Tut's Tomb to metal weaves spotted in museum artifacts, Hill's natural curiosity and love of travel has taken her all over the globe to learn, create and teach.

"I think of it as 'working to preserve lost arts,'" says Hill. Her fascination with ancient techniques began with Scandinavian filigree. Born to a Norwegian mother in Illinois, she grew up in a crafty house which strictly believed in principles like "That's not a walnut. That's a Christmas tree ornament or a magnet," Hill recalls with a smile.

Gallery: Lois Hill "Globally Inspired" Jewelry

Tags: Breastcancer.org, CARE, designer interview, Doctors Without Borders, jewelry, jewelry designers, jewelry-making, Lois Hill, travel

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What Is Luxury Health Care? A Visit To Switzerland's Clinique La Prairie

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Spas, Lux Tips

Luxury health care? You don't hear the term very often. From a social perspective it is a bit of a tricky concept. To imply that some types of health care and medical treatments are 'excessive' and for the well-to-do only seems to contrast with the humanitarian concepts of treating the ill or injured. In fact, luxury heath care has been around for eons. The tonics a king would drinks, the ointments of an emperor. Things not necessarily meant to cure, but enhance or enliven.

Today luxury health care often falls under the category of "elective procedures." A rather tedious concept probably coined by insurance companies. It implies that you don't need it, or rather that the patient, versus the doctor is prescribing the treatment or procedure. We often look down upon things like cosmetic surgery publicly - although it is so much a common practice world wide. So back to the initial question - are such 'elective procedures' all that is encompassed under the umbrella of luxury health care? No. In fact luxury health care is probably what health care should be in an ideal world. Proper attention, good doctors, and the time taken to properly diagnose and treat, whatever the problem may be - whether it is necessary to sustain life, or elective to enhance it.

I travel to Switzerland and visit the Clinique La Prairie (CLP) to see if I can answer my question about luxury and health care. The Clinique is a rather famous (if you swing in the right circles) "wellness center" that has been around for about 80 years. Located right on Lake Geneva in Montreux Switzerland, CLP is nestled away in a small, but highly desirable location near France. The beginnings of the Clinique are rather retro sci-fi in concept. I will let CLP give you its full history, but a doctor had an interesting idea of injecting people with young organ cells collected from sheep. The theory was that these early organ cells would stimulate cellular rejuvenation and offer a series of "wellness" benefits meant to make you feel younger and stimulate the immune system. Sounds a bit mad scientist-ish, but people much more picky than I swear by it.

Tags: care, Clinique La Prairie, CLP, health, luxury, medical, review, swiss, switzerland

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