financial

Sinn Modell 6000 Finanzplatzuhr Watch In Platinum

For those of you who know, German Sinn watches represent super high levels of function and durability. Having a Sinn watch in a luxurious material simply because it is expensive is almost contrary to the theme of the brand. However, that just changed with the 10th anniversary version of their Model 6000 Financial Center "Finanzplatzuhr" watch. The Sinn Modell 6000 Finanzplatzuhr will come in a limited edition of 10 pieces in platinum. The brand that made famous super hard Tegimented steel and the low maintenance mechanical movement, now dips its toes in the classic sense of luxury.

The Modell 6000 also comes in steel, but this one is in platinum and the case is 38mm wide and 100 meters water resistant. The dial is anthracite with guilloche machine decoration and is rhodium plated. The dial is obviously pilot watch themed, but altered a bit to represent Frankfurt, the home of Sinn, as well as Germany's financial center. Likewise, on this limited edition, the automatic movement rotor has been decorated with the city's skyline.

For the movement, Sinn took a Valjoux 7750 and modified it with their Diapal technology. This replaces certain gears and palettes in the movement with diamond plated components. This is to created parts of the watch that require no lubrication as they have such low amounts of friction. This dramatically increases the time the watch needs to go between servicing. They also fitted the movement with a GMT hand. The watch is capable of tracking three timezones, and the external hour ring rotates using the crown at 10 o'clock. The Sinn Modell 6000 Finanzplatzuhr watch is impressive alone, and this limited edition platinum model is even more impressive. In accordance with the non-excessive values of the brand, the platinum version watch is priced at 19,900 euros, certainly cheaper than most all other platinum cased watches. Available now, but there are only a few.

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

Tags: financial, frankfurt, german, limited edition, LimitedEdition, Modell 6000 Finanzplatzuhr, Modell6000Finanzplatzuhr, platinum, sinn

Sotheby's Charges for Coffee at Hong Kong Auction

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Auctions, Art

You know it's rough out there when Sotheby's makes you pay for coffee. At its five-day Hong Kong auction, the house was able to move only $89 million in antiques (HK$691 million), paintings and gems – less than half the take for the same event in 2008. With bidders forced to HK$20 (which looks more menacing than the U.S. equivalent, $2.50), one can only hope that Sotheby's was able to make up the difference.

This is a far cry from the $227 million that sold a year ago.

Sensitive to the global financial crisis, Sotheby's planned ahead, offering fewer expensive lots, which tend to get a bit more bidder action when financial markets are struggling. A larger number of wine lots showed up, as the liquid flows more easily than canvas. All of the bottles moved at the first Sotheby's Hong Kong wine auction.

Despite the downturn in art prices, some feel that now is a good time to invest in the oldest of old media. Ian Kai, an art dealer based in Beijing, remarked for Bloomberg, "Governments are printing so much money now. Fine artworks might be a better way to store value than currency."

The highest-priced piece at the auction was "Fishing Harvest" by Lin Fengmian, which fetched a hair over $2 million. Most paintings sold for prices well below those of comparable works at last year's auctions. Heading into the Hong Kong auction, Sotheby's cut presale estimates by an average of 20 percent and expanded its offering to include video installations and other non-painting works.

And that could be the enduring benefit of this marketplace.

"We are now seeing conceptual art at Hong Kong auctions, which is fantastic," said Sandra Walters, a Hong Kong-based collector who runs a namesake art-consulting company.

A broader perspective will lead to future returns for artists, collectors and auction houses.

Source

Tags: art auction, art auctions, ArtAuction, ArtAuctions, auction, auction-house, auctionhouse, auctions, beijing, china, financial, financial crisis, FinancialCrisis, financials, hong kong, hong kong filmart, HongKong, HongKongFilmart, recession, sotheby, sothebys, sothebys international realty, wine, wine auction, WineAuction

Cuban Cigar Sales Down, Bad Decisions Averted

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars

Why are sales of Cuban cigars down? The minute the subprime mortgage crisis turned global, of course, demand had no place to go but down. And, there's always the quality issue that has plagued manufacturers in recent years. So far, the damage hasn't been bad.

Habanos S.A., which makes the storied Montecristo, Cohiba and Partagas brands, moved $390 million in 2008. That's a drop of 3 percent from 2007. The company, a joint venture involving the Cuban government and Altadis, says that this hasn't affected profits significantly.

Unsurprisingly, Habanos blames smoking bans in France, Germany and the United Emirates (among others) in addition to the financial crisis. If you can't find a place to smoke, you aren't likely to do it as much (a trial I endured in Scotland last year).

But, economic conditions are still the main event, particularly when you consider the secondary effects.

International travel took a dive last year ... to the tune of 11 percent. What's that mean? American cigar dilettantes weren't able to piss away as much on Cuban sticks as they may have in the past. Duty free shops thus moved fewer cigars than usual, with total sales in these venues down 24 percent from 2007 to 2008.

Despite the slip in sales and claims that profitability isn't seriously impaired, Habanos isn't optimistic about the future. On the subject of the U.S. embargo on Cuba, typically a favorite topic of speculation, the company would only say that it has "much worse problems to deal with in the world."

[Via Latin American Herald Tribune, photo by Steve Zak]

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