senator

Sen. John Kerry Joins the St. Barth's Superyacht Set

Forget about "a day late and a dollar short" – Sen. John Kerry was several days and several hundred million dollars short on a recent sojourn to the glitzy resort of St. Barths, still awash in all the money and celebs left over from Roman Abramovich's New Year's blowout. Kerry missed out on the action but still managed to make the scene in his sailing yacht Isabel (above). While completely dwarfed by the likes of Abramovich's 550-ft. Eclipse – the 75-ft. Isabel looked like one of Abramovich's tenders by comparison – Kerry's classic sailboat served as a timely reminder that style has nothing to do with size.

Though it cost a mere $7 million, a pittance compared to the megayachts like the iPad-controlled Solemates choking up the harbor, Kerry was not there to compete with the likes of P. Diddy and Simon Cowell; though the Isabel, built by Friendship last year, features plenty of luxe touches including a wet bar and wine storage in the pilothouse. The Edwardian-style interior is finished in glossy varnished teak, and the yacht can accommodate four guests in two VIP main staterooms with en-suite baths. Tenders and toys include a 13.5-ft. Zodiac and onboard there are all the bells and whistles a busy politico needs, from satellite communications to Wifi.

[via JamesList]

Gallery: John Kerry's Yacht 'Isabel'

Tags: John Kerry, politicians, politics, Roman Abramovich, senator, Solemates, St. Bart, St. Barths, yacht

Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Here is a traditionally nice timepiece with some less than obvious technical qualities that make it nicer than you'd suspect at first glance. At first you can appreciate the classic marine chronometer dial design that you can find these days on most every Ulysse Nardin Maxi Marine Dive watch. Glashutte Original has adopted the design nicely with a large subsidiary seconds dial and power reserve indicator up top. Aside from these basic functions, the watch also has a big date complication, as well as a small day/night indicator (small hole displaying light or dark, located in the bottom section of the power reserve indicator. The watch also contains a special second zero reset function that sets the seconds to zero when you are adjusting the time of the watch.

In addition to those useful features, this Senator Chronometer is apparently Glashutte Original's first COSC certified Chronometer timepiece. Movement is in-house made and beautifully decorated as is the case with all high-end watches that come from the region in Saxony. The Germanic style movement looks similar to those of competitor company A. Lange & Sohne. The Glashutte Original Senator Chronometer is in 18k rose gold (not sure on case size yet). While the watches are not strictly a limited edition, they will have limited availability until the end of the year, being located in only select stores around the world. It is hard not to like the classic looks of the watch that wed tradition with function so nicely. Very close to the modern ideal of what a luxury German made watch should be about.

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

Tags: chronometer, germany, glashutte original, GlashutteOriginal, senator, watch