volcano

LeBron James Wearing His Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Volcano Watch

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches, Celebrity Shopping

Perhaps LeBron James likes this particular Audemars Piguet Royak Oak Offshore Volcano watch because he prefers an orange trim, or maybe because that is the color of basketballs. Regardless, LeBron is among many professional athletes (among others) who prefer Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore timepieces. The Volcano model is 42m wide in steel, with a black and orange colored dial, with a matching black with orange stitching crocodile strap. Inside it has an in-house made automatic chronograph movement. Retail price for the watch is close to $19,000.

Mr. James was recently spotted wearing his AP Volcano watch on ESPN when making the announcement that he will be leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers in order to join the Miami Heat. This is certainly a great Miami watch.

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

Tags: audemars piguet, James, lebron james, royal oak offshore, volcano, watch, watchspotting, what-are-you-playing

Romain Jerome Eyjafjallajokull Volcano DNA Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

I was more or less expecting something like this from Romain Jerome. The brand that brought you the Titanic DNA and Moon Dust DNA watches has been struggling to "find what is next' after they lost Yvan Arpa, their charismatic former CEO. He invented the "DNA" watch concept and this Volcano DNA watches doesn't really fit into that concept. I will get to that below.

In a nutshell, Romain Jerome was able to collect some of the volcanic ash from the now popular recent eruption from the Eyjafjallajokull Volcano. This ash was used in making this one-of-a-kind watch. The case and dial are mostly adapted from the Moon Dust DNA collection, but instead of a moon surface, the dial is meant to look like molten lava - red hot on the inside and black carbon colored on the surface. The look is carried over in segments on the bezel. Hands on the watch are meant to look like little airplanes, a reminder of what effect the volcanic eruption had on our society for that limited amount of time. As a "right now" novelty, the watch is fun. The piece unique will have just one piece made. I am sure someone will buy it. But they better get it soon, because in the coming weeks, and of course years, the memory of airport nightmares will fade. Unlike previous RJ DNA watches, this material and name has no real lasting quality or commemorative value. Pretty much everyone around the world knows about the Titanic (thanks in big part to James Cameron), and the moon? Well that is pretty self evident in its popularity.

Which allows me to return to the topic of what the original DNA watch concept was all about. Yvan Arpa imagined using a material that was 1) almost unattainably rare, 2) luxurious, 3) and known by most people for a long time. There is nothing rare or hard to attain about volcanic ash, not even from Eyjafjallajokull. In time people will have no idea what this watch is about, or why we should care. RJ claims that the watch is meant as one of an ongoing collection of pieces that "illustrate the legends of our time and the mythologies that will forge the memory of the 21st century." Perhaps. In the end they made just one piece so their investment in it is low, and with a primary of goal of getting media for the brand, the watch wholeheartedly succeeds.

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

Tags: dna, Eyjafjallajokull, romain jerome, volcano, watch

Chefs Serve Meal Cooked on Erupting Volcano

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Dining

When Iceland's Fimmvorduhals volcano first started erupting several weeks ago hundreds of people were evacuated from their homes, but very quickly the traffic started moving the other direction as tourists flocked to see the spewing lava via helicopter and guided vehicle tours. One couple experienced it a little differently, though as they spent a romantic evening volcano-side eating a gourmet meal prepared and cooked directly on the hot lava. Fridgeir Eiriksso, the head chef at Reykjavik's Holt hotel, first came up with the idea and took three of his colleagues with him up the side of the mountain to find a good spot for cooking, saying 'We did not know what to expect, so we brought welder masks and gloves since we wanted to cook the food on the lava itself.'

The two customers paid about £650 each for transportation via helicopter to the site and a meal of soup, flaming lobster, monkfish, and shallots along with champagne and a beautiful view of the volcano's crater. The experiment was considered a great success but chef Eiriksso says there are no plans to offer it again.

Via Bornrich

Gallery: Dining on the Fimmvorduhals Volcano