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Brand News: Frederique Constant’s Boat Watch; Apple Partners With Hermes; Graff’s New Campaign; More September 16, 2015 (0 comments)
Frederique Constant Partners With Historic Boat Show; Creates Limited-Edition Watch To Celebrate
Lake Tahoe, CA—Swiss watchmaker Frederique Constant returned to the 43rd Annual Lake Tahoe Concours d'Elegance as a title sponsor for the fifth consecutive year. The 2015 collectors' event and prestigious wooden boat show took place August 7-8, and featured nearly 100 vintage and classic boats dating back to pre- and post-World War II.
"The Frederique Constant brand is thrilled to celebrate the 2015 Lake Tahoe Concours d'Elegance, an exclusive event that is visually spectacular and a homage to true purveyors of luxury," said Peter Stas, CEO of Frederique Constant. "Our continued partnership serves as a reminder to enthusiasts of both boats and fine Swiss timepieces to 'Live Your Passion,' a calling that has served as our company's lifestyle directive and slogan."
This year, the watchmaker introduced two new limited-edition Runabout Moonphase Automatic watches at the event. The watches are offered in stainless steel (below) or rose gold plated (top left), have a 40-mm case with Arabic indexes on a silver partly guilloché dial, and convex sapphire crystal. Both models feature a see-through case back. Functions include hours, minutes, seconds, day, date, month, and moonphase. The new Runabout is powered by the FC-365 automatic caliber, with 25 jewels and a 42-hour power reserve. It’s water-resistant to 50 meters, and the Riva Historical Society flag is etched into the case back glass. The watches come with either brown or black leather strap.
Each new Runabout Moonphase Automatic model is limited to 2,888 pieces and is delivered in a special gift box with a miniature replica of a wooden boat.
Apple Watch Partners With Hermès
Cupertino, CA—The Apple Watch Hermès, unveiled last week at a press conference at Apple headquarters, further cements the notion that Apple is as serious about luxury as it is technology. Created in partnership with the iconic French luxury brand, the watch goes on sale October 5 with a price point far lower than the always-has-a-waiting-list Hermès Birkin bag.
The Apple Watch Hermès has a stainless steel case, all the Apple technology including interchangeable digital dials, and leather straps in various colors inspired by some famous Hermès styles, including the Cape Cod.
There are three versions of Apple Watch Hermès: the Single Tour with a simple single strap retails for $1,100 in the 38 mm size and $1,150 in the 42 mm size. The Double Tour, with a strap that wraps twice around the wrist (a style that Hermès made famous), retails for $1,250 and comes in the 38 mm size only. The Cuff, with a thicker strap, comes only in the 42 mm size and retails for $1,500.
The two companies are using identical imagery to promote the watch. Above, from Hermes' website; below, from Apple's.
Tiffany Revamps Three Collections; Reveals Update On Video
New York, NY—As Coca-Cola unfortunately learned in 1985, messing with a classic is not recommended. But famed jeweler Tiffany & Co. believes it can avoid the fate of New Coke with the launch of three collections it has updated and revamped.
According to Luxury Daily, the three collections getting a facelift are Tiffany Bow, Tiffany Victoria, and Tiffany Infinity. Because the three motifs—a bow, a flower, and the infinity sign—are classic jewelry themes, the new pieces are comfortably safe yet on-trend enough to appeal to buyers.
Tiffany introduced the new pieces in a video on its website, set to the song “For You” by Tobias Jesso. The pieces are interspersed into three vignettes, none of which ironically feature a male-gifting component. It features a mother and child and two women friends, and, of course, lots of diamond jewelry. Click here to watch.
Graff Unveils 470-Carat Ad Campaign
London, United Kingdom—Graff has unveiled a major fall advertising campaign that aligns gemstones around nature’s four fundamental elements of earth, water, air, and fire. According to an article in UK trade publication Professional Jeweller (not to be confused with the former American magazine by the same name), Graff’s campaign launches this month across newspapers, magazines, ambient media and online, with images also on display at the 55 Graff locations around the world.
Model Emily Didonato was photographed wearing a total of 470 carats of diamonds, rubies, and emeralds across the four images. These two represent water and fire.
Delcam To Launch New CAD/CAM Software With 3-D Printing At ArtCAM User Conference
Nashville, TN—Delcam will launch the 2015 R2 version of its ArtCAM JewelSmith CAD/CAM software for the design and manufacture of all types of jewelry at the 2015 ArtCAM User Group Conference, set for October 1-3 at the Inn at Opryland in Nashville, TN.
Attendees will be able to see the most significant addition to the program: the ability to create support structures for 3D printing (demonstrations will be shown on the Ember 3D printer by Autodesk). 3D Printing offers jewelers an alternative route to machining for the production of highly complex models for lost-wax casting.
In addition to the support of 3D printing the new release, includes a variety of improvements in both its design and machining options. For full details on the new software and the opportunity to download an evaluation version, click here. For more information on the 2015 ArtCAM User Group click here or contact Mary Shaw, marketing manager, mes@delcam.com; (877) 335-2261.