Articles and News
BRAND NEWS: MONICA RICH KOSANN ON TV WITH NATE, ALPINA PAIRS WITH CESSNA, RICHLINE BUYS MORE FIRMS May 02, 2012 (0 comments)
Monica Rich Kosann Guest Stars on Nate Berkus Show
New Canaan, CT—“Lockets are sexy,” said jewelry designer Monica Rich Kosann, during an April 30 appearance on the Nate Berkus Show, a daytime style program on NBC television. “A locket has a bit of mystery. What does the wearer have inside?” She also told the audience to go through their own homes and jewelry boxes on a treasure hunt and find pieces that may be no longer wearable in their present state—such as one cufflink—but that can be transformed into something else. The multi-talented designer—she’s a photographer and has a line of home accessories as well as fine jewelry--also showed some of her pottery collection, which includes everything from found objects to her children’s art projects to a mug she inherited from a late aunt.
Monica Rich Kosann, right, on-set with Nate Berkus and a table display of her jewelry, pottery, and photography.
Alpina Watches, Cessna Aircraft Form Partnership
Geneva, Switzerland—Alpina, the brand known best for its pilot’s watches, announces a marketing partnership with Wichita, KS-based Cessna Aircraft.
Clyde Cessna with one of the firm's early aircraft.
Alpina was founded in 1883, 20 years before the Wright brothers’ famous first flight. From Orville Wright’s first flight in 1903 through the space program, accurate time measurement has been a critical flight tool, and Alpina has been instrumental in providing timepieces to pilots since the early days of aviation.
The 1920s and 1930s were considered to be the “golden age of aviation,” when pilots like John Alcock, Arthur Whitten Brown, Amelia Earhart, and Charles Lindbergh made historic flights and repeatedly set and broke aviation records. During that period, several Alpina watch models were highly popular among pilots and the brand was designated as the official supplier of watches for the air forces of several nations during this time.
Cessna, meanwhile, founded in 1927, has grown to be the largest aircraft producer in the world. The Cessna 172 Skyhawk, a single-engine propeller plane, has been produced in greater numbers than any other aircraft, and its Citation business jet has been a leader in that category for more than 40 years.
Alpina’s new Startimer line offers pilots the accuracy and dependability they require in the cockpit, along with sophisticated styling. Models such as the automatic chronograph AL-860 and the Manufacture AL-710 combine the clean, classic beauty of Golden Age watch designs with modern, precision engineering and manufacturing.
Richline Acquires US Division of Cookson; Inverness
New York, NY--Richline Group Inc. has completed its purchase of the U.S. division of Cookson Precious Metals/Material Products Group, first announced in February of this year. The newly formed company will operate under the name of LeachGarner, a Berkshire Hathaway Company, and includes certain operating businesses for distribution and sales of LeachGarner product in the UK, France, Hong Kong, Japan, and China.
The brands of LeachGarner comprise many of the industry’s leading manufacturing entities: Stern Metals, (formerly known as Stern-Leach) is its fabricated gold, gold-filled and silver mill and alloys brand, offering products such as sheet, wire, tubing, casting grain, and coin blanks. General Findings offers precious metal beads and findings from its Hallmark Sweet and Prime Time lines. Excell, its chain manufacturing brand, will be enhanced further through a combined product catalog with Prime Chain.
Separately, the Richline Group also announces the successful completion of its purchase of Inverness Corporation, previously a division of Cookson Precious Metals/Material Products Group. It now will operate as an independent division under the name of Inverness, a Berkshire Hathaway Company. Inverness is the only manufacturer to provide a fully encapsulated ear piercing system with a patented safety earring back. Jewelers, doctors, pharmacies, and retailers throughout the world use the Inverness 2000 system.