The Exceptional Jewelry News Network Holiday Luxury Watch Guide

Check out the 11 timepieces below for men and women that would make anyone feel special this holiday season.

The 39mm diameter Montblanc Star Classique has eight indices and four numerals plated with gold, as are the leaf-shaped hour-hand and minute-hand. The little second-hand turns its circles on a subdial in the shape of the iconic Montblanc emblem at 6 o'clock. The sapphire crystal caseback reveals the self winding mechanical caliber MB 4810/408 with its ball-borne winding rotor and golden balance. It retails for $10,450 and is available at select Montblanc boutiques and retail locations.

The Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Traditionnelle Self-Winding is a classic watch from the oldest manufacturer of fine timepieces. It reveals its timeless character through details such as the slender bezel, the knurled motif on the screw-down case-back, 18k pink gold, applied hour-markers, and elegant dauphine hands. The gold case frames an opaline silver-toned dial punctuated by 18k pink gold hour-markers. The 41mm case houses an ultra-thin Calibre 1120. It retails for is $31,300. It is available at Vacheron Constantin boutiques in New York, Las Vegas, and Costa Mesa, Calif., or by calling 877-862-7555 for the nearest retailer.

The Girard-Perregaux Cat's Eye features 150 emerald-cut diamonds on its white gold case, 102 emerald-cut diamonds on its dial and 13 baguette diamonds on its black satin strap with ardillon buckle in white gold. It retails for $405,000 and is available at the Girard-Perregaux Boutique, 701 Madison Avenue, NYC. Phone: 646 495 9915.

Baume & Mercier Capeland 10088 is the brand’s first limited edition men's timepiece for Tourneau in the U.S. The 44mm automatic flyback chronograph has a blue tachymeter and black telemeter. It is distinguished by a copper-colored dial and a sapphire crystal caseback. The case is polished and satin-finished steel with an anti-glare face. It’s limited to 250 pieces, each one is numbered. It retails for $7,900 and is available at select Tourneau stores nationwide.

The Franc Vila FVi17 Chrono Bicompax contains the FVi Nº 7 Tourbillon Intrepido. This watch is designed to be sporty and elegant. There are two chronograph subdials at 3 and 9 o’clock with a date indicator at 6 o’clock. The black case is made of titanium, a material Vila favors for lightweight and durability. The complicated movement is caliber FV17, with the exclusive “Gold Concept Rotor.” It has a power reserve of 42 hours. It retails for $20,700. Visit francvila.com to view dealers of Franc Vila watches.

The Girard-Perregaux 1966 Equation of Time has a rose gold case and annual calendar. Then of course, there's the "equation of time" complication, which measure the difference between apparent solar time and mean solar time—perhaps the most esoteric of all measurements of time. It's shown with a gauge that measures the variance from +15m to -15m. It retails for $32,860 and is available at the Girard-Perregaux Boutique, 701 Madison Avenue, NYC. Phone: 646 495 9915.

A convex sapphire crystal and see-through case back give a glimpse of its inner workings of the Frederique Constant Worldtimer Manufacture. The dial comes in silver, with an engraved guilloche design or a detailed world map in the center. All functions are accessed by using the crown; there are no extra push buttons sticking out from the ultra-smooth and polished sides of the case. The Worldtimer function is achieved by selecting the desired city and placing it at the 12 o'clock position on the dial. Internal discs automatically synchronize, and after that, it’s possible to see what time it is in any of the 24 cities on the dial. It is limited edition collection of 1,888 pieces. It retails for $3,450 and is available at Bloomingdales.com.

The Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX7 Chronograph is inspired by the Aston Martin Vanquish, this watch has a titanium case with satin-finished lugs. A pivot mechanism allows the functions of the chronograph to be operated by pressing on the watch crystal. The chronograph function can be started or stopped by pressing the watch glass at 12’clock, while pressing at 6 o'clock resets to zero. The retail price is $26,000. Visit www.jaeger-lecoultre.com for purchasing information.

Frederique Constant Automatic Ladies Watch with Diamond features 56 diamonds. Hearts grace the inside of the dial while diamonds are used as hour indicators. It retails for $4,250 and is available at Bloomingdales.com.

The JeanRichard 1681 Collection is available in two versions: one with three hands and a date display, the other with a date display and small second display and in two colors, steel and pink gold. The time display appears against a classical rail-track minute circle. The three-hand version has applied Arabic numerals in a similar style to the hour-markers; the small second display at 9 o’clock counterbalances the date. The oscillating weight of the calibre JR1000, bearing the new signature of the brand, can be seen through the screw-in case-back. The 1681 pictured retails for $6,400 and is available at Kenjo Watches in New York.

Baume & Mercier Linea 10036 ladies watch comes with a double wrap strap in the light brown calfskin, however, there are several other colored bands (single and double) that may be interchanged. The 27mm round watch has a satin finish and a quartz movement. It retails for $1,950 with the interchangeable bands $200 each. Call 1-800-Mercier for purchasing information.

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PPR Shopping for Luxury Jewelry and Watch Brands

François-Henri Pinault. Photo credit: InDigital Media Group

NEW YORK — French holdings company, PPR, is on the lookout for luxury jewelry and watch brands to strengthen its portfolio and meet demands in the booming Asian region.

François-Henri Pinault, chairman and CEO of the company that owns brands in the luxury, sports and lifestyle markets, said PPR identified a weakness in its portfolio in the growing men’s luxury segment. To rectify this it took control of the Sowind Group, which owns the Swiss luxury watch brands, Girard-Perregaux and JeanRichard. Then it acquired the Italian men’s fashion brand, Brioni.

The company already owns the French luxury jewelry brand, Boucheron, which it purchased in 2000. However, Sowind and Boucheron are the only companies it owns in the “hard luxuries” segment of the market. PPR primarily operates internationally in the apparel and accessories sectors in the luxury market and what it identifies as the “Sports & Lifestyle” market. Its luxury brands include Gucci, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and Balenciaga.

He said PPR will pursue hard luxury brands. “We are looking to any opportunities in jewelry and watches, particularly in Asia,” he said. “It is very important in Asia.”

Pinault made these comments Wednesday following a breakfast presentation at the Consulate General of France. During the event, he gave his views on a range of topics, including the growth of Asian market, the strategy of his diverse holdings company, and e-commerce and digital media.

Pinault said that for 50 years the growth in population and wealth in the world (800 million consumers) was centered in the U.S. and Japan. However, in 2006 the company identified that economic growth has shifted to emerging markets—particularly China, India, Brazil, and more recently, Indonesia—bringing 3 billion consumers to the worldwide market, and that this trend will continue.

“It means that in the next 50 years the growth is amazing,” Pinault said. “We don’t have any idea what it will be. We are always referring to the past but it’s no use. We cannot compare 3 billion people with more and more purchasing power to 800 million in the past… The question is what should we do to take advantage of those opportunities of growth?”

The company already made a decision to enter the luxury market in 1999. However, in 2006, it began to drastically change its portfolio to enter the sports and lifestyle segments. In 2007, it purchased Puma as the centerpiece of this new strategy.

Then, he said, the company needed to identify two areas of growth in this segment that would not compete with the footwear and sportswear company. It chose action sports, which led to the 2011 acquisition in Volcom, and the outdoors market segment.

PPR then took a giant step toward shoring up its e-commerce and digital media strategy by forming a joint-venture with online retail specialist Yoox to administer the e-commerce operations of most of its luxury brands.

Pinault says PPR’s digital media strategy has two parts. First, it needed what acquire the skill set, which resulted in the partnership with Yoox. Now it will try to create an experience that is similar to what customers get from going to one of its branded stores.

“You cannot offer an experience to your customer in the stores that’s completely different from the experience that you’re offering online,” he said. “You go to a Gucci store for the experience rather than mainstream stores. You have to reproduce that online.”

He continued, “The next step is to transform the e-commerce experience, our luxury experience, like it is in the stores. It will show that we can reproduce this conversation online.”

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Captain Sully Lands at Jeanrichard

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger

NEW YORK — The word, “hero,” is thrown around a lot these days and often used to describe acts that may indeed be considered special in one way or another but fall short of being heroic. If anyone truly earned the right to be tagged with this honor, it’s Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger.

On Jan. 15, 2009, the former U.S. Airways pilot successfully landed (“ditched”) a powerless Airbus 320 into the Hudson River about three minutes after the aircraft hit a flock of Canada Geese causing its engines to fail, saving the lives of all 155 passengers and crew. NTSB board member Kitty Higgins called it “the most successful ditching in aviation history.” The name “Sully” will always be associated with Flight 1549 and the “Miracle on the Hudson.”

Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger was at the Standard Hotel in Manhattan Monday for his first public appearance as the new ambassador for Swiss luxury watch brand, Jeanrichard, as it introduced new models to its 1681 and Terrascope collections.

There is no new “Sully” timepiece. Not yet anyway. But it is being discussed. He will visit the Jeanrichard headquarters in Switzerland in April to see how the watches are constructed.

“The more I learn about these incredible devices, how elegant, how beautiful they are, the craftsmanship that’s involved it’s just amazing. The more I appreciate them,” he said.

Bruno Grande, Jeanrichard COO, with Sullenberger.

At 62 years of age Sullenberger looks every bit of what one would expect a pilot to be. Fit and trim, enthusiastic, personable and articulate; he speaks with passion, whether analytically discussing the details of Flight 1549 or expressing his “fascination with time,” which has evolved since the flight.

“It’s obviously one of our more precious commodities in each of our lives,” he said. “It’s even more apparent to me now than before the flight four years ago. I’ve always intellectually knew that, but until you experience such an extreme challenge it’s not as real to you and now I think I have a greater appreciation for how each of our lives could change, in an instant, completely forever and in a moment. We really never know when and if that’s going to happen.”

Time also serves an important task in his profession as a way to determine fuel usage.

“It’s a necessary concept in flying because at takeoff, unless you’re going to do aerial refueling in a military airplane, you have a finite supply of fuel that equates to a finite supply of time. So you have to make sure you complete the flight within those constraints with a reserve, with alternatives and contingencies in mind.

“One of the things that we always did in flying is to have this discipline and habits focused so we could anticipate and plan and never be surprised by anything. That’s what made this Hudson River situation so shocking. Unlike every other flight I ever had that we worked so hard to make routine, we were suddenly confronted with something we haven’t trained for. I knew that in the first seconds that my life would change forever.”

Sullenberger knew he wanted to be a pilot from the time he was child. As a Mensa member at the age of 12, he certainly had the intellect for it. He flew his first flight at the age of 16, was a decorated cadet in the U.S. Air Force Academy and served as a fighter pilot and trainer for the U.S. Air Force before joining US Air in 1980 (the predecessor to US Airways). He credits the training he received and his lifelong commitment to all aspects of his job, including the more mundane parts, to being able to make the proper decisions at a critical time.

Jeanrichard 1681 timepiece

“Everything in my life in some important way has been available to me to access enough in that incredible moment when I needed everything I knew to solve very quickly a problem I never seen before and never specifically trained for,” he said.

Bruno Grande, Jeanrichard chief operating officer, said it is this commitment to the ordinary details of his profession that matched the watch brand’s “Philosophy of Life” motto and the brand’s namesake, Daniel Jeanrichard, who assembled his first watch in 1681.

“He found passion in an ordinary job,” Grande said. “It’s a huge thing. You can be a baker, a simple job but at the same time have great passion. It doesn’t matter what the passion is, his passion is his job. And the passion of Jeanrichard is the fact that today, 2013, we are still here, talking about him.”

Sullenberger combines doses of humility with strong helpings of pride when he talks about the ill-fated, six-minute flight from LaGuardia Airport and how he and his crew responded.

“I certainly feel like everyone on the airplane and I went through an extraordinary situation and many people did their jobs extraordinarily well. They went well above the call of duty,” he said. “The fact we got so much, so right, so quickly under the adverse conditions is a testament to what we were able to accomplish.”

One of the most remarkable parts of the successful landing (as you may have noticed in his earlier statements) is that, with all the training he’s received, there was no guidance for a water landing. Nor was there a protocol for having a total shutdown of an aircraft so soon after taking off and being so close to the ground. This meant that Sullenberger’s knowledge, skill, judgment and experience became even more critical.

Jeanrichard Terrascope with blue dial and rose gold details.

“In our flight simulators it’s not possible to practice a water landing. The data didn’t exist on our program for it. Believe it or not the only training we’ve ever gotten for a water landing is a theoretical classroom discussion,” he said. “Even in the most extreme demanding flights, their training scenarios never had everything going wrong at that so low of altitude with that little time to deal with it. It turned out that we only had 3 minutes and 28 seconds from the time we the hit the birds and lost thrust till we landed. It was just incredibly quick. So I had to very quickly assess what just happened; begin to take the immediate, corrective actions; search for a place to land; rule out the ones I didn’t have enough altitude to reach; and then settle on the one that I did. It was the river. That was the only place we could go that was smooth enough, strong enough, wide enough to try to land on.”

Most everyone credits Sullenberger’s decision to raise the nose of the aircraft right before the water landing as the most crucial factor to saving the lives on the plane. He said since there was no thrust he had to fight gravity in order to land, which meant he was coming in at a much faster speed and a steeper angle than normal. This is where his training came into play.

“It was like a normal landing on steroids because without engine thrust to moderate (the aircraft's speed), to make a shallower approach to the runway, we were using gravity to provide the forward motion of the airplane and we were coming down much more steeply, much more rapidly than a normal landing—two stories per second,” he said.

“I had to very precisely judge, within a fraction of a second the height at which to begin raising the nose so that I didn’t either get the nose too high a height to drop it in or wait too long and hit nose first. I had to judge the height just so that I was able to stop the descent as much as I could and get the nose up just as we touched the water. And of course over a featureless water terrain depth perception was very difficult. So it was a difficult thing to do and some.

Then he adds: “I never made a water landing before.”

He says he doesn’t consider himself to be a hero but he understands that the story of the landing has touched the lives of a lot of people.

“I don’t call myself a hero but I certainly understand how people feel about this, how this flight makes them feel, still touches and inspires people, even those who weren’t directly associated with it.

“It’s what I call the enduring power of this story.”

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