Cartier, Boucheron, Chanel, Van Cleef & Arpels confirmed their presence.

Will follow AltaromaAltamoda from 31st January to 2ns February 2010.

Italian version

From 16 October to 28 February 2010 the Memmo Foundation on Via del Corso in Rome will host the exhibition “The Grace Kelly Years. Princess of Monaco”. After a smash hit in Monaco in 2007, with 135 thousand visitors, the exhibition became a roving one and after Paris and Moscow, it gets to Italy to then head off to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, only with the fashion section, and then to Japan.

The exhibition starts with a gallery showing magazine covers from the 50s, period in which Grace turned from being an icon of Hitchcock’s films to being the Princess of Monaco. Set or artistic photos, realized by figures such as Howell Conant, Cecil Beaton, Irwing Penn, clothes by Christian Dior, Oleg Cassini, Balenciaga, Chanel – till the famous wedding dress made of ecru silk – jewells by Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, bags, Hermès of course, posters, magazine covers, film contracts, letters exchanges with Alfred Hitchcock and Cary Grant, Jackie Kennedy and Maria Callas, movies privately shot in important moments.

An intimate portrait of the American actress that became a princess, icon of style as well as perfect mother and wife.

Italian version

Osvaldo Patrizzi, expert watchmaker acknowledged all over the world, advocate of the project since the very beginning, will organize the auction with the support of his Maison Patrizzi & Co.

Will take part in Only Watch 2009: Audemars Piguet, Bell & Ross, Blancpain, Bovet Fleurier, Breguet, Cabestan, Cartier, Chaumet, Chanel, Confrérie Horlogere, Corum, De Bethune, Delacour, Franc Vila, Franck Muller, Frédérique Constant, Gerald Charles, Girard-Perregaux, Hermès, Hublot, Jaquet Droz, Les Ateliers de Monaco, Louis Vuitton, MB&F, Montblanc, Omega, Patek Philippe, Piaget, Tag Heuer, Tourneau Timepieces, Ulysse Nardin, Vacheron Constantin, Van Cleef & Arpels, Zenith.

Italian version

The event, organized by the Syndicat National des Antiquaires, draws its success on an exhibition organized according to the specializations of the exhibitors and on the pedagogic and cultural approach.

120 exhibitors, antique dealers and galleries, coming from all over the world, ready to show to the public high quality objects, with the theme “Contemporary passions and value of time”. Over an area of 3,800 s-m will be exhibited different kinds of items, coming from different periods including modern and contemporary works of art, ranging from drawings, sculptures, paintings, jewels, silverware, watches, fabrics, manuscripts and books, coins, stamps, ceramics, porcelains, primitive art and much more.

Among the exhibitors Cartier, la Fondation de la Haute-Horlogerie, IWC, Jaeger-Lecoultre and Montblanc.
Obviously there will be as well cultural events dedicated to fans and professionals.

Le Salon du Collectionneur – Antiquaires & Galeries D’Art
11th-20th September
Grand Palais of Paris
http://www.sdcfrance.eu/desktopdefault.aspx?tabid=1&lg=en

Italian version

One of the watch-making events of 2009 is no doubt linked to the debut, with grand style, of Ralph Lauren in the world of time pieces.
The collections of the famous American stylist were presented to the operators of the field at the exclusive Geneve Watch Fair (SIHH 2009) that took place in January 2009. The creations surely appeared to be nonconformist compared to many of his opponents within the fashion world. No gadgets, no low-cost models, no quality compromises or standardization. Purely prestigious watch-making items, featuring thoughtful original designs and high-quality movements.

It is not by chance that the entire production came into being thanks to the collaboration between Polo Ralph Lauren and Richemont, the owner-group of Cartier, IWC, Piaget and so on.
It is much more than a mere joint venture between two companies. It rather is the result of an authentic partnership between two men: Ralph Lauren and Johann Rupert. They share the same passion for  details and quality, necessary elements in the world of luxury watch-making.

The very first collections now available: Stirrup, inspired to the equestrian world; Slim Classique, featuring an extra-flat case and an essential dial – probably the most trendy at the moment; Sporting, dedicated to action and characterized by World Time.

As could be foreseen, the arrival of Ralph Lauren on the market of Italian watch-making factories will not be a particularly rapid process, since the high quality of the entire production requires distribution  not only to meet expectations but also to be able to interpret the true novelty so to reach an audience that is not anymore merely elitish, but a fresh new one.

The joy of wearing a Ralph Lauren does not stand in chasing globalized and common ideals, but rather in looking for a “different” and original style.

As for now it’s possible to have a look, through the images showed in the gallery, to the first concrete result achieved in Europe: the opening in Paris, on 8th July 2009, of the section dedicated to watch-making within the Ralph Lauren Boutique in Avenue Montaigne.

Paolo Gobbi

Italian version

The concept of this humanitarian action was born from the LOVE bracelet , for over forty years universal symbol of love, and from the idea to extend this feeling from the private sphere of love to the boundary-less sphere of love for others.

Within this project, Cartier created the new bracelet LOVE CHARITY that will be on sale from 11th June – subject to availability – for 580 euro, 145 of which will be given to UNICEF and to its humanitarian initiatives to the benefit of the children of Sudan.

The jewel is constituted by a pink gold and diamond ring, paved on white silk drawstring to know around the wrist as a symbol of love tie. The colours represent the sensitiveness of love and the innocence of the childhood.

The UNICEF project in Southern Sudan, that Cartier has been supporting for three consecutive years, faces one of the most dramatic situations in the African continent; situation that involves especially children who, among war disruptions, epidemics, malnutrition and abandonment, live in a precarious and unstable predicament.

To adequately promote the charity sale and make the outcome even more effective, Cartier will welcome in each boutique celebrities from the world of sport, cinema, show-business and music that will be for a day exceptional sellers of the bracelet LOVE CHARITY: testimonials of the love for humankind.

Italian version

Images and archive drawings, elegant black and white or colour photographs, collages and illustrations, offer an original new way to look at Cartier, in Cartier I Love You, by photographer Bruce Weber. An event-book whose proceeds will be devolved to the charity Service Nation and created in occasion of the celebrations for the 100th anniversary of Cartier’s presence in the United States.

“I was very surprised by the great story of Cartier, so as by the stories behind every single jewel. Cartier’s way of seeing things and the sensitivity laying behind each of his creations are really extraordinary” stated the author.

Though remaining faithful to the original spirit and identity of the maison, Bruce Weber turned to the originality of his own point of view and of his own peculiar universe: cowboys and cowgirls, refined hippies, surfers, mundane women and femmes fatales.

The rhythm of Cartier I Love You is marked by documents collected not only in the Cartier’s archive centres in Paris, London and New York, but also drawn on the Bruce Weber personal collection of photographs.

The book, edited by teNeues, will be available for purchase in all Cartier boutiques starting from June 2009.

Italian version

The new jewels play in particular with the variety of shapes, reproducing the style of the rings also on bracelets, colliers and sautoirs; with the volumes, sometimes turning the three into six and widening the design; with the colours, both when they retrieve the classic theme of the pink, white and yellow gold, and when they emphasize the different reflexes of the gold with the brightness of diamonds.
Some of the proposed models belong to the high-jewellery Trinity collection: in particular one three-gold bracelet, ornate with 2,727 diamonds for 126 carats, and a ring, also entirely covered with diamonds, for a total of 378 stones for 4,90 carats.

Thus, new models for a ring that reveal in its shapes a strong involvement with the design. So, Cartier thought about celebrating it by asking to the students of the Creative Academy, the prestigious school founded in Milan in 2004 by the Group Richemont, to be inspired byt this collection and by the new promotional campaign “Trinity. All about you forever” to project the setting of some of the shop windows of the boutique in Milan.

The initiative, especially original, took place during a key week for Milan, animated by the Salone del Mobile.

Italian version

Against the background of family and political events, the jewels are worn by queens, political personalities or cinema and fashion stars and they are characterized by a refined and authentic style, which is the outcome of the hard work and passion of individuals such as Louis Cartier, Jeanne Toussaint, Peter Lemarchand.

Precious stones and platinum give shape to jewels shaped like animals, such as the panther of the famous 1949 pin, the parrot, dragonflies and snakes, marked by a flood of colours, together with more minimalist pieces that get closer to the arts of the time and to the influences of oriental cultures.

www.editions-du-regard.com

Italian version