Marc Anthony was performing on an aquarium platform at Seaworld in San Diego when a baby alligator jumped out of the tank and bit his index finger. He was rushed to the hospital and needed 3 stitches.

Ok, just kidding but it kind of looks like what could have happened.

Marc Anthony was actually performing at the Latinoamericando festival in Milan when this photo was snapped. I am constantly amazed with how much raw energy this man possesses. I am sure he has some special enzyme in his body that allows him to convert food to energy 10 times faster then the rest of us. This 125 pound Puerto Rican powerhouse also seems to be a bit of a watch collector these days. Recently I have seen him wearing Panerai Luminors, but if you look closely you will notice that this time he has chosen a Rolex with a bolt on diamond bezel.

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His official name:

Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de la Santísima Trinidad y de Todos los Santos de Borbón y de Grecia (can you say that in one breathe?)

But you can just call him “Prince Felipe”…. The son of Juan Carlos, King of Spain.

This hulking young nobleman stands at over six foot five inches tall at forty years of age. He was educated abroad – as well as in Spain.  In his bachelor days  – he was linked to many eligible women who ranged from Spanish noblewomen to Norwegian underwear models. Basically, Prince Filipe has had the life. Moving forward all Prince Filipe has to do to secure his position as King of Spain is to do what his father says and not screw up..

And you know how fathers always want their children to surpass their accomplishments, Prince Filipe has been able to fulfill this on at least one front…

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics Prince Felipe outperformed his own father’s olympic achievement when he took a conclusive sixth place in the sailing competition. This is a notably better Olympic performance than his father’s. When the current King of Spain competed in the Olympics he got 15th place in similar competition. Now that’s what I call real progress!

In the mean time – Felipe seen here is cheering on modern day olympians while wearing a Franck Muller Master Banker watch. A fine choice for a future monarch.

Technorati Tags: Prince Felipe, Olympics, Franck Muller

While the Monterey Peninsula Auto Week is rightly celebrated by lovers of exceptional automobiles, its also a great opportunity for those who covet the finest luxury watches. That’s because those who have been know that Lussori goes all out each year to present nothing less than the very best selection of extraordinary watches and jewelry.  Keeping up with the cornucopia of horological wonders was, as always, a bit of a dizzying experience.  For me, this year’s event was a chance to get acquainted with some stellar new luxury watch brands, and deepen my appreciation of marques I already know and love.  Here are just a few impressions I took away this year:

Working with the Franc Vila watch line was gratifying.  Impressively crafted and unquestionably different in appearance than any other watch on the market, they offer a real choice for those whose collections lean heavily to the classical.  The tourbillons were certainly impressive, but my favorites in Franc Vila were actually the less pricey complications, including the annual calendar with chronograph, and the complete calendar with moon phases.

Bovet watches…so nice.  These are extraordinary, as you might have guessed from the information presented in the blog just below.  Getting to experience the full collection in the metal, including the exceptionally exclusive Dimier Recitals was inspiring; these watches are a pleasing reminder that extensive hand craftsmanship is indeed alive and well in today’s world of disposables and fast food.  I particularly loved the Bovet Fleurier Jump Hour in its many lovely forms, and some of the watches with hand-painted or cloisonne dials simply blew me away.  To see is to believe, as they say.
What’s not to love about the Girard-Perregaux Tourbillon with Three Gold Bridges?  The only thing better than experiencing one, is experiencing THREE (including a version in the Vintage 1945 format).  This was a real treat and confirmed for me that this is indeed one of the most exquisite tourbillon wristwatches in existence.

Glashutte Original always impresses me.  It was great to be able to closely examine the Senator Meissen watch with its lovely porcelain dial, and also get to have some one-on-one with the Senator Rattrapante, whose chronograph movement is right up there with the A. Lange & Sohne Datograph in intricacy and beauty.

The Ulysse Nardin display case was an absolute treasure chest…among the many delights included the Sonata watch in several colors of gold, the amazing Forgerons Minute Repeater (which I naturally had to chime on several occasions over the week), and the full Trilogy of astronomical watches, including the world’s last unsold yellow gold Astrolabium Galileo Galilei!

My love for Audemars Piguet was also deepened, thanks to an open-worked Jules Audemars minute repeater whose chimes were oh-so-fine; the platinum Royal Oak Perpetual Calendar with a skeleton movement was also a show stopper.  My rabid appreciation for the superb craft of Chopard’s manufacture L.U.C watches was reinforced as well, after being able to spend some time with several of the L.U.C. “Quattro” Tourbillons, including an absolutely ravishing 18K rose gold specimen with a silvered guilloche dial.  Last but far from least, the Harry Winston Tourbillon Glissiere was nothing short of phenomenal…the sheer heft of its massive rose gold case was dwarfed only by the wonder generated by its incredible tourbillon movement with sliding platinum winding weights.  I simply couldn’t put it down.

I could go on and on, as each case held so many wonderful things (and I don’t mean to leave any brand out!) but I’ve rambled far too long as it is.  If you were in the Lussori showroom last week, you know of what I speak; if not, please come next year.  I assure you that you’ll not be disappointed!

The addition of Bovet watches to Lussori’s superb collection of luxury timepiece brands should be a real delight for those whose tastes are oriented to the finest in haute horlogerie.  Bovet watches first made a name for themselves in the 19th century, when Edouard Bovet succeeded in titillating the exclusive tastes of the Chinese Imperial family with his exceptional timepieces, which emphasized exceptionally lavish decorative details, including fine enamel work, engraved movements, and cases set with precious gemstones and pearls; Bovet was also the first maker to fit transparent windows in watches, to emphasize the beauty of finely decorated watch mechanisms.  As a fascinating footnote to history, the renown of Bovet watches within China became so great that they actually became an established form of currency!

Bovet’s owner Pascal Raffy has done a fabulous job to ensure that the modern Bovet watch collection captures the extraordinary hand-craftsmanship of original 19th century Bovets.  Apart from their charming and unmistakable style, which evokes pocket watch design, Bovet timepieces place an emphasis on artistic adornment which is scarcely matched by anyone within the luxury watch industry today.  At Bovet, rarities such as miniature enamel painting, pearl-setting, and elaborate fleurisanne-style engraving live on, adding a great deal of beauty to watches that are at least as much an expression of art as they are an implement to tell the time.

Most importantly, this rare emphasis on aesthetic perfection serves to highlight the finest in mechanical watchmaking.  Bovet presents a number of the most cherished complications, which range from the delightful jumping hour and classical perpetual calendar to wondrous minute repeaters and tourbillons–the summit of the watchmaker’s craft.  Even more impressive, Bovet has ensured the continuity and exclusivity of its horological creativity through the formation of a manufacturing facility in picturesque Fleurier, where it can create and design its own proprietary movements.

Technorati Tags: Bovet watches, Bovet

A few weeks ago the chronologically challenged Republican Presidential hopeful John McCain was comparing the popularity of his Democratic competitor Barack Obama with that of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, inferring that pop culture icons are unimportant in modern society…

Ironically, a few days later his daughter Meghan McCain, a budding political blogger who presumably uses her blog to attract younger voters for “Dad” was seen “lunching” in LA at the ultra popular restaurant The Ivy with none other then the infamous Heidi Montag from the pseudo reality show “The Hills”.

So what does this blog have to do with watches you may ask?

Well….either blogging has started to pay a ton of money (and I’m still waiting…) or Presidential hopeful John McCain is dropping HUGE sacks of money on Christmas and birthday presents for his kids.

If you look closely at McCain’s early twenties daughter you will noticed that she is wearing a true piece of horology. The watch on her wrist is a Limited Edition Glycine Lagunare Chronometer. This is a true Swiss timepice with a limited production of only 200 pieces..

Hey Mr. McCain, feel like adopting another kid in his mid to late 30’s?

Technorati Tags: John McCain, Meghan McCain

There are many perks of marrying a Spice Girl. For starters – you get to marry a Spice Girl! Does it get any better then that? Then – your summer vacations that USED TO take place at 3-star Clarion Cabo San Lucas hotels are now 3 week yacht based vacations in Saint Tropez. Oh the life of Stephen Belafonte…

Yes, he used to be a music producer..or still is… sorry Stephen. But lets face it – keeping Scary Spice happy is a full time job. Of course – there are a few complications. Scary has two children from two previous relationships…One being Eddie Murphy and the other, a little know dancer named Jimmy Gulzar. So ya gotta get used to dealing with Eddie Murphy for the rest of your marriage.

At least when Christmas comes along Stephen doesn’t get the typical Old Navy/Marks & Spencer’s sports fleece. No not this guy. If you look closely at Stephen’s wrist, you will notice that Mr. Scary Spice is wearing an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Offshore Rose Gold Rubber Clad watch. A watch ANY horological enthusiast would be thrilled to see under his or her Christmas tree…

Technorati Tags: Stephen Belafonte, Scary Spice

Franck Muller watches provided me with some of my earliest introductions to the world of artistic and extremely complex watchmaking.  Back in early 1997, I had somehow managed to get my hands on a dog-eared and well-worn copy of an International Watches catalog for 1996, and it absolutely blew me away (the contents of the entire catalog).  It took my appreciation of timepieces, which before had been confined primary to more publicly famous brands such as Omega, Rolex, TAG Heuer and perhaps Patek Philippe, to an entirely different level.  With the hundreds of full color photographs before me, a whole new world opened up, and I found myself transformed virtually overnight from someone who thought watches was highly interesting to well…a full-bore watch nut!
The collections of Franck Muller were certainly one of the most impressive to me, even from the first flip of the page.  As I struggled to wrap my head around the functions of some of the amazingly complex Franck Muller watches (such as the “Calibro 1994″) I became thoroughly enraptured with the artistry and human commitment necessary to create watches of this elite level.  Muller’s story was no less impressive–here was a fellow who entered the prestigious Geneva School of Watchmaking at a just 15 years of age, winning top honors in his class within a short period of time before going on to make a name for himself in complicated watch restoration under watchmaking legend Svend Andersen, and eventually turning things upside down with some absolutely outrageous timepieces of his own—including what was at one point the most complex wristwatch in the world! (which as a side note, was later modified into an even more extraordinary piece–the subject for a story all its own.)

I also credit Franck Muller watches with providing a real “wake up call” as to how stylish watchmaking could be.  Collections such as the famed “Cintree Curvex”, with its sweeping curves and expressive dials showed me that round cases were but the tip of the design iceberg.  While I would soon come to learn these were based on historical designs that came decades before, I remain just as impressed today with how beautiful Franck Muller watches are, to say nothing of the amazing degree of mechanical artistry many of them possess.

Technorati Tags: Franck Muller