The Swiss Customs Destroys Counterfeits

Due to the strict rules at the Swiss boarder precious metal inspectors worn customers to to purchase luxury watches and jewelry on Internet, unless their supplier doesn't take the responsibility to refund them in case the merchandise does not enter the territory of Switzerland. Note that Swiss customs destroys counterfeit watches.Swiss custom were able to seize not less than 5,200 fake watches and jewels during the first months of 2007. This figure is almost the same as in was the last year, when Swiss customs seized 5,500 counterfeit timepieces and jewelry. The officials from the Federal Customs Administration state that customers pay for their orders using credit cards, however they are not always aware of the risks implied. Quite often products bought via internet turn out to be counterfeits.It is worth mentioning that to examine all packages that include works made of precious metals, including watches, is custom's legal activity. In case the works do not meet the prescriptions of Switzerland the country's customs may return the works to the sender or simply destroy them. Thus people may end up with an empty wallet.

Baume & Mercier Looking for Personality, Femininity and Elegance

The five symbols of personality, femininity and elegance will be styled, made-up and afterwards interviewed by a team of professionals. In Paris ladies will participate in a photo-shoot. It is worth mentioning that the photo-shoot will take place under the direction of Laurence LABORIE, who is one of the world's most famous top fashion photographers.The Swiss watch*** company will also offer its five finalists, a diamond-set Diamant watch along with many other surprises.To enter the competition one must register between on the company's official website from June 1 till July 15, 2007. The company's officials will contact the five finalists individually at the beginning of August.One of the oldest Swiss watch*** companies, Baume & Mercier, is currently looking for 5 extraordinary women that would symbolize personality, femininity and elegance. The "glamorous five" will have to represent fundamentally modern women, the look of which would symbolize persons able to face challenges, finding connections with their professional career and private life on a daily basis. Having in mind women with the above mentioned peculiarities Baume & Mercier Design Studio designed an elegant watch and entitled it - Diamant watch. The ladies of inspiration pushed the famous Swiss company to start its search for five truly extraordinary women whose look would symbolize three main features: personality, femininity and elegance. The beginning of September is the period when the company will select 5 finalists, who will later be invited to Paris. In the city of elegance and glamor selected inspirations will enjoy an unforgettable experience together with Baume & Mercier. All the finalists will spend 3 days in the capital of France.

Watch and Jewelry Material of the 21st Century

This is explained by the rarity of the material. The fact that the metal does not require rhodium plating makes it really cost-saving, as rhodium is highly-priced. Palladium is malleable that means it can be worked to a high degree without getting brittle. Moreover, palladium is harder than platinum, so it is ideally suitable for gem-setting. The unique qualities mentioned above, and in particular its white color that does not tarnish as well as its high purity level make palladium one of the most valuable materials used by the modern watch and jewelry makers.It is also lighter than platinum. The beauty of palladium has long been discovered by watch makers. However, the alloy turned out to be too soft to correspond to the production standards of a watch case. The alloys used today provide the suppleness and the ductility necessary to withstand all sorts of mechanical treatments. Watches produced from palladium are often thicker and higher. They are distinguished by more rounded, sometimes even dome-like cases and bracelet links. This way watchmakers improve their creations' design without additional weight. The Swiss watch industry has recently given preference to palladium as an alternative to white gold. Cartier has developed a successful palladium model of its Pasha watch. There also appeared palladium collections of Ulysse Nardin and Parmigiani Fleurier. Palladium the same as red gold is likely to be mostly used in the production of limited and special editions.

Watch and Jewelry Material of the 21st Century

Palladium is hypoallergenic, a great advantage especially if compared to nickel that is often used as an alloy with gold to make it white. About 10 percent of people are allergic to nickel, so it is presently banned by law to use nickel in jewelry *** in the U.S. and a few countries of Europe. Palladium is naturally of a silver-white shade - there is no need for combining it with any other whitening alloy or plating. The malleability is one more important characteristic of the metal that makes it easy to work with.Jewelry and watch makers have recently made wide use of a material that is quite new in the luxury goods field. The unique qualities of this platinum-group metal will make one wonder why it has stayed in the shade for so long.The name of the 'mysterious' metal is palladium. It was first identified in 1803 and named after Pallas, the companion of Athene, Goddess of Wisdom in Greek mythology. Palladium has partially replaced platinum as a precious metal since 1939, while the latter was reserved strictly for military purposes. Only nowadays palladium has found a much wider use in watch and jewelry ***. Palladium has been highly appreciated first of all for the purity and luster of platinum but with even whiter color. Its bargain-price sets it apart from other precious metals.

The Seiko Ignition SBHL003

I'm a big fan of Seiko watches in general, but as you can probably tell, I'm a much bigger fan of the Asian models.The Seiko Ignition SBHL003 is only available in Japan for now, and seems to go for about $520. The SBHL003 is an interesting new addition to Seiko's Ignition line. There are two things which differentiate it from other Seiko Ignitions. First, while the watch uses a classic analog display to present the time, the inner dial is an LCD used for timing and alarm features. Second, the stopwatch has a very precise resolution of 1/1,000th of a second (like the Seiko Sportura SNJ005 and the TAG Heuer Microtimer).Since the watch is not available in the US, I've had some trouble determining a definitive list of features, but here's what I've been able to gather so far: Synthetic sapphire crystal. Titanium case and bracelet. Stopwatch with a resolution of 1/1,000th of a second. Daily alarm. Countdown timer. 40mm in diameter, and 12mm thick. Water resistant to 100 meters, or about 330 feet. Battery life of approximately 3 years.The Seiko Ignition line is a tribute to the world of auto racing, and each watch tries to visually capture the essence of a race car's cockpit. The outer portion of this particular model's bracelet and portions of the case are coated using some sort of process which seems to translate into "diamond sealed" and both protects the watch from casual scratches, and gives the titanium a unique and very interesting look.