Monaco celebrates first anniversary of its own Haute Horlogerie brand: Ateliers deMonaco

During a highly exclusive invitation only Cocktail party over the weekend in the Hotel de Paris in Monte-Carlo, Ateliers deMonaco celebrated its first anniversary as the new young rising star in the field of Haute Horlogerie.

Among the guests toasting on the prosperous future of the brand were local prominent business and government leaders, as well as some icons out of sports, fashion and entertainment field.

In his opening speech, initiator and co-founder Robert van Pappelendam gave his perspective why this event was an important milestone on the journey to create a new and exclusive Haute Horlogerie brand, but this time from Monaco.

"When we started the journey to realize our dream a couple of years ago, we wanted to create something fresh, new and innovative, yet that could compete with the highest standards of quality and watch making. No compromises, no shortcuts. And along the way we always kept this commitment to the very best in front of us. We got inspired by a quote from Sir Henry Royce: "Strive for perfection in everything you do. Take the best what exists and make it better. When it does not exist, design it." It is this commitment we believe from the start that helped create what later became one of the most iconic luxury brands in the world. So many have asked, why Monaco, and the answer is: do you really believe Henry Royce would have created the brand as it is today if he would have been located with the rest of the industry in Detroit Michigan? So, we also chose to locate to an environment that could inspire, that has a long standing heritage of artistic achievements and lastly is in the heart of where our target consumer's lives: Monaco. And the support we have gotten so far from the local authorities and The Palace have been tremendous. The last question that is on most of your minds is: are you nuts to create a new high end bespoke watch brand in the midst of an economic crisis? We believe no economic crisis should come in the way of us realizing our dream and the brand proposition we all fell in love with. And how are we doing so far? We closed our first Baselworld with the following facts: 7 days of exhibition, 100+press interviews, 388 business cards, 2040 minutes of planned appointments, 100,000 + visitors, and as a result multiple distribution points across Western Europe, Asia, Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Looking forward and around us today, this brand is of to an excellent start, something to be proud of and importantly to draw confidence from for the hard work ahead of us to create our NOUVELLE entry in the HAUTEt HORLOGERIE, but this time from MONACO!".

The height of the celebration was planned to be the acceptance by H.S.H. Prince Albert II of his first Ateliers deMonaco watch, a public statement of his support of entrepreneurship in Monaco and for the Ateliers deMonaco brand specifically. Due to His full calendar,The Prince couldn't attend this event. H.S.H. Prince Albert II invited the brand for a private meeting in the Palace just a couple of days later. In a very relaxed and intimate setting, the ateliers deMonaco team could bring The Prince up to speed on its latest innovations and plans for the future.

Imagine Designs Offers Retailers Free Apple iPad

Bridal jewellery manufacturer Imagine Designs will be handing out free 16-gigabyte iPads in Las Vegas to retailers who carry Imagine Bride, its new bridal collection. The company will be making its Imagine Bridal collection available to retailers strictly on an interactive, web-based ordering system, with the goal to revolutionize the way retailers purchase, reorder and special-order their bridal program jewellery.

Rolex Announces Winners of Inaugural Youth Award

Rolex has announced the winners of the inaugural Young Laureates Program, an initiative aimed at supporting visionary young men and women under 30 and enabling them to implement inventive ideas that tackle the world’s most pressing issues – science and health, applied technology, exploration, the environment and cultural preservation. The five winners of the $50,000 prize are 26-year-old Jacob Colker from the U.S., 25-year-old Reese Fernandez from the Philippines, 27-year-old Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu from Nigeria, 29-year-old Piyush Tewari from India and 28-year-old Bruktawit Tigabu from Ethiopia.

Bulova Unveils New Timekeeping Technology

New York-based Bulova Corporation has revealed its latest timekeeping breakthrough – the Precisionist technology timepiece. According to Bulova, it is “the most accurate watch with a continuously sweeping second hand” that is accurate to 10 seconds per year. Bulova has also added a third prong to the standard two-prong quartz crystal, which will result in eight times the vibration frequency of a traditional quartz watch. The watches from the Precisionist line will be available in the fourth quarter incentive programs and will be delivered in October.

Look for the BFLY Contest in the June issue of CJ

http://canadianjeweller.blogspot.com/2010/04/look-for-bfly-contest-in-june-issue-of.html

Highly Anticipated Jovella Jewelry Exhibition in Tel Aviv to Attract International Buyers

The Jovella Jewelry Exhibition, the international jewelry trade exhibition held annually in Tel Aviv, is expected this year to attract hundreds of buyers from abroad. The exhibition which is being sponsored by the Israel Diamond Institute Group of Companies (IDI), the Israel Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute and the Israel Jewelry Manufacturers’ Association, will be held from July 6 – 7, 2010 at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds. This is the seventh time that the exhibition is being held.

Jovella will feature about 150 exhibitors from Israel and abroad and will feature gold jewelry, gold jewelry set with diamonds or precious stones, silver jewelry, fashion jewelry, Kabbalah jewelry, Judaica and watches. In addition, there will be a section devoted to services and technologies for the jewelry industry.

This year there will be a special section featuring young Israeli jewelry designers who will be showing gold, silver and diamond jewelry. These designers will be chosen carefully according to the originality and quality of their designs.

Israel’s jewelry is renowned for its creative designs, up-to-date fashions and excellent quality. Part of its appeal is due to Israel’s great fusion of cultures and traditions, combining exotic with state-of-the-art, and ethnic with cosmopolitan.

About 11,000 jewelry professionals and buyers visited Jovella 2009 and met representatives of the leading companies in the field. Close to 150 companies participated in the last exhibition and over 200 buyers and visitors from abroad visited the trade fair.

In 2009 Israel exported $300 million in jewelry, with most of this being sold to the United States. In addition, Israel’s jewelry is exported to Russia, the UK, Hong Kong, Canada, Belgium, Italy, Spain, France, Japan and other locations.

To register for Jovella, please go to: www.jovella.co.il

JCK Events Welcomes New Manager, Strategic Accounts

The JCK Events sales team will be further strengthened by the addition of Lars Parker-Myers, as Manager, Strategic Accounts, effective May 10. Parker-Myers will be responsible for working with JCK customers and prospects to ascertain the best and most valuable business-building opportunities for them in the reinvented JCK 2011 at Mandalay Bay.

Parker-Myers will be bringing his expertise and high-level customer relationship management skills to JCK as he will be assessing customer sales and marketing needs and then creating programs and solutions to enhance the value of their participation. Parker-Myers honed these skills during his tenure at Nielsen's Couture event for the past 8 years.

"We are thrilled to have Lars join our team and there couldn't be a better time," said Yancy Weinrich, Industry Vice President, JCK Events. "Lars will bring an elevated level of service to customers and prospects that will enable them to seriously move their business needle at JCK Events as we look forward to the expected economic rebound in 2011."

The reinvention of JCK Events has begun and will continue with the reinvented JCK 2011 at Mandalay Bay. JCK Events offers the entire jewelry marketplace the best product sourcing opportunities both domestically and internationally - from high-end and luxury to mass market and boutique.

"I am eager to join the JCK team," said Parker-Myers. "The timing couldn't be better and I look forward to making an immediate and valuable contribution to the team. I am very excited to work with my customers as a strategic partner and as a liaison to show management. The JCK Events will be undergoing a great transformation and I'm thrilled to be one of the architects."

Contact Lars Parker-Myers by phone at 203-840-5808 or lparkermyers@reedexpo.com.