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The Agenda
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Messika continues its ever-expanding growth in the Middle East, with the opening of a new Messika boutique in Faisaliah Mall, Riyadh. Located on the ground floor, this beautiful boutique is placed next to high end luxury brands such as Saint Laurent, Cartier, Burberry, IWC Shauffhausen and Jaeger Le Coultre. The stunning boutique spans over 90sqm and is built closely following the codes of the brand with gorgeous gray hues, whilst showcasing a variety of Messika’s signature novelty pieces as well as a selection of breathtaking High Jewelry pieces from the incredibly successful Born to be Wild collection. The opening of this boutique marks the 2nd to open in the city of Riyadh, KSA and the 8th to open in the region.
LA MAISON
Driven by a desire to create diamond fashion jewelry of unwavering beauty, Valérie Messika created her own jewelry House in 2005. In her work, she reinvents the richly symbolic and meaningful stone into a desirable and disruptive object that lends self-confidence to
anyone who wears it. Valerie constantly innovates to realize this vision, creating new designs and new techniques. She conceives jewelry that is as individual as it is explosive. She is a jewelry designer, of course, but above all, she is a trendsetter. Valérie Messika brings a liberating breath of fresh air to the jewelry industry. In her hands, the diamond comes alive: it moves, it dances, it has fun and most importantly, it is never boring. Messika pieces are jewelry with character, reflecting the designer’s own femininity and modernity. Messika creations are admired by the most influential women in the world, women respected for their talent and personality. Between 2017 and 2018, the House collaborated with Gigi Hadid, the highly regarded global supermodel, with whom the House codesigned two capsule collections. For 2019, Valérie Messika goes further with, not 1 but 3 muses : Kate Moss, Joan Smalls ans Sylvia Hoeks. 2020 promises to see Valerie Messika, the rulebreaker of the jewelry industry, push the boundaries even further. New collaborations, new designs, new and innovative design shapes and more.
PALAZZO VERSACE DUBAI ANNOUNCES LIMITED EDITION WITH LAYLA KARDAN Talented songstress- Layla Kardan is set to give a dazzling performance every Thursday at The hotel’s jazz bar
Garrard partners with luxury online portals Ounass and Threads Styling to offer a new kind of shopping experience in the Middle East
Divine singing sensation Layla Kardan will be captivating guests every Thursday at Dubai’s world class live music venue, Q’s Bar & Lounge. Giving her inaugural performance on 1st October, Layla Kardan will continue her jazz night series for three months, mesmerizing with her stunning vocal ability and phenomenal stage presence. The international star will be enchanting guests with an incredible catalogue of smoky jazz and soul melodies. The show will also incorporate burlesque dancing, proving an enthralling evening in Palazzo Versace Dubai. Layla Kardan says “I can’t wait to perform in the best Jazz venue in town alongside some of Dubai’s best talent in the Palazzo Versace Dubai that’s been so important and integral in building the assets for my new project. It will be a tantalizing and sensual evening of music and dance in a private and intimate setting. This has been a long time coming and I am thrilled to be performing again” Multi award winning Q’s Bar & Lounge is the ultimate stage for such talent, with music and opulence running through the veins of this venue. It is well known for its intimate ambience, unmatched acoustics and the world-class music acts that perform to their audience only meters away. The vibe in Q’s Bar & Lounge is truly unforgettable and must be experienced to be believed. Q’s Bar & Lounge boasts a delectable offering of innovative cocktails and a delicious a la carte menu to enjoy during the evening.
As more luxury consumers worldwide look online and to social media for inspiration for their next purchases, Garrard has partnered with Ounass, the Middle East’s premier luxury portal, and Threads Styling, the global leader of luxury chat commerce, to offer a new kind of shopping experience. From Monday 5th October 2020, a curated selection of Garrard jewels will be available to purchase on both platforms, with the focus on the House’s much-loved Wings collection and the new Aloria collection, a modern reimagining of Garrard’s setting of the Cullinan I, the world’s largest cut and colourless diamond.
IWC SCHAFFHAUSEN LAUNCHES SPECIAL PILOT’S WATCH CHRONOGRAPH EDITION “SOLIDARITY WITH BEIRUT” IN PARTNERSHIP WITH NUSANED
IWC Schaffhausen presents the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Solidarity with Beirut”, in collaboration with Beirut-based NGO Nusaned, supporting those affected by the Beirut blast on 4 August 2020. Available exclusively in Lebanon and the UAE, with proceeds from the sales of the watch going to Nusaned’s Beirut Emergency Response Plan. The special design, limited to 30 pieces worldwide, features a stainless-steel case, a spectacular green dial and a unique back engraving of a cedar tree, as seen on the flag of Lebanon, symbolizing eternity and peace.
Following the recent explosion in Beirut that devastated the city and the whole of Lebanon, IWC Schaffhausen is collaborating with the humanitarian, community-based and volunteer organization Nusaned. The non-governmental organization is working tirelessly to help Beirut recover through its Goods In Need and Roofs That Shield programmes by providing families with immediate aid and rebuilding destroyed homes and shops. Standing in solidarity with the country and all those affected by the incident, IWC Schaffhausen has pledged to donate the proceeds from the sales of its latest limited-edition timepiece to Nusaned’s relief efforts. that our contribution to Nusaned helps those in need and accelerates the restoration of the beautiful city of Beirut. With the launch of the Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Solidarity with Beirut”, we aim to support the immediate needs of the population in impacted areas. Our hearts are with the people of Lebanon, and we hope that together with the support of the rest of the world, we can stay strong and help rebuild a better future,” said Christoph Grainger-Herr, CEO of IWC Schaffhausen.
“We believe that the power to create change comes from working collaboratively, and we are pleased to join hands with IWC Schaffhausen for a cause that is so close to our hearts. We have witnessed the spirit of teamwork in full force, and we will remain united in providing help where it is most needed. There is hope and resilience, and together we can overcome this,” said Ghaida Nawam, Founder of Nusaned.
The Pilot’s Watch Chronograph Edition “Solidarity with Beirut” will be available exclusively at the IWC boutiques in The Dubai Mall, The Galleria Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi and Beirut Souks and will retail at USD 5,780. The timepiece will retail at USD 5,780, with proceeds from the sales of the watch going to Nusaned’s Beirut Emergency Response Plan.
THE SOUND MAKER™ CELEBRATES A DISTINGUISHED MUSICAL LEGACY JAEGER-LECOULTRE PRESENTS LANDMARK TIMEPIECES FROM ITS HERITAGE COLLECTION
For Jaeger-LeCoultre, chiming watches hold a special significance and over the past 150 years, they have had a major presence in the Maison’s portfolio of complicated timepieces. Since producing its first minute repeater in 1870, the Manufacture has developed more than 200 chiming watch calibres. It has mastered all forms of chiming mechanism, from relatively simple alarm calibres to the most complex of all – the grande sonnerie and Westminster chimes. The Manufacture’s constant quest to improve both timekeeping accuracy and sound quality has resulted in multiple patents and countless innovations and, until the mid-20th century, it supplied chiming movements to many of the most exalted names in Swiss watchmaking.
FROM MUSIC BOXES TO POCKET WATCHES Before Antoine LeCoultre turned to watchmaking, he and his father invented a new type of ‘keyboard’ for mechanical music boxes. Cut from a single piece of metal and shaped like a comb (peigne in French), it improved the quality of the sound, and prevented the instrument from detuning. Variations of this device became standard for almost all music boxes. Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Heritage Collection features an early example from the 1820s, fitted with a LeCoultre ‘Peigne’ mechanism and set in a finely decorated tortoise-shell box. After it was established in 1833, the LeCoultre atelier quickly gained a reputation for both inventiveness and quality and, by the 1860s, was known for its complicated watch movements, incorporating calendars, chronographs and chiming mechanisms. Around 1880, a decade after developing its first minute repeater, the Manufacture LeCoultre created Calibre 19/20 RMS, a Minute Repeater with Three Hammers, rather than the standard two hammers and gongs. Thanks to the third hammer, it creates a unique melody, with a distinctive three-note chime for the quarters.
As the Maison broadened its expertise, watchmakers also incorporated automata into chiming watches. The best-loved of these were jacquemarts – human figures with articulated limbs, set on the watch dial. Animated by the watch movement to coincide with the striking of time, they provide a visual representation of the chime. The intricate dial of an early 1890s Jacquemart Pocket Watch by LeCoultre, features a pair of jacquemarts in a romantic scene, decorated with enamel and engraving. In 1895, Jaeger-LeCoultre invented and patented the silent strike-governor, also known as the silent regulator. This eliminated the background buzz characteristic of traditional regulators, thus producing a clearer chime. Different versions of that invention have since become an industry standard in chiming watches. Among the examples in the Heritage Collection is a 1914 pocket watch powered by Calibre 19 IMCCV, which unites a mono-pusher chronograph and a minute repeater.
In the early 20th century, LeCoultre was one of the few Manufactures to master triple-complication watch movements. For the 1910 Minute Repeater Triple Complication, LeCoultre Calibre 19/20IMCSQ brought together a minute repeater, a chronograph and a perpetual calendar in a classical hunter-style case.
