Corum Honoured at Watch Of The Year 2009 Event

On October 28th at the Intercontinental Hotel of Geneva, the 2009 edition of the Watch of the Year event took place to award the most notable watches conceived in the past year as chosen by a panel of experts. Corum took a very respectable second place for its Ti-Bridge that was introduced at this year's Baselworld fair.

The winners are chosen from a group of forty watches that in turn are selected from the hundreds of watches created during the period of September 2008 and December 2009. Corum's Ti-Bridge was chosen to be the second-best watch created this year. Top honours are reserved for Vacheron Constantin's "Historiques American 1921"

Upon accepting the prize, Corum CEO Antonio Calce announced that he is "happy to receive this prize, which reflects the pride of [his] teams, whose talent contributes to make the value of Corum today. The Ti-Bridge embodies perfectly the philosophy of Corum: creativity, design and high watchmaking content. This timepiece opens a new chapter in the already rich history of the company."

Visitors and residents of the big city of Jakarta will soon have a new luxury shopping destination. A 1.68-kilometre-long shopping corridor will be developed on a street known as Casablanca, and will be dubbed the "New Orchard Road." Space for seven to eight shopping malls is projected and amenities such as underground pedestrian crossings and wide sidewalks will produce a leisurely shopping experience.

Read the full story on thejakartapost.com.

George Soros, billionaire venture capitalist, announced in Copenhagen over the weekend that he intends to commit $1 billion to clean-energy investment and political efforts to tackle the climate change crisis. Soros' statement reflects the trend toward clean tech investments that drove much of the diminished venture fund-raising in the most recent quarter.

For the full story please visit the source of this story at mercurynews.com

The 2009 Only Watch Auction raised €2,285,500 for the Monegasque Association Against Muscular Dystrophy in Monaco. The auction organizer Osvaldo Patrizzi of Patrizzi & Co. is very pleased with the outcome saying that "these are excellent results."

34 manufacturers of luxury watches donated their one-of-a-kind watch to the auction. Although lower then previous results of roughly € 2.7 million in 2007, the figures are in tune with the present softer economy. Many of the watches offered commanded prices within their estimate range. While numerous timepieces reached or came close to their maximum estimates, only two watches surpassed them with the Patek Philippe ref. 5106 being the most successful lot.

Amongst the participating manufacturers were Bell & Ross and Corum. The diamond encrusted BR-01 Airborne One donated by Bell & Ross sold for €34,000. Corum's addition was a specialized version of their new Ti-Bridge that sold for €12,000.

A full list of results is available on the Patrizzi &, Co. website.

Despite this year's global recession, manufacturer's of luxury vehicles were not shy to introduce some very expensive cars this year at the Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany. Amongst the greats are Ferrari, which released its 458 Italia, and Rolls Royce with its new Ghost. While industry experts assert that the luxury market will rebound more quickly from the recession then other markets, many newly released luxury cars were already in the works before the US economic meltdown started to hurt markets on a global level late in 2008. As Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer - professor at the university in Duisburg-Essen - noted, "it costs more to eliminate a programme than to continue it."

Another highlight of the show is the automotive industry's efforts to find ways to reduce its heavy carbon footprint. Notable examples of new innovative automobiles are the 313hp, electric E-Tron Concept by Audi and Mercedes Benz's Vision S500 Plug-in Hybrid with its longer lasting battery pack.

For more information about luxury releases at the Frankfurt Motor Show visit this article on Google, while this article on PopularMechanics.com features several notable eco-friendly concepts.