Mont Blanc Skeletonized Watches

Dear All:it just hit the Swiss news: The luxury conglomerate Richemont discards 200 jobs in the Swiss watch industry after the profit decreased for about 1/5. Mostly affected will be Geneva, La-Chaud-de-Fond and Villeret.The financial situation of Richemont is recently very often a topic in the Swiss economic periodicals. The purchase of the former LMH watch manufacturers for 3,1 Mrd. $ is a viewed a major reason, especially since it did not ease the dependency on Swatch's ebauches. 'A Hayek would never pay that much money' is a bottom line often heard.Interestingly, neither IWC, Lange & Sohne or JLC seem to be affected with the recent decision.Best regards,Magnus Bosse6/5/03

For 75 years, Jaguar has been looking forward. Bold designs, stunning interiors, thrilling performance, on the road, and on the track. To commemorate Jaguar's 75 years of looking forward, Jaguar Cars has created the XJ75 Platinum Concept, a one-of-a-kind design project that highlights the distinctly personalized nature of contemporary luxury car aesthetics. The XJ75 Platinum Concept, dominated by a striking white and black contrast theme, literally creates a glamorous bespoke persona for the high-performance 470-hp Jaguar XJL Supercharged, from which it was derived. To emphasize high performance, the XJ75 Platinum Concept has new groundhugging front, rear and side sills, accented by all exterior chrome elements revised to either a dark chrome or gloss black. The paint is a lustrous Satin Matte Pearlescent White, reminiscent of precious platinum. The striking 22-inch black wheels use a brushed contrast finish. The Jaguar Cars design team drew inspiration to some measure from the increasingly popular matte paint luxury cars seen everywhere from Rodeo Drive to South Beach. The contrast theme continues with gloss pearlescent white air vents, veneers and diamond stitch suede inserts to the seats and headliner, all set against the backdrop of a full Jet Softgrain leather interior. Further material upgrades are seen in the addition of suede accents on the door armrests and driver's binnacle, leather finish on the rear of the center console and seat switchpack and the striking mauvine purple flashes lining the center console and glove box. The XJ75 Platinum Concept center console houses a unique clock that has been developed and designed in partnership with the Bremont Watch Company. Bremont is an independent British company creating beautifully engineered and designed mechanical watches that are hand assembled in Switzerland. Performance on the XJ75 Platinum Concept is derived from its 5.0-liter Supercharged direct-injection V8 with 470 horsepower and 424 lb.-ft. of torque. Entertainment is provided by a 1,200-watt Bowers & Wilkins surround sound system with 20 speakers powered through 15 channels and state-of-the-art sound processing technology. The XJ75 Platinum Concept is a pure expression of personalized luxury that accentuates the visual and dynamic excitement of the new Jaguar XJ lineup. Launched in 2010, the all-new 2011 XJ completes the revitalization of the Jaguar brand and subsequently has earned media praise globally.