With animosity toward the internet waning, watch brands are starting to change their attitude toward fans on the net, as well as sales there (here). Panerai has just released a limited edition watch (the PAM 360) in honor of the unofficial Panerai fan forum site Paneristi.com. The online community of brand lovers has been invaluable for Panerai, and this little nod in their direction is a great message to active brand fans everywhere. Specifically, the watch is said to be in honor of the website's 10th anniversary. The limited edition of 300 watches will be sold via the site by moderators, to active Paneristi members only. There is likely to be an element of seniority and activity involved in the selection - so don't plan on joining now expecting one of the watches.

The PAM 360 starts of course with custom "Paneristi.com" engravings on the caseback. The steel case is DLC black coated, with a lovely amount of contrasting luminant. The dial is very simple - the absolute most minimalist a Panerai watch can get. The light tan leather strap looks attractive against the black case. Price is up there at about $6,700 each - but it barely matters for Panerai's more elite group of super fans.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Timeless is the bag made of patent leather. Classic lines and a feminine touch make this clutch irresistible. Pair it with skinny jeans, tall boots and a blazer or an evening gown and jewels -- either way it will be the perfect complement to your ensemble. Black patent lambskin leather envelopes this clutch from Miu Miu with a touch of white in the flat bow and flower embellishment on the front. The zip fastening along the top means your lipstick won't roll astray and the interior pouch pocket can keep all your little things organized. Fully lined in black satin this gorgeous wardrobe necessity costs only $650. (11" x 8" x 2")

Photos of the new Audi A7 Sportback have leaked out a day ahead of its official reveal on Monday and as expected it's pretty much unchanged from the Sportback concept that Audi showed at the Detroit Auto Show last year. The platform is believed to be shared with the next generation A6 sedan and unlike BMW's 5 Series Gran Turismo it has a similar height to sedan siblings giving it much more attractive proportions.

Power will come from the usual Audi array of gas and diesel powerplants including a new 3.0-liter normally aspirated V6 with 290 horsepower and the latest generation clean-diesel V6. The A7 wouldn't be an Audi without Quattro all-wheel-drive and we'd expect the 7-speed dual-clutch S-Tronic gearbox that we loved so much in the S5 Cabrio to be part of the mix as well.

The A7 gets a similar new interior style to the recently introduced A8 sedan with a pop-up navigation screen that drops into the dashboard when not in use. The A7 will be unveiled live online from Munich on Monday.



[Source: CarScoop]

The Home Shopping Network has announced another new branded jewelry line. This time HSN is working with Conde Nast's Glamour Magazine on a Glamour Jewelry Collection which will debut on HSN on August 18.

The Glamour Jewelry Collection is Glamour's first foray into the accessories business and the pieces were designed by Galmour's fashion team. The collection will have four new product offerings each year and each will be less than $100. Glamour's style editor Tracey Lomrantz will present it on air. The product assortment includes necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings, and the premiere fall line will focus on four key trends: American Luxury, Charms & Chains, Sparkle & Shine, and Eye Candy." The Glamour Jewelry Collection will debut on HSN at 2am EDT/11pm PDT on August 18 and will be available at http://www.hsn.com/ beginning August 3. Other recent HSN-ers include Jonathan Adler and Liza Minnelli.

Vodka and lemonade is a popular drink and a small Northwest distillery combines the two in one bottle. Hello Lovely is a strawberry lemonade made with all natural flavors and pure cane sugar. The 34 proof pre-mixed cocktail is vodka based. Northwest Distillery also makes Liquid vodka, a reasonably priced vodka that sells for under $20.

"Liquid Vodka is successful because it's a great vodka for a very reasonable price. Customers also appreciate that we are a Pacific Northwest, family-owned business," said Meghan Zonich, owner of Northwest Distillery in a press relase. Meghan Zonich, a Bellevue, Washington native and mother of two produces the spirits along with her husband Cory in a remodeled 1940s-era barn in Warren, Oregon. The vodka has already received a bronze medal at the San Francisco Wine and Spirits Competition and a silver medal at the International Wine and Spirits Competition in London.

Today's home, a Cliff May designed beauty in Southern California's Pacific Palisades community is built for a big family. The LA Times Hot Property column reports that the home, which was built in 1937 has been the home of screenwriter, film director and bestselling novelist Nicholas Meyer and his family for the last 15 years. The two-story home is on more than three quarters of an acre and has seen plenty of weddings, parties and other events. Holmes wrote a few Sherlock Holmes novels as well as writing and directing several "Star Trek" movies and the 1983 TV film "The Day After," scaring millions with the prospect of nuclear war.

The six-bedroom home is centered by a tree-covered courtyard with a dining loggia and fountain.The property also has a solar-heated pool, Jacuzzi, a cabana with outdoor cooking area and changing rooms, a vegetable garden, greenhouse and volleyball area. Inside, the home has wood floors, beamed ceilings, graceful archways and brick fireplaces. The home is a reader's delight with plenty of full shelves in many rooms and in the Hot Property column Meyer says that the big public rooms, the dining room, den, living room and library, all offer plenty of places to curl up and read. The home didn't have a kitchen when Meyer bought it so they built an oversized kitchen with views over the patio. It also has a fireproof roof, solar hot water and pool heating and low-flow toliets. Meyer bought the home in 1995 for $1.841 million and it is now listed at $7.3 million with Sandra Miller of Engel & Volkers, Santa Monica.

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While not exactly unique, these are classic in style. Given the watch industry's big backward turn this year - as dozens of "throw-back" and traditional style pieces are released - Raymond Weil is trying to get their fill with some good ol' Breguet style dials. That means guilloche machined engraved metal and blued steel pomme hands. In addition to being attractive, this dial design benefits from being quite legible as well. The soft curved steel cases are 39.5mm wide, and quite thin at just 9mm thick. Dials have either Roman or Arabic numeral dials, and attractive engraved patters on the dial interiors. While dozens of brands have watches like this, few of them have the large distribution network that Raymond Weil has.

In addition to the central seconds models, there is also a subsidiary seconds version. As the name suggests, the watches contain Swiss Sellita SW200 automatic movements. The Maestro collection features a style that won't quit, and is relatively timeless. If the price is right, I imagine they will do well in sales. Look for them soon.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Jewelry designer Scott Kay wants people to look beyond gold, silver, platinum and even titanium when it comes to choosing a metal for a wedding band. He uses BioBlu™27, an alloy of 65 percent cobalt, 29 percent chromium, and six percent molybdenum from the metallurgists at Carpenter Technology. The 'bio' refers to the biocompatibility of the material, which can be used in medical applications like prosthetics and 'blu' refers to the cobalt in the material. The number 27 is the number on the atomic table for cobalt. The metal has superior strength, is resistant to corrosion and can be polished to a bright white, mirror-like shine. The metal is so strong it must be cut with a diamond plated tool. Scott Kay is marketing the bands to men and has created seven collections that are meant to symbolize the traits most desirable in a groom-to-be like commitment, devotion and strength of character. Most rings sell for $250-$300 each.

From the Real Estalker:
--The ex-wife of Rolling Stone Ronnie Wood, Jo Wood, has listed their home in Kingston on Thames, shown above, for £13,000,000. The listing is here.
--Actress Peri Gilpin of Fraser fame and her artist husband Christian Vincent were the buyers of Shabby Chic creator Rachel Aswell's Malibu home.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--The Beverly Hills home of the late Ed McMahon is back on the market for $4.6 million. This is the same price it was listed at in 2008. The listing is here.
--Actor Ving Rhames and his wife, Deborah have sold a Brentwood house that had been listed as a short sale. The five-bedroom house sold for $1.95 million. It had been listed on and off for three years and was at $2.699 million when we checked it out in 2008. It had been purchased five years ago for $2.5 million. The couple also sold a larger Brentwood home in late June for $5,520,786 that had been purchased in 2005 for $6.5 million.

--Olympic medal winner Carl Lewis has sold his Pacific Palisades home for $2.5 million.
Rapper and "Pimp My Ride" host Alvin " Xzibit" Joiner has lowered the price of his Woodland Hills, California home to $650,000. He bought the home in 2003 for $670,000. The listing is here.
--Filmmaker, commercial director and restaurateur Joe Pytka has sold Castillo del Lago in the Hollywood Hills for $7 million. He bought the home from Madonna in 1996 for $5.3 million. The home was first listed at $14.95 million in April of last year.

Actress and real estate agent Dana Sparks has listed her Lake Sherwood contemporary at $2.555 million. The listing is here.

From the NY Post:
--Lady Gaga is still apartment hunting in New York City most recently checking out a four-bedroom One Morton Square rental.
--Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick have been looking at a $29.8 million penthouse duplex at the Mayfair building at 610 Park Ave.
--A a Tribeca home once rented by Leonardo DiCaprio and Gwen Stefani is on the market at $6.995 million.
--Pet-food tycoon Leonard Stern and his wife, Allison, are purchasing a SoHo penthouse to live in while their 110-year-old Fifth Avenue mansion is being renovated uptown. They are in contract to buy a penthouse duplex at 25 W. Houston St. for about $8 million.

From the NY Times:
--Donald J. Trump Jr. sold his condominium at 220 Riverside Boulevard at Trump Place this month for $1.845 million.

From Chicago Breaking Business:
--Nicholas Pritzker, the chief executive and chairman of the Hyatt Development Corp. and a member of the Pritzker family, has placed his contemporary-style mansion on 45 acres on Lake Michigan in Covert, Michigan on the market for $4.95 million.

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Much of the fashion world has re-purposed the 1980's look into clothing and accessories and this particular handbag certainly fits that look. Bold coloring and an exposed zipper harken back to the leggings and punk rocker vibe for me. Featuring cobalt-blue crystals shining atop a black suede backdrop this clutch by Giuseppe Zanotti would pair perfectly with an electric blue mohawk. Embellished with a diagonal zipper cutting through the crystals and a fold-over flap with magnetic fastening, this perky little bag also has an internal pouch pocket and is lined with designer-stamped satin for $930. (11" x 6" x 2")