Consumer Reports Names Infiniti G37 “Top Pick” Sports Sedan

Infiniti G37

The 2011 Infiniti G37 has been named a “Top Pick” by influential Consumer Reports in the sports sedan category, besting such competitors as the BMW 3 Series and Audi A4.

CR is highly regarded because it accepts no advertising — so is seen as isolated from pressure from advertisers. The magazine’s testers buy cars anonymously to ensure they are typical of what you’d get. Most other auto testers evaluate vehicles borrowed from automakers, which have been specially maintained and are often loaded with features.

MBandF HM3 ReBel watch is designed to be worn on the right wrist

MBandF HM3 ReBel watch

Individualists demand excellence, exclusivity and choice, and for the very same reason, famous watchmaking firm Maximilian Büsser & Friends (MB&F) produces amazing timepieces that are true works of art. Lately, we were looking at the lastMB&F HM2 editions and now, we have the new HM3 ReBel timepiece. The HM3 ReBel– R for right (hand), B for Black (case) – is a rock ‘n roll mirror-image of the HM3 designed for the individuals who love to wear their watch on the right wrist. Under the black PVD-treated white gold case of the timepiece are the charcoal-colored movement plates and bridges. The gold clover-head screws on top of the black case look like rivets in an upmarket biker’s leather jacket.

The 36 functional jewels and 304 components in an inverted mechanism have been paired with two high-tech ceramic bearings. The HM3 ReBel, with an anarchistic appearance and unconventional right-wrist architecture, shows some serious attitude. The twin cones show the hours and minutes, with the hour cone capped by a day/night indicator. An excerpt from the press release reads…

James Dean was a Hollywood Rebel Without a Cause; Billy Idol had a Rebel Yell; Star Wars had its Rebel Alliance; and now MB&F pokes the establishment firmly in its conservatively-focused eye with the HM3 ReBel.

We think James Dean would have worn one; Billy Idol would have sang about it; and the Rebel Alliance would have fought for it.

Waldorf-Astoria Announces United Arab Emirates Hotel

Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts in Dubai

Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts has announced its second hotel in the Middle East the Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah. The hotel is located in the United Arab Emirates about 40 minutes away from the Dubai International Airport. The new hotel will have 349 rooms in an Arabian-themed palace hotel with outdoor swimming pools, 10 restaurants and bars, a new spa concept, meeting and ballroom space and more. The hotel is part of a development that will also have an 18-hole golf course, a private beach and a convention center with capacity for 3000 people.

Guests will also have access to the recently opened shopping mall located within the Al Hamradevelopment. His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Saud Al Qasimi, Chairman of the Al Hamra Group dubbed Al Hamra "a stunning oasis of luxury and tranquility, where guests can come to relax and unwind." The hotel is scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of this year. Waldorf Astoria Ras Al Khaimah will be the second Waldorf Astoria property to open in the Middle East. Existing Hilton Worldwide properties in Ras Al Khaimah are the Hilton Ras Al Khaimah Resort & Spa, the Hilton Ras Al Khaimah and the soon-to-open Doubletree by Hilton Ras Al Khaimah.

The hotel group takes its name from originalThe Waldorf=Astoria Hotel in New York. All of the branded Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts offer a luxury experience including spas and culinary excellence to world-class golf and hotels extend from Orlando to Shanghai.

Clubby new Coca-Cola bottle’s by Daft Punk

French house DJ duo Daft Punk is teaming up with Coca-Cola in the design of a new line of soda dubbed “Club Coke.”Coca-Cola posted a video featuring Daft Punk beats and the austere gold and silver bottle design, which mimics the helmets the duo wear during live performances.

The new beverage is set to be released next month and will be available at dance clubs across Europe, as previous “Club Coke” lines have been. A special collector’s package with both bottles will be available exclusively through the French boutique colette, according to online fashion magazine Hypebeast.

There is no mention yet on whether the beverage will be distributed in other countries, including the United States. This marks Coca-Cola’s third branding collaboration on their “Club Coke” line. In 2009, the company teamed up with another French electronic duo, Justice, and designer So Me in a new bottle design.

Last year, the company also signed on British singer-songwriter Mika in a bottle design featuring a jungle scene.

Williams Formula One Racing Team Offered on Frankfurt Stock Exchange

Williams Formula One Racing Team

Have you ever wanted to own an Formula One team? Usually that would cost you millions upon millions of dollars, the kind of cash that only an automaker (like Ferrarior Mercedes-Benz) or an incredibly wealthy individual (like Richard Branson orVijay Mallya) could afford. But the Williams F1 team is offering an unprecedented opportunity to get in on the ground floor.

For the first time in F1 history, the team will offer publicly-traded shares on the open stock market – in this case the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It’s part of an effort to raise capital and ensure the team’s future as its leadership – Frank Williams and Patrick Head – are growing older.

Although the team has nine world championships to its name, these days it’s having trouble keeping up with the competition.

Luxury All Villa Resort - The Raffles Praslin Seychelles

The Raffles Praslin Seychelles

The Raffles Praslin Seychelles resort is surrounded by historic and important flora. The UNESCO World Heritage Site Vallée de Mai is a palm forest which will take you back to prehistoric times. The area has remained unchanged and offers a glimpse into the past, millions of years ago.

This luxury all villa resort also has the best crystal clear waters from the Indian Ocean and a stunning white beach that overlooks Curieuse Island, which is a National Marine Park.

Attention to detail seems to be Raffles Praslin signature. The villa’s have all been built on a slope, cleverly allowing dramatic and un interrupted clear views of the flora and Ocean.

The Raffles Praslin Seychelles

The Raffles Praslin Seychelles

Millenary hand-wound Minute Repeater with Audemars Piguet escapement

Audemars Piguet

Indication of the time, initially created to “tell” the time in the dark in an age when electricity had not yet been invented, is the oldest of all horological complications. Audemars Piguet has made it part of its fundamental identity, by creating minute repeater and grand strike models right from the time of its founding in 1875. The new Millenary Minute Repeater model is in direct line with this tradition. This exceptional watch with its oval case and three-dimensional architecture reveals the essentials of its refined movement: a new Audemars Piguet escapement, a double balance-spring, as well as the striking mechanism and its gongs. The result is a genuine visual delight.