Great Britain, you’re invited!

LuxuryActivist
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Less than 2 month after the marvelous Summer Olympic games in London, VisitBritain launches a campaign called “Great Britain, you are invited”.

The concept of the “You’re Invited” initiative unveiled five celebrity ambassadors, all of whom have recorded a short film promoting different aspects of Great Britain.

Dame Judi Dench

Dame Judi Dench waxes lyrical on the nation’s heritage, Hever Castle and stately homes while Slumdog Millionaire star Dev Patel talks about the energy and multicultural fascination at the heart of London and Jamie Oliver talks about food and off-the-beaten track delights. Other ambassadors, including actor Matt Smith, who plays Dr Who, will come on-board.

You can visit the official website here for more information and enjoy a lovely time in such a great country.
LA

Info Sponsored by Goviral Network. All images and texts are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

 

Air France Premium Voyageur, comfort at a good price.

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Air France presents its Premium Voyageur program: Comfort and Calm, at a price suited to your travels. It is a new cabin with limitated seats in which you can enjoy much more space and comfortable seats at a good rate, economic class like. Air France innovated, when introducing on its long-haul flights in autumn 2009, a new private cabin, located between the economy cabin and the business cabin, called Premium Voyageur. Here a video explaining the concept.

The more we see planes getting bigger and bigger, the smaller sometimes the seats are. The race to efficiency and optimizations becomes a performance key to many air flight companies. But in our case here, AirFrance thought about the people flying more and more with the need to find the perfect balance between comfort and good price.

PremiumVoyageur

We can see that many companies have limitations in terms of transport budgets and in deed might be because this budget just multiplied by 3 within the past 5 years. The internet era did not stopped people to travel. It is the opposite. People travel more because business became Global. So when you are traveling for your company, you are definitely sensitive to the way you do. You can check the company website for more information here:
http://flypremium.ch

So do not hesitate to try this amazing formula. 40% more space in the economy cabin, a private space located between economy and business cabins. Just enjoy.

LA

Info Sponsored by Goviral Network. All images and texts are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Fragrance words episode 1, Le Critique de Parfum

José Amorim
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Fragrance words episode 1, Le Critique de Parfum
Reading Time: 6 minutes

Fragrance_words_Le_Critique_de_Pafum

Welcome to the web-serie called Fragrance words. Every week, 2 Fragrance experts will give their opinion about the perfumery market this year and also about future trends. An edgy vision from Perfumery professionals, done exclusively for Luxuryactivist.com. You can find the original interview in French below the english translation.

EPISODE 1: LE CRITIQUE DE PARFUM (EN)

Our first guest is Le Critique de Parfum. It is one of the rare websites considered as a benchmark in terms of presentation, evaluation and criticism of Fragrance launches. A sharp, free and almost exhaustive look into fragrance creations. A Herculean work undertaken by the passion for beautiful perfumery. Laureate of the Prix Jasmin Award, awarded by the Comité français du Parfum. You can discover this amazing work here:
http://www.lecritiquedeparfum.com.

THE FRAGRANCE MARKET IN 2012

Luxury Activist (LA): 2012 New launches, which are the fragrance launches that positively marked this year ?
Le Critique de Parfum (LCDP): Carita Eau de Parfum is a powdery veil of softness. Ambre, Musc, Santal de La Sultane de Saba is gorgeous of intensity and heat. L’Eau de Cologne Bien Être à la fleur d’oranger was a nice surprise too. No real news but Mugler Alien Absolute Essence and Infusion d’Iris Eau de Parfum Absolue Prada are two versions that, in my humble opinion, surpass the originals.

LA: According to you, which are the failed launches this year and why ?
LCDP: The Madonna and Lady Gaga, hopeless. The Roberto Cavalli and other Valentina, vapid at best. Baisé volé by Cartier, a figurative lily,  delicate and perfectly boring. Reformulations of Miss Dior Cherie  and other LVMH fragrances are just sad. Finally, the last disappointment to date, La Vie est Belle by Lancôme. A fragrance that resembles Flowerbomb with Julia Roberts as the face … their plan must have seemed unstoppable I guess. I am very concerned about Lancôme.

LA: In this 2012 fall, which are the brands or launches you are looking forward to ?
LCDP: Guerlain’s Desert d’Orient collection intrigues me. I can not wait to discover Une Voix Noire by Serge Lutens and Musk Tonkin by Parfum d’Empire. Voluptes by Diptyque, and its Egyptian tobacco note, talk to me, on paper at least.

FUTURE TRENDS

LA: Until 2015, you wish that the Fragrance industry becomes more… (up to you to complete the sentence)
LCDP: …ambitious! Too many Brands have a lay-back attitude. Too many launches are interchangeable.

LA: Which new olfactory directions would you like to see in future creations ?
LCDP: I am craving for abstraction, pure invention. Notes totally unique, totally new. These molecules already exist and are in the drawers of Givaudan or Firmenich …

LA: According to you, which Fragrance Brands will take the lead in the future and why ?
LCDP: Facing the little inventiveness of the great Brands it is clear that new challengers will be required. Prada, Narciso Rodriguez, Elie Saab are here to stay. On the contrary, other brands, prestige now, could very well end up in supermarkets.

LA: Perfumery shops have a hard time trying to keep their clients who, like butterflies, flutter between different Chains, Department-stores or even Internet. According to you, which are the paths to be explored to improve customer loyalty ?
LCDP: To offer exclusive perfumes, just that! There are so many small Brands poorly distributed, why not show some determination ?

 

Fragrance_words_Le_Critique_de_Parfum_FR

EPISODE 1 : LE CRITIQUE DE PARFUM (FR)

Notre premier invité est Le Critique de Parfum. Il est un des rares sites web devenu une véritable référence en matière de présentation, d’évaluation et de critique des parfums qui sortent sur le marché. Un regard incisif, libre et presque exhaustif sur les créations. Un travail herculéen mené par la passion pour la belle parfumerie. Lauréat du Prix Jasmin décerné par le Comité Français du Parfum, visitez ce site afin d’y découvrir ce travail incroyable:
http://www.lecritiquedeparfum.com

LE MARCHE DE LA PARFUMERIE EN 2012

Luxury Activist (LA) : Lancements 2012, quels parfums vous ont-ils positivement marqués cette année ?
Le Critique de Parfum (LCDP) : Carita Eau de Parfum est un voile de douceur poudrée. Ambre, Musc, Santal de La Sultane de Saba est somptueux d’intensité et de chaleur. L’eau de cologne Bien Être à la fleur d’oranger a été une jolie surprise également. Pas de réelles nouveautés mais Alien Essence Absolue de Mugler et Infusion d’Iris Eau de Parfum Absolue de Prada sont deux déclinaisons qui, à mon humble avis, surpassent les originaux.

LA : A votre avis, quels sont les “flops” de l’année ? Et pourquoi ?
LCDP : Les Madonna et Lady Gaga, nullissimes. Les Roberto Cavalli et autres Valentina, mièvres au possible. Baiser Volé de Cartier, un lys figuratif, délicat et parfaitement ennuyeux. La reformulation de Miss Dior Chérie et d’autres parfums LVMH c’est juste triste. Enfin la dernière déception en date, La Vie Est Belle de Lancôme. Un parfum qui ressemble à Flowerbomb avec Julia Roberts comme égérie… leur plan devait leur sembler imparable j’imagine. Je m’inquiète beaucoup pour Lancôme.

LA : En cette rentrée 2012, quelles sont les marques ou les lancements que vous attendez avec impatience ?
LCDP : La collection Les Déserts d’Orient de Guerlain m’intrigue. J’ai hâte de sentir Une Voix Noire de Serge Lutens et Musc Tonkin de Parfum d’Empire. Volutes de Diptyque, et son tabac égyptien, me parle, sur le papier en tout cas.

 

TENDANCES FUTURES

LA : D’ici 2015, vous souhaitez que l’Industrie du Parfum devienne plus… (à vous de compléter)
LCDP : Ambitieuse! Trop de Maisons vivent sur leurs lauriers. Trop de lancements sont interchangeables.

LA : Quelles « directions olfactives » aimeriez-vous voir dans des futures créations ?
LCDP : J’ai soif d’abstraction, de pure invention. Des notes totalement uniques, totalement nouvelles. Ces molécules existent déjà, et sont dans les tiroirs de Givaudan ou de Firmenich…

LA : D’après vous, quelles marques de parfum vont prendre l’ascension dans le futur et pourquoi ?
LCDP : Devant le peu d’inventivité des grandes Maisons, il est évident que de nouveaux challengers vont s’imposer. Prada, Narciso Rodriguez, ou Elie Saab sont là pour rester. A l’inverse certaines marques, actuellement de prestige, pourraient très bien finir dans les supermarchés.

LA : Les parfumeries peinent à conserver leurs clients qui papillonnent entre les différentes Chaines, Grands-magasins ou encore Internet. Selon-vous, quelles seraient les voies à explorer pour améliorer la fidélisation de la clientèle ?
LCDP : Proposer des parfums exclusifs, tout simplement! Il existe tant de petites marques mal distribuées, pourquoi ne pas faire preuve là aussi de parti pris?

 

A big thank you to Le Critique de Parfum for his time and passion.
Next episode of Fragrance Words: Elisabeth de Feydeau – Thursday 27th September 2012.

LA
Info sourced in an exclusive interview by luxuryactivist.com.  All content is copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

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Wifi in-flight, internet in planes… finally!

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Finally flying companies are installing a new Wifi in their aircrafts. The first trials were more than a year ago and now it is reality.

InFlight_Wi-Fi

When you are stuck for several hours in a plane, some people try to sleep, others watch all the movies available and play several times the old caveman version in 16 colors on their personal screen. Of course this happens if you are in an Airbus or in business class and above.

We all remember when the phones were installed on board. Everybody got very excited but finally nobody really used it. Of course some people spent some dollars trying to call someone but frankly it never really worked perfectly (especially for the cost). It disappeared quite fast as it became just ridiculous.

Now since the internet revolution arrived, things are different. The era of Hyper-communication is here and every single electronic object has an internet connection. Mobile phone, computers, video games machines, even toy rabbits or Mp3 players.

Business is also online. Distances became shorter and every single second, people make business via internet.

Social media. Never people wanted so badly to stay in contact with their friends. No matter where, no matter how.

gogo-inflight-wifi

So between a need for entertainment or/and business, internet is everywhere even in planes. It is now almost 10 years since American Airlines made a first test. It was not terrible and today still wifi on a plane is not great. Why? Well try to send a signal through a metal tube crossing the sky at 500 miles per hour. Also because most of the existing systems were based in the ground. So it is slow and costly. But apparently things are evolving and a new kind of satellites will exist from 2013. In deed some companies working very hard on that, hope they will be able to deliver speeds up to 12 Mbps per passenger.

lh-global-wifi

Delta Airlines proposes a pass for 24 hours at the price of 12$. There is also a annual pass for 400$. They say the speed is as fast as a high speed mobile provider. Many passengers who tried could not have better than a slow connection. Emails were ok, SD short movies also but not fluid. Another American company, American Airlines, proposes a 2$/minute of wifi connection based on the same technology.

More recently, Air France-KLM announced the start of their Wifi service by february 2013. They will install a wifi network inside the cabin and a satelite antenna on the external part of the plane. Two boings 777-300 will be used for the test. We do not know yet about prices but apparently it could cost between 5 to 30$ for a long flight. VoiD services will be abled, so basically we will be able to use Skype or other voice service on board.

The interesting question is about electro interferences. How the plane will behave with all these different devices connecting and disconnecting from the internet. Should it not bring issues with the electronic? Also, how to avoid the noisy neighbor having a conference call while you are trying to sleep? Humm… complicate.

in-flight-wifi

Anyway, things are moving and improving so we can say that having Wifi in-flight is just part of the normal evolution of mobility.
LA

 

Info sourced on several flying companies, Delta, American Airlines, Airfrance-KLM, Lufthansa and Singapore. All images and texts are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

Facebook will no longer be free for companies

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

For more than an year now, there were announcements saying that Facebook will no longer be free for companies. And apparently now the time came that companies will start paying for Facebook services and that finally Facebook will get some money from their platform.

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From today on, we can already see what they call Facebook offers.

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Basically Facebook offer to companies the possibility to  bring people to your business with an offer they can claim and even share with others, with their friends on Facebook.

3 kinds of offers:

  • In store only: People can print the offer from Facebook and go to a physical store and present the offer to the staff of the store in order to claim it.
  • In store & Online: offers at physical location and website
  • Online only: People can only redeem your offer by visiting your website (promo code)

Apparently the first time you try it, it is for free but then you need a budget to make it happen. The amount is depending on how many people do you want to reach  with your offer. It is a little like the advertising marketplace program.

You can add a bar code or a QR code to your offer so your stores can even scan it (you can keep the trace of it in your system). You can also add terms and conditions to your offer, a limit date and even how many people maximum can benefit from it. You can play it very exclusive as exclusive offers may be found only in your facebook page. This should triggers the increase of fans.

The offers program is available only for pages with at least 400 likes. So if you are a very small business…. forget it.

Here an official Facebook video about offers:

And here a  video from a online consultant giving you the tutorial about it:

Facebook is also working on a monthly fee for companies to use their platform. This would help them to generate a fixed sales figure through time, which makes Facebook more valuable and predictable.

The last update on that was:

20$/month for pages of less than 100,000 fans
50$/ month for pages between 100,000 and 500,000 fans
150$/month for pages up to 1 million
250$/month for pages above 1 million

Does not look much but overall, this will bring arounf 4 billion $ to Facebook. Not bad hein!?

Hopefully Facebook will finally bring real business services to companies that up to now were more patch-working on their pages rather than really making daily businesses with it. Mobile is also a challenge as many features of Facebook  like apps are totally invisible on mobile. Ads from Marketplace were already mobile-compatible and now offers are also going the same way. To remind you, almost 40% of Facebook users are on mobile, some countries like USA and Switzerland are even around 80%.

Let’s see what Facebook will bring us in the future and also what the future will bring to Facebook.

If you wish to learn more about it, connect to the official Facebook help center page:

LA

 

Info sourced online on the Facebook platform. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

Manifesto, success or not?

José Amorim
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1
Reading Time: 4 minutes

Yves Saint Laurent Parfums is launching a new fragrance for women called Manifesto. We are not sure to understand everything.

After the arrival (or should I say the return) of Hedi Slimane to Yves Saint Laurent, this is the second time we hear about the Brand. For the launch of its new fragrance for women, Manifesto claims a certain spirit of self-confidence, freedom and creativity.

The concept itself is not new and at Saint Laurent we would probably prefer the total freedom of the Opium woman. What is original here is the game between art, color and femininity.

Manifesto Saint Laurent

There is also an interesting connection between make up and Fragrance, which was already the case with ELLE. In the advertising we can see the American actress Jessica Chastain. We all remember her from her roles in the Tree of Life (Ms O’Brian) and in some TV shows like ER or Veronica Mars.

She represents an elegant vision of the Yves Saint Laurent  woman. A touch of sexiness with a hint of cold control… explosive. Here is the TV ad directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Danish movie, scenarist and actor, Nicolas Winding Refn is mainly know for the trilogy “Pusher”. He has a clean and artistic “camera signature” and likes to see the bridge between art and cinema.

Here is the making-of, done for Vogue:


Making of Manifesto d’Yves Saint Laurent par VOGUEPARIS

The image is very elegant and well done. It is more the story that seems a little confusing. Too many short cuts that does not give us the essence of it. The first seconds of the ad shows this woman artist living her passion and expressing her emotion into painting. This part is fine as it makes a link to the Opium woman: Experiencing intense emotions in a inner-self attitude. Like it! The music is called “Just because I do” by singer Selah Sue, a belgium artist who launched her album 1,5 years ago. You can discover it here.

Then, the painting goes to an auction and men fight to buy it. The woman arrives and takes it back. The real Saint Laurent woman would never send her painting to an auction. Or at least she would have steel it from the buyer.

The end is almost funny because with the small card, she is almost playing the role of a beauty advisor in a perfumery store and giving a perfumed blotter to the man. A Yves Saint Laurent woman would make the man smell the fragrance on her skin as if it was her own smell. Not in a blotter.

The Flacon can be seen in different ways. The first element is the cap. A very nice work of sparkling the metal effect. Makes it precious and edgy.

manifesto_saintLaurent

The other element is this amethyst ring that shapes the glass flacon as a precious corset and gives a very feminine line. Personally I would also see a sand clock too as if time was stopping. The aesthetics overall makes me think about a modernized version of American perfumery flacons of the 50s like Youth Dew by Estee Lauder. When you have it in hand, you would expect a better quality aspect but it is better than many others.

The Fragrance brings Saint Laurent back to the Great flower bouquets on the line of Paris but here much more soft-oriental with Vanilla, Sandalwood and Tonka bean notes. It is not new as it reminds of a Dune by Dior or a Must by Cartier. The composition is nevertheless very qualitative with a very nice Jasmine.

The range is composed as follows:

30ML Eau de Parfum   54 €
50ML Eau de Parfum   77 €
90ML Eau de Parfum   100 €

200ML Shower Gel   38 €
100ML Deodorant spray   36€

Available from now on, do not hesitate to see the dedicated website:
http://yslexperience.com 

You can discover more about Manifesto. They have a “scratch-book” section. You connect with your Facebook account and Twitter or Instagram. The software extracts information from your accounts (images and texts) in order to create a giant scratch-book. You can modify it online and publish it on Facebook or instagram or Pintarest. Interesting but no benefit for the user, a part the fact that they offer you a new Facebook timeline cover. Nevertheless the mechanics with Facebook and Twitter/Instagram is original.

Create your own manifesto

Would you dare this Manifesto?
LA

 

Info sourced at official Saint Laurent Press release, wikipedia, Vogue Paris website and the brand dedicated website. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

New Muskoka Polaroid Collection by Parvez Taj

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Parvez Taj reveals his collection of new paintings based on his trip to Muskoka lakes in Canada. The originality of this work is that the images were framed as polaroid photos. A true homage.

Parvez Taj Muskoka polaroid collection

The originality of Parvez Taj is his talent to use paints, photography, software and UV cured inks to create his signature style of wall art – of which he is a pioneer of the technique.

The Muskoka-Polaroid Collection contains 15 different scenes all of which are mounted on acrylic or aluminum and measure 47” X 40”.  Custom sizes are available.  Each print is signed by the artist and contains a hard wood frame on the back for mounting.

Parvez Taj Polaroids yellow

Parvez Taj Polaroids blue

During his journey at the Muskoka lakes, the artist spent time shooting the amazing landscapes. Lighting was also very important on his work as it brought a hint of timeless nostalgia on the collection. Very poetic. Here is one of the several views at Muskoka lakes. Very inspiring.

MuskokaLakes

To keep updated on Parvez Taj news, do not hesitate to connect to the artist website:
http://parveztaj.com.

Escape and dream…
LA

 

Info sourced in the official press release. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

New Leica X2 Edition Paul Smith

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Leica is launching a new camera called the Leica X2 Edition Paul Smith, in honor of the British fashion designer.

Leica_paul_smith

While the red dot is really important for Leica’s identity as an unique brand, the colourful stripes for Paul Smith is its signature. Leica X2 Edition Paul Smith just shows how the 2 signature brands can work together in a perfect harmony. Paul Smith, the international fashion designer and entrepreneur, is the creative mind behind its flamboyant looks. Smith is regarded as one of the UK’s most successful designers and is famous for the use of bright and vibrant colors in his collections.

Only 1,500 units were produce for a very special limited edition based on the current X2 camera.

Leica_paul_smith_top

As we can see, we rediscover the new X2 thanks to its new colors but also its ne details like the lamp bulb painted on the camera’s top. The special Leica X2 »Edition Paul Smith« set contains not only the beautifully-styled Leica X2, but also a selection of accessories that bear the unmistakeable mark of Paul Smith’s design. These include a carrying strap and a camera protector in taupe-colored, premium calfskin. A high quality lens cleaning cloth labelled ‘Paul Smith for Leica’ and a certificate of authenticity are further exclusive additions to this premium camera set. The special edition is presented in distinctive packaging in co-ordinated colors, also created by the British fashion designer to complement the camera.

The specificities:

  • APS-C format, professional CMOS image sensor with 16.5 megapixels (effective 16.2 MP).
  • High-performance Leica Elmarit 24 mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens – a classic focal length for photojournalism
  • Apertures 2.8 to 16 (1/3-EV increments)
  • Focusing range: 30cm – oo
  • Resolution: JPEG in 3:2 format: 4928 x 3264 pixels (16.1 MP), 4288 x 2856 pixels (12.2 MP), 3264 x 2160 pixels (7.1 MP), 2144×1424 pixels (3.1 MP), 1632×1080 pixels (1.8 MP). DNG in 3:2 format: 4944×3272 pixels (16.2 MP).
  • Image quality: JPEG super fine, JPEG fine, DNG + JPEG super fine, DNG + JPEG fine.
  • Sensitivity: Auto, ISO 100, ISO 200, ISO 400, ISO 800, ISO 1600, ISO 3200, ISO 6400, ISO 12500.
  • Shutter speeds: 30 s to 1/2000 s.
  • Monitor: 2.7″-TFT LCD with 230,000 pixels, wide-angle field of view: 100 %.
  • Dimensions (LxHxD): Approx. 124x69x51.5mm (4.88×2.72×2.03in).
  • Weight 316g/345g
  • Battery (Lithium-ion): 450 exposures
  • Recommended Retail price: 2,000£

The camera’s profile is complemented by numerous setting options from full manual control to automatic functions and intuitive, user-friendly handling. All this, together with its elegant and stylish design, makes the Leica X2 the ideal premium-class compact camera for discerning photographers who wish to concentrate completely on their subjects, and who appreciate creative and true-to-life pictures.

Leica_paul_smith_accessories

Check the brand website as they just adapted the homepage to this new launch.

Leica website

http://en.leica-camera.com/photography/compact_cameras/x2-edition_paul_smith/

Click Click Click!
LA

 

Info sourced at official brand press release. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available. 

GTO London, the spirit of luxury engineering.

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Reading Time: 3 minutes

GTO-London

Discover GTO London, a beautiful and elegant British brand for accessories. It is a very original brand inspired by GTO Engineering. They propose an exquisite collection of leather wallets, cufflinks, key fobs and pins. This week we reviewed the Dino Panna wallet. Follow the details.

manufacture gto london

GTO London was established in 2010, founded and directed by Victoria Lyon, who having grown up surrounded by exquisite classic cars had the inspiration and drive to begin this collection. It evolved out of a passion for classic automobiles, Ferraris in particular. Each design owes its distinguishing features to the elegant interiors and components that grace these glamorous automobiles.

The Dino Panna

gto_london_wallet2

Inspired by the Ferrari Dino, one of the most classic and elegant cars, this handmade leather wallet links directly to the timeless interior of the car. What makes the experience of an exceptional car exceptional is exactly the holistic feeling by being inside. The famous leather seats represent quality of details, precious materials and luxury design.

dino-inspiration

The idea of GTO London is to transpose this unique experience into a precious object and a daily companion: The Dino Panna wallet. When we open the elegant black box, our eyes have sparkles on the first seconds of this amazing object.gto_london_display

gto_london_wallet

The delicate detail of the leather stitching in the driver’s seat has been faithfully replicated for a distinctive finish that is both classy and immediately recognisable as pure Ferrari.

Here are the different specifications:

  • Cream leather exterior and black interior
  • 95mm x 115mm closed size
  • Without coin pocket – 9 credit card slots, currency compartment with divider, two receipt slots and ID compartment
  • With coin pocket – coin pocket with popper, 6 credit card slots, currency compartment with divider, two receipt slots and ID compartment
  • GTO London steering wheel emblem and logo
  • Printed satin lining
  • Wrapped in tissue and presented in GTO London’s elegant packaging

The entire object is a journey. There are a few details that are simply beautiful. From the construction of the wallet itself, towards the interior design and the little important finishing, make this wallet an amazing daily companion. Let’s start on the outside.

The leather is amazing. Every single stitching of the leather shows the know-how of GTO workshops. The lines are perfect and the leather work is very edgy. The metal GTO London Steering wheel finishes the wallet as a witness of quality and design.

gto_london_details

gto_london_details2

gto_london_details3

Inside, the construction is as practical as ingenious. We tried the reference with the coin pocket. Love it! In a compact yet complete model, you can place all your cards, your coins and paper money. All in a compact format that fits perfectly a men’s pocket.

dino_panna_with-coin-pocket

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gto_london_wallet_inside2

gto_london_wallet_inside3

gto_london_wallet_inside

This model recommended price is £215.00 which makes a very fair price for such a piece of leather art. There are also other colors available like the Dino Nero (Black leather) and the Dino Naturale (natural leather).

You check directly on the official Brand website and even purchase it online:
http://www.gtolondon.com/2011/wallets-dino-panna 

When luxury becomes a lifestyle, all details matter.
LA

 

Info sourced at the Brand official website and luxuryactivist.com product review. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

La Cene, gastronomy of senses

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Reading Time: 4 minutes

La Cene is a quite new restaurant in Fribourg (Switzerland). It opened its doors less than a year ago. This project was born in the mind and the hearts of two men united by a strong passion about wine. We were a few blogs invited to a special evening to discover this amazing place in which your senses were purely pleased.

La_Cene

When you arrive at La Cene, one striking feeling is the kind of soft mood that surround you. From the first minutes you feel quite at ease as if you were invited to a good friends place. The name of the restaurant is inspired by the famous painting of Leonardo da Vinci and it is supposed to represent the perfect blend of arts and diner.

LaCene_ambiance

The interior decoration is done with very good taste. Every single detail is taken care of: From the choices of materials, to the interior architecture towards the organization of the spaces, everything is perfectly put in place.

LaCene_salle

Check here this mood video that will give you a hint of the ambiance there:

La Cene has some special characteristics that you will not find in another place. The first one is the wine selection. The wine cellar has around 600 wine references. It is probably the biggest wine cellar in Fribourg. So you will always find the perfect wine to go with your course.

LaCene_WineCelar

The Wine cellar is an elegant blend between the traditional wood boxes with prestigious armories on it and a metal furniture that brings a contemporary twist to it. You can also choose your preferred wine or trust the edgy taste of the Restaurant Wine expert. He will help you to match the perfect wine to the perfect meal.

LaCene_wine_cellar

To symbolize the owner’s passion for wine, they have planted a Vine in the middle of the restaurant space. And as we are already in september, the Vine had grapes. Amazing.

LaCene_vigne

What you also need to know is that La Cene has a Fumoir, an elegant and modern Cigar club. Just make your choice and lay back for an exquisite moment. You can admire an impressive Cigar cellar with a classy glass door. To open it you have a clever finger print recognition system for employees and members of the club. Design meets tradition. Between a Romeo & Julieta or a Montecristo, you will find your perfect cigar.

LaCene_Cigarcellar

After making your choice, you can sit in the Fumoir. It is a place made to relax and share a pleasant moment. Several armchairs called “Aviator” are displayed in the exclusive room. A special and high efficient air cleaner is installed so that even if you do not smoke, you can join your friends and still appreciate the light gold, brown toasted smell of fine tobacco.

LaCene_fumoir

LaCene_fumoir2

In terms of food, we trusted our appetite to the Chef and he took us into a delightful journey in which every step was a marvelous adventure. The “Menu Degustation” was proposed to us and frankly the balance between each dish just made the perfect evening.

Here are the highlights:

Duo Fois Gras & Pata Negra
LaCene_Duo_foisGras_patanegra

 

Courge cream with duck’s Magret and Mushrooms
LaCene_RagoutCanard_cremeCourge

“Un air de Tatin” – Modernized Tatin pie
LaCene_TarteTatin

For every single dish, we got the perfect wine companion. What was pleasant with this menu is that every scent and taste were in tune. We could discover a new adventure in every dish.

The restaurant also has special events in order to animate the fribourg nights. Just check their events calendar here.

Restaurant La Cène
Rue du Criblet 6
1700 Fribourg
Switzerland

Tel: +41 (o)26 321 46 46
email: info@lacene.ch
website: http://www.lacene.ch 

Opening hours:
Tuesdays to Thursdays from 10h to 23h30
Fridays and Saturdays 10h00 to 24h00
They hope soon to be able to stay open until 02:00.
La Cène is a special place in which it is good to spend an evening or more. If you are visiting Fribourg for a day or a weekend, do not hesitate to go there.

Bon appétit!
LA

 

Info sourced at La Cene special event. All images are copyrighted with no reproduction rights available.

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