East Eats West

Swiss quality watch winder

Picture: It is simple, reliable and good looking, the Swiss watch winder Swiss Kubik.

Every owner of an automatic watch knows how tedious it can be to set the time and date after not having worn a mechanical watch for a while. Electronic watch winders are therefore a useful and clever way to store, display and wind a watch. The only problem is that most watch winders I came across cost an arm and a leg. Or they were cheap and fell apart in no time (believe me, I tried a cheap one on Ebay for a while). The Swiss company Swiss Kubik now offers a sleek, high-quality and decently priced alternative. The winder is actually a cube measuring 10cm on each side. It is propelled by standard batteries and the finishing is excellent. The cheapest model costs 650 Swiss Francs and can be had in different subtle or bright aluminum or wooeden finishes. It even comes with a three year warranty. A perfect gift for any wearer of automatic watches.

www.swisskubik.com

 

Sadly, no bespoke shoes for me

Do you remember that I had my feet measured by a bespoke shoe-maker in Zurich? Yep, that was in January. And finally, after waiting nine months, I got to try them. Unfortunately three hours of detailed measuring did not help and the shoes were too small. I had to wait another two weeks while the shoe-maker tried to make them wider. To no avail. By now it was middle of November and I was seriously annoyed. I felt like I wasted too much time so I called it quits. The shoemaker returned my money without problems and kept the shoes. A friend of mine and blog-reader got his semi-bespoke shoes made by the same shoemaker and everything went fine. Up to now I do not know why the shoes ended up being too small. He never explained to me and I never asked. One thing is certain though: keeping customers waiting for eleven months and not communicating precisely will not generate any new business. And he needs returning customers as, according to him, only after the third shoe he covers his costs.

For more articles about the Bàlint shoemaker read my previous blog-articles: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2009/01/meeting-with-my-feet.html

Golden Caravan

Picture: A paradise for high-end bargain hunters (courtesy of www.goldencaravan.ch). 

Among the industries hit hard by the global recession is the luxury goods industry. While brands were affected very selectively, Hermés apparently was able to keep its sales. Other brands had to try to keep sales up at lower prices while maintaining their high status exclusiveness. Instead of doing outright sales and discounting their wares, the industry has come up with some ingenious ways of marketing. One such example is the Golden Caravan sales for “families and friends”. These events take place mostly in hotels like the Dolder Grand in Zurich and it is upon “invitation” only. On sale are luxury brands like Gucci, Loro Piana and Bottega Veneta and the price reduction varies from 30 percent up to 80 percent. Those exclusive events help to maintain the luxury brands' public perception of high quality but allows them to sell goods at a discount.

Sign up for the next event here: www.GoldenCaravan.com. 

Handmade leather bags from Berne

In a small shop in the historic town of the Swiss capital, Berne, three ladies have been producing for over ten years handmade leather bags. Obviously all bags are only made to order and one can choose between different sizes, colors and linings. The leather comes from Germany and no toxic substances are used in their production. The founder of the shop, Fiona Losinger, is a trained saddle-maker and so are her co-workers. The best thing about buying bags from her is that not only are the bags of  superior craftsmanship and individually designed, the bags are also considerably cheaper than any high street fashion label. 

Visit her website here: http://www.fionalosinger.ch/index.html  

Soon to be discounted Porsches

Picture: Hehehehehe, no, I am not a Porsche (but a Ruf car)!  

Ever since Porsche seemed to have wrestled mighty Volkswagen to the ground in October last year and then consequently stumbled itself, things have deteriorated for the iconic sports car manufacturer. Not only did the acquisition of VW fell through, also its sporty cars hit a speed bump with sales apparently 25 percent lower than the year before. Some models like the Cayman and Cayenne even face bigger drops in demand. Walking by the nearby Porsche dealership seems to prove this point. Probably the best time to buy a Porsche will be November this year when all the leased cars by bankers will hit the market.

Flight for quality

After years of booming luxury goods market and ‘entry-level luxury’ the party has suddenly stopped. With the financial and economical crisis, consumers have become more value-conscious and ‘recreation-shopping’ has lost its appeal. According to Newsweek (6/13 of April 2009) consumers around the world “are trading excess for excellence, superficiality for substance”. There is a “flight to quality”: people buy less often but better quality. The author of the Newsweek article “A few good shirts” comes to the conclusion that now is the best time “to get rid of all that cheap, trendy stuff you don’t actually use” and go for quality, like a bespoke suit or handmade shoes. According to the Financial Times (11/12 of April 2009) the tailors of Savile Row saw a pick-up of business in the recent months: Huntsman, the oldest tailor on Savile Row, saw its business increase by 12 percent in 2009.The believe that “a desire for quality” are the reasons for this upswing. I fully agree. Read the Newsweek article here: http://www.newsweek.com/id/191499 

PS: With the cheap flights to London and a very low pound now is the best time to do some shopping at Savile Row or Jermyn Street!

A print magazine for the discerning reader

 

When was the last time you loved a print magazine so much that you wanted to re-order it (one eager reader even built a shelf in the library for the copies)? I am sure that not many magazines have their own little market where ardent readers sell and buy past issues. The Swiss “Du” culture magazine is such a rare exception. Since the re-launch by the new publisher, Mr.Oliver Prange, and with a new editor-in-chief, Mr. Stefan Kaiser of former GDI Impulse magahine fame, the magazine has achieved a quality level that surpasses all of its competitors by light-years (for example “Intelligent Life” magazine by “The Economist”). The quality of the print of “Du” is so high that I simply adore just touching the magazine! Isn’t that how a monthly magazine should feel like: a pleasure to hold and look at, sometimes to collect and have it displayed on the living-room table? “Du “also features visually outstanding cover designs and the magazine draws from a wealth of high-calibre writers. So give your senses a big favour: instead of reading the for-free commuter newspapers get some valuable information from some outstanding people and read “Du”. Read about other high-intellect magazines here: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2008/01/the-good-things.html

And order "Du" here: http://www.du-magazin.com/

Hunt for an emergency exit seat

Singapore Airlines has been voted again and again the best airline and I think deservedly. However, flying economy is still a bothersome affair for tall guys. But since 2 months ago, one can get an emergency exit seat online for an extra 50 USD. Or if you feel lucky you can still try to get one when checking-in (better be early).

Rolex at a premium?!

Normally the best prices for Swiss watches can be had in Asia, Malaysia in particular. So I got very excited when I read in a Swiss newspaper article that luxury Swiss watches were selling at a heavy discount in Asia due to the financial crisis. I was surprised to learn that the new Rolex GMT-Master II is selling with a 1000$ premium according to a Rolex shop assistant in Malaysia

and I realized that the foreigner 'bonus' also applies to Swiss watches.

Fat is the pharma industry’s and your friend

Before the Americans had Osama bin Laden they were fighting another ferocious battle: fat. The reasoning was simple: if you eat too much fat, you will get fat. Easy, isn’t it? Well, not really. A few weeks ago I attended a presentation by book-writing German doctor Günter Frank. He thought that the Americans are wrong with their fight against fat, as they are wrong about the enprisonment of mates in Guantanamo. According to a meta-analysis of over 16.000 medical studies, only 27 out of those 16.000 plus hinted at a slight relation between eating fat and being fat. Medically speaking, eating fatty food doesn’t make you fat. According to Dr. Frank being fat or slim has more to do with genes and that not everyone digests food as effectively as fat people (they store the energy better than other people). Or put the other way around: thin people are thin because they digest food badly and therefore they eat more (sounds logical). And the second reason for being or getting fat is stress. If you tell children that they get fat if they eat burgers, they will start to develop eating disorders because of stress. So eating only vegetables and high fibre food might work for some persons, but not for everyone: if you are thin it makes sense to eat a burger with French fries. Dr. Frank thinks that the hunt for fat has more to do with the pharmaceutical and nutritional industry creating fear so that people buy their ‘light’ products than with nutritional science. Healthy people are bad for the health industry as they are bad clients! This is at least good news for Burger King!

You can buy Dr. Frank’s book here: http://www.amazon.de/Lizenz-zum-Essen-Gewicht-Stress/dp/3492050743/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1231700582&sr=8-1

Read this blog entry for more controversial nutritional information: http://easteatswest.typepad.com/east_eats_west/2008/12/eat-healthy-and-die-younger.html