A. Lange & Söhne Celebrates Anniversary With Lange 1 Time Zone In Honey Gold

A. Lange & Söhne released a special edition of the Lange 1 Time Zone in honey gold to celebrate the 22-year anniversary of the first Lange collection of the company’s modern era. 

The watch was released October 24, on the same date in 1994 when the German watchmaker held a press conference in the Dresden Residential Palace to unveil its first watches since the re-forming of the company. 

A. Lange & Söhne’s founder, Ferdinand Adolph Lange, is credited with helping to create a watchmaking industry in the German city of Glashütte near Dresden in 1845. The company’s watchmaking facility was bombed during World War II and the post-war Soviet administration expropriated the company’s property. That’s when the Lange brand ceased to exist. 

Following the collapse of the East German government, Walter Lange, the great-grandson of the company’s founder, and his partner Günter Blümlein re-formed the company in 1990 and presented its first timepieces four years later.

The clearly organized dial of the Lange 1 Time Zone provides a reading of the home time and the time in a second time zone. The time zone is set with a lateral pusher. It advances the rotating city ring with the 24 place names from west to east. On the ring, Dresden—instead of Berlin as in the standard version—represents Central European Time. In addition, the hour hand on the small subsidiary dial moves forward by one step with each use of the pusher. A synchronization mechanism makes it possible to transfer the zone time on the subsidiary dial to the main dial.  

Subtle color changes in the design of the city ring differentiate it from the standard version. The dots between the city names and GMT are blue instead of red. The previously black peripheral ring of the second time zone has the same blue hue as well. 

The 41.9mm case is made of 18k honey gold, A. Lange & Söhn’s proprietary gold alloy. The watch is powered by the hand-finished in-house caliber L031.1 with a three-day power reserve. 

Limited to 100 pieces, it is available exclusively in the 17 A. Lange & Söhne boutiques worldwide. 

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Robin Thicke Sings A New Tune As Harry Winston Ambassador

Robin Thicke performs at the Harry Winston Opus 14 unveiling in Baden-Baden

Harry Winston is known for placing its high jewelry on some of the world’s biggest and most beautiful stars of the 20th and 21th Centuries. However, in its 83-year history the luxury jewelry and watch brand has never had an official spokesperson. 

This changed Tuesday when the brand used the unveiling of the Opus 14 in Baden-Baden, Germany, to announce that recording artist Robin Thicke is the new brand ambassador for Harry Winston timepieces. 

Thicke appeared on stage following the Opus 14 presentation and later in the evening to perform many of his hit songs accompanied by dancers during the 1950s themed event. After the event ended he stayed around talking and taking photos with several of the invited guests.

Thicke becomes the first ambassador for the New York City-based brand, which was acquired by the Swatch Group in 2013. 

At a press conference the following day, Nayla Hayek, CEO of Harry Winston, said there was never any search for a brand ambassador. She met Thicke in Cannes and thought he’d be good for the brand, adding that it will be a long-term commitment and wasn’t just supporting the Opus timepiece. 

“He’s not the ambassador of Opus,” she said. “He is the ambassador of Harry Winston watches.”

Thicke is one of the world’s best-known singer, songwriter and producers today, and has worked with several prominent artists, including Christina Aguilera, Nicki Minaj, Pharrell Williams, Usher, Jennifer Hudson and Mary J. Blige. He rose to worldwide fame in 2013 for his hit single "Blurred Lines.”

It is also that song that placed Thicke and Pharrell Williams on the losing end of a $7.4 million copyright infringement case (later reduced to $5.3 million) brought against them by Marvin Gaye’s family. The case is under appeal. He also had a messy public divorce with his former wife Paula Patton. 

Hayek is seemingly undeterred with these issues, saying that Thicke has already been “very positive to the brand and a very professional ambassador for the brand.” 

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Harry Winston Unveils The Opus 14 ‘Jukebox’

America was always a significant part of the Harry Winston brand’s soul and its new owners took to creating a product that honors both the brand and the country.  

The Opus 14, the first Opus timepiece launched by Harry Winston under Swatch Group ownership, takes its inspiration from a nostalgic 1950s view of America, most specifically the jukebox, which brought American rock ‘n’ roll to public venues all over the world. 

The main feature of the Opus 14 is an automaton complication that works like the turntable of a jukebox. It reveals four disks housed in what Harry Winston calls a “store.” Each disk shows a specific display: local time, GMT time, the date and a star bearing the signature of Mr. Harry Winston, a reference to the stars of the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Harry Winston and the Swatch Group turned to Swiss watchmakers Franck Orny and Johnny Girardin of Telos Watch, to devise and build the timepiece. At a press conference Wednesday, Nayla Hayek, Harry Winston CEO, and Marc Hayek, Blancpain director, said the concept of the watch was already in place when Swatch Group aquired Harry Winston about three years ago but they immediately fell for the idea. 

“The first time we saw this project we fell in love with it,” said Nayla Hayek. “It’s Hollywood. It’s America. It’s Harry Winston.”

Added Marc Hayek, “We really wanted to make it happen. Seeing the idea and bringing it to life is fantastic.”

It was a three-and-a-half year project with done primarily within the Harry Winston watchmaking facilities in Plan-Les-Ouates, Switzerland—with the exception of testing the watch’s accuracy and endurance, which were done at the testing facilities of Blancpain, also owned by the Swatch Group.

The time in hours is already shown on the top disk (the minutes are shown on a separate retrograde display). When pressed for the first time, a push-piece activates a moving arm that picks the disk up and sets it onto the platform to be read like a turntable. While the disk displaying the local time remains in place at 9 o'clock, the chosen GMT, date or star disk is positioned on this platform. Pressing the push-piece a second time once the disk is in place reactivates the arm, which moves the disk back into the store. The first activation takes five seconds and returning the disk to the original position takes three seconds.

The power reserve for the patented HW4601 caliber uses two separate barrels, one for the automaton mechanism and the other for the clock operation. It provides 68 hours for the clock operation and enough power for five back-and-forth disk movements. Although the power reserves are separate and function independently, they are driven by a shared winding crown. A second winding crown is used to set the time. In addition, push-pieces on the lugs at 12 o'clock allow the wearer to correct the date and GMT.

The multi-layered movement and display resulted in a very large watch, even by Opus standards. It’s housed in a case measuring 57.4mm by 21.9mm.  

Design details of the black watch include a red, white and blue color palette and a two-tone insignia bearing the number 14 in a style reminiscent of the Route 66 road sign. These elements and others are designed to recall the rock 'n roll era and the emblematic diner aesthetic, the company said. 

The timepiece, with a total of 1,066 components, retails for 428,000 Swiss francs ($434,600) and is limited to 50 pieces.

The event unveiling the Opus 14 was originally planned for Los Angeles but there are several watch-related events in Switzerland at the same time so they instead opted for the tourist destination of Baden-Baden, a small city in the Germany’s Black Forest renowned for its natural springs and spas. Despite this, Harry Winston took great pains to create the illusion of 1950s Americana in Baden-Baden, with a bevy of 1950s American cars, a staging area set up as a 1950s diner, women servers on roller skates and 1950s rock ‘n’ roll playing throughout the evening. 

The scene certainly played into the nostalgic American theme of the watch.  

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Henry Graves Supercomplication Fetches $24 Million at Sotheby’s Geneva

With all the superlatives attached to it, it was a near certainty that The Henry Graves Supercomplication would go for a world record price at Sotheby’s Geneva sale of Important Watches held Tuesday. It already established the record when it sold for $11 million in 1999. It is also known as the most complicated hand-made watch and the most famous watch in the world.

But still the $24 million it achieved is something special. The auction house said five bidders competed for the timepiece for 15 minutes. It was finally sold to a buyer in the room, who requested anonymity, well above its $16.8 million estimate.

“This evening’s stellar result confirms the ‘rockstar’ status of The Henry Graves Supercomplication. It is more than a watch,” said Tim Bourne, Sotheby’s Worldwide Head of Watches, and Daryn Schnipper, Chairman of Sotheby’s Watch Division. “It is a masterpiece that transcends the boundaries of horology and has earned its place among the world’s greatest works of art. The fascination it has attracted over the past few months, as Patek Philippe celebrates its 175th anniversary, is a fitting tribute to the genius of the Swiss manufacturer.”

Commissioned in 1925 by Henry Graves, a prominent New York banker, and completed by Patek Philippe in 1932, The Henry Graves Supercomplication is the product of three years of research and five years of effort it resulted in a gold openface minute repeating chronograph clockwatch with Westminster chimes. Among its features are a perpetual calendar, moon phases, sidereal time, power reserve, and indications for time of sunset and sunrise and the night sky of New York City. With a total of 24 horological complications, The Graves watch retained the title of the world’s most complicated watch for 56 years and even then was only surpassed by technicians working with the aid of computer-assisted machines.

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Luxury Ladies’ Watches with Beauty, Brains and Brawn

Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Florilège

The masculine world of watchmaking is showing a newfound respect for women by producing luxury timepieces that are beautiful and built with quality in-house movements and, in some cases, multiple complications. This was evident at the recent Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie (SIHH), the exclusive annual tradeshow for luxury watches held in Geneva.

The majority of the 16 brands exhibiting were proudly displaying their feminine side and it’s about time. In my own humble way, I lobbied a few watchmakers to build lady timepieces that are comparable to men’s, though my reasons were selfish. I wanted my wife to stop wearing my watches and damaging the leather straps by tightening them around her much smaller wrist.

Some of the watches below certainly depict feminine themes but there are a few that have a masculine edge to their design. All are powered with mechanical or automated movements. In most cases these movements are superb; comparable to haute horlogerie produced for men. These are not jewelry watches with quartz movements. This group of new timepieces shows that the brands are on the right track when it comes to developing product for modern, active women. At least now, women have more choices.



Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art Florilège
The venerable Swiss luxury watch brand has gone all out to attract women this year. It created three new collections of haute horlogerie for women culminating with the elaborately decorated timepieces that make up the Métiers d’Art Florilège (top picture). This three-watch collection pays tribute to the delicacy of 19th Century English botanical illustrations, in particular, Robert John Thornton’s landmark illustrated guide, The Temple of Flora, published in 1799. The botanical renderings on the watch dials combine the artistic crafts of enameling, guillochage and gem-setting (the video above depicts the process). The timepieces are powered by a Vacheron Constantin manual-winding caliber 4400 movement. The three watches in the collection are the Queen, White Lily and China Limodoron. The Métiers d’Art Florilège is available in a limited series of 20 collector’s watches with the bezel set with round-cut diamonds and 5 more with the bezel set with baguette-cut diamonds for the Vacheron Constantin Boutiques.
 

Montblanc Collection Princesse Grace de Monaco Pétales de Roses
The Hamburg-based luxury brand introduced a number of new models of the Montblanc Princess Grace of Monaco Collection—ranging from one that can transcend from casual to formal to two haute joaillerie pieces. They compliment the jewelry line under the same name by designer Susie Otero. All of the watches are 34mm and all contain the self-winding movement MB 4810/409. One of the high jewelry pieces is the “Pétales de Roses” (rose petals). Invisible joints connect individual petal contours to create floral loops that form a linked bracelet. The entire ensemble is made from 18k white gold set with 533 brilliant-cut diamonds. The white mother-of-pearl dial is adorned with rose petals made of 79 brilliant-cut diamonds. The face is surrounded by 130 brilliant-cut diamonds while the bezel that bears 44 baguette diamonds.

Second Authentic Jewelry Watches from Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858
Montblanc’s haute horlogerie manufacturing brand, Villeret 1858, also produced a line of high-performance ladies’ watches using the same hand-crafted Swiss techniques that it employs for its men’s counterparts. The company has long been known for its hand-crafted movements and it didn’t spare any of the skill and technique to produce it mechanical hand-winding calibre MB2.00 for this ladies timepiece. The 36mm watch has a mother-of-pearl dial with black Roman numerals. The seconds are shown on a subdial at 6 o’clock. The concave polished bezel is adorned with 144 brilliant-cut diamonds with a total weight of 0.93 carats. Production will be limited to 58 pieces.

Van Cleef & Arpels Ballerine Enchantée
The famed Parisian jewelry brand also went after women’s market in a big way with three collections of watches combining artistic techniques with in-house movements. The Ballerine Enchantée added a nothing “poetic” step by adding a double retrograde movement with time on demand. The dial depicts a golden ballerina, sculpted in relief and set with diamonds, emphasizing her waist and face. At the push of a button on the bezel, the outer veils of her tutu come to life, taking the appearance of butterfly wings. The first veil that rises indicates the hours and second veil the minutes. They remain in place allowing enough time to read the time and then return simultaneously to their initial positions (the video below demonstrates how it works). Several shades of blue on the dial in the background are created with layers of enamel in guilloche patterns. The bezel of the 40.5 mm white gold case is set with diamonds.

Audemars Piguet Ladycat Royal Oak Offshore chronograph
It’s the 20th anniversary for the Royal Oak Offshore and with it the Swiss luxury watch brand introduced new ladies’ pieces including this 37mm chronograph. The stainless steel case of this limited-edition timepiece reveals the Royal Oak Offshore logo on the back. The bezel is set with diamonds. The black dial with its “Mega Tapestry” pattern includes pink gold applied hour-markers and Royal Oak hands with luminescent coating. The self-winding caliber 2385 movement is an integrated chronograph movement that provides separate hour, minute and second functions, displayed on the dial at 9 o’clock, 3 o’clock and 6 o’clock, respectively. The date display appears at 5 o’clock.

Baume & Mercier Linea
The 27 mm case of the new Linea automatic is engraved in steel or in steel trimmed with gold. Its mother-of-pearl dial has a date window at the six o’clock position and can be set with 11 diamond hour markers. The Linea’s automatic movement displays hours, minutes and seconds. One of the signature details of this iconic collection is interchangeable bracelets that include leather and satin in several colors. 

Cartier Crash
Housed in its iconic asymmetrical case and dial, Crash appears in a limited edition of four new models adorned for the first time with a bracelet composed of drops in white or pink gold, or gem-set. In reference to the year of its creation (1967), this year’s pieces are produced in 267 numbered pieces for the models with gold bracelets and 67 numbered pieces for the models with gem-set bracelets.

Roger Dubuis Excalibur 36 Jewelry
This is another high jewelry piece with a superb movement, in this case the mechanical calibre RD821. This piece from has a bracelet adorned with 708 brilliant-cut diamonds, totaling 4.25 carats, which form two symmetrical rows on either side of the polished center. The bezel is set with 48 diamonds totaling 0.99 carats. The pink gold extends onto the Roman numerals of the dial and on the circle around the small seconds counter at 6 o’clock.

Parmigiani Pershing Chronograph 002 CBF
This 42mm chronograph contains the PF334automatic winding movement. The tinted mother-of-pearl dial contains a small seconds subdial at 3 o’clock a 12-hour subdial with date window at 6 o’clock and a 30-minute subdial at 9 o’clock. The polished rose-gold bezel is set with set with 56 brilliant cut diamonds.

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Report: 7% Increase in Interest for Haute Horlogerie, Led by BRIC and Asian Markets

Audemars Piguet Royal Oak,
such as this 'City of Sails' piece,
is the most sought-after
haute horlogerie
watch model in the world.

Is there a slowdown in the luxury watch market? Maybe. But global interest in luxury timepieces (haute horlogerie) not only remains strong but actually increased by 7 percent in 2012, according to the preliminary results of a global report.

Luxury industry market intelligence firm, Digital Luxury Group, recently released the results of the haute horlogerie category (18 brands) of the WorldWatchReport, based on an analysis of watch-related search queries typed into major global search engines. Among the findings:

1. Compared to the previous year, the highest-end category of luxury watches, haute horlogerie, experienced a 7% increase in brand interest. “This marks the third year in a row that the online interest of this highest-end segment of luxury watches has increased, showing the continued strength of haute horlogerie within the overall market,” said Florent Bondoux, DLG head of Strategy & Intelligence.

2. Of the 20 markets analyzed in the study, nearly half (47%) of global interest for haute horlogerie stems from Brazil, Russia, India, China, Singapore, Thailand, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Mainland China on its own compromises 31 percent of the global demand or twice as much as the U.S. market.

3. There’s a downward trend in mature luxury watch markets with the U.S. down by 10.6 percent and Japan down by 11.7 percent in its share of global demand. While relative share of demand has progressively shrank in the past three years in most established markets, for the first time since the report’s launch in 2004, there was an absolute decline in domestic demand in the U.S. and Japan.

4. Patek Philippe remains by far the leading haute horlogerie watch brand with 23.6 percent of brand interest share. Jaeger-LeCoultre takes the second spot with 12.7 percent, closely followed by Vacheron Constantin at 12.6 percent, Audemars Piguet at 9.2 percent and Breguet at 7.7 percent.

5. Along with Richard Mille, Vacheron Constantin and Patek Philippe also record the highest growth rates in brand interest year-over-year, with 26 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively. Founded in 2001, the Richard Mille brand is the fastest growing haute horlogerie brand (61% over last year), followed by Vacheron Constantin (26%), and Patek Philippe (10.2%).

6. Audemars Piguet’s Royal Oak, reinforcing its leading position of last year, continues its reign as the most sought-after haute horlogerie watch model, increasing its online interest by 5 percent over the last year, likely an effect of the increased communications surrounding the icon’s 40th anniversary. Though the Royal Oak leads globally, local preferences arise for other models in markets such as Japan (Girard-Perregaux’s 1945), China (Vacheron Constantin’s Overseas), and Russia (Blancpain’s Leman).

Haute horlogerie brands tracked in this preview report were: A. Lange & Söhne, Audemars Piguet, Blancpain, Bovet, Breguet, De Bethune, Frank Muller, Girard-Perregaux, Glashütte Original, Greubel Forsey, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Jaquet Droz, Parmigiani, Patek Philippe, Richard Mille, Roger Dubuis, Ulysse Nardin and Vacheron Constantin.

The full edition of the WorldWatchReport, which this year will cover more than 60 watch brands in 20 markets worldwide, will be available in April.

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Montblanc’s Villeret Luxury Watches Keep The Minerva Soul

The home of traditional Swiss watch company now owned by luxury brand, Montblanc. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

VILLERET, Switzerland — In the Swiss watch industry, it could be said that the more things change the more they stay the same. This is particularly true for the watch company known today as “Montblanc Manufacture in Villeret.”

The company was founded in 1858 as the H. & C. Robert watchmaking factory by brothers Charles-Yvan and Hyppolite Robert inside the family house in this picturesque village on the edge of the Jura mountains. The company took on the Minerva name in 1923 and kept it for 84 years. 

Some of the components that make up a watch movement. All pieces are made in house in the Swiss watchmaking tradition. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

Almost from the beginning the company, which moved from its residential workshop to a true manufacturing facility across the street in 1887, produced in-house movements, particularly its chronographs that were so accurate and efficient they were used in the battlefields of World War I and II and to keep time for the events of the 1936 Winter Olympics. It was one of the first companies to produce a chronograph pocket watch, one of the first to produce movements for wristwatches, and one of the first to build a chronograph that could track hundredths of a second. The company also produced chronographs and classic watches for the general public. Needless to say the brand’s heritage and quality of their movements produced a loyal following.

A watchmaker creates one of the individual components of a movement. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

The company’s biggest change happened in 2000 when Italian investor Emilio Gnutti purchased it and changed its mission to produce haute horlogerie timepieces in-house using the same hand-made techniques and the philosophy of the brand. The new owner brought in Demetrio Cabiddu as its technical director. Then a change of seismic proportions happened in 2006 when luxury goods conglomerate, Compagnie Financière Richemont, purchased the company and from my understanding assigned the watch manufacturer to Montblanc—one of the many luxury brands it owns.

The balance spring (also known as a hairspring) is attached to the balance wheel to control the speed at which the wheels of the timepiece turn, and thus the rate of movement of the hands. These items are hand-made inside the factory. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

In the new atrium on the top floor of the historic manufacturing facility, Cabiddu, who is extremely passionate and protective of the company’s heritage, said he had some sleepless nights wondering what Montblanc, which was new to the staunchly traditional Swiss watch industry, was going to do with the company and its heritage. 

A skilled watchmaker attaches the balance spring to the balance wheel and then sets it over a timing device with a reference balance. She checks the difference in beats and bends the spring until they match.  Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

“Of course I was very worried, I was scared,” Cabiddu said in French through a translator. “There was a need to preserve the heritage and credibility of Minerva and this 150 years of expertise.” He added, “People who don’t have fear are people who don’t have a conscience.” 

Some of the older equipment in the factory includes this large stamping machine. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

It turned out that there was no need to fear. Montblanc, the German company with its own 106-year history as a manufacturer of luxury writing instruments, not only bought into the legacy of Minvera, but in some cases expanded upon it. 

Another example of the early equipment that is still being used in the Villeret factory is this vertical drill. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

In fact, Montblanc’s inexperience in the Swiss watch industry “turned out to be an advantage,” Cabiddu said. “Montblanc trusted us. In hindsight it turned out to be the best choice.” 

Before Montblanc took control of the company, it was known for 84 years as Minerva. The toolboxes still carry the name and according to technical director, Demetrio Cabiddu, still maintains the Minerva heritage. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

There were some changes. Most obvious was the name change to reflect the location of the company. “Losing the name was a solution I had to take,” Cabiddu said. “Today I laugh about it a lot more. I used to cringe (when hearing the new name). In hindsight it was probably the right thing to do as we move into the future.” 

Two persons are dedicated to working with clients all over the world to create hand-drawn models of bespoke watches they would like to own. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

Montblanc also renovated the manufacturing facility. However, restoration is a better way to describe the work. Apart from the new, modern atrium with a view of the countryside, a fresh coat of paint and some structural repairs, little appears to have changed. 

Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858 Vintage Tachydate

Montblanc renamed the building the “Institut Minerva de Recherche en Haute Horlogerie,” and created a foundation under the same name, which Montblanc said in a statement is, “dedicated to classical fine watchmaking and the upholding of traditional skills and special complications,” adding that it “supports young watchmakers through internships, commissioning research on the history of traditional watchmaking and initiates new developments with traditional techniques in watchmaking.”

Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858 Tourbillon Bi-Cylindrique

It isn’t clear to me how this institute or foundation operates. What is clear is that it hasn’t changed the focus of the company. Villeret is a watch manufacturer that employs 36 full-time workers and four consultants and produces between 200 and 250 limited-edition hand-made timepieces per year, Cabiddu said. Everything is done in house with the exception of the dials, hands, straps and cases. 

Montblanc Collection Villeret 1858 Régulateur Nautique Timepiece

Large stamping machines and vertical drills that date back approximately 80 years share the building with modern CNC and CAD equipment. Some machines are so old parts aren’t available anymore so watchmakers have to hand-build the parts and even the tools to repair the equipment. The company produces chronographs, tourbillons and classic watch lines. In addition, it creates bespoke timepieces for private clients. Two designers are dedicated to creating hand-drawings of the timepieces based on specifications of these collectors. 

The company was founded in 1858 as the as the H. & C. Robert watchmaking factory by brothers Charles-Yvan and Hyppolite Robert in the house across the street from the current manufacturing facility. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

With its trademarked V-shaped bridge and a small arrow, the highly polished movements were always a site to behold. However, the outside of the watches were traditional and one dimensional. Montblanc added variety to the overall appearance of the timepieces, Cabiddu said.

The company, formerly called Minerva, was known for its chronograph movements. Here is some the company's earlier chronograph pocket watches. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

“Our movements were always beautiful,” he said. “Montblanc added a diversification of the aesthetic.” 

The company still does repair work on antique watches that were built prior to Montblanc's ownership of the brand. Photo credit: Anthony DeMarco

But still he describes the timepieces they make as “understated luxury,” and added that Montblanc’s own history shows that it respects and enhances this philosophy. “Montblanc is not really big with being in your face.” 

This philosophy of beauty could certainly describe the town that now shares the company’s name. Very little seems to have changed in the countryside outside the building, yet its prosperity shows that it is able to adjust to changes in the world while maintaining its heritage. Looking out from the atrium just across the street is the yellow-colored house where the watch company was founded more than 150 years ago, now occupied by a new family. Beyond the house cows graze on a sheet of green. Past the meadow are the Jura mountains covered with the flaming reds, oranges and yellows that represent the leaves of autumn on this late October day. If that’s not enough, above the cliffs in the powder blue late afternoon sky is a crescent moon.

It’s a scene that one could easily describe as understated luxury.

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