Elite World News

La Chaux-de-Fonds, Switzerland—In the watch world, brands and sports go hand in hand. Think Corum and sailing, Breitling and aviation, TAG Heuer and car racing, tennis, golf—the list goes on and on. Now, Swiss watch brand Ebel is firming up its association with soccer. The brand is launching two new watches to celebrate the first two partnerships it has signed with world-class soccer clubs the London-based Arsenal and Germany’s FC Bayern Munich.
(Full post Ebel backs soccer with new watches…)

Seven European cities were in the top 20, according to Internet travel advisory service TripAdvisor.

Experts said despite the current economic crisis, rising fuel costs, environmental concerns and airport chaos, travelling was still as popular as ever – particularly to Europe.

In its inaugural travellers' choice survey, taking into account the opinion of the world's largest online travel community, the Greek island was voted the fifth most popular world destination.

The Austrian capital Salzburg was the next most favourite European destination while the spa resort town of Bath was the highest-ranking British destination.

Five UK locations made the top 100.

New Zealand topped the international survey.

Milford Sound, a fjord located in the southwest corner of the country's South Island, was voted the most popular worldwide destination with its beautiful mountains and scenery.

The nearby adventure town Queenstown, famous for its extreme sports, was second-favourite.

Italy, the survey found, was the most popular country with seven cities in the top 25 European destinations – the southern city of Amalfi the highest ranked at 15th on the worldwide list.

Other European locations to make the top 20 include Siena, in Italy (15), Dingle in Ireland's south-west (18) and the Belgium city of Bruges (20).

"What the destinations have in common is a something special that makes them truly exceptional in the eyes of travellers around the world," TripAdvisor European communications manager, Ian Rumgay, told Reuters.

"Despite dire predictions about economic downturns, rising fuel costs, environmental concerns and airport chaos, travellers continue to beat a path to destinations such as these that have that 'X factor'."

The locations were determined by an analysis from the website that is visited by about 25 million users a month.

It combined input from travellers' favourite places, popular hits from the website's six million registered users as well as analysis of forums and summaries from about 15 million reviews.

The two New Zealand destinations were named in the Travellers' Choice Awards top ten ahead of Cayo Largo in Cuba, Rhodes in Greece, and California's Lake Tahoe. Milford Sound topped the list of 100 global destinations, with Queenstown close behind in second place. The awards were determined based on the opinions of TripAdvisor's six million members worldwide. Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive George Hickton said these awards recognise the exceptional beauty of the Southern Lakes region and the unique experiences the region offers travellers.
(Full post NZ tops Travellers’ Choice Awards…)

A few nights ago I had a few friends over for dinner and we ate duck breast rubbed with fresh mint, ground coriander seeds, and pepper, with an olive and vermouth pan sauce. One of my friends brought field greens, complete with strands of chickweed and wild violets. We drank single-vineyard Oregon pinot noir and were on top of the world. On the other hand, tonight it’s raining and work was a drag. I’m home alone and craving a box of macaroni and cheese. For me, this dichotomy applies to perfume, too.
(Full post When First Class Perfume is Second Best…)

Il mese di marzo ha avuto due facce. Fino a venerdì 14 – il giorno in cui Wall Street ha salvato la Bear Stearns – il mercato dell’oro ha seguito il suo trend ascendente.  March was a two-sided month. Until Friday 14 — the day Wall Street rescued Bear Stearns — the gold market was steady on its trend.On Monday 17 the metal peaked at US$ 1023.50 in London a.m. (the p.m. fixing was US$ 1011.25), but the next day the metal plunged and landed at US$ 913.5 on Thursday 20 (Figure 1).
(Full post MARCH 2008: GOLD AT US$ 1000, NOT MUCH TO REJOICE ABOUT…)

London—De Beers’ plans for its Forevermark diamond brand will be announced over the next few days to a select group of retailers and diamantaires in London, the company has announced.

Following pilots in Asia, De Beers will attempt to make its mark with Forevermark through select jewelers in Hong Kong, China and Macau in the fourth quarter of 2008, Japan in the first quarter of 2009 and South Africa in the second quarter of 2009.

When asked if there were plans for the Forevermark beyond the second quarter of 2009, De Beers spokeswoman Lynette Gould told National Jeweler, “Yes of course, and I am sure we’ll hear about them in due course.
(Full post De Beers announces plans for Forevermark…)

The niche line Auguste, “a collection of fragrances inspired by ancient books, handwritten by one of the many Grasse perfumers between 1905-1920″, has debuted with three fragrances, Esprit de Chine, Esprit de Chypre and Esprit de Cuir. Esprit de Chine (shown) was inspired by Millot’s CrГЄpe de Chine and its descendents, and features notes of ambrette, orange blossom, lilac, carnation, muguet, white musk, tree moss absolute and sandalwood. E
(Full post Auguste Esprit de Chine, Esprit de Chypre & Esprit de Cuir, Victoria’s Secret Dream Angels Heavenly Kiss ~ new fragrances…)

Merrill Lynch analyst Lorraine Maikis has cut her stock ratings for Tiffany and Co. and Blue Nile from “neutral” to “sell,” CNBC has reported. According to the news source, the cuts come amidst an unstable economic environment, where rising food and gas prices, the credit crunch and a weak housing market are forcing consumers to cut back on big-ticket luxury items such as jewelry.
(Full post Analyst downgrades Tiffany, Blue Nile stock…)

In the doom-and-gloom days of my late teens and early twenties, one of my favorite poems was “Spinster” by Sylvia Plath; at one point, I even photocopied this poem from Plath’s collected works and pinned it to the wall of my dorm room. It relates the thoughts of an emotionally repressed young woman who, during “a ceremonious April walk / with her latest suitor,” finds herself dismayed by early spring’s “rank wilderness of fern and flower; / She judged petals in disarray, / The whole season, sloven.” Many real-life seasons passed, and I eventually loosened my grip on such tense pessimism (although I will always value Plath’s work). I even decided that it’s no
(Full post Top 10 Spring Fragrances 2008…)

You’ve probably seen that the long-rumored merger between Delta and Northwest is now official—at least to the point that both corporate boards have approved. Moreover, you’ve probably also seen a lot of flack about whether this merger would be good or bad for consumers.

(Full post Is the airline mega-merger still on?…)