Maurice de Mauriac Zurich

It’s a risky manoeuvre, starting a watch company from scratch in a country with a long history of family run watchmakers, without a family name to pass the business on to you.  Daniel Dreyfuss, who runs the Zurich based Maurice de Mauriac, decided in 1997 to do just that.  The watches that have developed out of these humble beginnings are labours of love, not industry, and are designed to bring pleasure to the wearers.  They are more than a symbol of status; they are a symbol of taste.

The shop is small with a large window looking out over the street.  Passers-by can view the team of watchmakers assembling timepieces in the window. The team consists of only Dreifuss and 4 assistants, each of whom have backgrounds as unlikely as Dreyfuss.

Every watch can be fully customized, from the dial to the band, if the customer has an idea, the watchmakers are open to it.  Ideas brought to them serve as inspiration and new styles have arisen out of customer “tweaks”.

We caught up with Daniel, a White Line Hotel Collaborator, to find out just what it is that makes Maurice de Mauriac watches tick. Read the rest of this entry »

Downtown to Beach Town

Summer, New York, Hamptons, need we say more?  When the summer heat is coming in waves off the pavement of NYC, the only place to escape is the Hamptons, but who wants to deal with arranging the transportation to make sure you arrive in style?  Who’s going to make assure you’re pampered once you get there?  How are you going to squeeze in a trip to pick up a few new styles in the city before you go?

Fret no more!  The Greenwich Hotel and East Hampton Point have got you covered for the real New York to Hamptons experience.  They’re offering a 6 night package that treats you to all the luxuries you deserve.  Your first 3 nights will be spent in a Superior room at The Greenwich Hotel, including breakfast, their firming and polishing “Shibui Toner” Spa treatment, dinner for two on the Locanda Verda private courtyard and your essential Hamptons shopping itinerary.  Pure pleasure.

Next hop onto the Luxury Liner and head for 3 nights in a Luxe Bungalow at East Hampton Point Resort.  Once there, you’ll be treated to a daily breakfast from Mary’s Marvelous of Amagansett, tee times at your choice of the Hamptons golf clubs, car service to the beach (is there any other way to travel?), and beach access, dinner for two at the East Hampton Point Restaurant, a picnic at the Georgica Beach and the list goes on!

This package is so good that they’re keeping it very hush hush, so you’ll have to call The Greenwich Hotel to book it.  It’s an experience you won’t want to miss if you love escaping New York as much as visiting it.  To see more about The Greenwich Hotel, in New York’s Tribeca neighborhood, visit their website.

To book it, email Katy Horne at khorne@thegreenwichhotel.com, or call her on +1 646 203 0022.

And the winner is…

As a part of our own recent collaboration with Swiss icons FREITAG, we decided to give one of their limited edition WYSS R099 bags away, including a little journey with us.

Martin Andersson is the lucky person who will get his hands on it in his bedroom at co-collaborators the Greulich Hotel in Zurich.

Martin won:

1 x FREITAG WYSS R099 bag*
1 x Two nights, with breakfast at the Greulich Hotel
1 x Dinner for two at the Greulich Restaurant

So you want one, do you?  There are a few examples of this limited edition left in the FREITAG online shop.

If you were hoping to experience the Greulich Hotel, you can always book a room at their official website too.

Sign up for our Bulletins and we’ll keep you up to date on forthcoming promotions and opportunities.

*The WYSS R099 bag from FREITAG is a homage to journalist Laure Wyss who founded one of Switzerland’s first (and best) weekly supplements in 1970, DAS MAGAZIN. The bag was inspired by a journalist working for DAS MAGAZIN in Switzerland who approached FREITAG to make him a bag suited to the needs of a journalist…the DAS MAGAZINE WYSS R099 was born. Made from vintage, unicolored truck tarpaulins, toting metal buckles and a completely new, antiquated appeal, the bag is a tribute to the late 1800’s where modern journalism was born and horse messengers rode across the countryside to deliver the latest news.

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Image courtesy of FREITAG & DAS MAGAZIN

The Retreat Selous. Let Your Expectations Go

After having the chance to catch up with The Retreat at Selous’ founder, Uma Grob, there were a few things that were clear: she is passionate about her work, she knows the land, and she has created one of the most authentic African experiences Tanzania has to offer.

The Retreat consists of 12 harmoniously constructed suites deep in the bush of the Selous Reserve, and by deep, we mean deep, it’s 5 hours to the nearest village.  The UNESCO protected Selous is the largest wildlife sanctuary in Africa, and has, for the most part, remained untouched by humans.  Wildlife is abundant with roughly 70,000 elephants and 4,000 lions making their homes in the reserve, not to mention endangered wild dogs, antelope, crocodiles, monkeys, kudu, and leopards.  What Grob has created is an escape, a retreat, if you will, where hippos brull from the river in front of your suite, elephants eat outside of your walls, and you can experience a side of Africa usually only seen by natives.

Read the rest of this entry »

Vienna. Curated by Vienna 2010. Art and Film

Curated by Vienna’s contemporary and collaborative line-up is enough to set any art lovers a flutter.  20 galleries will feature 20 artist-curated exhibitions between May 6th and June 5th.  The focus of the 2010 Curated by Vienna is art and film and will include a range of lectures on the subject.  The goal is to explore the latest trends in the visual arts, and why contemporary artists are fascinated by film and moving images. Read the rest of this entry »