HERMES by DA

Hermès is a fashion company that carries with it an aura of prestige by virtue of workmanship, reputation, and price. This aura has become the idea of their personality. Thierry Hermès founded Hermès in 1837, as a harness shop in Paris for horses and carriages following saddle production. By the 1900’s, Emile-Maurice Hermès, Theirry's successor, realized at the turn of the 20th century that travel was fast moving away from the horse and towards plane, car, and train travel. He responded by manufacturing trunks, bags, and overnight cases, all from his family's signature saddle leather. Introducing traveling bags, handbags, belts, gloves, and other leather goods, Hermès became fully diversified.

Packaging

Website

Hermès is an authentic luxury company that is devoted to the demands and desires of their clientele, an iconic brand that carries with it an aura of heritage, and craftsmanship which continues to apply its traditional techniques into its creations. Hermès is of greater value than its competitors - it is not positioned regarding the others because they broach their product creation, in each know-how with their own meaning and history. Hermès established its brand based on its consistent high quality and unique French principle – the tap into the pop factor, which is one of the reasons why the brand never loses appeal. Old generations with nostalgia to younger generations get attracted and fall in love with this brand. Maintaining its high quality, its classic first-class production process, it is durable and practical, simply elegant and exquisite defines Hermès – elegance.

Maharaja: The Splendour of India's Royal Courts

Collier de Patiala/The Patiala Necklace

By: Gayatri Mittal

The Patiala Necklace

The sanskrit word Mahārāja literally a “great king” or “high king”, raises up a vision of splendor and magnificence. The world of Maharajas is extraordinarily rich. In India rulers were expected to exercise raja dharma, meaning the duties and behavior appropriate to the king. And one such duty was exercised through the patronage of poets, musicians, architects, artists, craftsmen and religious foundations. Their patronage of arts both in India and Europe resulted in splendid objects symbolic of royal status, power and identity. From the beginning of the 18th to the mid-20th century roles of Maharajas changed. It was also a time of great political change in India. The fall of the British Empire and the independence of India in 1947 was a huge blow to their magnificence, but the Maharajas continue to fascinate. The exhibitions i.e. Splendor of India's Royal Courts and Les Derniers Maharajas ("The last Maharajas”) can approach their world. "Indian courtly jewelry is among the most sumptuous and finely wrought in the world. The wide availability of gemstones, the centuries-old traditions of craftsmanship and the customs of a culture steeped in religion and symbolism all make for a wealth of adornment."(Bernard Nick, Indian Jewelry)

Besides the change in the environment, the Maharajas participated actively in the early twentieth century development and influence of the most prestigious jewelers and major European luxury brands. Orders were placed in lavish houses Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. Among these commands, one of the iconic Patiala necklace, the biggest ever in Cartier.

The Patiala Necklace by Cartier

This massive art deco necklace was created by Cartier for Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala in 1928. The Patiala Necklace is a metaphor of the lifestyle that the Maharajas led. The necklace which included the world's seventh largest DeBeers diamond, of 234 carats was perhaps the most spectacular and expensive piece of jewelry ever created and the largest single commission that Cartier has ever executed. The ceremonial necklace was completed in 1928 and restored in 2002 and originally contained no less than 2,930 diamonds weighing almost 1,000 carats. It has been on display in exhibitions around the world.

Bhupinder Singh, Maharaja of Patiala

The De Beers Diamond ~ Discovered in a South African mine in March 1888

Like all famous and fabulous royal jewelry, the Patiala Necklace too is mired in controversy. It took Cartier almost three years to make the original necklace, which looked so exquisite that they sought the Maharaja's permission to display it before sending it to India. But in April 1948, the necklace mysteriously disappeared from the treasury of the royal family and was recovered with all the precious stones missing in a very poor condition at an antique store, almost half-a-century later by Eric Nussbaum, a Cartier representative in London. Cartier immediately bought it and set about restoring the Art Deco period piece to its original glory. It was last seen on Maharaja Yadavindra Singh.

Bhupinder Singh's son & heir: Yadavindra Singh ~ ca. 1939

Now, the necklace has been fully restored as faithfully as possible to its former glory. (Patiala Necklace - Cartier, Paris 1928 - In 2002, restoration of the necklace with new stones, platinum, diamonds, cubic zirconium yellow, white zirconia, topaz, ruby, synthetic smoky quartz and citrine © Cartier Collection.)

Cartier, for one, has come full circle with its "Inde Mystérieuse" collection, introduced in September 2007 at a glitzy event in London. So convincing was the decor that one could almost see Sir Bhupinder Singh, the maharajah of Patiala, strolling through the house adorned with the Patiala necklace. Of 82 pieces in the new collection, a platinum and diamond neckpiece anchored by a 63.66-carat pear-cut diamond might be the Patiala's closest runner-up.

In celebration of the 100th anniversary of renowned French jeweler and watchmaker Cartier, iconic photographer Bruce Weber has put together “Cartier I Love You,” a collection of photographs and documents from the company’s archive and his own. He was given full access to Cartier's corporate archives and photos.

The Modern Maharaja~photograph by Bruce Weber, 2009

Amrapali Jewelers in India for the International India Jewelry Week 2010, used the same aesthetic in Kundan technique (traditional Indian technique of stone setting) as it resembles a lot to the Patiala Necklace.

Konkona Sen Sharma walking the ramp for Amrapali

International brands specifically French jewelry houses like Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels etc… have a long history with India and they continue to inspire with their collections and bring back those centuries of old traditions with the help of excellent and unique craftsmanship that they posses.

Trademark Infringement

As discussed, creators are moving on color ownership. Louboutin trademarked his red sole shoes design back in 1997 but is finally acting on it by suing YSL this week over their spring 2011 heels with red soles. Read full story here. ABC news also has a full story on fake designer shoes here.

The French show designer's mark of authenticity is his signature and a "Made in Italy" crest.

YSL S 2011 red sole sandal

Designer soles by artist Taylor Reeve

Fashion & Yacht Collaborations

See the story on Luxury Society about fashion labels creating one of a kind and limited edition yachts, here

Luxury, Authenticity & Adornment

Isabel Clara Eugenia by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz., 1598

Luxury adornment is a common category including jewelry, cosmetics and fragrance. Authenticity is an added value to the luxury good that comes through the originality in design and production and/or the meaning invested into it. This may be through some type of customization of the good or by sentimentality, such as an heirloom. Above a painting of Enfanta Isabella holding a locket of her father. The personalization of luxury goods increases their mystical value and provides an impression of being irreplacable.

Above and below awards from the Napoleon III era were specific marks of authentic honor that were in fact mass produced for many recipients.

Above customized luxury adornment, left the 20th anniversary gift for the Duchess of Windsor by Cartier 1957 and right Grace Kelly's tiara by Van Cleef & Arpels, 1976. Below two authentic designs by Dali that have been mass produced as costume jewelry, left Eye of Time, 1949 and right Ruby Lips, 1949.

Below the artisan originality continues in the limited edition silver and gold designs of Aurelie Bidermann.

Above and below the Dior boutique at Place Vendome. Some luxury brands use adornment goods to create a sense of authenticity with creative expression that lasts longer than fashion and provides lasting investments.

Above and below two more adornment extensions of Dior. Above Rene Gurau's illustrations for Dior were used to create limited edition eye shadow and below a Dior lipstick commercial "Addict" showing adornment as the essence of a luxury lifestyle but perhaps undermining the authenticity of the brand. See the video here.

Above and below Serge Lutens served as art director of the brand Shiseido, creating an original high art, luxurious feel. This took the cosmetics from luxury adornment to a product with much more added mystical value.

Below after the designer Mila Schön died, her company created fragrances remembering each decade of her creation. Fragrance is already problematic to call authentic, as most designers license out the production of scents, but in this case they were created without her and with a nostalgia to recall an abstract aspect of time.

Above and below the diamond issue is a more critical part of adornment. Due to monopolization issues De Beers moved from supplying to retailing in 2006 with a partnership with LVMH. Below while most evaluate diamonds by size, the cut will determine its original sparkle.

Above and below, jewelers of Place Vendome. Boucheron was the original jewler to sell there and the newest is Lorenz Baumer who presents himself as an authentic artist, showing inspiration and doing collaborations with companies like Swaroviski.

Above and below French speciality jeweler Marie-Helene de Taillac. Based in India, she hand selects the gemstones. Above she offers a variety of information about the essence of each stone and believes that her pieces have personalities that develop with their wearers.

Maybach

by Octavia Mettenheimer

Maybach

Maybach is a German automobile company and is a part of the Daimler group. Its history starts with the birth of Wilhelm Maybach on February 9^th 1846 in Heilbronn, Germany. Since his parents died very early; he was very lucky as a society founded by Gustav Werner took care of him. The foundation cared for orphans and disabled children and additionally gave them the possibility to visit school, a very generous treatment for that time. When he was 15 years old, the educators took note of his talents in drawing and in handling technical issues. They decided to give him the possibility to attend college in town.

With 19 years he met Daimler as his new chief. Their relation was immediately very strong and both profited from it. After working successfully for years with Daimler he finally got his chance to prove himself fully when Daimler decided to found his own business in 1882. In 1890 it was Maybach’s vision that lead to the development of the first car meant for personal transport only, the “Steel Wheel Wagon”. The automobile was born. The reward for the now 45 years old men was his nomination to be the “King of engineers” in the world.

But it was his son Karl who produced the first Maybach car in 1921. Already back then it was the most luxurious automobile available. Maybach became the impersonation for luxury automobiles. The double “M” logo is used again today.

In 1997 the rebirth of this amazing brand was announced. Daimler decided to revive it to start its own luxury brand in the car industry. The “center of excellence” in Sindelfingen, Germany is taking care of all the extra wishes and adjustments demanded by the customers.

The basic model, the 57 is an amazing automobile offering you every kind of luxury you could wish for. But not only the interior design is stunning, also its engine- what Maybach is originally known for- is of exceptional quality. Although it has a weight of 2.735 kg, which is about 400 kg more then a fully-grown SUV, it is quicker then a Porsche 911 measured from 0-100. It reaches a top speed of 250 km/h. The finest materials are used to satisfy every nerve and sense in the interiors. The price does not hide this effort with a price around 360.00 Euros.

The 62 is, although it seems hardly possible, an even better version of the 57. It is longer, the engine has more power and its interiors can easily be compared to the ones of a private jet.

I have to mention that Maybach had some real problems to sell these two cars. One of the main reasons is that the critics don’t see an emancipated design but rather a copy and imitation of the Mercedes S-class. I believe the people were not aware of the strong historical relation between Daimler and Maybach and therefore felt that the designers were using the common design for the wrong reasons.

A strong hint that the design is the major problem is, that the tuning company “Xenatec” is producing a “Maybach Coupé”. What is amazing is, that Xenatec could sell 100 of those coupes in just one year and with Maybach only selling 200 cars a year they make 50% of the sales business. The response to the Coupe is far better then to the real thing, people are even willing to pay about 200.000 Euros more for the redesigned version.

The ambiguity of their relation is somehow amusing. On the one hand the original producers support the product as all guarantees are kept and all the services remain, however Xenatec is not allowed to put the Maybach emblem anywhere.

Especially interesting is also if we are talking about the company’s success and how it was copied regarding the Exelero. It was originally a test car by Maybach and a wheel production company. However its design was so famous that by now even two companies offer a replica of exactly that car.

Stola is the company by which the original Exelero was built. They rebuilt and call it the Phalcon Coupe. It has been produced only 25 times with a price around 600.000 Euro. The strangest fact about this copy is most of the pages you will find state that the actual Maybach Exelero is for sale.

Recently, also a Suisse company the Lamborghini Geneva announced to rebuild the Exelero.

It seems ironic that the copy has such a big price and is itself produced a limited version of only 25 exemplar.

Compared to the two main competitors Bentley and Rolls Royce a clear difference can be made. If we talk about luxury it also means exclusiveness. Where as Rolls Royce and Bentley might be more profitable it also means that they are sold in much bigger amounts each year, are seen quite often and are not that special anymore. A Maybach does not need to be pretentious it will still leave an impression- at least because of its one of a kind coloring.

If you take a look inside you will see the further differences immediately. Not only do you have over 2 million choices to personalize your car, but also the choices include highly luxurious and innovative features.

But as always it does not only matter how amazing the product is, it needs to be communicated in the right way. Maybach’s marketing strategy is a very subtle one, they decided it would be the best if they would try to have direct contact with their target market. They established that in a simply way, by being at the same events as their possible customers.

The nicest treatment however do you get when you are ordering a car. If you have your own there is the personal liaison manager taking care of everything you need him to.

What makes the company very likable too me is that they never forgot that their original founder was an orphan. The Wilhelm & Karl Maybach foundation is following a similar concept as the Gustav Werner foundation did, to support young talents and leaders.

My conclusion about Maybach is that the company is producing excellent products and that all the promises they give are held. However their communication concept needs to be improved.

"Ensuring That Your Cartier Is Really a Cartier"

“Ensuring That Your Cartier Is Really a Cartier” is an article discussing the circulation of luxury and counterfeit goods on the Internet. Christina Binkley, the author, begins by introducing “a kind of Blue Book for luxury goods”, which consists in exchanging old goods for the purchase of new, authentic ones, thus developing the retailing market and inciting consumers to purchase authentic goods rather than the counterfeits.

Binkley explains that the problem with buying a second-hand luxury good on the internet is that one can never be 100% sure than it is authentic. A series of alternatives to the problem have been advanced, including the certifying of sellers, which would stand as proofs that a certain seller is “honest”. However, as Binkley states, “this isn’t always the case”. Buysafe.com attempted to propose a website that gathered all these “insured sellers”, but as the author explains: “this doesn’t mean they are able to police every item they sell”.

Ebay then advised a program entitled “VeRO”, which aimed at gathering designers and manufacturers to find and report any counterfeit good circulating on the retail website. Again, the problem persists: the true responsibility of authenticating the good remains the consumer’s responsibility. This is when websites such as portero.com come into action. This particular service does all the labour-intensive authenticating process itself, thus, everything that the website sells is ‘the real thing’. However, Binkley states that there remains two problems with this concept, firstly: “its selection is severely limited”, and secondly: the goods may be certified authentics, but they are also far more expensive than eBay’s “$50 Omega watches”.

"Romancing the Stones"

“Romancing the Stones”, by Mark Tungate, is an overview of diamonds in terms of their historical, financial and emotional value. Tungate begins by introducing the reader to the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, an institution dedicated to the trade of precious stones. Tungate states that he aims to: “find out how the diamond industry works, and where Antwerp fits into the scheme of things”. He counts on his encounter with Philip Claes, the chief corporate affairs officer, to develop his understanding of the industry.

Firstly, Claes explains how diamonds were created: essentially a mix of crystallized carbon, magma and erosion. The discovery of these precious stones provoked different reactions and beliefs varying according to cultures. Whilst the Indians venerated them for their ability to refract light, the Romans believed they detained the power to protect its owner from the plague. Then, from Marco Polo to World War I and II, history gradually favored Antwerp to become the centre of diamond trading.

Tungate approaches the market’s competitors, notably De Beers and its legendary presence in the industry. After monopolizing the market, it was forced to “loosen its grip on (the) diamond market”, yet their scrutiny and renowned slogan “a diamond is forever” enabled them, to the dismay of competing firms, to readily establish themselves in the consumers’ mind. However, it is Antwerp’s “renowned diamond polishers” that enables Antwerp to maintain its significant status in trade. The diamonds in Antwerp “are graded according to the four Cs – carats, clarity, colour and cut”. If they satisfy the graders’ requirements, they are granted the certificate of authenticity. Tungate explains how these grades are measured and attributed, before describing the individuals involved in the process. Tungate also describes how the premises are secured in order to prevent theft, and the radical measures taken in the case of such behaviour.

The scandal surrounding conflict diamonds is approached when the author questions Claes about the movie “Blood Diamond”. Surprisingly, the latter admits it is very accurate, before describing the measures that have been put into practice in order to prevent conflict diamonds from entering the market as much as possible (the Kimberly Process Certificate).

Lorenz Baumer, a well-known jewelry designer located on Place Vendôme, is interviewed by Tungate and explains that “fine jewelry is unique” because it has “an emotional resonance that few other products possess”, underlying the importance of jewelry as an “experience”. Baumer explains that, when copies are made from luxury brand’s clothing, one way of reinforcing their notion of being “the real thing” is by making jewelry. The discrete and “ephemeral” process of making and selling his creations is explained. Finally, Tungate writes about Marie Helène de Taillac, a jewelry lover with a “predilection for coloured gemstones”, who explains that “in the business, experience and credibility are everything”.

Scott Vs. Castelbajac

Jeremy Scott S 2011 Vs. Jean Charles de Castelbajac F 2011

But then again who owns the skeleton?