Til 2014

Off to Austin, Texas for the weekend and then straight down to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to ring in the New Year. Have a happy, healthy, and safe New Years. See you in 2014.

xx.

M

Merry and Bright

Have a very Merry Christamas!

xx.

Belles&Rebelles

Glitterrings Holiday 2013

For all things that glitter this holiday and winter season, the Glitterrings Showroom is the place to be.  From their private Glitterrings label to Jill Zarin Jewelry, Debbie Merle Designs and Carolina Amato, there is no shortage of shine for all of those very last minute gifts. 

o learn more, see more, and to shop for jewelry from the Glitterrings Showroom, click here.

To see more Belles&Rebelles coverage of the Glitterrings Showroom, click here.

Big Thanks to Dana Hill of Divine-Marketing for inviting us to this preview and for making this feature possible!

xx.

M

Yucatan Honey

As we head down to Mexico later this week, it is quite fitting to introduce Yucatan Honey. Dzidzilche honey is one of the rarest in the world, existing only on the Yucatan Peninsula. Founded by former Interview Magazine creative director, Marc Balet, and Richard Difred, this new brand of honey combines suburb taste and suburb fashion. Beautifully packaged and delicious, the flavor is one to savor.

To learn more, see more, and to shop for Yucatan Honey, click here.

Big Thanks to Yucatan Honey Founder, Richard Difred, and Igor Vander of Atelier PR for introducing us to this brand!

xx.

M

Dr Martens Revived

Dr Martens (better known said as "Doc Martens") are all the rage right now. With the punk rock, 90s revival, these boots have been making a huge comeback. Symbolic of youth revolutions, these cool boots are most reminiscent of rebellious street styles and the music subculture of Great Britain in the 1960s. Durable and polished off with master craftsmanship, the Dr Martens brand is an icon of its own.
Dr Martens boots are available on Zappos, Dr Martens Canada, Macys and Office (among others). 

xx.

M

Style House PR Spring 2014 Previews

With brands like Warehouse and Oasis and Archipelago under one roof, Style House PR is true to their name and really is a "House of Style."

To learn more, see more and to contact any of these brands through Style House PR, click here.

Big Thanks to Rachel Braude and all of the ladies over at Style House PR for inviting me to the previews and making this feature possible!

xx.

M 

Is The Rolex Submariner The Greatest Sports Watch Ever

There are a lot of contenders for the title of Greatest Sports Watch. Several strong candidates immediately come to mind: the Omega Speedmaster Professional, the Blancpain Fifty Fathoms, and the Audemars Piguet Royal Oak, to name just three. Objectively though, based simply on its influence on watch design, its place in history, and its overwhelming popularity and mythic status in pop culture, one watch towers over the competition. That watch of course is the Rolex Submariner. Just as koa makes the best wood rings, so too does Rolex make the greatest sport watch and it is the Submariner. It outsells all the rest for a host of reasons. Here are just a few.

Name Recognition

Even people who are not hardcore collectors have heard of the Rolex Submariner. Most people wearing a Rolex reply “Rolex” when you ask them what kind of watch they are wearing, not with the specific model name. (Such as Datejust, Daytona, etc.) They will do that with nearly all the others but rarely with a Submariner—the most famous luxury watch in the world. They actually know it by name, not just as a “Rolex.”

The Bond Factor

By the early 1960s the Submariner had been on the market for nearly a decade. It was known to a relative handful of professional and amateur divers as the best divers’ watch on the market. In the UK the Royal Navy issued the watch to its salvage divers and Special Boat Squadron (SBS) Commandos. Then in 1962 something happened that forever changed the fortunes of the Submariner and it can be summed up in three words: Bond, James Bond.

That was when Dr. No, the first Bond film with the suave, ultra-cool Sean Connery as British secret agent 007, hit the big screen. Connery wore a Submariner on a black crocodile strap in Dr. No (in later films it was always seen on a one-piece, striped canvas strap, what collectors today call an RAF-style strap).  Thanks to 007’s endorsement, sales of the Submariner showed a dramatic surge which never really stopped.

 

Since the days of those early Bond films, many heroes in both reel and real life have used the Submariner. Steve McQueen, the King of Cool, wore a Submariner in his personal life for years as well as in his last movie, The Hunter. Robert Redford wore his personal watch in All the President’s Men and The Candidate. The Submariner was a favorite of US Navy SEALS and US Army Special Forces (Green Berets) during the Vietnam War. The list of notables who wore Submariners during this period is seemingly endless but includes fighter-turned-test pilot Chuck Yeager and astronaut Scott Carpenter. Norwegian scientist Thor Heyerdahl used his ever-reliable Submariner in the sea-going Ra II expedition of 1970.

The Standard of Comparison

Change comes slowly to the Submariner, and for good reason. It is still, after sixty years, the yardstick by which all others are measured. It is a great watch. It has a superbly durable, accurate manufacture movement made completely in-house by Rolex. If anything, the watch has gotten tougher and more durable over the years, thanks to modern sapphire crystals and improved 904L steel. From less outsourcing of parts all the way to rolex watch repair, Rolex seeks to control as much of the product as possible to guarantee the continued excellence of the brand. The reason the Submariner is the greatest sports watch is that it has always been as good as Rolex can make it, and that is very good indeed.