Weekend Sojourn: Art in Many Realms from Deb O’Rourke

Art is a very subjective field. There’s no getting around that.  But there is a local Pennsylvania artist whose talent never ceases to amaze me. Deborah O’Rourke works in many mediums. Her oil colors and water colors are extremely inviting. They offer a depth and dimension that few can capture – and a realism that tugs at the heart. But her alluring porcelain paintings – whether tiles, place settings, pitchers, or entire table tops – are, to me, the most enriching of all.

O’Rourke displayed her china and demonstrated her porcelain painting at the Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union in PA last night for a host of eager art lovers and collectors. If you weren’t there, you missed out.

O’Rourke has spent more than 25 years as an accomplished porcelain painter – hence the result is always a captivating blend of smooth colors with high contrasts and a clear sense of light and transparency. For those who know porcelain painting – it is a series of paintings and firings – during which anything can happen: colors burn away from the intense heat, bubbles can raise up, dust can mar a surface. O’Rourke’s porcelain is flawless. It is superb, full of rich dark hues rarely attained in porcelain and ripe with shadows, tones and a realistic quality that leaves one staring at a scene for a long time, or at least continually coming back for another look. I know.  I own several pieces, including a huge multi-tile giraffe wall hanging that is so exacting in terms of colors, lights, shadows and shapes that I feel I could reach out and be touching the real thing. O’Rourke draws on her love of nature, and her travels around the world to influence her painting. Her favorite subjects include the American Southwest, Ireland and nature in general.

O’Rourke’s work is on display at the Bryn Mawr Trust Bank in PA throughout the month of February. If you miss it – too bad for you! I hate to say you can visit her website for a look at her work, because the flat one-dimensional presentation  just doesn’t do her justice. You can visit there, and even buy from there (www.deborourke.com).  But better yet – find a local gallery to see some of her work, or visit her at another event!

 

Time Capsules: News – Win a Bell & Ross Watch

Bell & Ross has a very creative – if you are creative – contest going on right now – that you can enter to win this great Vintage BR 123 Heritage watch.  If it were me, I wouldn’t miss this opportunity! YOU know who you are – Bell & Ross lovers out there – and there are many of you – get a move on!

Log on to the site: http://www.bellross.com/us/

Go to the home page and on the bottom left, click on the “vintage photo contest “

Follow the directions! The contest  runs through March 1st!

Let me know if you win!

Time Capsules: News – Win a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso in a Treasure Hunt

Everyone always asks me the same questions: If you could have just one watch, what would it be? I can never answer the question. Of course I want many. But one of the watches I have always wanted is a Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso. It is the supreme iconic timepiece with its reversible case, its legendary history and its superb craftsmanship.

 From yesterday until March 4 (an anniversary date of the filing of the Reverso patent in 1931) , Jaeger-LeCoultre invites all brand aficionados to participate in an online competition “The Reverso Treasure Hunt” and compete for the chance to win a Reverso or a tour to Jaeger-LeCoultre Manufacture in Le Sentier, Switzerland. The online competition, in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Reverso, is being held on the brand’s official Facebook page.

 The Reverso Treasure Hunt is designed as an adventure for all Reverso lovers, and it combines a virtual journey through the Jaeger-LeCoultre Facebook page in search of the correct answer, and a real journey to a special destination where the secret code will be hidden for the participants to discover and enter the final stage of the competition. Entries must answer seven questions on the Reverso watch to get a chance to win.  Visit:

 http://on.fb.me/ReversoTreasureHunt

 Then, check Facebook on February 21, for instructions on where to go to find the secret code. You have 10 days to undertake the journey to the destination, check in on Facebook via “Facebook Places” application for your mobile phone. Find the object carrying the secret code and enter the code online.  

 

Watch Stops 2011: SIHH Panerai Serves the Bronze

You read here at Atimelyperspective.com a few weeks ago all about the Panerai Composite watch. Now the brand moves forward with another cool material rarely used in watchmaking but guaranteed to always be unique: Bronze. This new Luminor Submersible 1950  3 Days Automatic Brozno watch features a case made of CuSn8 bronze. It is an alloy of copper and tin in a pure state. The 47 mm bold beauty is water resistant to the corrosive actions of sea water – an important point with the Submersible. What’s ultra alluring about it is that with time, and with exposure to the elements, as well as to the skin, the bronze forms a patina that makes each watch unique in and of itself. The watch, with three days of power reserve, retails for about $10,100.  This is one watch that definitely ranks as a Panerai winner.
 

Watch Stops 2011: SIHH – Richard Mille Goes Golfing

For years Richard Mille has been creating very distinctive timepieces with high tech movements and components. Then, suddenly he got involved with ambassadors. Felipe Massa and Rafael Nadal were among his ranks. Now Golfer Bubba Watson (the longest driver on the PGA Tour) joins Richard Mille as an ambassador. In celebration, Mille unveils the RM 038 tourbillon timepiece titanium parts and a tripartite case of light-weight yet rugged Magnesium-Aluminium AZ91 alloy. The alloy is then further treated with a crystalline oxide ceramic that makes the case ultra scratch- and corrosion-resistant. The 48mm RM 038 watch is water resistant to 50 meters, and is produced in a limited edition of 38 pieces. It retails for a mega $525,000.

Watch Stops 2011: Christophe Claret Unveils the Resoundingly Appealing Adagio

Well, for those who know luxury timepieces of the highest caliber, Christophe Claret is a familiar name. This wonderfully humble man has been making some of the most complex and technically advanced timepieces for decades – often under other brands’ names. However, several years ago he unveiled his own brand – with the Christophe Claret name on it – and history was made. These pieces are true collector’s delights.

Now, on the heels of the bold, square, stealth Dual Tow, Claret spins off to something a bit more classical – yet just as complicated. In Geneva recently, he unveiled the one-year-in-the-making Adagio, a GMT Minute Repeater. The repeater strikes the hours, quarts and minutes on demand with cathedral gongs fitted into a patented device that prevents them from knocking against each other when they vibrate under the hammer blows. The complex watch offers central hour and minute hands, big seconds disk at 9:00, a patented big date at 6:00, and a dual time-zone display with day/night indication. The ingenious watch also features a crown equipped with a security system that features a mechanism that disconnects the winding system when the mainspring is fully wound so as to avoid any potential damage due to excessive tension. Adagio is offered in either white gold or pink gold with a dial choice of either lapis lazuli or onyx. Either version, and only 8 will be made of each color of gold, retails for approximately $268,000. Other dial versions are being created.

Watch Stops: SIHH 2011 – A. Lange & Sohne Makes Beautiful Music

Easily one of the shining stars at this year’s SIHH, and guaranteed to be a much-clamored-for watch by collectors now that it has come into the limelight:  the Lange Zeitwerk Striking Time by A. Lange & Sohne. This stunning mastery is a work of art form and function – technology and beauty come together in a way only A. Lange could whip up.
The watch is a jumping hour and jumping minute timepiece – both readouts harmoniously placed on the dial for beautiful balance. Centered at the 6:00 spot is the oversized subseconds dial. What makes this already good-looking complex piece all the more magical? The addition of a strike mechanism that chimes the hours and the quarter hours with two different tones – one tone for the quarter hours and one for the full hours. The striking mechanism gongs are superbly placed right on the dial – on either side of the subseconds dial – for viewing when they perform.  The striking (literally and figuratively) watch is created in a limited edition of 100 pieces in platinum ($111,400) and in white gold ($98,800).
 

Time Capsules: Chopard Unveils Nice Ice

Chopard – that amazing jewelry and watch maker of legend – unveils a sensational 85-carat – yes – that’s right – 85 carat! – emerald-cut diamond that it will be designing into what promises to be an amazing piece of jewelry. The exceptional diamond is extremely pure and radiant – placed in an IIA class that accounts for approximately 1 percent of all diamonds. It weighs, in its final cut form, exactly 85.28 carats, and hails from the Indian mine of Golconda.
 Says Caroline Gruosi-Scheufele, Co-President of Chopard and Creative Director, “I love gems. I have seen a lot of them in my career, but the beauty of this particular one surpasses most others, and it is truly exceptional.”
 

Watch Stops 2011: GTE – Ladoire Lets Black Widow Out

The very creative young Ladoire brand has made an impression on collectors around the world with its complex mechanical timepieces since its launch two years ago. Now, the brand unveils the newest watch series – the Black Widow — a mysterious and alluring collection inspired by the nickname given to the dangerous Lactrodaectus Mactans spiders that kill their mate after reproducing. The signature of the each watch is a spider web somewhere on the watch.
The first in the series is the “Mr. Green” watch, created in a limited edition of 12 pieces. It is a dark, mysterious black watch with green accents in gothic appeal. It is the first of four models to come, which will include a Mr. Grey, Mr. Ice, and Mr. Race. Its bold tonneau case measures just under 51mm in diameter. The Black Widow is sure to be a collector’s delight. The cost: $71,000 — but you get away with your life with this black widow!

Weekend Sojourn: Seah® Bracelets Offer Astrological Insight

SEAH® Watches – the astrological watch line unveiled a year ago – has a fashion-forward line of double- and triple-wrap leather bracelets called Destiny that is a great fashion statement. Not only are these top-quality leather bracelets, but also they can be worn as hair accessories and even as belts by clasping them together. They feature amazing magnetic clasps that make opening and closing them a cinch! 

The striking leather Destiny wrap-bracelets are created using the finest leather and are set with steel and gold plated icons featuring the trademarked SEAH® astrological signs on them.   The bracelets are offered in a stunning array of colors including scarlet, sunset orange, ocean blue, midnight and white. The double wrap Destiny bracelets retail for $250 and the triple wraps sell for $325.  own several and wear mine separately sometimes and clasped together other times – depending on my mood and my clothes. They are a great fashion item and remind you of your inner personality and astrological being.