LVMH Acquires Stake in Herm��s
LVMH, owner of TAG Heuer, Hublot and Zenith, has acquired 17.1% of French fashion house Herm��s for approximately $2 billion. Founded in 1837, Herm��s is perhaps best known for scarves, ties and handbags, though the company also produces a range of fashion watches, as well as fine watches in its Pi��ces d’exception line. Herm��s CEO Jean-Louis Dumas passed away on May 1, leading to speculation that the members of the founding family might be willing to sell, though the family has issued a statement confirming their desire to retain control. The family owns about 73% of the company, and Herm��s shares have doubled since May 1. The seller of the LVMH stake has not been identified. For its part, LVMH says that it does not intend to take control of the company, though many analysts believe LVMH is positioning itself for an eventual takeover.Following the LVMH announcement, Herm��s shares climbed 26.65 euros or 15% to 202.85 euros in Paris trading, valuing the company at 21.4 billion euros,

Is META Watch Pursuing A Patent On All Analog/Digital Dial Smartwatches?
META Watch was co-founded by Bill Geiser, who earned his watch industry stripes while working at Fossil. Whatever you might say about Fossil products, what you need to know is that it is run by some extremely smart and professional people out of its Dallas, Texas, headquarters. Geiser went on to be one of the earliest proponents of modern smart watches. According to him, he has been wearing a Bluetooth connected watch for about five years now �C perhaps the only one wearing one for so long. Today, Bill Geiser is the CEO of META Watch that recently released the Frank Nuovo-designed M1 smartwatch collection (hands-on here, with interview). Frank Nuovo is a former head of design at Nokia and designed the M1 collection �C which I thought was actually pretty interesting.Anyhow, even though META is putting considerable resources behind the M1 smartwatch collection, it is only the start of what Bill feels are a series of major evolutionary steps for the smartwatch industry. META doesn't just wa

New 5235G
New 5235G arrived a few weeks ago. Just picked it up this afternoon as I had to order a longer strap.

Patek 3563/2 Beyer
Hi folks,Just interested to see if anyone has any info on this model? I see it is a back wind movement. A local auction site is offering one for sale for what seems to be a reasonable price. Anything to look out for?Is the Beyer association worth anything? ThanksGreg

Nice find !!
Love watching the TV program The Curse Of Oak Island.There is a British metal detectorist on there called Gary Drayton. This pic is of his website. A few bits he has pulled from the sea allegedly in 2012 in Florida I believe. .garydrayton/images/09...f8b8d3b020.jpgI would have been chuffed with just the watch but he also states he has found a Tiffany and Co diamond ring valued at ��10kBest get myself a metal detector.