The NPD Group Acquires LGI Network
The NPD Group, a leading market research company, announced that it has acquired LGI Network, which provides retail point-of-sale information on fine watches and branded jewelry. NPD tracks sales of fashion watches and other accessories through its consumer and retail tracking services. Together, the two companies' sales information will provide the industry's first holistic view of the watch and jewelry marketplace. LGI collects information from a panel of retailers including leading specialty stores and independents, complementing NPD's panel of department stores.LGI will continue to operate independently for the first two years. Fred Levin, President LGI Network, will report to Rupert Walters, Group President for Entertainment & Communications, Beauty, Fashion & Sports at The NPD Group. With the acquisition of LGI Network, NPD gains strategic coverage of a key market segment and is well positioned to continue to build our business, said Walters. LGI's people, products, and

Ebony and Ivory
Ebony and ivory, living together in harmony.. or so the paul macartny and stevie wonder song says.. well decided to do an ebony and ivory photoshoot today.. with my omega suveran and my omega cal 266 watch. Lets see some other ebony and ivory photos from other peoples collections!

My Patek Dilemma
I was about to pull the trigger on a Vacheron Overseas.. I'd been also looking at a Deep Sea Rolex.. I love both watches. I love both brands.. to call them brands is a bit underwhelming, for what they are, to me. I have concluded I should just get a Patek Aquanaut or Nautilus and be done with the searching. I have also looked at my collection.. Jaeger REverso, Rolex Explorer 1, Rolex SubC 2-tone, PAnerai GMT, Vacheron Historique.. I love and adore each piece for what it is, what it represents, but I wish I'd not have bought the Panerai, at times, and wish maybe I'd have foregone other pieces.. My dilemma has been every year or 3.. I buy a nice watch.. what I Should have been doing was buying 1 patek over a 5-year period.. So what I Am going to do is starting saving monthly funds.. diverting into an account, not kidding. I am going to amass enough for a used Patek sports watch.. over time.. it might take 5 years, but I will do it. I welcome thoughts about how you all found the disciplin

Decided to brush the PCL's on BLNR (pics inside)
And couldn't be happier with the results. Opinions are divided on PCL's, but I'm much more of a fan of the brushed look. It cost just $50 from a professional, so well worth the money to me. It would certainly lower the resale value, but I don't plan on ever parting with this one.Just thought I'd post a few pictures if anyone is considering doing the same thing.

Bluesy Gold Links A Hot Scratched Mess
Just got a Bluesy, (first Rolex!) and have a question: the center gold links are getting scratched up amazingly quickly and easily. Like, just looking at them gets them scratched up. My shirt cuff scratches them. My desk pad. The dust particles in the air scratch this bracelet. Of course, as I researched and stared at this watch for weeks, I never noticed this in pictures. This is not an OMG-I-got-a-scratch-what-should-I-do thread. My question is, do you care that the center links of the whole watch looks beat to hell? Should I care? Do you clean it up? Or is it simply character? And one more question: will the white gold Smurf show scratches the same way? Worse? Thanks y'all!