Manila meets Glam Rock

Ivan and Emerson Yao of the Lucerne Group, a company known for luxury timepieces, have introduced another watch brand to Manila: Glam Rock.

Conceptualized in 2005, Glam Rock watches have leather bezels and straps that were handcrafted in France. The timepieces’ movements are strictly Swiss made. Glam Rock creator Enrico Margaritelli designs and develops all the collections and marketing strategies while Isabelle Maujean is responsible for the company’s business expansion.

“We are proud and happy to have succeeded to make this partnership with Emerson and Ivan Yao of the Lucerne group. We have known them for years and always admired their professionalism and the passion they put into each project they do. We are now looking forward to launch Glam Rock at its best and give to the Philippines all the attention that it deserves to make it another Glam Rock success,” said Isabelle, who flew in for the brand’s unveiling at the Power Plant Mall in Rockwell recently.

Stylist Jenni Epperson showed guests how to mix and match the straps and face covers of the watches with the different luxury bags and fashion accessories. Glam Rock complements top luxury bag brands and accessories with its fashionable straps and case covers, handcrafted from the highest quality materials including titanium, 18-karat gold, diamonds, genuine leather, exotic skins and fabrics from France and Italy.

 In line with the launch, Metrobank Card collaborated with the brand for a four-day private sale held recently. Dubbed as the “Metrobank Card Glam Rock Mother’s Day” event, the sale allowed Metrobank credit card holders to an exclusive discount if they purchased a Glam Rock watch during the event. The said discount is available until the end of May. Cardholders may opt to purchase watches through the credit card’s zero percent interest on installment. Two watches were up for grabs only for those who purchased a Glam Rock watch during the private sale and Metrobank cardholders automatically qualified in the raffle.

The launch also featured “Friends of Glam Rock & Watch Connoisseurs” that included TV personality Claudine Trillo, real estate maverick Divine Lee and fashion designer Rosanna Ocampo who showed off their Glam Rock fashion ensemble. Also featured at the launch of “The Couturier of Horlogerie” was its first collection, the Smalto series with hand-finished, subtle colored accents on the interchangeable case covers of the watches. The 2009 Smalto collection features gold or stainless-steel case covers accented with hand-inlaid swirls of color. As with all Glam Rock watches, the case covers are interchangeable with other covers from the Smalto collection or a number of other Glam Rock collections.

(Glam Rock is available at Chronos Rockwell Power Plant Mall, Lucerne at Glorietta 4 and Shangri-La Plaza Mall, Wrist Pod at The Fort and Adora in Greenbelt 5.)

Ricoh expressions

Japanese-born company Ricoh is one of the most established names in photography and has developed several firsts in the long history of said industry. Today, this company whose roots lie mainly in technical precision has another developmental first — a camera that bridges single-lens reflex (SLR) qualities with basic digital point and shoot capabilities. The Ricoh GX 200 is the newest and freshest product off the company’s shelves and promises to be a popular choice not only to serious photographers but also to the amateur ones. To prove that the photographic quality hasn’t suffered, Ricoh recently commissioned fashion photographer Doc Marlon Pecjo to use the GX 200 for a photo exhibit entitled “Expressions.” Pecjo captured soulful shots in black and white and color, proving the camera’s great capabilities.

“Expressions” was unveiled and went on display at the Mega Atrium Event Center, Bridgeway, SM Megamall in partnership with SM Appliance Center.

For the privileged few

Security Bank Corp., together with CATS Motors Philippines, Inc., celebrated the one-night-only, private unveiling of the new Mercedes Benz E Class at the CATS Motors showroom in Greenhills recently. First VP Maros Claudio invited the privileged few valued clients of the Security Bank Central Metro Area to witness this spectacular event.

The affair was in line with the bank’s efforts to bring to its customers exclusive events that fit their lifestyle preferences and satisfy their discriminating needs for comfort, safety and style. The guests had a chance to avail themselves of discounted rates that Security Bank’s Auto Loans can offer.

The new Mercedes Benz E Class series — AMG Sports, Elegance and Avantgarde — were unveiled by San Juan Mayor JV Ejercito, Security Bank’s commercial and retail banking segment head Patricia May Siy and CATS Motors Philippines, Inc. president Felix Ang.