International Excellence

In a landmark achievement in the fight against conflict minerals, the leading industry initiative on conflict minerals, the Conflict-Free Sourcing Initiative (CFSI), has validated conflict-free smelters or refiners of all four conflict minerals for the first time in the initiative’s five-year history. The CFSI calls on more smelters and refiners to join the effort to become conflict-free by undergoing the CFSI’s independent, third-party conflict minerals audit.

What was the first watch that you owned?
- I don’t even know if this watch belonged to a brand or had any name, actually it was just providing time and at the moment it was enough for me. It is exactly what luxury watches do not do: simply display time, it is so much more than this…
How did you start in the industry?

Former World Touring Car champion Rob Huff is the latest star name to confirm his attendance at the Goodwood 72nd Members’ Meeting on 29-30 March, 2014.
The 34-year-old Englishman, who claimed his WTCC title in 2012, will race in the Gerry Marshall Trophy for Group 1 touring cars and also take part in the weekend’s high-speed demonstration of turbocharged Formula 1 machinery.

Despite the Air of Positivity at Davos, European Consumer Confidence Takes a Dip, with 73% Not Seeing the Economic Outlook Improving in 2014, Says New AlixPartners Survey
Consumers on both sides of the Atlantic plan to reduce spending as trust in governments to remedy economic woes ebbs to 10% of surveyed.

The sights, sounds and smells of rallying’s most exciting era will sweep through Goodwood Motor Circuit during the 72nd Members’ Meeting on March 29-30 as the magic of Group B comes to the fore.
From 1982-86, Group B was rallying and made world champions Hannu Mikkola, Stig Blomqvist and Juha Kankkunen into international superstars as flame-spitting Audis, Peugeots and Lancias swept all before them on the world stage.

The Affordable Art Fair returns to Battersea from the 13th – 16th March to make contemporary art accessible and fun for all.
Since 1999, the Affordable Art Fair has been challenging perceptions of the art world. You do not have to be a millionaire or an expert to enjoy art! This March, the Affordable Art Fair returns to Battersea, where it all began, to reinforce the big idea of art for everyone.
Known for its unrivalled friendly atmosphere, the Fair not only aims to make art fun, but affordable, with works from over 100 galleries priced between £40 and £4,000.

2013 could prove to be a pivotal year for ladies’ golf in the UK. For the first time in the tournament’s history, August’s Solheim Cup was won by a European team on American soil. A trio of Brits played a key role. Britain’s newest course, Centurion Club, is keen to foster the resultant upswing in women’s interest in the sport.

There are straight shoulders, emphasized waists, and straight cuts. There is subtle femininity, bare flesh revealed through a low neckline, and the volume of a A-line skirt light as air. But though there may be Fifties reminiscences or the feel of a ride to Napa Valley, the colours of a Californian season give a subtle stamp to this Paris couture free from any hint of the vintage.

Born out of a vibrant complicity between the artist Carlos Cruz-Diez and the fashion designer, the new collection Oscar Carvallo Couture spring-summer 2014, Voyage cinétique II, has been introduced in Paris last Tuesday 21st January.
The designer and the artist already have collaborated in 2009 for an event in the Musée des Arts décoratifs and this new collection Couture spring-summer 2014 has been revealed through a second visual and sensorial trip.

U.S. Legal Advisor Steven Donziger Introduces New Appellate Team as Final Briefs Filed in Retaliatory RICO Case
More than 40 U.S. civil society groups are coming to the defense of the Ecuadorian indigenous and farmer communities who won a historic environmental lawsuit against Chevron but have been subject to vicious retaliatory attacks by the company, according to a letter released today.