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International Herald Tribune
Titanium is winning place among favored materials of avant-garde jewelry


A metal that flouts every major tenet of luxury, titanium has an aptitude for coloration that draws jewelers in search of a challenge.
May 2, 2008
International Herald Tribune
Sprit of the '70s rides again, in works by young Swiss watchmakers


Swiss watch houses would mostly like to forget the 1970s, when a flood of low-priced, accurate Japanese quartz timers decimated the industry. Now, a new generation of watchmakers is taking inspiration from some of the feistier designs that emerged as the Swiss fought back.
April 2, 2008
International Herald Tribune
Slimmer watches lure wealthy buyers


Watchmakers are nowhere near as fickle as their counterparts in fashion, but neither are they immune to trends.
April 2, 2008
International Herald Tribune
British watchmakers renew traditions of excellence


Until the 19th century, London was at the cutting edge of watch and clockmaking science. Now, new brands are reviving and exploiting the British horological tradition.
December 7, 2007
International Herald Tribune
From Addis Ababa to London: A watchmaking family's Odyssey


Vartkess Knadjian was raised in Ethiopia, son of Emperor Haile Selassie's official watchmaker. Exiled by the Marxist coup in 1974 he joined, and later took control of, the Backes & Strauss diamond company in London. Last year, Backes and Strauss produced its first diamond-studded watch collection.
December 4, 2007
International Herald Tribune
Jewelers find inspiration in India


Jewelry connoisseurs are again citing the country's 5,000-year-old design heritage, newly co-opted by a rising cohort of luxury jewelers besotted with traditional Indian craftsmanship and locally sourced precious stones.
November 23, 2007
International Herald Tribune
Edgy watchmakers' material links time and space


Some watches have never-before-seen metallurgical combinations, silicon-enhanced movements and cases made of glossy high-tech ceramic - the material, for example, that has been used as a heat shield to protect U.S. space shuttles as they re-enter the earth's atmosphere.
April 12, 2007
International Herald Tribune
Icon and challenger: Rolex and Panerai


The two luxury brands may seem to be genetic opposites, but they have something important in common: Neither can produce enough watches to meet demand.
April 12, 2007
International Herald Tribune
Enameled dials: Swiss watch alchemy in miniature


Output is limited from artisans who practice 'belle horlogerie'
December 8, 2006
International Herald Tribune
Pilot's watches target macho market


Chunky or lean, black- faced and military, timepieces are again sorting men from boys
December 8, 2006
International Herald Tribune
Rough diamonds and Art Nouveau jewelry beat out bling


Natural look makes a comeback, in the raw or with soft Art Nouveau curves
November 27, 2006
International Herald Tribune
Rebirth: a Devil's Island in silver and stone


Sandra Müller, part sculptor, part jeweler, is an artist driven by the challenge of a special commission
November 27, 2006
International Herald Tribune
Spreading the diamond wealth


For almost its entire 118-year history, De Beers, a mining house, has relied on Africa as a source of rough stones and on London as mission control - but this will change in 2008 as it shifts its operations to Botswana.
June 9, 2006
International Herald Tribune
For gem merchants, a new focus on purity


Tracing the path of a colored stone through the vast and largely unpoliced gem trade is a complicated affair, even for the experts.
June 9, 2006
International Herald Tribune
Atop Swiss watchmaking peaks, rarefied air


Cellini, an exclusive watch retailer in the Waldorf- Astoria Hotel here, waited nearly two years for its first Jean Dunand Grande Complication, a complex mechanical toy worth $775,000 to any number of collectors.
March 30, 2006
Seal Press
Waking Up American: Coming of Age Biculturally


Edited by Angela Jane Fountas
September 2005
Philadelphia Inquirer
Eyesores once radiant (PDF)


Apartment buildings heralded a rebirth for immigrants
January 28, 2004
New York Times
Finding Her Brazilian Groove


The beaches of Santa Catarina and Praia do Rosa bring out the samba soul of an American
November 7, 2004
Escape Magazine
Fickle Fingers of Fate

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Flash a thumbs-up anywhere in the world and you'll get a point across-but not always the one you wanted. Why simple gestures aren't that simple.
January 1999
Escape Magazine
Review, Safe Passage for Women (PDF)


April 1999
Escape Magazine
Over and Out (PDF)


Hop in the back of an overlanding truck, and the world is right at your tailpipe.
April 2000
Escape Magazine
I'll Follow the Sun

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Expat writer Kim Gravelle has only had one vacation in the last 30 years--and he's still on it.
October 1998
Hemispheres Magazine
Cultural Icon (PDF)


Vietnam's Nón Lá
March 1998
Escape Magazine
Pole to Pole (PDF)


Once off-limits to everyone but expeditionary types, the poles are coming out of the deep freeze for travel.
January 1998
Escape Magazine
Source of Confusion (PDF)


October 1997