Alon’s Blog

One of the hidden treasures of the Netherlands has come to light today!

Watches were packed away in boxes, in drawers or safes, or even visible on the wrists of proud owners, but today they can be viewed by all enthusiasts. The Netherlands knows thousands of watch-lovers – People who sometimes have a fortune to spend on just that one special watch –that ultimate wrist–ornament: to possess that wonder of refined mastery! From this inheritance ,the Lexus Dutch Watch Heritage, together with fascinated and passionate watch-lovers, brings this exceptional event. Meant for the collectors who would like to display their treasures and for all others who feel drawn towards the unique world of the quality timepiece.

The Lexus Dutch Watch Heritage gathers together 100 rare or unique watches. These will be exhibited to the public at the Netherlands Gold-, Silver-, and Clock Museum in Schoonhoven on Saturday 27th June and then from Tuesday 30th June up to and including Sunday 5th July. On these days you can visit the exhibition and admire models from top brands such as IWC, Rolex, Breitling, Jaeger Le Coultre and many others. Ace Jewelers will display a number of the latest timepieces next to this wonderful collection. Then you have the opportunity to look at and try the present-day models of IWC, Breitling, Edox, Tag Heuer and Omega. Ace Jewelers shows watches with a long history -for example the IWC Big Pilot, the legendary Breitling Navitimer and also watches with very complex movements like the Edox Minute Repeater. R

eadings on the Sunday give the subject more depth, and a taxation of one’s own watch allows active participation to the event for the watch enthusiast. The Netherlands’ only two honoured taxateurs, Anton Gaemers and Ronny Wooter have given their co-operation to, and will be present during the event. Anton Gaemers, timepiece- technician from the Hague, whose family have been active in chronometry since 1877, is the curator of the exhibition: ‘The Netherlands has probably more than a thousand serious timepiece collectors and it is fantastic to be able to exhibit the most beautiful and unique of this legacy’. Ronny Wooter, watch specialist from Sotheby’s, will share his expertise on taxation, amoung other subjects. Together these two gentlemen will provide lectures about the history and value of watches. Ace Jewelers will also provide a reading about watches and contemporary models. In short, an exhibition full of narratives, romance and craftsmanship.

Every watch has a story: the history of its origin, the specialities of the subject, the history of the brand and not forgetting the story behind the owner of the watch. Not only inspired timepiece technicians, but also pilots, racing-drivers, filmstarsand aspiring rivalling magnates figure in the story of watches. The exhibition is open to the public on Saturday 27th June, 2009 and from Tuesday 30 June up to and including 5th July 2009. The entrance fee is EUR 6,- p.p.

Nederlands Goud, Zilver en Klokkenmuseum
Kazerneplein 4
2871 CZ Schoonhoven
The Netherlands

www.DutchWatchHeritage.nl

I haven’t seen such a cool music video in a long time, I had to share it with you:

“Her Morning Elegance” by Oren Lavie

Wikipedia states about Oren Lavie:

“Oren Lavie spent his youth in Israel.In 1997 his play Sticks and Wheels and his production of it were awarded the main prizes at the Acco Festival of Alternative Israeli Theatre. The production played in Tel Aviv during 1998. In that year he went to London to study theatre directing at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA). After his graduation two of his plays were produced in various London theatres. They already contained several songs written and composed by him.

In 2001 Oren Lavie moved to New York where he tried to make a living by means of various jobs and where he focused on writing songs. When they had piled up he went to Berlin (2003) and started to do recordings, working as his own producer. His first album, The Opposite Side of the Sea, was completed in 2006; it was released in Europe in January and February 2007. In 2009, his stop motion style music video, “Her Morning Elegance,” achieved significant popularity on YouTube,receiving over 4 million hits.

Oren Lavie names his musical predecessors as Tom Waits, Jacques Brel, and Leonard Cohen. At the core of his melody-oriented compositions there is always the piano or the guitar with his singing, enriched by string arrangements (cello solo, quartet, chamber orchestra) and various, mainly non-electronical instruments added occasionally, giving each of the songs a unique style and color.

Also check out Lavie’s own website: OrenLavie.com

Het Parool is a leading daily Dutch newspaper and this year they started their own tv channel on www.Parool.tv! Last week they interviewed me, after the official Launch Party of AceJewelers.com.

Alon on YouTube/Parool.TV

For the Dutch readers, please also visit: Parool.TV

Friday October 3rd, 2008, we had the first get-to-gether of the eight finalist and sponsors of the Zibb Business Challenge. I teamed up with Justus Verkerk of FCCE International.

Today was the dead-line of our first Brain Batlle!

For us to win, I have to complete four Brain Battles with my partner Justus Verker. Please vote for us on the first battle we completed today:

http://www.zibb.nl/businesschallenge/index.php?id=2212 > TEAM B.

They want you to register and all participants have a chance to win prizes too. Please vote for us, since 50% of the decision is based on votes of visitors!

For all of you that don’t speak Dutch, please follow these instructions:

1. Go to the following link: http://www.zibb.nl/businesschallenge/index.php?id=2212

2. Click on “STEM OP TEAM B” below my picture.

3. To register, go to the paragraph “AANMELDEN” and fill in:
- Name,
- Password,
- E-mail,
- Tick the box, and
- Choose my name from the drop-down box.

AND YOUR DONE.

Thank you so much for your support!

Je m’Appelle Iggy & Je m’Appelle Nikki are the places to be to buy the latest trends in underwear!

The owners: Iggy & Nikki

The stores for Undies Fashionista’s, Je m’Appelle Iggy & Je m’Appelle Nikki, opened their unique stores today:

Je m’Appelle Iggy - For Him
Je m’Appelle Nikki - For Her

The Opening of both stores

Rijnstraat 25
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
http://www.jemappelleiggy.com/

Live Window Presentation

They sell 25 brands at Rijnstraat 25!

This year I decided to register for the Zibb Business Challenge 2008 a.k.a. Battle of the Brains.

The concept is that any entrepreneur can register, post his personal Business Challenge and compete with other entrepreneurs. The winner not only has the honour to name himself Zibb Business Challenger 2008, but also receives a prize equaling EUR 55.000,–

As CEO of Ace Jewelers Group I posted our business challenge of transforming our classic retail organization in to a hybrid company where retail and e-tail go hand in hand. This year we started the fourth company of The Ace Jewelers Group, Ace Online B.V., where we will manage all our e-commerce activities. For further details, please see my challenge on the Zibb page:

Ace Online Business Challenge: “Retail & E-tail: Friend or Foes?”

All the contestants where invited for a networking workshop on Thursday September 24, 2008 in Rotterdam. The Friday before I received a phone call that I was selected with 14 other entrepreneurs to come present our challenge for the jury and from this group of 15, the final eight contestant would be selected.

The networking workshop was fun and very interesting. I met very nice people and the jury was very enthousiastic. The day after I received a phone call that I am one of the final eight contestants

Please visit this blog regularly for updates on my (personal) challenge… The next challenge is on Friday October 3rd, 2008 and is titled FUN challenge.

This weekend I read a very interesting article about a venture named, Project Better Place, in the English weekly newspaper JC.

The article “Could this car drive oil power to a stop?” is about the unique project to make the world a better place. The State of Israel has become the first country, and Renault-Nissan the first automaker, to announce their partnerships with us to begin a mass deployment of electric cars.

Renault Nissan Project Better Place

The official website of Project Better Place states: “Project Better Place is very excited that the State of Israel has become the first country, and Renault-Nissan the first automaker, to announce their partnerships with us to begin a mass deployment of electric cars. We believe that it is past time to begin making it possible for consumers to choose an electric vehicle that is much less expensive to operate, does not emit pollution or greenhouse gases and provides a better driving experience from their current automobiles. The State of Israel has shown foresight in implementing an appropriate tax policy, and setting out a vision by which it can become the first industrialized nation to end the stranglehold of oil on its economy and environment. Renault-Nissan, likewise, has shown great vision and leadership , when agreeing to become the first major automaker to produce electric vehicles on a mass-scale to integrate with our infrastructure . We look forward to working with them to replace hundreds of thousands of polluting cars with new electric vehicles, for a cleaner and safer world.”

This concept is set-up by Shai Agassi (as far I know, not related to Andre):

Shai Agassi

“Shai Agassi is the founder and CEO of Project Better Place, a company focused on the early 21st century’s biggest challenge - a scaleable and sustainable personal transportation system.  In this role, Agassi works directly with governments, finance, automobile manufacturers and technology companies to install, scale, and operate a regional and global infrastructure necessary for electronic vehicles.

With a personal passion in solving large-scale social and environmental issues, Agassi believes in utilizing technology and capital markets to address the challenges of sustainability and climate change.  With Better Place, he will manage the operation of international electric vehicle fleets by investing in, installing and operating countrywide charging infrastructures for electric cars, as well as working with partners to make the cars available.

Most recently, Better Place and Renault-Nissan announced a partnership that will enable electric vehicles to be mass produced for the Israeli market as announced by Prime Minister Ehud Olmert President Shimon Perez in January 2008.  Better Place is in discussions with multiple auto-makers and countries as they seek to move more markets off of oil and onto an electric recharge grid operator model.

Before founding Better Place, Agassi was formerly president of the Products and Technology Group at SAP AG and a member of the SAP AG Executive Board (2002 - 2007).  In these roles, Agassi was responsible for both the global development of the SAP product line and SAP’s portfolio of industry-specific solutions. While at SAP AG, Agassi spearheaded the development and release of SAP’s successful platform strategy; led innovations that helped the company grow into a market leader, and set the stage for the future of business software.

As a serial entrepreneur, Agassi has developed and cultivated several technology companies. During his career, Agassi founded Quicksoft Media and QuickSoft Ltd as well as TopTier Software and TopManage, which were both acquired by SAP.

Agassi is an active member of the Forum of Young Global Leaders of the World Economic Forum where he focuses on climate change and transportation issues.

I added Shai’s blog The Long Tailpipe to my blogroll. Make sure to visit his blog and the official website of Project Better Place:

www.projectbetterplace.com

As written here before, I love cool advertisements and commercials, hereby come cool car commercials: Triple C rating
European Elegance: Audi RS6 2008 - “Gymnastics” TV commercial
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=2zg8Un4zbd0]

American Power: Michael Bay’s Commercial Chevy Cars Carrier
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=_UTMDcS-on8]

An oldy, but a goody: Every boys dream > Porsche
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=KRbzJ0L1Zn8]

If you have a favorite, please do share!

This week I had the honour to become a coach on this amazing website for entrepreneurs:

www.efactor.com

If you are an entrepreneur or are looking for finance opportunities to become an entrepreneur, make sure to sign up. The site is a true international platform with web 2.0 applications that wants to connect entrepreneurs.

If you have any questions or want me to send you an invite, drop me a line!

This week I saw this billboard at Schiphol Airport:

Does ING really think that all the information you need is ALON…?