For this book we did a photo shoot on the Museumplein in Amsterdam and this picture will be next to the introduction I wrote for the book:

Do you like it? I liked it so much, I decided to use it as my new profile picture on all my pages on the social networks. Please connect with me on these networks, just check the ones I am on in the side menu of this blog

Have a wonderful weekend.

The text in the image, says:

“Praktijkcase Ace Jewelers: “Waarom een horloge kopen via een SmartPhone als die al de tijd aangeeft?”

De eerste juwelier met een eBoutique en sinds 2011 ook een seperate mBoutique.
Alon Ben Joseph zal tijdens het M-commerce congres zijn visie presenteren op luxe retail. Zijn presentatie gaat over het verleden van luxe retail, de huidige staat en zijn toekomstvisie.”

Translation in English:

“Case Study Ace Jewelers: “Why buy a wrist watch if you can read the time from your SmartPhone?”

The first jeweller with an eBoutique and since 2011 also a seperate mBoutique.
During the M-commerce congres Mr. Alon Ben Joseph will share his vision on luxury retail. His presentation will be about his vision of the past, current state and future of  luxury retail.”

Please come and join the discussion on January 19th, 2012 in Pakhuis De Zwijger in Amsterdam. Get your tickets via: http://www.mcommerce-event.nl and join the buzz via: @Mcommerce_Event.

I hope to see you all there

Well, I certainly did and when I read a shot book review about Nicholas Carr‘s new book: “The Shallows: How the internet is changing the way we read, think and remember”, I knew I had to read it.

So I did and hereby I want to share a short summary with you.

The book is a great mirror to show us how the internet has been integrated in to our daily lives and is changing they way we use our brain and therefore think. Carr draws from historical and cutting edge scientific research to show us that Internet is rewiring our brains and actually creating more superficial understanding. The back cover summerizes is nicely:

“By moving from the depths of thought to the shallows of distraction, the web, it seems, is actually fostering ignorance.”

Personally I totally I can relay to this, as I noticed that my short-term memory is really suffering. Because I am using GPS tools to navigate roads, search engines to find things and my Blackberry for all my phone numbers & appointments. I love to write posts for the several blogs I manage, but I notice that I often can’t find my self in a concentrated mood to produce a quality post. I am trying to study new languages and find my settle shifting on my chair unable to concentrate. On top of that I noticed I love the days where I totally switch off: no usage of any electrical device whatsoever.

As I don’t want to spoil too much of The Shallows, I will just conclude this brief post with a 3 parts of texts:

From page 217 (of the red paperback edition): “Automating cognitive processes in this way has become the modern programmers’ stock-in-trade. And for good reason: people naturally seek out those software tools and Web sites that offer the most help and the most guidance – and shun those that are difficult to master. We want friendly, helpful software. Why wouldn’t we? Yet as we cede to software more of the toil of thinking, we are likely diminishing our own brain power in subtle but meaningful way. When a ditchdigger trades his shovel for a backhoe, his arm muscles weaken even as his efficiency increases. A similar trade-off may well take place as we automate the work of the mind.”

From page 219: “A series of psychological studies over the past twenty years has revealed that after spending time in a quiet rural setting, close to nature, people exhibit greater attentiveness, stronger memory, and generally improved cognition. Their brains become both calmer and sharper. The reason, according to attention restoration theory, or ART, is that when people aren’t being bombarded by external stimuli, their brains can, in effect, relax.”

From pages 221-222 I want to conclude this post about a must-read book: “We may lose our capacity “to concentrate on a complex task from beginning to end,” but in recompense we’ll gain new skills, such as the ability to “conduct 34 conversations simultaneously across six different media.” A prominent economist writes, cheerily, that “the web allows us to borrow cognitive strengths from autism and to be better infovores.” An Atlantic author suggests that our “technology-induced ADD” may be “a short-term problem,” stemming from our reliance on “cognitive habits evolved and perfected in an era of limited information flow.” Developing new cognitive habits is “the only viable approach to navigating the age of constant connectivity,” Carr concludes chapter ten.”

If you are interested in more articles by Nicholas Carr, check his blog: Rough Type.

For the over a decade everyone is speculation that China is going to rule the world, but as China is slowly growing and becoming its own self fulfilling prophecy, nobody really quantified why and/or if China is going to rule the world. When I heard about Mr. Martin Jacques, and his newest book: “When China Rules The World: The Rise of the Middle Kingdom and the End of the Western World“, I knew I needed to read it immediately. (By the way, I first heard of him via TED.com, where I learn many mind gobbling things ).

Although it is a thick (441 pages) and rather academic, it does read rather smooth. This book is not just a in-depth analysis of the current situation of China and where it is moving, but gives an deep, full historical understanding of the 3000 years old Chinese culture. It gives an inside view, seen from the Asian perspective AND Western perspective. Very well done.

As I declared this book as a ‘must-read’, I don’t want to spoil too much… The books concludes in “The Eight Differences that Define China”:

1. China is not really a nation-state in the traditional sense of the term but a civilization-state.

2. China is increasingly likely to conceive of its relationship with East Asia in terms of a tributary-state, rather than nation-state, system.

3. There is the distictively Chinese attitude towards race and ethnicity. The Han Chinese conceive of themselves as a single race, even though this is clearly not the case.

4. China operates, and will continue to operate, on a quite different continental-size canvas as continental in scale.

5. The nature of the Chinese polity if highly specific. Unlike the Western experience, in particular that of Europe, the imperial dynasty was neither obliged, nor required, nor indeed desired to share power with other competing institutions or interest groups, such as the Church or the merchant class. The Confusian ethos that informed and shaped it for some two millennia did not require the state to be accountable to the people, but instead insisted on its loyalty to the moral precepts of Confucianism.

6. Chinese modernity, like other East Asian modernities, is distinguished by the speed of the country’s transformation. The Asian tigers are time-compression societies. They embrace the new in the same way that a child approaches a computer or a Nintendo game console.

7. Since 1949 China has been ruled by a Communist regime. Paradoxically, perhaps the two most significant dates of the last half-century embody what are seemingly entirely contradictory events: 1989, marking the collapse of European Communism and the demise of the Soviet bloc; and 1978, signalling not only the beginning of the most remarkable economic transformation in history but also one presided over by a Communist Party.

8. China will, for several decades to come, combine the characteristics of both a developed and a developing country. This will be a unique condition for one of the major global powers and tems from the fact that China’s modernization will be a protracted process because of the country’s size: in conventional terms, China’s transformation is that of a continent, with continental-style disparities, rather than that of a country.

As quoted in the final chapter of the book. It also contains a great Guide to Further Reading on pages 438-441.

If you have read the book already, please share your thoughts. If you are interested in China, world politics and/or economics, please do read this book.

I really enjoyed it and learned a great deal from it.

看到您的到来 (Kàn dào nín de dàolái) = See You Soon

This surprised me a bit and made me curious if there is a serious business (plan) behind this, or it’s just a good marketing stunt?!

The company that created these gold vending machines is: Gold to Go. And, they seem very professional and serious…

This is what they write on their homepage:

“A simple and brilliant principle: put your money in and pick your gold!

The GOLD to go™ vending machine is an unmanned point of sale. It offers an extraordinary opportunity to purchase gold bars and coins of assured quality, backed by the security of a Swabian Fort Knox® and with the ease-of-use of a vending machine. Prices are updated in real-time. The GOLD to go™ gold vending machine is largely burglar-proof and tamper-resistant. It has an excellent user guidance, which makes it very easy to handle.

geschenkbox-krugerrandIn the standard version, our GOLD to go™ ATM’s are equipped with the following products (alternative product portfolio is possible, depending on the requirements of the respective location):

Gold Bars 1 gram, 5 gram, 10 gram and 1 ounce

Krugerrand 1/10 ounce, 1/4 ounce and 1 ounce

Kangaroo 1/10 ounce ($15) and 1 ounce ($100)

Maple Leaf 1/10 ounce ($5)

All these come in a precious gift box.”

Today, there are already 27 ATM machines installed: 15 in Germany, 8 in The UAE, 2 in Italy and one each in The USA and The UK.

You can download the full article here:
“The Firm” by Alon Ben Joseph & Denis Koval (PDF)

Here is the plain text (in Dutch), but please do check the stunning pictures that match the text:

Vijf gelimiteerde klassiekers die onder andere hun oorsprong vinden op het circuit, het luchtruim en zelfs de ruimte zijn door Watch Tribune gevangen in papierenrasters. Maar zelfs de banaliteit van ‘geeltjes’ en het verstikkende ritme van kantooruren breekt de spirit niet van deze tijdloze horloges. Ace Juweliers’ directeur Alon Ben Joseph selecteerde de vijf limited editions en voorziet ze van persoonlijk commentaar.

Fotografie: Denis Koval
Assistent: Dimer van Santen
Tekst: Alon Ben Joseph
Met speciale dank aan: Ace Juweliers

Merk: Baume & Mercier
Model: Classima Executive XL Retrograde
Referentie: M0A08879
Aantal Limited Edition stuks wereldwijd: 1000 eenmalig

“Ondanks dat Baume & Mercier een van de oudste Zwitserse horlogehuis is, vind ik het knap hoe ze toch elke keer tijdloze en elegante horloges produceren die tevens zeer hedendaags zijn. De Classima Executive XL Retrograde is mijn favoriete limited edition in de huidige Baume & Mercier collectie. Dit is een stalen horloge met een 42 mm kast; elegant en mannelijk. De complicatie van een retrograde secondewijzer, gemaakt door Lajoux Perret (kaliber 3533), accentueert op een bescheiden manier dat Baume & Mercier een onvervalst horlogehuis is.”

Merk: Breitling
Model: Navitimer Caliber 01
Referentie: A2332212/B635
Aantal Limited Edition stuks wereldwijd: 2000 eenmalig

“Ondanks dat vele bekende horlogehuizen pilotenhorloges maken sinds de jaren 1930, staat Breitling tegenwoordig bekend als hét pilotenhorlogemerk. Icoon in de collectie is dan ook de Navitimer die sinds 1952 in productie is. Persoonlijk draag ik met veel plezier een limited edition Breitling Navitimer uit 1969 die in een oplage van 2000 stuks is gemaakt. Daarom heb ik voor deze fotoserie de Breitling Navitimer Caliber 01 gekozen met het innovatieve manufacture 01-uurwerk dat Breitling zelf heeft ontworpen en heeft gebouwd.”

Merk: IWC
Model: Big Pilot Perpetual Calendar Saint Exupéry
Referentie: IW502617
Aantal Limited Edition stuks wereldwijd: 500 eenmalig

“Samen met de Breitling Navitimer, is de Big Pilot van IWC een origineel historisch pilotenhorloge. Als eerbetoon aan luchtvaartpionier en schrijver Antoine de Saint Exupéry presenteert IWC een zeer opvallend gelimiteerd horloge. Deze variant op het Big Pilot-thema is het vliegeniershorloge bij uitstek door de toevoeging  van een zeer gecompliceerd uurwerk met eeuwigdurende kalender (manufacture IWC kaliber 51614). Het rosé gouden horloge met een dipe, Havana-bruine wijzerplaat is ondanks zijn royale kastdiameter van 46 mm, toch ook chique te noemen. En, voor de echte luchtvaartliefhebbers, zijn de twee P-38 Lightning jachtvliegtuigen op de wijzerplaat natuurlijk een sublieme finishing touch.”

Merk: Omega
Model: Speedmaster Apollo Soyuz
Referentie: 311.30.42.30.99.001
Aantal Limited Edition stuks wereldwijd: 1975 eenmalig

“Behalve pilotenhorloges zijn horloges die in de ruimtevaart gebruikt worden ook echte toys for boys en de meest legendarische is de Omega Speedmaster Professional Moonwatch. Al decennia lang wordt er elk jaar een gelimiteerde editie uitgebracht die een speciaal moment uit de ruimtevaart herdenkt. De laatste in deze reeks is de Speedmaster Apollo Soyuz. Deze oerchronograaf is extra bijzonder, omdat er daadwerkelijk een stukje uit de ruimte in het horloge verwerkt is. De wijzerplaat van dit horloge is namelijk gemaakt van echt meteoriet en dus is geen wijzerplaat hetzelfde.”

Merk: TAG Heuer
Model: Heuer Silverstone Calibre 11
Referentie: CAM2110.FC6258
Aantal Limited Edition stuks wereldwijd: 1.860 eenmalig

“Tijdmeting is niet alleen belangrijk in de luchtvaart en ruimtevaart, maar ook in de racerij. Het merk dat in het analoge tijdperk furore maakte met stopwatches en chronografen was Heuer. Het sportieve horlogehuis werd in 1985 overgenomen door het in de Formule 1 actieve Techniques d‘Avant Garde wat de naam TAG Heuer opleverde. Veel oude Heuer-horloges zijn vernoemd naar legendarische circuits en de heruitgave van de vintage Heuer Silverstone Calibre 11, is heel bijzonder vanwege de vierkante kastvorm met de afgeronde hoeken. Daarbij bevat dit horloge een moderne interpretatie van het historische Heuer kaliber 11 met de opwindkroon aan de linkerkant.”

Since 2003 Ace Jewelers has an annual IWC Novelty Show in one of ours stores. We are always the first retailer in The Netherlands to present the new IWC show collections, as soon as it has been released by the headquarters in Schaffhausen. So, this year  I came up with the idea  to do really something new and innovative. A new retail concept: we transformed our store, Ace & Dik Jewelers, in to the first watch & shoe pop-up store in the world. For two days Ace & Dik became: The IWC & Santoni Pop-Up Store. See the video for the result:

For pictures, please visit Ace Jewelers Facebook Fan Page: www.ace.am/facebook

As you might know I love what I do and my passions are luxury & eBusiness/Internet… So, you might imagine that I was proud to receive an invitation to speak to my industry peers about these two subjects

On March 22nd, 2011 I will share my thoughts on Luxury eRetail at the annual Emerce eRetail Summit 2011 in The Netherlands. My subject is: “Luxury & eRetail: Friends or Foes?”.

For additional information and tickets, please visit: www.emerce.nl/eretail.

Hope to see you there.

This is a video I made for AceJewelers.TV during this event:

Ace Jewelers presents: F1 Lewis Hamilton vs Facebook

Enjoy!