A superb gift idea for the Apple watch lover looking for “style meets form and function”.
New York, NY– December , 2024 – Following the resounding success of their first collaboration, Golden Concept, the Swedish leader in ultra-luxurious Apple Watch accessories, and Blvck Paris, famed for its ‘All Black’ luxury lifestyle brand, are thrilled to unveil their latest joint venture: a meticulously designed Apple Watch case. This second collaboration pushes the boundaries of luxury and sophistication, further blending the timeless elegance of Parisian minimalism with Swedish craftsmanship.
The New Collection
The new collection introduces a premium case tailored for Apple Watch users who demand both style and functionality. The case is crafted from high-quality, all-black translucent nylon with meticulous detailing in black stainless steel, reflecting the distinct design philosophy that made their first collection a global success. The case is designed in 49mm for Apple Watch Ultra models, offering a versatile and elegant option for any tech enthusiast. Whether you’re a tech aficionado or a fashion enthusiast, this second release reaffirms the power of luxury in everyday wearables.
“After the incredible response to our initial collaboration, we knew we had to come together again,” said Puia Shamsossadati, CEO and Creative Director of Golden Concept. “This time, we wanted to create something equally luxurious yet more versatile, offering our customers a refined accessory that complements both their tech and their personal style.” Julian O’hayon, Founder and CEO of Blvck Paris, shared his excitement: “Collaborating with Golden Concept once more feels natural. Our brands share a vision of modern luxury, and this collection of Apple Watch cases allows us to expand that vision, offering something bold and refined to our customers. We’re confident this next chapter will resonate just as strongly.”
The limited-edition case is now available on GoldenConcept.com and at Select Golden Concept and Blvck Stores priced at $899USD/ $1,275
About Blvck Paris
Blvck Paris is a luxury lifestyle brand founded in 2017 by French designer Julian O’hayon. The brand has developed an engaged community of millions of social media followers and customers worldwide. Blvck is known for its ‘All Black’ clothing, accessories, and digital goods. Blvck strives to pioneer an aspirational lifestyle from visual content to merchandise, pursuing quality and design. To date, the brand opened stores worldwide in California, Tokyo, Taipei, Taichung, Hong Kong and Macau.
For the first time this year, the European Speedrunner Assembly (ESA) isset to host their recurring speedrunning event, where gamers aim to conquer video games at record speeds and showcase mind-blowing talents.
For the first time ever, ESA is teaming up with Make-A-Wish International — an organization dedicated to fulfilling the wishes of children facing critical illnesses. Last year, ESA Winter and Summer collectively raised an impressive $200,000 for Alzheimer’s research. ESA Winter is taking place right now in Malmö until February 24th.
Set in Malmö, Sweden, the event will revolve around gaming, entertainment, and interactive fundraising. An onsite global audience of several hundred attendees are already interacting, accompanied by a substantial online viewership exceeding two million. Both the onsite and online audience have the opportunity to actively support the charity, for example, by donating $25 to influence the course of the games or to support various shows and performances, such as a Ikea furniture building duel or rhythmic displays.
Last year, Make-A-Wish International granted more than 19,500 wishes to children living with critical illnesses around the world, including more than 5000 gaming and entertainment wishes. They are the second most popular type of wish granted by the charity, after travel wishes.
Ida Lidholt, one of the ESA organizers says: “We are delighted to announce our new partnership with Make-A-Wish International. ESA Winter is a festival where gamers and the community unite. Through video games and speed, we level up to raise funds for children living with critical illnesses. It is heart-wrenching to witness the struggles of these kids. If we can alleviate their burden even a little by helping them fulfil their wishes, it holds profound significance for us.”
Luciano Manzo, President & CEO, Make-A-Wish International says: “Children undergoing treatment for critical illness can experience anxiety, loss of hope, and isolation from friends and loved ones. For many of these children, gaming offers them a sense of escape, helps them connect with friends and distracts them from their long and often difficult treatment journeys. That’s why gaming and entertainment wishes are so popular among wish children. The funds raised from ESA Winter 2024 will help continue to grant these types of wishes and many others. We are so grateful to ESA and the gaming community for helping make wishes come true with this event.”
ESA is globally livestreamed on Twitch.tv/esamarathon. Viewers are urged to contribute during the broadcast, with opportunities to, for instance, name game characters, present challenges to players, or vie for fantastic prizes. By backing ESA and Make-A-Wish, everyone can play a role in fulfilling the wishes of children living with critical illnesses. Support the talented speedrunners and participate in the fundraising—tune in to ESA and make a donation!
European Speedrunner Assembly (ESA) is a biannual charity marathon dedicated to video game speedrunning, held in Sweden. Since its inception in 2012, these events have collectively raised over one million dollars for various charitable causes.
The two main flagship events, ESA Winter and ESA Summer, occur annually in February and July, respectively, each spanning seven days. Beyond these, ESA also organizes smaller speedrunning gatherings such as ESA Legends, a five-day in-person event uniting top RPG speedrunners, and Break the Record: Live, a three-day competition aimed at breaking world records in specified games and categories.
About Make-A-Wish International
Make-A-Wish creates life-changing wishes for children with critical illnesses. Founded in 1980, Make-A-Wish is the world’s leading children’s wish-granting organization, having granted more than 585,000 wishes in 50 countries worldwide. Together with generous donors, supporters, staff and more than 27,000 volunteers around the globe, Make-A-Wish delivers hope and joy to children and their families when they need it most. Make-A-Wish aims to bring the power of wishing to every child living with a critical illness because wish experiences can help improve emotional and physical health. For more information about Make-A-Wish International, visit worldwish.org
Many non-native plants can happily survive in other regions of the world, which has given gardeners more choice than ever before. However, native flowers and plants can summarize the landscape of a nation, while communicating the identity of a country.
For many countries the national flower is second only to the national flag as the most important national symbol, while communicating the identity of a country.
Take a look at these transactional trends to see how you might be spending your money in the future.
What does the future hold for the way we pay?
Paying for your purchases used to be to the most straightforward task around, you’d exchange your coins with the cashier and in return you’d receive your goods. Simple. But today, a modest transaction can involve some serious tech.
Whilst everything in the world seems to be making a switch to digital, money is no exception. Gone are the days of signing signatures, punching in pins and certainly, counting coins, but the advancements show no sign of stopping. As contactless method currently seems to offer the most convenient method of payment – it begs the question of what could possibly come next.
The use of physical cash is dwindling as more and more options become available to consumers.
Consider how the Corona virus lock downs have also affected the use of physical cash: businesses and retail either favor interac and credit cards or outright refuse the use of cash transactions. Look to the infographic below for three of the most prominent examples of the way our spending habits are currently evolving. For the Silo, Danielle Mowbray /creditangel.co.uk
Amsterdam, Netherlands, – Online travel specialists, TravelBird, have released their annual Beach Price Index, featuring more than 300 seaside locations from 70 countries around the globe. On a year-to-year basis, the price of holiday beaches can change substantially when you take into account factors such as currency fluctuation and inflation. As a company which prides itself on inspiring travelers, TravelBird ranked the beaches in order to provide holidaymakers with the information they need to make a smart decision when booking.
TravelBird first examined an extensive catalogue of the world’s most popular beaches, before reducing this to a final shortlist of just over 300 locations, ranked on the cost of spending a day at each. To calculate their affordability, the price of five essentials were then researched for each destination: the cost of a bottle of sun cream (200 ml), a bottle of water (500 ml), a beer (33 cl bottle), lunch (including drink and dessert for one person), and an ice cream. The sum of these five essentials determined the final affordability ranking of each seaside location. All prices were calculated by standardizing the sizes of products, and with monetary transactions true to exchange rates on 1st June 2017.
Steve Klooster
“It is very interesting for travelers who are planning their trip to see how much the price of spending a day at the beach varies across the world. There are many useful tips in here. One to easily forget, currency fluctuations can make a big difference in the actual cost of your holiday, so keep those in mind. For example, beaches in the UK have become almost 10% more affordable for continental European visitors due to the decline of the pound after the Brexit referendum.” Said TravelBird CEO Steven Klooster. “Also, if you are keen on enjoying local food on the beach, pick Vietnam for instance, where you can enjoy delicious local food on the beach that is very affordable. Another one: in some places you pay a lot for sunscreen, up to 3 times more than you would pay in The Netherlands, so make sure you take some with you!“
The study reveals the 10 most expensive beaches are:
#
Beach
Country
Sunscreen
Water
Beer
Ice-cream
Lunch
Total (USD)
1
Kristiansand Beach
Norway
$21.58
$2.65
$8.48
$4.53
$27.37
$64.61
2
Huk Beach
Norway
$20.67
$2.97
$8.83
$5.09
$24.38
$61.94
3
Solastranda
Norway
$20.14
$2.83
$7.63
$4.71
$25.02
$60.33
4
Mareto Plage Publique
French Polynesia
$21.96
$2.01
$7.30
$3.99
$23.43
$58.69
5
La Plage de Maui
French Polynesia
$20.88
$2.01
$7.49
$3.53
$24.49
$58.40
6
Åkrasanden
Norway
$22.26
$2.57
$8.47
$4.24
$20.44
$57.98
7
Hamresanden
Norway
$22.97
$2.39
$7.42
$4.35
$20.01
$57.14
8
Ribersborg Beach
Sweden
$17.38
$2.12
$6.79
$3.31
$25.73
$55.33
9
Anse Vata
New Caledonia
$15.33
$1.82
$7.42
$2.28
$28.29
$55.14
10
Anse Georgette
Seychelles
$26.63
$0.94
$6.89
$1.24
$17.66
$53.36
Most expensive beach according to study- Kristiansand Beach, Norway. image: kristiansand.norway.com
In contrast, the study reveals the 10 most affordable beaches are:
#
Beach
Country
Sunscreen
Water
Beer
Ice-cream
Lunch
Total (USD)
310
Cua Dai Beach
Vietnam
$1.95
$0.50
$2.04
$0.88
$7.81
$13.18
309
City Beach
Vietnam
$2.32
$0.33
$2.14
$0.88
$8.23
$13.90
308
Long Beach
Vietnam
$2.57
$0.43
$2.09
$0.99
$8.34
$14.42
307
Marsa Nayzak
Egypt
$6.61
$0.21
$1.96
$0.83
$6.83
$16.44
306
Sunken City
Egypt
$7.12
$0.20
$2.02
$0.84
$6.64
$16.82
305
Varkala Beach
India
$3.98
$0.37
$3.32
$0.73
$9.21
$17.61
304
Benaulim Beach
India
$4.65
$0.31
$3.20
$0.61
$9.15
$17.92
303
Palolem Beach
India
$4.65
$0.24
$3.13
$0.67
$9.52
$18.21
302
Cavelossim Beach
India
$4.65
$0.37
$3.41
$0.83
$9.15
$18.41
301
Sharm El-Naga Bay
Egypt
$7.12
$0.21
$1.96
$0.84
$8.44
$18.57
Most affordable beach according to study- Cua Dai Beach, Vietnam. image: vietnamguidenews.com
4 Canadian beaches appear in the Index, with the following results:
#
Beach
Region
Sunscreen
Water
Beer
Ice-cream
Lunch
Total (USD)
118
Grand Beach
Manitoba
$9.15
$1.61
$3.59
$2.89
$20.90
$38.14
121
Brady’s Beach
British Columbia
$9.28
$1.74
$3.65
$3.00
$20.00
$37.67
136
Wasaga Beach
Ontario
$9.15
$1.70
$3.59
$3.38
$19.08
$36.90
149
Parlee Beach
New Brunswick
$8.87
$1.66
$3.57
$2.95
$18.87
$35.92
Grand Beach, Manitoba. image: travelmanitoba.com
Other findings from the study include:
Sun cream is most expensive when bought from beaches in The Seychelles, costing $26.63 for a 200ml bottle. In comparison, Cua Dai Beach in Vietnam has the world’s least expensive sun cream, costing just $1.95 per bottle.
The seaside location with the most expensive bottle of water is Huk Beach in Norway, costing $2.97 for a 500ml bottle. The beach with the least expensive bottle of water is Sunken City in Egypt, where the same sized bottle costs just $0.20.
The beach with the most expensive beer globally is Huk Beach in Norway, where a 33cl bottle costs $8.83. In contrast, Soma Bay in Egypt is the seaside destination with the least expensive beer, available for just $0.63.
Norway’s Huk Beach also has the world’s most expensive ice creams, at $5.09 each. Egypt’s El Gouna is the beach with the least expensive ice creams in the world, costing just $0.52.
West Palm Beach in the American state of Florida has the world’s most expensive seaside lunch, costing $28.61 for one person. Egypt’s El Gouna is the beach with the most affordable lunches, available for just $5.63.
About our friends at TravelBird: TravelBird is an online travel company offering a curated collection of holiday and travel experiences – from short inspirational breaks to international get-aways. TravelBird’s passionate local travel advisors work directly with tour operators across the world to offer a selection of travel experiences that invite travellers to discover something new and immerse themselves in different cultures. For more information, please visit: https://travelbird.nl
Methodology:
The study has 310 of the most visited beaches in 70 countries based on local tourism board numbers and data from the UNWTO.
Total Price = $ Sunscreen + $ Water + $ Beer + $ Ice-cream +$ Lunch
Sunscreen costs calculated by taking an average cost from a store in local resort/hotel, a hostel and local pharmacy or supermarket (all where available). We searched for SPF 30, 200 ml.
Lunch costs calculated by taking full meal cost, including a drink and dessert, for one person from a walking distance of maximum 10 minutes from the beach or the closest establishments to it (largely within tourist areas), outlets include hotels and restaurants.
Beer costs were calculated by taking an average of the biggest local beer brand along with the retail cost of Heineken, Budweiser, Becks, Guinness and Fosters at local prices, where available. Where sizes were not available, calculations were undertaken to make serving sizes equal.
Water calculations were found by taking the three largest local brands and calculating an average of these.
Ice-cream costs calculated by taking an average prepackaged branded ice-cream price in the capital city of each country and applying consumer produce cost differences to each area, where applicable. For the Silo, Ricky Sutton.
Featured image- Wasaga Beach, Ontario courtesy of expedia.com
Brännland Cider’s new apple terroir at Röbäcksdalen in Umeå, Sweden.
At the beginning of November Brännland Cider, an international award winning cider producer in Umeå, Sweden, where I happen to work, started a Kickstarter campaign called “1000 apple trees at Röbäcksdalen”, to fund the creation of an orchard and the start new apple terroir in their Northern home county of Västerbotten, not very far from the Arctic Circle.
30 days later, after international attention and countless shares on social media, the campaign is now fully funded. The funds have streamed in from private backers, businesses and institutions in the region and foreign backers in the markets where Brännland Cider is present, in the form of adoptions of the trees planted in the orchard.
Funding is primarily earmarked for research into organic farming practices and all research results and knowledge derived from the orchard will be shared with anyone who wants to grow fruit in Northern Sweden. The ultimate long term goal is to create a new apple terroir for cider production.
We’re totally amazed by the support that’s been coming in from our local as well as the national and international communities. In the past four years we’ve striven to produce the best cider and ice cider possible using the best Swedish apples. It is fantastic to see that our work has inspired confidence enough in what we do, that people want to lend us this kind of support.
Me in my happy place!
The next step for Brännland Cider is to create a dedicated web for the orchard where adopters can follow their specific tree through the seasons. In spring time, a limited edition cider will be produced and offered only to the backers of the Kickstarter campaign as a celebration of the funding of 1000 apple trees at Röbäcksdalen. For the Silo, Andreas Sundgren Graniti, CEO Brännland Cider AB.
Brännland Cider producerar iscider och cider på 100% svenska äpplen för en nationell och internationell marknad. Bolagets första årgång Brännland Iscider, ett isvin producerat på äpplen med sitt historiska ursprung i Kanada, släpptes 2012.
