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IN THE SPOTLIGHT/WHO IS WHO
Avakian Jewellery – a Fusion of Western Design with a Luxuriant Eastern Style
In three years' time the Swiss brand Avakian will celebrate a landmark date – its fiftieth anniversary. Its jewellery enjoys popularity throughout the world both amongst jewellery collectors, Royalty, business leaders as well as stars of show business, on a par with the renowned Jewellery Houses, whose history already spans several centuries. So what is Avakian's secret? To find an answer to this question I set off for Geneva…
After having arrived in the town which is the centre of the jewellery trade in Switzerland, I made my way to the Avakian boutique on Rue du Rhone. There I was welcomed by Haig Avakian – the son of the brand's founder, Edmond Avakian, who, since childhood, had been in contact with amazing jewellery. It is then that he first developed an interest in collecting coloured stones of unusual form and this interest remains to this day making precious gems a signature element of jewellery created by Avakian.
Katerina Perez wearing Avakian high jewellery necklace and earrings and a ring with sapphires, emeralds and diamonds
Born in Bulgaria, Edmond Avakian and his family immigrated to Lebanon. However, the young man chose a different country for his studies and went to the USA where he completed degrees simultaneously in three fields: civil engineering, financial management with an MBA from the University of California at Berkeley, and gemmological studies with a degree from the GIA. In 1975 he returned to Lebanon and became head of the family business which was founded in 1969. Edmond not only widened the jewellery production and won exclusive distribution rights from leading Swiss watch brands, but also began to create his own jewellery collections.
The design of jewellery is always a reflection of its creator: their taste, worldview and perception. This is certainly true in the case of jewellery that bears the name Avakian. Edmond himself remarkably combines a creative spirit with business acumen and his jewellery consists of ultramodern western design with a luxuriant eastern style. The Western world had the opportunity to evaluate the end result in 1984 when Edmond moved the company headquarters to Geneva and opened the brand's first showroom within a year. Thirty two years have passed since that moment and the brand has opened showrooms in Moscow, New York, London (currently relocating) and Cannes, with a couple of new locations to be announced soon. It shouldn't come as surprise that the jewellery house has quite a "star-studded" list of clients including Catherine Deneuve, Madonna, John Travolta, Susan Sarandon, Irina Shayk and Michelle Rodriguez to name a few.
Avakian Riviera pendant and a ring with pink and yellow sapphires that encrust interchangeable beads
Avakian doesn't follow fashion, it sets it. Thanks to the creative drive of Edmond and his son Haig, who joined the company in 2002, a considerable number of successful collections and spectacular pieces have been launched under the Avakian name. One of the most obvious examples is the unforgettable jewellery piece – a spectacular necklace in a form of a scarf made out of braids of 240 carats of emerald beads and 190 carats of sapphire beads. The central part of the piece is decorated with a pave of diamonds, 120-carat cabochon-cut emerald and a beautiful oval sapphire.
I saw a fascinating play of colours and form in this necklace and as if reading my thoughts Haig explained the chosen style: "We like to apply cutting edge geometric design to a lot of our high jewellery. We play with bold combination of colours and accentuate pieces with unusual shaped stones". This is very true – in the Avakian collections you will come across stones of practically any cuts, including ingenious elongated oval and kite-shaped diamonds.
Avakian rings from Cache collection with emeralds, sapphires, rubies, black and colourless diamonds
My attention was caught by the Riviera collection, consisting of long elegant earrings, cocktail rings and sautoirs. The highlight of the jewellery pieces is a decorate element in the form of a bead, which is either encrusted with precious stones, or made of rare types of peals. It decorates the ends of the pieces, can be unscrewed and replaced with others of a different colour or texture if desired. "We like movement, versatility and interchangeability in the pieces as they make jewellery more fun and easier to wear with different outfits," says Haig.
Despite the fact that Avakian has many playful collections, Edmond and Haig's approach to jewellery design is rather serious. They strive to create pieces that "can easily be worn during the day or for an elegant evening – the idea is to create jewellery which is comfortable to wear". "We always pay attention to detail, especially in the finishing of the pieces, giving it a special touch," said Haig and as if confirming his words he showed me rings from the Cache collection. Each one is encrusted with precious stones, not just on the outside but also on the inner part of the shank, forming a silk-like surface.
Fine jewellery is not the only speciality of the House, in 1998 Avakian introduced its first watch collection, Tzarina, named after the Russian word for princess. Since then the collection of timepieces significantly expanded. But this is something I will tell you about in my next article.
AUTHOR: KATERINA PEREZ
PHOTOGRAPHER: SIMON MARTNER
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Biz 417 Companies Corporate How Springfield-Branson National Airport's Growth Reflects 417-land
Small to Mid-Sized
How Springfield-Branson National Airport's Growth Reflects 417-land
Director of Aviation Brian Weiler works to keep up with the airport's quickly growing pace through a second general aviation expansion.
by Jenna deJong
Photo courtesy Springfield-Branson National AirportThe growth of the Springfield-Branson National Airport benefits more than just the airport itself.
If you ask Brian Weiler about Springfield-Branson National Airport's recent growth, be prepared to stay awhile. The director of aviation has led the charge for the airport's expansion since 2011, and in that time, the airport has grown in every capacity, including general aviation. In August, the City of Springfield accepted a $885,896 grant from the Missouri Department of Transportation, allowing the airport to begin construction on Phase 2 of its general aviation expansion.
With the airport's 10 percent match of $98,434, the project costs just shy of $1 million. Although Phase 2 is the cherry on top of several large expansions, the airport's growth is far from over, and Weiler has a whole lot more planned to prove it. The Springfield-Branson National Airport started its general aviation expansion in 2014. Weiler says as the southwest Missouri region grows, so does interest from the local business community and outside markets. To him, he is just "doing his part" to contribute to the region's constantly evolving community.
"The last thing I want to tell the Springfield Chamber or a major company that wants to open up a plant in Springfield and employ hundreds of our citizens is that I don't have a spot for you to build a hangar," Weiler says. In the first phase of the general aviation expansion, 10 acres of unused airport property was redeveloped for new hangar development, making the land available for third parties to build under a long-term lease agreement. The airport installed access taxiways, public auto parking and utilities, making seven spots available. This second phase adds 200 feet of taxiway, opening up two more spots for large corporate hangars. Within three weeks of the project's approval, Weiler was already in negotiation with potential buyers.
Although the extra 200 feet is a small testament to the airport's success, Weiler says it's an indicator of just how quickly the airport is growing. As soon as land and facilities are made available, they're snatched up within the blink of an eye. According to Weiler, it's his job to ensure the airport has a plan to fill that need. Those plans include examining surrounding areas within the airport's property and determining which plots should be used for a third expansion for general aviation.
Brian Weiler's Got Big Plans
The additional 200 feet of taxiway is not the only growth Weiler has planned for the Springfield-Branson National Airport. Within the foreseeable future, Weiler plans to expand the general aviation terminal; expand facilities to support Ozark Technical Community College's fast-growing flight training program, construct 20 to 30 additional T-hangars for lease for smaller general aviation aircraft and complete a new Airport Master Plan to identify new areas to accommodate future growth in general aviation.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Lego Movie: Everything is Awesome!
I have waited for a movie about them for quite some time. There have been brickfilms and Lego super hero movies, but this is the first proper Lego movie. Many of us grew up playing with Legos (and some of us still do), so it's about time they made a movie about time they made a movie about our favorite brick-building toy!
Pacific Rim: The reason why I love giant robots!
Before I start this review of Pacific Rim let me give you a few disclaimers. First one, I love giant robots. Always have and always will love them! Disclaimer number two, Giant robots are awesome. Finally disclaimer number three, I love giant robots.
Finding a job, it's a tough world out there right now and finding a job you like is even harder. The Internship gives people a peak into the company Fortune magazine voted as the number one company to work for, Google. So what happens when the Wedding Crashers try to get a job at Google? You get The Internship.
After months of waiting and a few delays, my Pebble watch has finally arrived! This was actually the 3rd KickStarter project I backed. I was lucky enough to be a very early backer because this project caught on like wildfire. The team's goal was 100 thousand dollars and by the end of their campaign they raised over 10 million dollars. I never thought I'd ever fall in love with a watch but here we are. There are a few bugs and quirks of the watch, the team sent out an update today saying they are working on the fixes. Check out the video review of the pebble watch. There are even photos of the pebble press event that we attended at CES 2013.
"Onaka ga suite imasu" Index comes!
A while back i posted about the Index Figma and now i can write a real review about her. Figma has always been known for there articulation and quality when making there figures this time they decided to take a new approach and add cloth to there figures. Up till now most of them have been made of ABS plastic so some figures couldn't be made due to there clothing but with this Figma they made Index's lower dress out of cloth allowing for full movement with her legs but i would still have liked it if her coat was also made with cloth too and maybe even her head wear.
Index doesn't come with a lot of accessories but her cat Sphinx, prayer hands, knife and fork. Her head wear also gets in the way of her arms but it is removable and comes with another front head piece, and 2 other faces. Even with these limitations Index still proves to be a good Figma in the line up thus far but wish they would have given her rage face.
Check out the gallery after the break.


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Google TV news
Google Chromecast update to offer screen mirroring and intelligent Backdrop
Luke Edwards · 25 June 2014
An update to Google's Chromecast has been announced at Google I/O, bringing screen mirroring to Android devices as well as a Backdrop mode.
Android mobile and tablet owners will now be able to mirror live to their TV with a connected Chromecast. This will be so fast that it's even possible to open the camera and shoot live, while the camera's view is shown on the big screen.
This live stream option also means that users can cast whatever they are doing right there to the TV. So drawing in an app, writing, scrolling through photos, or sharing videos can be done live on the phone as others in the room watch it happen on the big screen.
The intelligent Backdrop function is also really useful. This allows users to feed photos to the TV turning it into a huge picture frame of sorts. But it isn't just about watching the screen. If the user spots something they like it'll be possible to pick up the connected mobile and ask "What's on Chromecast?" to immediately get more information on that. A painting, for example, will be detailed on the phone while the image can be appreciated, unchanging, on the TV.
The Chromecast homepage won't just be random images anymore as it will now pull in photos from a user's Google+ page.
The Chromecast dongle is also more friendly than before as it now allows anyone nearby to connect and control it. Previoulsy that person would need to be connected to the local Wi-Fi network. Of course who is allowed access can still be limited.
Expect the Google Chromecast update to arrive over the air in the coming weeks.
READ: Google Chromecast review
Sections TV


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Japanese restaurant in Hanoi, Sio Sushi relocates to Le Dai Hanh Street – New restaurant has 5 floors
Food from Sio Sushi
Japanese restaurant in Hanoi, Sio Sushi (13 Le Dai Hanh, Hai Ba Trung, Ha Noi, TEL 0931869339) relocated and opened on Le Dai Hanh Street in Hai Ba Trung district on November 18.
The restaurant used to operate on Doan Tran Nghiep Street in the same district, but the owner, Hoang Dieu Hang decided to relocate to seek a spacious and open but lively space on a convenient street.
It is five stories building and each floor is 50 square meters. The restaurant has 50 tables and can accommodate 200 customers in total. Hoang says "We upgraded our restaurant as Japanese modern style so that customers can enjoy innovating but familiar and authentic Japanese atmosphere." Wooden materials are mainly used for the interior but each floor has different designs. There are some trendy spots for Instagram that are decorated with lights, angel wings, and a full moon.
The restaurant offers sushi, sashimi, ramen shabu-shabu (Japanese style hot-pot), grills, and okonomiyaki (Japanese style savory pancakes). The menu includes; Sashimi combo (289,000 VND) that contains tuna, Sakhalin surf clam, salmon, herrings, octopus, and seaweed; Cheese and crab's eggs atop salmon sushi (39,000 VND for 2 pieces); Eel sushi (from 42,000 VND to 119,000 VND); and Seafood shabu-shabu (395,000 VND) mixed with shrimp, octopus, squid, beef, and vegetables.
For drinks, they offer Unrefined sake (500,000 VND for 300ml); Sapporo beer (32,000 VND); Soda New Day (30,000 VND) that mix mint and lemon juice; and Pineapple juice (35,000 VND).
Hoang comments "We could relocate and reopen this restaurant thanks to our customers, therefore would like to offer better service at new space. We wish here to be a place where customers release their stress from a long day."
Opening hour is 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
Owner of Sio Sushi
Inside Sio Sushi


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Perfect Cowboy (2014)
Watch Perfect Cowboy (2014) Online
Two gay fathers of a straight country western singers, all living in a rural community and playing music together. Jimmy Poole gets out of prison and kicks his step-son Mark out of the family's band.
Director: Ken Roht
Actors: Jeffrey Watkins, Joe Lev, Ken Roht, Paul Goldowitz, Paul Sutherland, Sharon Bollum, William Nicol
If I Stay (2014)
Mia Hall, a talented young cellist, thought the most difficult decision she would ever have to make would be whether to pursue her musical dreams at prestigious Juilliard or follow…
Genre: Drama, Family, Music, Romance, Science Fiction
The Principal (1987)
Burglary. Drugs. Assault. Rape. The students at Brandel High are more than new Principal Rick Latimer bargained for. Gangs fight to control the school using knives – even guns –…
Genre: Action, Adventure, Crime, Drama
The North Star (1943)
A Ukrainian village must suddenly contend with the Nazi invasion of June 1941.
In the highlands of Scotland in the 1700s, Rob Roy tries to lead his small town to a better future, by borrowing money from the local nobility to buy cattle…
Emma left Russia to live with her husband in Italy. Now a member of a powerful industrial family, she is the respected mother of three, but feels unfulfilled. One day,…
Leatherheads (2008)
A light hearted comedy about the beginnings of Professional American Football. When a decorated war hero and college all star is tempted into playing professional football. Everyone see the chance…
Mississippi Burning (1988)
Two FBI agents investigating the murder of civil rights workers during the 60s seek to breach the conspiracy of silence in a small Southern town where segregation divides black and…
Genre: Crime, Drama, History, Mystery, Thriller
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962)
Two aging film actresses live as virtual recluses in an old Hollywood mansion. Jane Hudson, a successful child star, cares for her crippled sister Blanche, whose career in later years…
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
A lonely shoe salesman and an eccentric performance artist struggle to connect in this unique take on contemporary life.
The Immigrant (2013)
1921 New York. An immigrant woman is tricked into a life of burlesque and vaudeville until a dazzling magician tries to save her and reunite her with her sister who…
Sunday in the Country (1974)
Three vicious thugs are on the run in rural America after robbing a local bank. They seek refuge at the home of a reclusive farmer, but he is prepared for…
Blood on the Moon (1948)
Mitchum plays drifter cowboy Jim Garry. After receiving a job-offer letter from smooth-talking Tate Riling (Preston), Garry rides into an Indian reservation and finds himself in the middle of a…
Genre: Action, Drama, Romance, Western
Trailer: Perfect Cowboy (2014)


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Restaurants Forced To Pivot For Thanksgiving, Offer Take-Out Meals
By Liz Collin November 25, 2020 at 6:08 pm
Filed Under:Coronavirus In Minnesota, Liz Collin, Local TV, Minnesota News
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Some Minnesota restaurants have made a huge pivot this Thanksgiving. Originally planning on offering an in-person feast, they are now forced to close this year due to COVID-19 concerns.
As the Customer Service Manager at Keys Café and Bakery, Chad Selton is in downtown Minneapolis bagging up this year's Thanksgiving following the guidelines that by now his crew knows well.
"This is a tough situation for everybody," Selton said. "I'm hoping this is it and we're still open and happy staying positive."
He's staying positive that Minnesota's month-long pause won't turn into something more.
John Schiltz is the Owner and Chef at Lake Elmo Inn.
"It keeps you awake at night especially when you have so many employees who depend on you to be in business," Schiltz said.
At the Lake Elmo Inn, owner and chef John Schiltz had 180 workers pre-pandemic in March. Now, just 35 are still around to collect a paycheck.
Typically, the restaurant does three times the amount of business in December as it does in a normal month, and they made sure to get their massive decorations up early to light up a dark year.
"The way we decorate at Christmas and the way we celebrate Christmas is like no other restaurant in the Midwest. People come from miles around to see our place," Schiltz said.
They're optimistic customers will still be allowed inside to see them this Christmas. But for now, they're focused on packing up hundreds of pies and meals for Thursday available for pick-up only.
"It should still be a very good day for us but this one day has to make up for the last two weeks of November and all I can do is hope. All I can do is hope," Schiltz said.
Lake Elmo Inn is also donating Thanksgiving meals to nurses working at Regions Hospital on Thanksgiving. While Schiltz recognizes his business is in a bad spot, he says he's aware there are other people hurting much worse this holiday season.
Liz Collin
At 15 years old, Liz Collin made her broadcast debut covering a tornado that touched down in southwest Minnesota. It was her first night on the job at...More from Liz Collin