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Blancpain is one of the most exclusive luxury brands of all time. The company was founded in 1735 and produces fewer than 10,000 watches a year.

Blancpain men’s watches and women’s watches demonstrate a passion for watchmaking, high-art, and a devotion to tradition. In 1988, Blancpain became the first brand in the world to offer all six different masterpieces of watchmaking at the same time: the ultra-slim movement, the moon phase calendar, the perpetual calendar, the split-seconds chronograph, the Tourbillon and the minute repeater.

September 9 – 14, 2009 marks Blancpain’s 5th participation in the Cannes International Boat Show as well as the worldwide launch of two of the brands brand-new 500 Fathoms luxury watch styles. The 500 Fathoms is Blancpain’s addition to its Fifty Fathoms collection of sporty, diver’s watches. Alongside the 500 Fathoms watch will be a very limited edition, only 50 watches total, called the 500 Fathoms Cannes 2009, dedicated to lovers of the wide open sea.

The 500 Fathoms model is being called the big sister to the already famous Fifty Fathoms watch. More high-performance and high-tech than ever before, the new version is sportier in design, water resistant up to 1,000 meters and features an extra large 48mm brushed-titanium case. A typical diver’s watch will have a water resistance of around 200-300 meters, so already this new Blancpain diver’s watch blows others out of the water.

This ultimate sports watch? has placed inside the case at 10 o’clock, an automatic decompression valve guarantees the security and the reliability of the watch, without requiring any maneuvering on the part of the wearer. To enhance readability, the watch comes with large phosphorescent Arabic numerals. The luminescent base of the black dial glows in the dark, while the date appears in white against a black background at 4 o’clock. The calendar mechanism can be changed by the user to quickly adjust the date in either direction, even at the stroke of midnight, without any risk of damaging the mechanism.

The new 500 Fathoms watch comes with a watertight strap in rubber-lined black sail canvas. This watch represents a new accomplishment in the world of high-end sports and professional diver’s watches.

Who would expect anything less than the best from Blancpain?

Many other luxury watch brands like Rolex and Omega watches make diver’s watches as well. Sporty men?s watches are very much the trend right now for both men and women. Over sized faces and black rubber straps are hot styles right now; both characteristics found in diver’s watches. Some companies are even creating version of the diver’s sports watch as jewelry watches, by adding some sparkle.

In fact, hot on this trend is Omega Watches, who just released a new collection, called the Planet Ocean Jewelry Collection, which is exactly this: a sports watch with diamonds around the bezel. This new collection by Omega was designed and created as equally as men’s watches as women’s watches, meaning that the same watch can appeal to both groups.

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As the cost of energy continues to rise, companies are finding means to curtail energy use to keep business profitable by minimizing operating costs in energy consumption. Monitoring your company’s energy consumption can greatly help in realizing savings in energy bills. Energy use is one of the top three highest expenditures for any type of business.

Managing your energy use will rely heavily on an energy broker who can procure electricity and fuel like natural gas and oil at the lowest cost from suppliers. Any energy broker would have a portal where information on a company’s energy use will be transmitted. This will allow an energy broker to capture the best rate structure for hour-to-hour and day-to-day energy use using the transmitted information.

Based on how well a company manages its energy use, an energy broker can produce the best natural gas, electricity, and other energy rates for an enterprise’s facility. These energy rates are usually below or at current market trends, depending on how well a store, company, or other type of electricity producing facility manages its current energy use.

As energy is the third largest operating expense after labor and benefits for any enterprise, evaluating savings on energy consumption can greatly help any company the benefits of savings in operating expenses. An energy broker is the one who can help monitor energy rates on a daily basis and give advice on an enterprise when to protect price through locking a fixed rate. Moreover, an energy broker can also handle billing issues, which can make it easy for industries and commercial businesses to manage energy costs.

Compliance to energy reduction, as federal regulations mandate reducing energy to eventually lessen global warming, business enterprises are also finding the need to evaluate energy consumption. There are automated energy monitoring software programs available which can aid facility managers to also track an enterprise’s total energy portfolio. These computerized tracking software and controls allow real time energy use tracking which allows companies to take advantage of savings on energy costs.

The challenge in managing energy use in an entire facility or in multiple sites still remains. Software providers which specialize in enterprise energy management have developed automated program that addresses the complexities of energy costs and usage. These programs monitor site specific energy attributes, weather data, and other factors contributing to a facility’s energy use. Most of the more sophisticated and excellent energy management programs can monitor any number of facilities even in multiple locations all over the world.

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Since the abandonment in 2000 of legal aid in order to fund cases for personal injury or accident compensation, the term ‘no win no fee’ has become a commonly used legal expression, and has often become an absolutely essential part of building a successful case in many personal injury and medical negligence claims. In light of the emergence of ‘no win no fee’ cases, how does this work for a client and solicitor?

A ‘no win no fee’ agreement (which is also commonly referred to as a Conditional Fee agreement), has been hailed as providing ‘access to justice’ for the less well off throughout England and Wales. No longer would a client looking for fair compensation for their injuries be faced with a bulky legal bill and a future of financial concerns. Under a ‘no win no fee’ contract, a solicitor is simply not paid if a case is lost through no fault of the client. However if the compensation claim succeeds, the solicitor’s fees will include an additional ’success’ payment, in reward for the risk of having taken on the case on a ‘no win no fee’ basis. If a compensation claim is successful, the victorious legal team can claim their costs from the losing side (including the success fee).

‘No win no fee’ cases have over the years offered help to those who previously may not have been actually able to make a compensation claim. Though costs do occur during the process, an established and thorough ‘no win no fee’ solicitor can guide a client through the options of funding for such matters, which will Include buying an after the event insurance policy (which as it implies is taken out after the accident rather than before) such an insurance policy can cover a legal expenses bill from an opponent in defeat. With many claimants seeking compensation these days through the ‘no win no fee’ system, the law can now provide a fair and just conclusion to what is often a painful, lengthy and upsetting time for victims of both accidents and negligence.

It is estimated that approximately 2.5 million people in England and Wales suffer accidental injuries each year. If, during the last three years, you have suffered such an accident or injury which was not your fault, you should consider contacting an experienced no win no fee solicitor to see if you have a viable claim for personal injury compensation.

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This article explores the five common mistakes that you can make that can reduce the value of your whiplash injury claim.

1. Contributory Negligence.

If you fail to wear a seatbelt when you are driving or are a passenger and are subsequently involved in a car accident, this failure could reduce the value of your compensation claim. The reason for this is simple; ultimately wearing a seatbelt should reduce the chances of you sustaining a severe injury. If you fail to wear a seatbelt you are more likely to collide with items in the car such as the steering wheel or if in the rear, the seat in front of you which can ultimately cause damage to your head or face. This damage would not have occurred had you been wearing a seatbelt. It does not invalidate your claim completely, but it does mean that there will be a reduction, normally in the region of 25% of the value of your injury claim, from your compensation for your pain and suffering.

Therefore, wearing a seatbelt at all times in the car will ensure that not only are you as safe as you can be when involved in an accident, but you will also receive all of your compensation.

2. Not attending your General Practitioner or Accident & Emergency Department.

As with all legal matters everything is a question of evidence. If you have suffered a whiplash injury, the evidence of you suffering is normally documented by you attending your General Practitioner complaining of pain or your local Accident & Emergency Department at the Hospital. If you decide not to attend either of these places then there is no chain of evidence from the time of the accident to visiting a solicitor or claims company and complaining of your injury.

Attending your General Practitioner or Accident & Emergency will ensure that you receive the right treatment but also ensure that there is a chain of evidence leading from the date of the accident to your compensation claim.

3. Failing to keep receipts and wage slips.

In addition to your claim for compensation you are also entitled to claim compensation for your losses and expenses. Once again, you will need to provide evidence to confirm the amount of these losses and expenses. When this relates to items that you have had to purchase as a result of your injury, such as painkillers or other medication, failing to keep receipts will make it very difficult to recover these amounts.

If you have lost earnings as a result of the accident you will need to keep all of your wage slips to show your earnings both before and after the accident as proof of the amount that you have lost. Failing to keep wage slips and receipts of your losses and expenses will make it very difficult to recover them by way of a payment of compensation.

4. Failing to read the small print!

Once you have been involved in an accident and suffered a whiplash injury you need to decide who you are going to ask to help you with your claim for compensation. You must read the small print of anyone who offers to help you. Some claim companies will charge an administration fee (often as much as #400 or #500) which you must pay if your claim is successful. Usually this is wholly unnecessary as most claims companies or solicitors will help you completely free of charge ensuring that they are paid for their time by the other person?s insurance company.

Therefore, if you fail to read the small print when asking a company to help you, you may find that you lose several hundred pounds at the end of your claim. Ensure you ask specific questions about any administration charges when asking a claims company or solicitor to help you.

5. Not asking if you will keep 100% of your compensation.

In addition to the above point, you should also ensure that the solicitor or claims company you ask to help you will let you keep all of the compensation that is awarded to you. Once again, this should be standard practice for all whiplash injury claims but unfortunately you might find that some claims companies or solicitors will take a small percentage of your compensation in addition to the costs they will receive from the other person?s insurance company. You need to ensure that you chose a solicitor that will give you 100% of your compensation.

Summary.

These are the five main reasons why the value of your whiplash claim may be reduced when you receive your compensation cheque. Asking specific questions before you instruct a solicitor and making sure you keep receipts during your claim will allow you to receive the maximum compensation available for your injury.

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Coin Collecting is affectionately known as the ‘Hobby of Kings’ in reference to the fact that in ancient times only Kings could afford to collect coins as lay people spent every penny they had to survive.

Coin collecting or numismatics is an extremely popular hobby which is now affordable to everybody. You can delve into the wonderful world of coin collecting as you read these words by simply reaching in your pocket and finding loose change. So what are the key steps necessary to begin a coin collection?

Step 1: Decide What You Want To Collect

You need to decide what type of collection you want to build. There are many different types of coin collection themes. These include;

Country Collections

- Some collectors obtain a sample from every country while others focus on 1 country

Year Collections

- Many collectors collect by year e.g. one Lincoln cent for every year from 1909 to present

Mintmark Collections

- Different mint marks can provide adequate differentiation to collect multiple samples for each year

Type Collections

- A collection may include major design variants for a period of time in a particular country

Subject Collections

- Many collectors collect coins that depicts an area of personal interest e.g. planes, ships etc. Other collection categories include; period collections, composition collections, signature collection, series collections, printed value collections, volume collections and more.

Step 2: Educate Yourself on Your Selection

It is very important to educate yourself sufficiently. Join your local numismatic club, contact your local coin dealer and ask them for good sources from which you can learn about the hobby. This information is important in order to understand what you need to consider when buying a coin, and how to value a coin. An excellent resource is the ‘American Numismatic Association’. This association will provide information on dealers and entities that promote coin collecting. Visit your local library or Amazon.com and get books pertaining to Numismatics.

Step 3: Complete a Set

Complete a set. Collect one of each year and mint mark of your coin of choice. (A mint mark tells you where the coin was made.)

Step 4: Subscribe to Coin Publication

Subscribe to coin publications such as “Coin World” or “Coinage Magazine.” These publications will keep you up to date on developments and ensure you make more informed decisions.

Step 5: Get a Collectors Display Album

Pick up a collector’s display album or folder to proudly show off your new found hobby. Other useful coin collecting materials include; coin capsules, coin magnifiers, coin envelopes, coin scales, coin carrying cases and coin trays.

Step 6: Partake in online discussion Perhaps the fastest way to learn coin collecting is by mingling with experienced coin collectors online. Join several of the top coin collecting forums and ask questions. You will be pleased to discover that so many experienced coin collectors are quite happy to share their knowledge with you.

Visit many of these coin collectors blogs and subscribe to their RSS feeds. In that way you will receive regular coin collecting tips and news.

You can even do a search on Google for “coin collecting eBook” and download lots of FREE, useful tips.

I hope you found these tips useful. So root around in your pocket, find a few coins and start your collection today.

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Never sell blind means that you don’t try to sell people into your high end program without knowing more about them and what they are looking for.

When you don’t understand who they are or what they need, there is no way you can lead them through your structured sales process to close them.

This is critical, as many people, when asked what they do, just start spouting off a whole mess of random information, hoping for the one tidbit that might spark the listener’s interest.

Instead of the anxiety and uncertainty of that approach, always start by gaining as much information as you can, first.

Ask the person what they do, and what they are interested in. Ask them if they’ve had experiences with programs or services like yours. Ask this in general, as in, “Has your company ever invested in business coaching?” And if they say “yes”, ask them, “What were the results of that? What was missing from that experience?”

When you start to ask questions like these, you identify holes or gaps where you might be able to position your offering much more strongly.

This works in any industry. You just need to find out who the person is you’re talking to, find out what business challenges they have, and gently guide or lead them to talk about the problems they’re facing and what solutions they think they need.

Then it’s your turn to talk, taking into account all the information you just got, and tailoring your response to meet their needs. Now, I’m not ever suggesting you lie or say you can do things you really can’t. But, at the same time, I’m also suggesting that you be flexible and try to match your services to what this person needs, and to be flexible about your offering to suit the needs of each individual client.

Let’s take my Executive Mastermind for example. I have a core curriculum and a core set of skills for this program- that is always similar client to client. But I also tailor parts of this program to individual clients, because they have unique concerns and unique challenges by industry or experience.

You can do the same thing. Create your core offering, but don’t be afraid to tailor it to suit the needs of those interested in your program. And don’t be afraid to tailor it to get people more interested in your program.

When you know who you’re speaking with, you have a greater likelihood of giving them the right information to help them move forward without delay.

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Have you ever heard someone talk about working smarter not harder? They just as well could have been referring to why I love residual income.

Have you ever wished you would have invented a specific product? I’ve heard people say they wished they had come up with the pet rock or with Beanie Babies. Not me. I wish I would have been the inventor of toilet paper.

Once the pet rock and Beanie Babies ceased to be popular they sales plummeted. Not so with toilet paper. Talk about a product that everyone needs again and again! And it really hasn’t changed much over the years. It just keeps selling and selling!

Residual income is like toilet paper. Once the product was developed and hit the market not much effort has been required to sell it. People need it ever day and therefore they buy it. There is security for those that sell toilet paper.

Linear income is like the Pet Rock or Beanie Babies. If anyone is going to make money from them they will have to continue to get out of bed each day and work like heck to get those sales.

Residual income is money that continues to come your way once you invest initial time and effort into something. It’s recurring whether you continue to work or not. So doesn’t it make sense to get involved with some type of business that gives you the opportunity for residual income?

You may love your traditional job but if you don’t get up each day and go to work the paychecks will end. However if you can develop a business that has residual income potential you can be sitting on a beach in the South Pacific or snow skiing in the Alps and still be making money. It gives you great freedom!

Residual income can be made in many ways and for the most part is not thought of as a get rich quick venture. Rather it’s a way to work diligently and intelligently building a business base that will enable you to receive income indefinitely long after you’ve done the work.

You will find residual income opportunities with virtually all network marketing businesses and online with affiliate marketing. What’s also great about this is that you won’t generally need to spend a lot of money to accomplish attaining a residual income.

You will need to find the best opportunity for you and then be willing to put in the required initial time and effort. That will typically include working with and developing others.

There is a side benefit for those that pursue this type of income. By building a business this way often times you help others also create residual income streams. This can be very rewarding.

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Pottery is a survivor! If there is one thing that is found on an archeological dig, its pottery. While wood, fabric and other materials having long since gone, maybe not a complete vessel, perhaps just pottery shards, but usually enough for an accurate dating to be made.

These surviving specimens are very often pre-historic, clearly demonstrating early mankind’s use of clay and water!

There are many types of pottery and porcelains with histories long forgotten and it is one such as this that we look at here.

Lustre wares, or lustre pottery is one of the earliest decorative ceramic forms known and is recognised as originating from the Middle East. Lustreware first appeared in Baghdad and Samarra in about the ninth century AD.

At this time, Baghdad was the world’s largest city and centre of the great Abbasid Arab Empire. Baghdad was a seat of learning with many universities where medicine, mathematics, astrology and science were taught.

The arts flourished with the ruling Caliphs who were great admirers and collectors of Chinese Tang dynasty porcelain. The porcelain was imported from China via the trading caravans travelling the long Silk Road.

It is always difficult to establish the accuracy of information from the 9th and 10th centuries, but there are persistent stories that tell of potters being abducted from Chinese ceramic centres and taken to Baghdad. These “pottery prisoners” were set to work with the expectation of porcelain being produced.

Without the very specific clays and kaolin for the production of porcelain available, the unfortunate Chinese potters had to improvise with available clays and eventually developed white glazes in an attempt to imitate the look of porcelain.

Nobody really knows, whether by accident or by experimentation, but the Chinese potters applied glassmaking techniques, techniques so ancient that their origins stretch back to the Egypt of the Pharaohs.

It would be more than interesting to know, just how and why these ninth century Chinese potters, so far from home, chose to decorate their Baghdad pots with metallic pigments, however they did so and as a result, lustre pottery was born!

Lustre ware produced an almost instant reaction with its golden iridescent glaze. At first it was considered alchemy, because the process involves using a lead-based glaze to create a golden shine on a pot, but without gold in it!

The essence of lustre, is of course found in the over glaze, the glazes containing lead, copper, silver, or even gold. When fired, the powder-like, metallic pigments produced the most brilliant iridescence ever seen on a ceramic body.

Copper resulted in a brilliant red, silver may result in a glaze of bright silver lustre, or sometimes golden. The range of lustre colours is extensive, including pink, purple, canary yellow and moonlight lustre to name only a few from this incredible palette.

The result was completely indiscriminate, relying completely on the firing conditions of the kiln with the result being unpredictable.

On a technical note, lustre wares require three firings: – the first to fire, or harden the clay, the second to fire, or fix the plain glaze and finally, the third firing. It is this third time in the kiln that produces the lustre result.

The pottery shape would have been decorated, in accordance with Islamic culture, with a pattern, such as flowers and foliage, or a geometric or stylized decoration. The decoration now painted on with the chosen design, containing the suspended metallic particles.

This third, important firing is the lowest temperature of the three firings and is at this critical period, that the kiln is “starved of oxygen”, with the metallic compound chemically “reduced” to the suspended base metal. The results were and are still not always as expected!

Lustre ware has a significant failure rate with only the most brilliant examples being kept. It is not usual, for even two examples from a firing to look exactly the same – such is the unpredictability of the result.

From Baghdad the technique spread to Syria and Egypt where the process became more refined, with examples from the 12th century still admired for their beauty. With the Arab influence in southern Spain, lustre ware was adopted as a Spanish ceramic art, as it was in 15th century Italy.

Lustre ware was not re discovered in England until the early 19th century when it was popularised by Spode and Wedgwood with many other more widely recognised names, such as Sunderland lustre and Wedgwood’s famous 20th. century Fairy Land lustre.

The lustre lamps illustrated (which can be seen on the companies web site) are examples made during the first half of the 20th century and were produced by Thomas of Bavaria around the period1920 -1930.

The history of the company begins in 1898 with the opening of the first porcelain factory in the Bavarian town of Marktredwitz and was known as the “Porzellanfabrik Jaeger -Thomas & Co”. Thomas had, what would be called today, “management problems”. He and Jaeger were having constant disputes, often ending with shouting and heated arguments. So in 1903, Thomas decided to establish his own factory.

For some months prior to leaving, he was having secret talks with a new prospective partner; Ens. Thomas took things slowly, not wishing to repeat his Jaeger history. Thomas was delighted as Ens was not interested in the running of the business, or in artistic direction, but wished only to be an investor which resulted in the birth of the “Porzellanfabrik – Thomas & Ens” 1903. The new partnership was an immediate success and Thomas had all the freedom of artistic expression he could wish for.

Thomas was so successful that he soon caught the eye of the much bigger company of Rosenthal. By 1908, Ens decided to look elsewhere for investment and informed Thomas that he was withdrawing his interest.

This is just what Rosenthal had been waiting for and quickly made a move, becoming a major shareholder in 1908. This now left Thomas as an independent subsidiary of Rosenthal until 1960. The company continued to hold the registered rights and trademarks of Thomas until 2004 when the trademark was let go.

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In this day and age people are looking for answers to why they are not in the financial position they would like to be in. The cause of this problem stems back before they found themselves $1 in debt. The root cause of most people’s financial problems is that they never received any financial education in school.

By implementing practical money lesson plans for student many of the problems that people are facing around the world could come to a halt and reverse itself over time. By giving today’s youth financial education in school and teaching real world money lesson plans our graduates will have the financial literacy skills necessary to avoid debt, follow their savings plan and achieve financial security at an age when their friends are still living at home with their parents.

How to choose a quality financial education course and money lesson plans for students.

1) The first thing you must look for are money lesson plans that motivate & inspire students to take action. Today’s generation needs to be delivered material in ways they relate to. Fast paced, engaging, entertaining and educational. This may sound like a tall order but there are financial education organizations that have money lesson plans for students that are designed to do just that.

2) Because many teachers themselves never received a financial education, it is important that teachers are trained before delivering money lesson plans. Doing so will ensure they feel confident with the material and prepared to answer the questions that students ask.

Another benefit of financial educator training is that the teachers come away with a lot of great information that can also help their families. In our opinion teachers are underpaid for the job they do so we feel it is important to invest in them and help them gain financial education skills while they teach students to do the same.

3) To get money lesson plans into school curriculum it helps to take the path of least resistance. Choose money lesson plans that meet national and state educational standards. Jump$tart Coalitions national financial education standards are an excellent starting point. Also review the National Youth Financial Educators Councils Financial Education to Action Standards as well as your individual state standards.

4) Encourage parents to reinforce the money lesson plans. It is important to enroll the parents into helping their children pick up financial education skills. All too often students will leave class excited to save and invest money then go home to parents that are in a financial struggle and shoot down the child’s new found motivation.

It is important to understand that many of the parents themselves would greatly benefit from a financial education class as well. So make it your mission not only to educate the children but their families as well.

Ensuring your students receive a practical financial education and money lesson plans that inspire while educating will make a true difference in their lives. Just helping them avoid one credit mistake can save them tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars throughout their lifetime.

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There is no denying the fact that the internet is filled with some tremendous opportunities to take advantage of. With that said, competition is as stiff as ever before with millions of people looking to make it big online. Here are five tips to help you kick off your internet based business on the right foot.

1. Goal setting… It is amazing how few people actually make money online considering the amount of opportunities there are to choose from. One reason is because of a lack of commitment and motivation. To help you fight through the endless amounts of freedom and stay focused, goal setting can really keep you on the right track. Make sure you set goals that are challenging, but not impossible to reach. Setting goals that are too difficult to accomplish can actually be detrimental to you and the business.

2. Create a schedule… Because there is so much freedom online, a lot of people struggle to put in a solid work day. If you are going to make it with an internet based business, you have to invest at least 40 hours a week and typically more. The best way to approach the business is to set a schedule to work off of so you get into a routine.

3. Network… The internet has become more about who you know than what you know. If you think about it, there are probably thousands of web sites just like yours or fairly similar. Because of this, it is up to you to jump into the forums, meet people on Facebook, and chat on Twitter to separate yourself from the rest of the crowd. Networking gives you the chance to show people the real you.

4. Consistent marketing… Without consistent marketing you have no way of letting people know you exist. In order to make money online, you need to be putting in at least two to three hours of marketing every day. Whether it is writing and submitting articles to article directories, doing link exchanges, posting in forums, or chatting it up on Facebook, the more time you put into marketing the more money you can expect to make.

5. Ask for help… The final tip to help you make the most of your internet based business is to ask for help. Far too many entrepreneurs are too proud to ask for help and want to do it all on their own. However, it is important you realize all of the top internet marketers have gotten help at some point in time. Whether it is with writing, graphic design, marketing, or some other facet of the business, asking for help can ultimately improve the business as a whole.