dotted swiss

Dotted Swiss is a textile originally fabricated in Switzerland in the mid 1700's.  It is a beautiful fabric with textured dots stitched, flocked, or embroidered onto cotton or another soft base fabric like tulle.  

The result is a very simple and gorgeous pattern which is popular for dresses, stockings, embossed paper or even on a good Swiss Swatch watch...

swiss modern design

Switzerland produces some really cool and interesting modern design.  Take the following pieces by example.  We have the beautiful items by Röthlisberger Kollektion, the 'Schubladenstapel' drawers and the 'Trompe-l'Oï' mirror which ingeniously creates the illusion of a door slightly ajar adding interesing depth to a space.  

Also rather interesting are the cardboard chandeliers 'Kartonklunker'and 'Kandelaber' wall sconce both by Rainer & Tobias Kyburz...

what is it about cigars?

My boyfriend tells me that smoking a cigar is simply a moment of self indulgence.  For me the attraction is that whole James Bond image... debonair, smooth talking, well-suited, tall, dark and handsome.  Well you get the picture.  


Today we visited the Davidoff store in Geneva so my boyfriend could buy some cigars for his forthcoming sailing trip in Greece.  Now pardon my ignorance, I was aware of Davidoff were specialists at producing aqua-inspired fragrances but I had no idea the Davidoff brand began in Switzerland with tobacco.


The Davidoff store was presented like a high-end couture house because they are catering to many of the same clients.  The store was classic and sophisticated, the merchandise was displayed in a very exclusive way and the room out the back which housed the cigars in the exact humidity the tobacco requires to stay 'fresh' was crisp and very clean.  


Dried and fermented tobacco leaves hung from the celing of the back room and cigars lined the shelves in all sorts of lengths, thicknesses, boxes and tins.  


These are the purchases...

 

Take a look at the store experience in these images...

vintage ad prints - Bally by Villemot

I am particularly fond of these old advertising prints for Bally, a Swiss luxury fashion house.  The first image is available from a shop here in Geneva for around 1,200 CHF, I would just love to get my hands on it!

The artist, Villemot (Bernard, 1911-1989) was a popular French graphic artist known for his advertising prints since the mid 1940's.  These Bally shoe prints are from the 1980's and earlier.

They are quite large and would look absolutely brilliant in a grand minimalist frame with wide white board surrounding the prints.  Then, hung on a plain wall in the living room above a vase of bold flowers... very cool!