Sandra‘s Closet

As the women’s Royal Oak celebrates its 40th anniversary, I was invited last week by Audemars Piguet to join them for the unveiling of the new Royal Oak Frosted Gold in Florence at Palazzo Vecchio, which is the town hall of the Italian city.

The dinner was held inside the breathtaking Salone dei Cinquecento that has a length of 52 m (170 ft), is 23 m (75 ft) broad and dates back to 1494. On the walls are large and expansive frescoes that depict battles and military victories by Florence over Pisa and Siena by Giorgio Vasari. You immediately understand why it plays such a key role in Dan Brown’s «Inferno».

Interesting to know is that before the entrustment of Vasari, the two greatest Florentine artists of the time, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Buonarroti, were commissioned for the construction of two large murals to decorate the walls of the room. Leonardo started working on the «Battle of Anghiari», while Michelangelo focused on another portion of the wall for the «Battle of Cascina», but none of their work was ever completed. Attempts made to find Da Vinci’s original work behind the Vasari fresco have so far been inconclusive.

Two creative minds united: Jacqueline Dimier and Carolina Bucci

Personally speaking: The new Royal Oak Frosted Gold was love at first sight for me.

Coming back to the shining reinvention of an iconic design, that fast first created in 1976 for women by Jacqueline Dimier, the new Royal Oak Frosted Gold has been reinvented in collaboration with Florentine jewellery designer, Carolina Bucci. Both attended the gala dinner along with Jasmine Audemars, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Audemars Piguet, François-Henry Bennahmias, Chief Executive Officer, model Arizona Muse, as well as actress and brand ambassador Freida Pinto.

With Audemars Piguet CEO François-Henry Bennahmias

With Freida Pinto

Power Ladies: Sabina Hanselmann-Diethelm, Editor in Chief Style Magazine/Bolero, Jasmine Audemars, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Audemars Piguet and Dominique Lohm, PR Audemars Piguet/The Pool with my humble self

Beautiful table setting

Having a great time with Sabina Hanselmann-Diethelm, Editor-in-Chief Style Magazine/Bolero and David Pantillon, Country General Manager Switzerland

Chef Annie Féolde and her team framed by Freida Pinto and François-Henry Bennahmias

After a sensational dinner imagined by local 3* Chef Annie Féolde, the evening ended with a showcase concert by Brocken Back, sending us off in the crisp Florentine night with lots of amazing memories.

Live performance by Broken Back

The next day my adventure continued. I flew with a private jet back to Switzerland to visit Audemars Piguet’s manufacture in Le Brassus.

Stay tuned for more for more details on the visit and the new Royal Oak Frosted Gold that has captured my heart in a second as well as an amazing interview with Carolina Bucci and Freida Pinto.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: Courtesy of Audemars Piguet and © Sandra Bauknecht

You know what I love most about Christmas is that I get some moments in between the festivities where I can be lazy in bed, reading, dreaming or even working without being disturbed.

To look fabulous on those comfy days, Australian underwear brand Jockey launched its first women’s loungewear collection this fall. The feminine range is in-keeping with the label’s iconic all-American style, but uses ‘aspen lodge-inspired’ details and colours such as navy, frost white, red and plum. The super cozy fabrics are sure to make your lounge time relaxing.

Look 1: Red lounge chemise with white lace details by Jockey.

Look 2: Bolero, camisole and flannel shorts, all by Jockey.

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht

Behind the 20th door of my advent calendar, I have a second chance for you to win the limited edition blogger T-shirt in collaboration with Closed. The first tee that you could win on Sandra’s Closet (click here for the previous post in which you can also see how I am wearing it) went to B. Young in the US. Congrats! Now, you have a second chance, Swiss Bolero magazine is raffling one off as well and it is the last day to enter HERE.

For all of you, who don’t want to rely on the contest, there are a few tees left in sizes M and XL, TO SHOP PLEASE CLICK HERE.

Thanks a lot to WadMag, Bolero, SI Style magazine and the Stil Magazine of NZZ am Sonntag for featuring my T-shirt!

LoL, Sandra

SI Style

NZZ am Sonntag – Stil Magazine – Nov 4, 2012

Chanel’s stage sets have been among the most outstanding ones in fashion history. Karl Lagerfeld creates what you would call the “excess in fashion”. From icebergs to barnyard spectacles, from apocalypse to mineral backdrops, this season, he went for a wind farm and solar panels for his Chanel S/S 2013 runway show. Only Karl Lagerfeld could take twelve wind turbines and make it a fashionable backdrop. The front row featured Jennifer Lopez with her cute daughter on her lap. “Energy is the most important thing in life” said the famous designer in an interview. “The rest comes later.”

And his Chanel S/S 2013 collection had new energy, a breath of fresh air. The traditional Chanel suit was given a new look with summer colours, while denim enlightened the beautiful white outfits. Big pearls finished off this very wearable collection perfectly. Young and sporty fabrics completed the renewable energy theme. The silhouette was dominated by an A-line or a bolero. My favourite was the uber-stylish “hula hoop” beach bag. I like it a lot!

LoL, Sandra

Photos : © Sandra Bauknecht

This month, I have had some really nice press coverage that I am truly thankful for. You have already read some of it like my style portrait in Bolero magazine for example or that Blick named me one of the most important bloggers.
Here is what you probably haven’t seen so far: 20 Minuten Friday magazine compared me to Anna dello Russo. Nothing to say against that!

Annabelle magazine took this front row picture during the second night of the Fashion Days Zurich.

20 Minuten called me a fashion hunter and did some wonderful advertising for my stories about the Fashion Days Zurich.

Faces showed this picture in their November issue…

…and Polyvore buzzed about me! Thank you sooo much!

LoL, Sandra

Hello to my readers from Switzerland! Fancy a party with perfumes and art installations? Perfumery Osswald and Bolero Magazine would like to take you on an olfactory journey on Thursday, October 13th, 2011, from 7-11pm at the Papiersaal, Sihlcity, Zurich and they have invited some famous noses for this event.

Six Scents from NY – (Kaya Sorhaindo & Joseph Quartana)
Andrea Maack from Reykjavik – (Andrea Maack & Gisli)
Bloodconcept from Milano – (Antonio Zuddas & Giovanni Castelli)
Maison Francis Kurkdjian from Paris – (Francis Kurkdjian & Marc Chaya)
Humiecki & Graef from Cologne – (Sebastian Fischenich)
Fornasetti from London – (Laurent Delafon)

The Six Scents Lounge will offer some treats und refreshments to delight all of your senses.
Tickets are available at www.boleromagazin.ch, CHF 30 per person.

See you there!

LoL, Sandra