Calculated wrist: what do your bangles say about you?
We stack up the current status symbols
I am looking at one of my favourite photographs of Babe Paley, taken by Horst in 1946, when I do a double take. Along with her strands of pearls – a signature of the midcentury style icon – her elegantly raised wrist is heavily layered with bangles and bracelets. More than 70 years after the photograph was taken, her style chimes loudly with the current craze for “curation” – stacking and wrapping our wrists with a wardrobe of different pieces.
Layering is nothing new, I hear you say, and you’re right; from maharajahs to millennials, it’s a style that has reinvented itself time and again. But there’s a distinctive vibe to this year’s wrist uniform – one of the standout fashions to thrive during lockdown. According to inveterate wrist-stacker Carolina Bucci, different sets of beads, charms and bangles can bring joy, colour and personality to our days without the need to change out of our sweatpants. Meanwhile, the pastime of choosing, composing, arranging and rearranging one’s wristwear has a therapeutic, pseudo-ritualistic feel.
This year’s wrist candy revolves around a basic “uniform” of classic, immediately recognisable brand icons. There’s Cartier’s seminal Love Bracelet – minimal, modern, mechanistic – designed in 1969 by Aldo Cipullo and now available in all colours of gold, with or without diamonds. Another favourite for the stack is Cartier’s Juste un Clou, the nail that wraps around the wrist, also designed by Cipullo to capture the beat of New York in the grungy, rebellious, exhilarating ’70s. Pierre Rainero, Cartier’s director of image, style and heritage, attributes both bracelets’ enduring popularity and stackability to “their strong and original design, unique spirit and symbolism. They are talismans of modern times.”
Brand loyalty plays a part in curation, as a signal of belonging to a particular group. So Van Cleef & Arpels devotees might mix a Perlée bangle, its silky gold ribbon with beaded edges, either plain or dotted with diamond Alhambra clovers, with an Alhambra chain bracelet. Boucheron fans might layer the classic Quatre bangle, which comes as single, narrow gold bands textured either with Clou de Paris, inspired by Parisian street cobbles, or grosgrain, the ribbon that invokes Frédéric Boucheron’s original family drapery business. Chaumet keeps clients’ wrists full with stackable versions of its signature designs: Bee My Love is translated into a stream of hexagonal honeycomb motifs studded with diamonds, and Liens, another ’70s design, is refined into the slender Evidence bangles, some with diamonds and others with vibrant lacquer for a pop of colour.
More recent stacking stalwarts include Dior’s delicate Rose des Vents bracelets, with mini-medallions that twist to show an underside of stone or neon-bright lacquer, or the Tiffany T1 bangle, the band with the chamfered central motif that adds a note of sleek modernity to the wrist mega-mix. Originally in rose-gold, it now also comes in yellow and white gold, with or without diamonds. Wrist stacking, after all, is about the art of choice.
For colour and immediate recognisability, it’s hard to beat Hermès’s enamel bangles, first launched in 1978 and inspired by the house’s famous silk scarf. Both the prints that smother the bangles and the technique for creating them in enamel come from Hermès’s silk department. The range is continually evolving, with the latest Clic Clac H bracelet, first introduced in 2000, now in a panoply of lively prints that even cover the clever branded clasp.
The trick is to make these ubiquitous brand classics your own by sandwiching them with unexpected additions – bracelets by independent designers such as Emefa Cole, whose gold bangles have an organic, sculptural quality. She says the layering reminds her of the “beautiful, nomadic tribes of Africa who adorn themselves with stacks of bangles”. Wrist curators also search for the newest designs by Gismondi 1754, whose geometric Dedalo bangles are inspired by the back streets of Genoa, where the company was founded in the 18th century, or the new, sleek and slender Ice Cube collection, a collaboration between Marion Cotillard and Chopard.
“A thousand people can wear the same Love bracelet, but by mixing it with different colourations and combinations, it can look completely different every time,” says Bucci. “There’s no right or wrong.” Varying colour and texture, as well as scale and material, creates rhythm and flow, as does mixing rose, yellow and white gold. Combining solid bangles with chain bracelets, such as Fernando Jorge’s Fluid style, builds a sense of organic accumulation. They can then be punctuated by an occasional charm, such as Bucci’s Florentine rough-textured gold initials that sit within a chaotic tangle of beads. Textural contrast also comes from introducing materials such as pearls, as in Tasaki’s gritty Danger bracelet or the mother-of-pearl in Garrard’s Fanfare collection.
Designer-jeweller Pippa Small’s impressive armful of bangles, jangling around a massive shell cuff, have been a style signifier for as long as I’ve known her. She rarely takes them off, she says, and loves the simple purity of the bangle and its cultural connections. “It reminds me of the wandering Rabari in India, with their shoulder-to-wrist ivory bangles.” She favours high-carat gold bangles that, over time, mould to the wrist. Of today’s craze, she says: “I notice our clients stack their bangles with a beaded piece made by their child, or bought on a beach on holiday but filled with memories and sun, or our gold beaded pieces mixed with stone. The ancient Indian amulet Navaratna is often worn on the wrist under the other pieces, so the skin touches the stones, as is required by Indian tradition.”
Here’s where the last but vital ingredient comes in: sentiment. Curating the wrist is about telling personal stories, and keeping treasures and memories close to us. The irresistible Name Tag bracelets by Margaret Jewels, the Geneva-based jeweller created by Oriana Melamed Sabrier and Candice Ophir, are inspired by “health-giving” copper bands. The bangles, which mould to the wrist, are individually fitted with a word or name engraved in flowing script, which is then meticulously set with single-cut diamonds. A modern mix of minimalism and antique charm, and an infusion of emotion, they carry the effortless panache and individuality of Babe Paley’s own exquisitely curated wrist.
Lebanon’s Central Bank Fuels Corruption, Extremism Concerns
U.S. and allies seek a forensic audit to check for money laundering, corruption and ties to Hezbollah
Washington and its allies for months have demanded a forensic audit of the central bank that they believe may uncover evidence of money laundering, corruption and links to Hezbollah by top Lebanese officials, including at the central bank, Western officials said.
The pressure on the central bank, including the threat of possible sanctions, according to the Western officials, is a rare step the U.S. usually reserves for bitter rivals such as North Korea, Iran and Venezuela. Forensic audits are investigatory examinations that check for possible evidence of fraud or other activity that could bring legal or enforcement action.
Washington and its allies are leveraging Beirut’s desperate need for emergency financing, demanding the examination in the hope of shedding light on long-opaque central-bank operations, the officials said.
Efforts to conduct an exam suffered a setback this month when the independent auditor hired to carry it out withdrew, citing insufficient access to central-bank records.
“Today they thwarted the criminal audit,” caretaker Prime Minister Hassan Diab said after the finance ministry announced on Nov. 20 that the New York-based firm Alvarez & Marsal had withdrawn, referring to unspecified parties in the country. “The wall of corruption is too thick and too high for reform,” he said.
Current and former Western and Lebanese officials said that influential people in political and economic spheres in Lebanon have so far obstructed international efforts to subject the central bank, known as the Banque du Liban, to a top-to-bottom review.
Among those impeding the audit efforts, the officials said, are the central bank’s long-serving governor and government regulators tied to Hezbollah, making them potential targets for sanctions by the U.S. and its allies.
During a trip to Beirut in August, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs David Hale outlined U.S. concerns. “There’s a lot of…focus on the central bank and the need for an audit of the central bank so that we can understand what exactly has been happening there,” Mr. Hale told reporters.
An explosion of an ammonia nitrate stockpile in August devastated Beirut, killing at least 178, injuring thousands and adding to economic strain.
Months of wrangling over the central-bank audit helped scuttle bailout talks with the International Monetary Fund over the summer, and a former senior Lebanese finance ministry official said a full review is unlikely as long as Riad Salamé, who has served as central-bank governor for nearly three decades, is in charge.
Mr. Salamé declined interview requests, but he has repeatedly rejected allegations of involvement in corruption and facilitating Hezbollah. The central bank has been the target of protests, including earlier this month, when demonstrators attempted to enter its offices in Beirut after the Lebanese currency hit fresh lows.
Current and former U.S. and allied officials say weak central-bank supervision has helped foster the widespread corruption that has been cited in a series of U.S. sanctions. Earlier this month the U.S. sanctioned former foreign minister Gebran Bassil, son-in-law of Lebanon’s president and head of the Free Patriotic Movement, saying he exemplified systemic corruption in Lebanon’s political system. Mr. Bassil said the allegations were baseless and called the sanctions retaliation for his refusal to submit to unspecified U.S. political demands.
The officials also said the central bank has been pivotal in financing the U.S.-designated terror group Hezbollah, including attacks against the U.S. and its allies.
Evidence fueling the concerns are central-bank records—copies of which were reviewed by The Wall Street Journal—showing it allowed known Hezbollah accounts at a Lebanese private bank to operate even after being directed by the U.S. to shut them down.
The U.S.-sanctioned leader of Hezbollah, Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah, said in May that Mr. Salamé himself was aware of Hezbollah’s financial activities, which are sanctioned because of the group’s U.S. terror designation.
“Go check and ask the money changers and banks and the Bank of Lebanon governorship,” Hezbollah’s secretary-general said in public remarks. “They know that we are importing dollars into the country.”
Current and former Western officials are concerned Hezbollah’s access to the Lebanese banking system allows it to finance attacks against U.S. troops and allies in the region and to support the group’s key ally, Iran. U.S. officials also allege that much of Hezbollah’s financing from abroad is from illegal activities, including drug trafficking.
The officials say that although Mr. Salamé has shut some Hezbollah accounts at their request, the group’s reliable access to the financial system has helped it to flourish.
U.S. officials have said Lebanon’s crisis offers a unique opportunity to do what the U.S. has struggled to do in the past: use financial diplomacy to restrain Hezbollah’s influence and overhaul a systemically corrupt political system. U.S. officials say no bailout will be approved without a full audit and adoption of policies sought by the IMF.
Without a full audit of the central bank, current and former Western officials say, the full extent of Lebanon’s financial problems can’t be assessed, including whether the central bank has any foreign currency reserves left to keep a collapsing currency from sparking hyperinflation.
Targeted sanctions give the U.S. the ability to politically hamstring Hezbollah’s agents in government, officials and analysts say. David Schenker, U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs, declined to comment earlier this year on potential sanctions targets. But generally, he said, “We’ve always said that we will target allies of Hezbollah.”
Also under scrutiny, according to people familiar with the matter, is Ahmad Ibrahim Safa, who recently left his position as a board member of the central bank’s watchdog committee, the Banking Control Commission of Lebanon. Some intelligence analysts said Mr. Safa has been a leading financial facilitator for Hezbollah through his private and official posts, including as a BCCL board member
U.S. Justice Department attorneys, in their successful 2011 prosecution of Lebanese Canadian Bank for helping Hezbollah launder billions of dollars in drug money, named Mr. Safa as a key facilitator for the group in his senior compliance role at the bank.
U.S. officials said in that case that Mr. Safa opened and maintained Hezbollah accounts and helped the group move its money around the world by ensuring transactions weren’t subject to the required scrutiny meant to detect illicit finance. Mr. Safa didn’t respond to a request for comment.
The bank, like another sanctioned Lebanese bank where Mr. Safa previously worked as a senior official, subsequently was dissolved after the Treasury Department cut off its access to the U.S. financial system.
Gapping down
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- ATHM -2.7%, NJR -2.3%
M&A news:
- SPGI -1.6% (S&P Global (SPGI) and IHS Markit (INFO) to merge in an all-stock transaction which values IHS Markit at an enterprise value of $44 billion)
Select oil/gas related names showing early weakness:
- BP -2.9%, RDS.A -1.8%, TOT -1.7%, SLB -1.3%, XLE -1.1%, XOM -1%, HAL -0.9%, PSX -0.8%, USO -0.8%
Other news:
- NNDM -9.5% (prices sale of 11,960,160 of the Co's ADSs at a price of $5.00 per ADS)
- NVAX -8% (provides update on COVID-19 Vaccine candidate)
- ZI -4.3% (announces secondary offering of shares of Class A common stock)
- BABA -2% (Chinese name trading lower upon prospect of new sanctions)
- JD -1.5% (Chinese name trading lower upon prospect of new sanctions)
- ELAN -1.3% (launches public offering of 54.5 mln shares of common stock held by Bayer World Investments B.V, an affiliate of Bayer AG)
- BIDU -0.7% (Chinese name trading lower upon prospect of new sanctions)
Gapping up
In reaction to earnings/guidance:
- CVAC +6.9% (also provides vaccine update), OGI +5.3%, GLW +2.7% (guidance update) ADNT +2.5%, CRSR +2.1%
M&A news:
- NGA +19.7% (Northern Genesis Acquisition Corp and The Lion Electric Company announce merger and commitments for $200 million in a PIPE; combined company expected to be listed on NYSE)
- INFO +5.3% (S&P Global (SPGI) and IHS Markit (INFO) to merge in an all-stock transaction which values IHS Markit at an enterprise value of $44 billion)
- AEG +3% (divests its Central and Eastern European business to VIG for EUR830 mln)
Other news:
- CAAS +30.5% (has shipped approximately 120,000 units from its portfolio of electric power steering products for use in Chinese electric vehicles during 2020)
- AUTL +15.4% (announces publication of new AUTO6 Phase 1 data in childhood neuroblastoma in Science Translational Medicine)
- MRNA +10.9% (announces primary efficacy analysis in Phase 3 COVE study for COVID-19 vaccine candidate and filing today with U.S. FDA for Emergency Use Authorization; Vaccine efficacy against COVID-19 was 94.1%; also amends supply agreement with UK for additional two million doses of COVID-19 vaccine)
- VERI +5.6% (Veritone aiWARE now supports NVIDIA (NVDA) CUDA for GPU-based AI and machine learning)
- MCF +5.5% (Contango Oil & Gas announces signing of agreement to acquire Oily, low decline assets in Big Horn, Permian, and Powder River Basins)
- OTIC +2.4% (provides update on OTIVIDEX and OTO-313 programs)
- PLUG +2.1% (to collaborate with Gaussin on hydrogen-powered transportation vehicles)
- SHOP +1.7% (reports Black Friday sales increased 75% yr/yr to $2.4 bln)
- AZN +1.7% (receives approval in Japan for Forxiga)
- BCRX +1.4% (Allergy publishes results from BioCryst's APeX-J trial of oral, once-daily Berotralstat for the Prevention of HAE Attacks)
- APDN +1% (Applied DNA Sciences DNA, EvviVax, and GVS receive regulatory approval to conduct veterinary clinical trial for linear COVID-19 vaccine candidate)
Facebook, Google to Face New Antitrust Suits in U.S.
Federal and state authorities, probing whether the tech giants abused their power in the internet economy, are preparing as many as four cases
WASHINGTON—Big Tech’s legal woes are expected to worsen in the coming weeks as federal and state antitrust authorities prepare to file new lawsuits against Facebook Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google, people familiar with the matter said.
The authorities are readying as many as four more cases targeting Google or Facebook by the end of January, these people said, following the Justice Department’s antitrust lawsuit against Google last month.
Federal and state officials are probing whether the tech giants abused their power in the internet economy—Google to dominate search and advertising, and Facebook to dominate social media.
Google and Facebook have denied doing so, saying they operate in highly competitive markets and that their services, which are mostly free, benefit consumers.
If Facebook were to be sued, it would mark the first government antitrust action against the social-media titan in the U.S. Facebook has come under particular criticism from Republicans and Democrats in Congress as well as President-elect Joe Biden over its content-moderation policies.
Democrats generally contend the company has been too lax in policing misleading speech, while Republicans say Facebook has sometimes suppressed conservatives. Facebook has said it aims to support free speech while limiting hate speech and other harmful content.
Apple Inc. and Amazon Inc., which along with Google and Facebook came under fire from a congressional panel in July, are also under scrutiny from antitrust officials.
The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating whether Amazon unfairly uses its size and platform against competitors and other sellers on its site. The Justice Department also has been examining Apple’s use of its App Store for possible anticompetitive practices.
Amazon also faces fresh legal battles with the European Union after the bloc charged the online retailer with violating competition law in a new salvo in its scrutiny of U.S. tech corporations.
The European Commission—the bloc’s top antitrust enforcer—charged Amazon with using nonpublic data it gathers from third-party sellers to unfairly compete against them.
Amazon declined to comment.
The commission has also opened two antitrust probes to determine whether Apple violated competition laws with its App Store and Apple Pay service.
Apple has said it is “disappointing the European Commission is advancing baseless complaints from a handful of companies who simply want a free ride, and don’t want to play by the same rules as everyone else.”
Former FTC chairman William Kovacic said the likelihood of additional suits in the U.S. against big tech companies reflects growing bipartisan concerns among elected leaders about their size and impacts. That is giving antitrust authorities confidence that they can withstand any political pressure from the companies.
“The supportive chorus of elected officials is giving assurance to DOJ and the FTC that they have the political support they need to blunt [the companies’] efforts…to pressure the agencies to back off or water down their cases,” said Mr. Kovacic, who is now a law professor at George Washington University.
He noted that some California lawmakers pressured the FTC to rein in its antitrust investigation of Google from 2010-2013. The FTC closed its Google probe without bringing a case, saying the company both improved products for consumers and hobbled rivals.
Microsoft also coaxed friendly lawmakers to try to get DOJ off its back two decades ago, Mr. Kovacic said.
The FTC is nearing approval of an antitrust suit against Facebook in coming days, according to people familiar with the matter. The commission has been focused on whether Facebook stifled competition through acquisitions such as Instagram and WhatsApp.
One holdup has been the question of whether to file the case in federal district court or in the FTC’s own administrative court, these people said.
Filing in the administrative court would give the FTC certain procedural advantages. But for now, the FTC appears likely to file in district court, where its suit could be combined with a possible suit by state attorneys general, people familiar with the matter said.
The coalition of state attorneys general, led by New York Attorney General Letitia James, could file its own case against Facebook in federal district court in early December, these people said, although the exact timing could depend on whether the suit would be filed jointly with the FTC.
In a statement, Ms. James declined to comment on a continuing investigation but went on to say that her office “will continue to use every investigative tool at our disposal to determine whether Facebook’s actions stifled competition, reduced choices, or put user data at risk.”
Facebook declined to comment.
Another coalition of state attorneys general, led by Ken Paxton of Texas, is aiming to file an antitrust case against Google over its powerful online-advertising business.
While DOJ’s case against Google focuses on its search services, the Texas-led probe centers on its sprawling ad-tech business.
Much of Google’s power as an ad broker stems from acquisitions of ad-tech companies, especially its 2008 purchase of DoubleClick Inc. Regulators who approved that $3.1 billion deal warned they would step in if the company tied together its offerings in anticompetitive ways. Some publishers and advertisers say that is what has happened.
One person familiar with the matter said the suit case could be filed as soon as mid-December.
One complication: Mr. Paxton has been accused of unrelated ethics violations by former employees in his office, which the person familiar with the matter said has slowed but not derailed the probe.
Mr. Paxton has said he did nothing wrong.
Still another coalition of attorneys general—this one led by Colorado—is preparing to file an antitrust case against Google over its search business in coming weeks, according to the person familiar with the matter.
That case would broadly resemble the case already brought by the Justice Department but is expected to be farther-reaching by addressing concerns of specialized search-engine platforms such as Yelp Inc. that complain of being unfairly marginalized by Google.
If state officials proceed with the suit, it is likely to be combined with the DOJ case at some point, since federal courts often consolidate cases dealing with similar issues to conserve judicial resources.
“This is a historic time for both federal and state antitrust authorities, as we work to protect competition and innovation in our technology markets,” a group of attorneys general including Colorado’s Phil Weiser said in a recent statement. “We plan to conclude parts of our investigation of Google in the coming weeks. If we decide to file a complaint, we would file a motion to consolidate our case with the DOJ’s.”
Google declined to comment.
In addition to the state efforts, the Justice Department hasn’t ruled out expanding its own antitrust case against Google over its online advertising business.
Yet another source of potential worry for the big tech companies would be private lawsuits seeking damages for the same types of alleged wrongdoing, Mr. Kovacic said. A few such cases already are under way.
At least three lawsuits seeking class-action status on behalf of purchasers of mobile apps from the Google Play Store already have been filed in the wake of the DOJ complaint.
The suits allege that Google restricts competition in the Android mobile app market, allowing it to unfairly charge consumers higher prices. Another proposed class-action was filed on behalf of app developers.
Google didn’t respond to a request for comment on those suits.
Early premarket gappers
- Gapping up:
- CAAS +24.3%, MCF +8.5%, INFO +6.9%, MRNA +6.3%, AEG +2.8%, VXX +1.4%, AZN +1.3%, REGN +1.2%, ATHM +1%, SHOP +0.7%, SNY +0.5%
- Gapping down:
- NNDM -12.3%, NVAX -4.5%, BP -3.1%, SLB -2.3%, BABA -2.3%, RDS.A -2%, XLE -1.7%, JD -1.7%, TOT -1.6%, SPGI -1.6%, XOM -1.4%, USO -1.3%, BIDU -1%, IWM -0.9%, DIA -0.8%, HAL -0.6%, PSX -0.6%, SPY -0.5%