Bijoux Bios

I went with my husband to Zambia, South Africa, on a hunting trip. We arrived at the village late and had to cross a river in darkness to get to the other side where the hunting camp was. The river was crocodile infested and we were going across in a dugout canoe -- which is a tree trunk. The insides are dug out and you sit in there and paddle across the river. I said to my husband, "You're getting your trophies, but now I'm gonna get mine and it's gonna have to be big ."  After the trip, we met up with a gentleman who sells jewelry in South Africa and I did get my trophy: a three-carat diamond."          Janet Cristini , from Atlantic City, NJ, interviewed at the Flying Fisherman Café at 73 rd  Street and Columbus Avenue in New York City.

I've worn a watch every day for as long as I can remember, usually in the Timex family. I’ve always had a watch and used as the primary way to tell time even after I could use my phone for that purpose as well. But I never thought of watches as collectible jewelry — until I interviewed Paul Brown about his watch collection.  Breitling Chrono Avenger, known for its waterproof capabilities Paul Brown received his first watch, a digital, when he was seven or eight, but his fascination with watches began with a Swatch. Remember the Swatch? Launched in 1983 in Switzerland, the Swatch product line -- Swatch is a contraction of "second watch" -- was offered as casual, disposable accessories. The originals (different models are still offered by the Swatch Group) had an open case back, a transparent cover on the backside of the watch that allowed you to see the inner workings of the movement.  Brown's collection now includes six watches valued at more than $20,000. They are un...