It’s no secret that Rolex watches are impeccably made. The Swiss watch manufacturer uses some of the very finest materials, including its in-house developed Oystersteel; a 904L steel which is more resistant to rust and corrosion compared to 316L stainless steel that’s commonly employed by other watchmakers.

The Cosmograph Daytona is one of the highlights of Rolex’s arsenal of timepieces, and one of the models that gets the Oystersteel treatment (among other materials for various different models). It was first launched in 1963 as the ultimate tool for motor racing drivers, and as such, is named after Daytona, Florida, where racing became popular in the 20th century.

While the company does include machinery in the production process, they’re still human-operated, and components such as the bracelet and movements are still hand-assembled. It’s partly why you may often have to wait a while to get your hands on one. So have you ever wanted to get a closer look at how the Daytona is put together?

Well, now you can do just that, thanks to a series of videos posted to Instagram by Horologer, a WOSTEP (Watches of Switzerland Training & Education Program) watchmaker from Norway, who has a particular love for Rolex.

A quick scroll through his Instagram page is enough to make any watch aficionado salivate, but if you can resist the temptation and spend more time looking at his videos, you’ll be able to get a deeper look into how the elegant timepieces are put together.

He not only shows us how the self-winding 4130 movement (which he believes to be one of the finest movements around) is assembled, together with the oscillating weight…

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A post shared by Watchmaker (@horologer) on Apr 4, 2018 at 8:35am PDT

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…but even the process of attaching the final case and crown, including the likely-to-be-fiddly-to-us-mortals process of placing the tiny screws into the back with a pair of tweezers.

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A post shared by Watchmaker (@horologer) on Jun 10, 2017 at 5:32am PDT

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Removing the hands is a particularly intricate job.

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And he also shows us that instead of changing the strap, he likes to change the dial of his Daytona when the season changes.

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If you were always curious as to how many pieces make up a Rolex Daytona, he’s even got you covered there.

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And he even clearly explains exactly what happens inside your watch that causes it to stop when you pull out the crown.

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A post shared by Watchmaker (@horologer) on May 21, 2019 at 9:05am PDT

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The post Watch A Rolex Daytona Get Taken Apart & Put Together In Extreme Detail appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

As society grounds to a halt, some are taking the chance to go on the adventure of a lifetime. And if their efforts prove successful, there could soon be another exploit to add to your bucket list.

That exploit? A dive deep down into Earth’s most exclusive destination. Made possible by EYOS Expeditions, a company dedicated to organising luxury expeditions in adventurous places, this dive is a breath of non-COVID 19 news in a Coronavirus saturated time.

As The Lonely Planet reported yesterday, EYOS “is working on offering the first-ever opportunity to dive at the deepest bottom of the ocean – right down into Challenger Deep in the Mariana Trench, at 10,928 metres below the surface.”

“This is the most exclusive destination on Earth,” said Rob McCallum, founding partner of EYOS Expeditions, in a statement. “More people have been to the moon than to the bottom of the ocean. Four thousand people have been to Everest and 562 to space; only seven have made it to Challenger Deep.”

The exploration team has a place for three brave, exclusivity-seeking souls. These ‘mission specialists’ will then join the group of scientists and experts in Guam and study their work before diving down into Challenger Deep.

The dive down “will take about four hours” The Lonely Planet reports, “then another four will be spent at the bottom of the ocean to take in the incredible view and film some amazing footage of this otherworldly environment, before starting another four hours trip back up to the surface.”

The dive will be done in a submersible provided by Caladan Oceanic, a company specialised in subsea technology. The vehicle has been pressure tested and has already dived to the bottom of the Mariana Trench five times, making it “extremely safe” The Lonely Planet says.

Read Next

• Why Now Is The Perfect Time To Learn A New Language
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The post Expedition Plans To Bring Three People To The Most Exclusive Destination On Earth appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

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While we’re all forced to stay inside our homes, it can become all too easy to get stuck on the sofa to binge-watch all manner of TV shows and movies on services such as Netflix or the appropriately-named, Binge. However, there are plenty of other things you could be doing with all the extra time you now have on your hands.

You could, of course, attempt to stay in fighting fit shape with a range of workouts, or enrol yourself in a cooking class, or just maybe, you could try and learn a new language. While English may be spoken in the vast majority of countries around the world, you can’t always rely on the bartender in some middle-of-nowhere town to understand you when you ask for a pint of Heineken or a glass of Marlborough Sauvignon Blanc.

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Not only that but being able to speak more than one language could give you serious points when it comes to seducing someone for a date. And now that there are several language learning apps and services that can be accessed online, it’s never been easier to become bi- or multilingual.

But before you go thinking it will be too hard and you won’t be able to accomplish anything, take a look at Sam, who tried to learn Mandarin – otherwise known as ‘the world’s hardest language’ – in just one week. Sam had already spent a year in Hong Kong, so was familiar with the language, and how lines and symbols represent what we know as syllables, but to learn and memorise them was a whole different ball game.

With some dedication and a serious amount of hours going into learning and understanding, Sam improved his knowledge of Mandarin in just seven days, being able to have a decent conversation with one of his friends who was fluent.

But what if, unlike Sam, you’re not familiar with a language at all, how much can you really learn in a few weeks? We spoke to Dr. Cindy Blanco, Lead Scientist at Duolingo, one of the most widely used language learning apps in the world, to find out.

Dr. Blanco tells us, “The key to successfully learning a language is making it into a daily habit. When choosing between practising for 5-20 minutes each day versus studying for two hours just once per week, we always recommend the daily approach because it helps you better retain what you are learning.”

“While a week is not a lot of time when it comes to language learning, it is possible to learn more than you think you could within that timeframe.”

“For instance, by sticking with language study for a week, you can pick up on common expressions and basic vocabulary.”

“If you stick with it for a month, you can learn useful sentence structures, a lot more vocabulary, and start better tuning your ear to the language.”

“One easy tip we recommend as you get started with Duolingo is to get into the habit of saying each phrase or sentence in a lesson out loud, even if it is not explicitly a speaking exercise. This helps you better retain the material and gets you comfortable with speaking the language – especially important since most people learn languages in order to speak them with others, whether it’s for travel or another reason.”

We also posed Dr. Blanco with the question of how fluent can you expect to become in your chosen language, in a relatively small timeframe.

“One big misconception that many people have when learning a language is around the concept of “fluency.” The reality is that while fluency is often expressed as a goal of learning a new language, learning a language doesn’t have to mean learning everything in the language you’re studying.”

“Learners often have particular goals in mind when studying a new language, so what counts as success for one learner might look pretty different from the finish line for another.”

“This is why it’s so hard to decide what exactly it means to be “fluent” in a new language; after all, the number of words and kinds of grammar you need in order to have a basic conversation while you’re traveling will differ a lot from the level required to read an academic paper in that language.”

“It’s always best to keep your own goals in mind and set your expectations accordingly.”

Cindy adds that Duolingo labels its courses using the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, to “set goals for different proficiency levels when we design our courses. The levels are labelled A1, A2, B1, B2, C1, and C2, and they cover increasingly complex language needs.”

So, now that you know how much you can expect to know in a limited time, what languages should you start learning? If you’ve got a holiday booked in the future, that’s probably the best place to start, but if you simply want to add a second language to your brainbox, Cindy tells us, “For Australians, the top languages being studied over the past month are Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, German, and Chinese.”

“If you’re an English speaker, based on data from the US Foreign Service Institute, languages that have more similarities to English tend to be easier and take less time to learn. These include Spanish, French, Italian, Dutch, Portuguese, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Romanian.”

Dr. Blanco finishes by adding, “Ultimately, what’s most important when learning a new language, no matter which one it is, is maintaining consistency and putting in the time and effort to practice on a daily basis.”

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The post Learn A Language: Why Now Is The Best Time appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

As the stock market plummets, hospitals get closer to capacity and Bondi residents concede maybe they shouldn’t be hanging down the beach, Australia’s housing market is set to undergo some changes of its own.

But how bad is it going to be? DMARGE spoke to Edward Brown, director at Australia’s leading real estate provider Belle Property to get his take. While Edward doesn’t want “to be in denial” about it going down he also said we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves predicting an immediate catastrophe.

Put simply: this is unchartered waters.

With that caveat in place: here’s what we know is happening right now with the Australian housing market. First things first: “things are moving slow,” Edward told us. “There’s a lot of resistance [to buy and sell] from people because there’s a lot of uncertainty around employment and what the future may hold.”

It’s not necessarily going to be the same rapid plunge as the stock market, Edward explained, because real estate is more tied up in emotion (“even more so than the stock market… it’s all about confidence”). This means, in a few months (assuming social distancing rules are lifted) people are going to go back to buying and selling, even if it’s no longer a boom market.

“If they need to upgrade because they’re downsizing or upsizing due to growing family needs they’re going to move regardless.”

Also, unlike the stock market, sellers are much more inclined to just hold onto their product and wait for a better time, rather than suddenly start settling for lowball prices, hence the more steady decline (compared to the stock market’s ability to cliff drop).

That said, it’s still bad news. Thanks to COVID 19, right now and for the immediate future, “if people aspirationally would like to move they’re not going to do that,” Edward told us – “the Australian property market is driven by a lot of confidence which it has – or rather had – for the last 7 years, year on year, and now it’s in an uncertain time for the first time in anyone’s lifetime.”

“Right now we’ve just seen a pullback of consumer confidence because if they don’t need an upgrade right now they’ll stay put and wait.”

On the flip side, “there are definitely opportunities in the next six months – and what we’ve already started seeing are opportunistic purchases but the marketplace isn’t going to you know… [suddenly repair itself].”

On top of that, if you can afford to (and COVID regulations don’t stop you) then it’s not a bad time, financially, to buy a house, if you aren’t under pressure to sell (if you’re a first home buyer, for example).

“If you need to move, move. The housing crisis is only going to be caused if everyone sits back and does nothing. The loans are very cheap. You can go and get interest rates for under 3%. That’s cheap money – you can go and get a million-dollar mortgage and they principle an interest for about $4,000.”

“So your rent and your mortgage on principal interest is about the same, potentially, if you’ve got the deposit to pay it now. Everybody focuses on property in the short term element – but what’s the long term?”

“I’m very much of the view at the moment that you want to be in and owning your own home if you can afford to,” Edward told us. But all up, there’s not as much to get excited or worried about as you might expect, right now at least.

“The market and the banks are going to do their bit to keep people from financial ruin – so I don’t think even though people are opportunistically looking at the market waiting to pounce on people being forced to sell, I don’t foresee that right away (although that may change in the next six, nine or twelve months, depending on what other financial impacts take place).

So the message to aspiring savvy buyer is this: “Unless somebody is committed elsewhere and has to sell right now, or there is a deceased estate and the family want to get the money out (that’s where some good opportunistic purchasing will be taking place)” there’s not going to be a whole lot of deals, beyond the just-mentioned-usual, on the market.

“For now I just think people who don’t need to sell just won’t put their properties up on the market.”

We then asked Edward whether there are certain parts of Sydney, his home city, which will be particularly affected in the next few months.

“Nothing is immune – it’s an uncertain time as all aspects of the marketplace have been impacted. But again it comes back to consumer confidence – we’re still selling properties and still have people looking to buy properties.”

Suburbs that will be particularly impacted, according to Edward are the ones where there are massive new developments taking place – “or where there’s more supply than demand.”  This may involve areas that have been rezoned and where there have been high numbers off the plan purchases, something which had seen a “real surge of confidence of late [but before COVID unveiled its tendrils].”

One thing that might offset this is offshore purchases. If government regulations don’t stop this happening, Edward says, as the Australian dollar is so weak, and as there are so many people overseas who might want to put their money into assets right now rather than the stock market, “there might be a switch of people bringing back money from places like Hong Kong, London and America.”

“This might see an increase in investing back in the property market here – depending on regulations from foreign investment.”

As for concrete examples of suburbs likely to be particularly affected by the impending housing market downturn, Edward says Alexandria, and similar suburbs that are currently under construction and have more supply than demand, will be hit, in terms of average sale price, hardest.

“Alexandria – there’s a lot of supply in that corridor, maybe Wolli creek as well, even in the Western Suburbs – the Kelly Farm developments – prefab homes – [those sorts of places] will definitely see the impact.”

To give another example, Edward told us, “Alexandria’s Zetland area – we sell in all the adjoining suburbs – and at any given time there might be 100 two-bedroom apartments available.”

Now the bad news is out of the way, we asked Edward, what the signs might be that the market is making a come back, to look out for in the future – whether that’s in six months or six years.

“Signs it’s on the up – auction clearance rates – the number of properties coming to market and number of properties trading,” Edward told us. That plus confidence: “seeing people being out and about again – nobody knows how to interact at the moment with it all happening,” so when you see that start to return it could be a good sign.

“It’s really difficult to say how long it’s going to take to recover – because these are such unprecedented times [but]… the recovery will be marked by general consumer confidence, job stability, people feeling like it’s the right decision to be moving.”

How does it compare to 2008? Edward told us now is totally different because back then, though the housing market definitely stopped (in Sydney), the apartment market “kept chugging along quite nicely.”

“From about October 2008 to about July 2009 the housing market was very much in a bit of a limbo space – but the apartments were still selling and that’s the big difference between now and then.”

“We don’t have that same crutch for people today so I think it’s a slightly different time – there’s a lot of debt – our economy is going to be in debt for several decades.”

Read Next

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The post Real Estate Expert Explains What's Going On With Australia's Housing Market Right Now appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

While it may be true that not a lot can come close to the roar of a V8 engine, electric cars are here and, we’re sure you’ll begrudgingly agree they will be the future of automotive transportation. But for all the good they may do for the planet, one war has waged on for several years now, which suggests that the amount of energy expended to produce the carbon-neutral vehicles, creates more planet-damaging emissions that are never offset.

However, a recent study carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter, UK and the University of Nijmegen, Netherlands, has called that very theory into question and has concluded that the ‘haters’ should be silenced, as electric cars can now categorically be deemed good for the planet.

Specifically, the study found that electric cars are better for the climate in 95 percent of the world. The not-quite-100-percent figure is due to countries such as Poland, which still creates most of its energy from fossil fuels such as coal.

For other countries, the study has found that emissions from electric cars can be up to 70 percent less than fuel-burning cars in countries such as France and Sweden, and up to 30 percent less in the UK. The figures for France and Sweden are particularly high due to the fact they obtain a lot of their energy from renewable resources.

The study itself looked at both the current and predicted future emissions from different types of vehicles around the world. Researchers divided the world into 59 regions, taking into account their power generation and technologies available. 53 of the regions – including Europe and the US – already show evidence that electric cars are less emission-intensive than their fossil fuel counterparts.

Dr Jean-Francois Mercure from the Global Systems Institute at Exeter Uni said, “The answer is clear: to reduce carbon emissions, we should choose electric cars and household heat pumps over fossil-fuel alternatives.”

Dr Florian Knobloch from the Environmental Science Department at the University of Nijmegen, and lead author of the study added:

“In other words, the idea that electric vehicles or electric heat pumps could increase emissions is essentially a myth,”

“Here is a definitive study that can dispel those myths. We have run the numbers for all around the world, looking at a whole range of cars and heating systems. Even in our worst-case scenario, there would be a reduction in emissions in almost all cases. This insight should be very useful for policy-makers.”

The researchers predict that by 2050, one in two cars on the road will be electrically powered. If true, CO2 emissions could be reduced by up to 1.5 gigatons each year. To put that into perspective, Russia currently produces roughly the same amount on its own each year.

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The post Electric Car Pollution: Study Proves Haters Wrong appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

Coincidentally or not, Finnair has launched a more economic business class offering just as the world’s collective bank account starts to dwindle: from March the 31st 2020 (yesterday) passengers can now choose a ‘basic’ fare when flying Finnair business.

By basic, we don’t mean an influencer who wears ugg boots and smokes menthols. It’s Finnair, the airline whose impeccable, understated ‘Finnish’ won over DMARGE founder Luc Wiesman last year. And this new iteration of business provides you with much the same (if not exactly the same) product, at a lower price point.

The main difference is baggage. As One Mile At A Time reports, “Finnair business class light fares will come with most of the same inclusions as other business class fares, including two carry-ons weighing 8kg, food, drinks, lounge access, and more.”

 

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What’s not included is checked baggage: “while other [Finnair] business class fares include two checked bags of 32kg each,” Finnair’s basic business fare includes carry-on only.

That said, “any baggage allowance from elite status would still be valid on business class light fares,” One Mile At A Time reports. So if you have status then you could “potentially still check a bag.”

Basic business class passengers will also earn 150% elite miles, “rather than the 200-250% elite miles offered by other fares” writes One Mile At A Time. They also won’t allow any changes or cancellations.

 

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More relevant info? This business class ‘light’ is available as from now, for flights within Europe, and for flights between Europe and Asia (but not on transatlantic journeys).

When DMARGE jumped on Finnair’s website, however, it appears yesterday’s new offering is yet to be reflected on the site (either that or we are complete Luddites), with the only options on the booking page, for a flight between London and Helsinki, being economy or business.

It then takes you to a page where you have the option of the longstanding ‘business flex’ or ‘business classic’. But – as far as we could tell, at the time of writing, there is no ‘basic’ business class offering to be seen on the booking page.

One imagines it (or we) will be corrected shortly. Anyway: back to the ‘basic’ ticket: DMARGE can only presume this is a move to corner the hedonists of Europe – those who pack light and spend big. The ballers on a whirlwind weekender, or the businessman or woman out of town for a good dose of work and pleasure.

Sophisticated, spartan and classy.

Though the timing may seem odd, given virtually no one is travelling right now, it could also be a move to help those who are still stuck abroad get home (in comfort), while bringing just the bare essentials with them.

In other words: to make more use of the plane’s existing infrastructure, while flights are (most likely) half empty (if they are running at all) at the moment.

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The post Finnair Launches Business Class For A Very Specific Type Of Passenger appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

When it comes to fitness, the majority of us want to build our biceps, get those washboard abs and – for those who don’t skip leg day – a set of thighs that will allow us to squat obscene amounts of weight. But how many of us pay attention to how flexible we are?

Stretching is a vital part of fitness, but can sometimes be overlooked. We all know it’s important to warm up before exercising, but dedicating a good 45 minutes to an hour to stretch our bodies out has myriad benefits. Not only can it help prevent any injuries, but it can improve our posture and our general wellbeing overall.

Not only that, but healthy, stretched muscles become stronger, which in turn allows us to lift heavier weights. It’s a fitness marriage, of sorts.

 

 

 

 

 

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So how do you get flexy? We spoke to Ben Lucas, Director of Flow Athletic and former Cronulla Sharks NRL player to find out.

One of the best tests to determine how flexible you really are is by touching your toes (or attempting to, at least). Ben agrees, and says, “Being stuck in isolation is a perfect time to start working on your flexibility, and being able to touch your toes in two weeks is completely realistic.”

“If you can’t do it standing, why not try sitting. Sit up straight with your legs straight out in front of you. Suck in your core and slowly reach towards your toes. Try this a few times.”

If you still can’t manage to touch them, Ben has some other solutions. “V your legs out in front of you quickly, try with both arms to reach to one leg and grab it for a stretch and then the other. With your legs V’d out, they should be closer to you.”

“You could also try doing a frog squat. Have your arms in front of you on the ground, then stretch your legs out straight as you bend forward and try to touch the ground. This is possibly easier as your legs are slightly split so you have less distance to get to the ground.”

“Practice these until you can bring your feet together to touch your toes.”

If you’re already a master toe-toucher, then it’s time to add some new stretches into your routine. We previously spoke to Dean Jamieson, owner and head trainer of Lean Performance Gym in Taren Point, Sydney. He told us about his three favourite stretches and the ones that will help prevent back pain.

They include the ‘world’s greatest stretch’, which has you starting in a push-up position. From there, bring one foot up towards your shoulder, and then drop your arm (the same side as the foot you’ve moved up) onto your elbow and hold for around 10 seconds. Part two of the stretch is to then extend that same arm up above you while twisting your body and then swing it back around and under your body, before swinging back up again. Complete for 10 reps.

Other moves include the deep squat and the couch stretch, and you can read more about those here.

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The post Flexibility Workout: Improve Your Flexibility In Two Weeks appeared first on DMARGE Australia.

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