New Swiss collector's stamp issued 8 March as a regular CHF1 stamp, showing the red Jungfraubahn train, with the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains behind
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Swiss Post’s new centenary stamp to celebrate the creation of the rail line up to “the roof of Europe”, on the Jungfrau mountain, went on sale Thursday 8 March.
“The cog wheel railway to Jungfraujoch is still an impressive piece of engineering 100 years after its opening,” notes the post office, which also released three other philately stamps Thursday: the beaver, the 100-year anniversary of the Pro Juventute Foundation, and “one of the cornerstones of life in Switzerland, the Swiss Civil Code”.
The post office provides a short history of the rail line, one of Switzerland’s most popular tourist attractions:
“The route, which is just over 9 kilometres, takes you up 1,393 metres in altitude from the station at Kleine Scheidegg, cuts through the Eiger and the Mönch, and offers fantastic views before stopping at Jungfraujoch, the summit of the Jungfrau. At 3,454 metres above sea level, it is the highest railway station in Europe. At the end of the 19th century, the construction of the railway was merely a dream envisaged by Adolf Guyer-Zeller, an entrepreneur from Zurich. Thanks to his perseverance, it became a reality. After much work the tunnel finally broke through at the beginning of 1912, and on 1 August of the same year, the cog wheel railway began operating.”
A number of events will be taking place in Switzerland during 2012 to celebrate the centenary.
The amazing comeback of the Swiss beaver
Beavers are rodents seldom seen because of their nocturnal lives. They died out in Switzerland 50 years ago, but reappeared and thanks to better protection today there are now about 1,600 of them in Switzerland.
Two more centenaries
Pro Juventute and Swiss Post have a long history of collaboration; the foundation advocates the rights and and concerns of children and young people, and the post office has created a number of stamps in its honour. This year, to mark the centenary of the group, a special stamp has been created, with CHF.50 going to the foundation for each stamp sold.
Another centenary is that of the Swiss Civicl Code, the basis of Swiss civil law.
Swiss beaver, back again!
100 years anniversary for Swiss foundation that advocates for children and youth
Forget the Christmas licking – self-adhesive holiday stamps are here
BERN, SWITZERLAND – Stamp collectors and those who still send Christmas cards (and this is not a dying breed, according to the post office) have a treat in store Thursday 24 November, with the new Swiss Post philately collection going on sale.
Eight stamps are featured this year and for the first time they will be self-adhesive.
Three holiday stamps designed by Raphael Volery from Zurich also have matching gift card sets or the stamps can be purchased alone: “chapel” for CHF0.85, “Christmas tree” for CHF1.00 and “chalet” for CHF1.40.
They are collectors’ items, but can be used for Swiss internal and international post.
Four new Pro Juventute stamps have a surcharge, with the added cost going to support the organization’s projects in its centenary year of 2012.
Two have a face value of CHF0.85 (+0.40) and two have a face value of CHF1.00 (+0.50). Children’s faces draw attention to four important moral and ethical core values, Swiss Post notes: “Trust”, “Confidence”, “Security” and “Friendship”.
An additional stamp designed by Estonian-born rapper Stress (real name Andres Andrekson) shows his perception of Switzerland’s multicultural society. The colourful stamps have a face value of CHF1.00.
The stamps are available starting Thursday at the online philately shop as well as at Swiss philatelic salespoints and post offices.
Calibre 89, auctioned an Antiquorum, Geneva
Cartier watch made in honour of Red Cross, Sotheby's sale
Geneva, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) – A watch made for an Ethiopian emperor and a 1948 pink gold watch with a perpetual calendar and moon phases are among the top pieces on the watches auction list at Sotheby’s Sunday 15 November.
The world’s most complicated timepiece, a Patek Philippe Calibre 89 watch with 33 complications, is up for auction Saturday 14 November at Antiquorum.
The two Geneva auction houses hold their big annual watch sales, which dominate the market, every November.
Several historical watches are top of the billing at Sotheby’s:
