Sandra‘s Closet

Last weekend, I was in Gstaad for the seventh edition of the famous ASMALLWORLD Winter Weekend. The three days in the snow (in this year’s case no snow) of the private international travel and social club has become known as one of the most fun events of the year.

Guests from all over the world come to the chic Swiss winter getaway for great fun, parties, dancing, fondue and philanthropy.

With ASW Chairman Patrick Liotard-Vogt

The weekend kicked off with the Chairman’s Apéro in the Gstaad Palace lobby, which is personally speaking the best one in the world. The night continued with a special theme: «La Nuit des Tsars», Russian glamour at its best. Caviar and vodka were served and we partied late at the hotel’s night club GreenGo.

Beautiful table setting for the «La Nuit des Tsars».

Beluga noble Russian vodka…

… pairing yummy Kaviari caviar – a culinary delight.

Dancing to the fabulous sounds…

of the Phly Boyz.

Saturday was all about indulging in the mountain scenery with a lift ride to the Wasserngrat restaurant where we all enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and an après-ski inspired lunch with wine and fondue. A live performance of the Phly Boyzs who already had entertained us the night before made sure we move and would fit in our gowns for the ASW Foundation Gala Dinner at Gstaad Palace’s «Salle Baccarat».

Fondue lunch at Wasserngrat from above.

An afternoon full of laughter…

… and fun!

To raise money for the good cause, guests were eager to buy raffles tickets as the prizes were truly tempting, from limited edition diamond watches by Parmigiani to weekend getaways at some of the most luxurious spots in Switzerland. Later, we partied far into the smallest hours to the sounds of the live band Hot’n’Cold.

Amazing raffle prizes by Parmigiani for the lucky winners. 

Having fun at the after party.

The next morning, we all embraced the memories of the weekend during brunch and everyone agreed that this weekend was the best one so far of all editions. Oh my Gstaad! Cannot wait to be back next year…

In the meantime enjoy many more photos below and stay tuned for the outfit posts coming up soon!

Gorgeous Ljuba Manz with me

Maya El Assali and Martin Tobler Parmigiani Switzerland

Guests enjoying the Patoro cigars.

Angela Boffa, Monique and Thomas Hollinger framed by the Phly Boyz.

The Chairman’s Apéro

Derek Tanner and Alexander Manz.

Remee Jackman with Mathilde Goehler, my humble self and Patrick Liotard-Vogt.

Dr. Pablo Schneider, Patoro Cigars and Dominique Martin

CEO Asmallworld Jan Luescher

Lucy Tallo, Katja Grauwiler with Sabina Hanselmann-Diethelm (editor in chief Style Magazine and Bolero) and her husband David Hanselmann.

Designer Luca Rubinacci with his girlfriend on the way to lunch.

Love is in the air: Remee Jackman and his gorgeous girlfriend Mathilde Goehler

Luca Rubinacci with Patrick Liotard-Vogt

Noelle Frautschi, Maya El Assali and Sabina Hanselmann-Diethelm

Gorgeous couple: Dr. Pablo Schneider with Noelle Frautschi

Beautiful ambiance for the ASW Foundation Gala Dinner.

With Mathilde Goehler at the cocktail.

Princess Lilly zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg

Ljuba Manz drawing a prize.

Sarah and Daniel Klein

Having fun at the after party with Lisa Lotz and Iman Grailsamer.

What a fun weekend! Bravo ASMALLWORLD!

LoL, Sandra

Photos: © David Biedert

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

As you already know, this year I am off to pastures new. I am so much looking forward to my new challenge as Editor-in-Chief of L’OFFICIEL SWITZERLAND, and to keeping Sandra’s Closet filled with interesting posts on a daily base.

Starting something new means mostly to leave something else behind. Therefore, you can read now in the recent SI Style magazine my last column that I dedicated to my job and the passion I still feel for it every day. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sabina Hanselmann-Diethelm, Editor-in-Chief of SI Style magazine, and her team for this wonderful collaboration during the last three years. It was a true pleasure working with these amazing people and I hope that my team at L’OFFICIEL SWITZERLAND will be able to say this about me as well one day. The first edition will be at the newspaper kiosk on March 7, 2014.
Mark your calendar!

LoL, Sandra

Collage : © Sandra Bauknecht

Yesterday evening, I went to the launch party of SI Style‘s newest magazine edition: STYLE BEAUTY which will be available from today. The event took place at the beautiful Sonnenberg restaurant in Zurich. The room was filled with the who’s who of the Swiss beauty industry.

My look: Emerald green satin wrap-front dress by Lanvin, pound printed modal and cashmere-blend scarf and matching leather clutch, both by Mary Katrantzou, cuff by Stella McCartney, ring by Chanel, filigrane embellished gold-plated necklace by Dolce & Gabbana and Janis white pointy leather pumps by Saint Laurent.

If you like my emerald eye makeup, check out this previous post for a tutorial.

LoL, Sandra

At the event: Sabina Hanselmann-Diethelm (Editor in chief SI Style) framed by Sarina Arnold to the right and me to the left.

Photos: © Sandra Bauknecht, Event Photo: © David Biedert Photography