Here’s a first look at the 2011 Tudor Grantour Chrono Flyback watch, Ref 20550. Rolex sister-brand Tudor had one of the big hits last year with its Tudor Heritage Chronograph watch, and while this particular model is not part of the Heritage line, it is another solid chrono — including a flyback function — that will hit international display cases later this year. In keeping with the Grantour auto tie-in, the Grantour Chrono Flyback’s small seconds hand counter (at 9 o’clock) is (set in a background motif reminiscent of automobile transmission belts — via Perpetuelle.com Blog

This project [Cary Bernstein Architect] involved the expansion, interior renovation, and furnishing of an old cottage on a triple-wide lot in San Francisco. The project was completed in two phases marking the personal trajectory of the client’s life from bachelor to father of three. Early strategic and functional interior renovations were followed by a third-floor addition with comprehensive interior, exterior and landscape improvements — via ArchDaily

Take one ordinary Panerai 114, leave it in the talented hands of the boys at Kindler & Thorpe and just look what they do with it. This exquisite engraving is by master English engraver Marcus Hunt who spent 30 hours developing this work of art on a watch.

The stainless steel casing depicts the Roman God Neptune, Son of Saturn, and brother of Jupiter and Pluto. Like Poseidon, Neptune was also worshipped by the Romans as a God of horses. This watch is guaranteed as a world-wide, strictly limited edition of just one piece. The long side of the stainless steel case features a grotesque of Neptune supported by two Victorian influenced Dolphins — via Watchuseek

This is R-House, a recently built prototype home in Syracuse that is pursuing both Passive House and LEED certification.  It was recently honored with a 2011 AIA Housing Award, and one of the jurors said the 1,100 square-foot home presents “A new slant on sustainability!“  R-House was designed in partnership by Della Valle Bernheimer and Architecture Research Office and is an interesting case study for the next generation of smaller, greener, ultra-low energy homes — via Jetson Green

Architect Scott M Kemp designed this house in Ladner, British Columbia, Canada, as a residence for himself and his family — via CONTEMPORIST

The Honda CX500 has always lacked the cachet of the earlier CB550 Four. Which is ironic, because the CB550 was little more than a downsized CB750; Honda was losing ground in the technological stakes to the other Japanese makers. So Honda gave the new CX500 a water-cooled V-twin, shaft drive and tubeless tires—all quite revolutionary concepts in the late 70s. But the awkward, angular styling did not match the inspired engineering. Max, the French owner of this CX500, decided to fix that. He gave the Wrenchmonkees a call — via Bike EXIF

For 2011, Citizen introduces Eco-Drive Satellite Wave, a limited edition watch with a totally new timekeeping system.

This next-generation timepiece searches for the closest of the 24 navigation satellites that orbit the earth.

It captures the day, date and time signals the satellite emits from space, 20,000 kilometers above the earth.

Since the satellite signals are controlled by atomic clocks, this watch’s timekeeping is ultra precise.

Each of the 24 navigation satellites orbits the earth once every twelve hours, so that this watch receives the signals from any open space, even in the boundless Western Pacific or atop the world’s highest peak — via Citizen

The new building [UArchitects] for living is situated parallel to the regional public road and contains 4 sectors with 10 youngsters each. In the longitudinal direction the building is organized linearly with bedrooms on the street side with an open view. The team rooms have been placed in the centre — via ArchDaily