The same gloss in a new package

It's been a couple of months since Talkies Magazine got a name change and a fancy overhaul to become Baccarat. It's still another aspiring glossy with lots of luxe and tux, extolling the good life as if conspicuous consumption was a matter of civil duty. Only now, there're lots of gaming allusions and references befitting the new title.

At the relatively tame relaunch party on Monday night at Dragon-i, the monthly even hired a couple of Vegas-style showgirls for the obligatory photo backdrop at the door. Publisher Lionel Fischer (far left) brought in luxury brand Richemonde's former boss Francis Gouten (left) to be the new chief operating officer and upped the Chinese language content. However, Fischer - looking very Moe Greene from The Godfather - revealed the new moniker had less to do with jumping on the Macau casino bandwagon than cutting loose their ties to another vehicle.

'The Talkies name was trademarked so we were always limited with what we could do,' Fischer explained. 'We own the name Baccarat so we can grow with it and take it wherever we want. There will be more local content. I don't want something that's 'all show and no go'. That's why we'll be constantly changing.'