Monthly Archives: November 2011

Louis Vuitton City Guides 2012

Louis Vuitton City Guide 2012

Louis Vuitton City Guides 2012

The new collection of Louis Vuitton City Guides have been released on October 15th, touching down in totally unprecedented cities.

Hong Kong and Macau are being offered for the first time in an individual volume, while London, Paris and Rome are returning in an entirely revisited form.

The indispensable European City box set is adding five new destinations to its map: Bari, Birmingham, Odessa, Salzburg and Zagreb.
Continue reading

Porsche Panamera GTS

Porsche unveils Panamera GTS

Porsche Panamera GTS

Porsche has revealed a performance version of its Panamera model at the Los Angeles International Auto Show.

The Panamera GTS, designed to propel the Panamera from the urban elite to the race track, will hit the roads early next year with a price tag of €116,716 in Europe.

Boasting a top speed of 288km/h, the new model has been overhauled to improve sporting performance, including a new adaptive air suspension system, sports tuning and a wider rear axle width to improve stability.
Continue reading

st james palace london

Queen to rent out palace during London Olympics

st james palace london

Queen Elizabeth II has given her approval to rent out state apartments at St. James’s Palace as party venues during the 2012 London Olympics.

Companies with long-standing ties to the royal family that hold royal warrants can now have a chance to throw a bash in the royal palace.

The palace is in a prime spot for a number of the Olympic events which will take place in London next year, including beach volleyball, which will be held in nearby Horse Guards Parade, and the marathon, which will start and finish in The Mall.
Continue reading

Yacht Princess 64

LVMH launches yacht business in India

Yacht Princess 64

LVMH Group’s yacht-building firm Princess has announced formal entry into India and is aiming to sell up to five luxury boats in the next year.

Smallest of these yachts cost INR40million ($790,000) while at the higher end, the price can go up to INR300million ($6,000,000).

“We will sell four to five yachts in the next 12 months,” Sharad Kachalia, a director at Navnit Marine, Princess International’s distributor for the country.
Continue reading

PPR-founder François Pinault buys $32 million home

Francois Pinault

François Pinault, founder of luxury conglomerate PPR, has just paid $32 million for a historic mansion in the Chelsea neighborhood of London.

It was designed, according to The Telegraph, in 1868 by Philip Webb, the ‘Father of Arts and Crafts architecture.’ It also has triple-height ceilings.

The house was previously owned by Professor Bernard Nevill who bought the house for approximately $110,000 and spent over “30 years perfecting the interior”.
Continue reading

Sun-Drop diamond

Yellow Sun-Drop diamond sells for $11 million

Sun-Drop diamond

A 110-carat yellow jewel called the Sun Drop Diamond, thought the biggest of its kind in the world, sold for a record 10 million francs ($10.9 million) at auction in Geneva.

The gem was discovered in South Africa in 2010 and wowed visitors to London’s Natural History Museum where it was displayed earlier this year.

“It’s an absolute record for a yellow diamond,” Sotheby’s David Bennett told journalists after the sale. “It is a spectacular, unique stone.”
Continue reading

Donatella Versace H&M collection

Versace for H&M London shoppers to meet Donatella

Donatella Versace H&M collection

Donatella Versace will be in London to officially launch the Versace for H&M collection when it goes on sale on Thursday, November 17.

The Versace creative director will welcome shoppers to the British capital’s flagship store on Regent Street at around 9am tomorrow morning.

The 43-piece collection finally reaches some 300 stores across the globe and online tomorrow, before reaching North America on November 19.
Continue reading

jaguar xkr s convertible

Jaguar XKR-S Convertible

jaguar xkr s convertible

Jaguar has unveiled its most powerful open-topped GT ever on the first day of the Los Angeles Auto Show.

The automaker took the wraps off the XKR-S Convertible November 16, describing the model as a “new performance echelon” at the top of its XK range.

Boasting a 5.0-liter supercharged V8 engine, the model tops out at 300 km/h and manages 0-100 km/h in 4.4 seconds, the fastest time for a convertible Jaguar GT.
Continue reading

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

Forbes launches new website for travel experienes

Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas

US hotel rating program Forbes has launched a new website which allows visitors to browse the hotels and experiences it rates online.

Announcing the launch with its 54th annual listing of five and four star hotels, restaurants and spas, Forbes said that the site would provide a new, interactive way for users to access its content and plan journeys.

Travelers using Startle.com are able to access Forbes reviews, along with content uploaded by the hotels themselves and a Quora-style question-and-answer platform where users can ask questions and request answers from industry experts.
Continue reading

Shelby GT500

2013 Ford Mustang Shelby GT500

Shelby GT500

Ford has announced the launch of a record-breaking V8 engine, debuting in the Shelby GT500 this week, ahead of its Los Angeles Auto Show debut.

The new 2013 Ford Shelby GT 500 contains a 5.8-liter supercharged V8 producing 650 horsepower and 600 lb.-ft. of torque, making it (by Ford’s reckoning) the most powerful production V8 engine in the world.

The model boasts a top speed of more than 200 mph (320 km/h), helped by its 3,850-pound light weight and a six-speed manual transmission, with Ford’s high-performance SVT team individually tuning nearly every vehicle system for power.
Continue reading

Spaceport Foster and Partners

Singapore family books $1 million Virgin space flight

Spaceport Foster and Partners

A Singaporean businessman, his wife and two children have paid $1 million to become the first Asian family to fly together on space-tourism airline Virgin Galactic.

“I had lunch yesterday with a guy who got in touch with us in Singapore, and over lunch he signed his contract for not just a seat, but for a whole flight,” Virgin Galactic commercial director Stephen Attenborough said.

Attenborough said the customer handed over a cheque for $1 million and asked to remain anonymous because “apparently he hasn’t told his wife yet.”
Continue reading

James Bond Rolex

James Bond Rolex sold at Christie’s auction

James Bond Rolex

The auction house Christie’s auctioned in Geneva on Monday a very special Rolex watch worn by Roger Moore, aka James Bond in the film “Live and Let Die”.

The James Bond Rolex watch comes complete with a buzz saw and a hyper-intensified magnetic field to deflect bullets.

“The watch is unique. It is the watch that Syd Cain — the famous engineer… had modified for the film, said the international director of Christie’s watches.
Continue reading

Victoria Beckham Spring 2012

Victoria Beckham is ‘best emerging British brand’

Victoria Beckham Spring 2012

British brands including Victoria Beckham, Alexander McQueen and Mulberry were winners at the Walpole Awards in London on Monday, November 14.

Beckham, whose eponymous dress collection debuted at New York Fashion Week in 2008, received the Emerging British Luxury Brand gong.

Sarah Burton of Alexander McQueen took the British Luxury Design Talent prize, and Mulberry was honored in the British Luxury Overseas category.
Continue reading

tamara mellon jimmy choo

Tamara Mellon launching lifestyle brand?

tamara mellon jimmy choo

Industry sources have claimed Tamara Mellon has plans to launch an eponymous lifestyle brand.

The founder and chief creative officer of high-end footwear label Jimmy Choo has remained silent since her resignation from the company was revealed on Sunday.

Mellon is scheduled to leave Jimmy Choo at the end of this month, with WWD reporting sources have claimed funding is lined up for a Tamara Mellon brand.
Continue reading

mercedes benz ml63 amg

2012 Mercedes Benz ML63 AMG

mercedes benz ml63 amg

Mercedes-Benz has released the first teaser image of the 2012 ML63 AMG ahead of its official world debut this week at the 2011 Los Angeles Auto Show.

The 2012 ML63 features a significantly greener powertrain, with fuel consumption of 16 mpg (14.7 l/100km), up a third from its predecessor.

It will feature a powerful 5.5-liter V8 biturbo engine, with an increased power of 518 hp, which rises to 550 hp when combined with the AMG Performance Package.
Continue reading

spoon caviar

WWF sounds warning on caviar

spoon caviar

Poaching and illegal trade in sturgeon caviar persist in Romania and Bulgaria, posing a serious risk to the highly threatened species of fish, WWF warned Monday.

A total of 52.5 kilos (115.7 pounds) of illegal caviar, retailing for upwards of 6,000 euros ($8,200) per kilo, originating in the two countries was reported by European Union member states between 2000 and 2009, the report said.

“The real volume of illegal trade is likely to be considerably higher. Any illegal trade poses an unacceptable risk to these highly threatened species.”
Continue reading

Versace for HM logo

Versace for H&M shoppers must abide strict rules

Versace for HM logo

H&M announced Monday rules for shoppers looking to purchase items from the Versace for H&M line when it goes on sale later this week.

The hotly anticipated collection will soon hit around 300 stores worldwide and online, although to ensure the launch goes as smoothly as possible consumers will have to follow some strict regulations.

The Telegraph reports that British shoppers must queue in advance to receive a wristband with an allocated shopping time on it.
Continue reading

Superyacht Montigne

Superyacht Montigne from Aegean Yacht for sale

Superyacht Montigne

Montigne was built in 2009 by Turkish yard Aegean Yachts, for an experienced yacht owner who hails from Southeast Asia and is available for sale via Simpson Marine.

She is the well-executed culmination of the many thoughts and experiences the owner has had when sailing in his other yachts.

The sailboat offers charter guests ample opportunity to enjoy the outside world is extremely generous when it comes to guest accommodations.
Continue reading

Yamazaki single malt Whisky

50-year-old whisky goes on sale in Japan

Yamazaki single malt Whisky

Japan‘s top whisky distiller has started accepting orders for a limited run of a whisky that has been aged in oak barrels for more than 50 years.

Shipments of the Yamazaki Single Malt 50-Year-Old Whisky will begin on Dec 13, in response to orders taken at department stores and liquor shops across Japan.

Suntory said it is only producing 150 bottles, but added that demand had already been strong and that it is considering another similar release in the future.
Continue reading