Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, recently christened a new cruise ship named after himself, which will be the newest addition to the Silversea line and said to be the most luxurious expedition ship ever to sail.
A gutted expedition ship now completely redecorated and outfitted to suit the most wealthy of customers it is ready for the most rugged of adventures with the most luxurious of accommodations.
The 132-passenger Prince Albert II, which formerly sailed as the World Discoverer before Silversea bought it in September, sets sail on June 12 from London on an inaugural season of 10- to 22-day adventure cruises focusing on the polar regions.
These $2 Million dollar Shoes from Stuart Weitzman were unveiled at Le Vian party in Las Vegas last week. The silver leather heels feature over 185 carats of tanzanite and 28 carats of diamonds.
The front strap features a slim strap of diamonds but the heavy gemstones are designed to curve around the ankle with a 16 carat pear-shaped tanzanite drop surrounded by diamonds that dangles down over the top of the foot.
The shoes are balanced with a delicate diamond front strap that perfectly complements Stuart Weitzman’s timeless, elegant shoe design. Continue reading →
Ferretti Group company Pershing recently launched the new Pershing 80 motoryacht in Italy.
Designed by Italian naval architect Fulvio De Simoni, the 24.4m (80ft) yacht is said to offer exceptional performance. The standard version is powered by two 2030hp MTU engines combined with ASD 15L surface propellers for speeds of up to 44kt, while a faster version equipped with two 2435mhp MTU engines allows for speeds of 50kt at 1/3 loaded displacement.
The yacht’s construction process uses the “Scrimp Systemâ€, a fiberglass vacuum molding process that significantly reduces voids in the laminate and increases strength.
Pershing says that several elements give the new yacht an edge over its competitors, including an elegant slide-away glass partition, designed in collaboration with Besenzoni, that allows the cockpit to be closed off from the upper saloon. Alternatively, the owner can choose to join the two areas together to create a large open space, all on the same level. Another exceptional Pershing 80’ feature is the extendable-retractable hard top over the upper saloon.
The Pershing 80 is expected to make its official debut at the end of next month followed by an unveiling to the public at the Monaco International Boat Show. It’s price : US$ 6, 800,000
A black jumbo watermelon auctioned in northern Japan fetched a record $6,100 Friday, making it the most expensive watermelon ever sold in the country — and possibly the world.
The 17-pound premium “Densuke” watermelon, grown only on the northern island of Hokkaido, was purchased by a marine products dealer who said he wanted to support local agriculture.
In a country where melons are a luxury item commonly given as gifts, the watermelon’s hefty price tag follows another jaw-dropping auction last month, where a pair of “Yubari” cantaloupe melons sold for a record $23,500.
And what makes a watermelon worth $200, much less $6,000? Its unusual black skin, said Kazuyoshi Ohira, a spokesman for the Tohma Agricultural Cooperative in Hokkaido. Inside, the watermelon is crisp and hard. And, he says, it has unparalleled taste. “It’s a watermelon, but it’s not the same,” he said. “It has a different level of sweetness.”
Other Densuke watermelons won’t cost quite as much. Most will retail at department stores and supermarkets for a more modest 20,000 yen to 30,000 yen (U.S. $188 to U.S. $283), Ohira said.
Zaha Hadid Architects have developed designs for a new opera house and cultural centre for Dubai.
The fluid, dune-shaped will accommodate an opera house, playhouse, arts gallery, performing arts school and themed hotel on an island in Dubai Creek, just off the mainland part of the district. All of these facilities will be state of the art to host world class performances and exhibitions. The opera house will have a seating capacity of 2,500 while the playhouse will have a seating capacity of 800. The arts gallery with 5000m2 of exhibition space is indeed a full size exhibition facility comparable to the Guggenheim Museum in New York. The hotel will accommodate guests in a 6 star setting.
Sited on an island in Dubai Creek, the development will be connected to Greater Dubai by a road connection to the mainland.
The proposal houses all of the facilities within a single striking structure,†Zaha Hadid Architects describe the project. “The gentle winding form evokes images of mountains or sand dunes. Rising out of the ground, this form is both a part of the landscape yet very much a distinct element in the skyline. The surrounding landscape forms build up to the main building. These constitute open park spaces as well as ancillary functions such as the parking facilities and the monorail station, which are either tucked under or integrated into the landscape forms.
Imagine how wonderful life would be, if every morning you could simply press a button and a warm and inviting shower would be waiting for you when you reached your bathroom. Few of us can deny that at some point we’ve dreamt of such a luxury !
This Grohtherm wireless shower can be switched on and off from any room in the house, allowing you to step out of bed and straight into a shower already running at the exact temperature you require.
The remote system can be programmed for each member of the family or for different times of the day (if you want a cold shower to wake you in the morning and a warm one to relax at night).
The remote wirelessly connects to a concealed base unit, which uses your settings to adjust and mix the water to your setting. When the ideal setting is found, a visible or audible signal will highlight this. There’s also a split-second response if the water flow changes, adjusting the flow to the right temperature accordingly.
The wireless shower system costs around – £720 ($1,450) and is available on bargainplumbingshop
This photo provided by Christie’s in New York shows a silk Persian rug, dating from the 16th or 17th century.It has sold for a record $4.45 million at auction, (about $729.87 per square inch!)
The rug was sold by Christie’s auction house Tuesday on behalf of the Newport Restoration Foundation. It had been expected to fetch up to $1.5 million.
The rug, which measures 7 feet, 7 inches by 5 feet, 7 inches, had been purchased by the late tobacco heiress Doris Duke in 1990. She left it to the foundation when she died.
Elisabeth Parker, head of Christie’s rugs and carpets department, says there are only two other known rugs like it. She calls it an “amazing work of art” and says it has an intricate floral design and an unusually large number of colors, at 17.
Texas based Ronn Motor Company (RMC) has unveiled the Scorpion sportscar that runs on a 30-40 percent blend of hydrogen and gasoline, promising reduced emissions and 40 mpg plus efficiency.
Rather than using fuel cells to power an electric motor, the Scorpion would have an internal combustion engine burning both gasoline and hydrogen, achieving 40 highway miles per gallon.
Unlike with a hydrogen fuel cell car, the Scorpion’s “hydrogen on demand” system wouldn’t require a high-pressure hydrogen storage tank. Nor would a driver need to find and fill up at a hydrogen fueling station. Continue reading →
If you ever go to Paris, one of the places you must visit is Ladurée. It’s a luxurious patisserie that, since 1862, has been creating beautiful pastries.
The venerable brand has just launched a small line of beauty products.
The original Ladurée beauty product collection pays homage to almonds, known for centuries for their hydrating properties as well as for having formed the basis of Ladurée’s celebrated Epicurean cuisine. Continue reading →
ASI (Accuracy.Spirit.Imagination), car tuning specialist from Japan, has released its tuning package for the Bentley Continental GT. The modified Bentley from ASI is known as ASI Tetsu GTR where its Japanese cherry blossoms paintwork is based on the original Japanese artwork by Nakamura Tetsuei.
Artwork aside, ASI’s Tetsu GTR features an aggressively styled wide-bodykit (+1,800 mm) that includes dry carbon bonnet, trunk and rear wing spoiler along with several mechanical upgrades the most important being the modified 6.0L W12 engine that now produces 800 Hp.
The car is priced at $800,000and will be manufactured in a limited edition of just 29 units.
French industrial designer Jean-Marie Massaud believes that slow cruising in an airship could be the next step in air travel and he is partnering with Onera, France’s space agency, to create the world’s first luxury airship.
“Manned Cloud” will have a top speed of 170 kilometers per hour, but will generally travel at 130 kilometers per hour, a more comfortable speed for sight-seeing. The vessel, which will be 210 meters long, 82 meters wide and 52 meters high, will only require re-fuelling after 5,000 kilometers and will be able to remain airborne for roughly three days.
Massaud Studio is promoting the futuristic vessel as an ecologically friendly way to travel. Landscapes will be enjoyed from above rather than being disfigured or damaged by tourist infrastructure. A restaurant, bookstore, fitness studio and bar will provide entertainment, should watching the world go by through the enormous panorama windows, or tanning on the sun deck on the top of the vessel, become boring.
Intrigued by Massaud’s spaceship-like design and the possibility of a new aeronautics market, Onera has been testing the aerodynamics and flight-control capabilities of a scale model for the past year.
This spring, the agency recommended a slightly less grand version of the airship, capable of carrying 15 passengers and traveling at 80 mph. Massaud hopes the new design will attract the attention of private investors, from whom he aims to secure as much as $15 billion to begin building the Manned Cloud, with a sail date of 2020.
The desk where Charles Dickens wrote Great Expectations and his final correspondence hours before his death fetched £433,250 ($850,000) at auction on Wednesday, around seven times its pre-sale estimate.
“It’s a part of Charles Dickens, so I’m delighted to be its owner,” Tom Higgins told Reuters by telephone after the sale. “I’ve been a huge Dickens fan for a long time. I actually think it’s worth a lot more than what I paid for it and expected it could have gone for as much as five million (pounds). “I think it’s a bargain, really,” added Higgins, 49, who plans to be Ireland’s first space tourist.
He added that the fact that proceeds from the sale were going to Great Ormond Street children’s hospital in London made it easier to part with the cash.
Christie’s sold the furniture as part of its valuable books and manuscripts sale in London, and the price includes the buyer’s premium. The writing desk and chair from the study of Dickens’ Gad’s Hill residence near Rochester, Kent, was passed on by descent to Christopher Charles Dickens and his wife Jeanne-Marie Dickens. She then donated them to Great Ormond Street, with which Dickens had a close association.
The Strata Tower, a forty-story, luxury residential building designed by architects Hani Rashid and Lise Anne Couture of Asymptote, has broken ground on Al Raha Beach and is now under construction.
The landmark Strata Tower is designed to signify a dignified and important future for Abu Dhabi and the region.
As a signature architectural statement, the Strata Tower’s articulate, striking physical presence seeks to encapsulate meaning through the use of abstract form drawn from both local cultural landscapes and motifs and dynamic forces of global influence. Continue reading →
The Maybach 57 goes a step further in ensuring you feel like royalty when you ride the car, all the chrome trim rudiments in the vehicle interior are gold-plated with a wafer-thin layer of genuine 24-carat gold.
If muted sophistication (other than wood and leather) is your style then you can ask for the trim elements to be crafted from naturally occurring granite. Maybach also offers Business Packages to their customers as an ex-factory option. The Maybach mobile office system includes mobile Internet access. A printer can also be included in the package should the customer require it.
Wireless Bluetooth technology allows the car owner’s laptop to be integrated on board. While working on it, the computer can be placed on one of the fold-down tables between the rear seats, and when not in use, it can be stowed away in a multifunction compartment on the back of the seats.
The large scope for individualisation of the Maybach saloons starts right with the bodies of the Maybach Landaulet, the Maybach 62 and 62 S, plus the Maybach 57 and 57 S.
As far as the fully closed versions in the two different vehicle lengths are concerned, the customer has a range of roof options: all-metal roof, a solar module and a sliding roof, available separately or in combination – both positioned either at the front or alternatively at the rear. On the 62 and 62 S models there is also the option of an electro-transparent panoramic glass roof in conjunction with the solar module. This means that Maybach customers can choose from no less than ten different body variants when specifying their own personal dream saloon. People who buy a Maybach do not generally do so on the basis of the brochure and the list of equipment options. The way this luxury car is put together is the result of an extensive exchange of ideas between the customer and the Maybach designers or engineers.
Customers who are unable to visit the Center of Excellence to design and equip their car in person can use Maybach’s video-conferencing facility to talk to the experts in the design, technology and production departments and obtain tailored advice in this way. An innovative computer-aided advice system based on virtual-reality technology makes it easier to view and select the numerous interior trim elements, materials and colours. Every Maybach Center is equipped with this state-of-the-art system. Base Price: Maybach 57 S – $377,000
For more than 25 years, Michael Dunlap has crafted uniquely original automobile models. Typically they are built to 1:12 scale, hand engraved and finished in 24 Karat gold. They are purchased for different reasons — their beauty as artwork, display in museums and trophies to commemorate special automotive racing events.
Each model is a commissioned order. Therefore, the price is determined by the complexity of the project desired by the client. The Indy cars displayed on the website got sold off for $60,000 and the NASCAR models managed to generate $70,000. Mike Dunlap is currently pricing a yacht, for a potential client in Dubai, for around $180,000.
Las Vegas comes to Vietnam via the Ho Tram Strip, a US$4.2 billion, 9,000 room integrated luxury resort and entertainment destination.
The resort will be Vietnam’s largest single tourism venture and it wll be built on the white sand beaches of Ba Ria – Vung Tau Province, in southern Vietnam.
Designed by renowned Las Vegas architect Paul Steelman, and themed on the concept of environmental preservation and conservation, Project I of the Ho Tram Strip will resemble a wildlife preserve, highlighting the lush natural beauty of the area while showcasing Vietnamese and Asian culture. Phase 1 of the project calls for a five-star hotel resort with 1,100 rooms, a championship golf course designed by Greg Norman, and Vietnam’s first Las Vegas-style casino.
The second phase will include an additional resort, another casino and more restaurants and nightclubs. When the Ho Tram Strip is complete there will be five resorts and a conference center.
Construction of Project 1 (Phase 1 and 2) – including the two five-star hotels, Vietnam’s first Las Vegas-style casinos and the specially designed Greg Norman golf course – is scheduled to commence in the second half of 2008 and be completed by 2011. The entire 169 hectares of the Ho Tram Strip, featuring five Las Vegas-style integrated resorts, is scheduled to be completely developed and operational within ten years.
MAZ Aviation has placed a commitment for six Airbus A350 XWB Prestiges to serve its customers, in what is the first deal for the type in the Middle East. The deal is also the largest single deal ever for Airbus corporate jetliners, and comprises one A350-800 and five A350-900s.
All six Airbus A350 XWBs will feature VIP cabins, and be powered by Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines. The choice of cabin outfitters has yet to be announced.
The Airbus A350 XWB Prestige is the world’s newest airliner and, in its VIP version, offers unmatched widebody space and comfort – as well as the range to fly non-stop to the world. It has the widest cabin, greatest floorspace and longest range of any aircraft in its class.
“The kind of private customer that buys a VIP widebody wants the very best, and that’s exactly what they get with the Airbus A350 XWB Prestige,†says MAZ Aviation Chairman Mohammed Al Zeer. “With more cabin space, more range and a more modern design, the Airbus A350 XWB is the VIP widebody of the future.â€
The Airbus A350 XWB features an advanced and efficient aerodynamic design, more than 50 per cent of its airframe is made of weight-saving carbonfibre composites, and has all of the new features customers expect in a new design from an innovative company such as Airbus.
Porsche Sport Driving School is a high performance driver education program, designed to enhance the driving skills of automotive enthusiasts by focusing on control, safety, situational awareness, and smoothness.
As such, the program teaches skills that have broad application in everyday driving.
There is so much that goes into expert driving that Porsche Sport Driving School divides these skills into singularly focused exercises.
The Chicago Spire, is one of the most ambitious projects in the U.S. According to Chicago Tribune, developer said Tuesday that it has sold 30 percent of the building’s condo units, which, it says, is proof the world’s tallest residential structure will be built.
The developer says they have already sold 30 percent of the building’s condo units, sending a strong signal that there is enough interest in the project despite the fact that the condos are priced higher than others in the city (the studio units start at $750,000) and that the developer has required 15 percent of a unit’s price upfront for each sale.
Spire spokeswoman Kim Metcalfe said the sales were achieved in just four months of marketing and counters critics who claimed the 2,000-foot-tall structure would never go up. Metcalfe emphasized that the 352 units booked are sales, not just offers of interest accompanied by deposits. “This is clearly a benchmark,” she said.
The Spire is designed with 1,194 units, including a $40 million penthouse, which is still for sale. The building is scheduled for completion in 2012.
French luxury-goods company Christian Dior have eventually unveiled its line of mobile phones, that we introduced to you two weeks ago, extending beyond its traditional fashion business to boost sales.
It took around three years to design the mobile clamshell and now “My Dior†is available in two editions
The first model is available for around $5,000 usd and the second one comes festooned with 640 stones of 3251 carats of Swarovski crystals, all imprinted on the case made of crocodile skin, hence justifying its price tag of $26,000.
With oil skirting $130 a barrel and demand for business-class travel slowing, it’s not the best time to launch an airline .
However, Forbes reports that Peter Leiman and Cameron Ogden, two Harvard Business School graduates are launching the new private jet taxi service, Blink, on June 12.
Blink’s current flight plans take you through much of Western Europe and the the tickets are up to 25% more expensive than regular business-class travel for seats on their four-seater Cessna Citation Mustang.
Prince Albert II, the ruler of Monaco, recently christened a new cruise ship named after himself, which will be the newest addition to the Silversea line and said to be the most luxurious expedition ship ever to sail.
