Monthly Archives: January 2010

1970 Monteverdi Hai 450 SS

An extremely rare 1970s Swiss supercar prototype is one of the starring attractions at Bonhams’ Retromobile sale in Paris on Jan. 23.

To show the world that Swiss engineering could keep up with the likes of Lamborghini, Maserati and Ferrari, Peter Monteverdi built the Hai 450 in 1970.

Painted in a unique shade of magenta, the Hai 450 SS prototype debuted at the 1970 Geneva Auto Show.
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Mercedes SL Night Edition and SLK Grand Edition

slk-mercedes-2010

Mercedes-Benz is now offering special editions of the SL and SLK, both of which feature a stylish interior with numerous sophisticated highlights.

Both of these new special models combine the advantages of a roadster with those of a coupe, and are both thoroughbred sports cars and comfortable everyday cars.

The SL Night Edition is not a reference to when it can be driven but rather to the colours used inside and out.
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Christie’s Plans Website For Gucci Collectors

Gucci has always been vigilant to crack down on counterfeiting and trademark infringement, but now they’re taking a new angle on brand protection.

On January 18, 2010, Gucci and Christie’s will launch “Gucci Collector: Presented by Christie’s”— the very first Gucci-certified online destination for authenticating and appraising vintage Gucci products.

A dedicated section on www.christies.com will allow owners to upload photos of their vintage items and submit an appraisal request.
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Sunseeker Predator 108 Special Edition

Caterham Cars and Sunseeker International have formed a collaboration that will last only for about a week.

At the London International Boat Show they are showing a Predator 108 Special Edition, which is is created together with sportscar maker Caterham Cars.

Predator 108 Special Edition underwent some important changes in comparison with previous Predator 108, launched in January 2006.
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Dree Hemingway new face of Gianfranco Ferre

Gianfranco Ferré, the Italian fashion house, has taken Dree Hemingway – Great granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway – as the face of their new campaign.

Dree has previously appeared in campaigns for Abercrombie & Fitch, and DKNY – and appeared on Givenchy’s autumn/winter 2009-10 catwalk.

Ferré creative directors Tommaso Aquilano and Roberto Rimondi say they chose Hemingway to portray “the free and fearless nature of an utterly feminine woman”, which the collection demanded.
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Brescia Bugatti Found in Swiss Lake To Be Auctioned

A rare Bugatti that has spent 73 years at the bottom of a Swiss lake is expected to fetch more than €90,000 at auction, the same as a brand new luxury motor.

The 1925 open-top Type 22 is known as the Bugatti Brescia, after the Italian track where the model took the top four places at a race in 1921.

It is now believed that it belonged to Max Schmuklerski, a Swiss-Polish architect who left it in store in a builder’s yard.
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Bugatti Type A pen

Italian pen maker Ferrari da Varese have worked with Bugatti to create an exclusive pen inspired by the Bugatti Veyron.

The Bugatti Type A pen, designed by Luigi Trenti, is a limited edition pen made from the same grade aluminum as the Veyron’s engine with a stainless steel grip.

The barrel is then plated with nickel then sterling silver then palladium and finally platinum ensuring it does not oxidize.
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Porsche Design P’9522 Black Edition

Porsche Design has sent out details about a new edition of the candybar phone the firm released on the open market last year.

The P’9522 Black Edition will be available by the end of the month, and was created in-house at the design firm’s R&D facility in Austria.

The model is still “milled from a block of solid aluminum,” only now the casing is colored entirely in darker tones.
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“Vol de Jour”: Short Film by Karl Lagerfeld

Karl Lagerfeld has jumped behind the camera again for Chanel’s pre spring / summer collection.

We saw a preview in July this year when Lara Stone and Baptiste Giabiconi were spotted posing with a motorbike in front of the Paris Chanel boutique.

In this short film called Vol de Jour, Lara and Baptiste run around Paris to visit each Chanel store, grabbing everything they love while spending quality time together.
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Blancpain Spécialités Tourbillon Diamants

Blancpain has announced the newest Spécialités Tourbillon Diamants, a 40mm men’s model with more than 20 carats of diamonds.

Diamonds are clearly the theme of this over-the-top luxury timepiece—a theme that Blancpain takes with the utmost seriousness.

The white gold three-piece case is set with 571 stones totaling 14.15 carats, and the dial adds another 164 diamonds and 5.17 carats.
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Lady Gaga Named Creative Director at Polaroid

Polaroid has signed Lady Gaga, who is a fan, to be the to be the creative director, face for the brand and also to develop new cameras and accessories.

“Lady Gaga is a great creative talent who has a lot of passion for this brand,” said Jamie Salter of Hilco Consumer Capital, one of Polaroid’s new owners.

Gaga made a special appearance at the Polaroid booth at the CES on January 7 to share further details of her creative and business partnership with Polaroid.
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Macallan Linley Whisky Case

Recently, Macallan unveiled an exquisite whisky cabinet handcrafted from English Burr Oak, by Viscount Linley.

It was produced solely for Harrods and contains six bottles of vintage Macallan malt whisky from 1937, 1940, 1948, 1955, 1966 and 1970.

It is handcrafted from English Burr Oak and also includes six bespoke Linley crystal tumblers as well as a cigar humidor.

Fendi Casa Wine Cellar

Italian fashion house Fendi came up with this exquisite wine fridge wrapped in soft, beautiful textured leather.

Part of the Fendi Casa Real Leather Furniture Collection, these wine fridges come with distinctive crocodile skin patterns and sleek lacquered finish.

The wine cellar allows one to store up to 16 bottles in a temperature and humidity controlled environment allowing wines to be matured in the perfect conditions.
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The first glimpses of Julianne Moore’s Bulgari interpretation

Actress Julianne Moore will appear in BVLGARI’s Spring Summer 2010 jewelry and watch advertising campaign.

The campaign, scheduled to debut in February 2010, marks a new artistic direction for BVLGARI:

Rather than focusing on individual product categories, the ads will depict a lifestyle that they are calling Eccentric Charisma.
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Abu Dhabi sets ambitious green tourism targets

Abu Dhabi has announced ambitious environmental targets for 2010, promising to slash energy, water and waste-to-landfill usage.

The targets, announced January 3 by the Abu Dhabi tourism authority, commit Abu Dhabi to a 10-percent energy cut, 20-percent water usage cut and 20-percent waste-to-landfill cut.

If delivered, Abu Dhabi believes its hotels will be in line with, if not greener, than the world’s greenest hotels.
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Vivienne Westwood goes up the wall

British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood has released a collection of wallpaper, incorporating her signature looks.

Consequently, Vivienne Westwood used her well-known ‘Squiggle’ print, dating back to her autumn/winter collection of 1981/82, or the more recent ‘Cut-Out Lace,’ developed from a fragment of antique lace, from her 2007 S/S line.

Westwood drew from great British classics such as the dogtooth pattern or traditional shirting stripes.
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Armani Hotel Dubai Logo

Armani opens first design hotel in March

Italian fashion brand Armani has announced the opening of its first hotel in Dubai for March 18.

The luxe label has chosen the just opened Burj Khalifa (formerly Burj Dubai), the world’s largest tower,  to host its first venture into hospitality.

More hotels are planned for Milan, New York, Tokyo, Shanghai and London, although no dates have been specified at this point.
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France tops international ranking as best place to live

France is the best place in the world to live, according to a survey released January 5, topping the list for the fifth year in a row.

International Living magazine’s 30th Quality of Life Index surveyed almost 200 countries across nine categories, including cost of living, environment, safety and risk and culture and leisure.

France topped the list for the fifth consecutive year, beating Australia and Switzerland; which took second and third place respectively.
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