JESSICA TAYLOR

The Opposite House opened in Beijing last August as the first property from the new Swire Hotels group. The Hong Kong–based firm’s parent company, Swire Properties, has a 37-year history developing retail and residential spaces throughout China, Europe, and the United States. Conveniently located in one such space—a contemporary retail village in Beijing’s Chaoyang District—the […]

At a London auction in December, Laurence Graff—the founder of Graff Diamonds International—paid about $25 million for the 300-year-old Wittelsbach diamond, a 35.56-carat grayish-blue stone once owned by King Philip IV of Spain. That it was Graff who ultimately acquired the stone surprised no one. The 70-year-old diamond dealer and art collector is among the […]

Michael Mina’s new XIV restaurant fits right in amid the trendy nightclubs and bars on the Sunset Strip, with a Philippe Starck–designed interior and a menu tailored specifically to Los Angeles. “When I was in the concept stages, I watched how people dined in L.A.,” says Mina, who began his career 20 years ago as […]

Robbb Report spoke with Abercrombie & Kent founder Geoffrey Kent in Los Angeles during a recent promotional tour for the company’s new Abercrombie & Kent Residence Club, which launched this past fall. A tireless traveler 220 days out of the year, he had just returned from a trip to Rio de Janeiro, where, in his […]

THE GIFT   A two-week trip for the buyer and five friends to all nine of chef Daniel Boulud’s restaurants in New York, Las Vegas, Palm Beach, Vancouver, and Beijing.   Behind-the-scenes tours of Boulud’s kitchens.   An extravagant eight-course dinner paired with some of the world’s finest wines.   A personal concierge to arrange […]

THE GIFT   Create your own single-malt whisky at the Glenmorangie distillery in Tain, Scotland.   Source trees for cask making in Missouri’s Ozark Mountains with Glenmorangie’s master distiller.   Visit a Kentucky cooperage to learn about cask making.   Twenty specially selected barrels in which to age your distillate, along with cellar space at […]

THE GIFT   A collection of eight wooden cabinets designed by David Linley as scale replicas of Bordeaux’s most celebrated wine châteaux.   Eighteen bottles per cabinet of the corresponding château’s finest vintages from the 20th and 21st centuries.   A private tour, conducted by Antique Wine Company founder Stephen Williams, of the eight châteaux […]

THE GIFT   Round-trip private jet travel for two couples from New York to Champagne, France.   Four-day stay as VIP guests at Dom Pérignon’s Château de Saran.   Vertical tasting of Dom Pérignon’s rarest vintage champagnes at the abbey of Hautvillers.   Helicopter tour of the Champagne region.   Participation in the grape harvest […]

At 78, Jess Jackson has more energy than many people half his age. He travels the world with his wife, Barbara Banke, and oversees 24 wineries under the Jackson Family Wines umbrella (most notably Kendall-Jackson and the spin-off artisan wineries La Crema, Lokoya, and Cardinale). He frequently visits his six Thoroughbred horse farms: one in […]

Whether the occasion is a spontaneous evening at home or a painstakingly planned bash for several thousand, every successful celebration has but two essentials beyond the company itself: good food and great drink. And as the masterful host knows, the best of the latter, properly served, can help to mask the worst of the former. […]