LORI BRYAN

Back in June, a Medici was on the mind of Markus Döttling. “The most outstanding piece just arrived from Italy, a [safe] from the Medici dynasty originally produced in Milan in 1770,” said Markus, the German-born, 36-year-old chief executive of Döttling Luxury Safes. His great-grandfather, Ernst Döttling, founded the family business in 1919 in Sindelfingen, […]

On a March afternoon eight years ago, Swiss native Bertrand Piccard, then 41 years old, flew the Breitling Orbiter 3 over Mauritania, completing the first nonstop circumnavigation of the globe in a balloon. The trip had taken 20 days. “When Bertrand did the project in 1999,” says André Borschberg, his present-day business partner, “the balloon […]

Scratching on the eight ball would be preferable to leaving a scratch on the Bolero, the first pool table from Barcelona furniture maker Tresserra Collection (+34.93.200.49.22, http://www.tresserra.com). The Bolero features a frame of Ceylon lemon wood (the model shown, which is priced at about $112,000) or dark walnut ($118,000), vaquetilla leather–lined pockets, stainless steel fittings, […]

Samuel So takes my right foot in his hands, rests it on a towel in his lap, and reaches for his knives. The pedicurist’s tools—six shiny blades and one long toothpick-shaped implement arranged side by side like scalpels in a surgical suite—seem excessive. However, a cup of fragrant Chinese tea, presented to me by a […]

Since 1967, when he introduced his Polo label with a series of handmade ties, Ralph Lauren has been demonstrating his penchant for preppy apparel. The designer, who was born Ralph Lifshitz in the Bronx in 1939, started his Manhattan company with neckwear and over the years added suits, tweed jackets, oxford button-downs, women’s wear, and […]

“Song soong,” says a young mahout, urging an 8-foot-tall female to lift her leg off the ground. He taps the Asian elephant with a goad, and she responds, raising a foot as though kicking up her heel. The action creates a generous crook in her leg, a leathery curve from which the elephant’s keeper plans […]

Entry for one team—you and five other players—in the next King’s Cup Elephant Polo Tournament, to be held no sooner than April 2007 in the Golden Triangle region of Thailand. Three weeks’ accommodations for six at Four Seasons resorts in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, and Koh Samui. A private viewing of King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s […]

The quest for fire takes a sophisticated turn with this month’s debut of Luminesse Sculptures, a new collection of oil lamps from Los Angeles model/designer Dayna Decker (866.586.3847, http://www.daynadecker.com). Priced from $200 to $500, the lamps feature minimalist rosewood and white laminate pedestals that range from 4.75 to 10.75 inches tall and from 5.75 to […]

At the entrance to an intimate, low-lit dining room rendered grand by its cloistered ceiling and walls of Venetian plaster, the hostess welcomes a party of two, announces their arrival to the chef, and leads the guests to their white-linen-covered table that soon will teem with crystal. Within moments, maître d’ Nick Peyton wheels forth […]

The new champagne trunk from the house of Krug (212.251.8436, http://www.krug.com) promises to be the toast of itinerant imbibers. Each of the 30 limited edition, calfskin-wrapped, 3-by-2-by-1-foot walnut cases ($45,000), which Parisian leather goods maker Pinel & Pinel created for Krug, comes with three bottles of Krug Grande Cuvée and accessories that include a François […]