Golf, sport, travel, and real estate come together in this unique package from the Carnegie Clubs, Peter de Savary’s exclusive members-only retreats. You and three friends will enjoy a week’s vacation that begins when you board a private jet in New York and fly to Carnegie Abbey (below), a private golf club on Narragansett Bay […]
In 1989, the discovery of $1.22 billion in sunken gold treasure off the Carolina coast put an 1857 maritime disaster in the pages of history and its booty into numerous private collections. Carrying a 3-ton shipment of gold and nearly 600 passengers from Panama to New York, the 278-foot steamship SS Central America encountered a […]
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It is amusing when smokers, eager to display knowledge of their hobby, pontificate about Canary Islands cigars made with the islands’ tobaccos. The truth is, tobacco has not been grown in the Canary Islands for more than a century. What these pundits are actually savoring are cigars rolled in the Canaries with leaf imported from […]
In the silk-upholstered lobby of the Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel, actor/director Lou Diamond Phillips and his wife, Kelly, are sipping tea and talking diamonds. The topic is courtesy of their companions, Mitch Edwards and Pericles Rellas of the Beverly Hills jewelry design house Edwards & Rellas, who have come to high tea equipped with a […]
Money does indeed change everything: Financial challenges mount exponentially as you add more digits to your bottom line. Investment portfolios. Trust funds. Endowments. Retirement plans. Tax planning. Estate management. The list of responsibilities is almost endless. Paper-work alone can bury even the most financially savvy family. Keep in mind, though, resources are called assets for […]
For motorcyclists, the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile road that winds its way along the Appalachian Mountains through Virginia, Tennessee, and North Carolina, is the ideal stretch of road. The parkway, which ranges from 650 to 6,000 feet above sea level, is one of those rare stretches of curvy pavement that allows you to glide […]
Thirteen years ago, I went to The St. Regis in New York City to meet with a woman of great style, to whom I had been introduced some months earlier. This was not, however, a romantic liaison, but rather a potential business deal. She had a valuable family heirloom that she was considering selling, and […]
The double-M badge on the Maybach 62, which stands for Maybach Manufaktur, could also be an abbreviation for Much Multitasking. You can drive the luxury sedan while smoking one of the premium cigars that you keep in its humidor. If your chauffeur is driving, you can watch TV while drinking a beverage that has been […]
An undeniable revolution in sound reproduction has begun. A new all-digital sound projector (first available from Pioneer), featuring innovations from the British technology research company 1Limited, will have you rethinking everything you know about surround sound. Instead of requiring center, left, and right front and rear speakers, plus a subwoofer, the PDSP-1 speaker delivers 500 […]
It is a tricky business, building new links golf courses in Ireland. The standards for comparison, such as Ballybunion, Lahinch, Portrush, and County Down, are quite lofty. In fact, two highly touted recent entries could not quite reach the bar: The European Club in Wicklow is a pretty good course with a so-so setting, and […]
Several years ago, New York architect and interior designer Carlos Aparicio, accompanied by one of his clients, visited a Paris furniture gallery, where they saw the hanging fixture of the client’s dreams. It was a large bronze piece with the shapes of shells molded into the body. “He loved it,” Aparicio says of his client. […]
I am en route to dresden on the German autobahn when the rain gradually dissipates in the summer sun, leaving the supersmooth roads bone-dry. The visibility is excellent, the traffic light. With a clear road ahead, I crank up the Beach Boys CD. “If everybody had an ocean.” Sam, my companion, shakes her head, knowing […]
As exemplars of high-quality German mechanicals, Audis born of the legendary Auto Union have always been at eye level in terms of precision and personality with anything built by Leica, Blaupunkt, or Willi Messerschmitt. That, at least, is the actuality. Perversely, America’s perception of Audis has been of overweight, underpowered, overpriced, underdog cars that were […]
To those who met him in the early 1990s, Alexander Blastos was a wealthy and successful international businessman. The owner of Trans Global Shipping, an international shipping company in Athens, Blastos also owned real estate in New England and Florida, a plump Goldman Sachs account, interest in two family restaurants, and 1,000 acres of farmland […]
At the fall 2002 couture fashion shows in Paris, the pièce de résistance on Valentino’s runway was an elaborately embroidered and appliquéd velvet dress with a plunging neckline, hem, and cuffs, all made of plush mink. Christian Lacroix introduced his usual flamboyant presentation with a bustled orange mink coat and ended with a smart tweed […]
The supply of Three Rivers Shiraz, a wine made from grapes grown in South Australia’s high-altitude Barossa Ranges, is so scarce that the waiting list is five times longer than the available stock. Its creator, winemaker Chris Ringland, says that promoting the wine to the international market has been simple: “I just tell people they […]
The 16th century was not a good time to be a vintner in england. It was not just the competition from France, whose wines outsold the homegrown variety; it was also the weather, which was becoming colder. That much the British could tell, because their growing seasons were becoming increasingly shorter. They did not know, […]
Visit the office of an art museum director, and you will probably see works of art hanging on the walls, maybe even a sculpture on a shelf. But one thing you are almost certain to find is a strategically placed table holding a model of a new wing or building, with a hard hat nearby. […]
Sir Humphry Wakefield is an expert on art and architecture, a noted interior designer, and the guiding force behind Baker’s Stately Homes program, which creates fine reproductions of furnishings and decorative items from aristocratic estates in Europe. He has agreed to help two Robb Report readers design a room, or perhaps even an entire house, […]
True romantics everywhere will swoon over Perrier-Jouët’s romp through France and Italy. Following a Concorde flight from New York to Paris, you and your beloved will sip chilled Perrier-Jouët 1993 Champagne Blanc de Blancs as a limousine takes you on a half-hour ride to the town of Condecourt. There you will spend a week at […]
The Antique Wine Co. of Great Britain has assembled a weeklong food and wine fantasy cruise vacation for you and as many as 23 of your friends. It begins in Nice, France, where your party will board the Christina O, the legendary 325-foot yacht once owned by Aristotle Onassis. By day, you can lounge on […]
Build a man a gym, and he will exercise for a day; build a man a custom-tailored workout environment, and he will exercise for a lifetime. That twist on an old axiom explains why Mark Harigian is a giant among home gym designers. He creates personalized workout areas that encourage even the most reluctant exerciser […]
Treat your favorite foursome to an adventure that could go down in golf history. Wide World of Golf, a tour operator based in Carmel, Calif., has designed a 12-day vacation that will take your group to four fabulous courses in two hemispheres via private jet. The first leg of the tour takes you to the […]
Remember the white tornado? That muscular but friendly force clad in tight, bright white, who swept the interior clean and shined its surfaces to a brilliant sparkle? Well, that force is still with us, and her name is Jennifer Post. Post is a New York interior designer with an architectural bent and a client list […]
Leave it to Alec Gores to turn everything he touches into gold. Since 1992, the chairman of the Los Angeles–based Gores Technology Group has completed over 35 deals worth more than $l billion, including the acquisition of the troubled Learning Company from Mattel, which left his peers gasping and wondering what he would try next. “I work […]
Most early adopters, people who installed home cinemas a decade or more before DVD and high-definition television, are now finding that their setups are not aging well. VHS tape, laser disc, and even CDs are past their primes. In addition, the past two years have witnessed one of the greatest leaps in screen and projector […]
I went to Vienna to waltz. Specifically, I went to waltz at the Rudolfina-Redoute, one of the city’s 300 formal balls held during Fasching, the carnival season between New Year’s and the beginning of Lent. The Rudolfina-Redoute is one of only 10 balls held at the imperial Hofburg Palace, and it is the grandest of […]
It is the most wonderful time of the year to look back on Ultimate Gift Guides past. The December 1991 issue, which featured our eighth annual gift guide, stands out for many reasons, beginning with its unique cover. Traditionally, our December covers have been graced with a beauty shot of a notable car from that issue’s […]
After a pair of Michelle Ong’s briolette-cut diamond earrings shaped like grape clusters sold in a heated bidding war at a Christie’s auction for $189,500—more than double their estimated value—the defeated bidder asked the jeweler to create a similar pair. Despite his passionate plea, Ong and her partner, Avi Nagar, declined. “The original earrings were […]
Anyone can sidle up to a winery tasting room bar in Napa Valley, lay down $5, and sample a few new releases. However, if you are looking for access to more exclusive California vintages along with a more intimate wine country experience, consider one of the region’s phenomenal cooking schools; you do not have to […]
In the 1995 film Big Night, two Italian brothers open a restaurant named Paradise in 1950s Keyport, N.J. Their authentic Italian cuisine, however, does not meet with the locals’ expectations. Meanwhile, across the street, their competitor thrives by serving mountains of overcooked, sauce-drenched pasta. Ultimately, the brothers have to close their restaurant because Americans are […]
James K. Polk, the 11th president of the United States, is better remembered for winning the war with Mexico in 1848 than for his sense of style. The cigar-smoking Democrat leaned toward the dour, conservative suits preferred by fellow lawyers of his day. A closer look, though, reveals that Polk did own one trendy item […]
It is 25 degrees on a snowy February morning, and I am skiing in shorts and a T-shirt. Instead of snow, a carpeted treadmill rolls swiftly underfoot. A horizontal metal bar has replaced my ski poles, and any fear of falling is erased by the harness that holds me upright. I am in a session […]
Wives (sorry, but it is always the woman) have been waging war against speakers for decades. They do not want them intruding into their living space. They even hate the gorgeously styled speakers from Italy and those colored to match anything in the Pantone chart. Their ire has risen as the number of speakers in […]
The Spirit de Soleil, Hustler Powerboats’ new 50-foot go-fast, awaits us at the dock on Peconic Bay, close to Hustler’s Long Island plant in Calverton, N.Y. The area has a history of speed—the famed F-14 Tomcat was conceived, built, and tested at Grumman’s Long Island factory—and the missile-shaped Hustler, which appears barely restrained at the […]
The Porsche Boxster is Germany’s gift to sports car lovers, but many enthusiasts believe the car is too slow. Even the 3.2-liter Boxster S, recently retooled with a 258-hp block, is not powerful enough to liberate the mid-engine roadster’s true talents. Understandably, Porsche will not hitch up additional horses because a faster, more powerful Boxster […]
In January 2000, Eclipse Aviation President and CEO Vern Raburn visited New Mexico Senator Pete Domenici in Washington, D.C., while looking for a home for Eclipse. Raburn was considering Albuquerque as a possible location for Eclipse’s headquarters, and he had come to ask Domenici how much support the state would give the company. Raburn showed […]
The old-fashioned icebox was a simple concept—a place for cold storage. Do not expect the new iCEBOX appliance to keep the milk and lettuce cool. Produced by Seattle-based Icebox, a subsidiary of Salton, the iCEBOX FlipScreen 2002, due out in early 2003 and priced at $2,995, should turn up the burners in the kitchen appliance […]
Modern rugs are not new. Rugs woven by artists are not new, either—Picasso, Andy Warhol, and Roy Lichtenstein have all tried their hand. But Christopher Farr and Matthew Bourne are at the forefront of a modern rug movement that is sweeping aside the traditional Aubusson and Oriental carpets. Taking center stage in best-dressed rooms are […]
Cristina Thévenaz is not your typical watch executive. At the annual watch and jewelry fair in Basel, Switzerland, earlier this year, the attractive 37-year-old blonde was outfitted in blue jeans and stiletto heels as she held court in the Delaneau booth, which was swathed in burgundy velvet à la Moulin Rouge and perfumed by rose-scented […]
Three may be sake’s lucky number. Americans who once considered sake just a warm sushi chaser are finding that premium sakes (usually served cold, by the way) can now be appreciated for their own sake, thanks to the emerging trend of sake flights. Borrowing from the tradition of wine flights, where three glasses of varietals […]
On New Year’s day, 1903, Isabella Stewart Gardner, the vivacious widow who was a favorite target of gossipers, held a grand party to mark the opening of the mysterious building she had erected in the Fenway area of Boston. The finely dressed and bejeweled guests who came on that cold night were the first to […]
As we rush to complete our ritual holiday shopping, most 2002 harvests in the Northern Hemisphere have been converted into wine. Naturally, these wines are far from finished, and it would be unfair to judge the results so soon, but whispers and rumors of things to come are already and inevitably shaping the trends for […]
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