Ferrari is engaged in some dark alchemy these days. How else could the 430 Scuderia be both quicker and more drivable than the car on which it is based, the F430? Perhaps Ferrari’s engineers did not intend to make the 430 Scuderia a great street car. If not, then that is a happy consequence of […]
Most Porsches, even the steroid-enhanced 911 GT2, display an air of Teutonic reserve—not sterility, but a certain degree of rationality. The Porsche 911 GT3 RS (www.porsche.com/usa), on the other hand, appears on edge, the one Porsche that will fly off the handle, grab you by the shirt, and throw you against the wall at the […]
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Oh, to be among the fortunate 500, those quick-witted souls (fewer than one-fifth of whom are Americans) sharp enough to acquire one of Alfa Romeo’s 8C Competizione coupes. This is the first Alfa to cross the Atlantic in a decade, and the first with rear-wheel drive since 1992. And after the 500th car rolls off […]
Huge and heavy, and about as green as offshore drilling, the $341,000 Bentley Brooklands (www.bentleymotors.com) is nothing that any car should be these days. Yet producing three-ton vehicles capable of triple-digit speeds has long been the Bentley way. Size is a form of majesty, and power—in this case, twin turbochargers persuading a vintage V-8 to […]
Mercedes-Benz’s new and mighty 6.3-liter V-8, built by performance division AMG, has slipped fully into the company’s product mainstream, seemingly powering everything Mercedes has to offer, from the SLK Roadster to factory forklifts. With 518 hp and 465 ft lbs of torque to speed one’s travels, the 6.3 (which actually displaces 6,208 cc, but Mercedes […]
Finally, a Jaguar that embraces the purity of its past and just might rekindle devotion to a brand following a decade of confusion and disappointments. What elevates the Jaguar XF (www.jaguarusa.com) are the 300 hp V-8 engine borrowed from the far heavier, more ponderous XJ8; charming gadgets better than most anything from Sharper Image; and […]
At the Lexus LX 570 assembly plant in Yoshiwara, Japan, master craftsmen oversee final fitting and balance procedures. For quality control, robots shoot 1,300 photos as the vehicles proceed down the assembly line. But human hands sand the paint covering the body panels; human ears conduct sound-quality checks on door-closing noises; and, unlike most new […]
The leather-trimmed cabin of the Acura MDX (www.acura.com) is a beautiful place to be, even more so when the world outside becomes ugly. Swiss-watch reliable, and laden with advanced safety features including the Super Handling All-Wheel Drive system, Acura’s $40,910 crossover may be the most stylish, comfortable, and confidence-inspiring means to move seven passengers. The […]
When Tom Ford returned to fashion last year after a three-year hiatus, he did so in a way that was completely unexpected to those who had followed his 14-year career at Gucci. Rather than spotlight the same skinny suits and shiny, sex-charged sportswear that made him a fashion icon throughout the 1990s, Ford revisited menswear […]
If soft, natural shoulders, unusually high-notched lapels, and suppressed waists do not make suits and sport coats from Cesare Attolini (www.cesareattolini.com; available through Ellegi, 212.246.7034) immediately recognizable, it takes only a peek inside the garments to see how the Neapolitan tailor cuts a jacket like no one else in the world. Attolini’s interior pockets are […]
In 1999, watchmakers Robert Greubel and Stephen Forsey left Renaud et Papi with the vision of a new wristwatch tourbillon mechanism that would diminish the effects of gravity on accuracy. “We saw the need for mechanical complicated watches to evolve, and we wanted to look at what was done in the past and improve on […]
Since its launch, Breguet’s open-works La Tradition model has stood as a paean to the original mechanical style of Abraham-Louis Breguet—from its frosted finish to revisited constructions such as the parachute antishock device. The most recent Breguet La Tradition Tourbillon Fusee (212.288.4014, http://www.breguet.com), priced at $146,800, is the best possible sequel in this style of […]
Cristina Wendt-Thévenaz, CEO of Delaneau in Geneva, brings a feminine perspective to Swiss mechanical watchmaking, an otherwise male-dominated field. For years she has mixed traditional arts—such as miniature enamel painting, engraving, and jeweling—with high horology for women. In 2007 she unveiled the Delaneau Luckee Lotus (+41.22.318. 80.40, http://www.delaneauwatch.com), an homage to the revered flower of […]
Known for his collection of rarefied estate jewelry, Lee Siegelson of Siegelson (212.?832.?2666, http://www.siegelson.com) is not concerned with a jewel’s provenance, signature, or commercial appeal; he selects pieces solely for their beauty and rarity. His collection ranges from 19th-century jewelry to pieces from the Art Nouveau and Art Deco eras to contemporary designs from Daniel […]
Every detail of the Caran d’Ache 1010 (718.482.7500, http://www.carandache?.com)—from the tiny screw at the top of the clip to the multidimensional gold overlay of gear wheels and bridges—is intended to evoke a timepiece and thus Switzerland, the pen-making brand’s homeland. The pen, made of 18-karat gold and limited to 10 pieces, is priced at $120,000. […]
Visitors arrive at the Peninsula Tokyo (+81.3.6270.2888, http://www.peninsula.com) in green Rolls-Royce Phantoms, the Hong Kong–based hotel group’s signature cars. Managers then usher their guests into the hotel’s cavernous lobby, where Japanese businessmen from the neighboring Marunouchi financial district and women in high heels drink cocktails beneath a transfixing concave light fixture that sparkles with 1,313 […]
Robb Report first covered the Mandarin Oriental Riviera Maya in an October 2004 story that previewed the property’s “fall 2005” grand opening. This February, two-and-a-half years behind schedule, the Mexican beach resort finally welcomed its initial guests. The Mandarin’s first significant delay came in October 2005, when Hurricane Wilma destroyed much of Cancún and other […]
The Carlton Hotel (+41.81.836. 70.00, http://www.carlton-stmoritz.ch), a nearly century-old institution in St. Moritz, Switzerland, reopened in December after a $65 million, 18-month renovation that might have the resort’s grande-dame neighbors considering face-lifts themselves. The Tschuggen Hotel Group reconfigured the formerly 100-plus-room property into a boutique resort with 60 suites, all with views of Lake St. […]
A former gravel quarry near Tacoma, Wash., is not the first place one would expect to find the world’s top new golf course. But then, Robert Trent Jones Jr., designer of Chambers Bay, believes it is his business to exceed expectations. “If someone says to me, ‘It’s a nice course,’ we will have failed,” he […]
Canadian designer Doug Carrick took both the high road and the low road when building the Carrick at Cameron House (+44.1389.755.565, http://www.devere.co.uk), which plays along the bonnie banks of Loch Lomond in Scotland. The front nine of the 7,086-yard course follows the lake’s level shoreline and incorporates several links-style features, such as sod-walled fairway bunkers […]
In 2007, exclusive resorts opened 75 new residences for its members, who now have access to more than 350 homes in 35 locations. But the club’s most significant new addition has been outside the home. The five-year-old company—which, with more than 3,000 members, is the world’s largest destination club—recently initiated a program that allows its […]
Since its august 2006 merger with DreamCatcher Retreats and its acquisition of Leading Residences of the World four months later, Quintess has grown from 280 members and 49 homes to more than 425 members and over 80 homes. Its recent growth has placed Quintess in a position to provide both the services of a larger […]
At this time last year, Solstice confirmed plans to add two new homes to its eight-property portfolio. Instead, the Scottsdale, Ariz.–based destination club acquired six: a four-bedroom ski chalet in Verbier, Switzerland; a four-bedroom hacienda fronting the Sea of Cortés in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; two West Village apartments in New York City; and, as […]
Nestled on the eastern shore of Lake Keowee in the Blue Ridge Mountains of South Carolina is the Cliffs at Keowee Springs (866.435.5127, http://www.cliffscommunities.com), a vacation-property development with an unusual value proposition: Membership includes a commitment to the wellness of all members. Here, not far from Clemson University, Lake Residences (from $1.5 million to $5 […]
One can say little about Château Cheval Blanc that has not been said already by someone, somewhere, sometime. But much of this commentary —centuries’ worth, in fact— bears repeating, if only for the tantalizing pleasure of kindling our expectations while we wait for the next vintage to mature. This is a wine that, once tasted, […]
By the time I returned from two weeks in Argentina in March of this year, I had become firmly convinced that this country on the east side of the Andes is currently the best place on the planet for winegrowing. I had tasted nearly 150 releases, and more than half of them received scores of 90 […]
The estate that would become Villa Russiz was Italy’s most forward-looking when it was built in 1869 by French count Théodore de La Tour. De La Tour invested his Italian dream estate in the rolling Collio hills with the latest in French technology, built a vaulted underground cellar, and introduced French grape varieties. Sauvignon Blanc, […]
The legendary Dom Pérignon thought he was drinking stars when he first tasted sparkling wine, and Champagne lovers have echoed his joy with each new release of Moët & Chandon’s prestige cuvée. The Moët & Chandon 1999 Champagne Cuvée Dom Pérignon (www.domperignon?.com, $155) is elegant and complex on its own, but also superb with food: […]
If intelligence is the unique ability to recognize in seeming randomness meaningful patterns not readily apparent to others—relationships, connections between objects and ideas—then Bill Harlan is certainly a man of uncommon gifts. Early on in his career he saw in what other entrepreneurs regarded as an abandoned building the opportunity to establish his first enterprise, […]
Art, as much as agriculture, furnished the inspiration for Amuse Bouche, a Pomerol-style wine from Napa Valley produced by legendary winemaker Heidi Barrett, formerly of Screaming Eagle. When Barrett and a longtime friend, restaurateur John Schwartz, began to discuss making a wine together, they decided to incorporate their mutual love of fine art into the […]
“The japanese sense of style is the accumulation of long and seriously beautiful aesthetic thought,” writes Truman Capote in his brief essay “Style: and the Japanese.” “Although . . . a principle basis of this thought is dread—dread of the explicit, the emphatic—hence the single blade ?of grass describing a whole universe of summer, the […]
Fine winemaking in Washington State began in earnest with Chateau Ste. Michelle, which owns the oldest vineyards in the Columbia Valley, now a significant wine destination. Like many of California’s older wineries, this venerable producer was established in the wake of Prohibition to slake the thirst of a parched nation. Originally known as the Pomerelle […]
Absolut vodka has become a modern classic, thanks not only to its famous and relentlessly inventive ad campaign but also to its smooth, clean, all-natural flavors. However, even an icon as absolute as Absolut cannot rest on its reputation. Parent company Vin & Sprit (which Pernod Ricard purchased from the Swedish government for $8.34 billion […]
This year’s best of the best cigar-tasting event took place at the Shave of Beverly Hills, a modern echo of the elegant tonsorial parlors of Old Bond Street. Our panel of 11 cigar smokers gathered on a cool spring evening, settling into plush antique leather barber chairs while muted strains of Miles Davis and Thelonious […]
Although zino cigars are typically made in Honduras, the Platinum Scepter Series is handcrafted by Davidoff master blender Hendrik Kelner in his Tabadom factory in the Dominican Republic. The new, limited Zino Platinum Scepter Series Master Edition 2007 (www.zinoplatinum.com, $13 each) has a flavor that is at once spicy and aromatic, the result of a […]
From certain tables in Le Jules Verne, if you are seated facing the right direction and the weather is clear, you can spot the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, Les Invalides (with Napoléon’s tomb), the Tuileries gardens, and Notre-Dame Cathedral. Such a stirring vista could compensate for mediocre food and service. But French chef Alain […]
Mathias Dahlgren (+46.8.679.35.84, http://www.mdghs.com), which opened in May 2007 in Stockholm’s Grand Hotel, is in fact two restaurants. Matsalen (“the dining room” in Swedish) seats 37 for dinner in a salon that combines velvet banquettes with green-gray walls and gleaming brass chandeliers. At Matbaren (“the food bar”), patrons are encouraged to order one small plate […]
Although the ipod has made music more accessible than ever, the inexpensive audio systems it has spawned have earned no accolades. We hope the Krell KID iPod dock and Papa Dock amplifier (203.298.4000, http://www.krellonline.com) will help reverse this trend. The $1,500 KID (or Krell Interface Dock) extracts audio from an iPod and handles it with […]
When German cabinetmaker Poggenpohl entered the U.S. market more than 30 years ago, Americans did not immediately embrace its contemporary European kitchen designs. “If you look at the auto industry, there are a lot of parallels,” says New Jersey–based Ted Chappell, president of Poggenpohl U.S. “In the 1970s it was unusual to see a BMW […]
Peter Finer is a different sort of gun nut. Finer’s late father, an experienced skeet shooter, taught him to handle firearms when he was a teenager, and many years later Finer fired off six British cannons—four Napoleonic guns and two from the Raj era—in celebration at the wedding reception of his daughter, Daisy. But he […]
Furniture usually plays only a supporting role at Senger Bamberg Kunsthandel (+49.951.54030, http://www.senger-bamberg.de); it is the gallery to call if you want a medieval wooden sculpture with personality. Such sculptures might include a 15th-century bust of a long-haired, dreamy-eyed St. Barbara, or a gold-clad St. Catherine of Alexandria looking down on the severed head of […]
One of the details that distinguishes the 184-foot sailing yacht Selene is fairly invisible—intentionally so. The experienced yachting couple who commissioned the $40 million Perini Navi ketch enjoy their privacy, so they asked the Italian builder to create a corridor that runs along the vessel’s port side. Window blinds along a wall of the main […]
The Royal Huisman Meteor (+31.?527.24.3131, http://www.royalhuisman?.com), a 169-foot gaff schooner, features classic design inside and out. Naval architects Gerard Dijkstra and John G. Alden worked with interior designer John Munford to create a vessel that is as elegant as any of the best boats from eras past. From her Edwardian-influenced interior to her wide teak […]
The proprietors of the 125-foot Hakvoort Perle Bleue (+31.299.651403, http://www.hakvoort.com) previously owned the 148-foot Hakvoort Campbell Bay. Although the owners downsized, they did not have to sacrifice the bigger-boat features to which they had become accustomed. Designer Donald Starkey worked with the yacht’s owners to create Perle Bleue’s interior, which is much more intriguing than […]
The 171-foot Deniki is the first yacht in the new 171 Limited Editions series from Holland’s Amels yard. In keeping with the relatively speedy construction possible with a semicustom build, the vessel took just 14 months to deliver. As of March, at least three other owners reportedly had signed contracts for the next yachts in […]
The 141-foot, $33 million Emerald Star is hull number one in the CRN 43-Meter Series (+39.71. 5011.111, http://www.crn-yacht.com), which is already backlogged well into 2012. CRN, part of the Ferretti Group, reportedly sold six of the designs before Emerald Star launched late last year. Among several rare features on this yacht, the one drawing the […]
The 164-foot Trinity motor yacht Mine Games is making a splash in more ways than one in the Mediterranean this summer. As the yacht impresses viewers along the Côte d’Azur, its captain, J.D. Ducanes, and his guests are exploring the sea in a Triton 1000/2, the first personal submersible ever carried on a charter vessel. […]
Go-anywhere, do-anything, expedition-style motor yachts are available for charter, but few cruise beyond the Mediterranean and Caribbean seas. An exception is the 111-foot Alloy VvS1 (Fraser Yachts Worldwide, 954.463.0600, http://www.fraser?yachts.com), which you can charter in South Pacific locales such as Tahiti, Tonga, and New Zealand. The vessel, named for the diamond-industry term meaning “nearly flawless,” […]
When boatbuilders use the term semicustom, they generally refer to a choice of interior decor options and possibly some predetermined layouts. A new 116-foot yacht from Lazzara takes this concept a significant step forward by offering custom features to accommodate a wheelchair. The $10.8 million Serenity, the first vessel in the Lazzara 116 series (813.835.5300, […]
The Swiss-made Pilatus PC-12 turboprop is made to tackle hard work in the world’s more remote places. Since its first delivery in 1994, the aircraft has proved its ability to operate reliably, carry heavy loads, and take off and land on short, rough runways. Australia’s Royal Flying Doctor Service uses the plane to provide emergency […]
The “S” in the name of the new Acclaim from Mooney Airplane refers to the craft’s most distinguishing attribute: speed. The Mooney Acclaim Type S (830.896.6000, www?.mooney?.com) reaches 278 mph, which is 6 mph faster than the previous Acclaim and unquestionably faster than any other piston-powered, single-engine airplane on the market. (By comparison, the Columbia […]
Embraer’s Phenom 100 is often called a very light jet. But if this classification is correct, then the company has produced the most spacious VLJ yet. The cabin is significantly longer and wider than are those of the Eclipse 500, the Cessna Citation Mustang, and other VLJs, and extra-large windows make the Phenom 100 seem […]
The XLS jet, Cessna’s best-selling model, has received an impressive update. The company is offering the Cessna Citation XLS+ (316.517.6056, http://www.cessna.com) for about $12 million, an excellent price for a midsize jet. The upgrades include an advanced avionics system and digital engine control, both of which help reduce the pilot’s workload, especially during takeoffs and […]
The Dassault Falcon 7X (201.?440.6700, http://www.dassaultfalcon.com) flies faster, farther, and higher than any of Dassault’s earlier Falcon models. With an impressive range of 6,850 miles, the 7X can travel nonstop between business hubs and most continents. A quiet, wide-body cabin with 28 windows provides room for as many as 12 passengers. The 7X also features […]
In the past 24 years, Richard Santulli has built the world’s second-largest airline, after American—and it consists entirely of private jets. Like a traditional airline, Santulli’s NetJets owns its aircraft, can fly anywhere in the world, adheres to rigorous safety and maintenance standards, and uses a high-tech operations center to keep an eye on every […]
Beauty. A recent dinner party at a private home in the Los Angeles suburb of Brentwood brought me to a mildly disturbing observation on this subject. Magazine editors and academics tend to so settle into their interests (and their opinions) that, even when spirited debate is called for, their arguments spill forth by rote. Having […]
When Sean Connery tore up a few European switchbacks in a DB5 in 1964’s Goldfinger, the Aston Martin brand became synonymous with style. This is as true today as it was four decades ago, now that the current fare, including the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Roadster (www.astonmartin.com), has banished the images of the marque’s lumbering […]
Since 1911, when Kansas farmer Clyde Cessna built a wood-and-fabric airplane and flew it from the Mississippi River to the Rockies—an aviation first—the company that he founded has built some of the world’s most popular private planes. The Citations, a series of light and midsize business jets, have become the most favored Cessnas among upscale […]
In a cavernous, dimly lit room in an office building in Weymouth, Mass., dozens of people stare at a map projected on a bare wall. The map is covered with icons, each representing an aircraft transporting a client. On a busy day, more than 100 icons will appear at one time. Next to the map, […]
Kenny Dichter estimates that he and his partner, Jesse Itzler, were kicked out of Richard Santulli’s office five or six times before the NetJets CEO agreed to let them sell hourly access to his fleet. Santulli’s decision, which he reached seven years ago, has proven beneficial for everyone involved, because Dichter and Itzler’s proposal has […]
FFor two years now, many of the aviation consultants who assist Robb Report (see page 369) have reported that the fast-growing fractional operator Bombardier Flexjet provides perhaps the best, most consistent service in the business. According to Flexjet president Michael McQuay, the company has no secret recipe for this success: “It’s a matter of […]
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