Lamborghini Aventador

For his new book about Jesus, Pope Benedict XVI is using Faber-Castell pencils to write his original draft. Vincent van Gogh recommended the brand to painter Anthon van Rappard in a letter, of which a replica is on display at the company’s castle in Stein, Germany. Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell—the eighth-generation owner of the […]

Some of the most remarkable vintages that fortified winemaker David Guimaraens has brought to market emerged not from his cellars but from those of his neighbors along Portugal’s Douro River. “The families of old have a tradition of setting aside some of their juice to age at home,” he says. “We port shippers have always […]

On a glorious Sunday in May a group of about 20 visitors landed on Nantucket; bypassed the beaches, shops, and other popular destinations; and gathered in the Nantucket Whaling Museum’s storage facility, a barnlike structure far from the island’s downtown. They were collectors of scrimshaw, a folk art practiced most notably by 19th-century whalers, whose […]

In the 1960s, the Pasarell name meant tennis: Brothers Charlie and Stanley Pasarell dominated the game at the junior and college levels before going on to successful professional careers. (Charlie was America’s top singles player in 1967.) Now in their 60s, the Pasarells have traded passing shots for pitch shots in their homeland of Puerto […]

The green-and-gold carriages of the Eastern & Oriental Express lumbered out of Bangkok’s Hua Lamphong station, picking up speed only gradually, allowing passengers in the open-air observation car time to watch the sun set in the distance. From Bangkok, the train always used to head straight to Singapore, but in February the E&O began changing […]

Destination Clubs typically appeal to couples and families who like to travel widely without the costs and inconveniences of owning multiple vacation homes. But the clubs, which offer the promise of five-star vacations in multimillion-dollar homes in far-flung locations, are not without their drawbacks, including restrictions on travel dates and high up-front membership fees and […]

Gianni Agnelli, the late Italian industrialist, was renowned for his distinctive sense of style, and he is still an important inspiration for countless tailors, including a young Italian named Valentino Ricci. Ricci began studying Agnelli’s wardrobe by looking at television news clips and magazine photos, and in 2002 modeled the prototype of his tailored clothing […]

While retaining its title as the world’s fastest fixed-gear single-engine piston aircraft, the Corvalis TT—formerly the Cessna 400 and before that the Columbia 400—has gained another new name: the Corvalis TTX. The X denotes an upgrade that includes a touchscreen-controlled avionics system, business-jet-quality interior appointments, and new exterior paint schemes for the $734,000 aircraft, which […]

Over the years American automakers have produced various contemporary versions of legendary cars that seem like little more than exploitative sequels to those who fondly remember the originals. But the 2012 Ford Mustang Boss 302 distinguishes itself from badge-engineered remakes. Not only does it demonstrate Ford’s respect for the original’s purity of purpose, it is […]

When Dedon debuted its 2011 outdoor furniture collections earlier this year, the German company went global: Transporting its handmade designs to some of the world’s most exotic destinations, Dedon created lavish alfresco living spaces in unlikely locations—from a lakefront setting surrounded by elephants in Chiang Mai, Thailand, to the wintry slopes of Megève, France. “The […]

Last November, Peter Bainbridge, of Bainbridges, a small auction house in England, asked his audience to “welcome” a colorful 18th-century Chinese porcelain vase that had been discovered in a modest home in the English countryside. Bidding opened at $1.3 million (the vase did, after all, bear the imperial mark of the Emperor Qianlong), but it […]

This past March marked the 150th anniversary of the unification of Italy, an occasion that Rome’s citizens and visitors alike celebrated with gusto. In restaurants hung with plump prosciuttos and cloaked in the aroma of white truffles, patrons lifted their glasses of Prosecco to toast the anniversary. On the city’s streets and in shops, vendors […]

It is 5 pm, and like precision clockwork the porte cochere at the Ritz-Carlton, Hong Kong, in Kowloon hums with a dozen Ferraris: The serious business of happy hour has begun. Elevators brim to capacity, shooting upward like jewel-encrusted rockets to the 103rd-floor lobby, ears popping in the 52-second ascent. Another lift completes the relay to […]

The cocktail revolution, for all its swagger, has been largely dedicated to looking backward. Just think about it: legions of bartenders brewing their own bitters, scouring history books for pre-Prohibition curiosities, and opening so many old-style speakeasies and retro lounges. They hold forth on obscure liquors and the correct dilution and shaking velocity, and—please—do not […]

The most conspicuous removal of imperial treasures from China to points west occurred in 1860 when, during the Second Opium War, British and French troops sacked the Qing emperor’s Old Summer Palace in Beijing. Mercenaries and soldiers stripped away countless valuables of the kind that wealthy Chinese collectors are now assiduously repatriating (see “A Tiger […]

Have you received your invitation from Lord Fink? The one to the world’s biggest party ever? On September 15, British financier Lord Stanley Fink and his business partner, David Johnstone, are hosting the Global Party: more than 80 exclusive soirees in more than 80 equally exclusive locations around the planet—all on one night. Each venue […]

When Ashish Sanghrajka, president of Florida-based Big Five Tours & Expeditions, landed in Bogotá, Colombia, in early 2008, there was no one there to pick him up at the airport. Which only served to prove his point. Sanghrajka had not wanted to visit Colombia in the first place. And with each passing minute outside the […]