Luxury Preview 2010

Humorist Fran Lebowitz once amended Eleanor Roosevelt’s much-quoted remark on great minds (the former first lady took it as a matter of course that her own passed muster), stating, “Great people talk about ideas, average people talk about things, and small people talk about wine.” We are inclined to agree with Lebowitz: Why talk about […]

’Tis the season for toasts, and to fortify ourselves for these welcome occasions, we have assembled a list of spirits that move us. Many of these have been around for some time, while others are new releases. Most, however, are small-production and therefore somewhat elusive. Ideal for giving, savoring, and collecting, they are the most […]

Holiday Dinner by Kelly Wearstler China: Trousdale collection, Kelly Wearstler for Pickard, $56.50 to $337.50; available at Bergdorf Goodman and select Neiman Marcus stores. Stemware: Juwel collection, Theresienthal, $135 each; available at TableArt. Flatware: Stainless steel, TableArt, $122 for a five-piece setting. Napkin ring: Brass Twine, Kelly Wearstler for Sferra, $105 for a set of […]

When the invitations for Truman Capote’s 1966 Black and White Ball arrived from Tiffany & Co. bearing an incorrect address for the Plaza Hotel—the event’s venue—the host, with no time to have them redone, simply crossed out the mistake and added the right number. He also wrote an afterthought on each one, in his signature […]

Head to any ski mountain and you will find demo stations tempting you to take a brand-new pair of skis out for a spin. Ski shops also encourage test-drives of their inventory—which is neatly categorized by skiing style (all-mountain, carving, or powder)—so purchasing the right pair should be easy. “Except that skiers don’t always know […]

If there were a royal line in the American yachting industry, Magnum Marine would surely have a legitimate claim to the throne. Three decades ago the South Florida company created a line of sleek, powerful boats that typified the Miami Beach scene of the 1980s. Today, Magnum enjoys a high profile in the same luxury-performance […]

Under normal circumstances, driving a Lamborghini Murciélago at top speed provides enough excitement for one day. Twelve cylinders wailing away behind your head as you floor the accelerator is enough to get anyone’s adrenaline pumping. However, the circumstances under which I drove this latest, lightest Murciélago were not exactly normal. The sun had just set […]

The first cellular phone call was made in 1973 on a handset that weighed 2.5 pounds and stood 9 inches tall. Soon thereafter, cell phones became symbols of wealth and status; early users paid top dollar to make phone calls on the go. Today, however, that distinction is lost. According to CTIA-The Wireless Association, there […]

The novel double-balance spring arrangement in Henry, a recently created watch from Swiss manufacturer H. Moser & Cie, is made completely in-house. The ability to pull off this rare feat of production autonomy in a notoriously interdependent industry marks a notable change in fortune for a company that only a few years ago was struggling […]

Nearly a decade ago, after a long operation to repair an intracranial aneurysm, Dr. Russell Trusso, a Cleveland-based neuroanesthesiologist, left medicine with a life-changing resolution. He was determined to launch a new career that would enable him to give expression to his long-suppressed interest in the arts: He would become a jewelry designer. Trusso approached […]

“I apply Coco Chanel’s theory of getting dressed to my cooking,” says Michael White, the Michelin-starred chef of Manhattan’s new and already highly acclaimed Italian seafood restaurant Marea. “It’s the culinary equivalent of removing one accessory before you walk out the door. In other words, the food should taste like what it’s supposed to taste […]

Of the pioneers of midcentury modern—the design movement that spanned roughly 1945 to 1970—Oscar Niemeyer is probably the best known to have come out of Brazil. Yet the 101-year-old Niemeyer (he will turn 102 in December) is but one of many Brazilian modernists who created furniture mainly out of deep red-and-black jacaranda and other dramatic […]

Of all the things that London seems to be short on—sunshine and dispassionate cabbies, to name two—gilded shopping byways certainly are not among them. From Notting Hill’s Westbourne Grove and Brompton Cross in Knightsbridge to Belgravia’s Motcomb Street and the burgeoning Shoreditch Triangle, avenues lined with fashionable boutiques can be found in seemingly every corner […]

The grumble of construction trucks drowns out the rumble of surf on the oceanfront 17th hole at the Punta Mita Club de Golf’s new Bahia course. The racket detracts from this otherwise serene setting on Mexico’s Pacific Coast, but the disruption is not unwelcome. At a time when many resort projects have been put on […]

When James Magni travels to Paris, he stays at a flat near the city’s most central park, the Jardin des Tuileries. The apartment sits above Colette, a fashionable store that purveys an eclectic mix of apparel, music, and home accessories. “I love picking up a pastry and sitting outside to watch the hip, cool people […]

After more than half a century, Mercedes-Benz will spread its wings once again with the 2011 SLS AMG. This past March, Mercedes-Benz invited a select group of journalists to the AMG headquarters in Affalterbach, Germany. The purpose of the trip, which preceded the Geneva International Motor Show, was a mystery to the invitees, and rumors […]

Bulgari will cap off its 125th anniversary with a sale of vibrant designs for the new year. As the finale to a year of festivities celebrating its 125th anniversary, Bulgari will offer a collection of 11 one-of-a-kind jewelry pieces and seven limited-edition watches at an auction at Christie’s New York on December 8. Though new […]

The Allard J2X MkII revives a racer that offered the best of both worlds. In modern automotive parlance, the word hybrid conjures up visions of the ubiquitous econobox wobbling smugly in a carpool lane. But for car enthusiasts, the term recalls the first time a large American engine found its way into a light, nimble […]

St. Regis and Montage promise to elevate Park City’s already lofty Deer Valley Resort. When the Stein Eriksen Lodge opened mid-mountain at Utah’s Deer Valley Resort in 1983, the hotel was not only the first upscale property in the Park City area, but also one of the first high-end projects anywhere to combine hotel rooms […]

A top French chef will open a restaurant in the Bright Light City while a young American chef expands his presence in the City of Light. Parisian Pierre Gagnaire will extend his empire into the United States this winter just as American Daniel Rose begins building his in Paris. Gagnaire, who holds three Michelin stars […]

The Grande Sonnerie—Jaeger-LeCoultre’s most sophisticated musical watch yet—will come with two additional timepieces and a sonic security system. Upon its release in 2010, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s latest summit-class timepiece, the Hybris Mechanica a Grande Sonnerie, will be the most sophisticated musical watch the company has ever manufactured. Composed of 1,300 parts, the complex Grande Sonnerie will operate […]

The single-pilot Beechcraft Premier II prepares for liftoff. When the Raytheon Beechcraft Premier I took to the skies more than a decade ago, it was the first business jet to possess an all-composite fuselage. The unique properties of the composite material allowed designers to create a plane that weighed less and offered more cabin space […]

Sir Richard Branson is no stranger to the concepts of bigger, faster, and first. In 1986, the Virgin Group founder broke the speedboat record for crossing the Atlantic Ocean. A year later, he and the Swedish aviator Per Lindstrand completed the first hot-air-balloon trip across the Atlantic. Then, in 1991, the duo covered 6,700 miles […]

Ronn Maxwell grins as he hands over the keys to his new car, the Ronn Motor Company Scorpion. Then Maxwell, a barrel-chested 57-year-old whose ostrich-skin boots and smooth drawl betray his Texas origin, drops into the passenger’s seat.  When I turn the key, the Scorpion releases a vicious wail that, as the drive continues, never […]

After an exhilarating day on the slopes outside Garmisch-Partenkirchen, in the Bavarian Alps, my friend Ted and I decided to unwind with a swim and sauna in a spa. Nobody had mentioned to us that this particular sauna was a) coed and b) nude—well, not totally nude: Ted and I wore bathing trunks, which prompted […]

A host of soothing spots for medical, massage, Ayurvedic, water, and wine treatments. MEDICAL Canyon Ranch, Lenox, Mass. The Executive Health Program typically begins with a 90-minute physical examination and interview. 413.637.4100, http://www.canyonranch.com Millcroft Inn & Spa, Ontario, Canada The two- or three-day Lite Detox Getaway assesses your state of wellness and then educates you […]

Around 1598, Jacopo Peri debuted Dafne—thought to be the world’s first opera—at the Florence, Italy, home of Jacopo Corsi, a composer and patron of the arts. Today the structure, which sits at the intersection of Via degli Strozzi and Via de’ Tornabuoni in the heart of Florence, is part of the Palazzo Tornabuoni, a Four […]

Scott Slavis, a Las Vegas–area watch collector, recently acquired a massive clock and watch winder by the renowned German clockmaker Erwin Sattler. This imposing piece is encased in a desk and contains multiple banks of computer-controlled winding units that rise on command from the desk’s surface. “I had five or six people come to my […]

Modern clocks are as rich in technical detail as watches, and certainly richer in history. Yet they lag behind in popularity. The most avid aficionados of these highly accurate objets, unlike many watch collectors, often want to appreciate the beauty of precision mechanics without the distraction of fashion. Yet because mechanical complexity can itself be […]

I was born in 1964, the year the future died. This peculiar realization settled unexpectedly on me while I was reviewing the coming attractions that make up this year’s Luxury Preview (page 93). Although at our present point in history, speculations that stray beyond next month or next year lead us onto shadowy terrain indeed, no […]