Rolls-Royce’s New Series II Phantoms

Photography by David Roemer; Styling by Christopher Campbell; Photographed at Shangri-La Hotel, Paris At the turn of the 20th century, Paris was the epicenter of a new modernism that shook up everything from art and architecture to literature and fashion, and made the city home to two of the period’s most stylish creations: the Art […]

From its ancient canals dotted with gondolas to the Doge’s Palace and Piazza San Marco, Venice is an anachronism with unmatched allure. The many visitors to the Italian island-city can choose among hotels by such international brands as Hilton, Accor, Starwood, Orient-Express, and Best Western. But Francesca Bortolotto Possati, a native of Venice and its […]

If the words Cadillac luxury sedan conjure visions of Fleetwoods and DeVilles, step out of your leisure suit and into model year 2013. The XTS is an all-new offering that rounds out the Cadillac portfolio by adding a large sedan to an already impressive lineup that includes smaller and sportier coupes, sedans, and wagons, as […]

No doubt most Bentley EXP 9 F SUVs will see more soccer fields than sand dunes. But Bentley buyers might not need a family-vehicle option if they already own a Mulsanne. Opulent as it is, the big sedan proved quite capable of handling domestic duties during a recent week of test-driving that included transporting our […]

To boost both model and brand, Bentley has eviscerated the Bentley Continental GT and replaced its thunderous W-12 with a lighter, smarter, thriftier V-8 engine. Yet can this much less really be that much more? Are there significant benefits to such a radical lightening of the mechanical load—to dumping four cylinders, two liters of displacement, […]

Miraval Arizona Resort & Spa was letting loose during the opening weekend of its new spa facility, Miraval Life in Balance with Clarins, in May. Owners Steve and Jean Case were there (Steve cofounded America Online in 1985; the Cases purchased the majority share of Miraval in 2004), as were a host of celebrities and […]

Philippe Bourguignon, CEO of the Denver-based destination club Exclusive Resorts, has nothing against hotels. Nor does he deny the allure of renting a vacation home. But Bourguignon—whose company launched a new membership service called Portico in February—believes there is a better way to travel.   “A conventional hotel is very predictable and consistent in service, […]

In 1985, the firm of Marchesi Antinori introduced to the marketplace what certainly ranks among viticulture’s oddest offerings: a nonvintage red wine known as Secentenario. Comprising the finest lots from multiple vintages on the Tenuta Tignanello estate in the Chianti Classico region, this rare bottling was created to celebrate the 600th anniversary of Giovanni di […]

During John Herzog’s first year with his father’s Manhattan brokerage firm, Herzog & Co., the most significant trade he made involved a defunct stake in a 19th-century railroad. It was 1959, and while visiting an antiques shop, Herzog spotted a framed 1873 certificate for 100 shares of the New York and Harlem Rail Road Company, […]

The story line could have been lifted from a fable, or perhaps a Mel Brooks film: During the renovation of a venerable Moscow mansion in 1990, workers opened up a wall and discovered a cache of old candy tins containing a glittering treasure of Fabergé jewels. The house and some of the jewels had belonged […]

If golf architect Pete Dye ever decides to retire, Teeth of the Dog will lead his legacy. More than 40 years after it opened in 1971, the magnificent seaside layout (think Pebble Beach with palm trees) at the Dominican Republic’s Casa de Campo resort remains the Caribbean’s premier golf course. The 86-year-old Dye, meanwhile, is […]

After more than a decade of distractions following its bizarre transformation into a BMW Group subsidiary in 1998, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars is standing tall and breathing evenly. The company is feeling so flush, so confident of its future and bulging overseas markets that it recently introduced not just one new model for 2013 but an […]

When he was young, John Hendricks was fascinated, as boys often are, with wildlife, dinosaurs, space, automobiles, and adventure. His favorite TV shows were Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom and Walter Cronkite’s You Are There. As an adult, perceiving a lack of such programming, Hendricks in 1985 launched the Discovery Channel, America’s first television network […]

No other metropolis enjoys Paris’s particular reputation as a center of style and culture. Yet the City of Light, which serves as the backdrop for this month’s fashion feature (see “Man About Town“), was not always so well lit, nor were its inhabitants always so enlightened. The French capital we know, after all, is in […]

It was a spectacle of otherworldly beauty, a celestial dance of shooting comets and blazing meteorites. If Chanel designed the universe—and for one night at the planetarium at Paris’s Musée du quai Branly, the fashion house did—the galaxies would sparkle with diamonds and gemstones. There would be stars and leonine adornments glittering on long necklaces, […]

In a quiet village outside Paris, a small group of craftsmen slices strips of wood by hand, while other workers meticulously hammer tiny brass nails one by one. Nearby, sewers are joining swaths of fine leather, using linen thread that has been dipped in beeswax to create a smooth stitch. The air carries scents of […]

To remain competitive in the flight-services industry, companies have been updating and upgrading their fleets and expanding their offerings beyond fractional aircraft shares. Here we spotlight the most prominent flight-services providers and the new aircraft they have ordered, as well as the programs and services they have added or amended in recent months. We also […]

If not good times, these are at least better times in Wichita, Kan., home of Bombardier Learjet, Cessna Aircraft, and other business-jet and personal-aircraft makers. Here in America’s heartland, two leading private-jet manufacturers are developing and delivering a range of new aircraft that, in most cases, offer superior performance, safety, reliability, efficiency, comfort, and value. […]

ARRIVALS | PLANES IN THE PIPELINE When demand for jets plummeted during the recession, aircraft manufacturers delayed development and production of new models. The recession also prompted many jet owners to try selling their aircraft earlier than they had planned, thus flooding the secondary market with high-quality jets, which further hurt the market for new […]

Their clients want to feel at home even when they are 40,000 feet in the air, so private-jet interior designers create cabins that reflect the owners’ tastes and address their desires in terms of accommodations and conveniences. The challenge for designers is to do so while working with limited space and using material and equipment […]

Like most industries, private aviation is cyclical and susceptible to the vagaries of the economy and other worldwide forces. It plummeted during the recession and now, as the economy recovers, it appears to be ascending. As discussed in “Arrivals and Standbys“, Cessna, Bombardier, Embraer, and Gulfstream all expect to deliver new jet models in the coming […]

Members of the Robb Report Private Aviation Advisory Board chose the aircraft recognized in this section based largely on each of the models’ performance, availability, average price on the secondary market (according to AMSTAT, JETNET, and other business-aircraft market-research firms) compared to the cost of a new aircraft, and ability to retain resale value. However, […]

When he is working on a new product, Wolfgang Dürheimer, the tailored, urbane 53-year-old chairman of the Bentley and Bugatti brands, likes to develop a story around it. In the case of Bentley’s SUV concept, the story behind one of the vehicle’s prospective names began last year, when Dürheimer was introduced to the sport of […]