Luxist

How To Spend $100,000 In One Night, Jason Giambi Style

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) — Mar 24th 2010 2:01AM

Baseball player Jason Giambi knows a bit about living a lavish lifestyle. He is a co-owner in the Hard Rock's Vanity night club in Las Vegas and has created a truly amazing way to blow $100,000 on a good time.

Our friends at Thrillist reveal that the Vanity Affair with Jason Giambi includes taking over the nightclub's most exclusive table, sipping on one of only 100 3-liter, gold sheathed, laser-etched bottles of 1995 Dom Perignon white gold Jeroboam plus a three-night stay for you and 11 guests at Giambi's nine-bedroom vacation villa in Cabo San Lucas villa. You and your guests will fly first class to Cabo where will you stay in the villa and be catered to by the staff. The villa includes a gym, movie theater, poker table, putting green and a split-level swimming pool area.

Tags: cabo, cabo san lucas, Entertainment-software-association, hard rock hotel, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, hard rock hotel casino, Jason Giambi, las vegas strip, nightclub trend, vanity

Hurtigruten Creates Custom Wine For Cruises

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) — Mar 24th 2010 1:01AM

What do you call a house wine on a cruise ship, the boat wine? The Norwegian cruise line Hurtigruten has worked with Portuguese winery José Maria da Fonseca and commissioned two popular Portuguese wines. The two wines one red and one white were chosen from more than 60 possibilities and and the winemaker agreed to some tweaks to make them unique Hurtigruten wines. The red is described as having a balanced flavor with soft tannins and a fruity aroma, while the white is a pale yellow with aromas of lychee and lime and a full fruity flavor.

They will be offered as the house wine on all Hurtigruten ships making the daily sailing along Norway's 1,250-mile fjord-filled west coast as well as aboard the MS Fram on its expedition cruises to Greenland, Antarctica and the Arctic island of Spitsbergen.

Tags: cruise wine, cruises, hurtigruten, wine

Karim Rashid's Corian House

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) — Mar 24th 2010 12:01AM

We've seen designers work in Corian before, Zaha Hadid did a complete Corian kitchen a few years back, but blob-o-centric designer Karim Rashid has done a whole Corian house. The Smart-ologic Corian Living home will debut at i Saloni April 14-19 in Milan.

The concept home has a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom and living room done in Corian styled in Rashid's colorful, curving shapes. Corian has gone green, new versions of the solid surface material made with environmentally sustainable, bio-sourced components and recycled materials will be displayed for the first time. DuPont has also created the Energain panels which help with energy consumption reduction as well as DuPont building integrated photovoltaic modules as part of the 'smart-ologic Corian® living' brand designed to showcase the company's efforts to decrease its environmental footprint.

Gallery: Karim Rashid's Corian House

Tags: corian, decor, design, energain, karim rashid, sustainable design

BMW launches Z4 GT3 for the Gentleman Racer

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) — Mar 23rd 2010 11:01PM

Mario Theissen and his crew at BMW Motorsport have had some extra time on their hands. First they pulled out of Formula One, selling their team back to Sauber. Then they streamlined their World Touring Car Championship teams, eliminating several cars in the process. So what have they been doing with their newfound spare time? You're looking at it: the BMW Z4 GT3.

Designed for the "gentleman racer", the GT3-spec Z4 gets a heart transplant courtesy of the M3's 4-liter, 480-horsepower V8. Coupled to a six-speed sequential and managed by Munich's ECU408 control unit, that ought to be enough to quicken the heartrates of Bimmerfiles worldwide. But wait, there's more! Like competition-spec ABS, a full roll-cage, central-locking rims and a new front axle with adjustable tubular stabilizer. Oh, and significant weight has been shaved through the use of carbon fiber for the wings, hood, roof and fenders.

BMW will sell you a race-ready car – eligible for such series as the FIA GT3 European Championship, International GT Open and Germany's own ADAC GT Masters – for €298,000, or about $400k in American funds.

Gallery: BMW Motorsport Z4 GT3

Tags: bmw, bmw motorsport, bmw motorsports, bmw z4, bmw z4 gt3, BmwMotorsport, BmwMotorsports, BmwZ4, BmwZ4Gt3, gt3, z4, z4 gt3, Z4Gt3

The Big Deals TEFAF Didn't Mention

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) — Mar 23rd 2010 10:02PM

You know how it is in the art scene: big checks, big names and big egos like to stay under the radar. Anonymity is the norm, of course, and the buyers of Rothkos and Basquiats don't like to see their names in press releases. Yet, a look under the covers of the TEFAF Maasricht art fair shows that some pretty important pieces moved for some rather hefty amounts. The billionaires came out to play, and dealer and galleries were more than ready to accommodate.

Over 10-days, $2.7 billion of inventory was offered t dealers and museums from around the world. Prices edged higher thanks to a recovering art market, and impressive pieces found new homes. Jean-Michel's Basquiat's "Busted Atlas 2" was picked up for $2.4 million by a German collector, sold by Van de Weghe Fine Art, a gallery in New York.

Nonetheless, it's not like the art bubble. David Leiber, of New York's Sperone Westwater gallery, tells Bloomberg News, "Collectors are adjusting to the new values. We have to charge these prices because we can't replace these works." He adds, "There may be some people who went a little overboard at the auctions," a sentiment echoed by Paolo Vedovi of Galerie Odermatt-Vedovi. Vedovi observes, "Auctions are almost a separate market," continuing, "We don't see many of those people. Art fairs aren't as spontaneous. Buyers are cautious and they need to think."

Tags: art collecting, art collection, art collector, art dealer, art fair, art galleries, Art Gallery, art market, basquiat, galleries, gallery, maastricht, rothko, tefaf

Tag Heuer Limited-Edition Anniversary Chest

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) — Mar 23rd 2010 9:02PM

Tag Heuer is celebrating its 150th anniversary in many ways, one of which is by offering this limited edition 'coffret' that will be officially unveiled at the Baselworld Watch and Jewelry Show in Switzerland and available for purchase sometime in early April. Only 150 will be made, one for each year Tag Heuer has been in business, and each will come with a limited-edition Grand Carrera Calibre 17 RS2 Chronograph watch and one of their hand-assembled smartphones, the Meridiist. Designed by French master craftsman Fred Pinel, the chests are customizable and prices start at €14,900 (about $20,000).

Tags: cell phone, CellPhone, mobile phone, MobilePhone, tag heuer, TagHeuer, watch

Then and Now: Mercedes Gullwings at the Carrera Panamericana Mexico

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) — Mar 23rd 2010 8:01PM

Porsche may use names like Targa, Carrera and even Panamera. But these labels – all derived from the dangerous world of sportscar road rallies – didn't always belong to them and them alone.

Among the most prominent of these bygone races was the Carrera Panamericana. The event was fielded in Mexico in the early 1950s before it was disbanded. Not before Mercedes pulled off a most impressive feat, however. In 1952, a Mercedes-Benz 300 SL won the event with a spectacular one-two finish. But along the way, the first car struck a condor, damaging the car and its co-pilot. The mechanics fitted the windshield with steel bars to prevent any further damage, and those bars remain on the car today.

That very same vehicle has now left the Mercedes-Benz racing museum in Stuttgart and returned, alongside its modern-day successor, the new SLS AMG, to participate in the Carrera Panamericana Mexico revival.

Gallery: Mercedes Gullwings at the Carrera Panamericana Mexico

Tags: carrera, carrera panamericana, carrera panamericana mexico, mercedes, mercedes-benz, mercedes-benz 300 sl, mercedes-benz sls amg, panamericana

Chopard L.U.C Engine One Tourbillon

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) — Mar 23rd 2010 7:02PM

Just say the word "tourbillon" and you'll have most watch enthusiasts drooling. But even in such a rarified field, the Chopard L.U.C. Engine One Tourbillon stands a breed apart.

The outcome of years spent participating in motor racing on the part of the company's owners, the Engine One Tourbillon draws its inspiration from a car's motor, both in style and substance. The manual movement – which like any tourbillon rotates inside its case once every 60 seconds to stay accurate and double as a second hand in and of itself – is attached to rubber mountings and three lever-arms. The 60-hour power reserve at 12 o'clock – uncluttered by the hour indices which have been etched into the sapphire crystal – looks like a fuel gauge, mounted on a face that would look at home under the hood of a Bentley.

All that is housed in a titanium case and strapped down by hand-stitched alligator with a titanium clasp. But don't start drooling just yet: Chopard's only making 150 examples, and each is tipped to sell for more than $100,000.

Gallery: Chopard L.U.C. Engine One Tourbillon

Tags: chopard, Chopard L.U.C., chopard l.u.c. engine one tourbillon, tourbillon

TEFAF Boasts of Art Market Recovery

by Tom Johansmeyer (RSS feed) — Mar 23rd 2010 6:01PM

Plenty of art moved at TEFAF Maastricht 2010, and collectors were willing to deal with the prices ... and enjoy their stays in style. According to a statement by TEFAF, many international collectors took private jets to Maastricht/Aachen Airport, where 171 private aircraft landed during the fair. Eighty-two of them touched down in time for the Private View on March 11, 2010. U.S. collectors were back in the game, and the Europeans amped up the intensity, too.

TEFAF attracted 263 dealers and representatives from more than 150 museums from more than 17 countries, which contributed to the robust marketplace (along with the change in global economic circumstances , of course). TEFAF on Paper, a new section at the fair, featured a wide range of prints, drawings and photographs, among others. Parisian dealer Tanakaya moved two early prints, very rare, by Hashiguchi Goyô, entitled Kami sukero Onna, 1921 and Keshô no Onna, 1918. They sold for €32,000 and €30,000 respectively.

Over in the antiquities section, dealer Rupert Wace of London moved an Egyptian Wood Mummy Mask at an asking price of €150,000 (final price not announced) to a private collector. He also sold a Roman bronze statuette of Aphrodite wearing a silver diadem. The piece was from the first century and is headed for a private museum in France.

Tags: art collecting, art collection, art collector, art fair, art galleries, Art Gallery, art market, kandinsky, maastricht, private jets, tefaf

Lanvin Grosgrain Party Pouchette, Handbag of the Day

by Laura Malesich (RSS feed) — Mar 23rd 2010 5:01PM

Ultra-feminine and spicy-hued, this bright red Grosgrain Party Pouchette from Lanvin is gorgeous. The chiffon-covered chain link shoulder strap with bow embellishment reminds me of a sophisticated version of a girl's childhood hair bow. Highlighted features include gold tone hardware, stitched diamond-shaped detail, antique-rose satin lining, and an internal zip pocket. The press-stud fastenings at each side allow for expansion and the same fastening under the fold-over flap gives the bag a tidy closure. You may have outgrown the tea parties of your childhood but this handbag could easily accompany you to a myriad of other celebrations for $1,615. (12" x 8" x 4" with 14" strap drop)

Tags: handbag of the day, HandbagOfTheDay, lanvin, lanvin grosgrain party pouchette, LanvinGrosgrainPartyPouchette

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Luxist bloggers (30 days)

#	Blogger	Posts	Cmts
1	Deidre Woollard	156	1
2	Rigel Celeste	74	0
3	Jared Paul Stern	57	0
4	Noah Joseph	52	0
5	Ariel Adams	42	0
6	Carrie Coolidge	40	0
7	Annie Scott	26	2
8	Tom Johansmeyer	24	0
9	Jonathon Ramsey	18	0
10	Marsha Reid	16	0
11	Jeremy Korzeniewski	14	0
12	Ann Brenoff	8	0
13	Deb West	8	0
14	David Kiley	7	0
15	Laura Malesich	6	0
16	Susan Kime	5	0
17	Sam Abuelsamid	4	1
18	Alison Wellner	4	0
19	Kristin Young	4	0
20	Carrie N. Culpepper	2	0