Filed under: Haute Hotels | Tags: Bruno Moinard, champagne, Hotel du Marc, Pablo Reinoso, Reims
The former residence of Madame Clicquot herself, Hôtel du Marc is a recently reopened (after four years of renovations) 19th century neoclassic private mansion. Despite the name, it isn’t a hotel and it opens its heritage-rich doors strictly by invitation.
A mix of antique pieces, custom art and other clever design elements, that makes for a truly enchanting decor.
The masterminded responsible for the interior design is a French designer Bruno Moinard, who is famous for his work for Cartier, Hermès and other hotels projects around the world.
We loved the tiny details in bathroom tiling incorporating touches of the signature Pantone 137C or simply Veuve Clicquot’s yellow.
This functional sculpture designed by Pablo Reinoso, called “Cadre de Vie”, culminates in the twisting and turning wood and captivates guests attention as they climb the stairs of the lobby.
The experience wouldn’t be complete without the Veuve Clicquot bubbles regardless wether it’s breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Filed under: What's Haute? | Tags: Asia, Bally, China, Chinese, Dragon, Gifts, luxury, New Year, Piaget, Rolls-Royce, Versace, Vertu
From Beijing to Bangkok and Seoul to Singapore, people are celebrating and welcoming the Year of the Dragon that begins today. In Chinese culture the Dragon symbolises power, strength and good luck, so no wonder multiple luxury brands reacted in a predictable manner and incorporated the dragon in the limited edition goods, that no doubt will sell like hot cakes to Chinese nouveau riche. Here’s a glimpse of what’s currently available for the Asian market.
A jewellery store Chow Tai Fook in Hong Kong currently displays a 24K gold dragon. It’s a nine-tael statue, so if you do the math it adds up to the price tag being somewhere around €15,800.
It may be proudly Swiss, but Bally is not about to let its European heritage stop it from marking the Chinese New Year. The fashion house will celebrate the Year of the Dragon with the launch of two capsule collections. Men have the Dragon line while women should look to the Phoenix Collection. The range’s unusual names were inspired by the Chinese proverb which states: “When the dragon soars and the phoenix dances, there is peace and tranquility for all.”
For the Prestige collection limited to 88 pieces each item, S.T.Dupont partnered with Philippe Tournaire, who hand sculpted a gold plated Dragon on a Néo-Classique President fountain pen, made in black Chinese lacquer. The iconic Line 2 lighter, matching the solid bronze ashtray, is also decorated with the emblematic creature.
Versace‘s Dragon year gambit is a specially designed jewel handbag, which comes with a gold handle and traditional golden dragon drawings on a black body. The bag is limited to 210 pieces and sold exclusively in Asia. The bag is priced at HK$31,800 (€3,148), while an even more exclusive red python skin version will set you back HK$45,000.
Vertu has launched three new luxury phones: in stainless steel with emeralds, yellow gold with diamonds or ruby with black stainless steel. This limited edition series will feature a four-claw Chinese dragon adorned on the battery cover, which is a 20-stage process and takes 1,5 days to complete. More than four highly-skilled craftsmen are needed to craft the dragon on a single phone, taking a minimum of eight hours for engraving.
Swiss luxury watchmaker Piaget launched 24 Dragon watch models in Beijing at the end of 2011 with prices ranging from HK$193,000 (€19,114) to HK$16 million (€1,5million). Pictured above is Piaget Exceptional Piece. To have this diamond dragon crawling around your wrist will cost you €1.32 million.
After announcing best ever sales in its 107 years of history, Rolls-Royce has probably beaten another record after the company has announced that the Phantom Year of the Dragon has been completely sold out in China in just two months.
The Rolls-Royce Phantom year of the Dragon’s painting has been inspired by the Forbidden City and it comes with gold inserts, plush leather and hand-crafted details, which are very expensive.
The design of Palmer Johnson’s luxury yacht ‘Dragon’ by Nuvolari-Lenard is visually spectacular for the outside…
The interior design of this flamboyant superyacht is a work of modern fine art. The red, white and black theme in rectangular patterns — in the salon, the dinning room and the bedrooms – is an artistic tribute to this 21st century red dragon on the sea.
Filed under: Accessories, Fashion, Haute Art | Tags: Boucheron, Cartier, Chopard, diamonds, Hublot, luxury, Richard Mille, Swiss movement, Timepieces, Ulysse Nardin, Van Cleef & Aprels, Watch
A multitude of talented artisans turn to nature for inspiration and the modern Haute Horlogerie is no different. Last year we have seen an animal-inspired trend to grow, amplify and mature into something absolutely incredible. Below is a selection of latest luxury timepieces created by the top Swiss watchmakers.
Boucheron Crazy Jungle Hathi
In true Boucheron style , the latest watches reveal the depth and expertise of the company’s craftsmanship. The beautifully enamelled faces of these watches show ancient designs brought brilliantly up to date, alongside exotic depictions of animals such as elephants, crocodiles and flamingos. The colours and beauty of these designs make them highly sought after by watch collectors today, so prepare to be inspired.
Piaget Limelight Garden Party
Birds gently resting on delicate branches form the picturesque dial of Piaget‘s Limelight Garden Party watch. The beautiful diamond-set dial in a white-gold case, also set with brilliant-cut diamonds, and a diamond-set buckle make this the perfect choice for women. The birds themselves turn on the branches with every movement of the wearer’s wrist.
Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grand Tourbillon
In this gem-set version, the Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Grand Tourbillon Enamel depicts cranes perching delicately on the engraved silver dial, crafted using a translucen guilloche enameling technique. Like a trompe l’oeil painting, it highlights every detail of the motif with infinite precision.
Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Bird
During the Enlightenment, the realism of the singing birds invented by Jaquet Droz amazed the royal courts of Europe. Today, the watchmaker had drawn on its heritage to release three limited edition models that are masterpieces of stunning decorative art. In the latest interpretation, the singing birds are shown to their best advantage on an ivory Grand Feu enamelled disc, which the artist uses as a canvas to reveal his talent for this ancient art.
Mira Fée Céleste
Mira‘s Fée Céleste is an interpretation of feminine watchmaking with three models in diamond-set steel or pink gold. Inspired by an article on swans read by one of the Mira designers. The article spoke of the romance of the swans or ‘love birds’ as they are sometimes called, for once the swans have become a couple they will never leave each other. The result is a stunning watch depicting the gorgeous curved and bejewelled image of a bird floating gracefully on the dark lake of the dial waiting for her partner to arrive.
Hublot Big Bang Leopard
Hublot‘s Big Bang Leopard makes a much-acclaimed return and fits seamlessly into the genre-mixing trend, which is seeing a merging of daytime and evening dress codes. This model is set to take centre stage and win over the ultra-fashionable – it’s out with the femme fatale leopard-print look and in with this new take , which is wild yet refined.
Zannetti Regent Dragon
Designed to satisfy the discerning connoisseur, especially those in the Oriental markets, Zennetti‘s Regent Dragon stands out for its remarkable features. It displays superb finishing details on the dial, case, back case and clasp, and the sinuous gold bas-relief dragon is applied on the dial as well as being engraved on the back case. Available in both gentlemen’s and ladies’ versions.
Chopard L.U.C. XP Urushi
East meets West in these exquisite LUC XP Urushi timepieces crafted by Chopard using Urushi, the ancestral Japanese are of lacquering. Supervised by Kiichiro Masumura and designed, painted and adorned with gold dust by the Yamada Heiando Company, an official supplier to the Emperor of Japan, these works represent the five basic elements of the universe according to the ancient philosophy of Chinese natural science.
Cartier Tortue XL
In 2011 Cartier presented six new animal creations – a magical menagerie that showcases the unusual union of artisanal skills and watchmaking expertise. Artistic crafts that enrich an compliment each other provide new realms of creativity. In these watches, Cartier proves that true craftsmanship is a beautiful sight. Shown above is the stunning Tortue XL yellow gold jaguar motif, with its hypnotic eyes.
Richard Mille RM 026 Tourbillon
The design and inspiration for this Richard Mille creation are fully grounded in the eternal themes of nature, Gaia, the Earth Mother, and the passage of time. The coupled serpents are ruby, emerald and diamond encrusted, but there are several other versions available, encrusted in precious, semi-precious or engraved stones.
Van Cleef & Arpels Poetic Complications
Skies of turquoise enamel, waves and clouds in mother-of-pearl, animals with coats of diamonds, flowers of rubies, leaves of emeralds – the most precious materials ennoble high-precision movements, giving time a poetic dimensions that is unique to Van Cleef & Aprels. These exceptional watches from the Poetic Complications Collection truly tell us their stories in an extraordinary way.
Ulysse Nardin Caprice Panda
The Ulysse Nardin Ladies Caprice Panda in 18ct white gold takes its inspiration from the bear beloved for its distinctive beauty and serene magnetism. A symbol of strength and resilience, the gentle giant is known as a creature of mystery and mystique. Depicted in plethora of black and white diamonds on a brilliant white background, a mother panda and her cub feast on a bamboo – can it get any cuter?
Filed under: Shoe Fetish | Tags: Flames, jewel-toes, Prada, S/S 2012, Shoe Porn
This year ‘Devil Wears Prada’ takes on a whole new meaning. Inspired by American racing cars so popular in the 1950s, these hot rod flaming Prada stilettos are the talk of the town since the launch of its Spring/Summer 2012 collection.
Forget about being a sophisticated ice-queen, these colourful high-heeled-fire-flamed slingbacks scream of power-play. Its been predicted by many fashion editors for these jewel-toe hot rods to be the most coveted footwear of this summer, so be quick to get your pair from Bergdorf Goodman.
by Olga Titarenko
Filed under: Fashion | Tags: ankles, Mathias Bergh, Mirte Maas, Neva Lynne Jaffe, S/S 2012, skirt lengths, tom ford, Ziegfeld coin test
Tom Ford did a Karl Lagerfeld and shoot own Spring/Summer 2012 campaign, which turned out to be infectiously happy. It showcases rich jewel tone suits, shirts and skirts that are perfect for between seasons, but the overall attitude screams of spring.
As for the models, Tom Ford chose Mirte Mass, a 20-year old Dutch beauty, who had a monumental season for a newcomer walking 36 shows for big names like Chanel, Prada, Chloé, Versace and Louis Vuitton to name a few.
..and a male import from Sweden Mathias Bergh, who landed four campaigns in his debut season.
You may notice that the ankles are a focal point of the collection, it comes at no surprise that Ford saw this through into the campaign with Mathias Bergh nibbling away at Mirte Mass’ ankle.
But what’s the fascination with female ankles you ask? Well, ever since we raised our skirt lengths above the ankles, men have been intrigued… Think of it as an appetizer to where they lead.
Did you know Zeigfield wouldn’t allow girls in his Follies whose ankles and knees didn’t touch. It was a sign of perfectly proportional gams.
Neva Lynne Jaffe demonstrating the old Ziegfeld coin test (1948)
There you go ladies, this season according to Mr. Ford, ankles, affection, laughing and occasional nudity are in.
