Starting in 1996, Alexa Internet has been donating their crawl data to the Internet Archive. Flowing in every day, these data are added to the Wayback Machine after an embargo period.
This beautiful Faberge creation from Princess Grace of Monaco's collection, which has not left Monaco in over 30 years, was unveiled today at the Consulate General of Monaco in New York City.
Thanks to Prince Albert II, who inherited the piece in 2005, the Imperial Blue Serpent Clock Egg will be traveling to Cleveland, Ohio, where it will be on display with six other Faberge wonders in the Artistic Luxury exhibition at the Cleveland Museum of Art through January 2009.
The Imperial Blue Serpent Clock Egg was crafted in St. Petersburg in 1887, and presented by Alexander III to Maria Fyodorovna.
Gallery: The Unveiling of the Imperial Blue Serpent Egg
Here we have a pen for those who want a writing instrument that's top notch but still masculine and, most importantly, durable and functional enough for regular use. It's the SureFire Pen, from SureFire (of course), and among its list of features you'll find that it has a sleek, aerospace-grade aluminum body, a "virtually indestructible" stainless steel tip, and a tail cap that's designed to function as a window-breaker in an emergency. And how does it write? The SureFire pen is fully adjustable to accommodate almost any of your favorite ink cartridges, but to make things even easier it comes standard with its own easy flow cartridge featuring high-performance Schmidt® Technology.
A perfect gift for that hard-to-buy for guy on your holiday shopping list! $125
Like fellow watchmaker Jaeger Le Coultre, Audemars Piguet has come out with some showstopper jewelry pieces. There are two sets of matching 18K white gold and diamond watches and necklaces for women, the Coup de Theatre and Carnet de Bal. Both watches use the AP calibre 2046 movement with manual winding (18 jewels) that beats at a frequency of 21 600 vph and provides 42 hours power reserve. The Coup de Theatre pieces are shown on the left and features a brick like arrangement of diamonds punctuated by an exuberant spray of bezel set diamonds. The Carnet de Bal pieces are more of a floral comet with brilliant, marquise, pear and baguette diamonds including bezel set stones mounted on trailing strands of white gold accented with gold beads. Larger pictures are in the gallery below.
Callaway 's latest driver, the Fusion FT-iQ isn't the prettiest golf club I've ever seen but company promises that it is their longest, straightest driver ever. The squared-off club promises increased ball speed. The titanium face is thickest in the center and thins out on the side while a lightweight composite body gives the club a low center of gravity. It sell for $499 to $529 and will be available as of November 15. The Callaway website has video of pro golfers including Rocco Mediate and Ernie Els testing out the club.
Cheval des Andes winemaker Nicolas Audebert found an interesting way to launch the 2005 vintage of Cheval des Andes – the joint venture between Cheval Blanc's Pierre Lurton and Terrazas de los Andes. He appeared at the Ham Polo Club in south west London atop an Argentine polo pony to play polo with some local wine industry professionals. And it wasn't just a stunt, there does happen to be a polo pitch at Terrazas de los Andes.
The Cheval des Andes is a blend of 50% Malbec, 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot s from Terrazas de los Andes' Las Compuertas vineyard located in Mendoza. The fruit of two vines go into each of the limited number of bottles produced. The wine has undergone five weeks of maceration and 18 months French oak barrel ageing resulting in a Bordeaux style with the beefy exuberance of Argentine grapes.
Audebert, who was born in Bordeaux, works with Pierre Lurton of Cheval Blanc and Château d'Yquem to combine Argentine terroir with French wine knowledge.Terrazas de los Andes is owned by luxury conglomerate Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy. The Cheval des Andes 2005 sells for $69.99 on Wine.com.
Most live/work situations for artists are lofts in cities but today's home is a live/work in a more rural location. Today's home is located in the Santa Ynez Valley area of California and sits on 20 acres of land. The contemporary home was completed in 2006 and featured in Interior Design Magazine and is the 2007 AIA Design Award winning home. The 7,000 square foot main residence has a spare design that showcases the outdoor patios and walkways. There is an 800 sq ft master bedroom suite with his and her walk-in closets and laundry, a huge 1200 sq ft guest suite with two bedrooms and a common den with fireplace. Meant to be a live/work facility, the home also features an 800 sq ft art studio with adjoining 75 sq ft office, large 260 sq ft office with adjoining bath and an exercise room with bath. The outdoor areas include a picnic area, fireplace, and a pizza oven as well as a thin 70' foot long lap pool with a large spa. It is listed at $8 million.
The newest member of Design Hotels is known as The George and will open in November in Hamburg, Germany. The 125-room hotel promises a "New British Style" offering a contemporary twist to English tradition and design. It was inspired by British social clubs and offers spaces in which to socialize and lounge including a library, a restaurant with attached English garden, a rooftop terrace and two clubrooms as well as a lounge and bar.
Hotelier Kai Hollmann used both the styles of British classics as well as exotic influences dating back to colonial times in his design. The primary design scheme in black and white is softened by rich accent colors and warm dark woods. Each of the public rooms are also available for private hire. Room rates start at 159 euros.
Decorati is the online home to finds like hand-crafted pieces from Cliff Young or Tucker Robbins's side table ($660, above), which was recently featured in a scene on Gossip Girl. The aim of the site is to replace the staggering piles of design catalogs lying around and keep inspiration flowing once the showrooms have closed for the day.
Founder and interior designer Shane Reilly launched the site when she was shuttling between coasts working on multiple projects and wishing she could shop the showrooms after hours.
Right on time for holiday giving, Playboy has come out with a line of wines. The wines are available by bottle or by a yearly subscription for $1,567 and include a limited run of up to 550 bottles per series; vineyards include Gargiulo Money Road Cabernet Sauvignon, St. Supery's famed Dollarhide Cabernet Sauvignon, Schug Estate Heritage Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, RODA Cirsiron and Tenuta Sette Ponti Oreno. And of course, since it's Playboy, each wine is labeled with a vintage Playboy cover which represents the flavor and taste profile of each wine.
The wines are available online but will also be sold at wine retailers in the United States. The wines will retail individually at $90 to $380 a bottle. Check out the first offerings in the gallery below.
A rare box of pre-embargo Romeo y Julieta Cuban cigars stars in Christie's Fine and Rare Wines and Vintage Cigars sale in London this Thursday. Expected to fetch up to $16,000, the box of 100 cigars from Winston Churchill's favored brand, labeled "Selección de Luxe", was originally purchased at Saks Fifth Avenue in New York prior to the enactment of the U.S. embargo against Cuba in 1962. The mint condition cigars in a wooden presentation case consist of 25 Petit Coronas, 25 Coronas, and 25 each of two sizes of Perfectos. Also featured in the luxurious sale are several cases of vintage Krug champagne, headed by a couple cases of Vintage 1985 estimated at about $3,000 each.
Tennis star Boris Becker has been busy making big plans over on the luxurious Al Marjan Island: he's building a mega-resort that's being touted as one of the area's most ambitious ever. The Boris Becker Beach Resort and Tennis Academy will offer two ocean front exposures and 2.5 million square feet of luxury holiday homes, high end resort and spa facilities, a five star hotel, and of course a world-class tennis academy 50% owned by Becker himself.
A couple of interesting facts: the academy and resort will be partially solar powered, the design is meant to represent a sea turtle when viewed from the air, and it's all scheduled to be finished by 2010.
The new version of the popular Prada phone has been unveiled. The Prada II looks a lot like the first one but it has a slide-out metallic keyboard, a 5-megapixel camera with 7.2Mbps HSDPA and wifi. It's pretty, it's also pretty pricey, set to sell for around 600 euros (over $800). It will launch in Europe in the end of October or beginning of November. There seems to be a distinct lack of enthusiasm from both bloggers and commenters around the blogosphere on this one which I'm not sure if I attribute to the high price of the phone or the design.
The Aston Martin DBS isn't the only high-performance means of transport to have a starring role in the new 007 film, Quantum of Solace. UK-made Sunseeker yachts also appear in the movie, which features one of the biggest ever boat chases in a Bond film, shot in Panama last March. Among the Sunseekers featured in the film is the Superhawk 43, from the company's high-performance range, as well as the 121-ft. M4 superyacht (above), the largest semi-custom production motoryacht ever to be built in the UK. Bond also rides in a classic vintage Sunseeker Sovereign 17 motorboat from 1970 at one point during the film. Sunseeker yachts have appeared in the last three Bond movies.
Spain isn't the first place one thinks of as a ski destination but there is plenty of good snow in the Spanish Pyrenees. La Pleta in Baqueria-Beret offers downhill, cross-country and heli skiing as well as snowshoeing and ice skating for those who prefer not to ski. The resort includes a library stocked with books and DVDs, a personal boot butler took take care of your alpine gear and the Occitania Spa to tend to your aching muscles. The reviews on Trip Advisor are favorable overall. The 71-room resort offers a five-night Occitania Ski vacation which is available from December 4, 2008 through April 19, 2009 and starts at 635 Euros including daily buffet breakfast and shuttle service to and from the lifts.
Charles Kuralt was quoted as saying "Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything."
That is so true these days, you really can do a lot of traveling and yet somehow manage to see very little of the world. So why not remedy that by going on a walking tour? The Wayfarers are in their 26th season of offering luxury walking tours, and this year they have a list of locations that's better than ever with itineraries in India, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, and even Alaska if you're interested in staying here in the States. The tours are all-inclusive and feature only the best in high class accommodations and dining, plus they're conveniently ranked from physically easy to difficult (so you don't have to worry about getting in over your head if you've never been on a walking tour before). Prices vary based on the location and length of the tour, but you can expect them to start somewhere between $3695-$6,995 .
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