InsideLux – The Luxury News Authority

With a new surge in demand for mega yachting and added interest in angular designs and straight lines following the inception of the Maltese Falcon, Wally has gone back to its routes and veered away from its recent concentration on motor yachts to launch the Wally Otto.  The Otto is 80 feet in total and handles up to thirteen crew members which makes it more than suitable for maxi yacht racing.  With three staterooms, the yacht can also double up as a luxury charter enterprise.

Priced at $1.1 million, this is one concept car that InsideLux can reveal will be on the Jaguar showroom floor in 2013.  Much like the Mercedes McLaren partnership, Jaguar has followed suit with a partnership with Formula 1 maker Williams who will provide the chassis and a hybrid system. Jaguar has announced an impressive 0-60 m/p/h in under 3 seconds with a top speed of 200 miles per hour.

Liquor companies have come and gone for hundreds of years, but one historically valued cognac has held steady in its ever-increasing quality reputation. The House of Rémy Martin began perfecting cognac 150 years prior to branding Louis XIII Cognac. With true passion for family and creating the perfect blend, Rémy Martin passed his knowledge and innovative spirit to his son Paul-Émile Rémy Martin. When Paul-Émile decided to brand his family multi-generational life’s work, he chose to pay homage to French King Louis XIII, birthing Louis XIII by Rémy Martin. Not only are the 1,200 eaux-de-vie mixed cognacs famous in their own right, but the decanter encasing the creation bears a timeless quality as well. A flask found on the battlefield of Jarnac was replicated and used as the decanter for each bottle sold. Pricings today reflect the thoughtful process instilled in each individual bottle, generally costing around $3,000 per 750mL decanter.

CrystalRoc, in collaboration with Steinway & Sons, is announcing the addition of fully-crystallized, custom-built grand pianos to its collection of exclusive musical instruments.

Encrusted with over a million, individually-positioned Swarovski crystal elements, no two pianos will be alike, as the colour and design of the crystallization will be personalized according to the wishes of each individual client.

“The CrystalRoc Piano is unparalleled and will add to the elegance of any luxury private residence, penthouse suite, or super-yacht,” explains Morten Schjolin, Creator, CrystalRoc.  “The range will cater to the elite private consumer, high-end interior designers and the world of entertainment and celebrity”, he continues. “All our customers will have the ability to influence the creative process as the aim is to produce an original work-of-art that represents their unique style.”

CrystalRoc, whose clients include Rihanna, Leona Lewis, Girls Aloud, Mary J Blige, Kylie Minogue, and The Pussycat Dolls, considers Steinway & Sons to be the ideal partner for this exceptional range. Commenting on the collaboration, Glen Gough, Managing Director of Steinway & Sons in the UK, said, “Steinway pianos have always set an uncompromising standard for sound, touch, and investment value. A Steinway is an instrument of rare quality and now, through our partnership with CrystalRoc, there is the opportunity to own an extraordinarily distinctive, bespoke Steinway grand piano that is the perfect blend of sophistication and glamour.”

The CrystalRoc Piano will be available worldwide in small (Model M), medium (Model B) and large (Model D) sizes. Prices start at £495,000 and any existing design (brand images, personal motifs, artist logos, family crests, franchise colours, team emblems), or an original concept, can be incorporated into the structure of the crystallization.

No Luxury home or office is complete without a high-end library stocked with only the greatest that world literature has to offer. When elite hotels such as the Ritz-Carlton, Marriot, W, and Four Seasons are looking to boost their level of eloquence, they work with their in-house design teams or designers like Theresa Fatino to enlist the service of Juniper Books creator, Thatcher Wine.  Thatcher goes beyond the call of duty, combining luxurious design with a personalized composition of literature pulled from all over the world.

Knowing that every client has separate needs and styles, Thatcher listens to the client’s vision and caters to every detail going even as far to match the book bindings to the space’s style.

While some designers are only interested in the aesthetics of the room, Thatcher, a Dartmouth alum, uses his extensive knowledge and background in history and art to collaborate with his literary dealers worldwide to ensure that every book is in the proper language, and has a place in the custom library.For centuries libraries have been known as status symbols, boasting the owner’s extensive knowledge and appreciation for world literature and art. Filling your personal library could take years when done alone, but Thatcher prides himself on his ability to pull contacts, and match the substance of pieces to his talented designs in just a few weeks.

His pricing ranges depending on the content of the collection requested, from general hardcover books at 35 dollars per foot, custom wrapped books at 50 dollars per foot, to antique and modern leathers up to 350 dollars.  There are generally 10 books per foot of book case space.

For more information about Juniper Books and Thatcher Wine, please visit www.juniperbooks.com.

Ruinart has launched “Collection Prestige” and made their Blanc de Blanc champagne a collectors item by having Milan-based artist Patricia Urquiola create a Fil d’Or or Golden Thread bottle stopper.

Source: Luxuo

The much anticipated Fort Lauderdale Boat Show touted as the largest international boat show in the world with over $3billion worth of mega yachts, boats and equipment on display suffered a day of heavy rain today. With just one day left, boat show organizers are hoping that buyers will not be put off by the weather. But with the economy still in recession, organizers expected buyers to be put off anyway. According the Sun Sentinal, a local newspaper, show organizers admitted to focussing on lifestyle this year as opposed to business. With heavy rain and a choppy bay alert by the coastguard, it may just be a surprise if either objectives were realized.

Here’s a new drink on the market, the ‘Signature’ by Jim Beam. The Jim Beam Signature has been created by a seventh-generation master distiller Fred Noe and is distilled from six grains and aged for six years in hand-selected white oak barrels. Bottled at 44.5%abv, the Jim Beam Signature offers a smooth and rich flavour with a silky finish and a pleasant nose of caramel, oak and subtle grain and spice notes.  In short it is the perfect drink for Jim Beam fans.

The ‘Signature’s proposed price is €29.99 and is available in European duty-free outlets.

Hello Kitty have collaborated with Fillico to launch this luxury water; the luxury bottled water comes in Red for friendship, Pink for cute, Yellow for heartful, green for wish and lavender for sweet. The Hello Kitty luxury water bottles are adorned with Swarovski crystals. Each bottle is priced at $100 or the whole collection for $500.

TAG Heuer may be renowned for its timepieces but it is equally famous for its luxury phones. TAG Heuer have just announced three new additions to its Meridiist phone collection, they are the Meridiist Black Diamond, the Meridiist Stainless steel & Rose Gold and the Meridiist Python Gold Dust.

Though all three TAG Heuer Meridiist phones have the same features and design; the Meridiist Black Diamond is a PVD-coated device made out of 316L stainless steel, 18-carat pink gold, lizard leather and has 1.34-carat diamonds.

Second in the collection, the Meridiist Stainless Steel & Rose Gold also offers 18-carat pink gold, stainless steel and alligator leather, but has no diamonds.

And last in the collection, the Meridiist Python Gold Dust comes with 1.3-carat diamonds mixed with gold, East African green garnet and python leather.

Technical specifications

1.9-inch QVGA sapphire crystal display

Secondary OLED display

2-megapixel camera

2GB internal memory

The new TAG Heuer Meridiist phones have not been priced yet; check http://meridiist-phone.com/finop.asp for pricing information and how to reserve one.