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Robb Report 2009 Luxury Preview
The Editors
The winds of change will be blowing with gale force in March, when Bugatti launches the Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport—a convertible supercar that speeds to 224 mph with its top down. This hair-raising, $2.2 million machine is one of several items featured…
2009 Luxury Preview: Aetna Springs
Brett Anderson
In a mining project in Napa County’s Pope Valley struck pay dirt of another kind: a natural hot spring. The owners rewrote their business plan, constructing a lodge on the 700-plus-acre property over the next several years. Soon, well- heeled San…
2009 Luxury Preview: CityCenter
Jessica Taylor
Las Vegas caters as much to the gourmet as it does to the gambler. Since 1992, with the success of Wolfgang Puck’s Spago restaurant at Caesars Palace, superstar chefs have flocked to Sin City, creating one of the most impressive and diverse…
2009 Luxury Preview: Pagani Sound System
Bailey S. Barnard
At the top Marques Monaco auto show in April, Pagani—the Italian automaker whose elusive Zonda Roadster is banned on American streets—unveiled the prototype for a high-fidelity audio system that embodies the company’s philosophy of merging technology…
2009 Luxury Preview: Racing Form
Laurie Kahle
Around 1880, Constant Girard—founder of Girard-Perregaux—unveiled a pocket watch that could measure fractions of a second. The function was named foudroyante, from the French word for “lightning.” This year, the firm—one of few companies that…
2009 Luxury Preview: Super Sly
Gregory Anderson
Japanese automobile companies are notoriously reticent when it comes to sharing information about potential new models. But while it has yet to confirm any details about its forthcoming supercar, Lexus has not been shy about testing prototype…
2009 Luxury Preview: Sporting Savile Row
William Kissel
Although Italian sportswear designer Brunello Cucinelli only recently announced plans to launch his first men’s tailored clothing collection for spring 2009, his distinctive style has subtly influenced the designs of traditional suitmakers for years….
2009 Luxury Preview: Caribbean Haven
Jennifer Hall
St. Kitts is known more for its natural beauty than for its hotels and resorts—which, for LeGrand Elebash, is precisely what makes the Caribbean island so appealing. “While other islands have seen intense development in recent years, St. Kitts has,…
2009 Luxury Preview: A Vine Year
Jessica Taylor
Located on just 16 acres of picturesque vineyards in Tuscany’s coastal region of Bolgheri, Tenuta dell’Ornellaia is renowned for producing a number of the best Super Tuscan blends, most notably Masseto, a much-coveted single-vineyard Merlot. With an…
2009 Luxury Preview: Ring Around the World
Jeff Matthews
An angry dwarf, spurned by three flirty sisters, steals their treasure and gives up love forever in order to create an all-powerful piece of jewelry—the Ring of the Nibelung. Richard Wagner’s four-opera masterpiece, known as The Ring Cycle, lasts 15…
2009 Luxury Preview: Trotter Town
Jessica Taylor
This year marks the 21st anniversary of Charlie Trotter’s flagship restaurant in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago. And if all goes as planned, by early next year the renowned chef will be running two more restaurants in his native town. Set…
2009 Luxury Preview: Lighter, Brighter Zegna
William Kissel
For nearly a century, Ermenegildo Zegna has pioneered proprietary fabrics and technologies that have redefined modern menswear. In 2006, Zegna Sport debuted the iJacket, which boasts a built-in touch-control panel made from sandwiched layers of…
2009 Luxury Preview: Roman Explorer
Michael Verdon
Perini Navi—known for its graceful but highly technical sailing megayachts, like the 289-foot Maltese Falcon—is launching a stunning new line of motor yachts being designed by French naval architect Philippe Briand. Named for a first-century Roman…
2009 Luxury Preview: Lotus Blossoms
Paul Meyers
When the Lotus Evora arrives in the United States next summer, the car will introduce an element of practicality to what has been, to date, a boy-racer brand. While Lotus’ smaller Elise and Exige models eschew creature comforts to maintain their…
2009 Luxury Preview: High-Seas Horology
Laurie Kahle
Two years ago Corum updated its 48-year-old Admiral’s Cup collection, which is dedicated to sailing. This year, the brand further invigorated the series with the Admiral’s Cup Tourbillon 48, an elegant watch better suited for lounging on the deck of…
2009 Luxury Preview: Star Fleet
Don Williams
Two hundred horsepower may seem trifling to sports car aficionados, but it is a magic number for motorcycle enthusiasts. While it will likely fall a few horsepower short of that figure, the all-new 2009 Star VMAX should rewrite the quarter-mile…
2009 Luxury Preview: Leading Legacy
Bailey S. Barnard
Embraer’s beginnings were humble. In 1960, the Brazilian aircraft manufacturer began designing its first model, the Bandeirante, a somewhat primitive turboprop that it planned to mass-produce in a São Paulo industrial shed at the rate of two planes…
2009 Luxury Preview: Shades of Kiton
William Kissel
Kiton’s reputation rests on its superbly constructed, handmade tailored clothing; but in recent years the Naples, Italy–based suitmaker has applied this craftsmanship and attention to detail to other sartorial products, including leather outerwear,…
2009 Luxury Preview: Good Wood
Jessica Taylor
Nothing affects the flavor of a whisky more than the wood in which it is aged. To that end, the 2009 release of Glenmorangie Astar (Gaelic for “journey”) has been aged in slow-growth, fine-grain American oak barrels. Harvested in 1985 from specially…
2009 Luxury Preview: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport
Gregory Anderson
Though the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport will not officially be available until March, the first convertible supercar in the series of 150 was sold at the Gooding & Company auction in Monterey, Calif., in August. Bugatti donated the proceeds…
2009 Luxury Preview: Boeing 787 VIP
Mary Grady
When the first 787 VIP rolls off the assembly line in Everett, Wash., in a few years, Boeing will send the new aircraft to a completion center of the purchaser’s choice for custom-designed interior work. in anticipation of such a project, Magnus…
2009 Luxury Preview: Audemars Piguet Royal Oak Carbon Concept
Laurie Kahle
Superstrong and ultralight, carbon fiber has long been the preferred material for high-performance applications that demand sturdiness. Formula 1 racecars, America’s Cup yachts, and even aerospace vehicles have fully leveraged the material’s…
2009 Luxury Preview: Dynamic Tower
Kim Fredericks
The idea for a rotating skyscraper came to architect David Fisher one evening while he enjoyed the sunset from a high-rise building in New York City. “I could see both the Hudson and East rivers, and I thought, ‘Why can’t we rotate the floor so…
2009 Luxury Preview: Terranea and Pelican Hill
Bruce Wallin
Before it closed in 1987, Marineland of the Pacific was arguably the world’s most scenic theme park. The Sea World–like facility—where families could feed herring to dolphins, swim in an aquarium with leopard sharks, and watch Shamu (then known as…
2009 Luxury Preview: Mercedes-Benz SL 65 AMG Black Series
Gregory Anderson
Call it stealth marketing. Over this past summer, Mercedes-Benz leaked a few photos depicting a camouflaged Speedster version of the SLR McLaren onto the Internet. Shortly thereafter, YouTube buzzed with video footage of the undercover supercar…
2009 Luxury Preview: Cartier High Jewelry and Chanel Fine Jewelry
Jill Newman
Fascinated by the chimera of Greek mythology, Louis Cartier—a scion of the French jewelry house—commissioned in 1922 a jeweled bangle carved from coral in the shape of a two-headed version of the imaginary beast. Several more pieces on the same theme…
2009 Luxury Preview: Armani Hotels & Resorts
William Kissel
Whenever I build a new home, I try to respect the indigenous architecture of the place and its natural surroundings,” says Italian fashion grand master Giorgio Armani, who is taking a similar approach as a hotelier. The designer’s first hotel…
2009 Luxury Preview: Canyon Ranch Living and Miraval
Jessica Daynor
Long before a certain slice of Central American beach was discovered by Columbus and dubbed Costa Rica, that same verdant expanse served as a haven for birds, monkeys, and orchids. Today the country is a de facto wildlife sanctuary, providing a home…
The New Ocean Explorers
Michael Verdon
Roger Allard, his wife, Joan, and their 10-year-old daughter, Kimberly, have spent the last two years cruising leisurely around the South Pacific aboard New Paige, a Nordhavn 55 expedition yacht. “Every day is different, and every day offers…
The New Ocean Explorers: Smooth Operator
Michael Verdon
Before spending tens of millions of dollars on a new expedition yacht, Alex Dreyfoos, an MIT-educated engineer from Westchester County, N.Y., went to exceptional lengths to test a particular hull design. Boarding a pilot boat out of Cuxhaven,…
The Man Who Fell from the Sky
Jack Smith
“You know what i would like to do?” begins Alain Ducasse, the peripatetic French chef. ”I would like to build a restaurant on Mars.” His visitor, an American, nods appreciatively at this notion. If anyone is capable of establishing a restaurant on…
The Man Who Fell from the Sky: Adour
Jack Smith
New York and Washington, D.C. Wine is the theme at Adour, where hand-blown, glass-sphere wall hangings appear to float upward like bubbles in a Champagne flute. At the bar of this recently opened restaurant at New York’s St. Regis Hotel, guests…
The Man Who Fell from the Sky: Le Louis XV
Jack Smith
MonacoLike no other restaurant in the world, Le Louis XV at the Hotel de Paris in Monaco exudes privilege. Here, fleshy cupids people-watch from their perches on fluffy trompe l’oeil clouds while assorted 17th-century notables peer out from gilded…
The Man Who Fell from the Sky: Le Jules Verne
Jack Smith
ParisOne of the world’s most unforgettable dining experiences begins at the esplanade by the Eiffel Tower’s South Pillar, where a private lift whisks you to Le Jules Verne restaurant. By day, the views from your table are breathtaking; at night, with…
The Man Who Fell from the Sky: Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée
Jack Smith
Paris Thousands of tiny crystals orbit the chandeliers, bathing the dining room at Alain Ducasse au Plaza Athénée in a Milky Way of lights. The initial sense of awe at this celestial display gradually gives way to an awareness that the restaurant is…
The Man Who Fell from the Sky: Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester
Jack Smith
London The first thing one notices at Alain Ducasse at the Dorchester, in London, is the shimmering screen of 4,500 fiber–optic lights that drops from the ceiling to surround a space in the dining room where as many as six guests can either eat in…
The Man Who Fell from the Sky: Benoit
Jack Smith
Paris, New York, and Tokyo The original Benoit opened in 1912, close to the Tour Saint-Jacques. Acquired by Ducasse in 2005, the restaurant remains one of the last authentic bistros in Paris and is the only bistro in the city with a Michelin star….
Roomy with a View
Samantha Brooks
After designing five homes for one family over the course of a 25-year working relationship, Chicago-based interior designer Cheri Friedman of Cheri Lynn Designs has come to know her clients very well. So well, in fact, that when an 8,000-square-foot…
Robb Design Portfolio: Top Drawer
James D. Malcolmson
It appears that the Hong Kong collector who paid some $564,000 at last year’s Only Watch auction in Monaco for an empty box—a stand-in for a mysterious and then-unfinished one-of-a-kind timepiece from the House of DeWitt (305.572.9812,…
Robb Design Portfolio: Found in Translation
Gregory Anderson
1967 Toyota 2000GT Conventional wisdom once held that all Japanese cars were cheap or stodgy. That opinion began to change at the 1965 Tokyo Motor Show, when Toyota debuted the 2000GT. Conceived by Yamaha—a company known for building motorcycles…
Time: Objets in Motion
Laurie Kahle
Throughout his life, Swiss engineer Jean-Léon Reutter was fascinated by the idea of a clock that could keep time for centuries without a winding mechanism or an external power source. In 1928, upon testing the first prototype of his visionary…
Wings & Water: Aloft on Less
Mary Grady
When shopping for personal aircraft, potential buyers often consider such factors as size, range, payload, and speed, among others. Verne Murray of Diablo, Calif., had something else in mind: fuel efficiency. ”My new Diamond DA40 XL burns less than…
Journeys: Hang Time
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
When the plane, a Boeing 727-200, reaches an altitude of 22,000 feet above the Nevada desert, the uniformed, perky flight attendants give the all-clear sign. The other 34 passengers and I unbuckle our belts, leave our seats at the back of the…
Hang Time: The Next Adventure
Sheila Gibson Stoodley
Zero Gravity Corp. currently holds a monopoly on the market for weightless flight, but various companies have been preparing to offer suborbital flights, which will involve vehicles soaring 62 miles above Earth to provide three to five minutes of…
Leisure: Eternal Flame
Brent Butterworth
Cigar-making has changed little in the past 150 years. It remains, for the most part, a conservative industry. But even the more staid brands seem as fast-moving as Silicon Valley startups when compared with Padrón Cigars. While most cigar…
The Robb Reader: Wolfgang Puck
Jessica Taylor
Last year, wolfgang puck celebrated the 25th anniversary of his famed restaurant, Spago, which recently received two Michelin stars; he opened a new restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton, Bachelor Gulch, in Colorado; and he married handbag designer Gelila…
FrontRunners: Bimota
The Editors
Bimota has built motorcycles—one at a time, by hand—at its factory near Rimini, on Italy’s Adriatic coast, for much of the last 35 years. The one significant break in production occurred at the start of this decade, when the recall of an engine sent…
FrontRunners: First Impressions
The Editors
In 1927, on a Parisian boulevard, 45-year-old husband and father Pablo Picasso first laid eyes on 17-year-old Marie-Thérèse Walter. She was walking alone; he asked to paint her portrait; and one thing led to another. A selection of Picasso’s…
FrontRunners: Rocks on a Roll
The Editors
Two exceptionally rare colored diamonds will be the highlights of Christie’s New York Jewelry Sale (www.christies.com) on October 15 in Manhattan. The stones—a 7.02-carat intense blue diamond and a 5.60-carat bright purplish-pink diamond—have…
FrontRunners: Cue Is for Queen
The Editors
The Brunswick Billiards Isabella (www.brunswickbilliards.com) is a table fit for—or at least named for—a queen. “We wanted the name of a strong, elegant woman from European history, and we liked that Isabella was independent and had a reputation for…
FrontRunners: Dinner on Display
The Editors
The private dining rooms at Gordon Ramsay at the London West Hollywood (www.gordonramsay.com), which opened in May in one of Los Angeles’ newest hotels, are places to be seen—or not. Four of the five rooms have glass walls, but they also have…
FrontRunners: Let It Roll
The Editors
The Daniel Roth il Giocatore Veneziano (www.danielroth.com) invites you to roll the dice on a $452,100 timepiece equipped with two of watchmaking’s oldest mechanisms, the minute repeater and the automaton, which both date to the 17th century. One of…
FrontRunners: Jet ’Vette
The Editors
The 2009 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 (www.chevrolet.com) is the fastest, most powerful Corvette ever made for public consumption. The ZR1’s 6.2-liter, supercharged V-8 engine, dubbed the LS9, produces 604 ft lbs of torque at 3,800 rpm, which propels the…
FrontRunners: Great Escape
The Editors
Kaleidescape, the Sunnyvale, Calif., company whose 1U Server was featured in Robb Report’s 2005 Best of the Best issue, recently introduced two movie players that enhance the media server’s capabilities. The Kaleidescape 1080p Player and Mini Player…
FrontRunners: From the Robb Cellar
The Editors
After founding his eponymous winery in 2002, Cliff Lede struggled with its numbers. These were not financial figures; rather, the digits in question were the designations used to identify vineyard blocks within his 60 acres in the Stags Leap…
FrontRunners: Casting Couches
The Editors
The new Phyllis Morris Originals Old Hollywood furniture line (www.phyllismorris.com) reflects the appreciation that the company’s namesake and founder had for dramatic flare. Like all of the 55-year-old company’s furniture, which it makes at its…
Smoke: Pride and Prejudice
Brent Butterworth
When asked about the origins of the gorgeous, ebony-shaded maduro wrapper on his company’s latest cigar, the marketing director hesitantly answers, “San Andrés.” “Oh, it’s Mexican,” the reporter responds. “We prefer to call it San Andrés,” the…
Home: Hip to Be Square
Christopher Hall
When the silver fund gallery left its longtime San Francisco space near Union Square last February, it relocated to the only neighborhood that seemed right for the world’s foremost source of Georg Jensen estate silver. ”With its wealth of…
Wardrobe: Perfect Scale
William Kissel
Italy’s Tardini family has a long-held passion for cold-blooded creatures—or, at least, for the hides of one in particular: Alligator mississippiensis. Yet Giuseppe Tardini’s pursuit of perfect skins used to lead him only to frustration. The…
Dining: Carne Cum Laude
Oliver Slosser
Serious practitioners of the art may cite endless rules for successful barbecuing, but Steven Raichlen grills by just three: ”Keep it hot, keep it clean, and keep it lubricated.” On a particularly warm summer day, he stands before some 50 barbecue…
Travel: Colca and a Smile
Roger Morris
Though unsure of my exact altitude, I am certain—based on my surroundings and shortness of breath—that I am nowhere near sea level. Of course, my gasping also might owe to the precipitous drop directly in front of me, a sheer cliff that plunges into…
Boating: Victory at Sea
Michael Verdon
Burger Boat has struck solid gold with its latest launch, Ingot. The 153-foot trideck yacht, the largest in Burger’s century-plus history, also represents an aesthetic triumph for the United States’ oldest shipyard, which is located in Manitowoc,…
Spas: All Dressed Up
Bruce Wallin
My authentic moor mud massage did not begin as I envisioned it would. The itinerary I received when I checked in to Zurich’s Dolder Grand resort stated that my scheduled treatment was “by Kerstin Florian,” which, to a novice spa-goer, naturally meant…
Sport: Sprucing Up Stowe
Karen Cakebread
During the great depression, when downhill skiing was in its infancy in North America and the sport’s enthusiasts were mostly considered daft, the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) sponsored a make-work effort to create ski trails on Vermont’s…
Art: Poster Boy
Jeff Matthews
From 1924 to 1928, moviegoers in Rochester, N.Y., enjoyed a rare and magnificent sight: seven or eight new hand-painted movie posters every week, created by local artist Batiste Madalena for Kodak founder George Eastman’s movie theater. ”Eastman…
Jewelry: A Cabinet of Curiosities
Wendy Kaur
Parisian Lydia Courteille’s career as a jewelry designer began with the purchase of a temperamental antique watch that would frequently stop, requiring her to return repeatedly to the dealer to have it repaired. On these visits, she often strolled…
Vacation Homes: The Comeback Club
Jessica Taylor
To hear Geoffrey Kent tell it, little has changed with the safari-outfitting company Abercrombie & Kent since he and his parents, John and Valerie Kent, founded it in 1962. ”We’ve always been about delivering above expectation,” he says….
Collectibles: The Island State
Erika Heet
“I discovered antique maps on a ski trip to Taos, where I stumbled into a shop selling them and instantly fell in love,” says Barry Lawrence Ruderman, whose eponymous gallery overlooks the Pacific Ocean in La Jolla, Calif. “That day changed my life:…
Aviation: Just for Fun
Bailey S. Barnard
Kirk Hawkins is no stranger to taking risks. He has flown F-16s in the U.S. Air Force, raced motocross, and logged almost 1,000 skydives. Now the 41-year-old resident of Los Angeles is taking what may be the biggest risk of his life: In 2005 he and…
Autos: Eight Is Enough
Paul Dean
As I short-shift out of the Porsche Curves toward the start-finish straight at Le Mans, I uncork a lifelong fantasy: to drive under the Dunlop Tire bridge—the most famous photo prop in motorsports—with spectators in the stands. I realize this…
Spirits: Singular Sensation
Richard Carleton Hacker
In the worlds of cars, cigars, and wine, the word vintage is often bandied about. But it is rarely applied to Cognac, as this double-distilled brandy is usually a carefully constructed blend of many eaux-de-vie produced in various years. There are…
Watches: Fashionably On Time
Jill Newman
Fashion powerhouse Chanel, in an attempt to elevate its standing among watch collectors, approached Swiss watch manufacturer Audemars Piguet in recent years to collaborate on a movement. In September, after two years in development, the first…
Wine: An Oenophile’s Escape
Brett Anderson
“I am a frustrated hotelier,” declares John Jordan, CEO of Jordan Vineyard & Winery, as he pilots our boat toward a small oak-enshrouded island at the center of the lake. We are on his Alexander Valley estate in Sonoma County, Calif. As the boat…
Contributors: New & Noteworthy
The Editors
Keeping track of thousands of the world’s top hotels and resorts is part of the daily routine for Robb Report associate editor Jennifer Hall. In this issue’s Luxury Preview special section, Hall turns her critical eye to the $600 million, 2,500-acre…
From the Editors: Star-Crossed Fortunes
Brett Anderson
With print, as with celluloid, the most interesting material occasionally finds its final resting place on the well-littered floor of the proverbial cutting room. Such was the fate this month of a few brief but ultimately extraneous paragraphs in our…
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