Art Deco

Hermes Mahogany & Leather Valet Stand

The famed French luxury goods house of Hermès has come out with the ultimate accessory for the world's best-dressed gentlemen -- a valet stand in solid mahogany, fine leather and brass with ebony detailing.

The luxe piece, designed to accommodate a full suit of gentleman's clothing and accessories, is a limited edition re-issue of a classic item created for Hermès in 1930 by famed French decorator and designer Paul Dupré-Lafon. The original was sold by Sotheby's at its Art Nouveau & Art Deco Design sale in Paris in 2007 for about $65,000.

Tags: Art Deco, bespoke, cufflinks, France, gentlemens accessories, Hermès, Hermes, hermes valet stand, hermes+valet+stand, hermesvaletstand, leather, luxury goods, mahogany, mahogany+mens+valet+stand, mahoganymensvaletstand, mens accessories, mens clothing, mens Hermes, mens style, suit, valet stand, vintage Hermes

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The New Yorker Art Deco Keyboard

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Gadgets

A keyboard's just a keyboard, right? Some may have extra features or a more ergonomic design, but what if you're looking for a little bit of extra style? This could be your answer, but only if you've got $2,800 to spend on a computer peripheral.

Inspired by the Chrysler Building in Manhattan, the New Yorker Art Deco keyboard is a modern celebration of classic New York style. It's made of aluminum and polished brass, with keys that look like they'd be at home in a classic skyscraper's elevator. It could be that perfect touch for a richly decorated office where the usual array of sleek or just plain boxy keyboards would look out of place.

[Source: Datamancer.net via Luxurylaunches]

Tags: aet, art deco, keyboard, new yorker, new yorker art deco keyboard

New 463-ft. 'Dream Ship' Will Be World's Largest Sailing Superyacht

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing

The incredible 289-ft. Maltese Falcon is still the world's largest, best designed, and most expensive sailing yacht - but not for much longer. Turkish yachtbuilder Dream Ship Victory just signed a contract with the same team that designed the Maltese – naval architects Dykstra & Partners and Ken Freivokh Design – on a new 463-ft. sailing superyacht (above) that will literally dwarf the competition and become one of the largest yachts in the world. Unlike the Maltese however the new Dream Ship will be constructed entirely of wood, and will boast four masts to the Falcon's three. An initial concept of the new behemoth, which features an Art Deco-inspired streamlined design, was presented at the Monaco Yacht Show on the Dykstra & Partners stand and construction is slated to begin in 2011.

[via JamesList]

Tags: Art Deco, Maltese Falcon, sailing, sailing yacht, superyacht, yacht, yacht design

The Classicist: London's Famed Savoy Hotel Back After $350 Million Revamp

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Architecture & Design

London's renowned Savoy hotel has just reopened following a massive $350 million revamp encompassing one of the most ambitious restorations in British history. The world famous landmark, built by impresario Richard D'Oyly Carte with profits from his Gilbert and Sullivan operas, originally opened in August 1889. Originally managed by Swiss hotelier César Ritz and Maitre Chef Auguste Escoffier, the hotel quickly became known for impeccable service and cuisine as well as glittering parties and famous patrons. Over the decades George Gershwin, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire and Noel Coward entertained there, while famous guests included King Edward VII, Harry Truman, Marilyn Monroe, Humphrey Bogart, Elizabeth Taylor, Coco Chanel, Bob Dylan, The Beatles and numerous others. The property, now managed by Fairmont, has been closed for nearly three years while the impressive restoration project took shape.

120 years later the hotel's two main design aesthetics, Edwardian and Art Deco, have been carefully revitalized under the direction of world-renowned designer Pierre Yves Rochon. More than 1000 craftspeople, artists and artisans worked tirelessly to create interiors that are in keeping with the hotel's original and much-loved spirit. 38 new River Suites and guestrooms have been added, offering the same stunning views over the River Thames that inspired Whistler and Monet. Nine Personality Suites pay tribute to a few of the artists and well known figures who made the legendary hotel their London home away from home including Sinatra, Maria Callas, Charlie Chaplin and Marlene Dietrich. The suites contain art, literature, photographs and artifacts that evoke the time and spirit of the stars including the 12 pink roses in the Marlene Dietrich Suite that the actress always requested upon arrival.

The reopening also includes the addition of a stately $16,000-per-night, 325-square meter Royal Suite featuring two bedrooms, a study, sitting room, dining room, master bathroom, dressing room (with a specially ventilated shoe closet) and a master bedroom with a bespoke Savoir bed. The suite has been specially designed so that all the rooms enjoy one of the finest views of London. The legendary River Restaurant meanwhile gets a contemporary interpretation of Art Deco décor, and the famed cocktail mecca the American Bar is back in business while Savoy Grill returns under the operation of Gordon Ramsay Holdings with Chef Patron, Stuart Gillies and Head Chef, Andy Cook. [continued]

Gallery: The Savoy Reborn

Tags: Art Deco, bar, cocktails, Coco Chanel, Elizabeth Taylor, Fairmont, Fairmont hotels, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Gilbert and Sullivan, Gordon Ramsay, hotel, hotel suites, London, luxury hotels, Maria Callas, Marilyn Monroe, Monet, Ritz, Savoy, Savoy hotel, tea, Thames, The Beatles, UK

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Strand Craft Yacht & Supercar for Sale at $27.5 Million

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Luxury Cars & Autos, Architecture & Design

The Strand Craft 122 superyacht / supercar combo we first told you about back in May has moved beyond the concept stage into a production-ready rocketship. The first example has just been listed for sale by Sweden's Gray Design via global online luxury marketplace JamesList for about $27.5 million, with a slated delivery date of October 2013. The sleek 125-ft. craft will be able to reach a top speed of 55 knots with the use of her optional Rolls-Royce KaMeWa boosters kicking out over 14,000 hp. High gloss mahogany inlays on the foredeck and all-glass atrium covering the cockpit deliver the best facets of both open and closed yachting in one razor sharp high-tech package.

The retro-futuristic Art Deco interior features four large, bedrooms, reception and leather-upholstered salon areas alongside comfortable crew cabins. Elliptical bulletproof windows that stretch halfway across the hull and enough Greek marble to recreate Athens round out the fancy finishes. The specially handcrafted carbon fiber supercar that comes with it is a completely one-off design closely resembling the genetic form and fashion of the mothership. With a rear mounted, 880hp twin-turbo V12 engine it has an estimated 375 km/h top speed and a 0-60 mph time of 3.2 seconds. A hydraulic garage door raises upwards and deploys a retractable ramp to become a dockside driveway.

Gallery: Strand Craft 122 by Gray Design

Tags: Art Deco, bulletproof, carbon fiber, JamesList, leather, mahogany, Rolls-Royce, Strand Craft, supercar, superyacht, yacht, yacht design

Cunard's New Queen Elizabeth to Have a Fortnum & Mason Onboard

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Yachts & Sailing, Luxury Shopping

Cunard's new Queen Elizabeth luxury liner (above), successor of the QE2, will have a branch of London's famed food emporium Fortnum & Mason, holder of a Royal Warrant, onboard when it sets sail in October. The move marks the first time ever in Fortnum & Mason's 300-year history that its luxurious products have been available to purchase at sea. The shipboard Fortnum's will join a host of other British brands setting up shop on the Queen Elizabeth, including men's style mecca Hackett of London, Scotland's famed Harris Tweed, fashion designer Anya Hindmarch and famed fragrance merchant Penhaligons. Several brands have also announced special items produced exclusively for the ship which will only be available onboard. The Queen Elizabeth can accommodate over 2,000 passengers in its luxe Art Deco-style interior.

Source

Tags: Anya Hindmarch, Art Deco, boutiques, cruise ship, Cunard, Fortnum and Mason, Fortnum Mason, Hackett, Harris Tweed, London, QE2, Royal Warrant, UK

Claridge's Unveils First Diane von Furstenburg - Designed Suite

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Architecture & Design

Back in March we reported that famed fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg had signed on for her first interior design project, a series of rooms and suites for Claridge's, the ultra-luxe Art Deco hotel in London's Mayfair. Now the hotel has unveiled the first of the DVF-designed spaces, the legendary Piano Suite (above). The designer created custom pieces including a dressing table, travelling trunk, desk and cocktail bar, inspired by her glamorous travels and the mobility of campaign furniture, complementing the architectural details and elegant marble fireplace. "Claridge's is the most glamorous hotel in the world," says von Furstenberg. "Hotels like this don't exist anymore and the legacy must be respected! It is very important to keep the original architecture and the formality of the layout of the rooms in order to preserve the old style of grand hotel life that I love so much. It has been a true privilege to design new furniture, fabrics and rugs to keep it relevant for today's needs and taste."

Tags: architecture, Art Deco, designer, Diane von Furstenberg, fashion, furniture, hotel suites, hotels, interior design, London, Mayfair

The Peninsula Shanghai: Over the Top

by Bobbie Leigh (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

"Every square foot is about quality," says Paul Tchen, General Manager of the Peninsula Shanghai and he couldn't be more on target. Opened last March, this Art Deco marvel, the first new building on the legendary Bund in more than 60 years, is poised to become the most glamorous hotel in Asia. Prepare to be impressed.

Tags: Art Deco, Cantonese food, china travel, hotels in China, peninsula hotel, peninsula shanghai, shanghai

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World's Most Expensive Car Goes on Display

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos

Back in May we reported on the ultra rare 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic that set a new record as the world's most expensive car when it changed hands in a private transaction valued at close to $40 million. Now the incredibly valuable vehicle is going on display at California's Mullin Automotive Museum, an institution that celebrates the Art Deco and Streamline eras, adding fuel to insider speculation that the museum's founder, financier, philanthropist and Bugatti boffin Peter Mullin, was the purchaser. The car, which has seldom been seen publicly, will go on display August 3rd. "I am honored to have the opportunity to display the Bugatti Atlantic at our Art Deco museum," Mullin says. "The Art Deco Movement was driven by people who were fascinated by invention and innovation – by the exotic nature of new technology and materials, by art and design, by speed and by the machine – no automobile captures this spirit more than the Bugatti Atlantic. In the historic pantheon of automobiles the Atlantic is without peer."

Tags: Art Deco, Bugatti, California, classic cars, Mullin Automotive Museum, museum, Peter Mullin, worlds most expensive

A Shanghai Art Deco Landmark Reopens

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

When I visited Shanghai last year, its most famous Art Deco landmark, the Peace Hotel on the Bund, was covered in shrouds for renovation. It had been that way since 2007, but now the covers are off as the hotel has just reopened as the Fairmont Peace Hotel, .

The hotel originally opened in 1929, in one of Shanghai's heydays. The hotel was the first high-rise in the city, and had the city's first electric elevator. The art-deco style cage elevator was one of many details that made the hotel special; and it was known as the place to stay in Shanghai prior to the Communist revolution. The renovation apparently retained many of the key features of the hotel -- the Jazz Bar, the Peace Hall, with its wooden dance floor; as well as many touches from the 1930s, but it's also got the full complement of modern amenities in-room, from Blu-Ray DVD players to Illy Espresso machines.

Gallery: Fairmont Peace Hotel Reopens

Tags: 1930s, art deco, history, Shanghai

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Tourbillon Wild, Art Deco Watch

by Ariel Adams (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Timepieces / Watches

Each year luxury Swiss watch brand Jaeger-LeCoultre releases a few so called "jewelry watches." These rare creations for both men and woman are experiments in (often) excess, and design. This is where to look if you prefer your watches diamond covered, but also where you'll find some beautiful artistic creations. For 2010 one of the haute jewelry watch from Jaeger-LeCoutlre is the Master Tourbillon Wild. In an 18k rose (also in white) gold case, the piece is really quite stunning. Decorated with diamonds on the bezel and the lower edges of the case and bezel, it fees like a building outlined with lights. The art deco style motif on the dial feels like an abstract cityscape to me. The buildings emanating from the tourbillon in the center. More diamonds decorate the ring around the tourbillon aperture, in addition to other places on the dial. Inside the piece is a in-house made Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 978 automatic tourbillon movement. Likely sized for ladies, this is a rare and beautiful creation.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Tags: 2010, art deco, jaeger-lecoultre, jewelry watches, ladies watch, master, tourbillon, watches

The Classicist: The Mystery of Out of Africa Author Karen Blixen's Hermès Luggage

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, The Classicist

Hermès has uncovered a couple of remarkable pieces of bespoke luggage in its archives, made for famed Danish Out of Africa author Karen Blixen, aka Isak Dineson, in the 1930s. The Art Deco tobacco-colored crocodile skin cases, one ordered in 1930 and the other in 1935, contain every conceivable article an aristocratic author could need on an arduous journey to Africa. The famed Parisian luxury goods house notes that the more complex of the two took its craftsmen 368 hours to make; both feature fine inlays and engraving, with most pieces adorned with a baroness' crown and the author's DBF monogram for Dineson Blixen-Finecke, a combination of her maiden and married names (her full title was Baroness Karen von Blixen-Finecke).

The cases feature myriad compartments and leather boxes for spirits, smoking accessories, writing instruments, notepaper, perfume bottles, cosmetics, playing cards, jewelry, small tools, sewing items, brushes and more, with some items finished in sterling silver and tortoiseshell. However, Hermès notes the the items appear to be unused and probably never made it to Kenya, where Blixen established a coffee plantation at the foot of the N'gong Hills; and therein lies something of a mystery. Noting that by December of 1930, when the first case was ordered, Blixen was somewhat down on her luck and preparing to leave Africa, Hermès thinks it unlikely she ordered it for herself and the archives are unclear. Could it perhaps have been intended as a gift from her lover, dashing big game hunter and pilot Denys Finch Hatton?

Gallery: Karen Blixen's Crocodile Hermes Suitcases

Tags: Africa, Art Deco, author, bespoke, crocodile, Denmark, Hermes, Isak Dineson, Karen Blixen, Kenya, luggage, luxury goods, Out of Africa, Paris, suitcase, travel, vintage luggage

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Aboard Silversea's New Silver Spirit: Discordant Design Ahoy

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Staircase aboard Silversea's Cruise Ship Silver Spirit

When Silversea's new boat, Silver Spirit, stopped into New York harbor en route to Europe by way of Boston and Nova Scotia, I couldn't wait to get on board and take a peek. I've become a fan of smaller cruise ships of late, and this boat accommodates 540 guests. I also love Art Deco, which was meant to be the ship's design inspiration. So it was with high hopes that I confidently strode across the gangway for a media tour and luncheon this past Friday.

The Silver Spirit has a lot going for it, but as I reflect on my tour of the boat, I almost wonder whether there were two design philosophies battling for dominance during its planning phases, as I found the ship's feel puzzlingly discordant.

The interior, public areas of the boat have a dark and stuffy feeling that frankly seemed dated -- sort of amazing in a ship that was built in 2009. The plush seating in the reception area actually reminded me of the Holiday Inn, which can hardly be on the inspiration board for a ship designed with these sorts of fares had in mind. (Example: the lowest published fare for a ten day cruise Papeete to Auckland next year: $10,895.) The sitting are of the third-highest highest room category, the spacious Silver Suite, reminded me of a very nicely renovated Motel 6. (See gallery below.)

On the lighter side, literally: the Owner's Suite is a brighter, modern and airy take informed by deco. It's also huge, at 1,292 square feet, including 190 square foot veranda. The less-expensive "Midship Veranda" rooms are small but also aesthetically in line with the Owner's Suite.

Gallery: Aboard Silversea's Silver Spirit Cruise Ship

Tags: art deco, cruises, CruiseShip, silversea, silversea silver spirit

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Dunhill Aluminum Luggage Collection

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Men's Style

London luxury goods firm Dunhill has a retro-futuristic take on travel this season with its new Aluminum luggage collection. Taking inspiration from leather examples discovered in the Dunhill archive from the Art Deco days of the jet set, the gentleman's suitcases suggest the concept of future travel in a unique fabrication of polished metal – the sort of thing a dashing aviator like Charles Lindbergh might have owned. Aluminum gives an ultra modern appearance to three different sized pieces, from briefcase dimensions to a large traditional suitcase size. The hard-wearing cases have been stripped back to their metal fabrication and updated to make them incredibly light and practical for use today, and each piece features the Alfred Dunhill monogram. Available in very limited quantities, they're priced from $1,165 to $1,305.

Tags: aluminium, aluminum, Art Deco, Dunhill, dunhill aluminum luggage, London, luggage, metal, suitcase, travel

Diane von Furstenberg to Design Suites for Claridge's

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Decor, Luxury Travel & Hotels

Famed fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg will unveil her first interior design project this summer, a series of rooms and suites for Claridge's, the ultra-luxe Art Deco hotel in London's Mayfair. Von Furstenberg, a longtime guest and friend of the hotel, will bring her iconic prints and bold colours as well as original pieces of furniture to the legendary landmark. Claridge's and von Furstenberg have enjoyed an intimate relationship since the 1970s and some of her past collections have even been inspired by the renowned hotel. "One of my fondest memories was when I was in London as a young, independent businesswoman and stayed at Claridge's," the designer recalls. "I knew I had made it. To me, Claridge's is the most glamourous hotel in the world; I regard it as my home away from home."

Tags: Art Deco, ArtDeco, Claridges, Diane von Furstenberg, DianeVonFurstenberg, interior design, InteriorDesign, London

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