Bespoke

An extremely important white gold Patek Philippe single-button chronograph from 1928, undoubtedly the only one of its kind, is expected to fetch up to $2.7 million at Christie's Important Watches sale in Geneva on May 16.

Created in 1928 on the eve of the stock market crash, the unique and complicated 1928 chronograph was a bespoke commission from one of Patek Philippe's most important patrons, though his exact identity is unknown.

The cushion-shaped wristwatch, with vertically positioned registers and Breguet numerals, is the only known example extant of a single-button chronograph by Patek Philippe made in white gold.

As such, it's perfectly possible that it could end up selling for more than $2.7 million, especially with the buoyant market for such horological masterpieces at the moment.

[via JustLuxe]

Swedish gun and rifle maker VO Vapen, founded in 1977 by master gunsmith Viggo Olsson, fashions the world's most exclusive handmade hunting rifles. Their newest creation, the VO Falcon Edition (above), is the world's most expensive priced at about $820,000. The VO Falcon Edition is a tribute to the deep rooted traditions of falconry in the Arabian world, covered by beautiful engravings of Peregrine and Saker falcons among other luxurious finishes.

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.

An elegant 1930s bespoke gentleman's spirits case from Goyard, the luxurious Parisian luggage maker founded in 1853, is being offered for sale by New York's Mantiques Modern for $2,800. Custom made for a connoisseur who wanted to be sure of always having his favorite tipple ready to hand while gallivanting around the globe, the handmade monogrammed case is crafted of fine pigskin with brass hardware. Inside it features two sizable silver plated flasks and a set of four silver tumblers in fitted compartments. When fastened it resembles a briefcase. Goyard has long had a devoted clientele of celebrities and royalty. Aristocrats such as the Grand Duke of Russia, the Maharajah of Kapurthala and the Duke of Windsor all traveled with Goyard luggage.

Alexander West, a Manhattan-based clothier specializing in the finest custom-tailored shirts, ties and cufflinks for stylish swells, has debuted an ultra-luxurious new cashmere blend collection. With an extremely soft hand, the weight of the luxe fabric transitions perfectly from winter to spring. The bespoke shirts, available in three colors – stone (above), granite, and solid eggshell – feature a button-down collar and flap pocket, and retail for $295 apiece. Other West designs, available online and by appointment in New York City, are woven from premium cottons and feature luxe mother of pearl buttons, personal monogramming, and precise, detail-conscious craftsmanship. The company also offers a "Send Your Shirt" program, in which they will replicate the fit of a favorite worn-out shirt in the fabric of your choice.

Alan Flusser, author of 2002's Dressing the Man, is our foremost arbiter elegantiarum in matters sartorial; the book remains the reigning bible of men's style. In 1981 he published his first book Making the Man and opened his first custom tailoring shop in New York City in '86; a year later his Master of the Universe wardrobe created for Michael Douglas as Gordon Gekko in Wall Street made him an instant icon. Now on the 25th anniversary of the original's debut, Flusser is re-launching the shop with a new look in the space on E. 48th St. it has inhabited since 2002. In recent years someone else handled the day-to-day operations of the shop for Flusser though he remained available for consultations. Now he's decided to take up the reigns once again and usher in a new era of elegance.

"My original vision for the shop had always been a kind of imaginary Savile Row tailor's shop–meets Park Avenue men's club–meets Gertrude Stein for a bullshot," Flusser tells us. "In other words, an environment suffused with Old World taste and totems." As a younger and more 'downtown' crowd has increasingly taken to the merits of fine tailoring, however, Flusser felt it was time for an update, both decor and clothes-wise. Having introduced a slimmer fitting, more body conscious silhouette – the "Vanderbilt" – to his repertoire in 2008, Flusser "wanted the look of the shop to more closely reflect that sleeker sartorial idiom." Enter silver walls, alligator skin tables, 1940s leather and chrome furniture, black lacquer fittings, and of course a cocktail bar. [cont'd]

Since 1854, when Monsieur Louis Vuitton opened his first store in Paris, his name has been synonymous with the ultimate in luxurious luggage. His incredible trunks with their now iconic canvas coverings, introduced that same year, combined pragmatism and elegance and were "perfectly adapted to the current means of transport and changes in the lives of his clients." That's the basis of the best luxury book of the year, Louis Vuitton: 100 Legendary Trunks, just published by Abrams, Illustrated with 600 images taken from the Louis Vuitton archives in France and new, specially-commissioned photographs. From trains and ocean liners to the earliest automobiles and even hot air balloons, on journeys to all corners of the globe, the Vuitton trunk has crossed time and borders and remains an icon of the golden age of travel, epitomizing the glamour and elegant decadence of an era when journeying to a foreign land involved adventure, romance and style.

The trunks featured in the incredible book are "extraordinary in every way, for a hundred reasons," writes Patrick-Louis Vuitton, the fifth-generation descendant of Monsieur Vuitton who is now in charge of bespoke orders for the firm, "as much for what they carried as for the work, the care, the inventiveness and the ingenuity required to make them." The 100 featured trunks are divided into five sections according to the people who owned them: Explorers & Adventurers, Crowned Heads & Aristocrats, Dandies & Fashionable Ladies, Artists & Scholars, and Hedonists & Eccentrics. Many a Maharaja, actors from Douglas Fairbanks to Sharon Stone, couturiers from Jeanne Lanvin to Karl Lagerfeld, as well as the likes of Ernest Hemingway, Leopold Stokowski, and Damien Hirst have all traveled with Louis Vuitton trunks, often customized in various ways.

Cary Grant, James Dean, Marlon Brando, Steve McQueen, Tom Ford and David Beckham have all had an undeniably important influence on the world of men's style – but what about Truman Capote, Che Guevara, the Sex Pistols and Jarvis Cocker? They all deserve credit as well, argues Simone Werle in a cool, lavishly illustrated new book called Fashionisto: A Century of Style Icons from Prestel. Werle names 50 figures from the last 100 years who have had an impact not only on the way men choose to adorn themselves but how they act and as well. She dubs them "fashionistos", the male equivalent of the famous fashionista. What makes a man a fashionisto? "Swagger, elegance, daring, perhaps a really well cut suit," the author notes, but not always – see Oscar Wilde, Johnny Depp and Kurt Cobain.

Each icon is featured in a double page spread with glossy full-color photographs and Werle's acute observations, anecdotes, and historical insight. While you may not have personally felt the sartorial influence of Boy George or Bootsy Collins, Werle makes a compelling case for their inclusion. She divides the book into sections according to the various styles or fashion phylum represented: The Gentlemen, The Rebels, The Dandies, The Rock Stars, The Classics, The Fashion Designers, The Beautiful People, The Bands and The Extraterrestrials.

"Fashionistos like fashionistas choose clothing that accentuates their best parts, not only of their bodies but also their personalities," Werle writes. "Both know when to follow the rules of style and when to break them. And both have the courage to stay who they are. But all the same, there is a huge difference. Men have a much easier time in fashion – and yet a much more difficult one." How so, you ask? "Classic men's fashion has very clear-cut rules; if you follow them, you can't go wrong. The man who doesn't look good in a custom-made suit of fine fabric has yet to be born," she notes. "But to make a mark on the history of style, more is needed – and this is where it gets tricky. Men's fashion does not suffer rebels gladly. If you have the courage to rebel, you need self-confidence – and more than that, a sense of style."

Hip-hop musical artist Usher commissioned a special one of a kind watch from New York based jeweler and watch maker Tiret. The Usher watch has an oblong oval shaped case (in an undisclosed material that is likely gold) with a diamond designed portrait of Usher on the dial. Containing two Swiss ETA chronograph quartz movements, the watch technically can tell the time in two places. Given the lack of indicators the chronograph mechanisms are more or less worthless, but the point of this pieces is giving Usher the ability to look at himself as though he were made up of diamonds. How many people really get that privilege?

Using all natural stones, the watch has almost 10 carats of diamonds on it and 1106 stones all over the watch. Look at the size of the diamonds on the bezel! Diamonds include white as well as naturally yellow diamonds. Tiret says that the watch was recently featured in a diamond exhibit at the Natural History Museum in London - where other high-end diamond decorated watches were displayed. While not mechanically complex, the special Tired watch for Usher is an interesting look into the life of Usher, and at the types of products that Tiret makes. According to them, the brand only makes custom timepieces and jewelry at this time. Usher is said to have paid $250,000 for the bespoke timepiece.

Usher, a known owner of several watches, does not claim to be a serious watch enthusiast. He prefers the showiness of timepieces as well as the jewelry component. Actually, given many of the watches that Usher has, this Tiret is of the most showy. Usher seems to prefer more classic mechanical timepieces with a masculine edge to them. The box that Tired supplied the Usher watch in doubles as a humidor for 78 cigars and also has a motif of Usher's face on it.

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

Back in August we reported that famed Italian luxury goods firm Tod's was offering the world's most expensive iPad case in genuine alligator for $4,900. Now David August, the California-based boutique luxury brand that creates bespoke wardrobes for the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sylvester Stallone, Will Smith, Robert Downey Jr. and various billionaires, has topped that with his new collection of exotic leather goods including an even pricier iPad sheath. Crafted of the world's finest alligator skin hand cut and stitched in Italy by a skilled family of artisans, the collection of five luxe pieces is available in both a glazed and matte finish in over 20 different colors.

The entire collection is priced at $37,800 with each piece also available individually. The five pieces include the iPad cover (above, center) for $6,900, a soft laptop attaché case for $12,900, a Dopp kit for $7,800, a watch holder for $7,800, and a change tray for $2,400. All items are made strictly to order with a 2–4 week delivery time and several personal customizing options are available as well. While far from the priciest item in the collection, the iPad case is nonetheless the world's most expensive cover for the trendy gadget, costing nearly 14 times as much as Apple's basic 16GB model itself.

[via JustLuxe]

Dashing designer Duncan Quinn, known for his roguish take on Savile Row style, is giving Miami's Art Basel a glamour injection courtesy of an ultra-cool pop-up boutique (above) opening today. Following the success of his lavish space at last year's festival complete with an indoor croquet pitch, this year's digs in the Design District's Moore Building are a veritable dandy's den of stylish iniquity, complete with a full-fledged casino, vintage sports cars, cocktails, a screening room showing classic Michael Caine films, and of course plenty of razor sharp threads.

Designed with a Casino Royale theme that would make James Bond himself hot under the collar, guests can take advantage of a bespoke lounge with Dormeuil fabrics, an installation of Ruby couture motorcycle helmets from France, cocktails from the mixologists at the Florida Room, and several limited edition items including the new line of Duncan Quinn sunglasses, polo shirts, jackets and more. Classic cars and motorbikes on display in the space include a 1954 Jaguar XK120, vintage Ducatis and Triumphs and Dime City Cycles' "Brass Café" Racer.

Gallery: Duncan Quinn Miami 2010

Norton MacCullough & Locke, the new London firm committed to producing the finest custom-made trunks, jewelry boxes and homeware in the essence of 1920s bespoke British luxury which The Classicist first wrote about earlier this year, is introducing a new collection of custom-made small leathergoods. Founded by veterans of Hermès, Claridge's and Patek Philippe, Norton MacCullough & Locke creates only individual, hand-crafted pieces. NML's Head of Design Lester Ng and CFO David Manchee developed the collection to incorporate both function and practicality whilst retaining the Norton MacCullough & Locke aesthetic and principles. Ranging from iPhone and iPad cases to card holders, document wallets and passport covers, each piece in the new collection is hand-crafted in England by specialist leatherworking artisans, utilizing the finest materials and traditional techniques.

The firm offers a range of leathers, colors, finishes and personalization options to ensure that each bespoke piece is both unique and exclusive, giving the consummate bespoke experience. There's no need to travel to London to commission them however; the luxe accessories can be purchased by downloading the bespoke order form from the Norton MacCullough & Locke website. Following approval of a visual sample (and payment confirmation), the pieces will be created and delivered within 4-8 weeks. In addition to the styles, materials and personalization options offered via the site, Norton MacCullough & Locke will source specific leather types and colors for your piece upon request, specializing in exotics ranging from ostrich, crocodile and lizard skin.

When James Sherwood's brilliant book on bespoke tailoring called The London Cut came out in 2007, to accompany a Savile Row exhibition at Palazzo Pitti in Florence, we regretted only that it was in softcover and such a small format. Now Rizzoli has rectified that with a suitably statuesque volume by Sherwood expanding on the subject, lavishly illustrated and encyclopedic in scope. Bespoke: The Men's Style of Savile Row begins with the opening of Henry Poole & Co. in 1806 and follows the illustrious history of London's custom tailoring tradition. Famous adherents of 'The Row' through the years from Fred Astaire, Cary Grant, the Duke of Windsor and Winston Churchill to latter-day dandies like Prince Charles, Mick Jagger and David Beckham are also discussed.

From its rather humble beginnings Sherwood discusses Savile Row's role in tailoring for the sporting set, the military and Royalty, the phenomenal influence the houses have had in the sartorial style of the silver screen - where else would James Bond get his threads? - the Row's evolution as "bespoke" was challenged by the mod rock & roll fashion revolution, and its embrace of fashion-forward newcomers like Tommy Nutter, Richard James and Ozwald Boateng, leading a revival of an art form that looked at one time to be doomed to obsolescence, now flourishing in its 200th year.

The style of each of the street's premier tailors is presented in detail along with the immeasurable impact Savile Row style has had on the work of international designers like Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, and Tom Ford, who contributed a foreword to the book. "English gentlemen's tailoring, and in particular the tailoring of Savile Row, really set the standard for the way the stylish 20th-century man dressed," Ford writes. "This English style, in fact, became the international style for well-dressed men all over the world, and this influence has not waned even in today's more casual world. I suppose that when it comes to men's clothes I am an Anglophile and if I did not design my own men's collection, I would have virtually my entire wardrobe made on Savile Row."

A new service by traditional fine pen (among other goods) maker Montblanc will offer customers the experience and opportunity to order custom made pens suited to their particular writing style. Montblanc has always offered a number of pen nib sizes depending on a writer's preferences, but the new service will include a unique personalized writing evaluation to designed to identify how someone writes, what the best type of pen size is for them. It also involves the creation of a one-of-a-kind fountain pen nib made for you at the Montblanc pen manufacture in Hamburg, Germany.

I had the opportunity to experience the writing "exam" myself first-hand. The process is simple and informative. Montblanc sits you in front of a computer with a large digital writing tablet. You are given special paper sheets that are placed over the tablet and asked to write preselected text as you normally would. Your writing is digitized via software on the computer in real time, which tracks variables such as how hard you write, the angles you make with the pen, and when you lift a pen off the paper when writing. It is quite interesting to see an analysis of your own writing – the test feels a lot like a vision exam.

The computer makes a recommendation as to what type of Montblanc fountain pen nib is best suited for your penmanship style. A fountain pen nib is the tip of the pen that actually does the writing. At one time these tips were part of specially cut feathers, but have since been made out of metal. Montblanc is known for making the highest quality, most effective pen nibs around (and they look quite nice as well). Montblanc pen nibs are constructed from solid gold, with the ends of the tips being made from a complex metal alloy (that is actually more expensive than gold). This alloy is used because gold is a relatively soft metal, and Montblanc designs their pens to last decades, even with constant use.