Fortnum Mason

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

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

Union Jack Collection from Viscount David Linley

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Cigars, Decor, Men's Style

The latest design from bespoke cabinetmaker (and nephew of the Queen of England) Viscount David Linley is a line of elegant accessories featuring an inlaid Union Jack motif. Consisting of a humidor, jewelry box, tea caddy, cufflink box, and large and small picture frames, the exquisite and extremely British pieces pieces are finished in walnut with the flag artfully rendered in a marquetry of burr oak, burr walnut and ripple sycamore. Like Linley himself, the Union Jack boasts a royal lineage; the flag originated in 1606 after King James I of England was crowned, uniting the kingdoms of England, Ireland, Wales and Scotland. The humidor, for about $2,000, is lined with Spanish cedar wood and has a built-in humidifier and hydrometer to preserve cigars. The jewelry box, for about $1,800, is lockable and lined in red faux suede with a compartmentalized, removable tray. The tea caddy, for about $1,000, is available in a limited edition of 25 pieces, and comes complete with a supply of Fortnum & Mason Royal Blend loose leaf tea. The cufflink box, for about $650, is lined in beige faux suede. The picture frames come in a large and small size for about $440 and $400.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: bespoke, British royalty, David Linley, England, Fortnum Mason, humidor, jewelry, Queen of England, tea, UK, Union Jack, Viscount Linley, walnut, wood

The Classicist: Memories of Motoring's Golden Age

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Luxury Cars & Autos, Auctions, The Classicist

As a side note to Bonhams' classic car auction at the annual Greenwich Concours d'Elegance in Connecticut this weekend, the sale also includes some reminders of a more elegant age of motoring. In addition to the amazing automobiles on offer, there are a few rare examples of perfectly-preserved traveling cocktail, picnic and tea sets in leather cases from the 1910s and '20s.

More elegant and elaborate antecedents of the kind of picnic sets still produced by the likes of Dunhill - such as the one my colleague Rigel Gregg wrote about the other day - these are the sort of cases one's servants would put into the boot of the Rolls for a day's motoring along with a hamper of delectables from Fortnum & Mason (which are still available today - see the gallery for a picture of their $200 Regent hamper featuring champagne, truffles, paté and port).

Included in the Greenwich auction is this gorgeous Dunhill traveling cocktail set from the 1920s featuring a nickel cocktail shaker, four stacking tumblers, a glass bitters bottle with a silver plated top and three silver plated spirit flasks, in a monogrammed honey leather carrying case, est. $3,000 - $4,000. If these days it seems a bit odd that so much thought and effort went into ways of drinking and driving, remember that as often as not one's chauffeur did the actual work behind the wheel.

Gallery: Traveling in Style