The annual Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge will kick off at the JetOne Jets Field at the Bridgehampton Polo Club on Saturday, July 19 this year. This season's partners include Coca-Cola, Fiji Water, T-Mobile, Pernod Ricard, Ralph Lauren, Hpnotiq and Zino Platinum Cigars, and the MVP Player Award will be presented by Westin Rinehart. The matches, which will run for six consecutive Saturdays through August 23 this year, are the social mainstay of the Hamptons season and feature some of the world's best polo players competing for one of the sport's most treasured prizes. Anyone can watch from the stands, but the invitation-only V.I.P. tent is the real scene. Celebs in attendance in years previous have included Anne Hathaway, Elizabeth Hurley, Heather Graham, Howard Stern, Jared Leto, Jay Z, Jessica Alba, Mischa Barton, Natalie Portman and Prince Albert of Monaco, to name a few. All proceeds will go to a good cause, the South Fork Breast Health Coalition.
Premiere jet charter broker Halcyon is arranging luxury helicopter packages between New York City and the Hamptons this season via the purchase of a special flight club card. The trip, which can take up to four hours on the Long Island Expressway in typical summer traffic, is a mere 45 minutes by helicopter. The Halcyon coordinated flights offer high-speed premium helicopters with luxurious cabins -- Bell Jet Ranger, Long Ranger, Augusta or Eurocopter -- staffed with two pilots, and can accommodate up to four passengers. Their Southampton Flight Club Card costs $7,700 (plus fees) and includes two one-way transfers from NYC to East Hampton or vice versa. The East Hampton Flight Club Card costs $22,500 (plus fees) and includes six one-way transfers. With the purchase of a card you also get a bottle of champagne, a carton of strawberries and a Halcyon Jets' gift basket containing Keihl's sunscreen, Origins organic lip balm, a Ralph Lauren beach towel and a bottle of Evian Mineral Water Spray, so you're ready to hit the beach the moment you arrive.
On Saturday, renowned French champagne house Veuve Clicquot staged the first polo match in Manhattan in 70 years. The match, between two North American Polo League (NAPL) teams - Ralph Lauren's Black Watch, captained by Polo model Nacho Figueras, and Asprey's Skeeterville, captained by Will Johnston - was played on Governor's Island, the 172-acre former Army base on Manhattan's southern tip. New York is often cited as the birthplace of American polo c.1876, and Army officers played the sport on Governor's Island until just before the onset of World War II in 1941. Black Watch bested Asprey 10 - 6 in the inaugural match of the Veuve Cliquot Manhattan Polo Classic. Veuve Clicquot has long supported polo in Europe, and since last year other parts of the U.S. as well, such as the Greenwich Polo Club in Connecticut.
Ralph Lauren's flagship store on Madison Avenue (pictured above), aka the Polo Mansion, is probably the most luxurious retail outlet in the world. Not surprisingly, it made Naomi Leff, the interior decorator who created it out of a gutted shell, into a household word in design circles. The Monacelli Press presents a long-overdue compendium of her work in the alluring new book Naomi Leff: Interior Design. "To me it's the most beautiful store in the world," Lauren said upon the Mansion's completion in 1987, "the details, the world it creates, the textures. It's a store that has an emotional impact. I've watched so many people come into it and be dazzled when they enter." Leff went on to design several more stores for Lauren and stunning spaces for Giorgio Armani and private clients as well. See more of her work in the gallery.
With an estimate of only $137,000 - $196,000, Lowes Cato Dickinson's The Birdcage at Newmarket, painted c. 1885, is far from the most expensive work on offer at Christie's London's Sporting Art sale this Friday. From a sartorial historian's point of view, however, it might be the most precious. The monumental panorama, which measures 5 ft. x 9.5 ft., portrays the Rowley Mile Course at Newmarket following the 2,000 Guineas Stakes in 1885. The winner, Mr. Broderick Cloete's Paradox, with jockey Fred Archer up, can be seen in the center of the picture (detail above), while in the throng the keen observer can spot such luminaries of the turf as the Prince of Wales and the Earl of Rosebery, attired in the height of late-1800's equestrian chic. Ralph Lauren could base an entire collection on this one work of art -- and he probably has.
A one-of-a-kind, oversized 1930s Patek Philippe chronograph that belonged to dashing Italian racecar driver Count Felice Trossi is expected to fetch close to $2 million at Sotheby's in Geneva today. Famed Fiat chairman Gianni Agnelli probably copied Trossi's habit of wearing his Patek over his shirt cuff, the better to keep time while winning the Italian Grand Prix, which Trossi did in 1947. These day's Trossi's name lives on mainly for automotive enthusiasts; his legendary one-off 1930 Mercedes-Benz SSK, now known as the "Count Trossi", is the star of Ralph Lauren's incredible car collection.
The sale also features several other Pateks including some extremely rare chronographs. Meanwhile, Christie's will stage it's own Important Watch auction in Geneva tomorrow, featuring two of the most important antique one-off Pateks ever to go ion the block: a stainless steel perpetual calendar with phases of the moon, and a platinum perpetual calendar with sweep centre seconds and phases of the moon. Both are estimated at an astounding $1.4 million - $2.4 million.
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Savile Row stalwart Anderson & Sheppard, which recently celebrated its 100th anniversary, is steeped in tradition, to say the least. Yet while other old-fashioned bastions of upper-class masculine British taste have been sold off or hideously modernized, A&S has managed to adapt and survive -- thanks to a strong-willed woman.
Anda Rowland, daughter of the firm's longtime owner, natty British millionaire Roland "Tiny" Rowland, who took over the business a few years ago, has set about bringing it into the 21st century without sacrificing one whit in the way of elegance.
The firm not only outfitted the great Fred Astaire - perhaps the best dressed man the modern world has ever known - but also Rudolph Valentino, Charlie Chaplin, authors Evelyn Waugh and Somerset Maugham, Gary Cooper, Noel Coward, Sir Laurence Olivier, Douglas Fairbanks Sr. and Duke Ellington.
Ralph Lauren's Louisiana alligator dog collar is inspired by the company's posh Ricky handbag. The collar has a brass buckle and a curious detail, a little brass lock which is engraved "RL" 67." The lock has a brass key which is so cute that the owner could wear it as a pendant making this dog collar the canine equivalent of the Cartier Love Bracelet. The collar sells for $495.
For the first time since its launch, Ralph Lauren is presenting the Rugby brand outside of their U.S retail stores. Selections from the Rugby Fall 07 collection will be showcased at Colette in Paris starting today until September 15th 2007. The Rugby line was first debuted in 2004 in Boston and was created for the next generation of Polo customers. The sensibility is pure preppy with modern details. For the partnership between Ralph Lauren and Colette, four limited edition rugby shirts have also been designed. Only 50 of these exclusive rugby shirts (two styles for men and two styles for women) will be offered simultaneously at Colette and the Rugby store in NYC during the two weeks of the partnership.
With the Ralph Lauren logo elegantly engraved upon polished silver metal, nobody will have to ask you whose bag you are wearing. This little clutch features a hinged bottom and small push clasp that opens to reveal a satin-lined interior with side gussets. The dainty evening bag hangs from a delicate chain strap featuring an over-sized center ring. The included drawstring felt pouch will help you avoid scratching this little silver beauty. $1800.
There are very few people who are going to complain about getting a cashmere sweater as a holiday gift. Softer than ordinary wool and warmer than most other fabrics, cashmere is a great choice for winter wear in general. Ralph Lauren's Cashmere Drape Neck Cardigan is a cross between a jacket and a sweater, as it is long with a relaxed fit, but is still snuggly enough to lounge around the house with. The wide shawl collar will keep even the coldest breezes at bay when worn outdoors, too. It is available in both cream and dark navy. Price: $900.
I don't usually get my real estate rumors from British Vogue but this one concerns a property I've been curious about for a while. They picked up a Page Six report about this property which may become the latest project for Ralph Lauren, I first heard about the East Hampton Point when Braden Keil mentioned that the compound that includes a restaurant, guest cottages and a marina was on sale for $55 million. There were rumors in July that it had sold. Now it seems that Ralph Lauren may be snapping it up to turn it into an exclusive club. It seems like a perfect match for Lauren, who has made a fortune from promoting the American preppy lifestyle and who has previously expressed an interest in having his own hotel chain.
This Cube Bed from Ralph Lauren Home will really take your bedroom to a new level. The bed has a leather-upholstered base, with headboard and footboard, and is framed in a brushed aluminum cube, a modern take on a classic four-poster. It also comes with a price tag of $44,995. It would go well in a very contemporary, masculine room, but if light and airy is your style, it's probably better to look at other bedding options.
Yesterday, I mentioned the Miss Sixty hotel. Today comes news of another designer moving into the hotel business. Vogue UK reports that Ralph Lauren is set to launch a line of hotels. Lauren's hotel empire is still in the early planning stages. No definite details are known yet but given Lauren's penchant for Americana, I'm betting on a Western theme.
A one-of-a-kind, oversized 1930s 
Welcome to The Classicist, our new column devoted to timeless style, enduring elegance, and true, built-to-last luxury as opposed to mere extravagance.... 
