snake

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have designed an $11,000 pair of black diamond, emerald and white gold serpent cufflinks for famed London luxury goods house Asprey to benefit a children's charity. The luxe accessories are the first item for men in the Protector Collection, the line of limited edition fine jewels and silver objects created by the couple in collaboration with Asprey which my colleague Deirdre Woollard reported on last fall. The design of the Protector black diamond serpent links with 18k white gold bases and emerald eyes is based on Jolie's reflection on the serpent as an iconic guardian and cultural symbol of family protection, inspired by a ring she was given while pregnant with the couple's first child Shiloh in 2006. Each piece in Protector Collection is a limited edition, handcrafted at Asprey's London flagship store in New Bond Street. The black diamond serpent cufflinks match rings, earrings and a pendant in the women's collection. All proceeds from the Protector Collection pieces are being donated to the Education Partnership For Children of Conflict (EPCC). Co-founded by Jolie, the organization raises awareness and funds to educate child victims of war, conflict and natural disasters.

[via JustLuxe]

With Bulgari focusing heavily on their new Serpenti line of snake themed watches, it gave me a chance to think about some of the other snake themed watches that came out in the last few years. I always appreciated the artistic look of the Maurice Lacroix Divina Temptation line of limited edition watches (even though I wondered about who really bought them). They even used snakes in their ads pretty well. Maurice Lacroix is not being targeted by Bulgari, as the Italian brand has done snake themed watches way in the past. Bulgari clearly did a better job with naming the watches, as their Serpenti collection of watches and jewelry, by its name, should clearly resonate as having a reptilian look. What is up with how Maurice Lacroix names its watches? Though for many, these watches will be more wearable than the Bulgari pieces - though you could easily view both as ugly. The "Temptation" part of the name likely relates to the snake being the 'bad guy' in the Adam & Eve story. Poor python.

The women's watch has a 24.5mm wide case in 18k white gold and comes in four types. Each has a collection of jewels that make up the snake image on the polished solid silver dial. The watch face itself is not exactly easy to read, but that isn't the point. There is a Swiss quartz movement inside the watch as well. There are four versions of the watch. A green toned version with rubies and green tsavorites, a brown version with garnets and blue sapphires (both of these are limited to just 10 pieces). There is also a red toned version with diamonds, rubies, and pink sapphires, and finally an orange toned version with orange and yellow sapphires, and rubies. These final two versions are each limited to 30 pieces each. Originally released a few years ago, there are actually still some of them out there. Prices are about $60,000 - $100,00 each.

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

A wood cuff is usually a simple and inexpensive jewelry item. Not so when it comes from luxury designers Lotus Arts de Vivre. The ebony wood cuff is topped with a sinuous snake make of oxidized silver with 18K gold trim and set with approximately 13.843 carats of rose-cut diamonds and .484 carats of ruby eyes. The bracelet sells for $27,600.

In today's age of motion and touch sensors and every other kind of high-tech gadget we've got for security of precious goods, Harrods in London recently took a unique step to protect a pair of very expensive shoes: they hired a poisonous cobra to stand (sit? slither?) guard.

Obviously this was a publicity stunt, not a real security effort, but I say good for them. That's pretty clever, and for all intents and purposes it worked. The cobra has since returned to its owner and the shoes are, I'm sure, under a more traditional lock and key type security system.

Curious what kind of shoes warranted such a show? A pair of red sandals by Rene Caovilla that are encrusted with rubies, sapphires, and diamonds and valued at about $120,000.

My personal taste in belts leans towards simple and classic, but some prefer edgy conversation starters and have a thing for dragons. This 'Animalier' dragon belt by Prada is just the thing if you're one of the latter, depicting a dragon and snake battling it out in goldtone on black croc printed leather. It's made in Italy and the belt is 1 1/2" wide with a hooked pin closure, and the buckle itself measures 3 3/4" by 2 1/4". $436

Way too gaudy for me, but then I've seen people pull off stranger accessories with the right outfit and attitude -- more power to 'em!

Bird dropping facials and snake massages may sound like something straight out of an episode of Fear Factor, but they're really part of the growing list of strange options you might have at a luxury spa near you. An ancient Japanese secret often used by Geishas and available at Diamond Hawaii Resort and Spa in Maui is a facial that starts with Nightingale excrement, which is reportedly full of enzymes that help keep the skin smooth, clear, and white. Or maybe a Hakali massage is more your style at Apuane Spa at the Four Seasons Resort Punta Minta, Mexico, where spine-free cactus paddles are used to rub in an alcohol called 'pulque,' which comes from the agave plant and is in the tequila family.

Other strange spa experiences that might trip your detox trigger include snake massages (exactly what they sound like -- snakes slithering up and down your back!), getting yourself covered head-to-toe in caviar, soaking in a huge tub of dark beer, and "cupping" -- a process where several cups are placed strategically along your back and then lit on fire to create suction.

Fear Factor or not, some of these sound awesome! (Some, not all...)