A limited edition Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita diamond-weave carbon fiber supercar (above), the first of only three being built for collectors worldwide, is for sale in South Africa with a whopping pricetag of $5 million, making it the world's most expensive supercar - easily beating out the Bugatti Pur Sang. The Swedish supercar is a special version of the marque's already exotic carbon fiber CCXR model, which goes for about $2 million. Both cars feature a 5.0 liter twin supercharged V8 engine producing 1,018 hp, and can do 0-62 mph in 2.9 seconds with a top speed of over 250 mph. The Trevita's unique diamond weave finish means that when exposed to sunlight it "sparkles like millions of silvery white diamonds infused inside the visible carbon fiber weave bodywork."

Ever since that youthful Christmas when we drove our remote-controlled car into the pool, we've been focused on keeping battery-powered objects away from water. Today, though, Sweden's Nimbus Boats gave us hope that one day big, battery-powered craft can live in harmony with "H" and its two "O" friends.

The 27-foot Nimbus E-power is the first commercially available electric boat. A full recharge only takes four hours, a span of time could provide the perfect interlude for a siesta and a frolic in the lagoon at that little atoll just over the horizon. Or at least, it would when they equip the lagoon with a 400V electrical supply. If you're using the standard euro-version 220V outlet, you'll need 28 hours to see the gauge back at "Full."

Lacking that crucial step, you'll need to within the E-power's range of 20 nautical miles (37 kilometers), and probably go easy on the craft's top speed of 27 knots if you want a full day of fun (cruising speed is 22 knots). A tank of juice costs €5, so your wallet will love you, and the boat creates no emissions so the fish will love you -- at least the ones you aren't busy catching now that you spend so much more time on the water...

Tennis great Bjorn Borg was once the owner of this Swedish paradise, Vikingshill. In the early 1990s this home and his Stockholm apartment were sold off to satisfy debts before Borg made another run at a tennis career. The island estate includes a main home and guest house. I don't speak Swedish and I wasn't able to dig up too much information on this one but it's a charming retreat with an enviable view. Although the exterior is traditional, the interior embraces a more contemporary style. The estate includes a sandy beach, golf practice area, dock and a pool.



[Thanks, Fredrik!]

Orrefors, the Swedish glassmaker, is a nominee for a Luxist Award for best glassware.

Its beginnings date back to 1726, when Lars Johan Silversparre received permission to build a furnace and a smithy at "the beautiful river that flows into Lake Orrenas". The iron works was given the name Orrefors, which means "the Orre waterfall".

The company's international breakthrough came at the Paris Exhibition of 1925. From the Hotel de Ville, the Town Hall of Paris, the Swedish pavilion borrowed a magnificent glass goblet designed by Simon Gate that had been presented as a gift to the City of Paris from the City of Stockholm in 1922. The goblet became a sensation, and the prestigious Grand Prix award was given to Orrefors and its designers. The glassblowers and engravers received gold medals

Since then, Orrefors has won thousands of design and glassmaking awards. Its pieces have been collected by individuals and museums and showcased in exhibits and public installations the world over, from the Cooper-Hewitt Museum in New York to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London.

For most Americans, a visit to Sweden = a visit to Stockholm. It may be time to add another city to that equation: Gothenburg (or Göteborg in Swedish). Ever since Ryan Air started flying to Gothenburg just about eight years ago, this smallish city has developed an alternative-indie vibe, fueled by a large student population, emerging creative chefs and a lively music scene.

Gothenburg was also the port city that many Swedes departed from when they left for the United States, but if you're reversing this mission, you needn't worry that breaking new ground as a U.S. traveler will mean you'll need to rough it at night, whether you're choosing to stay in town or head out a bit to explore the coast line.

In the city center, stay at Avalon. Look up when you arrive so you catch the flash of blue that is the rooftop swimming pool. (Hopefully no one's in it, as this isn't the most flattering view of most bodies.) This design-conscious hotel is built around the principles of feng shui, which means that you'll find fountains, wind chimes, and rounded edges inside -- the right angles between the carpet and the wall in the hallway, for instance, are lined with what looks like koosh-ball pelt. I'm not sure if my chi was improved by spending the night there, but I certainly had a good night's sleep.

Outside the city, it's worth making the 90 minute excursion to Salt & Sill on the island of Klädesholmen. This town has seen its fortunes rise and fall with the herring trade (sill is herring in Swedish) and the hotel's 23 rooms are literally built on the tides. You cross a small bridge to reach the rooms, which are built on pontoons. When it's calm outside, the structure feels no different from one that's built on solid ground, but on the day I visited, it was a bit stormy. I'd actually forgotten that the hotel was floating on the water, and when the room started gently rocking, I almost called for a doctor.

The rooms here are cleverly and economically designed -- in fact, rather like you're staying on a very nice boat. The rooms are a seaworthy palette of grays and whites, with typically Scandinavian shots of color in the bedding and the artwork, and creative uses of sea-weathered wood and bright tile. I particularly liked the pre-programmed custom lighting schemes, which at the press of a button gives you bright light for packing, task lights for reading, or soft, ambience which highlight the art and leaves the rest of the room in soft shadows. There's also a seriously cool floating sauna on the property.

If you're in the been-there, done-that traveler club, here's something to add to your next itinerary: Kosterhavet, Sweden's first national marine park, has just opened. It's about 175 square miles, most of it open ocean, home to some 600 marine species. The park's northern water boundary is shared with Norway, and in fact Kosterhavet National Park runs right into Norway's new marine national park, Ytre Hvaler, which opened at the same time. Together, both parks encompass about 300 square miles.

Kosterhavet gets its name for the land that it surrounds, the Koster Islands, which are themselves a nature reserve. North Koster and South Koster are so close together that they really feel like one island, and together they're the westernmost settled area in Sweden. They're also ridiculously charming -- near the water, they're just what you'd picture a small Scandinavian fishing village to look like, and towards the center, it's all rolling countryside ripe for hiking and cycling, dotted with red-roofed houses.

But of course, the main event is what's below the surface. The water separating Koster Islands from Sweden's main land is actually a fjord, which achieves such a depth that it's home to deep sea species. Kosterhavet also includes Sweden's only cold-water coral reef, which makes for excellent cold-water scuba diving -- the rocky coast also means that there are also a number of shipwrecks to check out beneath the waves. Above the water, a sea kayak is the way to go --- take a look at Sweden's largest population of seals, and from a respectful distance, admire nesting areas for Arctic terns.

Sir Roger Moore, famed for his portrayal of James Bond in the '70s and '80s, helped launched Swedish boatmaker J Craft's "Bentley of the Seas," the J Craft Torpedo (above), at the Monaco Yacht Show the other day. The Swedish boat building tradition is one of hand shaped hulls, rock solid construction and meticulous craftsmanship. The bespoke 42-ft. motorboat takes this practice to its extreme in every detail. The eco-friendly mahogany deck is lacquered 18 times for the perfect combination of gloss and strength. Every detail is meticulously hand finished, from the stitching on the leather upholstery to the finish of the bow chocks. No two Torpedos are exactly alike. Its Volvo Penta IPS engines can push the vessel up to speeds of 44 knots, the hand made steering wheel is from the same manufacturer that made the Ferrari 250 GTO a winner on racetracks and it even comes with a set of silver cutlery designed by HRH Prince Carl Philip of Sweden.

All year, I've sifted through story after story in which auctions either miss or barely attain low-end estimates. So, the action at Bukowskis auction house in Stockholm easily caught my attention. The chess set (probably) used in the match against Death in Ingmar Bergman's 1957 film "The Seventh Seal" sold for a whopping 100 times the minimum. So, where bidders are committed, there is still plenty of life in the auction market.

The pieces, made from wood and plaster, went for $143,270 shortly after midnight (local) on Tuesday morning. The low-end for the chess set was between $1,400 and $2,100. In total, 339 lots sold at the Bukowskis auction, resulting in $2.5 million, 8.5 times the minimum aggregate asking price of $285,000. Bergman's writing desk, designed by Carl Malmsten, moved for nearly $23,000, and a pair of night tables adorned with scribbled personal notes by Bergman sold for just over $48,000 – despite the commencement of bidding at $2,800.

Depending on the estate, it seems, the auction market is coming back.

We already saw the listing for legendary Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman's island retreat now a Stockholm firm is auctioning off his belongings on September 28. According to spokesperson for the Bukowskis auction house, it was Bergman's wish that his belongs be auctioned in order to prevent them from being caught up in some "kind of emotional hullabaloo." The belongings are simple and mostly personal including a writing desk, household goods, film cameras and plenty of awards. The piece at right is a striking Irving Penn photo of Ingmar Bergman from 1965 which is also up for sale.

[via AP]

With the exception of Bang & Olufsen, the Danes have mainly focused on creating the most compelling perpendiculars since perhaps Frank Lloyd. The Swedes, on the other hand, have been known to throw a few more curves into their design -- think IKEA vs. Abba. Enter Aesthesis, a Swedish audio loudspeaker company that is going even further than mere curves with its Gramophone line; we're talking waves of beauty here.

And to do it, they started with Swedish car maker Koenigsegg -- or at least, with some of their designers. Aesthesis procured the talents of Ergonomidesign, Eker Design, and Carbocomp which all provide services to the maker of million dollar automobiles.

They spent four years coming up with the Gramophone, which employs a custom developed, full-range coaxial driver to eliminate phase differences and reproduce sounds from 37-20,000 Hz. The curved horn amplifies the higher frequencies, the open cabinet amplifies the lower frequencies. The narrowing of the cabinet is for damping echoes.

The entire point of the Gramophone is to "bring more intriguing, avant garde and sensual products to the market without compromising with sound or picture quality." The handmade, carbon and stainless steel speaker is 1.2 meters (47.2 inches) high, and comes in black -- or any other Natural Color System hue you choose.

Which is to be expected when there will only be 100 pairs of Gramophones made, and each pair will go to the tune of €60,000, or $85,500 U.S., plus shipping. The question you should be asking is: are your ears good enough?



[Source: Aesthesis | Images: Maria Fredriksson]

If you've been on the market for a new luxury automobile recently, you may have skipped over Saab entirely. Because while Saab's Swedish neighbor Volvo has progressed remarkably over the past few years, Saab by and large has not. But this is the vehicle that could change all that.

A long time in the making, this is our first look at the new Saab 9-5, the vehicle that could turn the quirky Scandinavian automaker around and make it a real challenger again among European luxury sedans. This first batch of images, which you can see more by clicking on the picture above, show a svelte new shape that stands to entice new buyers while still remaining uniquely Saab, coupled with a commodious and distinct interior cabin space. And while we may be a little while off from receiving the official pricing for this new model, the one it replaces hovered in the area of $40,000, making the 9-5 a compelling alternative to Germany's best, including the Mercedes-Benz E-Class, BMW 5 Series and Audi A6, which all start in the mid-$50k range.

We've heard the story before. In fact, Volvo has even marketed itself on this premise: You can't fit the whole family in that tiny sportscar of yours, so you trade in for a Volvo station wagon. Things could be worse. But along with it you're going to need to replace that Ferrari and Porsche gear with Volvo paraphernalia, too. Otherwise you'd look silly, right? Well since you switched rides for the kid, why not take the kid along for the ride also? That's what Volvo figures, and so has included stuff specifically for the kids in its latest Motorsport Collection.

Aside from the usual array of windbreakers and polo shirts, Volvo is highlighting this Team Manager t-shirt, especially designed for your favorite little backseat driver. The colors match those of the company's Swedish Touring Car Championship series, in which it's promoting its proprietary DRIVe green technology system. Just to let everyone know who's boss, it's got the words Team Manager printed – instead of embroidered, to optimize comfort – on the back, like all the sponsor logos, and is available straight from Volvo's website along with the rest of the collection.

Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman's island retreat has been put up for auction. The AFP reports that his home on the Swedish island of Faro is estimated to be worth up to four million euros and that offers in that range have been coming in.

This location's light and stillness lent much to the films that Bergman shot there including ­"Persona," "The Shame," and "The Passion of Anna." The listing with Christie's Great Estates quotes Bergman's memoir in which he says, after visiting the island for the first time in 1960: "If one wished to be solemn, it could be said that I had found my real home; if one wished to be light hearted, it could be said that it was love at first sight."

The property on the remote and rugged island has four buildings. Hammars is the main house which was designed by architect Kjell Abramson with Bergman himself. The two-room writing lodge has an ocean view and was seen in the final sequence of the iconic television drama "Scenes from a Marriage." Angen is the winter retreat house with three bedrooms and a living room with a large fireplace and Damba, a restored 1854 farmhouse is next to a whitewashed barn which served as Bergman's private cinema.

A Swedish foundation wanted to buy the house and turn the house into a museum dedicated to his life and work but they didn't have enough money. Bergman died in 2007 at the age of 89 and the property is owned by his estate.

[Thanks, Lana]

Five-times distilled Swedish import Svedka vodka has come out with a distinctive new look and some great new all natural flavors in time for warm weather cocktails - increasingly on our mind as the weather finally improves.

The clean, modern graphics are a breath of aesthetic fresh air as some storied brands try to appeal to a wider range of customers with over-designed bottles or supposedly upscale flourishes that actually erode their brand identity in our opinion.

The two new flavors we're looking forward to quaffing are Svedka Citron (right), infused with the juices of fresh California lemons and Mexican limes; and Svedka Clementine, featuring the essence of Italian tangerines from Sicily and Calabria.

Svedka is created by combining a centuries-old Swedish vodka recipe with state-of-the-art distillation technology. Over three pounds of high-quality Swedish wheat is distilled for over 40 hours in an innovative five-column process and then blended with natural spring water for a smooth, clean taste.

Those whose taste runs to the exotic might be tempted to check out the Ice Hotel in Jukkasjärvi, Sweden. The hotel already offers dog sled and snowmobile safaris but it will now sell space flights. Virgin Galactic will be offering trips from nearby Kiruna which is the northernmost city in Sweden. The trips should begin in 2012 and tourists can choose a summer trip in the ceaseless light of the midnight sun or a trip during the dark winter highlighted by the luminous aurora borealis. Tickets will likely cost around $200,000 for the trip.