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Thomas Prescher's Luxury Watch Making Summer Camp

Thomas Prescher is a unique man and watch maker. Exceptionally talented, Thomas Prescher makes old world style relics of wealth, using modern technology. With very little else out there like his watches, he proudly offers watches that cost in excess of half a million dollars - without a precious gem to be found on them. This summer, he has a special invitation open for serious watch lovers. The opportunity to visit his workshop in Twann, Switzerland, and engage in watch making under his careful guidance. In addition to producing some of the world's most delicate and complex watches, his is a craft that few other people can match. In the brands words:

"Thomas Prescher is offering tours of atelier in Twann, Switzerland on this summer. Discover for yourself how a timepiece is developed, produced, assembled and regulated - from raw pieces of metal to a finished piece of art. You will also learn what the various machines do and the techniques watchmakers use to master their craft. Under experienced guidance, you will have a chance to sit at a watchmaker's bench, loupe on the eye, screwdriver and tweezers in hand and try manipulating real watch components for yourself. Practice your fine finishing technique on a tiny steel part and, if you are feeling brave, try your hand a finishing a real tourbillon bridge."

So now you know why I call it a luxury watch making summer camp. Only here under strict German instruction! The offer lasts until August 31, 2010. Not sure about the costs, etc... but it should be a real once in a lifetime experience for those interesting in master watch makers and luxury item production. For more details contact office@prescher.ch or phone +41 (0)32 315 14 66.

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

Tags: Switzerland, Thomas Prescher, tour, watch maker, workshop

Take a Ferrari Tour of Central Switzerland

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Luxury Cars & Autos

On Sept. 9 – 12, Loeven Sportwagentouren, organizers of the Bugatti tour we wrote about last summer, is offering a driving tour of Central Switzerland 's scenic Rigi, Reuss and Rütli Oath regions in the new Ferrari 458 Italia. The tour offers three adrenaline-filled day trips from the luxurious base camp of the Bürgenstock Resort perched above Lake Lucerne. You'll power through famous mountain passes like the Grimsel, Gotthard, Furka, Nufenen and Ächerli – a steep, single-track lane with sharp ascents, hairpin turns and narrow bends. If classics are more your cup of tea, Loeven can arrange to get you a Ferrari Dino, or you can even bring your own car as long as it can keep up. The 458 Italia costs about $6,500 and the Dino about $3,200 on top of the $2,800 per person base price for the tour. Bookings are now open, but be quick about it – space is limited to about 10 cars.

Tags: Bürgenstock Resort, Bugatti, driving tours, Ferrari, Ferrari 458 Italia, Ferrari Dino, Lake Lucerne, Loeven Sportwagentouren, supercar, Swiss Alps, Switzerland, tour

Tour Munich in Classic BMW Cabriolets

by Noah Joseph (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Luxury Cars & Autos

Planning a trip to Munich any time soon? There are plenty of reasons to stop by the BMW Museum, but now we've got one more for you. Over the course of the Spring, Summer and into the Fall, BMW Classics is offering chauffeured tours of the city in a range of classic convertibles.

The tours take place in such vintage Bimmers as the 30s-era 326 and 335 Cabriolet, 50s-era 502 "Baroque Angel" Cabriolet and the one-of-a-kind 3200 CS Cabriolet. Tours start and end at the BMW Museum, visit various company facilities and stop at historic sites around the city. The price is 90 euros per person. Details at www.bmw-museum.com.

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Tags: bmw, bmw classic, bmw classics, bmw heritage, bmw museum, chauffeur, munich, tour

Lamborghini Legends Dream Car Tour with Valentino Balboni

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Cars & Autos, Events

Gotham Dream Cars (GDC), New York and Miami's premier "ultra-exotic" car rental company and membership car club, will hold its 2nd annual Legends Dream Car Tour on May 11, 12 and 13 in Englewood, NJ. This intimate experience will put auto enthusiasts behind the wheel of five of the newest Lamborghini models alongside a legend in the automotive community, famed Lamborghini test driver Valentino Balboni. Participants will have the opportunity to compare and contrast the characteristics of five of Lamborghini's latest models on an open-road route that spans some of the best driving roads in Northern New Jersey and upstate New York. The lineup is still being finalized, but cars on the tour could include the Murciélago LP 640, LP 640 Roadster, Gallardo LP 560-4 Spyder, Gallardo LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni and the Murciélago LP 670 SuperVeloce.

The Legends Dream Car Tour is a five-hour experience starting with lunch at GDC's clubhouse in Northern New Jersey, a full vehicle overview and safety presentation, and a meet and greet/photo opp with Mr. Balboni. The tour then will put participants behind the wheel of each of the five cars, including time riding shotgun to Balboni as he leads as the official Grand Marshal. Space on the tours is extremely limited and must be reserved in advance; tickets can be purchased for $1,295 per driver. Non-driving passengers can attend free of charge. For more information or to register for the event, visit www.gothamdreamcars.com.

Tags: exotic car rental, Gotham Dream Cars, Lamborghini, supercar, supercar tour, tour, Valentino Balboni

U2 Named Top Tour Earners in 2009; Grossed $123 Million

by Lisa Palladino (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Wealth

U2 Named Top Tour Earners in 2009; Grossed $123 Million

We don't often talk about rock stars on Luxist unless they are in our Estate of the Day category or designing a fashion line. But I think it's worth noting that U2, long known for serious touring, was named the top-grossing North American touring act of 2009. According to concert tracker Pollstar, U2 grossed $123 million, selling more than 1.3 million tickets for its 360 Tour. The tour spanned across the United States in every major city last year, and is now gearing up to cross the ocean for Europe this year. (I saw them at Giants Stadium last fall, and it was worth every penny.)

Pollstar noted that the touring business boomed last year, despite the economy.

Below are the rest of the top 10. You also can read the full Pollstar article for more details, plus the other 40 acts in the top 50.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - $94.5 million
Elton John and Billy Joel - $88 million
Britney Spears - $82.5 million
AC/DC - $77.9 million
Kenny Chesney - $71.1 million
Jonas Brothers - $69.8 million
Dave Matthews Band - $56.9 million
Fleetwood Mac - $54.4 million
Metallica - $53.4 million

Sidenote: U2.com has a new selection of lithographs from the 360 Tour. Each runs $100.

[Via Hollyscoop]

Tags: concerts, music, rock star, rock stars, RockStar, RockStars, tour, U2

Luxury Travel to Scotland: Affected by Lockerbie Bomber's Release?

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Crimes and Misdemeanors

Last week, I was planning to write about Dream Escape, an exclusive luxury travel outfit that organizes completely customized tours of Scotland. (Says David Tobin, owner: "many companies offer "bespoke" travel, but I've gone the route of "couture". We start from scratch around what our client's want, whether it's a two-day trip for two people, or a six day trip for 200.") Even if you're arriving in Scotland without Tobin's incredibly hands-on service, which includes a UK cellphone pre-programmed, and should you desire, a photographer, or even a genealogist among other essentials, I've long maintained that Scotland is one of the best destinations to truly feel like you're a Master of the Universe.

There's something about Scotland's mix of castles, golf, whiskey, landscape and royal history that feels to me like getting wrapped in a cloak of wealth, power and prestige. Just one example, Royal Yacht Britannia -- decommissioned from royal use since 1997, now a tourist attraction in Edinburgh. Everyone can visit it for a tour, but once can arrange private access to the state apartments for events and be served to exacting royal protocol, which includes measuring the distance between cutlery with a ruler, among other measures designed to make anyone of royal descent or aspiration feel comfy. (For instance, sailors were made to use hand signals rather than shouting, to preserve royal tranquility. Effectively, apparently, since Her Majesty stated: "Britannia is the one place where I can truly relax".)

Dream Escape can arrange access to the Royal Yacht -- and to an endless number of luxey Scottish attractions, see the gallery for more -- but as I sat down to write about it last week, Scotland, made international headlines for its release of the only man convicted of the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, who returned to Libya as a hero. I've heard talk of boycotting Scottish travel, and whiskey -- and it just felt strange to write enthusiastically about Scotland without addressing all this directly.

So yesterday, I chatted with David Tobin to see how it was affecting his business, considering that he brings anywhere between 100 and 300 visitors to Scotland each year. His answer, in a nutshell: not at all. "We haven't seen a downturn or have clients change their plans or anything like that," he says. "My clients want to go somewhere because they want to go, and they're suitably educated to understand that this is a murky area, surrounding [al-Megrahi's] release. This won't change my client's perception of Scotland, they love the country, but not necessarily the politicians." He doesn't expect any cancellations of bookings in the future.

Of course, Tobin's company is small, and very high end at that -- and it remains to be seen whether Scottish tourism as a whole will be affected by the bomber's release. Do you think luxury tourism to Scotland will be affected by current politics? Should it?

Gallery: Dream Escape Scotland

Night at Corrour Lodge, Modern Scottish Castle

Luxury Suite at The Witchery in Edinburgh

Tags: boycott, controversy, scotland, tour, yacht

Take a Luxury Tour of France on a Ducati

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Luxury Cars & Autos

A new company called Columbus International based in Cannes is offering luxury tours of France via various different Ducati motorcycles including the latest Streetfighter, Monster S2R 1000, Hypermotard 1100 and Supersport 848. Among the various programs on offer combining other luxury travel elements are a Gourmet Tour (eating at starred Michelin restaurants), a High Octane Tour (driving a F1 car on the racetrack), Offshore Ride Tour (luxury yachting, barracuda fishing) and Nature Tour (natural parks, private yacht, restaurants). Special winter packages allow you to ride your bike in the morning and ski in the afternoon. Tour package prices range from €5,696 to €11,696.

[via Motorbiker.org]

Tags: Cannes, Columbus International, ColumbusInternational, Ducati, France, motorcycle, tour

See the Swiss Alps at the Wheel of a Bugatti Veyron

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Luxury Cars & Autos

For about $18,000 per day you can now take the tour of your life at the wheel of a Bugatti Veyron on an incredible drive from the Swiss Alps to the Côte d'Azur. Loeven SportwagenTouren, Europe's premier supercar touring company, is now offering the Veyron as an option on its mind-blowing Tour des Niveaux. The 7-day journey begins in Zurich and traverses breathtaking alpine roads including the famed Col dʻIseran, the world's highest Alpine mountain pass at over 9,000 ft. above sea level. Hairpin turns and eye-popping scenery are to be found from Mont Blanc to the famous seaside Grande Corniche between Nice and Menton. The tour also includes stopovers at boutique luxury hotels, many of them historically significant, as well as incredible cuisine at Michelin-starred eateries en route. In addition to the Bugatti, a Ferrari, Lamborghini and Maserati is also available on a sliding scale, with a Rolls-Royce, Konigsegg or even a Pagani possible by special request.

[via JustLuxe]

Tags: Bugatti, Bugatti Veyron, BugattiVeyron, Cote dAzur, CoteDazur, France, Loeven SportwagenTouren, LoevenSportwagentouren, Nice, supercar, Swiss Alps, SwissAlps, Switzerland, tour

Wayfarers Walking Tours

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Charles Kuralt was quoted as saying "Thanks to the interstate highway system, it is now possible to travel from coast to coast without seeing anything."

That is so true these days, you really can do a lot of traveling and yet somehow manage to see very little of the world. So why not remedy that by going on a walking tour? The Wayfarers are in their 26th season of offering luxury walking tours, and this year they have a list of locations that's better than ever with itineraries in India, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, and even Alaska if you're interested in staying here in the States. The tours are all-inclusive and feature only the best in high class accommodations and dining, plus they're conveniently ranked from physically easy to difficult (so you don't have to worry about getting in over your head if you've never been on a walking tour before). Prices vary based on the location and length of the tour, but you can expect them to start somewhere between $3695-$6,995 .

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Tags: tour, tours, travel, traveling, travels, walking, walking tours, WalkingTours, wayfarer, wayfarers, wayfaring

Luxury Equestrian Tours Around the World

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Horseback riding is a more popular hobby than some may realize, with 20 million Americans considering themselves riders and 12 million taking it fairly seriously by riding at least once per week. With that many interested, equestrian-based luxury vacations are getting better and better all the time. From Micato Horseback Safaris in Africa where you can play polo and spot zebra to Cross Country International's Chateau-to-Chateau Trail in France featuring leisurely rides through the countryside with stops for wine and massages -- there's something for every taste and in every area of the world.

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Tags: equestrian, horse, horses, journey, journeys, luxury, riding, tour, tours

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