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Showing posts with label luxury gifts. Show all posts
Showing posts with label luxury gifts. Show all posts

A $16.3 Million Solid Gold Bassinet and Luxury Cribs For The Insanely Indulged Infant.



Dear Celine Dion... just kidding. But clearly I'm hanging out with the wrong crowd because I don't know many -if any- parents who can spoil their kids with products like these. Baby furniture and accessories company Suommo, who I first introduced you to in 2010 with their modern white baby furnishings, is now touting themselves as 'luxury for baby' with fewer products, but far fancier ones- all designed by Ximo Talamantes.

So That's What Diamonds Smell Like. Your Popup Paris Candle May Have A Real One In It.





Popup Paris creates scented candles that are beautifully packaged, but the way they stand apart from hundreds of others is the fact that they place a genuine brilliant cut white diamond in one of every 50 of their candles. The diamonds range in size from .15 to .25 carats and range in clarity from VS - SI. Each is G in color.




Popup is the combined vision of a design lover and a diamond dealer, two childhood friends with one brilliant idea: changing your everyday life by creating luxury items containing hidden diamonds. Making dreams accessible to everyone, creating precious moments such is the aim of Popup, to produce happiness.


above packaging pics from Brooke Kiernan

Even if the candle you purchase doesn't have a diamond, you've got a beautifully packaged nice smelling candle for your home or to give as a gift.







They also sell limited editions created with various designers such as Paulina Leonor and WAD (shown below):



They encourage those who find the sparkling gem to post pics of it on their official Facebook page.



Popup Paris online shop
Click here for points of sale.

Or available at:
Harvey Nichols and at Woodley and Bunny


Uber Stylish Backgammon Set by Arik Ben Simhon and Ben Frankforter.




This lovely, easy-to-carry, modern backgammon set crafted of oak with wooden playing pieces comes in a self-contained case of either wood or a flocked finish.





Photos © Ori Ackerman

Price $440
Buy it here

An Experience To Savor. Create and Name Your Own Personal Whiskey Stock.




Do you have an idea for a great whiskey? Want your own custom whiskey for your bar or restaurant? You and some buddies want your own label for the hunting camp? Want an amazing one-of-a-kind Father's Day, holiday, graduation or wedding gift? Here’s your chance.



The Mississippi River Distilling Company in LeClaire, Iowa will custom make a 30 gallon barrel of whiskey for you. You pick the grain bill, the yeast, the barrel, the age and the proof. You even get to name it. When it’s done, you get all the whiskey in the barrel and the empty barrel to display proudly.


above: Mississippi River Distilling Company Owner Ryan Burchett talks whiskey

Their inaugural “My Whiskey” program is a unique experience that will have your fingerprints on it from beginning to end. Below tells you, in their words, how they help you craft your unique creation.



So how does this all work? First of all, you must understand that we are responsible for following the very stringent federal and state laws regarding the manufacture and sale of distilled spirits. So while some of this may seem a bit convoluted, there is a strict system in place that your spirits will travel through between our distillery and your door.

First step is establishing the recipe. We have four grains at our disposal: corn, wheat, rye and barley. These grains are purchased directly from the local farmers who grew them. When your bottle is complete, we will be able to tell you the names of the farmers who grew every grain that went into your bottle.

THE MASH BILL
We will work with you to establish a mash bill appropriate to the flavor you are trying to achieve. Corn is rich and sweet. Wheat provides a light sweetness and fruity flavor. Rye is peppery and spicy. Barley is mild and takes on a significant portion of its flavor from the yeast.

BOURBON


If you wish to make a bourbon whiskey, you will use predominantly corn. By law it must be at least 50% corn. Typically, bourbon is 70%-80% corn. For a secondary grain, you can choose wheat or rye. Most bourbons use rye for the secondary grain. However, we use wheat in our Cody Road Bourbon which provides a sweeter flavor. The secondary grain usually accounts for 10%-15% of the mash bill. Finally, bourbon typically includes 5%-15% barley. But as long as you have 51% corn, you can call it bourbon and mix out any other combination of grains for the second 49%.

RYE WHISKEY


To be a rye whiskey, the mash bill must be at least 51% rye. Mash bills vary greatly from rye to rye. Some have as little as 55% rye. Others like Cody Road go all the way to 100% rye. We can do anything in between to suit your tastes.

MALT WHISKEY STYLE


Scotch and Irish Whisky is made from malted barley. The roasting or smoking of the barley accounts for much of the flavor in scotch. We do not have malted barley at our disposal from local farmers. So we use an unmalted barley. We do have a malt whiskey yeast that creates a very nice flavor similar to an Irish Whisky. But this would still be a unique American take on it.

MIX AND MATCH
Want to come up with a mash bill that is all yours? Feel free. You can mix and match the grains and yeasts in any way you choose.

YEAST SELECTION


Next we need to select your yeast. The yeast has a significant role to play in the flavor of your whiskey. We can help you choose an appropriate yeast for your project. Here are the three choices.

GRAIN WHISKEY YEAST
This yeast is designed for bourbon and rye whiskey production. It imparts a robust flavor of the grain and will leave rich aromas and flavors from the grains. Expect the spice notes of the grains to be a bit stronger and the sweetness to be somewhat subdued compared to the sweet whiskey yeast.

MALT WHISKEY YEAST
This yeast is designed for a Scotch or Irish Whisky style. Expect the mild barley to be light and smooth with this yeast. Might be an interesting yeast to experiment with non-traditional mash bills.

SWEET WHISKEY YEAST
This is a very vigorous and flavorful yeast. We use this yeast in both Cody Road Rye and Cody Road Bourbon. Expect the sweet and fruity notes from the grain. Delicious for lighter whiskies and shorter aged whiskies.

AGING & PROOF
How you barrel the whiskey and for how long will have a great impact on your final product.



THE BARREL
Your whiskey will be age in a new 30 gallon charred oak barrel. These barrels are roughly half the size of a traditional whiskey barrel. That gives the whiskey more wood to interact with so it will grab the oak flavor faster than a traditional barrel. We suggest a minimum of 9-12 months in one of these barrels. You may want your whiskey to attain a much longer age. We suggest checking on your barrel periodically. While longer aged whiskey is always fun, in a smaller barrel the oak can take over. Whiskey has life cycles in the barrel. At first it may taste bitter and charred. In a few months, the sweetness can blossom. A few months later, the oak tannins start to increase. Also, the longer the whiskey is in the barrel, the more you will lose to the “Angels Share” which is what we call the whiskey that evaporates or soaks into the wood. You can expect to lose 2%-3% of the volume of your alcohol per year to the Angels Share. So before you automatically decide on aging your whiskey for eternity, understand that it might be a better whiskey at a younger age than you think. Our whiskies all age 1 year in these barrels. There are 5 char levels that we can put your barrel in. We have tried different char levels and find that a medium char (char level 3) seem to impart the most balanced oak flavor for these smaller barrels. We recommend going with a char 3 barrel, but will be happy to order a different char from the cooperage should you so choose.

THE PROOF
The proof at which you barrel and bottle your whiskey will dictate how many bottles you have at the end. If you bottle your whiskey at 80 proof, you can expect about 160 bottles. If you raise the proof, that will give you more alcohol in each bottle and will reduce the number of bottles that come out of your barrel. As a rule of thumb, for each 10 proof you increase the bottling, you’ll have about 20 fewer bottles. We recommend barreling your whiskey about 20 proof higher than you plan to bottle it with a maximum barreling proof of about 120 proof.

MAKING THE WHISKEY
Once you have your recipe all nailed down, you will contract the production with us. We will charge $3,000 for the production of your whiskey. This charge is simply for the manufacturing of the whiskey. For legal reasons, the whiskey remains in our possession for the duration of the aging. You will purchase the whiskey from a licensed retailer once it is finished aging and bottled. But during the aging, it is still owned by us and stored on our licensed premises at the distillery.

We will plan to put your whiskey into production within six weeks of your payment. You will receive notice of the mashing and distilling. We will send you pictures and updates of the production via e-mail. Once in aging, we will be able to allow you to periodically taste the whiskey to see if it is ready for bottling. We will need at least 48 hours notice if you want to come check on your barrel so we can pull it out of storage. Remember that the more you check on it, the less you’ll have at the end.

NAMING YOUR WHISKEY


All formulas and labels for spirits sold in America must be approved by the federal government. So while this is your whiskey, it will have to go into a bottle and label that has been pre-approved by the government. We will handle all of that paperwork and filing when the whiskey is produced. This process takes several months. So we will need to know what you want to call your whiskey when we produce it so the label approval can proceed while your whiskey is aging. It will go into a custom labeled bottle that will say, “Mississippi River Distilling Company presents: Joe’s Awesome Whiskey” or whatever you decide to call it. The bottles will have the legal government warning, barcode and batch notes included on each bottle detailing the grain used, the date distilled and who it was commissioned by. They will be hand signed by the distillers.

FINISHING AND RECEIVING YOUR WHISKEY
Once you determine that you would like to pull your whiskey from the barrel and have it bottled, we will schedule a blending and bottling. Your whiskey will all be bottled at the specified proof all at one time. We will not be able to accommodate multiple bottling from the same barrel.

Once the whiskey is bottled, it will be shipped to a licensed distributor who will then deliver it to a licensed retailer. We will set all of this up for your pickup. We prefer to have you pick up the whiskey in the Quad Cities. We do have retailers who would be able to ship your whiskey, but it will be a significant cost to do so.

To pick up your whiskey, you will be charged $3,000. That will be payable to the retailer, not to the distillery. You will receive your empty barrel along with your cases of whiskey. At this point the whiskey is your to do what you choose with.

ANY QUESTIONS? 
Have questions that they haven’t answered here? Drop them a line. They’d be happy to discuss your vision for your very own whiskey. You can call the distillery at 563-484-4342 or e-mail info@mrdistilling.com.

Sincerely,
Ryan & Garrett Burchett Owners & Distillers
Mississippi River Distilling Company



Mississippi River Distilling Company

Pretty As A Picture. The Stunning New Hasselblad Lunar Camera.




Combining traditional skills, the development of special techniques, and a passion for perfection, the Lunar is born from exceptional quality. Lunar is unique because each model is perfected one by one, yet different as only the hand of an artist can make them.




The collection comprises five models, each with their own form and style.  The functionality and specification of each model is identical - choosing your grip and top plate material lets you reflect your individuality.





The Lunar embraces the traditional Hasselblad state-of-the-art image capture combined with stunning Italian design features. For the first time they are using carbon fiber, titanium, wood, leather and precious metals - including gold.

Black leather:

Stylishly durable. The delicately textured, firm leather grip is in a class of its own. The grip recounts a tale of elegance that your fingers can read by covering the countless paths scored by the texture of this extraordinary material.

Brown Tuscan leather:

Centuries of tradition. The peerless class of hand-polished Tuscan leather for a classic look and feel. Designed to last you many years, leather is a natural product and it will change with time, giving each piece its own unique personality.

Carbon Fibre:

High-Tech style.The Carbon Fibre grip combines a decisively high tech look with the exceptional characteristics of resistance and lightness found in this extraordinary material. This is the right choice for those who love minimal and modern style with exclusive detail.

Mahogany:

The warmth of nature. The finest Italian wood with a waxless matt finish to optimise the grip. In addition to its high structural strength, this material retains its original warm tones, while with the passage of time it acquires an aged appearance through the patina that covers it.

Olive Wood:

A hint of opulence. The unmistakable richly-veined Olive Wood provides a tough and durable grip with a matt finish offering a comfortable, smooth hold. The wood will age subtly over time, giving the indelible stamp of the owner.

The Lens shown above:

LF 16mm:
The wide coverage on the LF 16mm f/2.8 makes for comfortable shooting in situations ranging from cramped indoor settings to sweeping landscapes, and the large maximum aperture is ideal for handheld shooting in low light.

LF 18–55mm:
The LF 18–55mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS is ideally designed for comfortable framing and capture of most subjects encountered in daily life, and a built-in Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation system makes it possible to produce sharp images even when shooting handheld in low light. The OSS system is so effective that you'll be able to capture blur-free images at shutter speeds up to four steps slower than would be possible without image stabilisation.

LF 18-200mm:
The LF 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS features an extensive 11x zoom range, from wide to telephoto with impressive image quality all the way. The advanced Optical SteadyShot image stabilisation system built-in will not only make it easier to shoot blur-free stills at long focal lengths, but it also has an automatic Active Mode that will help keep your movie images steady as you move around with the camera.

The Hasselblad Lunar launches this month. For all the specs and more information visit Hasselbald Lunar.

If I Were A Baby, Here's How I'd Like To Roll. The Aston Martin X Silver Cross Surf Carriage.





Launching in April is one special, and pricey (£2000), baby carriage. The Surf Aston Martin Edition Pram, a collaboration between luxury sports car brand Aston Martin and high-end baby brand Silver Cross, will be issued in a strictly limited edition of 800 and sold exclusively through Harrod's.



For generations, Aston Martin and Silver Cross have represented the finest in British design, engineering, craftsmanship and luxury. Each combines a peerless heritage at the very forefront of their field with a commitment to innovation; a determination to uphold the greatest traditions of British engineering excellence in the contemporary age.






Now the legendary sports car marque and the company that invented the modern baby carriage have come together in a unique and unprecedented collaboration. Issued in a strictly limited edition of just 800 pieces, the Silver Cross Surf – Aston Martin Edition is a modern masterpiece. It marries prowess with luxury to create a truly exceptional environment for baby, perfect for parents who insist on giving them the very best from day one.







Each pram will come with its own certificate of authenticity and an engraved brushed chrome plaque to confirm that it is one of a limited edition.

Details:
• Surf – Aston Martin Edition chassis finished in anodised aluminium and magnesium alloy
• Surf – Aston Martin Edition seat unit finished in luxurious Alcantara® and leather
• Surf – Aston Martin Edition carrycot finished in Alcantara®, performance fabric and leather
• Alcantara® harness and buckle protector pads
• Performance fabric hood and apron
• Winter footmuff with windproof performance fabrics
• Sun shade and rain shield
• Folding detachable shopping basket
• Suitable from birth
• L98cm x W58cm x H92-100cm
• Chassis 7.5kg, Body 3.8kg

Price: £2000

The Surf Aston Martin Edition is exclusively available at Harrods (Regrettably, this product is non-exportable.)






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