Italian luxury label Loro Piana is known for their world class cashmere, especially the incredibly soft and hard-to-come-by baby cashmere, but soon they'll be adding a new type of luxury textile to the lineup: Loro Piano Lotus Flower fabric. Exactly what it sounds like, the fabric is made from fibers that are pulled by hand out of lotus flower stems before being carefully spun into threads and then handwoven on looms into a fabric that resembles a cross between silk and linen. It takes 32,000 lotus stems to make just 1.09 yards of fabric, which has historically been used to make robes for high-ranking Buddhist monks.

Loro Piana has secured a trademark and plans to offer a small line of Loro Piana Lotus Flower items this Christmas. Consisting of scarves and approximately 20 jackets prices for the line have yet to be finalized (as does availability in the U.S.) but the jackets are expected to go for about $5,600 each.

A San Francisco luxury condo heads to auction on December 10. Concierge Auctions is offering a bank-owned condominium, located at the luxurious Ritz-Carlton Residences on Market Street in the heart of downtown San Francisco. The two-bedroom unit was originally listed for $1,274,490, there is no minimum bid required to participate. The sale is being conducted in cooperation with listing broker Jeffry Peargin of Pacific Union International, an affiliate of Christie's Great Estates.

The unit up for sale is a 1,195-square-foot, classic condo with two master suites and two and a half bathrooms. It has an open kitchen with Kohler fixtures, granite countertops, a Viking refrigerator and Miele dishwasher. Each bathroom also has Kohler fixtures, and the laundry closet is outfitted with a GE washer and dryer.

The building was constructed more than a century ago by Chicago architects Daniel Burnham and John Root as the original Chronicle Building, the West Coast's first skyscraper. It is now home to 101 individual residences with amenities such as private lounge access, wine storage, valet parking, a fitness center and full service doorman. For more information, visit www.SanFranRitzAuction.com.

When I can I like to follow up with some of the results of the big real estate auctions we cover. Last month we mentioned a huge home in New Hampshire that would be auctioned off on November 9. Grand Estates Auction Co., was selling this home on 15 acres in North Hampton, New Hampshire. This property was once owned by infamous former Tyco International CEO Dennis Kozlowski. The current owner has been rebuilding the estate virtually from the foundation up for the last six years.

Seacoast Online reports that the 10,000-square-foot mansion sold for $4.2 million. The 15-acre property was assessed at $9.4 million. The article says that both the buyer and the seller were happy with the price. The info on the new owners hasn't been disclosed. There were 16 registered bidders taking part in the auction.

The home has been redone on a grand scale since Kozlowski's residence. An artist spent two years hand-painting walls and murals throughout the home's more than 10,000 square feet. There is a 1,600-plus-square-foot master suite that fills the entire third floor and has views of the ocean and marsh, complete with octagonal meditation room, en suite kitchen and laundry room, sitting room, and massive master bathroom featuring a handmade Egyptian chandelier.

The huge home has indoor and outdoor pools, spa, steam and sauna, fitness center, tennis court and cabana, massage and game rooms, and a home-theater wing with 13 oversized chairs and a concession stand. A smart home system controls all electronics, including indoor and outdoor security cameras and a dozen flat-screen televisions, at home or remotely. Geothermal heating and cooling, a heat recovery system, underground storage tanks to collect rainfall, and backup generators keep the home going, come what may. There are nine fireplaces, an elevator to all levels, gourmet kitchen with 14-foot, bi-level island and three guest suites including one with a nursery.

Wolfgang Puck, is known for being the king of California cuisine but the Austrian chef famous for restaurants like Sago and Cut is taking his food to a new restaurant in London. The latest version of Cut, Puck's lavishly modern twist on the steakhouse category, will on the ground floor of the Dorchester Collection's new 45 Park Lane hotel. Bloomberg News reports that the menu will be based on Cut in the Beverly Wilshire. Puck is also opening a Cut in Singapore and there is already a Las Vegas location. The London venue will open next year.

Although Puck has restaurants scattered around the U.S., branded Wolfang Puck Express locations in many airports and several food lines he has never done a restaurant in London or New York. He will operate the London Cut rather than own it. The head chef in London will be David McIntyre, who helped open Spago and Cut in Beverly Hills before starting his own restaurant in San Diego.

I swung by the Bonhams & Butterfields press preview at the Petersen Car Museum in Los Angeles on November 11, camera in hand. The mission: check out the some of the cars and motorcycles that are part of the Classic California: Collectors' Motorcycles, Motorcars and Related Memorabilia auction taking place on November 13. My colleague Jared Paul Stern already mentioned some of the Steve McQueen items up for sale but there are many other items for sale including a wide variety of vintage cars.

Getting a quick polish in the setting California sun was the incredible 1939 Lincoln Zephyr Sedan Delivery Deco Liner which comes with a matching 1991 Harley-Davidson Sportster Deco Scoot. Completed in June 2008, the Deco Liner is a one-off custom 1939 Lincoln Zephyr created by artist Frank Nicholas and Terry Cook of Deco Rides of Long Valley, New Jersey. It is estimated at $110,000 - 150,000. Check out some of the other lovelies after the jump.

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Brooke Shields, pictured above with St. Regis Global Brand Leader Paul James, toasted the opening of the famed brand's 21st hotel, the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort in Puerto Rico, at a cocktail party at the legendary St. Regis New York Wednesday night. The glamorous fête also celebrated the unveiling of the St. Regis Collection by Alexis Bittar, a collection of jewelry created exclusively for St. Regis in honor of the brand's latest luxe destination. Each piece in the St. Regis Collection pays homage to St. Regis' founding patroness Caroline Astor, mother of John Jacob Astor who opened The St. Regis New York in 1904, and her famed jewels which she displayed at New York's premier social events. For the celebration, hosted by stylish socialites Olivia Chantecaille and Ren Grady, Zani Gugelmann, Mary Alice Stephenson, and Lucy Sykes and Euan Rellie, the St. Regis New York's second floor was transformed into a warm, inviting salon where guests discovered the storied hotel's enchanting rooms.

With glowing candlelight and beautiful flower arrangements situated amongst rich wood tables, elegant sofas and leather club chairs gracing the rooms, the setting suggested an intimate home harkening back to the days of the private residences found in the iconic hotel during John Jacob Astor's time. Throughout the festive evening, guests enjoyed live music from Kat Edmonson as she crooned classic jazz numbers while accompanied by a five piece band, paying tribute to the St. Regis New York's jazz history; the hotel has played host to some of the finest jazz musicians since its opening over a century ago. Party-goers were also treated to a special menu of hors d'oeuvres created by celebrated chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten. Vongerichten is the Chef of Fern, the St. Regis Bahia Beach Resort's highly anticipated and recently opened signature restaurant.

Are you ready for a four-cylinder Mercedes Benz S Class?

It seems unthinkable. The same number of cylinders in the big Mercedes that is in a Volkswagen Golf?

The German automaker is rolling out an S-class sedan called the S250 CDI, which has a four-cylinder diesel engine. Mercedes developed the car for Europe, which counts diesels about 40%-50% of new car sales, but so far does not plan to sell it in the U.S.

But that could change in future. Mercedes, BMW and Audi, as well as Volkswagen, have all brought diesels to the U.S.

The German car companies have long been champions of diesel for the U.S. But American consumers have stubbornly long memories of terrible defect-ridden diesels from General Motors in the late 1970s and 80s. The legacy of those cars is that politicians and regulators remain hostile or indifferent to diesel cars in terms of lowering taxes on diesel fuel at the pumps, as Europe did, and ease CO2 standards for diesels.

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Sikorsky has just revolutionized the world of aviation with their amazing X2 prototype (above), officially the world's fastest helicopter after clocking over 250 knots (287.69 mph) on a test run, setting a new world speed record in the process. The X2, which uses a pair of coaxial rotor systems rather than the single rotor found on most choppers, easily beat the current world record of 216.46 knots (249.1 mph) set by the British-built Westland Lynx ZB-500 in 1986. The X2 is roughly twice as fast as Sikorsky's famed Blackhawk, and its tail rotor faces backward like the propeller on a boat in order to provide thrust. Even with its unusual design the X2, which features fly-by-wire controls, can maintain superlative low speed handling, efficient hovering, autorotation safety, and a seamless and simple transition to high speed. It will likely be several more years before the aircraft is ready to go into production at a cost of several million dollars however.

[via JamesList]

On November 13, Sotheby's will offer an important selection of the 2000 vintage from Bordeaux Winebank, the company set up by Norwegian businessman Henning Thoresen that specializes in offering Bordeaux with the "Five Star Provenance" system. The sale celebrates the 10th anniversary of the great 2000 vintage.

A selection from the Bordeaux Winebank collection will make up a substantial part of the Finest and Rarest Wines sale in New York tomorrow with 128 lots expected to sell for between $890,500 to $1.3 million in total (not including the buyer's premium).

The auction, which will feature such wines as Chateau Lafite, Chateau Latour, Chateau Mouton Rothschild and Chateau Margaux, is expected to be one of the highest-value various-owner wine sales ever held at Sotheby's New York. The auction will take place at Sotheby's location at 1334 York Avenue at East 72nd Street in Manhattan. Sotheby's Jamie Ritchie, Head of Wine, North America, will serve as the lead auctioneer tomorrow in New York (see photo above).

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If you're looking to brighten up a dark fall and winter wardrobe look no further than the Tall Tote with Braided Handle and Tassle by Carla Mancini. From one of my favorite designers for comfy, versatile style this bag is a sort of tote-hobo hybrid with a tall squared-off body that slouches exaggeratedly in the center thanks to a narrow leather fold-over flap with extra large tassel detail. The bag is monochromatic in a soft shade off-white but is full of texture-rich stitching and buckle details to keep things interesting. A great "winter white" for the upcoming holiday season. $520