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Custom Woolly Mammoth Ivory Straight Razor

Mammoth Straight Razor
Woolly mammoth ivory is huge these days and here we have an elegant option for men looking to indulge. Derrick Cruz, the talent behind Black Sheep & Prodigal Sons, has created a beautiful and one-of-a-kind handmade Mammoth Straight Razor. The razor features a sheath made of 10,000-year-old woolly mammoth ivory, a fully restored vintage stainless steel blade, and a 19th century quartz Stanhope lens containing vintage micro-photography. The razor can be personalized with your own custom image on the lens and Scrimshaw engravings on the sheath for an even more unique gift.

The Mammoth Straight Razor comes packaged in a laser-engraved salvaged wood case with a black linen drawstring sleeve and a quarter ounce of Renaissance Wax for keeping the ivory looking its best. $3,500

Lamborghini Hard Drive by Asus

Lamborghini Hard Drive by Asus

If you're driving a Lamborghini sportscar, you might as well pick up a Lamborghini laptop computer to go with it. But what do you do if your Lamborghini laptop doesn't have enough storage capacity? Why, you get a Lamborghini hard drive, too!

Like the branded Lamborghini mobile phone and the aforementioned laptops, the new external hard drive is made by Taiwanese electronics company Asus, and features a design inspired by the exotic supercars. It will be available in 500GB and 750GB sizes, with either high-speed USB 2.0 or SuperSpeed USB 3.0 connectivity. But with prices starting at around $120 for the 500GB USB 2.0 version, they cost nearly twice as much as a competing device without the supercar styling.

Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition

Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition

The Mazda MX-5 Miata has been around a long time. 22 years, to be precise. And over the course of those 22 years, Mazda has produced over 900,000 of them. While the Miata may not be known as one of the most luxurious cars on the market, Mazda is celebrating the production milestone with a luxed-up Special Edition.

Decked out in grey leather with contrasting stitching and aluminim trim, the interior of the 2011 Mazda MX-5 Miata Special Edition is more high-end than the standard model. It also comes with a retractable hard-top for convenience, versatility and security no matter the weather, plus 17-inch alloy wheels and all the options included as standard.

Buyers can choose from Sparkling Black or Dolphin Gray Mica, with either automatic or manual six-speed transmissions. But with only 750 examples available exclusively in North America, and a price tag just under $31,000, they're sure to sell out fast.

Tehama Grasshopper, Estate of the Day


Intriguing architecture doesn't always equate to a quick sale. Fougeron Architecture's Tehama Grasshopper in San Francisco's SoMa area turned heads when it debuted in 2007. It made the cover of Metropolitan Home magazine and was a 2007 American Institute of Architects (AIA) tour home and later received a national AIA Institute Honor Award. The striking 5,000-square-foot loft residence turned a warehouse into a modern confection of concrete, steel, glass, wood and marble. The home has a lightfilled courtyard that connects the building to the new penthouse above and to the sky. The interior courtyard and skylights fill the home with light. It was listed at $4.128 million but can now be had for $3.995 million. Socket Site reports that the unit below, the former Fougeron office is also for sale for $1.5 million.


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David Yurman "The Classic" Ladies Watch

David Yurman
Still haven't gotten her something for Valentine's day (I know I haven't)? Well here is another option that shouldn't be too tough to find given David Yurman's pretty good distribution. This is "The Classic" watch that comes in 30mm wide and 38mm wide styles in steel or gold, or steel and gold. The name could be better (no idea who they trademarked "Classic"), but the styling is is certainly acceptable. The easy-to-read dial comes with optional diamonds (either all or mixed with Roman numerals), and is mother of pearl. Inside the watch is a Swiss quartz movement, and you can get the watch with the steel bracelet (my choice) or with an alligator strap. Price as seen is $2,600.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews website aBlogToRead.com.

Larry Ellison Buys Porcupine Creek

larry ellisonOne of the homes on our biggest price drops for 2010 list has found its new owner. MyDesert.com confirms that Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison has snapped up Porcupine Creek, a 249-acre golf course estate in Ranch Mirage, California, for $42.9 million. This home originally hit the market for $75 million but last fall it had a price cut to $55 million. Ellison already has ties in the area. In 2009 he bought the nearby Indian Wells Tennis Garden and BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament. Ellison also owns property in Woodside, California, on Malibu's Carbon Beach and last year he purchased the Astor's Beechwood Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island.

Pourcupine Creek was formerly owned by Yellowstone Club founders Tim and Edra Blixseth before an acrimonious divorce got the better of them and their global collection of properties. Porcupine Creek was most recently in the hands of a holding company related to the Yellowstone Club. Blixseth sold the Yellowstone Club last year to CrossHarbor Partners. Porcupine Creek includes a golf club and golf course, a huge 18,400 square-foot main residence, eight guest houses, a pool, spa, gym and an amphitheater. It has hosted many benefits and charity events and in an email to MyDesert Edra Blixseth expressed hope that the estate might serve that function again.

[Thanks, Spec.]

Asia's Best Design Hotels

Asia's best design hotels

Modern architecture-loving travelers will love the destinations featured by our friends over at Departures . The magazine took a look at Asia's coolest design hotels, which are some of the most impressive properties in Shanghai, Bangkok, Hong Kong and Singapore. These properties are "sleek super towers and seemingly impossible, imagination-defying structures" according to the luxury magazine that is published by American Express publishing.

Today's Asian luxury hotels are influencing Western hotels, while once it was the opposite, according to Edwin Heathcote, architectural critic for the Financial Times. The most significant new hotels each have something that is memorable, the Departures piece explains. In some, it's the restaurant that's the most memorable; in others, it's a soaring sky bar or a penthouse suite. In others it is the structures themselves that are redefining skylines.

Hong Kong
According to Departures, Hong Kong has also opened itself up to a host of contemporary international architects who have put their stamp on the city, from Foster + Partners to Cesar Pelli to I. M. Pei. Recently, at the 117-room Upper House (from $425), local Andre Fu-known for doing the home of actress Michelle Yeoh-has created an ideal, almost spiritual, balance of uncluttered spaces. "The design is not Asian in a literal manner," Fu told Departures, "but it reflects a subtle Asian sensitivity." He has achieved this with pools of water, bamboo enclosures, natural timber, shoji glass, limestone and lacquered paper panels. Additional design highlights include the Sky Bridge on the 49th floor, which crosses a 130-foot-high atrium; the hotel's Bedonia stone façade (see photo above) by one of Britain's hottest architect-designers, Thomas Heatherwick; and freestanding bathtubs with panoramic harbor or island views.

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Of Perception And Promotion: The Creation Of The Mexico Real Estate Coalition

mexico real estate
In response to the ongoing safety challenges that have been facing Mexico the past year, many top real estate and resort developers, title companies, banks, and other companies throughout the country, have formed a coalition to specifically promote living and investing in Mexico. More than 30 organizations have formed the MREC (Mexico Real Estate Coalition.) It's the first time a coalition like this has been created to advocate for the potential buyers and retirees interested, but yet hesitant, about buying and living in Mexico. This includes the high end fractional and Private Residence Club buyers as well as luxury and mid-level second home purchasers.

The Mexico Real Estate Coalition includes Juan Diaz Rivera of Capella Pedregal, Eduardo Sanchez Navarro of Grupo Questro, Andres Rosetto of Punta Mita, Jorge Carerra of Querencia, Horst Schulze (founder of the Ritz Carlton) and Christopher Hill, CEO of Stewart Title, Latin America, among others. Together, the group is taking a proactive stance to educate Americans and others on the benefits of living and for some, retiring in Mexico. The coalition also directly addresses perceptions about Mexico being a dangerous country.

"Recently," Juan Diaz Rivera, founder of Capella Pedregal, and Chairman Of The Mexico Real Estate Coalition, told Luxist, "I flew to Tijuana from Cabo to pick up a new car. I had no problem, even though I had accidentally left some important papers in the car. Then, the same day, I drove to Beverly Hills to meet some friends for lunch. I parked in a parking garage downtown. When I returned from lunch, my passport, travel money and other papers had been stolen. It was such an ironic thing to happen to me, as we at MREC always say that bad things happen everywhere, not just Mexico. And here I am, living proof, and in Beverly Hills!"

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Eva Longoria Spotted in Miami on Utopia III Superyacht

Utopia yacht
Desperate Housewives stunner Eva Longoria was spotted in Miami over Super Bowl weekend enjoying a romantic rendez-vous aboard the 150 ft. Utopia III superyacht (above). Barely a week after her divorce from Tony Parker was finalized, she was seen making waves with 25-year-old Spanish singer Eduardo Cruz, actress Penelope Cruz's younger brother, the London Daily Mail reports. There were on the yacht as guests of cosmetics mogul Loren Ridinger, who hosted a Super Bowl viewing party.

Built by Trinity Yachts in 1999, the Utopia III has accommodations for 10 guests in addition to nine crew – not that we're implying Eva and Eduardo shared a bunk, though they did spend the night on board. The yacht has been in the news before thanks to Kim Kardashian strutting around the decks in a bikini. Longoria first sparked rumors of a romance when she was spotted with Eduardo at her Los Angeles restaurant Beso in October; Eduardo was then seen leaving Eva's house on Christmas Eve.

Picasso's La Lecture Sells Above Estimate


A portrait of Picasso's mistress reading led the sales results Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Evening sale on Tuesday night in London. Pablo Picasso's iconic 1932 painting of Marie-Thérèse Walter, La Lecture was hammered down at £25,241,250 ($40,711,612) more than double the low estimate of £12 – 18 million. The bidding ended after a spirited battle among at least seven bidders, both on the phone and in the salesroom. It sold to an anonymous buyer bidding over the telephone. The sale brought in a total £68,834,400 falling neatly within the pre-sale estimate of £55,630,000 - 79,250,000. The sale was 84.5% sold by value and the average lot value for the works was £2.15 million/ $3.5 million.

Last year another painting from the same year also featuring Picasso's beloved mistress Marie-Therese Walter, Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust, sold for $106.5 million at Christies setting a record for Picasso and for any artwork sold at auction. La Lecture was acquired by the present owner in 1996.Picasso first saw young Marie-Thérèse on the streets of Paris in 1927, when she was just seventeen years old. Because of her age and the status of his marriage to Olga Khokhlova the relationship was kept quiet for several years. This painting was part of a colorful explosion of works painted in January 1932 in anticipation of the major retrospective that he was planning. The famous Le Reve which is currently owned by Steve Wynn is also from this highly fertile time period.

Helena Newman, Chairman, Sotheby's Impressionist & Modern Art Europe reported that buyers came from 11 countries, with bidding from Asia, Russia, the US and Europe. Other highlights includes a sculpture by Marino Marini which sold for £4,185,250 and Henry Moore's important large-scale Reclining Connected Forms which brought in £2,057,250. A new auction record was achieved for a work on paper by Surrealist artist René Magritte with the sale of Le Maître d'École for £2,505,250. The gouache on paper depicting Magritte's iconic bowler-hatted man sold for over double the pre-sale estimate of £800,000 – 1.2 million and double the previous record for a work on paper. A record price in sterling was also reached for Giorgio Morandi's Natura Morta, which sold for £1,385,250 against an estimate of £800,000- £1.2 million.
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