Crinkled bags aren't all that common but here's a nice one from Donna Karan. The Crosstown Studded Hobo is made of crinkled black nylon (gotta love that 'needs to be ironed' look) with smooth black calf leather trim and little silvertone stud details all around the edges. The front has a large fold-over flap and the back side has a zippered exterior pouch with trim and stud detailing. Single leather shoulder strap and 3 interior pockets. A great, casual way to fit biker chic and studs into your wardrobe this winter. $695

Some brands are running from Tiger Woods as a celebrity endorser but Orlando-based Corona Cigar Co. is running toward him offering the golfer $100,000 as a celebrity "smokesperson." The brand is clearly looking for publicity. Owner Jeff Borysiewicz has said that the company doesn't condone anyone's alleged extramarital affairs but welcomes Woods as a potential endorser. Woods has visited Corona in the company of Charles Parker before. Some of Woods' core endorsers including Accenture, Gillette and Gatorade have said they will review their association with the golfer and he won't be playing golf for a little while so perhaps he should take the deal for some running around money.

According to the Lamborghini lovers at the Teamspeed Forums, there's a new, even higher-performance version of the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 on the way that will be unveiled at the 2010 Geneva Motor Show. No surprise, really, as the Gallardo's successor isn't expected until 2012 or so and the Italian supercar manufacturer is always working on improving the breed.

We're told to expect a 10-horsepower bump up to 570 ponies from the car's V10 powerplant that will be delivered to all four wheels (making this the LP570-4, naturally). A major diet in the form of a stripped-down interior (ala the Superlegerra Gallardo) and an updated aerodynamics package that includes a new front spoiler and a large carbon fiber rear wing along with a reworked front suspension arrangement and carbon ceramic brakes may also be in the works.

Looking past the possible LP570-4, there may be an LP590-2 swan song for the current Gallardo range in the offing for 2011. Like the recently-released Gallardo L550-2 Valentino Balboni, that car would eschew Lamborghini's traditional all-wheel drive system by sending all 590 horsepower to the rear wheels.

If these rumors prove accurate, dealers and VIP customers (sadly, that doesn't include us) will get a sneak peek of the Gallardo LP-570-4 in January before the official debut in Geneva with sales pegged for May of 2010. Thanks for the tip, DJ!



[Source: Teamspeed.com]

Coffee's complexities are teased out in the Revelation kit by Le Nez Du Cafe (the nose of coffee). The kit, created by the same people who made a similar kit for wine, includes 36 of the most typical aromas found in coffee. The kit provides a 'scent alphabet' that will enable you to fully appreciate coffee. To begin you sniff aromas in the collection, one by one, gradually accustoming yourself to the various subtleties. The training kit comes with an explanatory booklet which describes the main features of each aroma and explains to which aromatic family they belong. There are 36 aromas in a wooden case that sells for $525.

If I could live in any building in New York City it might just be the Osborne. We've seen a couple of different gorgeous apartments in this building and here is another one. The Osborne is a rusticated Romanesque Revival and Italian Renaissance Palazzo-style building built in 1883. It has a historic Byzantine lobby with contributions by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens, muralist John LaFarge, and Tiffany Studios. The listing states that the original plans for the building included "a porte-cochére, a billiard room, a florist, a resident doctor and druggist and on the roof, a lawn for playing croquet."

This apartment is a two-bedroom co-op that includes a double living room with the original wood and plaster and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lining the walls, The room is anchored by two wood burning fireplaces at either end of the room and the front wall has tall dramatic windows allowing sun to pour in through regular glass and upper stained glass panes, recreated and Landmark approved. From the living room, an oversized pocket door leads to the library, with another wood burning fireplace. The Poggenpohl chef's kitchen has a Wolfe stove, SubZero fridge, large center island, granite countertops and washer and dryer. The master bedroom includes a walk-in closet leading to a full bath and another bedroom mirrors the master bedroom with a walk in closet and full bath. This apartment is listed at $6.9 million.

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High-end independent luxury watch maker Thomas Prescher presents a new creation from his Tempus Vivendi collection. Right out of his workshop in Switzerland comes the Qatar watch, a timepiece dedicated to the nation of Qatar.

The origins of the Tempusvivendi collection, with their double retrograde hands stems back to the 19th century - seen on only the most luxurious and decorated for clocks and pocket watches. The concept allows for a striking and artistic way of telling the time and providing space for the watch makers to apply imagery to the watch face.

The all gold 39mm wide watch case features an specially made automatic mechanical movement that has been ornately decorated all over. Visible through the sapphire crystal caseback, the automatic rotor is engraved and highly personalized, while the movement itself features hours of traditional style engraving work. Each gold surface is hand engraved as well. The watch is attached to a hand-sewn alligator strap.

Time is read by observing the position of the tips of the two Arab style swords as they move along the indicators. Each sword is individually connected to the movement at the bottom and overall each over and they move down. If you prefer to look at the time as an artistic statement, you can press a pusher located in the crown and the hands will jump back to their "natural" position (as seen in the image). Pressing the pusher again will give you a view of the time once more. The image on the dial is hand engraved on gold and shows an Arabic coat of arms with a sail ship in water, and an island with two palm trees. The timepiece is of the highest craftsmanship quality for dedicated watch lovers of the Qatar region who will no doubt be enchanted by the timepiece as an instrument, and as an honor to their country.

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

The other day my colleague Annie Scott highlighted Versace's bizarre new skirt. Can anything top it in the oddball department? How about the "Gizmo" skirt by Brian Lichtenberg. The skirt is done in grey tweed with 'ear-pockets' and swarovski crystal eyes in the shape of the Gizmo gremlin from the classic 1984 movie "Gremlins." This piece of fashionable nostalgia will run you $2,100.

This is actually the second set of limited edition Cutthroat watches from Montana based American watch maker Bozeman Watch Company. The brand is known for classic looking luxury watches with an outdoorsy American twist, using Swiss movements. There are really very few smaller Americans brand such as this. As an homage to fishing and the famous Cutthroat trout, this newest edition of 100 pieces is broken up into at least 5 color choices. Four dials are in silver with either red, orange, blue, or green trim (as the color of the lume on the hour markers and tips of the hands), and one version with a black colored face. These are distinguished by regional or thematic names such as the "Yellowstone" or "Whitefish" editions.

In a classically handsome manner the watches are nice in a subtle way. Understated and functional. Inside the watches are Swiss automatic GMT movements (likely an ETA 2893-2) that have been COSC Chronometer certified. The arrow shaped (literally like an arrow used with a bow) GMT hand is red tipped on all models, and follow a neatly marked GMT hour scale on the chapter ring. The dial is very easy to read with all markers present. One of the things I really like about the watches is that all the hands are perfect in length. This is a sign of a good watch designer. The counterweight on the seconds hand is shaped like the brand logo. The watches are each in a 42mm wide, highly polished steel case with a sapphire crystal and 100 meters of water resistance. They are matched to simple leather straps with contrast stitching. Price for these hand-tooled watches is between $4,200 - $4,700 (each model is in a limited edition of 15 or 40 pieces - together totaling 100). The pictured model is the Bozeman Cutthroat Mack Creek Edition. You can learn more from Bozeman Watch Co. here.

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

From the Real Estalker:
--George Lindemann Jr., the son of billionaire George Lindemann and brother of art maven Adam Lindemann, has put his 11,388-square-foot mansion in Miami, shown above, on the market for $29.9 million. The listing is here.
--Cher isn't just auctioning off two new homes at the Four Seasons Four Seasons Hualalai, she has also dropped the price of her Malibu mansion from $45 million to $41 million.
--Russell Brand and Katy Perry have picked a home in the Los Feliz area of Los Angeles for $3.25 million.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Director-producer Gil Junger has sold a gated compound in the Beverly Hills Post Office area for $4.31 million.
--Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony have sold their Bel-Air property for $7.5 million.
--Former Columbia Pictures and Universal TV head Frank Price has purchased an ocean-view condominium in Santa Monica for $3.1 million.
--Patrick Dempsey has sold his Bel-Air home for $2,571,500.


From NY Magazine:
--U2 guitarist, The Edge, is building five houses on a ridge in Malibu but has met with opposition from locals. Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Lopez (who was recently portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. in The Soloist) has taken on the cause and has written a skewering op-ed piece on the project.

--From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--Barbara Gutmacher Girard and her mother Rose are teaming up to sell their apartments at the Plaza. The two units on the building's 18th-floor, which Barbara and Rose bought last year for $4.74 million and $3.4 million, respectively, are listed separately for $8.995 million and $5.995 million.
----James Savage, the founder of Savage Capital, and his wife, literary agent Nancy Trichter, have put their four-bedroom co-op at 285 Central Park West on the market for $7.995 million.
--Vicki Rosen-Solomon, the widow of private equity executive Adam Solomon, has gone into contract to sell her co-op at 956 Fifth Avenue. The three-bedroom apartment was first listed this past September for $14.575 million.The listing is here.
--Stephen Rotella, the former president and chief operating officer of Washington Mutual and his wife, Esther, put down $4.1 million for a two-bedroom co-op at 101 Central Park West.
--Josh Grotstein, the CEO of the video sharing site Motionbox, and his wife Leslie sold their apartment at 300 East 77th Street for $2.75 million.
--via the Real Deal, Lily Safra is making a move at 820 Fifth Avenue. The billionaire widow of Edmond Safra has sold her 12th-floor apartment for $40 million to Ken Griffin, the CEO of Chicago-based Citadel Investment Group. She paid $33 million to buy developer Ara Hovnanian's apartment on the 4th-floor, so she'll only be moving downstairs.

From the Chicago Tribune's Elite Street:
--Chicago Bulls guard Kirk Hinrich took a major loss on the sale of his four-bedroom house in Deerfield, which just sold for $730,000. He bought the home new in the summer of 2004 for $906,500.
--Movie reviewer and Chicago Sun-Times columnist Richard Roeper has taken his three-bedroom, duplex penthouse condominium unit in River North off the market after most recently listing it for $1.699 million.
--A five-bedroom mansion in Lincoln Park that retired TV anchor Walter Jacobson once owned has been listed for $2.55 million. The property website is here.

Many people get frustrated flying over the holidays but not too many people have a meltdown and get dragged off a plane. Ivana Trump was reportedly dragged off a flight headed to New York City on Saturday afternoon at Palm Beach International Airport. The ex-wife of Donald Trump was removed from the plane because she screamed and cursed at children.

According to a piece in the Sun-Sentinel, she was in first class and was angry because children were "running up and down the aisle and screaming." The article goes on to say that flight attendants tried to calm her down by offering her another seat and headphones but she only became more upset. The plane was just about to leave the gate, but like an angry dad in a car, the pilot decided to turn the plane around. She was asked to voluntarily leave the plane, refused, and was physically removed by deputies. Trump hasn't been charged in the incident and her driver picked her up at the airport soon after.