Luxist

Venerable perfume company Krigler has set up shop in the Plaza Hotel in New York City offering not just scents but also candles, scrubs, lotions and other body care items. The perfumes come in old-fashioned glass bottles with simple golden tops. The brand's most famous scent is Sparkling Diamond No. 22. The scent was created in Monte Carlo in 1922 and the original had a diamond in the bottle. Now the scent of champagne, strawberry, musk and coconut (it's actually more subtle and less fruity than that description makes it sound) comes in a bottle that has Swarovksi crystals bouncing around in the bottom. Other scents to try include the Dolce Tuberose which is full of summer's heady deep florals. The Sparkling Diamond No. 22 is $170 for the 3.4 eau de parfum. Other scents including Mediterranean Peach and Manhattan Rose are $110.

Back in March we heard that veteran actor Robert Loggia had put his Bel Air, California home on the market. But now with a new price cut and fresh pictures it's time to take a closer look. I'll admit, at first glance this house didn't seem that appealing. It was built in 1968 and the exterior is a bit dated. It's actually rather light and bright on the interior. The five-bedroom home has a nice open floor plan with a double-height living room. The recently redone kitchen features floors that include both wood and granite that mimics the granite countertops.The pot racks with baskets hanging off it placed over the stove top is both a fire hazard and a decorating move that would give the Real Estalker Mama a nervous breakdown. The kitchen is next to a family dining area but there is also a separate dining room.

The home has nice views of the city in the distance and the two large upstairs bedrooms feature glass doors leading directly to a terrace outside. The master bedroom has been done in a heavy wood-paneled style that doesn't seem to suit the rest of the house but works well with the green marble master bath as an older gentleman's private lair. The two downstairs suites can be used for offices or guests. The home is on a half-acre lot and the backyard includes a pool and spa area. Berg Properties Celebrity Big Time Listings reports that Loggia purchased the house in 1996 for $145 million and renovated it. It was listed at $3.65 million but has now been reduced to $3.295 million.

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I got a nice chance to play with these larger IWC Ingeniuer watches recently and boy do they make an impact. The mechanical prowess you feel from handing the case is intense, even though they have "basic" calibre 89360 automatic flyback chronograph movements inside (love that the top subdial is used for minutes AND hours). I jest because the movement is manufacture made by IWC and is quite impressive. At 45.5mm wide (and 14.5mm tall), the steel, 18k rose gold, or platinum cases are hefty and well sculpted. Attached to the case are alligator straps. The Big IWC Ingeniuer that can be obtained in platinum has got to be one of the heaviest watches out there without a bracelet, and I love it. The dials are really easy to ready and the action of the chronograph pushers is pleasing. There are some sharper edges on the back of the case, but it is not a big deal really.

With a "scientific watch" heritage, the Ingenieur watch line has come a long way with the pictured style being the dominant look of the watch line today. It really isn't for every man, but enough people are going to love the technical, though luxurious look and personality of the watch. It can easily be dressed up or down, and is the perfect type of watch that you can rely on for decades, or generations for that matter (with proper service). The slate gray or white colored dials have nice contrasting subdials and enough decoration to make you feel good about your aggressively styled luxury Swiss watch. Available now.

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

As I learned on my last two trips to the United Kingdom, there aren't many places where you can light up a cigar. Had I known about The Montague on the Gardens, I probably would have altered my travel plans a bit. The hotel bar has a dedicated outdoor cigar terrace, which for puffers, amounts to a bit of tranquility in an otherwise hostile world.

Toward the back of the hotel, like-minded guests can gather in the bar for a drink before stepping outside to a blissful smoking location with a great view of the Bedford Estate's private gardens. I tend to bring my own cigars when I travel, but sometimes like to sample the locally available fare and The Montague on the Gardens offers plenty of incentive. The bar has more than 20 brands on hand, including the coveted Cohiba Siglo VI. Smoke it gently while sipping a glass of Remy Martin Louis XIII, and you'll struggle to find a more enjoyable situation.

The hotel itself is designed to impress. It's a Georgian townhouse hotel with 101 rooms and suites – not to mention a two-bedroom apartment. This four-star establishment is within walking distance of the West End and The British Museum, and the "Type A" crowd will be happy to know it isn't far from London's Financial District.

Whatever the day's distraction is, though, return to The Montague on the Gardens and settle down for the evening with the cigar of your choice. Savor each draw, and punctuate it with your preferred spirit. Perfect.

Few things manage to demonstrate the difference between cultures as art. Take for example this Bentley Continental GT, donated to the hand of Brazilian pop artist Romero Britto. It may look good to some, and to others an absolute atrocity. Yet Britto's credentials as a renowned artist are known the world over, his works hanging in galleries, museums and prestigious private collections all around the world.

This Bentley will be part of Britto's upcoming exhibit at the Automobil Forum Unter den Linden in Germany from July 10 to September 6, after which it will be auctioned off to benefit multiple sclerosis research and the social integration of the mentally disabled.

From the LA Times Hot Properties:
--"Gossip Girl" executive producer Bob Levy has purchased a Hollywood Hills-area home for $1,005,000.
--A Palm Springs home once owned by Oscar-winning composer Frederick Loewe is on the market at $5.95 million. The listing is here.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick are said to be the owners of the prewar Victorian townhouse on Prospect Park West formerly owned by Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany. The townhouse has scaffolding in front of it and is undergoing a gut renovation. Check out the pictures from when it was our estate of the day last year.
--Hockey star Scott Gomez's bachelor pad in the Chelsea Mercantile building on Seventh Avenue should soon be on the market since the New York Rangers traded Gomez to Montreal on Tuesday. Gomez signed a seven-year contract for $51.5 million in July 2007 and bought the apartment in September 2007.
--Ex-Ranger Darius "Kaspar" Kasparaitis has listed his two-bedroom condo on East 59th Street for $2.595 million. The listing is here.

From Cityfile's Buyers and Sellers:
--British developer Penny Bradley has gone into contract to sell her townhouse at 158 East 61st Street. It was most recently listed at $11.5 million.
--via the NY Times, investor Enrique Foster Gittes has dropped the price of the townhouse at 12 East 63rd Street he bought for $8.8 million in 2005. He put on the market for $28.75 million as a "raw space" back in April, it is now listed with Paula Del Nunzio for $24.95 million.
--via the NY Times, Russian financier Andrei Vavilov has gone into contract to sell the notorious penthouse he bought from the Plaza's developers for $11 million earlier this year (using the deposit he put down on the $53.5 million unit he was originally supposed to buy). It was on the market for $12.5 million in February, was most recently listed for $9.95 million.
--Writer/director John Ridley has finally found a buyer for his condo at 15 Central Park West. It was most recently listed for $8.5 million.
--via the NY Times, Madonna paid $32.5 million for the East 81st Street townhouse she went into contract to purchase in April. The home was listed for $45 million back in October.
The Philadelphia Daily News says that sources keep telling them that neither Bon Jovi guitarist Richie Sambora nor Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels, two of the famous names used to market the Residences at Two Liberty Place, actually purchased their condos. They say instead the pair received free leases in exchange for promoting the luxury high-rise.
--Dr. Gary Roubin, Lenox Hill's chief of interventional cardiology, has re-listed the carriage house at 168 East 73rd Street he almost sold May. The deal fell through so the home is back on the market for $16.5 million. The listing is here.
--Retired Continental Airlines CEO Gordon Bethune has paid $5.882 million for a third-floor apartment at The Beresford on Central Park West.
--Markus Kiersztan, the owner of MP Creative and Uniqlo's creative director in the United States, has paid $1.8 million for a three-bedroom loft at 10 Leonard Street.
--via NY Mag, Director Stephen Daldry has gone into contract to buy a red-brick townhouse in Chelsea with an asking price of "just under $5 million."
--via NY Mag, British architect Lord Norman Foster has picked up the apartment next door to the one he already owns at 912 Fifth Avenue for $6.7 million
--via Curbed Hamptons, billionaire Juergen Friedrich has cut the price of his Southampton mansion again. It is now listed at $49.5 million but was priced at $67.5 million when it was our estate of the day.
--Keiko Ibi, the Tokyo-born filmmaker who won an Oscar her 1999 documentary The Personals, has put her condo at 15 Central Park West back on the market less than two years after purchasing it for $1.8 million. The one-bedroom is now listed for $3.75 million.
-- Investor Gerhard Andlinger has sold his penthouse at the Time Warner Center for $37.5 million.
--Sara Levinson, the former president of the women's publishing division of Rodale, and her husband Charles Hairston, have paid $2.625 million for a three-bedroom co-op at 45 East 85th Street.

The San Francisco Gate reports that the Marina mansion used to house the contestants of Top Chef's first season show, set in San Francisco, is up for rent.

Hall and Hall just sold Perry Ranch in Steamboat Springs, CO for $11 million. It was originally listed at $19 million but was $16 million when we checked it out.

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For a while the Eagle's Nest property in Franklin, Tennessee was the most expensive property in the area (it was listed at $33 million last year but is now down to $29.5 million). But now the Real Estalker reveals that country singer Alan Jackson has topped the market in Franklin by putting his huge home up for sale. Jackson's palace is 19,000 square feet with six bedrooms on 135 acres of land. The property includes a stocked lake with a boat house, three ponds, a 20-car garage, separate gym, a two-bedroom log cabin and more. Jackson and his wife Denise built the home known as Sweetbriar which has a hotel-like feel. The main home has a huge home theater and a downstairs recreation area with a full bar.

An expansive virtual tour can be found here. The log cabin just might be the most charming part of this property. It's got a great balcony perched right over the Harpath river and a small kitchen stocked with vintage-looking appliances. The home is hugely impressive but the question is whether anyone needs a home of this size and scale anymore and if they will pay $38 million to live in Franklin, Tennessee. Given that Eagle's Nest has been on the market for around a year, I'm guessing we'll be seeing Jackson cut his price by at least $5 million within six months.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

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It's still months away but Gatehouse Capital and HEI Hotels & Resorts, co-owners of the W Hollywood Hotel & Residences have announced a deal with nightclub impresario Victor Drai to open a new multi-level signature nightlife venue, Drai's Hollywood within W Hollywood Hotel & Residences in December 2009. The residences are located at the corner of Hollywood & Vine and the nightclub will span more than 20,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space. The club will include a ground-floor lounge as well as a rooftop nightclub with views of Hollywood, and an open-air rooftop pool bar. The nightclub will compliment a 6,000-square-foot restaurant fronting Hollywood Boulevard. The restaurant, Delphine, will strive for a south-of-France feel. The complex will feature 143 W Residences many with private terraces, offering views of the Hollywood Hills, Hollywood Boulevard, the Pantages Theater, Capitol Records building and the Hollywood sign. Residence owners will have access to all facilities and amenities at W Hollywood including private in-home catering, maid service, room service and more.

Another episode in the soap opera known as Nic Cage and the revolving real estate deals has begun. The New York Observer reports that Nicolas Cage has once again put his 3,550-square-foot apartment in the Museum Tower back on the market. It was briefly on the market last year for a day or so last year but now the apartment is for sale again for the same price of $9.75 million. The listing calls it "LA glamor in the heart of NYC." The home consists of two adjacent apartments, with internal access to each other on the 48th floor. The home has gorgeous views especially from the corner living room with a shag rug which shows views to the Empire State Building and down to The Statue of Liberty as well as west to the Hudson River. The master suite opens out on the city and has a huge master bath with a separate tub and steam shower. The other apartment offer space for guests and also includes a fully equipped gourmet kitchen. This home is listed at $9.75 million the same price it was at last year.

Nicolas Cage has pulled his Bel Air home off the market but still has several other homes on the market including a home in Las Vegas, two homes in New Orleans and a home in Rhode Island.

The striped Skipper bag has a nautical look and woven rope handles. Eric Javits, who also designs hats, uses the Squishee® fabric, a man-made fiber that resembles straw. The hats and handbags can be crushed and still come out looking great. The Squishee fabric also makes the bag lightweight so you can put more in it. The Skipper measures 17"L x 8.5"h x 6.5"w and has leather trim and button lock closure with goldtone hardware and protective brass feet. Inside there are mulitple pockets, a key clip holder and mirror. It sells for $450.