A one-time shot may costs $2,500 against the cost of the Louis XIII Black Pearl Magnum Bottle, which stands at $80,000. This gives a reason enough to commemorate the precious moments by by banging off a deluxe champagne or cognac. Doing justice to the personae of filthy rich, the pricey Louis XIII Black Pearl Magnum is exclusively available at Rose Club of the The Plaza hotel, New York. It is being said that the cost of single shot is comparable to standard monthly lease for an apartment house in New York. The individuality of this Remy Martin-produced drink can be realized by the fact that it is not available anywhere across New York even as a taster.

Hand-blown from black crystal, the pearl magnum is nicely designed by Baccarat and still remains uncorked since its introduction in June. A small calculation depicts at $2,500, you can get a dose of 32 pours in the 1.75 liter bottle. Big news: Even though it demands a fat price, the bottle is not available for sale.

Via Luxist

Want to enjoy spa, massages, saunas, facials, loofah rubs, swimming at a single place? Here you go! Inspa World is a five-story 60,000-square-foot funhouse located in the College Point neighborhood of Queens, N.Y that labels itself as a “spa and water park.” But this description falls too short to define it if you consider Rory real experience or mine virtual. Overlooking Long Island Sound near the Bronx-Whitestone Bridge, it costs only $30 to get in.

While check-in, each visitor is asked for a credit card in return of which a wristwatch-sized electronic bracelet is given (blue for men, pink for ladies). The watertight bracelet mechanically opens individual lockers for one’s shoes and clothes. Visitors then clad themselves in a spa uniform to go upstairs to the co-ed sauna and restaurant floors. The place offers separate changing rooms for the upstairs co-ed pools.

It features two large outdoor pools flooded with water jets and bubble jets aiming at massaging your every body part. You would be glad to know that besides sun bath, it offers you a pool with integrated hot tub. It also offers facility of typical steam rooms and saunas downstairs for men and women.

There is also a possibility of taking a facial in a private booth or a massage with a view of the locality. The food court at sauna floor offers a salad bar, a sushi bar, hamburgers and French fries, Starbucks coffees and Haagen Dazs ice cream. Whilst the top floor of the Korean restaurant serves you with meat and noodle main courses, with countless other dishes for about $12. Developed and designed by architect and owner Steve Chon, almost $25 million was spent upon its construction and is hoping to install another 19 with next one in Dallas.

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Via NYT

Auction reports from Sotheby’s reveal that a cubist oil painting by 20th century French artist Fernand Leger generated sales of $39.2 million on 7 May at New York based auction. The pre-auction estimate for the 1912-1913 painting, “Study for a Woman in Blue,” was $35 million to $45 million. The conceptual arithmetical painting portrays a woman in a blue dress seated at a table with her hands in her lap.

Another painting that has set an artist record is Edvard Munch’s (munk) 1902 “Girls on a Bridge” as it got sold off for $30.8 million against its pre-sale guesstimate of $24-$28 million.

Via USAuctionInfo

The yearly Kips Bay Decorator Show House started in New York on 24 April and will run through 22 May. To my utter surprise, around 22 designers would be using this as a platform and are provided with six apartments at The Manhattan House, 200 East 66th Street to participate in the Kips Bay Decorator Show House. For the first time in the history of 36 years, the show is being held in an apartment building rather than a town house. In coming days I would be updating you with designer credits. Tickets for the show would cost you $30.

Some interesting stuff direct from 2008 Kips Bay Decorator Show:

An Audi-design prototype chandelier hangs above a table in the Daniel Boulud kitchen. Also, the artwork of Caceres + Miranda designed by Geoffrey Bradfield is quite interesting. Simon Horn crib, configured here for a toddler, sits on display in a children’s room designed by Bograd Kids. A teak torso of drawers with superimposed silver breeds luxury. The BKH-designed living rooms, modern furniture, including a Vladimir Kagan sofa are amongst the attraction of the Show House.

A Vic Muniz drawing of chef Daniel Boulud hung in a Kitchen designed by Daniel Boulud and Rita-Louisa Garces.

The wavering 60’s chicks room, designed by Ellen Ward Scarborough Ltd. Is mind blowing. Sculpture by Jean Arp (R) features well in a therapist’s room designed by S. Russell Groves. Another elite attraction was chairs designed by Stephen Miller Siegel which have upholstered in horsehair fabric. Lastly, a bedroom suite designed by White Webb is worth a pick.

Check out the gallery:

Via HabituallyChic/ NYT

“Sunset over the Atlas Mountains,” a circa 1935 oil painting by Winston Churchill is all set to go under hammer during Bonhams New York auction in 23 April. This is one painting that Winston adored so much that he invited President Franklin D. Roosevelt to see it even after years later. This vivacious countryside depicting Churchill’s balcony at the Mamounia Hotel in Marrakech is anticipated to fetch $600,000. Churchill invited Roosevelt to travel with him to Marrakech after a conference in Casablanca in 1943 so he could experience the beautiful view for himself.

Via MSNBC

An elite painting by 20th Century French artist Fernand Leger is all set to undergo a hammer for $45 million at New York based Sotheby’s impressionist sale scheduled for 7 May. “Etude pour La Femme en Bleu” (1912-13) is a brew of arithmetical shapes hued in blue and white with intonations of pale yellow, red and black. The canvas dates back to the family compilation of German collector Hermann Lange, who purchased it from Galerie Neumann-Nierendorf in Berlin in 1920s. If this painting happened to fall near the expected sale i.e. $35-$45 million, then it would top the lot of the evening sale that would in total count to be $284 million. Leger’s earlier record was set in 2003 when his 1914 painting fetched him $22.4 million at Christie’s International in New York.

Via Bloomberg

A naked photo of French first lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, featuring in a pigeon-toed pose and casing her assets with her hands got sold for $91,000 at New York based Christie, which is almost 20 times of its anticipated price. An anonymous Chinese art collector inked this neat deal by gaining the ownership of this black-and-white image shot by photographer Michel Comte in 1993. The photograph earned more hype since Bruni married French President Nicolas Sarkozy in February. The pre-estimate of auction was that it would fetch between $3,000-$4,000. The sale was a part of 140 photos from German collector Gert Elfering featuring master works by Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Helmut Newton and Peter Beard. Another much-in-news portrayal at Christie’s is an Avedon sketch of 1950s and 1960s French screen siren Brigitte Bardot sold for $181,000.

Via: Reuters / Critic Blog

Ballmer might be hopeful of selling us Microsoft surface this year as in 2007 it made a statement of offering it in T-Mobile, Starwood Hotels, Harrah’s casinos and IGN branches by winter. But it seems tables have turned now as Microsoft has inked a neat deal with the US mobile carrier AT&T, who is taking pride for being the first retailer for supplying the touch-table in stores across New York, San Francisco, Atlanta and San Antonio. Microsoft surface table will be unveiled on 17 April.

The tables will be installed in a manner so that the minute you put a phone over it, it’ll automatically call all info on that exacting model. It gives access to you for buying ringtones, graphics and videos by spanking your phone on it. This $10,000 Microsoft toy is an opportunity for you to buy that ironic Mister Mister ringtone that you have dreamt of getting always.

Via TechDigest / Engadget

Melted down is not a painting but an antique bowl that have reached the auction block. This gold Ming Dynasty bowl is anticipated to sell off for $30,000, which is almost two-fold of its estimated price around four years ago. Sotheby’s disclosed that at a scheduled Hong Kong auction on 11 April, this masterpiece w would be inviting bids not less than HK$60 million ($7.7 million). Emblazoned with dragons and fitted pearls, turquoise, rubies and sapphires, the three-legged vessel is bejeweled with 1.3 kilograms of 18K gold, which makes it the highlight of Sotheby’s auction amongst 25 other gold and precious-metal objects. Total auction value expected to be generated from this New York-based auction is d HK$100 million.

Via Bloomberg

Here is a margarita called Vault, made with Herradura Suprema tequila, grilled lime juice, and agave syrup then what’s so special about the drink? It’s neither the ingredients nor the preparation but the price that makes this drink a talk of the dining circuits. It’s priced at a crispy $51 and is available at Rockefeller enter, New York. Johnny Utah serves it with serves the drink with beef and bull to make it an experience worth enjoying!

Via: Luxist