home decor collection

After exquisite crystal ware to grace your luxe tables, Rohit Bal offers a brand new, limited edition capsule collection of home décor and apparel, created in collaboration with Good Earth. Persian Art and motifs from the Mughal era, a recurring favourite of Good Earth design, make a prominent appearance in this collection titled Husn-e-Taairaat which literally means ‘beauty of a bird’.  With a year invested in its creation, the Husn-e-Taairaat collection has hand-stitched and hand-painted products resplendent in royal colours of jade, ivory and blue with 24k gold and platinum detailing. The apparels bask in the aesthetic glory of pure Habutai Silks, while the home range spreads out across a variety of materials like ceramics, bone china and glassware. The Husn-e-Tairaat collection is in fact a retrospective of Rohit Bal’s eponymous 2015 couture line that he showcased at the Amazon India Couture Week 2015. The collection is exclusively available at Good Earth’s flagship boutiques in Delhi and Mumbai.

tom monaghan

Amazed? Well, that’s the right reaction, we suppose, when you pair something as exclusive as a Rolex with the everyday delights of the plain ol’ pizza. But a Rolex with a Domin’s Pizza logo on its face has plenty of history attached, and it goes back to the year 1977, when Domino’s Pizza founder and CEO Tom Monaghan once gave a high achieving employee the watch right off his wrist! Monaghan writes in his autobiography Pizza Tiger, “I wore a Bulova with our Domino’s logo on its face. A franchisee asked what he had to do to get that watch from me, and I told him, ‘Turn in a twenty-thousand-dollar sales week.’ He did it.” Now that’s one amazing boss to have. And he actually turned that into a tradition, by giving away Seikos to high performing employees that turned in $20,000 sales in a week. And the tradition continues to this day, in the form of the “Rolex Challenge”, but now the reward requires one to turn in $25,000 sales for four consecutive weeks, while the watches no longer carry the red, blue and white logo on their dials—they feature a metallic logo on the bracelet instead. Well, talk about alluring incentive!

audemars piguet

Audemars Piguet’s most ambitious exhibit ever is currently taking place in the Yuz Museum, Shanghai. The luxury Swiss watch manufacturer’s exhibit takes guests on a journey through its history, where it has appointed French designer Mathieu Lehanneur to conceive a special installation. Lehanneur’s art installation creates an impressive allusion to a watch dial through a large ring made of 12 rooms where 200 historical and contemprary timepieces are exposed! In the middle of the circle stands a huge rock, created from cast replicas of those found in Audemars Piguet’s home in the Vallée de Joux. It is meant to remind the visitors of the brands origins and how far it has come from there. The exhibit, on till November 13, also has contributions from key artists such as Cheng Ran, Dan Holdsworth and Alexandre Joly as a means of displaying the brand’s commitment with the world of contemporary art. Once it has completed its time in shanghai, the exhibit will be travelling to other art capitals throughout 2017. What makes it really special is that this exhibit constitutes Audemars’ largest collection ever brought outside of its own Museum and explores a selection of horological arts and crafts that the brand has mastered over the centuries. It isn’t just a celebration of the brand, it is a celebration of the mastery of art and craftsmanship that defines an Audemars Piguet.

logo jewelry

Minimalistic jewelry is always in fashion, and more so when its been designed by the likes of century-old American jewelry brand Harry Winston. Harry Winston’s very first HW logo collection features features 18 pieces of minimalistic diamond rings, bracelets, pendants, and earrings crafted from 18k white, yellow, and rose gold, dazzling with brilliant-cut diamonds. Available via appointment at Harry Winston boutiques across the globe, this collection isn’t just iconic but also versatile: you can mix and match it to create a matching set, use the pieces separately, or layer them with other light pieces.

sky blue diamond

Will the allure of the blue diamond ever cease? The latest ethereal Sky Blue Diamond, graded Fancy Vivid Blue by the Gemological Institute of America (GIA), weighing 8.01 carats and carrying an estimated price tag of $15 to 25 million (Rs100 to 166 crores) is up for auction at Sotheby’s this month. Gracing the countenance of a Cartier ring and framed by white diamonds, this rock carries the highest possible colour grade, conferred upon only one per cent of blue stones by the GIA. Another unique feature is that it’s a Type IIb rock, which means it is the purest form of diamond—one among just 0.5 per cent of stones across the globe. The stone will be the centrepiece of the Magnificent and Noble Jewels auction at the Beau-Rivage Hotel in Geneva on November 16th. This is going to be one helluva collector’s pride!

designer clutch

A clutch created from two signature pumps—how’s that for an art piece in your closet? Christian Louboutin has repurposed his reputed high heels into the ShoePeaks minaudière, which is part of the Spring/Summer 2017 collection and crafted from the fusion of two signature So Kate pumps, with the unmissable red soles framing the design. Carrying a sculpted silhouette, the clutch is lined with nude lambskin inside, the same as any of the designer’s actual shoes and even features an embossed logo. The finishing touches are a discreet clasp on the back and a removable gold chain which you can use to wear the bag across the body or on your shoulder. Priced at $3,500, the Shoepeaks clutch is available in gold metal and black lacquered metal on the Louboutin website. The gold version is currently sold out, but you can still pre-order the black variant that carries an equally classy and artsy air!

DLF EMPORIO | Pallor of gloom has been cast over this haven of luxury retail in India
DLF EMPORIO | Pallor of gloom has been cast over this haven of luxury retail in India

Prime Minister Narender Modi’s surgical strike on Black money had an immediate impact on luxury shopping. A Senior official associated with DLF Emporio told The Luxe Cafe that footfall in the mall has taken an 80 per cent hit from the usual working day crowd in the mall. Sales have taken an even worse hit to the tune of 90-95 per cent.

A visit to Emporio, the Mecca of luxury retail in India, was enough to reflect the gloom. The Luxe Café correspondents visited the mall and interacted with a few shop attendants on Wednesday. Some of them on the request of anonymity said the mall has faced a major hit because of the abolition of higher denomination currency notes.

PARADISE LOST | It is no secret that a lot of luxury purchases are cash transactions and much of it is money that’s undeclared in tax filings
PARADISE LOST | It is no secret that a lot of luxury purchases are cash transactions and much of it is money that’s undeclared in tax filings

One of the attendants at Paul Smith said “Sales have fallen majorly today as compared to the other days.” Other shops including Burberry, Bottega Veneta, Paul & Shark, Fendi have also faced the jolt because of the surgical strike against black money.

Indian luxury market is currently estimated to be worth around $15 billion growing at 25 per cent annual. According to an Assocham 2016 study, “With the increase in brand awareness and purchasing power of the upper class in Tier-II and Tier-III cities, Indian luxury market is expected to cross $18.3 billion by 2016.”Abolition of higher denomination notes will certainly impact the sales of branded luxury items. It is no secret that a lot of luxury purchases are cash transactions and much of it is ‘black money’ or undeclared in tax filings.

LUXE AHEAD | Assocham reports for 2016 had predicted Indian luxury market crossing $18.3 billion this year
LUXE AHEAD | Assocham reports for 2016 had predicted Indian luxury market crossing $18.3 billion this year
indian businessman

When you’ve got oodles of money, all you need is an expensive obsession. This has been proved time and again by the luxe-worthy, but the most recent acquisition of a $9 million number plate by Dubai based Indian businessman Balwinder Sahni figures way up on that list. The man who has a fleet of super expensive cars, recently won the plate at a government auction, to grace one among his two prized Rolls-Royce vehicles. Sahni runs a successful property development business in the Emirati land and displayed exuberance at winning the plate that carries the single digit- 5. While single numbered plates are known to catch the fancy of the affluent, Sahni seems to be particularly smitten by them, as he had spent $6.7 million to obtain a number ‘9’ plate in a similar auction last year. In another such instance in 2008, an Abu Dabi based entrepreneur spent $14 million to obtain a rare number plate that bore the coveted number ‘1’. Well, all we can say is, this takes the love of autos and numbers to another level altogether.

pininfarina design

Wondering whether this one’s for real? Well, wonder no more. The Forever Pininfarina AERO is an ethereal writing instrument that neither requires ink nor refill. Crafted by NAPKIN in collaboration with Pininfarina Design and recently premiered in the Pininfarina Wind Tunnel, the AERO boasts a hollow body with an understated blue interior made of aerospace aluminum (Ergal) with the tip made of Ethergraf. At the premiere, a 5:1 scale model of the stylus was tested, showcasing how the product was created. Resting on a unique rough concrete base, the stylus design draws inspiration from the future and appears to look like the symbol of eternity. The Ethergraf used in making the stylus tip is an innovative, graphite and ink free metal alloy conceived and produced by NAPKIN, drawing inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci’s research on the silver tip. The AERO costs €120 and will be available for purchase in 600+ points of sales in Italy 20 other countries worldwide. AERO can also be purchased from the Pininfarina online store.

zoyas krsna collection

The Krsna Collection from Zoya achieves quite the feat of technology-meets-tradition, combining aesthetics with spirituality, craftsmanship with forward-thinking—and features the entire Bhagwat Gita on Nano chip. Launched by The Exquisite Diamond Boutique from the House of Tata in collaboration with Sunaina Anand, Director, Art Alive Gallery at at The Taj Mahal Hotel, the collection features fusion at its heart. The craft palette features the technique of painting enamel along with Champlevé enamel in the Meenakari tradition and partaj engraving along with polki in 24 carat kundan setting. Each technology spectrum entails intricate painting—first designed on a tablet with a stylus—computer aided manufacturing, rapid proto typing, gold casting and modern diamond setting, executed by master craftsmen at Zoya. The colours, too are Krishna-inspired: turquoise, hues of blue and emerald greens. Statement pieces from the collection feature the picturesque images of the Crown of Krishna – the peacock feather, the matki, bansuri, iconic chariots, Govardhan Parvat; his adolescent years with Radha, Sudarshan Chakra and the Geeta Updesh; crafted in gorgeous enamel work with brilliant cuts.