A Desert City Center for cactus aficionados in Spain

In Madrid, a very special Desert City Center has been created by Spanish architect Jacobo García-Germán.  An experimental garden centre for exhibiting, breeding and growing cacti, this Desert City research and development centre is situated in a stretch of former wasteland between a motorway and the foothills of the Upper Manzanares Basin Regional Park in San Sebastián de los Reyes. García-Germán’s firm Garciagerman Arquitectos designed the 16,000-square-metre facility which includes both indoor and outdoor gardens for cacti and succulents that require little water. The centre also includes laboratories and workshops, along with a restaurant and shop. The center is open to the public for an extraordinary experience, and showcases 400 species of plants from five continents, grown in beds recreating arid and semi-arid conditions. Some beds are covered in sand to evoke desert settings, while others are topped by soil or gravel. The interesting thing about this center is the amount of attention to detail present in the interiors and landscaping of the center. The client for whom the firm designed this center are a group of cacti enthusiasts and aficionados led by Mercedes García Bravo, a professional chemist and engineer, who purchased the former wasteland where the center now stands. She worked progressively and relentlessly to turn the Desert City Center into reality.

Exclusive new Apple watch straps from Coach

Coach has debuted amazing new additions to its collection of Apple Watch straps with lively prints such as florals and snakeskin and even funky ones like race cars and dinosaurs! The new launches include a Leather Strap with Tea Rose Appliqué in Black Multi, Printed Leather Strap in Chalk Multi, Melon Multi and Black Multi. Other options include Rexy Leather Strap in Goldenrod yellow and a new Snake Strap in Bordeaux red. For the Tea Rose Applique strap you’d have to part with $195 while the Rexy Leather Strap and the Printed Leather Straps are available for $150. The straps will be available in limited stocks of around 200 each and can be purchased via Coach’s e-store.

Emilio Pucci’s glam Bikini Bar pop-up set to debut at Cannes

Emilio Pucci is going to be opening vibrant, tantalising Bikini Bars at numerous beaches across the Mediterranean. With the very first one coming up at Cannes during the famous film festival, this pop up will showcase gorgeous limited edition triangle tops and briefs with adjustable straps, in 19 exclusive prints. Designed like a brightly colored changing room, this pop up will travel from Cannes to beaches at Beirut, Capri, Mykonos, Taormina, Saint-Tropez and Porto Cervo. Of course, you could also opt for the slightly less immersive experience of purchasing the pieces from Pucci’s e-store—only for a limited period.

Behold the Panerai Mare Nostrum 2017 limited edition watch

Panerai Mare Nostrum—literally ‘Our Sea’ in Latin—is an extremely exclusive watch whose original version was launched in 1993. And now in 2017 comes the latest version of the limited edition chronograph: Panerai Mare Nostrum Acciaio PAM 716. The Panerai Mare Nostrun 2017 which is limited to 1000 units, carries a number of features from the classic, including the blue dial but also has a number of aesthetic enhancements such as the ‘aging’ of Superluminova on the hands and indexes to a tan. The new version features the original’s 42mm stainless steel case with round chronograph pushers and 60km/h tachymeter bezel as well as the same hand-wound, COSC-certified OP XXXIII calibre movment, exclusive to Panerai. It also comes in a similar Luigi Durand De La Penne, an Italian Navy destroyer shaped box from the same period of that first Mare Nostrum.

Bang & Olufsen’s new $37,000 BeoLab 50 speakers

Artistic and unusually designed, Bang & Olufsen’s latest BeoLab 50 speakers match high performance with clean minimalism. Aluminum elements combine beautifully with warm oak lamellas for the sleekest of looks. As for the sound, the Beam Width Control feature alters the speakers’ sound delivery according to the position of the audience and Active Room Compensation technology measures the acoustical behavior of the room to create a set of custom filters that compensate for reflections from walls and furniture in different listening areas, to provide the most enhanced audio experience. Priced at $37, 710 per pair, the BeoLab 50 speakers are quite the audiophile’s delight.

French luxe menswear brand Cifonelli set to enter India

French luxury menswear brand Cifonelli is all set to enter the Indian market in partnership with Mumbai-based luxury retailer Vault Luxury. The 137-year-old bespoke brand plans to open a ‘lounge’ in Mumbai in 2018, as well as a few trunk shows in Delhi and Mumbai. Launched in 1880, Cifonelli’s bespoke menswear outlets are located in four countries but its trunk shows are the ones that define its international presence. The company also holds fashion shows at the Paris and Milan fashion weeks every year.

BMW to launch i8 roadster at Los Angeles Auto Show in November

The Los Angeles Auto Show in November will witness the debut of the drop-top iteration of BMW’s i8 hybrid sports car. Based on the i8 Spyder concept showcased in 2012, this i8 Roadster will hit the roads in 2018 along with the facelifted version of the existing i8. Powered by a 1.5-litre turbocharged inline three-cylinder engine and an electric motor, this new beast will belt out output about 400bhp.
As for the looks, the i8 Roadster will feature the butterfly doors as seen on its hardtop variant, along with a manually removable roof top and an aggressive hump at the rear to accommodate the folding roof.

Luxury perfume brand Mocemsa arrives in India

Mocemsa, a luxury perfumery brand made from Barcelona in Spain, recently made its debut in the Indian market.  The brand’s founder Pulkit Malhotra was trained in the art of perfumery by none other than Max Gavarry, famous Nose and creator of Amber by Prada. Available in twelve distinct fragrances, six each for men and women, the brand will now be available at multi brand lifestyle stores across the country and online.

Dubai bakery makes $40,000 gold-coated ‘Dangal’ cake for Indian Independence Day!

Broadway Bakery from Dubai has created a unique cake for the celebration of India’s Independence Day this year—featuring a scene from Aamir Khan’s acclaimed movie Dangal, and loaded with edible gold. The cake that’s worth almost Dh150,000 ($40,000) and weighs 54 kg features Aamir Khan as Mahavir Singh Phogat looking on with unwavering conviction as he trains his daughters Geeta and Babita for Olympic greatness. The gold medals in the cake are replicas of the medal Geeta Phogat won in the 2010 Commonwealth Games wrestling finals and are coated with 75grams of edible gold. A press release from the bakery stated: “It took Broadway Bakery’s teams 3.5 weeks and 1,200 man-hours to create this $40,000 work of art. Even though the sculpture took a long time to complete, the cake sponge is to be made fresh the night before the actual event [of unveiling the cake].” The bakery said it first created a full-size imitation before it received a confirmation that the design met the standards that the client expected. The model is 4 feet tall from the base to tip. The fresh sponge weighs 30kg while the total weight of the cake is 54kg, and it can serve 240 guests. For the creation of this 100% edible masterpiece, the bakery said it made special arrangements for non-Hindi speaking artists to watch the movie with English subtitles!

And now, luxury potato chips with caviar!

Spanish company Torres Selecta has decided to bring in the luxury factor to the everyday potato chips with a touch of caviar. That’s right, the brand is now offering caviar flavored chips priced at $ 4.95 for 3.8 oz. The actual product includes dehydrated caviar and caviar flavouring, along with potatoes, sunflower oil and salt. Torres Selecta recommends pairing these premium chips with white wine or champagne. As for the dehydrated caviar, the brand says it creates a ‘fusion of land and sea’. Now isn’t that poetic—especially for a bag of chips!