Envisioned as a floating spa at sea, the 240-foot superyacht Grace E—built by the Italian shipyard Perini Navi under its Picchiotti brand—is a stunning vessel with an eco-friendly exterior and stunning interior design. The famed naval architect Philippe Briand, through his firm Vitruvius Yachts, designed Grace E, which Robb Report named 2015’s Best of the Best. It is a shining example of Briand’s effort to bring the sleek lines of sailing yachts to his Vitruvius motor yacht designs. Grace E is offered for charter by Burgess and will be cruising the Caribbean this winter. Charter prices range from $595,000 to $640,000 per week, depending on the season. (<a href="http://www.perinina…

September 25 through 27, one of Maui’s premier resorts, the Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, will host the third annual Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, E Malama Kou Kino (Hawaiian for “care for your body”) wellness retreat. Over the course of the three-day event, a host of highly qualified health and wellness experts will guide attendees through a range of holistic activities—from a beach boot camp to guided sunrise hikes—designed to attain equilibrium of mind, body, and spirit.

Friday’s agenda includes a fitness walk, a chef…

Barolo is not for those seeking instant gratification. That wine made from the nebbiolo grape, like some of the old-line winemakers who produce it in the region, has a reputation for surliness—but unlike those particular Piemontese, the notoriously tannic wine mellows with age. However, Italy’s DOCG (Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita), in its seemingly boundless appetite for arcane regulation, allows for nebbiolo grapes grown in the Barolo region not only to be vinified into the famed eponymous …

Originally published in the September 2015 Robb Report Private Aviation Sourcebook as “Touch and Go.”

 

At an aviation conference in 2007, PrivateFly founder Adam Twidell made a presentation in which he introduced his idea for an online portal for booking charter flights directly. It would allow customers to choose jets from multiple charter companies, giving them much more choice than any single company could provide. Customers would be able to select the specific jets they were interested in flyin…

With last year’s Monterey Car Week resulting in a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO selling for the highest price ever paid for a car at public auction, everyone entered this year’s sales with uncertainty. But, 2015 did not fail to deliver, and the Monterey Peninsula saw more than $400 million in collective auction sales during the 2015 Monterey Car Week, making this year one of the most successful to date. RM Sotheby’s and Gooding & Company both broke their previous records, with approximately $173 mil…

 

Originally published in the September 2015 Robb Report Private Aviation Sourcebook as “Air Supremacy.”

These business aircraft have been selected by the Robb Report Private Aviation Advisory Board as the top models currently in service and in production. They are categorized according to their size and capabilities.

Originally published in the September/October 2015 issue of Robb Report Home & Style as “Some Like it Haute”

Between the clothes that fashion designers create and the environments they live in, there is little boundary. The Iberian opulence of Cristóbal Balenciaga’s home in Orléans, France, was of a piece with his intricately beaded toreador jackets. Looking at the 1954 “bubble dress” by Pierre Cardin, one sees why the avant-garde designer acquired the Antti Lovag–designed “Bubble Palace” property on the French Riviera. And Karl Lagerfeld’s black a…

Originally published in the September/October 2015 issue of Robb Report Home & Style as “Portfolio: BAMO”

Four good friends—Pamela Babey, Michael Booth, Gerry Jue, and David Moulton—were working for the renowned San Francisco designer Charles Pfister in the 1980s, collaborating with the best talents in the business. When Pfister died and his office closed in 1990, the four decided to found their own company, Babey Moulton Jue & Booth. In the best start-up tradition, they all worked out of…

Originally published in the September/October 2015 issue of Robb Report Home & Style as “Portfolio: BAMO”

Four good friends—Pamela Babey, Michael Booth, Gerry Jue, and David Moulton—were working for the renowned San Francisco designer Charles Pfister in the 1980s, collaborating with the best talents in the business. When Pfister died and his office closed in 1990, the four decided to found their own company, Babey Moulton Jue & Booth. In the best start-up tradition, they all worked out of…

This Labor Day weekend, from September 3 through 6, Italy’s iconic automotive marque Maserati and the haute haberdasher La Martina will show how the posh play when they team up for the USPA Maserati Silver Cup polo tournament in Santa Barbara, Calif. The third stop on the Maserati Polo Tour, the tournament at the Santa Barbara Polo & Racquet Club is considered by many to be one of the sport’s top four U.S. competitions.

Already renowned for pairing elegance and power, Maserati was naturally attracted to…