Want to live like James Bond? Sure you do. As Nicolette Tomkinson, a specialist at Christie’s auction house, once told us: “All men aspire to be Bond, and all women want to be with Bond.”

In an effort to be Bond, we’re afraid your options are somewhat limited. Double-0 positions within the British secret service rarely need filling, and you’ll need a lot of luck to procure any of those nifty gadgets without your own personal Q. As for wooing beautiful and sophisticated women, those skills can, perhaps, be t…

Ian Fleming died 50 years ago next month, but in 1953 he penned a novel that not only created a world-famous fictional character—a character that millions of men have since aspired to be—but also a cocktail and a specific way of ordering it that has remained ingrained in popular culture. James Bond and his Vesper martini may be infamous (click here for a story on that specific cocktail), but what if Fleming had never written that cocktail into his stories? What if he had never defined his iconic character’s pr…

James Bond is one of the few action heroes whose style is both enviable and translatable into real life. John McClane’s look is a bit too blue collar for us. Jason Bourne shops exclusively at midrange retail outlets, and prefers darks. Mad Max is tempting, but attracts women a little too versed in S & M (unless you’re into that, of course). Bond, on the other hand, is the human epitome of cool. Everything he touches is instantly gilded in long-lasting élan.

If you can’t get enough of 007, the following …

Most oenophiles passively enjoy the unintended health consequence of their passion: that wine may help promote a healthy heart. Several Napa Valley wineries will make that connection an active one this summer by offering exclusive fitness classes in their vineyards. Domaine Carneros (707.257.0101, domainecarneros.com) is hosting personalized yoga classes for groups of 8 to 10 on the terrace of its chateau, catering to guests’ levels of experience. A post-workout flute of the house specialty—organic sparkling w…

WallyKokoNut, the newest addition to Wally’s extensive fleet of luxury yachts, is now available for charter in Corsica and Sardinia. The semicustom yacht is the second entry in the Monaco-based company’s WallyAce series, which debuted in August 2012.

For 20 years, Wally has been building innovative yachts with a focus on design and technical advancement, and WallyKokoNut is no exception. To minimize noise and vibrations and maximize comfort and stability, the 85-foot yacht employs low-rpm engines that can p…

A decade ago at the Baselworld watch and jewelry show, TAG Heuer introduced the Monaco V4, a radical watch concept that employed a system of belts rather than gears to drive its power train. After five years of tinkering with the prototype, a commercial version was finally introduced to market in 2009. Now, in celebration of the line’s 10th anniversary, TAG Heuer has released the special-edition Monaco V4 Tourbillon.

The most revolutionary feature of the Monaco V4 line, and one of the prime contributors to …

This summer, the beach is not the only sight to see in the Hamptons. Roy Lichtenstein’s (1923–1997) monumental sculptures Tokyo Brushstroke I and II (1994) are now on view at the Parrish Art Museum outside its newly constructed Herzog and de Meuron–designed building in Watermill, New York.

The installation at the Parrish Art Museum—which was founded in Southampton in 1898 and is the oldest cultural institution on the East End of Long Island—is the latest in an ongoing history of Lichtenstein exhibitions at …

Located near René Lalique’s original workshop on the Place Vendôme in Paris, the new two-level Lalique boutique on the rue de la Paix celebrates its founder’s first passion: jewelry. In celebration of the new store, the French luxury-goods house has unveiled a brand-new jewelry collection, Soleil de Gaïa.

Before delving into glassmaking in the early 20th century, Lalique’s founder specialized in designing art nouveau jewelry and accessories, including necklaces and hair combs. Several of these original piec…

A new addition to the two-decade-old Cat’s Eye line of women’s wristwatches, the Girard-Perregaux Cat’s Eye Power Reserve sports an entirely new dial design that exudes elegance. Available in black or silver and starting at $14,550, the watch’s sophisticated oval dial is decorated with guilloche engravings that appear to radiate from the subdial that indicates seconds. Eight brilliant-cut diamonds serve as hour indices between the 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock positions, and an additional 64 diamonds are set into th…

In the last few years, gel manicures have gained popularity for their durable, chip-resistant finish, but a study published in April by JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association has highlighted the potential health hazards associated with repeated exposure to ultraviolet (UV) lights, which are used to dry the polish.
In the study, doctors from the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University tested the amount of UVA light emitted by lamps in 16 different U.S. salons and concluded that …