This month at the Frankfurt Motor Show, the world’s fastest plug-in hybrid vehicle, the Porsche 918 Spyder, is set to officially debut. It will also be one of the most expensive dual-drive vehicles on the market, costing $845,000.
The mid-engine two-seat sports car is made primarily of carbon fiber, and its 4.6-liter V-8 produces 608 hp at a stunning 9,150 rpm. Power from that engine is delivered to the rear wheels via a 7-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Two electric motors, one on each axle, are powered by …

Joining the list of luxury hotels offering health and wellness packages, the Trump Hotel Collection (855.878.6700, www.trumphotelcollection.com) unveiled its new Trump Wellness concept this summer. The program, which was developed in partnership with Technogym and Under Armour, comprises three new offerings that promote fitness and healthy eating. 
Two plans, Nourish and Quick Bites, focus exclusively on nutrition. In the former, guests are provided a wealth of healthy in-room meal options that include o…

In Hasselblad’s second notable launch of the year, the Swedish camera manufacturer has unveiled a 20.2-megapixel point-and-shoot unit called the Stellar. The news comes on the heels of the company’s very first foray into the consumer digital market, which took place June 1 with the release of the compact-system camera Lunar.
Like the Lunar, the Stellar ($1,990) features a customizable design that employs luxurious materials, such as exotic woods (in the Stellar’s case, they include olive, zebra, padauk, walnu…

The 283-room St. Regis Abu Dhabi opened on August 15 with the potential to become the top hotel in the city.
Why to Go: Eight years ago the $3 billion gold-and-marble-laden Emirates Palace hotel opened on Abu Dhabi’s main thoroughfare and seaside promenade, called the Corniche. That opening kicked off a luxury building boom in the wealthy emirate that has yielded one of the world’s most modern cities. On the Corniche, the new beachfront Nation Towers skyscrapers house the St. Regis and the highest suspended …

Look out for Arnold & Son’s Time Pyramid watch, the newest addition to the company’s Instrument Collection. Its skeletonized pyramid-shaped movement appears to be floating between two sapphire crystals. The Time Pyramid isn’t expected to hit stores in the United States until later this month, but it is one of the most striking examples of architectural watchmaking I have seen this year. (213.622.1716)

Collectors will remember the city of Venice as the inspiration for the Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin’s famous San Marco minute repeater. This year, the company’s newest limited-edition minute repeater illustrates the city’s world-famous carnival with two automata, in the form of masked figures standing in front of the Rialto Bridge on the Grand Canal. Depicted in cloissoné enamel—an intricate technique practiced by few artisans today—the figures lift their masks in sync with the activated movement, which has …

The career of Sandrine Stern, design director at Patek Philippe, spans a period when the traditional Geneva manufacturer transformed itself into a viable, if not enviable, maker of women’s watches. Over the last five years she has overseen the development of a series of women’s complicated timepieces that have innovated in the genre while staying true to the company’s well-established design ethic. Robb Report recently sat down with Stern to discuss the brand’s latest designs for women.James Malcolmson
…

Eleven years after the watch’s debut, Louis Vuitton has updated its signature chunky Tambour with an edgy black metal-matrix composite used in Formula 1–caliber racecars. Available on either the bezel or the case, the material is hard wearing and lightweight. The new éVolution is available in a standard steel GMT model ($8,350) and a steel or rose-gold chronograph with a day-to-night indicator ($11,000 and $43,500, respectively). Its self-winding movement has a 42-hour power reserve, beats at 28,800 oscillatio…

The 16-month construction of a global headquarters and airport hub for XJet at Dubai World Central’s Aviation City has begun. The new center should be fully operational by December 2014 and will feature the company’s private club and use the company’s FBO (fixed-base operator) model.
The Dubai headquarters will XJet’s first location outside of Denver’s Centennial Airport, where the service launched in 2007. The company says it chose the location to cater to the increasing number of private-jet owners in …

Crazy Me is the latest launch from Heesen Yachts, a builder that has made a name for itself by offering a variety of semicustom yachts. From the waterline up to the yacht’s sundeck, and in all of the rooms inside, the 164-foot Crazy Me is designed to meet all of the owner’s specifications. The exterior lines that swoop forward along its profile are the work of Gary Grant Design, which is known for penning decidedly different-looking yachts. Among the other unique design elements are highly stylized side ports,…