A few weeks ago we posted some news about the smart phone Ulysse Nardin was going to launch at Basel World. At the time they were very hush-hush on the details. Finally, more info is now available. During the initial launch the phone will be available in 5 different colour schemes like rose gold with versions in blue and steel, as well as stealth black and stealth blue. Another 10 colour combinations are to be released later in the year. At first glance the features are quite standard: 5 megapixel camera, 2.1” touch display, email and internet, WIFI accessibility. Two other features simply blow me away: fingerprint lock for user authentication and the kinetic rotor system for power. For animated views of the phone and rotor click here and here.

More after the jump.

In London where real estate is sparse for such luxuries as the traditional garage, it seems that some designers have found a creative way to combine the garden’s aesthetic and possible storage functionality with a submersible solution. Very James Bondish. Ticket price: £50,000.

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Goyard, the Parisian brand known for their geometric signature print bags, luggage and premium accessories lines have some additional honourable mentions in their unlisted catalogue. And, as all classic luxury brands go, the old world retailers think of the practicality of male habberdashery. Only available form the Goyard shops directly.

pic and info: Selectism

Opus publishers are releasing an anthology of the Saatchi Gallery’s most famous exhibitions. There are over 150 artists showcased in the book which is limited to 950 copies. The 850 page 35 kg. book comes in its own wood crate-like casing. Each book is signed personally by the London gallery’s owner, the renown collector Charles Saatchi. The pre-publication price is £1,950.00, you pre-order it now at the Opus online store. (Note to self: when in London, visit the Saatchi Gallery.)

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I can really appreciate the tongue-in-cheek tactful humour that the designers at Want have in the Québec sovereignty issue. You wonder if some get the hinted punchline. The bags are named after two great - yet contraversial, statesmen of their time. Both DeGaulle and Trudeau were francophone contemporaries. The former, was French President and a hardline conservative military man who had international French aspirations. The latter was a new generation liberal, that brought fashion and attitude to slumbering Canadian politics, he was also the father of the Canadian constitution. As fate had it, their collision became Québec. In 1967, DeGaulle on a state visit shouts from Montréal city hall’s balcony to the thousands below, with French fervor at the brim: “Vive le Québec libre!”. The next year, Trudeau ascends to the Prime Minister’s office and has to deal with the developing FLQ crisis, and the growing momentum of populist separatist sentiment within French Canada.

Back to the post: the bags are exquisitely masculin. The Trudeau comes in two sizes fitting 14″ and 17″ laptops. The DeGaulle is an upright, in only one size that fits a 14″ laptop. Both come in a wide range of shades: black, burnt henna, white, dark brown, grey and red leather. Also certified organic cotton. All made in Italy. Prices are in the range of $700-$1400. In the City Bags Collection there is the odd one out: the Kingsford camera bag. You’d figure it would be only in good taste that the additional piece should have been named after either British Trade Consul James Cross, or Québec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte. Ideas anyone?

After the jump: pics of the bags and a vid of Trudeau on the FLQ crisis.

Tom Ford has a new Private Blend scent available for the ladies. Apparently, the newest scent continues with exotic notes. Champaca Absolute, is a complex blend of Tokaji wine, Cognac, hints of floral aromas of jasmine and orchid. The prices are up there too. A 50ml bottle is $210, and the 100ml will set you back $530. All you guys out there have to consider is whether or not she deserves it.

pic and info: Holt Renfrew

Items from Versace’s Lake Como estate was put under the hammer today in London. The anticipated net sales Sotheby’s prognosticates is about £2m. In the lot there is abundant neo-classicist works of art; Karl Roos bookcases, an unseen Johann Zoffany painting and the homo erotic Pugilist statue pair of Antonio Canova.  A total of 550 items were put on auction at Sotheby’s on Bond St.

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Now first class air travel is get so much better with Swiss Air. Traveling in the privacy and comfort of your own cabin, watching your own choice of programming on a 23″ LCD TV with the champagne flowing has to be telling you the conveniences of the journey are as worthwhile as the destination itself. The handy remote not only changes the TV channels but, adjusts the chair’s horizontal positioning (into a bed), also lighting and the sliding cabin’s walls. The wifi accessibility seems be almost cliché with all these trimmings.  Click the link to get a 360º tour of the cabins.

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Duchamp London have introduced some new cufflinks to their already extensive accessories collection.  The Garland cufflinks are rhodium plated and have Swarovski Crystallized Elements crystals in bezel setting in clear black diamond and jet colours. It’s available at their online store for 95 GBP.

Previously we informed you about the Armani department store opening on 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Some more pictures surfaced. Get to see the winding staircase, the menswear and womenswear, shoes, epicure and accessories departments…

More after the jump.