Summer Splendor
Retailers have rolled out top-of-the-line products for the warm months. Whether you're hankering for some sleek shades or a posh new picnic basket, we've rounded up nine picks sure to steal the show this season.
Hermes Watch, $25,000
The Hermès Cape Cod 1928 watch, introduced last year, was designed to evoke long summers on the beach, with its crocodile strap and sunny bronze face. This limited-edition version is currently available exclusively at the new Hermès store on Wall Street.
East Hampton Social, $15,000
Photo by Vince Bucci/Getty Images
The summer's most exclusive concert series is—surprise, surprise—in the Hamptons: private performances by Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds, Billy Joel, James Taylor, and Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. The concerts kick off July 14 and end August 25. There's an open bar, and concertgoers can nibble on high-end cuisine (Geoffrey Zakarian is catering the first concert, featuring Prince). Attendance is capped at 1,500.
Goyard champagne trunk, $12,745
Goyard, the French luggagemaker whose jewel-toned totes have taken Manhattan by storm, offers a variety of other handmade luxury goods as well. This champagne trunk is available at Barneys New York.
Italia Independent, $1,325
Italia Independent, launched in January in Milan by Lapo Elkann, heir to the Fiat fortune, is targeting independent tastemakers with a line of handmade modern Italian goods. The company's debut product, sunglasses, is available at Barneys in the U.S. The ones shown here have carbon-fiber frames, sanded by hand and painted three times to achieve a sleek finish.
Wedgwood picnic basket: $1,195
English firm Optima has been making handwoven picnic hampers for 60 years. The Wedgwood Deluxe picnic basket is made from sustainably farmed willow and has leather handles with brass hardware. Inside are bone china plates, cups, and saucers; crystal wineglasses; linen napkins; a plaid tablecloth; and an insulated wine cooler. (You supply the Pimm's and watercress sandwiches.)
Sanyo waterproof video camera $499
Sanyo's new Xacti video camera shoots both photos and video on land and up to five feet underwater. It comes in pearly gray, aqua, and yellow, has a 2.5-inch L.C.D. screen that rotates 285 degrees, and allows you to take photos while recording video, so you won't miss a single fish, splash, or smile.
Garmin personal trainer, $325
Who needs a personal trainer when you?ve got the Forerunner 305, an electronic trainer from Kansas-based tech company Garmin? Strap the watch-style gadget on your wrist, and let it monitor your runs and hikes with a wireless heart-rate monitor, timer with autopause (it stops when you stop and starts when you start), and high-sensitivity G.P.S., which will get you home again, no matter how far you've roamed.
La Prairie sunscreen, $135
Swiss skin-care company La Prairie has carved out a niche in the beauty world with a collection of antiaging lotions, cleansing products, and rich eye creams sold in silver-topped jars. No surprise then that their "body emulsion" sunscreen is one of the most luxurious on the market, with a special complex that deflects free radicals and counteracts cell damage from the sun.
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