Sears means business when it comes to tools. ItsCraftsman 1,470-piece Professional Tool Set includes a 300-piece Base Essentials Set, 198-piece Professional Essentials Set, 189-piece Specialized Essentials Set, 204-piece Advanced Access Pro's Set, 106-piece Advanced Professional Tool Set, 89-piece Specialized Access Professional Tool Set, 83-piece Ultimate Fully-Polished Ratcheting Set, 77-piece Heavy-Duty Mechanic's Set, 94-piece Auto Specialty Professional Tool Set and 130-piece Professional Impact Set. It's available online, and via the Sears catalog (item # 34131), for $8,600. Save on shipping (since Sears charges by weight) and select store pick-up, if offered in your area, when ordering.
Italian coffee company illycaffè has created a new easier way to make your espresso. Their new system is called iperEspresso (hyper espresso) and this month Illy is launching the Francis Francis X7 with iperEspresso, a capsule system that uses a two-phase preparation process to create the perfect shot of espresso. The first step is hyperinfusion, in which the coffee and water come into contact under optimal pressure conditions, followed by the emulsion process, in which the coffee passes through a valve to form a rich and velvety crema (the thin layer of foam at the surface of the espresso). The iperEspresso's crema yields more volume and height than a traditional shot and can last up to fifteen minutes as compared to the average espresso's five minutes. The coffee never comes into direct contact with the machine so cleaning the machine is far easier. IperEspresso has been released commercially and is currently used in restaurants including Le Bernardin and Nobu, as well as at The Mandarin Oriental Hotel.
The new system is available in the popular Francis Francis X7 machine for a special intro price of $395 and the Francis Francis X8 is available for a special rate of $495. The coffee in the iperEspresso capsule is the same used in the cans and in café espresso and is available in two different roasts: medium and dark as well as decaffeinated capsules .A 21-serving container of capsules is $15.95
If you are out and about with your mobile devices one worry always prevails, what if I run out of charge. The Power Monkey Explorer Solar Charger fixes that problem. It can charge gadgets anywhere there is sunshine. The solar charger provides short-circuit, over-charging, and over-discharging protection. It can store reserve power for cell phones, iPods and yes, iPhones. The kit costs $119.89 and includes a universal mains travel charger with interchangeable heads for use in 150 countries.
Orbino Luxury Cases recently debuted the Arista case for Apple's MacBook Air. This bag is so clean and classic that I'd love to carry it even without a laptop, and with the rich color choices, I might even be persuaded to break away from my traditional black. Handmade by a single artisan in Orbino's Naples, Italy, workshop, the case is made from vegetable-tanned Tuscan leathers. Features include plush padding to protect your laptop, a gusseted front pocket, an iPhone/cell phone harness and an adjustable shoulder harness. The case is hand lacquered and has buffed, four-coat edging and hand-stitched detailing. Custom options to up the luxury quotient include being able to order a case made-to-measure and/or in limited edition skins such as crocodile, snakeskin and ostrich.
Knowing that I'm on the lookout for luxury items, my friend Cliff told me that I just had to look at Frontgate. So I did! Now that al fresco dining season is here, I decided to peruse Frontgate's grill offerings and came upon this 405-lb. beauty: the Barbeque Grill Island, made with O.W. Lee craftmanship. The wrought iron body has a black suede finish, the feet are cast iron and ceramic briquettes are included. The cooking-related facts:
Start saving now ($6,667) for the winter gift-giving season, and order early -- shipping takes 8-9 weeks, and the grill is only available online. You might be a little late for Father's Day, but if your grilling guy has a late summer birthday, you might get one in time.
Celebrating five years, Keri Golf brings classy style and fantastic colors to women's golf. Whether you are in the market for a cart or stand bag, head covers or the ever essential tote, the Neapolitan color schemes and playful stripes or daisy patterns add a splash of fun to a often difficult sport. The golf bags run between $295 and $375, the totes are $115 and the club heads are $75 for a set of four. Give your game a colorful boost from Keri -- you won't be disappointed.
In the May issue of GQ hitting stands this week, the magazine gets its hands on twelve of the most expensive items of their kind on Earth to evaluate whether they're really worth the price. From the $5,980 Toto Neorest 600 toilet to the $1.5 million Bugatti Veyron, they try to determine the difference between comically overpriced and extremely valuable.
If you have the money, the magazine says, some things are indisputably worth every penny. The Toto toilet for one, as well as the $64,950 Hastens Vividus bed, a $148,000 pair of ugly but awesome Wilson Audio speakers, and, yes, the Veyron.
Things that are more hype than merit, however, include $6,500 Cheval Blanc wine, $600 java made from the excrement of a coffee bean-eating Indonesian civet cat, the $30,000-per-night Ty Warner Suite at the Four Seasons in Manhattan, and $160 Kobe beef rib eye steak. According to author Benjamin Wallace, "I've had $18 bar steaks that gave me more pleasure." We're willing to take his word for it.
Watch company Linde Werdelin has unveiled a new design they call the Sea Instrument, the world's first luxury dive computer. The Sea Instrument can be attached on top of the Linde Werdelin Biformeter watches, for divers of all abilities.
It has a transflective color screen with the display covered by sapphire crystal glass and is designed to be readable underwater. It doesn't protect the wearer from sharks but it does guide divers by tracking the critical pieces of information needed on any dive using an advanced 3-axis compass, CPU's and alarm systems. It shows depth, dive time, vital decompression stops, temperature, maximum depth and surface interval times, constantly keeping the user in a real time picture. It comes in natural or black anodized aluminum and a limited amount have been commissioned in solid 18K yellow gold. The Sea Instrument is water resistant to 1,000 feet and is powered by a rechargeable Lithium Ion battery with 28 hours continuous diving or five days standby. The aluminum version sells for 2,100 euros and will be available later this year.
Armani and Samsung have collaborated again, this time on a premium HDTV design. Revealed for the first time at the opening of the Milan International Furniture Fair. Combining cutting edge technology from Samsung with cutting edge design from Giorgio Armani, this is one sleek 1080p LCD television. Available in 46" and 52" sizes the tv itself is pretty basic looking (although I'm sure it has a more than "basic looking" picture) but the remote control sounds like it puts on quite the light show with "a full range of radiant backlights." Plus there's a smaller pebble-shaped remote for basic functions. Look for the smaller tv model to launch first (in Europe) this summer, with the 52" quickly following.
These mobile bar systems are always interesting to me because everything is so condensed and cute, and I think if I had one I'd be having outdoor parties every weekend just so I'd have an excuse to wheel it out. This Drink Station by Opulent Items is imported from Germany and has features including a refrigerator, ice machine, flute holders, bottle bins, and wooden serving shelf. It comes pre-assembled (except for some of the minor side attachments) but heads up, the ice machine reservoir doesn't fill itself (you can't hook it up to a water source to fill automatically) and although you can wheel it around wherever you want, you'll have to stay close to a power outlet if you want the fridge to stay cold. It sells for $10,000.
If you can't wait for warmer weather because the smell of meat on the grill and drinks outside is whetting your appetite I'm with you. Summer is almost here and that means BBQ-ing outdoors with good friends and family. If you're the type that prefers the scent of burning wood over charcoal or gas but need some serious space to accommodate all your guests you are going to love The Grillworks. At 46" wide, 24" deep and 44" tall this monstrous grill has a unique cast aluminum wheel that allows the grill-master to raise and lower the face as they see fit depending on the height of the flames. There are plenty of built in channels and pans to catch all juices running off to be used for basting or sauces and it can even accommodate two full-sized manual rotisseries or an electric one if you prefer. Put some shrimp on the barbie and a slab o' steer while you're at it...yum. ($3,375)
For the dedicated fan, a home theater can be more than a place to watch movies and play games, it can be a shrine to your favorite movie. We've seen this before in the case of theaters dedicated to Batman and the Titanic, now check out the Pirates of the Caribbean theater created for Paul and Emily Konold. Rachel Cericola over at the Electronic House found this gem which is decorated with scenes from the ride as well as the movie and pieces that were bought from Disney directly or built by hand. The murals were done by a 13-year-old artist Caden Jones who painted the arches in the theater.
The room has a 16:9 screen wit ha custom masking system to make the setup 2.35:1 so it is able to accommodate both movies and sporting events. The lobby is known as Laffite's Landing, which is part of the original theme park attraction and has wood plank floors, whiskey barrels, and gold and there is a bar at the back of the theater with treasure maps and gold under the glass tabletop. The total cost of the project was $30,000, Electronics House has a complete slideshow with additional details.
I'll admit it, now that I'm getting older I've found I have to carry reading glasses with me when dining out just in case the menu is in small type. I'm far from alone and a company has found a new niche by creating Menus That Talk. The talking menus is about the size of a DVD and has lighted, labeled buttons for each menu category. Tap the button once to hear the category name and then tap the button twice to hear all the menu items for that category. The device comes with an earphone for diners who are hard of hearing or self-conscious about the talking menu. The menus can also be customized for different languages and menu changes are made online. Restaurants can either buy the units (five for $3,500) or lease (five units for $120 a month). It will likely not replace the paper menu anytime soon but it's a good option for those who can't read the menu.
Think "Porsche Design" and you probably think sleek black accessories, but in a departure from their usual color scheme Porsche is launching the new "White Collection," which is all about crisp whites and shiny silvers. Chosen because it both represents purity and highlights the design of the product, the new white color theme uses all white materials mixed with technical metals like stainless steel, aluminum, and titanium. And besides premium materials and craftsmanship, the White Collection also features premium technology -- for example the mobile phone has a patented fingerprint feature and the lighters have a nozzle that makes them safe to use in inclement weather.
Here's a Bluetooth earpiece that manages to be quite fancy looking without having any Swarovski crystal or gold plated "bling." The Plantronics Discovery 925 has a unisex VFrame™ design and is available in 3 jewel tone colors (black, gold, and pink) with a cute color-coordinated leather carrying case and charger included. According to this review the features are pretty average, with the exception of excellent audio quality thanks to AudioIQ noise control technology. The Black Onyx version is available now, with the Alchemy Gold and Cerise Pink shipping next month. $149.00
In the May issue of 
