Beverly Hills

Of course, we’re rarely that easy on ourselves at this time of year!

If you have a cigar smoker in your life, here are five ideas from Vin Lee, CEO of the Beverly Hills Cigar Club, to make Valentine’s Day a bit easier for you … and a bit enjoyable for him or her:

1. S.T. Dupont Limited Edition Shaman Series Lighter: got a grand to burn, so to speak? This impressive piece will set you back $1,000, but it’s sure to impress. The white pearlized lacquer with mother-of-pearl inlays is stunning, and whipping this lighter out to ignite a cigar is a clear sign of taste.

2. Bugatti 3 Chrome Satin/Chrome Polished Traditional Flame Lighter: this one won’t hurt your wallet as much as the Shaman (at only $150), but it will nonetheless garner plenty of attention. And, it’s one of Lee’s favorites.

Continue reading Five Smokin’ Valentine’s Day Gifts for Cigar Lovers

Five Smokin’ Valentine’s Day Gifts for Cigar Lovers originally appeared on Luxist on Thu, 03 Feb 2011 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

What will you cut and light when you pop the cork on New Year’s Eve? People may agonize over champagne choices, but cigars don’t always get commensurate attention. Fortunately, Vin lee, CEO of the Beverly Hills Cigar Club, was on hand to provide his recommendations for the biggest party night of the year. Below are his top five cigar and champagne pairings, designed to make your first sip and puff of 2011 ideal.

Lee is particularly excited about the new year. “Now is the time for the world to celebrate its recovery and success,” he said. “For the New Year, from Dubai to Paris and from New York to Beverly Hills, it is time for the world to rejoice in what we have and who we are. Coming together with a glass of bubbly and a fine cigar, let’s welcome 2011.”

Let’s take a look on what’s on the Beverly Hills Cigar Club’s list:

Continue reading Make the Right Champagne and Cigar Choice for New Year’s Eve [EXCLUSIVE]

Make the Right Champagne and Cigar Choice for New Year’s Eve [EXCLUSIVE] originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Start with the club’s Louisxs cigar. At $50, it’s truly an investment in happiness. You’ll plunk down a fistful of dough, but at least you’ll get a lot of time out of it, thanks to the cigar’s slow burn. You’ll taste the rare Rosoda leaves from start to finish and enjoy the “pure magic [that] is meant to linger all evening.” What could you possibly pair with a cigar of this caliber? Only Moet, of course.

Louisxs Cigars and Moet Champagne: Winning World Cup Pairing originally appeared on Luxist on Sat, 10 Jul 2010 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

[spreadsheet courtesy of John Biggs]

Cigar and Beer Pairings in Beverly Hills originally appeared on Luxist on Wed, 30 Jun 2010 14:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Vin Lee, CEO of the Beverly Hills Cigar Club, has put together an interesting menu of cigars for Father’s Day this year. From this list, I’d go with the Oliva Serie V, though my personal favorite these days is the 601 Trabuco (hint, hint).

Let’s take a look at the five cigars Lee offers up as Father’s Day suggestions:

1. CAO America Monument Pinstripe Torpedo
The wrapper on this cigar consists of two leaves arranged to deliver a pinstriping effect. One is a golden brown Connecticut Shade, and the other is a chocolate brown Connecticut Broadleaf. The filler comes from Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic and the United States. Notes Lee, “Warm summer nights this Father’s Day, heat up the Kalamazoo 900 Grill and let Dad light up America while he slow grills his special burgers. No, he still won’t tell you what’s in the sauce though.”

Continue reading Five Cigar Recommendations for Father’s Day

Five Cigar Recommendations for Father’s Day originally appeared on Luxist on Mon, 14 Jun 2010 11:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From the Real Estalker:
–The listing for Jennifer Aniston’s $42 million Beverly Hills mansion is now live with Jade Mills.

From the NY Post:
–An apartment at 15 Central Park West once rented by Mark Wahlberg has just closed $16.5 million in an all-cash deal.
–Actress Judith Light (she was on “Who’s the Boss?” and “Ugly Betty”) was spotted apartment hunting at 136 E. 64th St., where she visited a $2.15 million, two-bedroom unit.
–Mary J. Blige has just listed her 25-room Saddle River, New Jersey mansion for $13.9 million. She paid about $12 million for it in 2008.The listing is here (no photos yet).
Rachel Uchitel nearly nabbed Chris Noth as a buyer for her three-bedroom unit at 77 Park Ave., which is listed for $1.95 million. But Noth opted for something closer to the CBS Studio.
— Alec Baldwin was spotted touring the $12.95 million penthouse at 22 Mercer St..
–Former American Idol contestant Sanjaya Malakar has rented two-bedroom unit on East 63rd Street while he’s in the city.
–Carmelo Anthony checked out Zydrunas Ilgauskas’ $37,500-a-month townhouse at 24 Thompson St.

From the Wall Street Journal’s Private Properties:
–Charlie Sheen is in escrow to a buy home in the Beverly Hills, California neighborhood he already lives in for $7.5 million. The home is currently owned by Mike Medavoy, chief executive of Phoenix Pictures who bought the home several months ago for $6 million. See pictures here.
–Trees Ranch, a 2,070-acre ranch in Utah has hit the market for $30 million. The property is partly owned by the heirs of the late Jim Trees, CEO of New York investment firm Fischer, Francis, Trees & Watts. The listing is here.
–Diego Arria, the Venezuelan ambassador to the United Nations, recently sold his Roxbury, Conn., home for $7.75 million.

Continue reading Sunday Real Estate Round-Up, 03/06/11

Sunday Real Estate Round-Up, 03/06/11 originally appeared on Luxist on Sun, 06 Mar 2011 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

From the NY Post:
–Robin Williams has rented a four-bedroom unit in the Rushmore condo building on Riverside Boulevard for about $15,000 a month.
–Hedge-fund billionaire Bill Ackman, founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, has purchased a $22 million beach estate on Ocean Road in Bridgehampton. The property was listed for $25.995 million.
–Ivan Wilzig, also known as the Hamptons famous Sir Ivan, is unveiling a dragon goddess statue by Roby Braun at his 15,000-square-foot medieval-style castle in Water Mill, New York.
–Jim Carrey is renting an entire floor at the Richard Meier-designed glass condo palace at 176 Perry St.
–Former congressman Harold Ford Jr. has just closed on a five-bedroom, three-bathroom unit on West 15th Street which had an asking price of $3.4 million.
Ford and his wife, Emily Threlkeld sold their one-bedroom Greenwich Village co-op on Fifth Avenue for $1.3 million.
–Alex Rodriguez and Cameron Diaz are still real estate shopping. They most recently visited the five-bedroom, 7,180-square-foot townhouse at 400 West St. that is owned by developers/designers Bob and Cortney Novogratz. It was our estate of the day last October.

From the Real Estalker:
Britney Spears has reportedly spent $18.9 million on an estate in the Hidden Hills area of Los Angeles.
–Rumor has it that Ellen Degeneres is quietly shopping around her multi-residence Beverly Hills –compound for around $50,000.
–Rachel Zoe has moved to a home in Beverly Hills.

From the Wall Street Journal:
–A group of three private islands off Italy’s Amalfi coast and a nearby home once owned by Franco Zeffirelli are for sale at €195 million, or about $263 million. The listing is here.
–Equinox gym co-founder Danny Errico has purchased several Kauai properties that belonged to the estate of late author Michael Crichton for $11.65 million.
–Ivana Trump is quietly shopping her oceanfront home in Palm Beach, Florida for around $24 million.
From the Wall Street Journal:
–Yankee star Alex Rodriguez has made a deal to buy a four-bedroom condo on the 35th floor of a the Rushmore building. His full floor apartment is said to have cost between $5.5 to $6 million.

Continue reading Sunday Real Estate Round-Up, 02/20/11

Sunday Real Estate Round-Up, 02/20/11 originally appeared on Luxist on Sun, 20 Feb 2011 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

At 11:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 24, RSVIP took a quick right off Sunset Boulevard up the palm-lined driveway of the Beverly Hills Hotel, and an efficient attendant in a polo shirt commandeered my rental car.

Downstairs, by the leafy patio, a slenderized Jennifer Hudson had her adorable baby in tow during arrivals at the 2011 Essence Magazine Black Women in Hollywood Awards luncheon. Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, and Viola Davis were also being honored.

“This is very important to me,” Davis, right, told RSVIP concerning the event. “Black women need to be acknowledged as often as possible,” she said. “There’s the business of deprivation of roles, and even when we’ve done roles, they often seem to be roles that aren’t fleshed out.”

Continue reading RSVIP: Oscar Countdown, Essence Black Women in Hollywood Lunch and More

Filed under: Events

RSVIP: Oscar Countdown, Essence Black Women in Hollywood Lunch and More originally appeared on Luxist on Sat, 26 Feb 2011 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Wednesday evening, the black-and-yellow Bugatti Veyron, a bumblebee of a race car, parked daily outside of Bijan on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, and, emblazoned with Ettore Bugatti’s initial logo, “EB,” was drawing crowds as usual.

In the plush interior of Solange Azagury-Partridge, a gem of a jewelry store, just down the hill, a glam Katharina Harf, near right, was hosting cocktails for DKMS, a center which has registered 2.6 million bone-marrow donors worldwide.

Colorful rings that resembled lips glimmered in a glass display case. And Zooey Deschanel, above right, in a Valentino dress with a glittering gold pattern soon joined the party. Over wee hors d’oeuvres in puffed pastry, wine and sparkling water, Harf mentioned that she founded DKMS in Germany after losing her mother to leukemia.

Continue reading RSVIP: Countdown to Oscars, Global Green Pre-Oscar Party and More

Filed under: Events

RSVIP: Countdown to Oscars, Global Green Pre-Oscar Party and More originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 25 Feb 2011 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Luxist popped into the Gilan suite at the Four Seasons Beverly Hills to see some red-carpet worthy stunners. With the Academy Awards just a few days away many pieces were out being evaluated to see if they would work with the celebrity gowns but we got to see a few of these intriguing pieces.

Continue reading Red Carpet Preview: The Beautiful Jewels of Gilan

Filed under: Jewelry

Red Carpet Preview: The Beautiful Jewels of Gilan originally appeared on Luxist on Thu, 24 Feb 2011 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.