Luxury

This is just what the Night's Watch needed: an, erm, "Night's Watch." Because it's helpful to know when dusk is approaching on the Wall, probably.

The timepiece, actually called "The Night's Watch", was produced by Swiss manufacturer Ulysse Nardin for HBO, based on its "Black Sea" rugged diving chronograph.

The watch itself isn't particularly "Game of Thrones"-related. Although it's appropriately black, the dial features the aquatic wave pattern of the Black Sea watch, and red elements embellish the numeral markers, hands and power reserve and … Read more

We've seen a number of drop-dead beautiful watches this week from Baselworld 2013, but meanwhile watchmaker MB&F has introduced this delightful spaceship that plays music.

The Musicmachine, part of the brand's Performance Art series, is a music box that plays your favorite melodies from science fiction and classic rock on rotating cylinders.

Produced with high-end music box maker Reuge, the 18-inch-long craft has a walnut sound amplification chamber that doubles as a fuselage, and two aluminum outriggers. The two music-playing brass cylinders are powered by mainsprings wound by turning two attached propellers. Each cylinder has 72 notes per comb. … Read more

Don't you just love looking at luxury items you'll never be able to afford? The timepieces on display at Swiss watch fiesta Baselworld can carry price tags that will give you a nosebleed, but they also showcase stunning feats of craftsmanship.

Baselworld 2013 opens to the public Thursday, and aside from the oodles of gorgeous timepieces, the 41st edition of the fair is showing a glittering new exhibition hall redesigned by architects Herzog & de Meuron, who did Beijing's famous "Bird's Nest" arena.

Luxury brands from Hermes to TAG Heuer have swanky booths designed by prominent architects such as Japan's Toyo Ito, winner of the 2013 Pritzker Prize.

It's all to present the world's greatest watches in their best light. … Read more

What do you do with a 26-carat black diamond that's been in the family for generations? If you're a fan of Apple with a few extra coins clanking around in your pocket, you apparently attach the jewel to an iPhone.

According to CNN and British craftsman Stuart Hughes' Web site, "Joe," a businessman from Hong Kong, commissioned Hughes to turn an iPhone 5 into a shiny $15 million affair.

After crafting a solid gold chassis, Hughes added 600 white diamonds as decoration, and reserved the Home button to be adorned with the aforesaid black diamond. … Read more

Anti-aging! Space diamonds! Groundbreaking medical research! Wow, Celestial Black Diamond Night Cream sure sounds like a miracle. Let's take a closer look.

The product description says the cream includes black diamond particles "believed to have formed in space." Huh? Either they came from space, or they didn't. Manufacturer 111 Skin doesn't divulge the sourcing method for the particles, but it does describe them as "microspheres that penetrate the deeper dermal layer of the skin in order to transport three essential youth restoring ingredients: patent-pending NAC Y2 formula, Collagen type I and III and Hyaluronic acid."… Read more

The world of luxury gadgets is a strange and twisted realm full of diamonds, gold-plating, dinosaur bones, and questionable taste. Opulence trumps practicality at every turn. But wait, there's more. The luxury phone market has reached a new high (low?) with the Cruiser Titanium White from Gresso.

The $3,000 phone is aimed at a very specific audience: ladies. Much like Bic missed the mark with Bic Pens for Her, so does Gresso with the Cruiser Titanium White.

The Cruister Titanium White is limited to 999 abominations. The description reads, "Feminine handset of Cruiser collection is highlighted by pearl white color. The perfect ensemble of glossy mirror surface and pure snow-white color adds the phone a romantic and delicate touch."… Read more

I'm not sure, but I think I saw one of these for sale in Mos Eisley.

If you thought RJ-Romain Jerome's DeLorean watch was a nice if pricey testament to your retro cred, its new Spacecraft timepiece is another sleek throwback, but for more than double the price.

The luxury brand announced a limited set of 99 of these old-school science fiction timepieces, each priced at $33,400. How many Galactic Standard Credits is that?

In looks and function, this "pilot's watch" is a bit like one of those puzzling Tokyoflash Kisai pieces, but it'… Read more

LAS VEGAS--Wireless peripheral maker Parrot is showing off an update to its Philippe Starck-designed Zikmu Solo wireless speaker system. Due sometime this year, the system doesn't differ much aesthetically from the original model introduced back in 2009. The latest version, does, however, offer improved innards, powerful sound, and a lower price point.

The $999 Zikmu Solo has 2x100-watt output and a built-in 1GHz ARM A8 processor that the company says "controls the path of the coil of the bass loudspeaker in real time" to greatly reduce distortion during playback.

The 2.1 stereo audio speaker system features built-in Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC (for quick pairing). Aside from the array of connectivity features, the Zikmu also jives with DLNA for networked streaming and can even connect with another Zikmu (over Wi-Fi) for even more output. A built-in speaker dock at the top of the device works with older iPhones and iPods with a 30-pin power port.… Read more

Steve Jobs' yacht, a floating goddess of a dinghy dubbed the Venus, was freed from impound in the Netherlands in time for Christmas. It's a typical feel-good holiday story, except that it involves a dispute over an extravagant boat and millions of dollars between the estate of an American icon and a renowned French designer.

Apparently when superstars of their respective industries get together to collaborate on hundred million dollar projects like the Venus, they don't necessarily sign very explicit contracts.… Read more