Made For You, August 2017
In a world of fast food and one-size-fits-all sensibilities, how often does something feel made especially for you? The "Made for You" section celebrates those items that are created with such high quality of hand workmanship and degree of customization that they become individual to you.
In each issue, our editors will endeavor to bring you special things from anywhere on the globe, choosing them solely on the basis of outstanding quality. Our goal is to give you guidance on the best of everything.
Groovy Tunes—Pro-Ject Audio
Fifty years ago, the Beatles released their legendary Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album. To commemorate the psychedelic achievement, Pro-Ject Audio Systems has created two groovy turntables. The Essential III Sgt. Pepper’s Drum ($555) is an entry-level unit and its platter is decked out to look like the iconic Sgt. Pepper’s logo as it appears on the drum on the album cover. Meanwhile the higher-end 2Xperience SB Sgt. Pepper Limited Edition version ($1,558), which sports a natural wood look with the Sgt. Pepper logo burned into it, will also hit retail this year, albeit only 1,000 units. project-audio.com
Retro Smoking—Vintage Ashtrays
Looking for a way to make your man cave or smoking room stand out from the crowd? Adorn it with a vintage ashtray from a famous smoking or drinking haunt of long ago. Perhaps an ashtray from the legendary Hotel Ritz in Paris or the infamous Hotel Watergate in Washington is to your style. Or a jet-black ashtray from the storied Stork Club in New York, which saw use when smoking indoors happened everywhere. newyorkfirst.com and historycompany.com
In Your Own Time—Custom Watches
An elusive limited edition may be a holy grail for watch collectors, but the most exclusive timepiece is a limited edition of only one. Vacheron Constantin’s Les Cabinotiers bespoke service builds your watch from scratch or you can customize with a hand-painted enamel dial or an engraved case. If made-to-measure is more your budget, Armin Strom’s digital customization platform offers various cases, dials, movement finishes and more, while TAG Heuer’s latest Connected has a modular system that also lets you mix and match elements. vacheron-constantin.com, arminstrom.com and tagheuer.com
Ebike Excitement—Riese & Müller And Stromer
Around in some form for a century, ebikes mightn’t be the latest thing, but their blend of eco-friendliness and exercise is catching up with contemporary technology. Riese & Müller’s Load (pictured) offers massive payload and protection for kids along for the ride. Other models are built for touring and gravel-grinding. Stromer’s ST1 X boasts a 70-mile touring radius and digital connectivity with an integrated touch-screen interface that reads out speed and battery usage. r-m.de/en-gb/ and stromerbike.com
The Levitating Light Bulb—Flyte
If you were the type to deck out your den with lava lamps in the ’70s and plasma balls in the ’80s, then the floating Flyte light is the natural novelty of choice for the post millennium. Surreal yet stylish, Flyte’s Edison bulb ($349) actually hovers over its wooden base via electromagnetic levitation. Bases and bulbs come in various finishes and accents. It’s guaranteed to burn for 50,000 hours—that’s 12 hours a day for 11 years. Even Tesla would be titilated. flyte.se
Natty Patty—Artisanal Burger
Hamburgers on the grill may be the quintessential American summertime meal, but that doesn’t mean it couldn’t use a little foreign accent. That’s the premise behind Artisanal Burger: 50 Italian Twists on an All-American Favorite (Mondadori, $29.95). Author/chefs Enzo De Angelis and Antonio Sorrentino start with quality ingredients and put together creative burgers with names like cultburger, holyxmasburger and wiseburger, using additives such as cucumbers, zucchini, fennel, prosciutto and buche de chevre. And they don’t stop at beef, building patties from lobster, seitan, shrimp, chicken and pork. Throw in specialty fries and you’ve got yourself a cookout. rizzoliusa.com
