And Son's Ed Ruscha Made in California Chocolate Bar.

It's nice to be able to occasionally provide commentary on something entirely uncomplicated.  The And Sons's Made in California chocolate bar is an excellent example of precisely that.

The bar itself is made from blood orange olive oil from Sonoma County California, mineral rich sea salt from Tomales Bay California, and Peruvian dark chocolate from Napa Valley.  It is housed in a sun yellow cloth bound box which reproduces Ed Rusha's often reproduced "Made in California" work, and the bar itself has the relief of the West Coast of California's topography.

Therefore this is a very simple luxury chocolate bar with strong ties to, and associations with, California. Whether this will have any value beyond the nice box seems unlikely.  Chocolate isn't known for its longevity, but at least you get to experience something fairly uncomplicated, and quite simple in respect of the delivery of its idea.

Available from mid December with no info on pricing, and a wait list for notification on availability.

 

Vertu Returns Phone's, No One Asked For It, But Their Back.

 

Long ago we found endless sources of comedy with Vertu's releases.  The tone deaf releases, which each year desperately attempted to cash in on the Chinese New Year, were always hilarious.  We were deeply disappointed with the font of content that Vertu represented ceasing operation in 2017, and deciding not to continue producing mobile phones after relaunching as a luxury accessories brand in 2018.

We are therefore extremely pleased to note that Vertu have decided in 2025 to return to the mobile phone game.  Despite, as the title holds, no one wanting them to.  We could spend inches of column space on the history of Vertu, and poking fun at them along the way.  But we couldn't possibly provide an account as laughable as Vertu's own website here.

The self own this article presents is quite epic.  It's obviously cut and pasted from ChatGPT or another Large Language Model, with the prompt "set out the history of Vertu".  See for maximum laughs the "fall of Vertu" section, which provides "Vertu fell behind in technology, it focused on luxury, but others offered better cameras and faster phones."  Quite.

Actually, it failed because it's stupid to have ultra luxury technological devices.  Irrespective of how wealthy a person is there needs to be a value proposition in consumption.  Luxury goods provide the value proposition of exclusivity and quality by virtue of longevity.  Technological devices are inherently transient, and paying above the odds for them is faintly ridiculous.  

Vertu seems to have failed to recognise that once again, and we can't wait to see their entertaining offerings.

Luxus Luxury Asset Investment Firm Launches Birkin & Kelly Hedge Fund.

As the title indicates, it's now possible to buy an interest in a Hedge Fund pinned to the value of Hermes bags.  This might seem novel, however, as the luxury goods market becomes a global aspiration, investment funds linked to a particular type of luxury good are in fact becoming increasingly common.  In South Korea the investment platform Piece launched in 2021, which links its value to luxury watches such as Rolex's.

Indeed, it might be suggested that buying stock in a luxury goods company is roughly analogous to investing in the pieces it produces.  After all, it's entirely right that luxury goods companies produce luxury goods, therefore investing directly in their output is little more than jumping one step.

Yet however logical might wish to be, it seems somehow perverse to invest directly in luxury goods.  The Veblen goods theory might propose the desirability increase with the price, but that doesn't change the fact that these are perishable, consumable, goods.  Leather rots, steel rusts, and mechanisms wear.  The logic in respect of the luxury goods companies also doesn't operate.  As these are businesses with earning calls that pay dividends.  No matter what, barring bankruptcy, you will always own said stock.  The same can't be said for a bag or watch.

In an article within Forbes the creator of the Hedge fund waxed lyrical about the first Birkin selling for $10.1 million in Christies.  Stating this was their motivation.  It's difficult to square that circle, and understand how they extrapolate a one of a kind piece meaning all mass produced handbags merit investment.  Because despite Hermes clever marketing, these are mass produced bags.  

We see this going  nowhere fast, and in our view, that's a good thing. 

Rimowa Cocktail Case Severely Overvalue Silverplate.

 

We were all set to write a scathing critique of the new limited edition Rimowa cocktail set, poking fun at the individual ridiculousness of its components, and how foolish anyone might be to consider it.  But the wind was really taken out of our sails when we noticed that it's sold out.

Brevity is the soul of wit, and so we will simply observe the following;  A number of individuals chose to spend £4,300 on an aluminium case, silver plated cocktail shaker, and to silver plated jiggers, and silver plated stirring spoon.  

We love luxury goods. that's what this little blog is about.  However, a sterling silver cocktail shaker set from Asprey can be had for £5,150, just £800 more, and a Demi-Shaker in solid silver for only £2,150.  This isn't merely overvaluing Silverplate, it's faintly ridiculous.  However, it sold out, so more fool us maybe.

Bang & Olufsen Release Beosound Premiere at a Lower Price Point than Current Top End Soundbar.

Bang & Olufsen have announced and released a brand new Soundbar into their range, the Beosound Premiere.  With the same type of directional audio lens type technology employed in many of its other models, this is likely to present an all in one audio solution for those desiring it.  Or the centrepiece in an ultra high end surround sound cinema setup.

However, what we find most interesting and compelling about this is its price point.  At £3,900.00 as a starting price, it is less than 50% the price of the Beosound Theatre, currently B&O's top Soundbar.  This is an odd decision.  Especially given the brands recent pricing and market positioning decisions.  See for example the grossly overpriced Beo Grace earbuds.  

Yet celebrating might be unwise.  This is still a considerable amount more expensive than the Resound Stage, which currently costs £2,300.00, and which appears to show low stock on the UK site.  This means that the Stage will probably be discontinued, and the Premiere will be the new low end Soundbar.  That makes more sense in respect of the direction Bang Olufsen is moving in.  With that direction being one of nonsensical out of touch pricing.

It's a real pity the brand is moving this way.  We have mentioned it before, but it bears repeating.  This seems a violent counter-reaction against their 2010's "Beo Play" range, which was an attempt to produce a budget range.  That rightly failed, but the new movement is taking the brand into he stratosphere in the worst way.  Adjusted for inflation their prices are considerably more than they were 20 years ago.  Which might be one of the reasons they are struggling financially, which a cursory look at their annual earnings report demonstrates.

We very much hope this doesn't continue.  If it does the brand risks being purchased by a company that will strip away everything that made it great, such as (horror) LVMH.

 

Leandesk Presents a Luxurious Space Saving Anywhere Desk Idea.

The fact is anyone living in an urban environment is likely to be needing to overcome severe constraints on the space they have available.  Decades of Neo-liberal policy have made it so, and so the best solution is to make the new reality as palatable and attractive as possible.  Therefore elegant space saving design ideas are literal life savers, and the Leandesk is one of those.

Designed by an English furniture designer who observed the way yachting furniture utilises cables and ropes, yet remains remarkably stable, the Leandesk implements these utilitarian ideas in an attractive wooden frame, that unfolds, leans, and can be a sitting or standing desk.  Then when not in use, can be mounted on a wall hook. 

There's no question that the origins of this are steeped in the type of privilege that only someone who has access to yachting can know.  But that doesn't detract from it being effective, stylish, and undeniably luxurious.  Available in two sizes, and in various woods, starting from £450.00 from their website.

Bang Olufsen Centennial Collection Colours Actual Hit.

 

Bang & Olufsen are celebrating being in business for 100 years in the only way they seem to know, by releasing a special limited edition collection.  And similar to nearly every other limited edition they release, it is absolutely no different in any meaningful or material manner, and is simple a change in paint.

However, as the somewhat obvious title of this brief entry indicates, we're fans this time.  Regular readers will be well aware of our disdain for B&O's so called limited editions, and that they add nothing.  Along with the healthy disgust we have for their Atelier ranges that are grossly overpriced for a different colour way.

However, the Centennial collection is liked by us for two reasons.  Firstly, the colours chosen are genuinely attractive.  The Brown leather with the H100, looks stunning for example.  Second, and perhaps more importantly, the premium here isn't a premium, it's either a very small increase over the conventional pricing, or less.  For example, the Beosound A5 in Century Weave is £1,500, while in the evergreen dark oak it's £1,600.

Montblanc Hope Second Time is the Charm with Digital Paper.

 Readers of the luxury consumer press might have come across glowing and effusive praise for Montblanc's exciting new Digital Paper.  The new device is effectively a writing tablet, Wirth accompanying Montblanc Meisterstuck pen,

The marketing material suggests this is Montblanc's first foray into the digital writing space, and that it represents a remarkable new direction for the storied firm.  This is extremely odd.  As the brands own website still stocks and sells "Augmented Paper", their first attempt to break into the digital writing space. Available at this link at time of writing.

The older Augmented Paper, which has existed for over 10 years, is a conventional piece of paper, with special pen, and sensors, that turns writing into digital text via the sensors and a program.  Granted, this is clearly quite different from a tablet one writes on, but it is still profoundly odd that they wax lyrical on the new tablet, giving the impression throughout that they never dipped their toe into technology before.

We like making suggestions and predictions here, and would love to again.  Yet a pen company releasing a new digital product suggesting it's their first, while an existing digital product exists in their range really doesn't make much sense.  Even less so when in consideration of the fact the older product never sold well.

The sensible choice would have been to quietly discontinue the unpopular Augmented Paper, and release the Digital Paper to much fanfare.  But they didn't, so let's look on the bright side, you as a consumer have choice!  You can go for the Augmented Paper, pad with pen, for around £1,000, or the new Digital Paper tablet for £750, plus Digital Pen for £230.  Enjoy.

Tissot Re Release Rock Watch for a new Generation.

In the late 1980s Tissot released a number of watches made from natural materials, including the WoodWatch.  The most famous, and most collectible to this day, was the RockWatch in 1985.

Made from a single piece of granite from Switzerland's Jungfrau Mountain, each piece is unique, as it's a result of the variations of the stone, making them special in a way few luxury consumables can be.

We've seen a huge increase in specialised small watchmaking houses creating pieces that sell out.  For example Kurono Tokyo.  This reissue of a classic echoes this, and in 999 limited pieces, it also demonstrates the same ethos of severely limited runs.

Available no for £995.00, this is sure to be another future classic.