Leather is one of the largest byproducts of South American cattle farming, alongside environmental damage.

According to Sabrina Vigilante, director of Strategic Initiatives at the Rainforest Alliance, “agricultural conversion for cattle production is the leading cause of deforestation in the Amazon.”

It’s not just the deforestation that’s a problem — the amount of energy that goes into producing a natural hide is around 20 times that is needed for a synthetic substitute.

Still, a number of groups are seeking to help limit the impacts associated with leather production.

This new line of Gucci bags is the first ever to be produced with the Rainforest Alliance-certified leather, which is produced under strict controls in order to limit deforestation and protect wildlife habitats.

The certification also seeks to ensure that farmers provide ethical treatment to livestock and also help promote and maintain the rights and health of their workers.

The leather is all produced by the Fazendas São Marcelo group of four ranches located in the Mato Grosso state of Western Brazil.

Source: Luxuo

The new bags appear in ‘Tote’, ‘Jackie’ and ‘Hobo’ styles. They will go on sale at select Gucci stores around the world and will be available online at Gucci.com in the US and Europe.

Livia Firth, the eco-campaigner and wife of Oscar-winning actor Colin Firth, established Green Carpet Challenge to help to raise awareness of environmental issues in the fashion world and support the work of ethical fashion brands.

The recently launched issue of Elite Traveler’s World’s Top Restaurants magazine gave Alinea the top nod, calling it the best restaurant in the world for its “hypermodern, emotional approach to dining.”

British chef Heston Blumenthal’s The Fat Duck, in Bray came in second for “pushing the boundaries of British gastronomy” and providing a dining experience that excites the senses and reinvents traditional British classics.

And Thomas Keller’s New York restaurant Per Se made third place for offering “understated luxury,” while his flagship eatery The French Laundry in Yountville, California, was ranked 14th. Keller is the only chef to have two restaurants in the list.

Elite Traveler’s selection provides an interesting contrast to other international rankings like Restaurant magazine’s World’s 50 Best Restaurants list.

While chef René Redzepi’s Copenhagen eatery Noma, for instance, has topped that ranking for two years running, it’s conspicuously absent from Elite Traveler.

In addition to critics from the magazine, restaurants were also chosen by magazine readers, a market described as the wealthy, jet-setting crowd.

Top 20 restaurants in the world

1 Alinea – Chicago, USA
2 The Fat Duck – Bray, UK
3 Per Se – New York, USA
4 Pierre Gagnaire – Paris, France
5 Daniel – New York, USA
6 Le Bernardin – New York, USA
7 El Celler de Can Roca – Girona, Spain
8 Louis XV Alain Ducasse – Monaco
9 Mugaritz – Errenteria, Spain
10 Hof Van Cleve – Kruishoutem, Belgium
11 Alain Ducasse Au Plaza Athenee – Paris, France
12 Jean Georges – New York, USA
13 Matsuhisa Restaurant – Los Angeles, USA
14 The French Laundry- Yountville, USA
15 Al Sorriso – Soriso, Italy
16 The Ledbury – London, UK
17 Restaurant Gordon Ramsay – London, UK
18 L’Hotel de Ville – Philippe Rochat- Crissier, Switzerland
19 La Colombe – Cape Town, South Africa
20 L’Auberge du Pont de Collonges – Collonges-au-Mont-d’Or, France

Source: Elite Traveler; Alex Carter

The handset is executed in a classic single-piece form. The solid and light metal creates a distinct look of the model. It doesn’t require additional coatings and is absolutely hypoallergenic. Titanium has low thermal conductivity, that why the metal  feels “warm” in hand, adding the incredible tactile qualities. The main titanium feature is its unique strength. The metal resists any mechanical forces and surface damages are almost excluded.

The luxurious case has an absolutely perfect geometrical shape of a prolonged rectangle. Matt steel keys accord beautifully with coal-black glossy front and back glass panels, making the elegant design complete.

The one-piece case is executed through a hard milling technology. After the long precision technique each case is  continuously hand polished by a single craftsman for several hours. The Cruiser display is created from solid tempered glass plates. The tempering performed at 800°С (1472°F) and followed by rapid cooling increases the strength of the glass in several times. A special tinting technology gives the exterior a deep dark color.

The keyboard’s round key buttons are executed from steel. Each of 21 keys are hand-polished with precision, which gives them a perfect matte gloss. The Cruiser Titanium series is a limited edition of only 555 phones. Each copy has its own unique number, engraved on the device, which does not repeat.

From cocktail bars that hang dramatically over the edge of a Balinese cliff, to a Kenyan wilderness lodge embedded high within African conservation lands, and a quintessentially French countryside inn carved out of village rock and set in the heart of Provence, CN Traveller’s list of 25 best hotels for 2013 strays from the usual suspects of opulent, five-star locales in favor of roads less traveled.

Meanwhile, readers of Travel + Leisure helped the magazine curate their own list of top 500 hotels of 2013 which was released last month.

For the second year in a row, safari lodge Singita Grumeti Reserves in Tanzania was ranked No. 1 in the world. It features a cliff-top plunge pool, tennis courts, spa, a yoga center, and offers sightings of elephants, wildebeest, zebras and gazelles.

Here is a look at the  full list of Condé Nast Traveller’s 25 Best Hotels for 2013:

Best beach hotels:

Alila Villas Uluwatu, Bali
Uxua Casa Hotel, Trancoso, Brazil
Shangri-La’s Villingili Resort & Spa, Maldives
Soho Beach House, Miami
La Sirenuse, Positano, Italy

Best wilderness hotels:

The Walig Hut, Gsteig, Switzerland
Four Seasons Tented Camp, Golden Triangle, Thailand
Adrère Amellal, Siwa, Egypt
Tassia Lodge, Lekurruki Community Ranch, Kenya
Shakti 360° Leti, Uttarakhand, India

Best city hotels:

Hotel Sofitel Legend Metropole, Hanoi
Dwarika’s Hotel, Kathmandu, Nepal
Le Pavillon de la Reine, Paris
Mandarin Oriental Bangkok, Thailand
The Oyster Bay, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

Best country hotels:

Oustau de Baumanière, France
Hambleton Hall, Rutland, England
The Point, New York State
Otahuna Lodge, South Island, New Zealand
Miyamasou, Kyoto Prefecture, Japan

Best design hotels:

Conservatorium Hotel, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Playa Vik José Ignacio, Uruguay
Hegia, Hazparne, France
Southern Ocean Lodge, Kangaroo Island, Australia
The Upper House, Hong Kong

Inspired by its successful motorsport activities in the GT4 racing series – particularly in the VLN endurance championship at the Nürburgring – the new car is a road model that has been engineered in the style of the luxury sports car maker’s GT4 racers.

With 436 PS and a top speed of 305 km/h, Aston Martin has named the new special edition model Vantage SP10. The inspiration behind it is its namesake class SP10 in the VLN series, in which GT4 racing cars compete at the Nürburgring. The Vantage SP10 is offered in a bespoke specification that reflects its close affinity with the racing car.

Jeffrey L. Scott, Managing Director of Aston Martin Lagonda of Europe: “Aston Martin has a long and successful tradition in motorsport. Since in the GT4 class the technical similarities between racing cars and their road model cousins are extremely pronounced, many of our customers see their own Aston Martin as a way to identify with our motorsport activities, or they actively participate as ‘gentlemen drivers’.

“With the new Vantage SP10 we are now offering a V8 Vantage S with a special motorsport and race track flair – at a competitive price point.”

Technically, the Vantage SP10 is almost identical to the V8 Vantage S but with the addition, for the first time, of a six-speed manual transmission.

Source: Aston Martin

At the end of the month, the brand will unveil new cans by the designer who heads up his own signature clothing line and is also at the helm of Louis Vuitton.

Diet Coke now seeks a  more casual look for this year with designs and ads that will reflect Marc Jacobs’s trademark style designs.

Consumers will be able to see the results of this collaboration on cans which will be unveiled on February 25. The aluminum bottles will also be made over by the designer and will be revealed on March 12.

Diet Coke is celebrating 30 years of sales in Europe in 2013 in a campaign called “Sparkling Together for 30 Years.” MJ is also looking back at that period, having sought inspiration for the product collection in the past three decades of fashion.

As Coca-Cola states, the range will “capture the rise of female empowerment through the Eighties, Nineties and Noughties,” as well as integrate some of Jacobs’s favorite symbols and quirky motifs.

“I feel very privileged to be the new Creative Director of Diet Coke and put my stamp on the 30th anniversary campaign. Diet Coke is an icon… and I love an icon!” admitted Marc Jacobs.

To give consumers an idea of what to expect from this new collection of cans and bottles, an ad featuring the designer himself makes clear the spirit of the campaign.

The new ad is a nod to the famous 1990s Diet Coke ad “Diet Coke Hunk,” featuring an Adonisesque heartthrob who enthralled all the women in an office. However, this time round, Marc Jacobs is exposing his chiseled body in a photo booth.

The project is due for completion in 2018 and will take over two parcels of land currently occupied by Chulan Square and Sri Melayu Restaurant.

When completed, the integrated development will also feature two residential towers, a retail podium and an office block.

It will be the first of the three Harrods Hotels, as it is scheduled to be completed slightly ahead of its counterpart in London. The third Harrods Hotel will be in Italy.

Swatch Group assembled a team of top metallurgists and scientists from several of its companies with the shared goal of creating an 18K rose gold alloy whose colour would be not only beautiful but enduring. Sedna™ gold – developed 100% in house by the Swatch Group team – is the patented, breath-taking confirmation of their success.

The OMEGA Constellation Sedna is the first watch to be crafted in 18K Sedna™ gold.  This limited edition wristwatch seamlessly blends the timeless aesthetic appeal of a legendary watch family with the world premiere of an innovative material. 18K Sedna™ gold, a patented alloy blending gold, copper and palladium, has been created to ensure that the unique rose gold lustre of the watch case will be especially long-lasting. The indexes and hands are also made of 18K Sedna™ gold, as is the clasp on its strap.

The distinctive timepiece has a polished casebody with a brushed bezel emboldened by tone-in-tone Roman numerals. It has a luxurious silvery “pie-pan” dial inspired by that of the very first Constellation launched in 1952. The timepiece is presented on a strap crafted from fine brown leather. The watch is equipped with OMEGA’s innovative Si14 silicon balance spring and the industry-changing OMEGA Co-Axial calibre 8501, visible through a sapphire crystal caseback. The OMEGA Constellation Sedna is water resistant to 10 bar (100 metres / 330 feet).

The OMEGA Constellation Sedna will be produced in an edition limited to 1,952 pieces, signifying the year OMEGA debuted the renowned Constellation watch family. It is delivered in a special wooden presentation box with a rose-coloured lining. The watch has a full four-year warranty.

Source: Omega

The LykanHypersport 2013′s creators, Beirut-based W Motors, claim that its flat-six, twin-turbocharged engine delivers 750hp and will propel the car from 0 to 100 kph in 2.8 seconds to reach the breakneck maximum speed of 390 kph. In doing so the car is entering Bugatti Veyron territory in terms of performance levels.

But to be a true hypercar, performance and luxury must go hand in hand, and so for those who demand the finer things in life, the car’s LED headlights are diamond-encrusted while the seats feature real gold stitching.

The instrument panel uses a revolutionary 3D virtual holographic display and many of its functions and commands are motion- and gesture-activated.

Only seven examples of the LykanHypersport 2013 will ever be produced and each one will come with a 24/7 concierge service and a special edition $200,000 Cyrus Klepcys Watch also limited to seven examples.

The LykanHypersport 2013 will retail for $3.4 million with the first orders expected to be fulfilled in September 2013.

For the cost of a $500,0000 Jetway will let you pick from their fleet of private planes, which include Gulfstream IV’s and Falcon 2000’s and fly you to New York City. Once there, you will be picked up in a chauffeured Rolls Royce and taken to the famous Ty Warner Penthouse suite at the Four Seasons, which generally goes for $40,000 a night. At the suite you will have access to a personal masseuse who can give you unlimited massages and a private chef that will cook you a romantic dinner; thus ensuring that you never have to leave your suite.

Champagne and Caviar are of course a given in any luxury deal, however a 52 karat diamond necklace is definitely going to surprise your loved one. If you should decide to leave this incredible suite for any reason, the hotel’s Rolls Royce will take you anywhere you want in NYC. This package from Jetway Private Air will cost you anywhere between $417,000 and $500,000 depending on the city of departure and plane you choose.

Source: Forbes/ Refinery 29