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The Ring Thing
bling it on
PACESETTER Vibha Pahwa Punjab’s first and only pastry chef, Vibha Pahwa has transformed her love of desserts into a full-time profession Anandita Gupta Ludhiana-girl Vibha Pahwa is busy doing some serious sweet talking in the land of mithai. At 31, this young lady is the creative force behind her venture vAnila, named after her mother Anila. Established in 2008, the baking company sells artfully created, delicious bakes, French-style patisseries and novelty cakes for gourmands across the north.Vibha’s Facebook vAnila page has more that 1000 fans and many people place their desserts orders on that.
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Hats On It all started with the British royal wedding of Prince William and Catherine (Kate) Middleton in 2011. Besides the gowns, the jewellery and the ceremony, the talking point was the headgear worn by the ladies in the royal entourage and celebrities. The outrageous headgear flaunted by Princess Eugenie, Princess Beatrice and Victoria Beckham caught the maximum media attention.
The world, especially Asians, woke up to the fact that headgear — hats, ornamental clips, hair bands — are good to make a style statement. Reams were written about the black-netted Philip Treacy pillbox hat, perched on Victoria Beckham’s head, worn by her for the wedding ceremony. Even the young bridesmaids’ floral tiara got noticed. Prominent were the graceful and classic hats worn by the royal women for an after-ceremony family photo with Queen Elizabeth, Michelle Middleton (Kate’s mother) and, of course, Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall. All these ladies were attired in broad- brimmed hats, especially designed for the occasion. It is a different matter, that for us Asians, wearing headgear is nothing new. Over the centuries, we have always been using headgear of different hues and materials. Even today, several tribes from Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Kashmir, Assam, Bhutan, etc. do wear ornamental and colourful headgear. And of course, Anna Hazare recently made the simple white Gandhi cap most fashionable, as we saw at the last year’s Lakme Fashion Week. Several models on the ramp and fashionistas in the audience sported the white cap with ‘I am Anna’ embossed on it. They looked good and got noticed. "That is what good headgear does," asserts Shilpa Chavan, the famed headgear and accessory designer from India. Known as ‘Little Shilpa’ in the fashion circles, the Mumbai-based designer is always seen at almost all fashion weeks. In fact, every designer with an idea of using headgear in his or her collection approaches her to create a design to suit the occasion or the dress. "The best way to stand apart in a milieu of trendsetters is to go for a different kind of headgear or hats. You will be noticed immediately," she suggests.
This is true even in our everyday lives. Women carrying colourful and unusual parasols may get a passing glance but one with a good hat, even if it is a simple Panama straw hat, gets stared at! And that is the best way to make a bold statement. Women’s party hats, sometimes referred to as street hats, are the best trendsetters. Almost all Hollywood stars, from Paris Hilton to Heidi Klum; from Julia Roberts to Beyonce are seen flaunting mind-boggling headgear. Even in India, Parmeshwar Godrej is always seen with a simple but stylish hat at all occasions. What stood out in the late Jacqueline Kennedy, Lady Diana, Audrey Hepburn, apart from their beauty and chic dressing style, were the hats they wore on every occasion. Kennedy’s pink and black hats made the most chic style statement. Diana never forgot to step out of her palace in compact hats. Who can forget Audrey Hepburn and her black and white hats while attending the horse race in the film My Fair Lady? Back home, we have had actors like Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Tina Munim and even Kajol who flaunted one in Dilwale Dulhania le Jayenge. Even in India, women have been seen in trendy headgear for the last few seasons at some A-list events like Derby, and polo or golf tournaments, where the who’s who make their presence felt. College students in metro cities are opting for street hats to look ‘cool’ and also to protect themselves from the UV rays.
In an interview after the last year’s royal wedding, Philip Treacy, the man behind the creations of royal headgear, had said, "How a hat makes you feel is what a hat is all about. It is about making you feel a million dollars. So when you have got something beautiful on your head, which is the most important part of the body to embellish, it makes you feel beautiful." Adds Shilpa, "Headgear is actually a feature piece. Even if it is flowers in the head — single large flowers like the Hawaiians wear or the way South Indians wear huge amount of gajaras — they attract glances. And encashing on this trend, the Chinese have flooded the market with easily available headwear — head bands, floral large clips and hats." The best part of headwear is that you can knit, crochet, weave at home or buy them at roadside shops or designer milliner shops. You can wear these to school, colleges, for shopping or as pillion rider on a two-wheeler. And of course, for luncheons or cocktail parties. The only no-no to typical hats is for formal dinner parties, and of course, while sporting Indianwear. A pill box hat on a sari or a salwar kameez will look odd. Of course, you can wear Indian headgear — flowers — on such occasions. Maybe, it will take another four to five years for us Indians to actually try the pill box hats of the West, but we are slowly reaching there. So, start planning to invest in trendy hats!
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The Ring Thing
From Vertu to Motorola and Nokia, handset makers are busy dishing out limited-edition, bling cell phones that rock (pun very much intended)! Encrusted with jewels, precious stones and Swarovski crystals, these phones are on the most sought-after-items-lists of the elite set. Though most of these phones are not technological wonders, they definitely score one for form over function. So if you’re really feeling the spirit, you could plunk down the credit card for the $3,10,000 (Rs 1.55 crore) diamond-encrusted Signature Cobra from
Vertu.
No company has gone as far with bling cell phones as Vertu, a British-based manufacturer and retailer of luxury mobile phones and a Nokia subsidiary. Vertu has created a niche for luxury handsets that exude an aura of charm and sophistication. Toted by the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Madonna, some Vertu phones are made of white or platinum gold and pimped out with sapphires and other jewels. Each phone is crafted from hundreds of components, made from stainless steel, ceramics, carbon fiber, finest grade leather (some with alligator skin). The screens of all handsets are made of ultra-thin sapphire crystal that takes 15 days to create. Precious pieces may include 18k yellow, white, rose gold or platinum, along with diamonds. Every key is individually ground and cut from sapphire. All leather is sourced from Northern Europe. The high fidelity sound system sets a new benchmark for audio performance on a mobile phone.
Last year, the luxury phonemaker teamed up with Italian carmaker Ferrari to produce a black-finished titanium handset, limited to 2,011 pieces. Called the special edition Ascent Ti, the phone is inspired by the lines of Ferrari’s super cars. Crafted for strength, the handset is forged from high-performance titanium and hand-stitched leather found in the sports cars. It also integrates a 2.0-inch sapphire-crystal display and ear pillow, with a splash of red. Additional features include 3.0-megapixel auto-focus camera with flash and 4-gigabytes of memory. The standard Ascent Ti model starts at $7,770 (Rs 3, 88, 500). Vertu’s new Signature Cobra, however, is perhaps the most expensive cell phone in the bling phones market. Designed by upscale French jeweller Boucheron, the Cobra has a pear-cut diamond (two carats), a round white diamond (one carat) and no fewer than 439 rubies.
In 2012, the chic mobile phones manufacturer has added a piece of beauty, Constellation Candy, to its already existing line. Available in summery, bold shades of mint green, raspberry and tangerine, the Candy offers touch screen facility. Natural gem stones worth 0.34 carats have been embedded around the pillow on the front of the phone. The careful picks of rubies for the raspberry and orange sapphires for the tangerine phones make them stand out.
It boasts of features like 8 mega pixel camera, flawless 3.5 HD multi-touch sapphire crystal screen, a ruby surround on the shutter key, high fidelity sound system and more. Additionally, they have also added two new concierge services with the introduction of this model. The lifestyle services include a VIP personalised styling at Stella McCartney and Global Fashion Weeks VIP access. While everything looks rosy, the price for this handset is tagged at £6,500 (Rs 3.25
lakh).
In addition to handset makers, watchmaker TAG Heuer has launched its Fuchsia MERIDIIST bling phone, featuring a QVGA sapphire crystal main display, a secondary OLED screen, and a 2MP camera. Michael Gallelli, director of product marketing for T-Mobile, says that the limited-edition phones also drive the sales of flagship phones. “Even if people don’t buy the new editions, it draws them to the brand. Special edition phones create a halo around the flagship product,” observes
Gallelli.
Fashion brands like Giorgio Armani, Dolce & Gabbana, Versace and Swarovski have all jumped into the bandwagon. For many of these companies, mobile devices represent a new opportunity to expand their brand and add new revenue streams into their balance sheets. After all, introducing their limited edition lines of Bling phones is the latest pin code to luxury and cult status.
iPhone Princess Plus
Price $1,34,000
Price $54,000
Urge to Splurge
Price $3,500 to $5,000
Bejewelled iPhone
Price $ 8 million
GoldVish Le Million Piece Unique
Price $1.3 million
Price $43,000
Motorola’s V220 Special Edition
Price $51,800
Diamond Crypto Smartphone
Price $1.3 million
Sony Ericsson’s Black Diamond
Price $3,00,000
Price $3,10,000
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COUPLE OF BARBIE DOLLS Price Rs 1,499 each
MAKING IT LARGE
Price $30 (Rs 1,500 approx)
VINTAGE DRIVE
Price Last auctioned for $96,80,000 (Rs 48.4 crore approx)
Price $34,700 (Rs17.35 lakh approx)
THE CUP THAT CHEERS
Price $2,500 per bottle (Rs 1.25 lakh approx)
CLUTCH THIS BAG
Price $2,480 (Rs 1.24 lakh approx)
Price $4,500 (Rs 2.25 lakh approx)
Price $499.99 (Rs 25,000 approx)
THE INTELLIGENT CRIB
Price $1,575 (Rs 78,750 approx)
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Not Just a Cakewalk Punjab’s first and only pastry chef, Vibha Pahwa has transformed her love of desserts into a full-time profession Anandita Gupta Ludhiana-girl Vibha Pahwa is busy doing some serious sweet talking in the land of mithai. At 31, this young lady is the creative force behind her venture vAnila, named after her mother Anila. Established in 2008, the baking company sells artfully created, delicious bakes, French-style patisseries and novelty cakes for gourmands across the north.Vibha’s Facebook vAnila page has more that 1000 fans and many people place their desserts orders on that.
A business graduate from London-based Le Cordon Bleu, an A-list French culinary school, Vibha believes that baking flows in her veins, "I grew up in Ludhiana in a big, happy joint family. My mom, aunts and sisters would constantly be cooking and baking. Looking at them, I developed a keen interest in baking. I baked my first cake at the age of nine, which turned out to be a disaster. But it also triggered in me the desire to perfect the art of baking. In fact, my decision of making a career out of it came as a surprise to my family. But they backed me fully," smiles Pahwa, hailing from Ludhiana’s famous Pahwa family, the owners of Avon Cycles. Pahwa admits that baking for her is a meditative exercise, her regular detox ritual, "I love chocolate and there’s nothing it can’t fix. Chocolate is the answer to all angst and complexity," says the self-confessed chocoholic. The business graduate is now dishing out classes in baking. Held across Punjab and Delhi, Vibha’s classes are a blend of simple baking methods used in Indian homes and new-age baking techniques and styling. "The idea of classes came to me when I was desperately hunting for baking lessons. International books left me frustrated as all ingredients were not available. I promised myself that after becoming a pro, I’d conduct baking classes," says the chef. Vibha’s USP is sugar frosting, chocolate cakes, designer cakes and cup cakes. Her novelty cakes draw inspiration from luxury goods. ‘Bagwati’ (the Hermes bag in Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara), a Rolex watch and Fendi shoes inspired some of Vibha’s recent cake creations. The icing on the cake, is however, her cupcakes and muffins that look like floral bouquets. Vibha plans to conduct fun, interactive workshops at Chandigarh and Ludhiana this summer, "The classes will be about baking mini cake versions of bigger cakes, cheesecakes and mousse cakes, making tea cakes, shortbreads, tarts and brownies," chirps the young chef , all set to bring French and Italian cooking lessons to the region. Presently, Vibha is working on the outlines of a café. She’s busy scripting a cookbook and a TV channel’s baking show.
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All
of us have this notion that a perfect hat or headgear is something that
needs to fit on our heads, suit our clothes and the events we attend. One
should not bother much and leave all that to the milliners or hat-makers,
people who specially train in making hats. Remember Johny Depp in Alice
in Wonderland? In India, we have a handful of milliners, thanks to the
paucity of any relevant designing course. A good idea, however, is to
become your own hatmaker. Easy. Use crochet, knit, embroider, stitch or do
anything that you feel will suit your head. Till today, one of the best
milliners in India has been Lord Krishna, who used a peacock feather to
decorate his head. No one else has ever looked as great as him!
A
decade
Peter Aloisson has also embellished the iPhone. Called the Princess Plus, it is encrusted with over 300 diamonds — of which many are princess-cut diamonds. In fact, it is from these diamonds that the phone gets its name. But then, you really need to be royalty to be able to afford this phone. The diamonds, weighing around 17.75 carats, are set in 18k white gold, layered along with the rim. Its first proud owner is a Russian businessman, who had pre-ordered it. 
Nokia 8800 Arte
Samsung SPH-E3200
Christian Dior too has unleashed the ‘mobile beast’ on women. The boutique edition has an interesting tagline which goes, “Once a lady sets her eyes on this, she would not be able to resist the urge to splurge.” The mobile features a touch-screen display, a camera and novel mini-phone extender called “My Dior” that can be clipped to the outside of a bag or worn as an actual pendant for easy access and allows the user to answer or make calls, while the main phone is hidden away inside the bag.
This iPhone can easily be dubbed as the mother of all pricey, rock-encrusted gizmos. The 4-Diamond Rose, created by one of the world’s best-known product designers Stuart Hughes of Liverpool, has interchangeable 7.4-Carat and 8-Carat single-cut diamonds that can be fitted on the home button. It sports a handmade platinum bezel, which has 500 diamonds. The rear section is made of gold and the Apple logo is made of 53 diamonds. All of which makes it one of the most outstanding phones. Which is why, it can only adorn the pockets of some of the richest people in the world.
iPhone Pink Diamond
Price $12,000 
Gresso’s Royal White Diamond Handset
This luxury phone Motorola Special V220 Special Edition is usually flaunted by filmstars and other ultra rich people. Like the Diamond Crypto Smartphone, this too has been crafted by Austrian designer Peter Aloisson and is encrusted with 1,200 diamonds. Plus the keypad is made of 18 carat gold. It measures 85.5 x 44 x 24 mm and weighs around 100 grams. It is definitely one very flashy phone and also a conversation starter at any social do.
This is the mother of all bling phones. The Diamond Crypto Smartphone is one of the most expensive mobile phones in the world. Belonging to the Moscow-based firm JSC Ancort, this special edition has been designed by Austrian luxury accessories-maker Peter Aloisson. It is adorned with 50 diamonds, 10 of which are the rare blue ones. Apart from this, it also features a few sections made in rose gold. But the real value of the phone is its powerful encryption technology that provides the ultimate security and protects the user’s identity.
Even though the name suggests so, the Sony Ericsson Black Diamond smart phone scores with its state-of-the-art design, if not for its diamonds. Yet, it is among the most expensive phones in the world. The extremely limited edition (there are just six of them) 4-megapixel Quad-Band phone is stunning, with its casing in a layer of polycarbonate with a mirror finish. The new OLED technology illuminates the borderless screen, highlighting the ultra-thin profile and glossy finish. The phone is powered by Windows Mobile 5.0 with a 2-inch displa and 400MHz XScale. It has an Intel 400MHz processor running Windows Mobile 5 and a touch-sensitive screen. It also includes an internal memory of 128mb and comes with a 2-Gb SD card for external storage.
Vertu’s Signature Cobra 
Even as Barbie goes well past her 50th birthday, she can look back with satisfaction at an eventful life. Since her launch, she has been an astronaut, a US Presidential candidate, a UNICEF ambassador and a rockstar. Now, it has transformed into not one but two people — Edward and Bella, the romantic lead of the superhit Twilight Saga. Now, as the couple celebrates its union with their wedding in Breaking Dawn-1, the Mattel company, the creator of Barbie, has commemorated the moment by immortalising Edward and Bella in their wedding attire. So, get ready to step into the world of vampires and take home the lovey-dovey Edward and Bella as they seal their love forever in the amazing movie – Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part-1!
Even though android phones are launching bigger and bigger screens, the iPhone is sticking to its 3.5 inch format. And though there are many admirers of the iPhone, they have a problem with that. But worry not. Enter the MagniCase and your problem is solved. The device is basically a high quality lens that enlarges the display on the iPhone by one-and-a-half times, making it easier to read or watch videos or play games. And there’s another use for this inexpensive device. When you are not using it as a magnifying lens, it can be used to prop up your iPhone, as it works like a stand.
Drive in style in the Mercedes Benz 540K Special-Roadster of 1937 vintage. It is a name synonymous with sheer power, speed and motoring muscle and considered as a legend by auto aficionados. Only 26 of these striking models were made with the best engineering and highest craftsmanship available to Mercedes-Benz. If only one car could epitomise Mercedes-Benz luxury, this would be it. It is one of the most sought-after vintage cars. All you have to do is to keep track of auto auctions around the world and bid for this legend. Who knows you could be driving one of the greatest cars ever made.
WATCH THAT STINGS
There is an increasing evidence that green tea keeps at bay a host of physical problems, ranging from obesity to heart attacks and from seizures to diabetes and cancer. A number of companies are coming up with variations of the brew. But Japanese company Royal Blue Tea has brought out 36 bottles of what it calls the finest green tea — Masa Super Premium. It is extremely rare as it is made from handpicked leaves from the city of Shizuoka, which has the finest crop of tea leaves. These leaves are infused for three days and the resulting elixir is poured into 750 ml wine bottles. Go ahead, take a sip of this rarest of rare ambrosia.
Slip your fingers into this Alexander McQueen Knuckle Box Clutch
BEER THIS OUT
NEW POTTERMANIA
There’s good news for all new parents. Intellicot Baby Crib is a dream come true for moms and dads who have to keep awake for large parts of the night to meet the infant’s demands. The crib has a built-in video camera and a portable monitor that provides instant visual check if the child is sleeping in another room. It has a rocking mechanism, which simulates the natural rocking motion of a baby in a mother’s arms. It raises the bed and lifts the infant up to an easily accessible level at the touch of a button. It helps avoid overheating with the natural cooling effect of gently moving air. The polycarbonate window on the intelligent cot ensures the baby remains safe, while providing parents with a clear view. So all you new parents, go ahead and do yourself a favour with this new intelligent crib.
