Anthony Gallo's Nucleus Reference 3.1 speakers sound like heaven and look like angels. So why does a pair cost only $3,000? You worry too much.
Good things take time. We've been waiting years for Leica's M8 ($4,800), the digital version of the company's legendary range finder, Quiet majesty comes standard.
Buying a rare vintage Alfred Dunhill Tweenie car from 1912 will cost you junior's college fund. Accessories with the Tweenie devil logo are slightly more reasonable. The cuff links are $250; the stainless steel flask is $220.
Breville's diecast 800ESXL espresso machine ($500) isn't just a pretty face--it also delivers world-class happy juice with sumptuous crema.
Breguet's La Tradition ($23,000) has an 18-karat silvered-gold case, a sapphire-crystal case back and a 50-hour power reserve. Every mechanical piece is carved by hand, as if by magic gnomes. Timeless.
If a gadget could surf the web and do e-mail and IM, as well as play music, movies and pictures, would you still need a laptop? The Pepper Pad 3 costs $700 and kicks ass.
Like a polished Smith & Wesson or a great set of breasts, S.T. Dupont's Fuente Fuente Opus X lighter ($3,590) and fountain pen ($890) make you feel all-powerful when you clutch them in your paws.
In the Clear Audio Master Reference Turn-table, form and function meet on a transatlantic flight, laugh at each other's jokes, fall in love and have musical babies, all right there in your living room. It also sounds pretty good. The way we see it, $19,000 is a small price to pay to witness true romance.
Before the laptop computer there was this: the portable campaign desk. You carried it like a suitcase and unfolded into a writing station. We like this one from Newland & Tarlton ($820) as an accent piece in the study.
For those who don't need to land a 720 stalefish to feel relevant, Rome Snow-boards's Anthem ($480) carves like a dream.
Neo-chinoiserie is all the rage. Witness Hommage's Shanghai Groom Center ($350), a bold red take on the razor-and-brush set.
This Ferrari 250 GT SWB Berlinetta ($245) is a one-eighteenth-size model of the 1961 masterpiece. One-eighteenth-size girlfriend to ride shotgun not included.
Specialists at an Ely Callaway Performance Center will calibrate a one-of-a-kind FT-3 Fusion Driver, a.k.a. Big Bertha ($500), to your swing. Now you have no excuse.
Microsoft's Zune player ($250) holds 30 gigabytes of files you can share with other Zunies via wi-fi.
Re-create gridiron action on a different playing field with NFL pool balls ($20 a ball). Nice rack.
Glenmorangie Margaux Cask Finish single malt ($450) did a little time in Margaux barrels. Scotland, meet France.
Triumph's middleweight Daytona 675 offers a one-two punch of eye-grabbing flair and adrenaline-pumping performance. With its 123 horsepower, top speed of 155 miles an hour and list price of $9,000, the two of you should be very happy together.
Admit Two
Super Bowl XLI Playboy's Pre-Game Party
Playboy's Big Game Blowout
Our legendary Super Saturday night party is harder to get into than the pigskin ballet that takes place the next day, otherwise known as the Super Bowl. Why? You know full well why. This February, 20 lucky readers will get to schmooze it up with us (not to mention a host of models, actors, rockers and athletes) in Miami. An even $20,000 gets you two tickets to Playboy's Super Saturday Night party, two tickets to Super Bowl XLI, four nights in a swanky nearby hotel, a gift basket and a Hef-autographed football, as well as two tckets to our first-ever Friday-afternoon pool party (which promises to stretch into the evening). Between shindigs you'll spend your time taking in the ongoing 24/7/365 party that is the city of Miami, complete with bethonged bottoms and hot-blooded Cubans. As for getting a table at Joe's Stone Crab, you're on your own.
Where and How to buy on Page 181
Go to playboy.com for more holiday gift ideas.
