by COLIN MCALLISTER + JUSTIN RYAN
SIGHT & SCENT
Palo Santo 14 Grey Candle by Le Labo at Nordstrom; shop.nordstrom.com
Made from unadulterated soy wax and featuring a must-have cotton wick, this waxy olfactory will suffuse your environment with a clean fragrance that’s both woody and uplifting. Palo Santo, traditionally, is used for ritual “smudging” to welcome creativity, love and good fortune, and the scent has also been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, whilst enhancing clarity and concentration. In short, this candle should bring the real good, feel good factor, wherever you burn it, this winter.
WRAP UP WELL
GG and Check Throw Blanket from Gucci; gucci.com
Equally at home in the city or in the country, this softly tactile wool blanket offers two distinctly different aesthetics. First up, a classic “GG” patterned side to sooth your metropolitan predilections, and a green checked face, perfectly assignable to your lake home or cabin in the woods. Available in three colour combinations, the wool weave is super delicate whilst the textural edge detail is, one might say, a fringe benefit…
SOUND ADVICE
Pro-ject ‘The Classic’ Turntable from Pro-ject; project-audio.ca
There’s no better way to warm your respite than with the sounds of vinyl, especially when played on a classic beauty such as this. Fusing retrospective turntable design from the 1950s and 1960s with cutting edge, modern technology, this robust player delivers every time, to make even your most crass record sound achingly cool. The wooden chassis is available in three matte finishes: Walnut, Rosenut or Eucalyptus—to tone, if needs be, with your cottage timbers.
CUTTING EDGE
The Victorinox Swiss Army Knife Wine Master Pocket Knife for Wine Connoisseurs; swissarmy.com
A must-have for the gregarious traveller, and an essential accessory for the smartest bar, Wine Master is the trusted companion for professional sommeliers and amateur gourmets alike. Loaded with features such as an extra-long corkscrew (with five coils to prevent cork breakage) and a unique tool that offers a two-step lever for uncorking and bottle opening. The oh-so-cool integrated pocket knife boasts a wavy-edged foil cutter and a large locking blade, features that make it ideal for cheese (or indeed charcuterie) incising.
SAFE & SECURE
Hive View Wifi Indoor Camera; Hive Home, hivehome.com
Tune in, from the city, to your office, lake home or cabin (or indeed vice versa) with a stunning webcam that offers 1080p HD live streaming, motion and sound monitoring, person detection (with thumbnail image notifications) and two-way audio to talk and listen to those at home or away. Conspired in sexy black and brushed copper, or super fresh white and champagne gold, spying was seldom so covert or chic.
PLAY THE GAME
L’Objet Deco Shell Tic Tac Toe Set; Holt Renfrew, holtrenfrew.com
Part of L’Objet’s stunning range of classic games (that include backgammon, dominoes and chess) the humble Tic Tac Toe has been reborn as an amazing coffee table or desk accessory courtesy of its natural shell blocks that occupy a beautiful brass base. All in all, it’s a stunning Art Deco-inspired decorative item that would make a great conversation piece at home or in the office. And better still? You can play with it, old school style.
WEATHER WATCHING WITH STYLE
Arne Jacobsen “Bankers” Weather Station; Arne Jacobsen Watches, arnejacobsenwatches.com
Arne Jacobsen’s compellingly simple Weather Station is inspired by the talented creative’s equally simple wall clock, which he mastered for Denmark’s National Bank in 1971. The design, therefore, is typically Jacobsen with a focus on pared back, uncomplicated beauty. The Weather Station consists of a barometer that provides an overview of air pressure (to predict if the weather will be stormy or calm) a hydrometer to indicate humidity, a thermometer to show the daily temperature and a wall clock to tell the time.