Soon You Can Enjoy A Relaxing Trip Into Space Via Hot Air Balloon

Forget heart-thumping G-force rocket trips into the stratosphere. The rest of us will soon be able to enjoy a leisurely eight-hour flight complete with cocktails.

By Jaclyn Trop 10/05/2023

A handful of companies are preparing to launch tourists high into the stratosphere aboard luxury balloons attached to pressurised capsules. Complete with bathrooms, bars, and built-in Wi-Fi, these conveyances are cheaper than traveling by spaceship, not to mention more accessible to passengers of a variety of ages and physical abilities. Plus, instead of a wild, 10-minute ride on a supersonic rocket, with about two minutes of floating time, the balloon trip is more akin to a gentle journey upwards at about 17.7km/h, with hours to relish views of the planet.

French outfit Zephalto is slated to launch the first European-based consumer flight in late 2024. Starting at $195,000 per person, the trip aboard the six-passenger Céleste will include Michelin-starred cuisine and a well-considered wine list. The capsule, designed by Joseph Dirand, the French designer responsible for the Balmain and Givenchy stores in Paris, will also hold two pilots.

Space balloon travel to the edge of space will start next year as three companies launch commercial flights.
The pressurised capsules are designed to hold up to eight people, featuring a bar, bathroom and lounge chairs for enjoying the view.

Zephalto founder and aerospace engineer Vincent Farret d’Astiès says the company chose the 25-kilometre altitude “because you are in the darkness of space but without the zero-gravity experience.”

The company has completed three test flights and plans to reach the 25-kilometre mark later this year. Zephalto’s balloon will be certified by the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) as a commercial airliner.

Zephalto, which is eventually planning on ramping up to 60 flights a year, is not the only operator aiming to offer a luxury experience in the stratosphere.

Space balloon travel to the edge of space will start next year as three companies launch commercial flights.
The interior of Space Perspective’s Neptune capsule.

Based at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Space Perspective plans to offer $185,000 trips 32 kilometres above Earth aboard its eight-passenger Neptune space balloon starting late next year. The journey launches from a vessel called the MS Voyager and splashes down nearby before being towed by two retrieval boats.

The sea-based landing allows Space Perspective to scale its operations around the world, with what the company hopes will be hundreds of launches annually. It says more than 1,200 tickets have been sold so far and that passengers won’t need training or special attire.

“It’s imperative we think about our business with a global mindset,” Space Perspective cofounder and CEO Jane Poynter tells Robb Report. “Removing geographic borders for launch and landing accelerates our mission of making this transformative experience more accessible to the world and international marketplace.”

Space balloon travel to the edge of space will start next year as three companies launch commercial flights.
Zephalto plans to launch its first voyage in France next year.
World View, based in Tucson, Ariz., is packaging $74,000 trips aboard its space balloon with five-day excursions that depart from one of seven “world-wonder” sites, including the Amazon rainforest, the pyramids at Giza, the Grand Canyon, the Great Barrier Reef, and the Great Wall of China.

The company’s 396435-cubic-metre, helium-filled balloon rises to an altitude of roughly 32 kilometres. The gentle ride opens space to a broader age range and set of physical abilities, according to CEO Ryan Hartman.

Though the balloons will travel roughly three times higher than a typical commercial airliner, they will remain well below the Kármán Line, the conventional boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space 100 kilometres above sea level. However, that’s high enough to produce the “overview effect,” the phenomenon of awe and emotional overwhelm that astronauts report when seeing the Earth from space.

Space balloon travel to the edge of space will start next year as three companies launch commercial flights.
World View plans to launch its space balloon around notable landmarks such as the Amazon rainforest and Great Pyramids.

Zephalto will offer customers the chance to speak with a psychologist before and after the flight.

“You need psychological preparation,” Farret d’Astiès says. “Seeing Earth in the darkness is an experience that can be emotional.”

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Omega Just Unveiled 9 Watches in Its New Constellation Observatory Collection

The line-up shows up a bevy of metals and colours, too, as well as two new calibres.

By Nicole Hoey 31/03/2026

Omega’s latest watch is in a universe of its own.

The Swiss watchmaker just unveiled its new Constellation Observatory Collection today, the next step in its Constellation lineage and the first two-hand hour and minute timepieces to ever earn Master Chronometer certification. And if you were paying attention to any of the dazzling watches spotted at the Oscars this year, you would’ve caught a glimpse of the new line already: Sinners star Delroy Lindo rocked one of the models on the Academy Awards red carpet, giving us a pre-release preview of the collection.

Developed at Omega’s new Laboratoire de Précision (its chronometer testing lab open to all brands), the collection houses a set of nine 39.4 mm watches. The watches underwent 25 days of scrutiny there, analysed via a new acoustic testing method that recorded every sound emitted from the timepiece to track irregularities, temperature sensitivities, and more in the name of all things precision. (Details such as water resistance and power reserve are also thoroughly examined.) This meticulous process is all in the name of snagging that Master Chronometer label, meaning that the timepiece is highly accurate and surpasses the threshold for ultra-high performance. The Constellation Observatory Collection has now changed the game, though, thanks to its lack of a seconds hand.

A watch from the Constellation Observatory Collection, with the Observatory dome on display. Omega

“Until now, precision certification has required a seconds hand,” Raynald Aeschlimann, president and CEO of OMEGA, said in a press statement. “The development of a new acoustic testing methodology has made that requirement obsolete. It is this breakthrough that has enabled us to present the Constellation Observatory, the first two-hand watch to achieve Master Chronometer certification.”

In addition to notching its place in history, the collection also debuted a new pair of movements: the Calibre 8915 and the Calibre 8914, each perched on a skeletonised rotor base. The former’s Grand Luxe iteration will appear on the 950 Platinum-Gold model in the collection, which offers up that base in 18-karat Sedna Gold alongside a Constellation medallion in 18-karat white gold with an Observatory dome done in white opal enamel surrounded by stars. The second Calibre 8915, the Luxe, will find its home on the other precious-metal models in the line, either made with the brand’s 18-karat Sedna, Moonshine, or Canopus gold seen across the case, the hand-guilloché dial, and, of course, the movement itself. (Lindo chose to rock the Moonshine Gold on Moonshine Gold iteration, priced at approximately $86,000, for Sinners‘s big night at the Oscars.) As for the Calibre 8914, it can be found in the collection’s four steel models.

 

Omega Constellation Observatory Collection
A look at a gold case-back from the collection. Omega

Each model is a callback to myriad design features on past Omega models. That two-hand dial, for one, comes from the 1948 Centenary (the brand’s first chronometer-certified automatic wristwatch), while the pie-pan dial (seen in various blue, green, and golden hues throughout the line) and that Constellation medallion caseback both appear on watches from 1952. The star adorning the space above 6 o’clock also harks back to 1950s timepieces from Omega. And to finish off the look, you can opt for alligator straps in a variety of colours, or perhaps a gold iteration to match the precious-metal models; the brick-like pattern on the 18-karat Moonshine bracelet was also inspired by Omega watches from the ’50s.

We’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for any other Constellation Observatory timepieces (or any other unreleased models from the brand) at the rest of the star-studded events headed our way this year—perhaps the Met Gala?

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Best Combustion Supercar: Ferrari 12Cilindri Spider

A modern classic in the making, combining naturally aspirated power with elegant restraint to deliver performance that feels as refined as it is visceral.

By Vince Jackson 20/04/2026

In a year when carmakers of all persuasions sheepishly extended hyperbolic electric targets, it’s fitting that the monastic puritans of Maranello—who, lest we forget, won’t finally yield to the sin of battery power until October with the Elettrica—opted to make combustion their major power play.

As an uncertain future of AI omnipresence barrels towards us, the 12Cilindri—an analogue, open-topped tribute to Ferrari’s late-’60s/early-’70s grand tourer, the Daytona—represents a defiant fade into the past, a pause for breath, a fleeting return to The Good Times when nascent technology provoked excitement rather than existential dread.

Guiding this automotive nostalgia trip is, as the nomenclature suggests, a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine, generating an unceasing wave of power as it sears towards the 9,500 rpm redline with relative nonchalance. That’s because the 12Cilindri is not a mouth-foaming attack-dog. It scales performance heights with the refinement of the finest Italian works of art; its “Bumpy Road” mode facilitates comfy al fresco GT cruising, and even the imperious powerplant is mannerly at most speeds.

For all the yesteryear romance, progressive technologies and engineering, such as a world-class 8-speed transmission, advanced electronic aids and independent four-wheel steering, are baked into the deal. The 12Cilindri’s clean, stark design somehow toggles between retro and modern; and while vaguely polarising, one can’t ignore its magnetic road presence.

In terms of aesthetics, Ferrari describes the 12Cilindri as being “ready for space”; in many ways, a fantasy vehicle that transports users to another dimension is probably what the world needs right now.

The Numbers

Engine: 6.5-litre V12

Power: 610kW

Torque: 678 Nm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch auto

0-100 km/h: 2.95 seconds

Top speed: 340 km/h

Price: From $886,800

Photography by SONDR.
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Inside Loro Piana’s First Sydney Boutique

A first Australian address brings the Italian house’s textile-led approach to retail full circle.

By Horacio Silva 26/03/2026

On the fourth floor of Westfield Sydney, near the Castlereagh and Market Street entrance—in the space formerly occupied by Chanel—Loro Piana has opened its first Australian boutique. It is a significant address change for that corner of the mall, and a meaningful one for the Italian house, which has sourced Australian merino wool for decades but until now had no retail presence here.

The facade is understated—creamy, tactile, more about texture than theatre. Inside, the store unfolds across a single, expansive level divided into distinct men’s and women’s wings. The separation is clear without being heavy-handed: womenswear leads from soft accessories and leather goods into ready-to-wear, while menswear occupies its own assured territory, with tailoring and outerwear given proper breathing room. Footwear (supple loafers, luxurious slides, pared-back sneakers) is particularly strong, and the sunglasses are a quiet standout: mineral-toned frames with a disciplined elegance that feels entirely of the house.

That same restraint carries into the interiors, where the surfaces do much of the talking. Walls are wrapped in the company’s own linen and cashmere; carpets are custom, dense underfoot, softening the acoustics and the pace. Oak and carabottino wood add warmth without fuss; marble accents introduce a cool counterpoint. The effect is a composed space calibrated around material, proportion and restraint.

The Spring 2026 collection now in store underscores that sensibility. Silhouettes are elongated and fluid; cashmere, silk and featherweight merino move in sandy neutrals, creams and muddied earth tones, with flashes of marigold and pale turquoise breaking the calm. Tailoring is softly structured and projects confidence without aggression. Leather goods arrive in buttery skins that feel almost pre-lived, as though time has already worked its magic.

What distinguishes Loro Piana, particularly in a market that has grown noisier by the season, is its refusal to perform luxury in an obvious register. There are no oversized insignias telegraphing allegiance. Instead, the status is encoded in fibre count, in hand-feel, in how a coat hangs from the shoulder. It assumes the wearer knows and, crucially, does not need to announce it.

Sydney’s luxury landscape has matured in recent years; global houses no longer test the waters but commit to them. Yet Loro Piana’s arrival feels different. It is not trend-driven expansion but material logic. For a country whose sheep stations have long contributed to the house’s fabric story, this boutique reads almost as a thank-you note written in cashmere.

 

Photography: Courtesy of Loro Piana.

 

 

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This Stylish, Water-Resistant Dopp Kit Might Be the Last One You Ever Buy

Patricks’s limited-edition wash bag is designed to keep liquids in and out, so it can come along wherever your travels take you.

By Justin Fenner 11/03/2026

If all you’re going to do is look at it, a leather Dopp kit from a fashion house is a fine choice. But if you take travelling seriously—and do it often, for business, pleasure, or both—such a bag will inevitably end up blemished with droplets of water or stained by errant flecks of toothpaste. Get stuck with a cavalier team of baggage handlers, and it can even get soaked in your favourite fragrance or anti-ageing serum.

But Patricks, the high-performance Australian grooming brand stocked in Harrods and Bergdorf Goodman, has a solution. Its limited-edition bathroom bag, called BB1, is purpose-built to protect everything inside and out. Conceived by industrial designer George Cunningham with brand founder Patrick Kidd, the cuboid design is executed in a water-resistant recycled nylon you can rinse clean. It’s lined with a thin layer of shock-absorbing foam to safeguard your products, but if a bottle somehow gets cracked in transit, the two-way water-resistant zippers and sealed seams (which keep liquids from seeping in or out) ensure that whatever leaks won’t ruin your cashmere. Inside, two dual-sided zippered compartments are ideally sized to fit toothbrushes, razors, and other small essentials.

And though its clean lines and rugged construction make it undeniably masculine, its greatest feature is borrowed from women’s makeup bags. Like the best of these, BB1 unzips to lie flat, giving you unobstructed access to everything inside. Well, you and the 999 other gentlemen who move fast enough to snag one. $289

Courtesy of Patricks

1. Hanging Loop 

The G-hook system isn’t just a stylish handle: You can also use it to hang the bag from a hook or secure it to your carry-on.

2. Two-Way Zipper

The closures are water-resistant in both directions, meaning liquids won’t get in or out.

3. Fold-flat Construction

BB1 opens to 180 degrees, letting you scan its 4.2-litre capacity at a quick glance.

4. Technical-Fabric Shell

The durable recycled-nylon is easy to maintain and woven to survive splashes and leaks from your go-to products.

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You Can Now Place Bets on the Future Prices of Rolex Models

And which models will get discontinued next, thanks to a new collaboration between Kalshi and Bezel.

By Nicole Hoey 11/03/2026

You can bet on pretty much anything these days, from when Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will get married to who will be the next James Bond—and now that includes the Rollies on your wrist, or on your wishlist.

Prediction market platform Kalshi, regulated in the U.S., and luxe watch marketplace Bezel have teamed up on a new platform called Watch Futures that allows users to splash down cash on where they think the prices of a particular luxe timepiece are going, whether that’s a Rolex Submariner or a coveted Patek Philippe, Time & Tide reported.

You can also place a wager on which models might be discontinued, as well as any future launches from the top watchmakers on the new platform; with Watches and Wonders coming up, it’s certainly a well-timed launch that could see a lot of activity as a slew of new releases are announced at the event.

Watch Futures is all based on Beztimate, Bezel’s system (once used only internally) to help it accurately calculate the market price of a timepiece. It draws data from real-time transactions, live bids, verified sales, and other market offers to spawn its own series of independent valuation models to establish a watch’s value. From there, it’s up to bettors to place their wagers, and then the platform will showcase any price fluctuations or other updates as time goes on.

This new platform could have some pretty large implications for the watch industry.  As any horological savant would know, the internet and collectors alike are constantly chattering about which models are on the way out or when a certain timepiece of the moment’s time in the limelight will fade, of course, having a large impact on the prices of said model. And now, a Watch Futures user can have a direct stake in where a model is headed—and if they own said timepiece, it can be a protection from dwindling values on the marketplace, say, if a user places a bet on their model losing value and that actually comes to fruition.

To see Watch Futures in real time (and scope out how some pieces in your collection are faring), you can use the Kalshi app or its website.

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