Beautiful and bizarre things to buy: From Chocolates by La Folie to Camera bag by Black Canvas

Edible art

Chocolates by La Folie

Chunky almond butter and honey, smoked pink sea salt, maple granola—while the chocolates are mouth-watering, we’re seduced by the graphic art packaging. At La Folie Lab, Kamala Mills, Bandra and Kala Ghoda, Mumbai; Rs350 each.

Limited-edition pocket knife by Victorinox

Serious toys

Limited-edition pocket knife by Victorinox

A panel of judges from the Swiss pocket knife maker Victorinox looked at over 1,200 designs that were submitted, finally choosing 10 winners that resulted in limited editions. Available worldwide and at the Gute Reise store, Connaught Place, Delhi or Gutereise.in; Rs1,470.

Palazzo Console by Viya Home

Hotstand

Palazzo Console by Viya Home

A brass body and a glass top, the Palazzo Console combines Cubism with luxe finishes of matte gold, nickel silver and verdigris. At www.viyahome.com; starting from Rs1.5 lakh.

Camera bag by Black Canvas

Tra-Well

Camera bag by Black Canvas

It has brown leather on the outside and faux red suede on the inside and is designed to fit a DSLR with lens. There’s room for an extra lens, a pocket for lens caps, and it comes fully padded and topped with an antique-finish twist lock and handle. A stylish, rather vintage holdall for the good ol’ DSLR user.

At www.theblackcanvas.in; Rs7,000.

White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion La Prairie

Skin fruit

White Caviar Illuminating Pearl Infusion La Prairie

Apart from the promises of luminous skin, the bottle itself is worth keeping for its shiny little white caviar pearls.

La Prairie, at DLF Emporio, Delhi, and Palladium Mall, Mumbai; Rs40,800 for 30ml.

Compiled by Komal Sharma.

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By Invitation: Vanities

An ode to things you don’t need but must have

Carry-On Cocktail kit, The Bloody Mary

This week:Carry On Cocktail Kit (The Bloody Mary)

Airlines have their virtues.

Mixology is not one of them.

Order a Bloody Mary and they will serve you a bloody disaster.

Duty-free stores don’t stock cocktail mixes.

Which means that at 30,000ft, you are left not-so-high and very dry.

Up until now.

In-flight consumption of liquor demands a certain moderation.

You are not a gherkin. You don’t need to be pickled.

Which is why the Carry On Cocktail Kit is just what the bartender ordered.

It carries enough ammunition for a round trip.

It can create two blissful Bloody Marys. One for each leg of the trip.

It comes in a tasteful tin.

Remember class and character are a Bloody Mary’s bridesmaids.

It includes all the ingredients of civility. A recipe card. A Bloody Mary mix. Mini pickles. Rimming salt. A bar spoon (we don’t do Bloody Marys with some ratty plastic putridness) and a linen coaster.

You button for a 30ml of whichever cheap vodka the airline offers.

You summon for a chilled glass.

Rim it with salt.

Pour in the mix.

Gently dunk the mini-pickles like that sly bully in the swimming pool.

And place it on to the linen coaster.

Lift the glass. Observe it closely.

Air kiss it with your nose. Breathe in the botanicals.

Then recline the seat.

Post that, gently put on your HiFiMan HE1000 headphones.

Select Shigeru Umebayashi from your playlist.

Sip the sonnet.

And gently whisper, "Bloody Hell."

The Carry On Cocktail Kit: $20 (Rs1,280); www.wandpdesign.com

By Swapan Seth , CEO, Equus