Автор: karymsakov_qq4zn395

The restored Batheaston House, which sits on the River Avon about two miles east of Bath, has connections to both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria.  The restored Batheaston House, which sits on the River Avon about two miles east of Bath, has connections to both Queen Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria. 

One of nine from the famed Italian coachbuilder and delivered in 2019, it’s currently owned by the hosts of the Spike’s Car Radio podcast. One of nine from the famed Italian coachbuilder and delivered in 2019, it’s currently owned by the hosts of the Spike’s Car Radio podcast.

Seven identical watches appeared on set, but this is the «most screen-worn example,» according to Sotheby’s. Seven identical watches appeared on set, but this is the «most screen-worn example,» according to Sotheby’s.

The Vampire Diaries actor-turned-bourbon entrepreneur opens up about his most memorable travel experiences. 

Five-star hotels have turned breakfast into the ultimate status symbol. 

The ultra-exclusive Coachbuild model has already sold out ahead of its official debut. 

The two-seat Project Nightingale is an all-electric concept that’s nearly 19 feet long and will be limited to 100 examples when it enters production. The two-seat Project Nightingale is an all-electric concept that’s nearly 19 feet long and will be limited to 100 examples when it enters production.

Once the ultimate status symbol of Europe’s courts, snuff boxes turned the simple act of taking tobacco into an 18th-century display of taste, status, and theatre. 

Kylie Jenner at Coachella, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy in Love Story, Charli XCX, well, everywhere: it’s been declared that smoking is officially cool again. 

Except, is it? While it feels like every celebrity of the moment has been spotted with a Marlboro between their fingers (check out @cigfluencers on Instagram if you think I’m exaggerating), the number of Americans with an affiliation for tobacco dropped to its lowest recorded level in 2024, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Long before this stop-start flirtation with nicotine – before the health warnings and moral handwringing – there was another, more elaborate way to indulge. In the early 18th century, a new kind of accessory had taken hold across Europe’s courts and drawing rooms: the snuff box. Small enough to sit discreetly in the palm, these cases were designed to hold powdered tobacco, known as snuff, to keep it fresh and close at hand. 

“Snuff is ground tobacco, but it was flavored with lots of different resins, spices, and essences. It could be extraordinarily fragrant. And there were many kinds of recipes,” Matthew Winterbottom, curator of decorative arts and sculpture at Oxford’s Ashmolean Museum, explains. 

By the late 17th century, as tobacco shifted from pipe-smoking to something more refined, more portable, and, crucially, more performative, the practical container similarly evolved. Rarely larger than four inches across, snuff boxes became showcases of extraordinary craftsmanship. Gold, enamel, porcelain, hardstones: no material too precious, no surface left undecorated. Miniature painters rendered intricate landscapes; jewelers set diamonds and colored foils to catch the light. Some boxes passed through the hands of a dozen artisans before they were complete.

Their value was as performative as their function. “If you’re a flash person who’s got a lot of money and you want to show off, a snuff box is something that can really do that,” Winterbottom explains. “It would have probably been the most expensive object on your person at that time. It’s like the equivalent of having a Lamborghini in your pocket.”

Their appeal stretched to Europe’s most powerful figures: “Frederick the Great of Prussia, he was a very warlike king but also a massive snuff taker. He commissioned all these extraordinarily beautiful jeweled snuff boxes,” Winterbottom says – there were 300 boxes reported in the King’s collection. “These were incredibly feminine when we look at them today; they’re extravagant and covered in diamonds, which might be at odds with our ideas of masculinity.”

To carry a snuff box was to signal taste; to use one was to be noticed. It offered a perfectly choreographed moment: opened mid-conversation, extended with intention, closed with a flick that could suggest anything from intimacy to indifference. In 1711, The Spectator magazine offered satirical lessons on the ‘exercise of the snuffbox,’ including ‘rules for offering Snuff to a Stranger, a Friend, or a Mistress according to the Degrees of Familiarity or Distance,’ distinguishing acts between ‘the Careless, the Scornful, the Politic [or] the Surly Pinch.’ In a way, it was the modern-day equivalent of sparking a conversation by asking for a light, knowing all too well there’s one buried deep in your pocket.

With the rise of other forms of tobacco-taking and the introduction of cigarettes in the 19th century, the act of taking snuff began to diminish. As Winterbottom puts it, “it makes you basically sneeze, gives you a kind of brown nose, and is sort of an odd habit. So it just fell out of fashion, really, in the Victorian period.”

Changing ideals of masculinity only hastened its decline. “The 19th-century men are becoming much more somber… so it would have been rather unseemly, I think, for a man to be carrying a very elaborate snuff box around on his person,” he adds.

Yet while the contents fell from favor, the boxes themselves endured: no longer tools of habit or social accessories, but collectors’ prizes. As early as 1908, The Atlantic magazine described a single Louis XVI snuff box as unremarkable in provenance, yet it still fetched $10,000 at auction in Paris (roughly $300,000 in today’s terms). Its value, the essay claimed, lay not in who had owned it, but in what it was: a small object capable of conjuring an entire vanished world of ‘brocades […] diamond-buckled shoes,’ and candlelit salons. That sense of enchantment has proved remarkably durable. 

See also: A Secret World of Oriental Rugs Is Hidden Inside Liberty London

Royal collectors played no small role in preserving their legacy. “The late Queen’s grandparents, Queen Mary and George the Fifth, collected snuff boxes. They were very big collectors,” Winterbottom notes, adding that Queen Mary was “obsessed particularly with things that had been associated with members of the royal family,” acquiring boxes linked to figures such as Queen Charlotte and George IV. In London, he notes, a famed tobacconist in Haymarket was a popular royal supplier.

They were not alone. “People like Rothschilds, for example, had a big snuff box collection, because, again, they’re outward shows of luxury and glamour,” he says. “They’re not wearing them or using them, but they’ve just become collected objects.”

Today, snuff boxes sit less in waistcoat pockets than behind glass, prized not for their contents but for their craftsmanship. In fact, several of Fredrick the Great’s personal snuff boxes can be seen on display within the Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert Collection at London’s V&A, while the Royal Collection Trust and the Ashmolean similarly boast several within their permanent exhibits. “They often have these amazing histories associated with fascinating historical characters,” Winterbottom explains. “And again, they’re small, so they’re not going to take up a lot of room.”

That practicality, combined with their opulence, continues to appeal beyond museum vitrines, but also within private collections. “They’ve always been associated with wealthy collectors, people who were collecting amazing old master paintings and porcelain… and while some of the other objects are no longer as fashionable as they were, snuff boxes seem to remain. They’re still fetching very high prices.”

Which perhaps explains why the fascination endures. Smoking, then, may or may not be back. But the desire to turn a simple act into something social, stylized, and faintly theatrical never really left. The snuff box simply did it with more sophistication.

What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas… but these spas are too good to keep quiet. 

The Spa at Wynn & Encore Las Vegas

Treatments and facilities: Awarded the coveted Forbes Five-star Award, The Spa at Wynn & Encore boasts dozens of luxurious treatment rooms, with designs inspired by an exotic Moroccan retreat.

With the addition of two invigorating movement studios which offer spinning, yoga and private meditation classes, The Spa is a truly idyllic retreat. The elegance and tranquility inspired by the décor provide the perfect setting within which the elite traveler can relax and unwind. Offering separate women’s and men’s facilities including hot and cold plunges and a tranquil whirlpool, The Spa at Encore guarantees an immersive and emotive experience, alleviating the effects of the hectic Las Vegas lifestyle.

Signature treatment: Exclusive to Encore is the Polynesian-influenced Nalu Body Ritual, which helps encourage deep relaxation and balances the body’s chakras through powerful energy work. This fusion massage begins with a relaxing massage followed by a body exfoliation and coconut oil scalp treatment. The scents and sensations (like waves) recall the waves of French Polynesian islands.

wynnlasvegas.com

[See also: Four Seasons Announces New Private Residences in Las Vegas]

Waldorf Astoria Spa & Salon

Treatments and facilities: The world-class Waldorf Astoria Spa & Salon (formerly the Mandarin Oriental) is a 27,000 sq ft oasis dedicated to total wellbeing.

The Spa’s pièce de résistance is its Hammam, a tranquil steam room with beautiful mosaic tiles and glistening lights. Other facilities include vitality pools, ice fountains and Experience Shower Journeys. The calming, heated Laconium Room, complete with contoured bench seating and breathtaking views of the Las Vegas Strip makes The Spa a worthy recipient of the esteemed Forbes Five-Star Award.

Signature treatment: The Luxury of Time is a two- or three-hour massage tailored to your needs. This personalized escape combines massage, body and facial therapies so you feel relaxed, rejuvenated and your wellbeing fully restored. Choose from myriad massage therapies, like a warm stone massage, deep sports therapy massage or focus massage. There are plenty of facial treatments to choose from addressing various concerns and body wraps and scrubs to round out the treatment.

hilton.com

Qua Baths & Spa at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Hotel and Casino

Treatments and facilities: Inspired by ancient Roman traditions of relaxation, Qua Baths & Spa at Caesars Palace Las Vegas is a lavish spa accented by smooth stone flooring, dark woods and cascading waterfalls.

The serene setting is accentuated by the abundance of natural light which complements The Spa’s use of water as a natural source of healing and rejuvenation. Along with the traditionally opulent Roman Baths, Qua Spa also features 51 treatment rooms, a Laconium Room, an Arctic Ice Room and a peaceful tea room.

Signature treatment: Tantalize your senses and deepen your awareness with a Stone Massage with Aromatherapy. The custom-blended aromatherapy and basalt volcanic rocks used in the treatment are chosen for their ability to transfer heat and diffuse the aromatherapeutic oils across your body. A Qua Spa artisan will then soothe away any remaining tension to leave you feeling peaceful and harmonized.

caesars.com

[See more: Nobu Hotel at Caesars Palace Las Vegas]

Canyon Ranch Spa at The Venetian

Treatments and facilities: With more than 90 treatment rooms and spanning more than 134,000-sq-ft, Canyon Ranch Spa at The Venetian is a can’t-miss oasis next time you find yourself in Sin City. There are myriad lounge areas, an Aquavana Hydrothermal Experience (including a crystal steam room, experiential rains, Finnish sauna, herbal laconium, hydro spa and igloo), Bridal Suite, salon, barber and healthy cafes, Truth & Tonic and Canyon Ranch Grill. There is also a fitness room and rock wall.

Signature treatment: You can’t go wrong with any treatment on the comprehensive spa menu, but don’t miss the 80-minute Fit Massage. A certified fitness trainer will perform a 30-minute Fusionetics Movement Analysis to gather data on your muscle strength and muscle groups that need further attention. Then, a massage therapist will perform a 50-minute deep-tissue massage on areas that you need it most. You can take home a plan to help you develop muscles that need work. Don’t forget to visit the Aquavana Hydrothermal Experience, which is incredibly unique to Las Vegas. Water can be an incredibly healing treatment. Enjoy it before or after your treatment.

venetian.com

The Spa at Vdara

Treatments and facilities: The Spa at Vdara is a truly luxurious escape offering treatments tailored to the individual. The relaxation begins with their signature European heat experiences, taking you through a therapeutic journey of temperature changes and offering a multi-functional treatment room where you can retreat and enjoy a full day of pampering.

The Spa at Vdara offers a vast collection of results-oriented natural treatments in an intimate spa setting over two floors. Expert therapists are hand selected and trained extensively to achieve the spa’s luxuriously serene ambiance.

Signature treatment: On the Rocks is a 110-minute chakra-balancing treatment designed to treat the elite traveler from head to toe with expert techniques and soothing scents. The treatment begins with body brushing and a spearmint body polish, followed by a calming massage using essential oils and volcanic stones, finished off with a light facial and scalp massage.

vdara.mgmresorts.com

The Spa at ARIA

Treatments and facilities: From the moment you step foot inside the spa at ARIA it’s impossible not to feel a sense of tranquillity. Inspired by nature, the modern light-filled interiors are the perfect setting to escape the strip and indulge in a few hours of me-time. Set across two floors, it’s hard to beat the facilities at the 80,000 sq ft spa. Highlights include the Shio salt room where you can relax on a vibrating chair while the salty air works its wonders to give you a dewy glow and the heated Japanese Gabanyoku beds which help increase your circulation and accelerate your metabolism.

Signature treatment: The Ashiatsu Massage takes its name from ashi which means ‘foot’ and atsu which means ‘pressure’ in Japanese. Choose from a 50, 80 or 100 minute session during which your expert therapist will carry out a deep tissue massage on your back, neck, and shoulders with their bare feet while using bars on the ceiling to aid their balance. Blending Shiatsu and Swedish massage techniques the treatment helps any tension melt away leaving you feeling completely relaxed and refreshed.

aria.mgmresorts.com

[See also: Twenty for 20: Iconic Spas of the 21^st Century]

The Swiss house returns to Watches & Wonders today with a surprise release of a trio of rare handcrafts timepieces—part of its new Atelier des Établisseurs, focusing on the joint efforts of artisans and watchmakers. The Swiss house returns to Watches & Wonders today with a surprise release of a trio of rare handcrafts timepieces—part of its new Atelier des Établisseurs, focusing on the joint efforts of artisans and watchmakers.