| The write stuff
 UK carmaker Bentley has teamed up with Italian pen manufacturer Tibaldi to create a fountain pen available in a limited issue of just 400, with an even more exclusive 40 appearing in solid white gold. The occasion is Bentley’s celebration of 60 years’ manufacturing in the northern English city of Crewe, and Tibaldi’s 90th anniversary. The pen features several Bentley touches, such as an engine turned barrel, a clip restyle by Bentley designers, and an etching and engraving technique known as knurling. The pen cap is meant to recall exactly the tip of the gear shift of the Mulliner edition Continental GT Diamond Series. Silver fountain pen, price: €5,000.
www.bentleymotors.com Case notes  Anyone wanting their laptop to travel in style as well as comfort might consider the new Modern Traveller computer slip from UK leather goods specialist Bill Amberg. These sleek slipcases, available in black or tan, are made from the sort of leather that makes you want to hug the case rather than merely toss it in an overhead locker and are lined with the same soft red cotton that adorns the insides of the company’s hand luggage range. Price: €400.
www.billamberg.com
| Wi-Fi private eye
Given this month’s cover story, it’s impossible not to mention this pocket-sized gadget designed to confirm whether roaming business travellers are in a Wi-Fi hotspot before they boot up their laptop or even splash out on a coffee. The hotspot detector also tells you where you can log on and displays the network’s ID and encryption status. Price: €100.
www.rebox.com |  | | Zilli season
Mostly bespoke, Lyon-based French brand Zilli has come up with a sport shoe that combines delicate lambskin upper with cork, leather and rubber soles. Very lightweight and utterly indulgent, these are aimed at men, although the company claims women are sneaking into Zilli’s handful of European boutiques and buying the shoe in white, red and Zilli’s signature blue. Middle Eastern customers are allegedly buying pairs in all five colours. Price: €750.
www.zilli.fr |  | Light reading  Cologne-based art and fashion imprint Taschen, which specialises in statement books that often weigh and cost far more than the coffee tables they adorn, is publishing what may turn into the most indulgent library of books ever on “interesting cities”. The first one available is Berlin – Portrait of a City, a photographic journey into Berlin’s history with accompanying tri-lingual text. At 672 pages thick, it is as solid as a Maybach but slightly cheaper. Although there are no publication dates yet, the next “City Portrait” will be Paris, followed by Los Angeles and then London. While some will no doubt buy these lavish tomes to give as corporate gifts, others will end up finding it hard to resist collecting the whole series – even if their bookcase ends up looking more impenetrable than the Berlin Wall. Price: €60.
www.taschen.com
| Worth its weight
High-end Italian clothing brand Zegna has taken an athletic turn for the autumn and come up with a four-piece sports collection innovatively designed to wrap away into a lightweight satchel. The gym kit consists of a nylon sports jacket – which transforms into the satchel – matching track pants, micro-fibre gym shorts and a classic stretch cotton T-shirt. Available in grey, maroon and black, the whole kit weighs in at less than 1kg. Price: €470.
www.zegna.com
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