Your new La Cornue Chateau range doesn’t even exist yet—at least, not until you place your order. Only then does a single craftsman in France begin assembling “the Rolls-Royce of kitchen ranges,” shaping La Cornue’s 100-year tradition to anchor your 21st-century kitchen. Each Chateau offers two ovens—one convection, one gas—and your choice of stovetop arrangements, colors, materials, sizes and more. You can even mount a plaque with your name on it, so no one forgets who’s wearing the toque. Top-of-the-line Grand Palais Chateaus start at $41,000. (Nokomis-based chef and TV personality Rolf Zahnd recently spent $65,000 on his, which included a 40,000-BTU rotisserie.) The Sarasota office of Florida Builders Appliances handles orders locally. 5249 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (941) 926-0700. 

Flying the Coupe

Sarasota’s own Rivolta Group is making waves with its new Coupe 4.5. The 44-foot boat combines Rivolta’s trademark classic Italian design with exhilarating power, speeds up to 38 knots and turn-on-a-buoy handling—not surprising coming from the descendants of Italian carmakers. The customizable design lets you choose either standard propeller or jet propulsion. The latter uses joystick technology for supreme maneuverability in waters as shallow as 18 inches, so it’s perfect for the Gulf Coast’s shallow waters. Equally comfortable for a night on the water or a cruise to the Cape. Base price: $879,000. (941) 954-0355; www.rivoltayachts.com. 

Got MILK?

Touted as the iPod of desks, the MILK desk is true to Apple style: the perfect blend of work and whimsy. In-desk cable routing? Check. Electronic height adjustment? Check. Fish tank? Check. (Danish designer Soren Kjaer says the fish reduce stress during your workday. Landlubbers can use the transparent box as a waste bin instead.) The sleek but playful design inspired by Macintosh computers includes desktop drawers with acrylic lids that allow easy access without sacrificing desktop space. There’s even an “iPod drawer” for storing your tunes. At dkVogue, $4,937. 1549 State St., Sarasota (941) 955-2600. www.dkvogue.com. 

The Great Escape

Time for your DVDs to join your CDs in the back of the closet: The Kaleidescape movie-on-demand system stores up to 450 DVDs whole and uncompressed—which means no sacrificing quality for convenience. (And unlike similar PC-based products, the Kaleidescape won’t freeze up or crash under all that data.) Think of it as a full-resolution MP3 player for your movies: Instantly access your entire film collection at the push of a button and customize playlists, preferences and parental controls. And that’s not even the best part: Multiple player units allow the Kaleidescape to distribute your movies to any television in the house. $16,000 ($3,000 per additional player) at Sarasota’s Advanced Audio Design, 4915 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (941) 925-2673. www.advancedaudiodesign.com. 

The High Life

Green Acres’ Eva Gabor just adored a penthouse view, and she’d go hog-wild for this one. The crown atop Palm Avenue’s 15-story Tessera building, this two-floor penthouse is equipped with marble floors, vaulted ceilings and a grand spiral staircase leading to a 1,000-square-foot upstairs space. Indeed, the entire 6,580-square-foot interior just begs to be outfitted by the upscale boutiques and urban art galleries that are just a stroll away. And that view? The penthouse’s floor-to-ceiling sliding glass doors give way to 1,600 square feet of wraparound terraces, for a 270-degree panorama of Sarasota Bay and downtown’s 21st-century skyline. Hello, city life. Listed at $6.25 million by Klaus Lang, Michael Saunders & Company. www.klauslang.com.

Custom Ride

Suzuki of Sarasota’s customized, high-performance Hayabusa motorcycles are being snapped up by two-wheeling boomers looking to turn heads—and turn them quickly. The local Suzuki experts modify the 165-horsepower machines with infinite eye-catching improvements, from fat tires to alma mater-themed paint jobs to a million chrome accessories, while making the bike’s working parts even more dependable than factory. And with all that power in the Hayabusa’s upright ride (compared to most hunch-inducing crotch-rockets), even Harley devotees order the custom sport bikes for the best of both worlds. Clients around the country are paying Suzuki of Sarasota up to $37,000 for the tricked-out motorcycles. 4583 Clark Road, Sarasota (941) 925-0375. www.suzukiofsarasota.com. 

Kate the Great

Los Angeles-based Kate Somerville is skincare’s new It girl, and her Deep Tissue Repair with Peptide K8 is the new It product, with a six-month wait list after its L.A. debut and a celebrity following. Peptide K8—Somerville’s proprietary blend of peptides, which both prevent the breakdown of collagen and help rebuild it—softens and strengthens skin, promotes skin elasticity and results in a younger-looking, more radiant complexion. A must-have for those obsessive about putting their best face forward. $150 for 1 oz. from Simply Spoiled, 100 Central Ave., Suite 1024, Sarasota (941) 364-3337.  

Handmade Luxury

In an era of mass production, it’s a rare vendor who crafts his wares one piece at a time. Enter Martin Dingman, an Ozarks Mountains-based leather goods designer whose footwear, belts and wallets are available at The Met right here in Sarasota. An American designer with a distinctly European sensibility, “Dingman has a real passion for the origin and quality of his items,” says Geoffrey Michel, The Met’s co-owner. What’s more natural for think-local Sarasotans than a pair of Dingman’s alligator shoes? They’re $1,895 at The Met Fashion House Day Spa & Salon, 35 S. Boulevard of the Presidents, Sarasota (941) 388-3991. www.themetsarasota.com. 

In the Bag

“Top-handle bags are the big trend for fall,” says Sally Schule, style maven and manager of Sarasota’s Saks Fifth Avenue. Instead of handles that are sewn or hooked into the side of most traditional handbags, top handles are oval-shaped and attached to the top portion of the purse or tote, reflecting big-name designers’ desire to create more structured pieces. The always on-trend Nancy Gonzalez has created the perfect one to get you through the rest of this year and all of next; it’s $TKTK at Saks Fifth Avenue, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (941) 364-5300.  

Vogue Vins

Fine wine lovers deserve fine wine cellars, and a Sarasota-based company is building some of the most stylish and state-of-the-art cellars in the country. Gordon Grief and Ross Capel-Davies of Amphorae Cellars have completed dream cellars for clients in cities from Miami to San Francisco—including an elegantly appointed cellar for a Palm Beach home that rang in at $120,000. Locally, they’ve built a 7,000-bottle wine room for South Trail Liquors and a cellar for an Oaks home that includes such posh architectural details as a vaulted slate ceiling, cedar beam with solid mahogany racking and an ornate antique light fixture. With extensive knowledge about wine storage and new technology, they offer customization options as unlimited as your imagination. Amphorae Cellars, 4533 Mariotti Court, #103, Sarasota (941) 374-2943. www.amphoraecellars.com. 

Shoe-ture

Tatyana Sharoubim and Joe Seidensticker, the owners of downtown Sarasota’s T. Georgiano’s boutique, predict that this fall’s biggest footwear trend will be color, color, color. “You’ll see a lot of brights and metallics that you wouldn’t normally see at black-tie events,” Sharoubim says. The couple’s pick for the year’s hottest shoe? Massimo Dogana’s $630 red python-and-Swarovski crystal stunner. “It’s a luxury, eye-catching shoe,” Sharoubim says. Wear yours with a simple dress and minimal—if any—jewelry; with a shoe like this, that’s all you’ll need. T. Georgiano’s, 1409-B First St., Sarasota (941) 870-3727. www.tgeorgianos.com.  

Time’s on Your Side

We predict the new Philip Stein large round double diamond watch will be the accessory for fall. This beauty has it all: alligator-skin strap, diamond bezel and the ability to be set to two time zones at once. The best part? You’ll feel as good as you look. Philip Stein timepieces are designed with Teslar technology, which causes the watch to emit a signal that strengthens the body’s electromagnetic energy and relieves tension—and that’s the greatest luxury of all. It’s $3,015 at Saks Fifth Avenue, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota (941) 364-5300.

Bragging Rights

The first Bentley Brooklands sold in America was at this year's Naples Winter Wine Festival. The $450,000 auction price made Monte and Usha Ahuja members of a small cult of owners—only 550 Brooklands will ever be made. Each 2009 Brooklands will be hand-assembled, from engine to interior. The richly appointed interior has the largest space offered by any four-passenger grand touring coupe. Under the hood is a twin-turbocharged V8 reworked to produce a stout 530 horsepower, rocketing this nearly three-ton car from 0 to 60 in five seconds. Customers may choose the interior decor from numerous designs and colors, right down to the color of the seat belt restraints. The base price is $340,990. Full information is available at www.bentleymotors.com and there are Florida dealers in Naples, Orlando and Tampa.