Houses Gardens People: Baubles and Bath

The Sherle Wagner showroom teamed up with J. Pacetti private jeweler last week to host a clever party. The idea was to bring in Joe Pacetti's over-the-top baubles and show them mingled among the showroom's equally outrageous and costly bath fixtures.

Everyone wore Joe's jewels.

Including the handsome guy in the bathtub.

The event was masterminded by Sherle Wagner's regional sales director Will Kolb (standing), a dapper bon vivant who by his own admission ought to have been born 150 years ago and as a Russian prince.

Hello there.

As to be expected, the handsome guy in the window drew as much attention as some of the gazillion-dollar gold plated fixtures in the showroom.

An aristocrat by nature, Kolb is into all things Imperial Russia. Although this enameled lapel pin, gifted to him by Joe Pacetti for the occasion, isn't Russian, it does depict Spain's royal crest.

Kolb was also wearing a silk Faberge tie. He's got quite a collection of reproduction Faberge eggs at home, as well as an astonishing collection of authentic Russian Imperial plates, including some from Catherine the Great. I visited his house recently and took a lot of pictures, which I'll post at some future date.

Here's Joe Pacetti with Jenny Robbins and Stephanie Hunt.

And Joe's jewels.

Here's Kolb with Sherle Wagner's new Dallas showroom manager Jewel Bennett. What a name! She's perfect for the party.

....lapis, tiger's eye, rose quartz, and malachite pulls and knobs from Sherle Wagner's collection of jewelry-inspired fixtures. If you didn't know what they were, you might confuse them with cufflinks and tie bars....

I thought this was a cute shot. Kolb and Bennett are super close friends from another era, and are so excited to be working together at the showroom. Bennett's been there eight months.

Karen Taylor is the showroom manager for Sherle Wagner's Houston showroom, which opens soon. Taylor used to be a model, can you tell? That diamond necklace can't compete with her dazzling smile.

A detail from sink made from lapis lazuli.

A malachite sink with gold plated basin. Prices in the showroom range from $2,000 - $32,000.

...at $20,000, this carrera marble and gold plated toilet is no longer a toilet but a water closet, as the tag indicates.

A gold plated rain shower head that is so heavy Bennett had trouble holding it up for my shot.

These modern quartz pulls were some of my favorites.

And you thought Sherle Wagner just sold traditional fixtures.

Love these blocky, geometric handles and faucet.

A wall display of gold plated and carved Sherle Wagner fixtures.

Scene from the showroom.

Bennett told me that every week she picks out a new sink to obsess over. But the one she could actually live with full time, she says, is this pink marble vanity with rose quartz handles....

Kolb, on the other hand, has had a favorite from day one and it never waivers. It's this brown onyx sink, which sits directly across from his desk. Bennett says that when it sold several months ago, Kolb was bummed. A new one came in its stead, which Kolb thought looked even better, and now he's happy again.

See that small trash can? It could well be the cheapest thing in the showroom at about $1,300. [Correction: I was informed just now that indeed there is something way cheaper -- $100 for a plain metal pull]