(Bloomberg Businessweek) -- As any frequent hotel guest knows, one of life's most overlooked luxuries is having ice cubes whenever you wish. Nambé LLC, a Santa Fe, N.M.-based company known for its sophisticated take on Southwestern style, turns that feeling into a hosting opportunity with its Forte ice bucket. The $150 container is mostly made of concrete, which has naturally insulating properties, and rimmed with a proprietary eight-metal silver alloy that also maintains temperature. The alliance of unusual materials brings an easy elegance to cocktail hour.
The Competition
• Concrete's cool is catching on: Hart & Hive ($195) makes a hand-poured ice bucket with an industrial look offset by gold resin flecks and leather handles.
• Alessi SpA's lidded Ovale ($310) is a more classic take, designed by Ronan and Erwan Bouroullec. It relies on double-walled stainless steel to keep cubes cold.
• For more flash, Christofle offers a lidded, silver-plated, spherical bucket ($1,450) inspired by Champagne bubbles.
The Case
The Forte weighs almost 5 pounds, so you don't need to worry about toppling your rosé into the infinity pool. The asymmetrical, shiny silver rim, meanwhile, gives the vessel a visual solidity to match.Tongs with serrated edges are included, and the inside is coated with food-safe lacquer. Here's a tip for those especially long, lazy afternoons: Chill the concrete bowl for 45 minutes ahead of time, and the stone will keep your ice cold for hours. $150; nambe.com
To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Gaddy at jgaddy@bloomberg.net, Chris Rovzar
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