Designer Water

When water wars and water shortage pose a major global problem, selling water can mean big business. It was with this frame of mind that Norwegians Ole Christian Sandberg and Christopher Harlem started the company VOSS Artesian Water from Norway. Launched in 2001, VOSS seeks to combine a unique and innovative design with that utmost human necessity: water.

They've also combined their design with that utmost human desire: status. When carrying around your RMB 120 cocktail from Lan is socially unacceptable (during yoga class, for example, or strolling mid-morning through the sterile wonderland of The Place), you can make sure that your liquid accessory does your salary justice. With prices estimated to start at RMB 55 for a 375ml bottle, your daily dose of VOSS could pay for the schooling of three migrant children.

VOSS water is collected from a confined, underground aquifer – a water-bearing, impermeable layer of rock, sand and ice that draws the “purest water,” untouched by pollutants or air. The aquifer is pressurized enough to allow water to rise up naturally from the ground without the use of mechanical pumps, which Voss claims makes it not only the water with the lowest mineral content on Earth, but also sodium-free.

VOSS officially enters the Beijing market through exclusive distribution partner, ASC Fine Wines.

Taste: Smooth and soft. Like foie gras.

Design: Neil Kraft, a former creative director of Calvin Klein, designed the sleek cylinder bottle.

Gotta Have It: VOSS is not available in retail stores, only in high-end luxury hotels and restaurants.

Exclusive to: St. Regis Hotel, Commune by the Great Wall, The Capital Club, Aria in China World Hotel, Centro in The Kerry Centre Hotel, Lan Club, SUBU and Face.

Sizes available: Both still and lightly sparkling in 375ml and 800ml bottles.

Prices: May vary depending on venue but estimated to be around RMB 55 for the 375ml bottle and RMB 80-120 for the 800ml bottle.