Monthly Archives: April 2008

Arturo Fuente OpusX – Limited Edition

The Fuente Fuente OpusX is inarguably the rarest cigar in the world. The cigar marks 30 years of tradition and is one of the only Dominican Puro’s producted in the world. Because of the Fuente family’s deep rooted tradition to never rush the hands of time, the Fuente Fuente OpusX is released sparingly. The Fuente Fuente OpusX cigars are consistently ranked among the world’s finest. With such a high demand for the Opus X, they are extremely rare and often hard to find.

Introduced in 2004, the Opus 22 is a limited edition box of twenty-two Opus X cigars that the Fuente family has designated all net profits to the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, a charity established by Carlos Fuente, Jr. to provide humanitarian support to the people of the Dominican Republic. Support this fine organization and buy yourself a box at ThompsonCigar.com ($750).

Piaget White Gold Diamond Sapphire Ring

From Piaget’s new Limelight Paris-New York collection, this ring was unveiled at SIHH 2008, and is part of the New York Couture inspired part of the line.

The collection shows contrasts between the two fashion capitals of the world and their diverse fashion and architecture influences.

Loaded with 528 brilliant cut diamonds of approximately 7.17 total carats, this ring a shiner! Add to that 35 baguette cut diamonds totaling around 3.8 carats and luscious blue sapphires – about 2.64 total carats over 116 pieces.
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Maurice Lacroix Memoire 1 Watch

Maurice Lacroix just unveiled their stunning Memoire 1 which houses a number of innovations under the Memoire’s sleek watch face.

This is the first mechanical watch with a memory function. Inside the white gold case is a 48 jewel automatic movement, transparent mineral based hour disc, and a chronograph with “mechanical memory” that can remember elapsed times.

For example, you can switch into chrono mode, setting the hands to 12 o’clock and then revert to watch mode and the hands will flit back to their correct position.

It should be with a retail price of £135,000 ($270,000).

Jade Jagger and Belvedere create the Jagger Dagger

Belvedere vodka has come up with a new promotional item, the Jagger Dagger, a sword developed by jewelry designer Jade Jagger, daughter of Rolling Stone Mick Jagger and model Bianca Jagger.

The sword dipped in 18K-white gold comes encrusted with 12-carats of brilliant-cut diamonds, 42 pastel sapphires, and a vital blue lapis lazuli square.

The blade is formed using mirror-polished carbon steel with an impression of the similar tree twigs that adorn the Belvedere bottle.
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Eddie Healey Pays Girls Aloud £125,000 For Performance

girls aloud

Feisty pop group, Girls Aloud made a fast £125,000 ($250,000) for a 1 hour performance at British Billionaire, Eddie Healey’s 70th birthday party.

By all accounts, Mr Healey went to town with the rest of his bash by spending a further £300,000 ($600,000) on hiring a ballroom and entertaining 300 guests at London’s Dorchester Hotel. 

The World’s Biggest Chocolate Fountain

The Bellagio hotel in Las Vegas showcases the world’s tallest chocolate fountain designed by award-winning executive pastry chef Jean Philippe Maury. At 26 feet tall the fountain circulates nearly 2100 pounds of dark, milk and white chocolate at the rate of 120 quarts per minute :

* 6 pumps circulate close to 2 tons of chocolate
* Over 500 feet of stainless steel piping
* Chocolate circulates at 120 degrees F
* Climate controlled enclosure maintained at 95 degrees F
* Chocolate rises 27 vertical feet from lower level pump room
* 6 ceiling spouts disburse chocolate 14 feet above floor level
* Chocolate cascades into 25 hand-crafted artistic glass vessels
* 2 years of engineering, planning and design

IYC announce two new superyacht charter listings

IYC (International Yacht Collection, LLC.), recently announced the addition of two new superyachts to their charter and management fleet, the M/Y TUSCAN SUN and the M/Y CHEVY TOY (Ex JANIE).

The 147’ 7” (45m) six (6) stateroom M/Y TUSCAN SUN was built in 2006 by Izar/Navantia and can accommodate twelve (12) guests. She has a crew of nine (9). The beautiful interior also includes oversize windows on the main and bridge decks that provide stunning views. A selection of water toys are available as well as a gym.

The TUSCAN SUN is available at a rate of EU 160,000/wk. for the Summer of 2008 and $235,000/wk. for the Winter of 2008/09. Her charter schedule is West Med – Riviera/Corsica/Sardinia, West Med – Naples/Sicily for the Summer of 2008 and Caribbean – Windward, Caribbean – Leeward for Winter 2008/09.

The 157’ (47.8m) M/Y CHEVY TOY has a spectacularly rich interior that mirrors a stately home of Europe. Built in 2004 by Trinity Yachts, this plush superyacht has a baby grand piano, large swim platform, and air-conditioned alfresco dining for 10 on the aft deck. There is also a Kaleidescape entertainment system throughout for easy selection from yacht’s central movie and music libraries.

The CHEVY TOY is available at a rate of $157,000/wk. in the Bahamas for Summer 2008 and $165,000/wk. in Winter 2008/09 in Caribbean – Windward, Caribbean – Leeward.

Eco-house sells for £7.2million

An innovative eco-friendly home in a Cotswold nature reserve has been sold for a world record £7.2 million for a country house.

The ‘thoroughly modern manor house’, modelled on a bee orchid found on the reserve, was sold off-plan last week.

The buyer has chosen to remain anonymous but speculation is rife with Brad Pitt having looked at the plans and Kylie Minogue having stayed nearby recently.
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Luxury Credit Cards

For quite some time the American express Centurion card or commonly known as the American black was a highly coveted item.

For users of the American black there is no such thing as credit limits ordinary folks have to put up with.

The estimate is that at the moment there approximately 17,000 black cards in circulation.

However to be eligible for the American express black you must charge 250,000 per year. The initiation fee will set you back for $5000, while the annual fee is $2500.

But apart from the no credit limit there are many added perks – a personal concierge service that will score tickets for events and make your reservations for you. Then there are the private shopping services that will open doors for you at all the major fashion houses.
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A 206.82 Carat Sapphire Pendant May Fetch $1.5 million

Featured above is a 206.82 carat sapphire pendant encrusted with diamonds to be auctioned at Sotheby’s auction house in Geneva, London.

Designed by jeweller Cartier in 1951, the pendant formely was a part of collection of Britain’s Wallis, Duchess of Windsor.

It is anticipated to fetch $1.1-1.5 million (Euros 6,97,000-9,50,000) on 15 May.
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a Ron Arad sofa may fetch up to $160,000

A Ron Arad sofa may fetch up to 80,000 pounds ($159,000) at a London sale this week that aims to tap demand for “design art.”

The steel work looks amazing — just don’t sit in it. “If you’re sitting on a polished metal sofa with rivets on your jeans you have to be careful,” said Ben Williams, a design specialist at Phillips de Pury .

“Sitting on these pieces tends to be reserved for special occasions. They’re usually just looked at as a sculptural element in the room.” […]
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JetSuite, A New Company By The Founders of JetBlue

A cadre of senior management from airlines that changed the rules in commercial aviation are now expecting to change the way people own and operate private jets.

Through JetSuite, private jet owners can fly their planes whenever they want and yet still receive $25,000 per month in return for allowing the company to charter the aircraft out to others during any downtime.

JetSuite was founded by Alex Wilcox, one of the founding team members at JetBlue Airways.
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Randomly Crystallised Swarovski

Swedish designers Front created Randomly Crystallised which is a collection of vases and lights for the Swarovski Crystal Palace, a high-end crystal and glass store.

The pieces were made by combining cut crystals with hard blown liquid crystal.

“Front has experimented with crystal as a material,” the design company says of itself. “They have let the precision-cut crystals merge with hot liquid crystal to create a method where all the objects get an individual expression.”

Via trendhunter

Zenith Mega Port Royal Tourbillon

The case is in black titanium and sports a protective grill across the sapphire crystal that is meant to offer additional protection to the crystal.

What makes this piece interesting though is the introduction of an anchor in silicon, marking a major milestone for the manufacture and a wholly unanticipated one at that.

The tourbillon carriage ‘sits behind bars’ at the 11 ‘clock position, and makes one revolution per minute.
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Gold Mickey Mouse statue

Walt Disney Studio Home Entertainment and jeweler Ginza Tanaka have made this gold Mickey Mouse statue as part of a campaign to promote the Blu-ray DVD release of “National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets.”

The 12-cm-tall, 1-kg statue, which is valued at 3.23 million yen ($31,000) will be displayed in Tanaka’s Ginza store through April 29, and then tour Osaka, Nagoya, Fukuoka and Sendai – Via fareastgizmos

The Burj al Arab Swarovski crystal

Burj Al Arab and the world’s finest producer of crystal, Swarovski, offer you a chance to own a collector’s item beyond compare. Take the exquisite lines of this landmark building home with you in the form of a handcrafted mini Burj Al Arab Swarovski crystal.

Standing 153mm high, only 500 pieces of this exclusive symbol of luxury have been created.
Only these official, limited edition crystals capture the true splendour of Burj Al Arab – make sure you have the authentic masterpiece in your collection.

The crystal model is available at Al Dukan boutiques at Burj Al Arab and Madinat Jumeirah, and all other Jumeirah properties upon request, and is priced at AED 4,250 ($ 1170).

Source : burj-al-arab

LVMH acquires the Swiss watchmaker Hublot

LVMH, the world’s leading luxury group, announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire the Hublot group, a top of the range watchmaker enjoying very strong growth.

LVMH will acquire Hublot from Mr Carlo Crocco, who founded the group in 1980, and a company controlled by Mr Jean-Claude Biver, who has managed Hublot since 2004.
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