Exclusive Private Residential Estate, Abu Dhabi

Zaya, a Abu Dhabi-based real estate company has launched its first of many property ventures; Nurai, a spectacular private community of limited edition resort beach-front estates and water villas on a natural island off the coast of Abu Dhabi.

Derived from the Arabic word “nour” meaning light, Nurai is surrounded by clear waters and ringed with pristine sandy beaches. Lying immediately northeast of Abu Dhabi, the island is set in isolation away from the hustle and bustle of city life yet is within minutes from the mainland.
People interested in resort beachfront estates will have their choice of two designs - 'The Shoreline' or 'The Seaside'.

The Shoreline estates will consist of six bedrooms, seven bathrooms, private beach and rooftop garden with a total build area of 12,275 square feet.

Similar in size, but with five bedrooms and six baths, will be The Seaside estates. No detail has been overlooked. Each resort residence includes luxurious amenities such as a private beach and garden, infinity swimming pool, concealed service quarters and outdoor showers.

The resort is due to open in 2010 and the prices for the residences start at €20 million ($30 million)

Via zawya

Pong Dinner Table

this Pong Dinner Table is holding a great reverence to all gadget lovers and is paying a tribute to the video game that revolutionized the gaming industry long back.

Designed by Moritz Waldemeyer, this Corian table has been embedded with 2,400 LED lights along with a couple of trackpads, giving this 1972 Atari game a modern update.

The prince hasn’t been unveiled yet but it definitely won't be cheap.

Via Cubeme / Ubergizmo

Steve McQueen's Le Mans Porsche may fetch $2 million !

If you're looking for something sporty , the Porsche driven by Steve McQueen in the movie Le Mans could be for you. It is going up for auction via Bonhams & Butterfield in the US as part of its Sale of Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia.

The anticipated price that this coupe may fetch, is $2 million. For this price, you can get the 1969-70 Porsche 908/2 Spyder, which is a 350bhp, 3.0-litre flat-eight air-cooled speedster with a fibreglass body, tubular aluminium spaceframe and a car capable of hitting 200mph+.

The auction is on 15th August 2008.

Via retrotogo / elitechoice

No.1 by Clive Christian is the World’s Most Expensive Perfume

Ever wondered what the most expensive perfume in the world is? According to Guinness Book of Records it is No.1 by Clive Christian, due to the fine, rare, and downright exotic ingredients it contains

This British Perfume House was first made famous 135 years ago by Queen Victoria and Clive Christian (an English millionaire and exclusive furniture maker ) revived this perfumery in 1999, inspired by the rich history and high quality from the 1800’s.

Due to the highest quality and concentration possible No.1 only 1000 bottles of No.1 perfume for men and 1000 bottles of No.1 for women are released to the world each year.

One pure ounce (30ml) of No.1 perfume currently costs £1260 ($2,350)! It is available at the finest stores worldwide.

Still not expensive enough? You can pay extra for a customized bottle. Elton John got his fluid ounce in a piano-shaped bottle and reportedly paid around $250,000 for the privilege.

Source : www.clive.com

Sony's $10k Sountina glass speaker

Last year Sony had atypically dared to unveil its tubular non-directional prototype speaker and today it has been approved for production and they have managed to put it on the shelf.

Christened as “Sountina” speaker (NSA-PF1), it features a transparent organic glass tube which vibrates and expands sound to 360 degrees.


The 6-foot tall, 50- to 20,000Hz speaker features inputs that include analog RCA and digital coax and optical TOS supporting up to 24bit/96kHz linear PCM (stereo). Specs include a 13-cm subwoofer, 7-cm mid, and organic glass tweeter.

The piece is slated to cost around ¥1,000,000 (about €6,500 / $10,000).

Via luxurylaunches / pricy spicy

The $28,000 Suitcase

Designed by Dutchman Henk van de Meene, the HENK suitcase is made up from red Italian burl, black ebony, horse hair, magnesium, aluminum, titanium, carbon fiber, parachute fabric and is dressed in supreme quality leather. The carbon-fiber exterior is very similar to the cockpit of a Formula 1 racecar. !

The suitcase has been designed in such a manner that when dragged it is practically weightless. Even when it is fully loaded a pressure of just 25 grams is exerted on ones fingers.

It has too many features to be listed here, but they include wheels and storage spaces that appear at the push of a button, a special briefcase compartment, and an anti-theft cable: if you feel like sleeping on the trip but want your Henk not to be stolen by thieves, you can attach yourself to your suitcase with a Liquid Crystal Polymer anti-theft cable.

the special edition Henks has been created exclusively for 20ltd - only five were created. Priced at US $28,000 (18,000 euros)

Source : deluxeblog along with luxurylaunches, bornrich and luxuryportfolio

Marc Jacobs : Iris sequined bag

Enjoy a touch of sparkles with the Marc Jacobs Iris Sequined Bag : This cute evening bag is the perfect exhibition of his quirky design talent and is a real investment for lovers of the brand.

The clutch is designed with miniature beads and covered in hundreds of sequins.

An added bonus - the giant silver frog sitting in the front : The frog was a theme which ran through the Marc Jacobs spring mainline collection and has since become a micro-trend for the season.

$1,895 available at Net-A-Porter (source : thelatestluxe)

Rare South American Stamps

Luxist inform us that rare South American stamps, in fact the world's most valuable private collection of South American postage stamps, will be offered in a public auction in New York City on June 5 and 6, 2008.

The auction includes for instance the only surviving example of the 1859 one-peso "tête-bêche," which has a pre-sale estimate of $400,000 to $500,000.
There is also an envelope from Chile with a unique block of 14 lithographed 5-centavo stamps of 1854 which is $400,000 to $500,000.
From Colombia there is a letter with a 5-centavo and a10-centavo stamp dated September 1, 1859, the first day these very first stamps of Colombia were issued The pre-sale estimate is $200,000 to $300,000.
You'll find out more information on luxist and on siegelauctions

World’s Biggest and most expensive Airport Opens in Beijing

After 4 years the Beijing Airport -currently the biggest one in the world- is finished, just in time for the 2008 Olympics.

The new Terminal 3, built at a cost of $3.5 billion usd is the first building to break the one million square meter barrier : it will accommodate an estimated 50 million passengers per annum by 2020.

And yeah, from the air, the new airport looks like a giant guitar !
Find out more about Beijing Airport on Archdaily

Gresso Unveils White Diamonds Collection

Gresso, the Russian luxury phone manufacturer, will soon release two highly expensive handsets, included in the new "Avantgarde White Diamonds" collection.
After the Sol Steel and Luna Steel devices were unveiled, the new collection includes two new mobiles called Gresso White Diamonds and Gresso Royal White Diamonds.

In terms of design, the new phones are not different from the other handsets that Gresso rolled-out until now - their hand-assembled body panels are made out of 200-year old African blackwood, the keyboards have a base plate made of titanium, their stainless steel battery cover has a magnetic lock plus leather and gold decoration.

The displays of the two new Gresso handsets are covered by 42K sapphire crystal glass, their keys are made out of 18K gold and as a signature feature - all the numbers on the keypad are laser-cut in Roman style.

But what makes the new devices different is their keypad, for which the manufacturer used diamonds :

Gresso White Diamonds is the "cheap" device from the two new ones, coming for 9,000 Euros (about $14,135). Aside from the materials listed above, the handset also brings white diamonds, crafted into its navigation pad.

The Gresso Royal White Diamonds is the more expensive one of the two. Only 200 units will be produced making it a limited edition handset. All of its 23 gold keys are crowned with a total of 2.53K of white diamonds. It will be priced at 33000 euro (about $52,000).

The collection will be presented at JCK Las Vegas Show, the leading jewellery fair in the USA, which debuts on May 30. Shortly after, the luxury handsets should be available for purchase.

Source : gsmarena / softpedia / unwiredview

Swarovski Crystal Laptop Case

This swarovski-studded laptop case ‘Paris’ from PortDesigns will carry your luxury notebook in style!
The slim black laptop case boasts elegant finish and it can accommodate up to 15.4″ notebook. A matching heart charm also comes with the bag. No word on price!

Via Bornrich / Chipchick

Champagne tong and stopper set by G.Lorenz

G.Lorenzi, the only still family-owned shop on Milan’s famous Via Montenapoleone, is perhaps the most civilised retail space in Europe.

This Lorenzi special edition set, contained in a ‘Chancellor of the Exchequer budget’ red calf leather case, comprises a chrome plate cast steel tong with hand-turned Makassar ebony handles polished with bees wax and a chrome plate brass stopper turned from a solid bar with a Makassar ebony top.

A ball-bearing connection between the stopper rings makes for a satisfyingly smooth action. Reputed to keep champagne unimpeachably fizzy.

Created exclusively for 20ltd.com, this piece is limited to only 30 editions and is retailed at $520usd.

Massive diamond under the hammer

A 101.27 carat diamond (the size of a ping pong ball), has been sold at auction in Hong Kong for more than $6 millions usd.

The stone was cut from a 460 carat rough diamond, and has 92 facets. It was discovered in South Africa's biggest diamond mine, Premier Mine, which is where the world's largest rough diamond, the Cullinan Diamond, was also found.

The stone is the largest colourless diamond to appear at auction in 18 years, says auction house Christie's, and it was also the largest ever sold in Asia.

Christie's said the diamond's appearance on the market had "created a sensation" : "the crowd at the event was "flabbergasted" by the high prices on display".
"The world record price for the colourless diamond sale was broken...the atmosphere in the room was very excited". "People were looking right, looking left, we were breaking world records all the time. They couldn't believe their eyes." It was put up for sale by an anonymous private individual and bought by a first-time auction buyer from Hong Kong who bid over the telephone.

The new owner will have the right to name the diamond !

Source : BBC

Megayacht of the week : The Riva 92 Duchessa

After the hugely successful 115' Athena, flagship of the fleet since 2005, Riva continues its adventure in the megayacht segment, with a new, refined model. Mauro Micheli's pencil, the work of his team at Officina Italiana Design and Riva's Engineering Department have once again managed to sketch a winning yacht.

Curved, racy lines harmoniously design the profile of this yacht which encloses all the elegance and inimitable Riva style.

The novelties are numerous, both in the exterior design and in the interior layout and fittings, that won't miss to match the requests of the most demanding owners. This megayacht features implements like an exquisitely crafted black American walnut interior, spacious VIP and master cabins, a large sunpad, an above-board Jacuzzi and an advanced entertainment system.

The 92 Duchessa has been added to the Riva collection, which currently features twelve models, and will be on display in September at 2008 Cannes Boat Show.

Source : Riva / Luxuryinsider

Foosball tables for billionaires

It seems we haven't shown you the fanciest Foosball table ever made yet : designers are greatly inspired by the luxury foosball table and can't stop inventing new ones.

until we saw the Teckell Collection 2008, exquisite creations made of sparkling crystal, and populated with shiny aluminum players.

Teckell Collection foosball tables, created by Adriano Design, are characterized by their transparent surfaces as well as their innovative shapes and sizes.

They are available in different editions with all featuring a crystal frame with gleaming aluminum players, thereby enabling them to take the honor of world’s most expensive foosball tables ever produced.

Albeit there is no word disclosed about the pricing of this product as the design company chooses to be tightlipped for now.

Source dvice / elitechoice / luxurylaunches

Most expensive table

In late 18th century Philadelphia, Tufft was one of the city’s most prosperous cabinetmakers. While his shop was not as large or prolific as that of his contemporaries Benjamin Randolph and Thomas Affleck, his rank was likely that of their equal. Elegance, grace, and delicate carving characterize Thomas Tufft’s furniture. He typically chose a restrained opposing "C" scroll on the knees and a variation of this design can be seen on most of the objects attributed to his shop.

Tufft holds the record for Philadelphia furniture, the Edwards-Harrison Family pier table, when it sold at Christie’s for $4,620,000 (January 1990), becoming the most expensive table in the world. The price was well above the presale estimate of at most $1.5 million.

The rococo rarity, carved by Thomas Tufft in 1775-76, is a pier table with a Chinese-style apron of pierced fretwork, tall legs, narrow ankles and finely detailed ball-and-claw feet.

Gilty Couture Luxury Gold Cases for iPod

Metallo Design has introduced its new Gilty Couture line of gold, silver, and Swarovski crystal accoutrements for the iPod and iPhone.

The new collection includes slide-on bezels for the iPhone and iPod touch, which are available in gold or silver with differently-colored Swarovski crystals in each. Also available are “Jewelry Cover” cases for the fifth-generation iPod, iPod classic, second- and third-generation iPod nano, and second-generation iPod shuffle.

Gilty Couture Jewelry Cover cases are available now and priced between $55 and $200, depending on how much bling you wish to have for your iPod or iPhone (For example, a gold case for the Nano costs $199).

Via giltycouture / Ilounge

Limited edition Bugatti Veyron Sang Noir

Bugatti has unveiled a third limited edtion model of the Veyron 'hypercar' to sit alongside the Pur Sang and Fbg par Hermès variants of the fastest and most desirable supercar on the planet.

The Sang Noir, which translates to ‘Black Blood,’ is based on the previous Pur Sang edition of which only five cars were built.
Every Veyron is built to order with a custom package as specified by the consumer and with this in mind we could easily argue the fact there will be 300 different special edition Veyrons on the street by the time the current generation production series ends.

This model features an all over black livery, specially designed grille, unique alloy wheels and a bright orange interior.

The Bugatti Veyron is one of the most exclusive cars on the planet, with a price tag of $1,400,000 but price for this new limited edition model has not been announced yet.

Download a lot of pictures on motorauthority.com

Louis Vuitton : The Blason jewellery collection

Designed by Pharrell Williams in collaboration with Camille Miceli (the Vuitton creative consultant who now designs jewelry for the brand and handles Marc Jacobs's personal public relations), this new Louis Vuitton collection is a variation on four themes, in which the rhythm and energy of the new continent harmonize with the spirit of historic Europe.
Blason originates from French Heraldry and is the symbol of a dynasty, synonymous with a coat of arms, and for centuries has conveyed aristocratic heritage from one generation to another. Williams, a longtime collector of Louis Vuitton luggage who, along with friend and A Bathing Ape founder Nigo designed and launched the house's first sunglass collection in April 2005, has emblazoned the history of Louis Vuitton with this special collection of edgy, avant-garde pieces inspired by the music universe and featuring combinations that include, but are not limited to, white gold with diamonds and yellow gold with diamonds.

The collection will be available in Louis Vuitton Shops this spring. The pieces range in price from 1,400 to 420,000 Euros, or approximately $2,070 to $621,000.

Via fashionweekdaily

Limited Edition Ferrari Segway

Segway have teamed up with Ferrari to release a special limited edition version of their i2 Personal Transporter.

The Segway PT i2 Ferrari edition is characterized by the Scuderia Ferrari logo in metal coated in enamel and it features the unmistakeable red colour. Moreover this special Segway PT i2 edition is equipped with an handlebar bag made in Genuine Leather.

Ferrari have used Segway’s as a transportation method around their Maranello factory for sometime now.

The i2 can take you 24 miles/38 km or up to 480 city blocks on a single charge*, powering itself smoothly up and down stairs and curbs, and keeping you in control as it handles steep grades.
It has a range of almost forty kilometers off one battery charge and can be easily stowed in the trunk of a car for longer journeys.

All yours for just €8,429 or $12,000. available on ferraristore.com

Louis Vuitton MP3 audio guides

Louis Vuitton is always bringing new innovative ideas to the luxury goods market : starting on June 16th for $17 you can experience “it’s most affordable travel-themed product yet”.

The French luxury giant has created MP3 audio guides for three Chinese cities, with one-hour walking tours narrated by famous actresses: Gong Li for Beijing, Joan Chen for Shanghai and Shu Qi for Hong Kong.

The audio guides were produced in collaboration with Soundwalk and will be launched in tandem with the Olympic Games in Beijing this summer.

You will be able to download the audio guides at louisvuitton.com and louisvuittonsoundwalk.com.

Via stylefrizz / nitrolicious

Madonna Raised $1.5 Million at amfAR Gala at Cannes

Madonna attended the amfAR’s annual Cinema Against AIDS fundraiser at the Cannes Film Festival held by Sharon Stone on Thursday.

During the event Madonna wore a salmon colored satin secretarial shirt dress from Christian Dior. Madonna auctioned her Karl Lagerfeld diamond encrusted custom-designed handbag, that included her lip balm, lip gloss, compact mirror, hair clips, lozenges and even her face blotting paper.

She blotted her face and body on stage, gave it to Stone, who also blotted herself and said, “There’s a lot of DNA there now. In case there’s a murder you’ll have the evidence.”
The purse and all the items inside brought in about $1.5 million to the fundraiser.

Madonna also put up one of her guitars for auction and a prize of winning her sing two songs in private to the winner before a concert this fall while she’s on tour.

The songs also helped bring in money with the original bid being at about $500,000, to which Madonna joked, “I’m worth more than that! People have asked me to play at their bar mitzvahs!”

The songs ended up selling for a bit over $600,000 which caused Madonna to lean into the mic and say, “Don’t humiliate me.”

Other celebs helped by purchasing dinner tickets at $5,000 such as Christian Slater, Diddy, Natalie Portman, Star Jones, Dita Von Teese, and Rose McGowan.
With the help of many other celebrities at the event, Stone was able to raise $10 million this year, a $3 million improvement from last year

Via celebcrust / Perez Hilton

Swarovski : Glittering at Cannes

The 61st Cannes Film Festival, Swarovski shined for the 9th consecutive year at the special suite in the Hôtel Martinez. For the second year in a row, Swarovski’s artistic director Nathalie Colin Roblique was presenting the Red Carpet Collection - an exceptional range of 10 bags in gold, silver and black.

These exclusive models, worked in luxurious materials such as galuchat, python and crocodile skins, illustrate the technical know-how, characteristic of the Daniel Swarovski’s Couture line.
Finely sized, cleverly bevelled and audaciously sculpted crystal lights up the bags and soaks up the flashing lights – reflecting a myriad of colour and sophistication.

The spotlight is on the Star Collector, Famous bag this year. With its enamelled border sprinkled with silver, this bag in Crystal Mesh and smooth leather, stands a class apart. Its geometric shape reminds one of the clutch bags of the 80s New York night-owls.
This limited edition bag, of which only 100 pieces have been created, was offered to actresses during the festival!

Via Swarovski

Unlimited Plastic Surgery Package in the Hamptons for $500,000

A New York plastic surgeon is offering a $500,000 package deal that includes a summer house rental in the Hamptons, and all the plastic surgery you want, "Within reason," !
He's also throwing in a chauffeur, personal chef, and a nurse to tend to the surgically wounded.

Via : gawker

Icansit High Chair with Swarovski crystals for Richie Rich kids

Hundreds of Swarovski crystals bring a sparkle of light and colour to a special edition of icansit children's chairs. A silver seat base completes the classy looks of an eye-catching child's chair that would turn heads in every restaurant :)

Featuring sturdy metal frames and supporting armrests, the design is original and contemporary. Originally designed by Carla Monchen, this Special Edition high chair were nominated for the Kind und Jugend innovations award 2007.

Via daddytypes / Bornrich

Get your dog a £50,000 clone

BioArts International will next month hold an online auction to give five wealthy pet owners the opportunity to have their dogs cloned.

The successful bidders will be able to make a genetically-identical copy of an existing pet - or create a new puppy from the frozen tissue of a long-dead pet. Bidding is expected to begin at more than $100,000 - about £50,000.

While pet cloning may appear little more than a bizarre and morbid extravagance for the super-rich, it comes at a high price.
Cloning is still a hit-and-miss procedure and for almost every success comes a stream of miscarriages, stillbirths and premature deaths.

Animal welfare campaigners and ethical experts have condemned the move, accusing BioArts - the company offering the service - of exploiting owners' fears over losing a pet.

But Lou Hawthorne, head of BioArts, believes there will be no shortage of those willing to pay for the chance to copy a beloved dog.
"It could easily end up being price comparable to a luxury car, or a vacation house,' he said. 'It's not going to be cheap. But then the process isn't cheap."

Via dailymail / AP

$1.5 mn Bejeweled Bouquet

An employee and a sales clerk of Takashimaya Department Store introduce a bouquet made of jewelry in Osaka on May 23, 2008.

The 1.5 million dollars bouquet consists of a 11.5-carat yellow diamond ring, seven yellow gold diamond brooches and 46 Mexican opal brooches with silver leaves, stalks and base.

Via msnbc

The most expensive house in the world

A mansion in London is set to sell for £117million ($230 mn) – making it the world’s costliest home. The palatial residence, on a street dubbed Billionaires’ Row, is believed to have been bought by Britain’s richest man, steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal.

He is believed to be close to exchanging contracts with owner Noam Gottesman, 47, a US-born financier.
The home in Kensington Palace Gardens, West London, Princess Diana’s former street, is being sold furnished and with an art collection. It works out at an astonishing £8,000 per square foot.

His new pad pips the £115million previous record – paid in March for a flat being built in nearby St James’s Square.

Via The Sun

Last Shotguns Ever Made by Asprey Fetch Over $100,000

Two of the last ever shotguns developed by 200-year-old London luxury goods firm Asprey generated a sales of over $120,000 at Christie’s. The extraordinarily delicate firearms exhibited at the Christie’s Fine Sporting Guns and Rifles sale marked the end of a custom of faultlessly accomplished gun craft.

Asprey engaged in supplying aristocracy and longtime holder of Royal Warrants shut down its gunrooms in 1996 for good, soon after the company was acquired by Prince Jefri of Brunei. After holding this you can stand next to Prince Charles and George Bush as both take pride in owning one.

Via Christie