Owners of the world’s largest cut emerald – a 57,500-carat natural wonder – will auction off the gem later this month, and the bidding starts at $1 million.
The gem – called Teodora, or gift of God, in Portuguese – was mined in Brazil and sold to an Indian buyer, but little is known of the stone’s origins.
Teodora weighs 11.5 kilograms. It is actually the fifth largest emerald ever found but the biggest that’s been cut with facets.
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RIMOWA takes their signature grooved design and applies it to a new iPad case, available for $280 at RIMOWA boutiques.
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To celebrate fifty years of James Bond films, Omega is releasing a special update of their Seamaster Diver 300m James Bond watch.
The watch offers Omega’s caliber 2507 co-axial movement, with the winding rotor designed to look like a bullet. It’s also inscribed with ’50 years of James Bond.’
The James Bond 50th Anniversary watch has been created in two sizes, 41 mm and 36 mm. The 36mm case size has a diamond index at the 7 o’clock position.
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Karl Lagerfeld‘s affordable capsule collection KARL is set to launch globally January 25 with a string of events in Paris, New York, London, Berlin and Sydney.
As part of a collaboration with global online retailer net-a-porter.com, pop-up shops will be unveiled in the five cities, and consumers can shop the line by using the Net-a-Porter KARL app and scanning products via the iPhone or iPad2.
There will also be a special appearance by the designer himself January 25 at Place Saint-Germain-des-Prés in the French capital.
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Miu Miu taps Australian actress Mia Wasikowska for its spring 2012 campaign.
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British-born automotive brand Mini has unveiled two London-themed special edition models to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games.
The MINI Baker Street and MINI Bayswater will hit showrooms around the world in spring this year, with distinctive designs which play on London areas for a brand still renowned for its historically British styling.
Both feature exclusive interior and exterior design, with the Mini Baker Street boasting V-shaped hood stripes and a gray roof and the Bayswater finished in bright blue metallic paint work.
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Photographed by Craig McDean and styled by Alex White, Karlie Kloss is the face of Oscar de la Renta’s spring 2012 campaign.
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The Al Habtoor Group, a UAE-based development firm, plans to build a new triple-hotel complex in the heart of the Emirate as part of a $1.3 billion project.
The “Habtoor Palace”. formed of two skyscrapers rising from a five-storey podium base, will see over 1,600 rooms added to Dubai‘s hotel scene.
The rest of the complex is designed as a ‘lifestyle experience,’ Al Habtoor says, with a luxury spa and multiple restaurants and banqueting facilities.
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Marriott has announced five new locations for its luxury boutique brand Edition, promising to have properties on three continents by 2015.
Edition’s line of upscale, contemporary design hotels, which Marriott developed with hotelier Ian Schrager, will soon move into New York, Bangkok, Abu Dhabi, Los Angeles, and Gurgaon, India, the hotel firm said January 19.
The Edition brand currently consists of a single property in Istanbul, after Marriott was ousted from the first outlet in Waikiki after a disagreement with the management.
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Valentino will live stream its Haute Couture fashion show at valentino.com, allowing fans front row access to the January 25 presentation when it kicks off 18:30 CET.
Although Valentino previously streamed couture shows live to selected boutiques, this will be the first time an online couture stream is offered from the Italian label.
Kicking off January 23 and running through January 26, Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week will see esteemed couturiers including Christian Dior, Chanel and Givenchy taking to the runways, as well as newcomers to the scene such as Alexis Mabille.
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Global sales of duty-free products reached $46 billion in 2011, up a staggering 17.9 percent, calculated duty free analyst Generation Research.
Although the results are still preliminary and currency fluctuations may bring the growth figure down, 2011 may turn out to have been a record-breaking year.
Unsurprisingly, Asia Pacific was the star growth region, with sales rising 22.9 percent and buyers helping to fuel a resurgence in alcohol sales.
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It’s meant to bring riches and power befitting an emperor, but if Western luxury brands have their way the Year of the Dragon will cost their wealthy Chinese customers a fortune instead.
Monday is the start of the Year of the Dragon, the most favourable and revered sign in the 12-year Chinese zodiac.
The dragon is a traditional Chinese symbol of royalty, fortune and power, and the Year of the Dragon usually sees a spike in marriages and births.
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Louis Vuitton has teamed up with polo bike players Hannes Hengst and Grégory Barbier to produce their very own LV Polo Bike.
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In an awards ceremony dubbed the Oscars of the luxury world held in Beijing, the World Luxury Association (WLA) announced the top 100 brands in categories like aircraft, yachts, cars, fashion, jewelry, cosmetics and liquor.
Among the mostly French wine and spirits brands, Guatemalan brand Ron Zacapa and Scottish single malt producer Macallan also made the list.
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Greece‘s culture ministry will open up some of the debt-stricken country’s most-cherished archaeological sites to advertising firms and other ventures.
The ministry says the move is a common-sense way of helping “facilitate” access to the country’s ancient Greek ruins, and money generated would fund the upkeep and monitoring of sites. The first site to be opened would be the Acropolis.
A commercial firm could rent the Acropolis for a professional photographic shoot for as little as $2,000 a day. Demonstrators could also rent the ancient landmark.
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Heritage French and Italian fashion brands make up a list of the world’s most valuable labels following a compilation by the World Luxury Association (WLA).
The World’s Most Valuable Luxury Brands Top 100 provides rankings in areas including yachts, cars and resorts, although a large focus is on the fashion arena.
The Top 100 is based on luxury brands’ influence on a global scale and they take into account factors such as market share and consumer feedback.
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Hennessy, a spirits division of LVMH, has launched its new limited-edition Hennessy Beauté du Siècle cognac with Schiphol Airport Retail at Amsterdam Schiphol airport.
The cognac marks the centenary of Kilian Hennessy, the sixth generation after the founder of the cognac house.
Beauté du Siècle is a contemporary interpretation of a traditional liqueur chest containing a carafe of cognac, created by master blender and taster Yann Fillious and more than 10 artists and craftsmen.
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British luxury handbag maker Mulberry posted surging Christmas sales and raised its annual profits forecast Thursday.
Retail sales at the group jumped 41 percent in the six weeks to January 14 from a year earlier on strong Asian demand, Mulberry said in a trading update.
“I am delighted that trading during Christmas and the New Year has been strong and consequently the results for the year to 31 March 2012 are likely to exceed our earlier expectations,” said Mulberry chairman and chief executive Godfrey Davis.
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Young Versace has unveiled its new advertising campaign with supermodel Cindy Crawford’s 10-year-old daughter Kaia Gerber as the face.
Modeling designs adorned with the label’s iconic Greek key motif, Gerber was shot by acclaimed fashion photographers Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott.
According to the fashion house’s creative director Donatella Versace, Gerber proved she has inherited her famous mother’s talent when modeling the collection.
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TripAdvisor has announced the results of its 2012 Travelers Choice awards, recognizing the best hotels around the world as reviewed by its users.
The site crowned The Phoenix Resort in Belize, a 30-condo beachfront property in San Pedro, as the best hotel in the world.
In second place was Anastasis Apartments in Imerovigli, Greece, while another Belize property, the Hamanasi Adventure and Dive Resort, took third place.
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British fashion house Alexander McQueen is teaming up with prestigious tailor Huntsman to launch a menswear made-to-measure service.
Launching in June at the McQueen store on London’s Bond Street, pieces will take around 12 weeks to make and prices begin at £4,500 (€5,400).
Customers can choose from a single-breasted dinner jacket, a black cashmere double-breasted overcoat and a black-and-white Prince of Wales check suit.
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