A medieval Islamic glass vessel sold in London yesterday for 1.6 million pounds ($2.3 million), more than 20 times as much as it fetched less than a decade ago, when it was dismissed as a fake.

The 8-inch-high “Rothschild Bucket” was offered in Sotheby’s “Arts of the Islamic World” sale as a mid-14th-century piece, Bloomberg reports.

The bucket is actually a glass finger bowl, intricately gilded and decorated with colourful enamels, that dates from 14th century Egypt or Syria. It was made during the Mamluk dynasty that ruled the region from 1250 to 1517.

Last weekend at Acker Merrall & Condit’s first Hong Kong auction of 2009, a 1928 Krug set a new world record for the most expensive bottle of Champagne sold at auction.

The 75cl bottle, from the Krug Collection range (the library collection of the renowned Reims Champagne house), fetched 164,560 Hong Kong dollars ($21,100 USD) after several rounds of fierce bidding.

The record was previously held by a Methuselah (6 litre bottle) of Louis Roederer, Cristal Brut 1990, Millenium 2000 that sold in the US for US$17,625 in December 2005.

Nivea Visage has launched a special diamond encrusted jar of their Expert Lift Cream. All proceedswill go to the from the sale of this special edition jar Breast cancer care charity, which helps support women in difficult times.

The jar is encrusted with 441 ethically sourced white diamonds set in stunning white gold and has been tailor-made to crown any jar of NIVEA Visage Expert Lift Day or Night Cream.

The blingtastic edition of Nivea’s classic moisturiser will be auctioned off at a charity dinner next month, and is expected to fetch £80,000 ($120,000).

A Lebanese property developer living in England has paid 352,411 pounds (US$509,768) for license plate number “1D”, a new record in the world of collectible British license plates.

At an auction held by the DVLA, the agency which regulates British vehicle registration, the highly-coveted plate sold for a total of 285,000 pounds, but fees and taxes added nearly 70,000 pounds to the winning bid.

The winning bidder bought the plate as a birthday present for his wife and will affix it to her Bentley. After taxes and fees, it ranks as the second most expensive plate sold after “F 1″ went for 440,625 pounds last year.

Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada will auction off some of the art that inspired his East-meets-West style, as he trades his plush Paris mansion for smaller digs on the Seine River.

The announcement came a month after the late Yves Saint-Laurent’s art collection was put up for auction by his partner Pierre Berge, a 373.5-million-euro bonanza that caused friction with China over a pair of looted bronze relics.

From Hopi Kachina dolls to bronze Buddhas, more than 1,000 pieces collected over the past two decades will be on the block at the June 16-17 sale organized by Aguttes auction house.

At fabulous “Tribute to Cinema” event, Moët & Chandon revealed its iconic muse before a Dazzling Array of International Who’s Who, including Thandie Newton, Joseph Fiennes and Melanie Laurent: the beautiful Scarlett Johansson.

Moët is the very first champagne company to introduce a Hollywood celebrity ambassador as the face of the world’s most loved champagne.