Moet Hennessy, the wine and spirits arm of LVMH luxury group, said Thursday it was planting its first vineyard in China to produce a premium sparkling wine.

The 66-hectare (163-acre) vineyard will be planted as a joint venture with the publicly-owned agricultural development firm of the Ningxia Hui autonomous region in northwestern China.

The maker of Moet and Chandon champagne will build and own a facility near the vineyard to produce the high-end sparkling wine, which is to be sold locally under the Chandon label, LVMH said.

Louis Vuitton is the world’s most valuable luxury brand for the sixth consecutive year according to Millward Brown Optimor’s 2011 BrandZ study.

The brand, owned by Paris-based LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, has a value of $24.3 billion, an increase of 23 percent from 2010.

That’s almost as much as the combined values of Hermes, Gucci and Chanel, which ranked second, third and fourth in this year’s luxury-brand standings.

Watchmakers gave upbeat forecasts for 2011 at the industry’s largest fair on Wednesday, although the deadly earthquake which hit key luxury consuming country Japan and Arab uprisings cast shadows over the expectations.

Industry giants including Swatch and LVMH have all posted strong recoveries over 2010 and they are expecting the recovery to continue in 2011.

Swiss exhibitors underlined that January sales were up 16.9 percent over a year ago and predicted that 2011 would be a new record year for the industry.

LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SA, the world’s largest maker of luxury goods, seems to be having an inspirational spring shopping time.

Just one week after sealing the deal to acquire Italian jewelry house Bulgari, LVMH joins the race for the celebrities’ shoemaker, Jimmy Choo.

As Sunday Times reported this weekend, the shoe brand, founded by Tamara Mellon, could be sold for as much as $804 million.

Marc Jacobs spends a lot of time on the road, so what better theme for his fall-winter collection for Louis Vuitton than the goings-on inside a grand old hotel?

To the sound of elevators arriving, uniformed bellboys opened wrought-iron doors for models stepping out in tongue-and-cheek outfits inspired by, among other things, porn films from the 1940s.

“I spend a good part of my life in hotels and I like watching their secret lives, especially the ballet between call girls, mistresses and wives,” said Jacobs, 47, on the final day of Paris fashion week.

LVMH acquired UK-based yacht builder Princess Yachts in 2008 and they are now entering the superyacht sector with the launch of the first of their M class vessels.

The first model in the series, the 32M, was unveiled at the London Boat Show in January 2011. It is also the first craft truly worthy of the world-class LVMH imprimatur.

For the yacht’s debut the company brought in some of its other brands, including Fendi, De Beers and Moet to demonstrate the glamour of the new range.