Monthly Archives: May 2008

Get your dog a $100,000 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.

While pet cloning may appear little more than a bizarre and morbid extravagance for the super-rich, it comes at a high price.
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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.
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Last Shotguns Ever Made by Asprey

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.
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Wenger Heritage Swiss Army Knife

Wenger is releasing limited edition replicas of their original Swiss Army Knife complete with hand rubbed wood handles and the original knife’s implements. Limited to 1893 pieces (the year Wenger started making knives) each heritage soldier’s knife is serialized and will be hand made and hand polished in Switzerland.

It comes with the original technical drawings in both French and German as they were found in the Wenger archives. This knife is due to come out September of 2008, retailed at $500 usd.

Luxury Yacht 4H – San Lorenzo

Luxury yacht 4H is a 2008 San Lorenzo 40 alloy motor yacht which is available for charters in the western Mediterranean EUR€ 110,000 /week ($173,000 usd)

Built by San Lorenzo Yachts of Italy, 4H is a sleek and modernist yacht with an interesting and novel approach to design.

The luxury yacht’s interior and exterior design is by Francesco Paszkowski.
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Harry Winston Rare Timepieces Opus 8

Creator Frédéric Garinaud & CSH developed the Opus 8 with a new twist on mechanical-digital watches.

Inspired by pin art games, which create 3D impressions of objects pressed against them, the numbers in the display will only appear “upon request,” activated by a bolt on the right hand side of the case.

Nothing appears until the mechanism is wound.


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The most expensive burger in New York

Its creators admit it is the ultimate in decadence: a $175 hamburger.

The Wall Street Burger Shoppe just raised its price from $150 to assure its designation as the costliest burger in the city as determined by Pocket Change, an online newsletter about the most expensive things in New York.

“Wall Street has good days and bad days. We wanted to have the everyday burger (for $4) … and then something special if you really have a good day on Wall Street,” said co-owner Heather Tierney.

The burger, created by chef and co-owner Kevin O’Connell, seeks to justify its price with a Kobe beef patty, lots of black truffles, seared foie gras, aged Gruyere cheese, wild mushrooms and flecks of gold leaf on a brioche bun.

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The brand new admiral displacement yacht

The first 54-meter mega yacht by AMY, the joint venture founded in October 2005 by Cantieri Navali Lavagna and T.Mariotti/Genova with a view to building Admiral branded displacement yachts, will be launched next July.

A grand party will celebrate this event, an important achievement for AMY: the advancement from spectators in the world of mega-yachts to significant players of such ever-growing industry.

Designed by Luca Dini and planned by AMY, the Admiral flagship enters the international stage as a truly unique vessel. Since the very first stages of design and construction of its steel hull and light alloy superstructure new construction criteria, typical in ship construction yet innovative in yacht building, have been adopted: the results are excellent.
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Dior – Luxury Phone

christian dior phone

French luxury-goods company Christian Dior Wednesday will unveil a line of mobile phones, extending beyond its traditional fashion business to boost sales.

The new Dior phone, priced from €3,500 ($5,000) and up, comes after competitors such as Prada SpA and Dolce & Gabbana have turned their fashion-branded mobile phones into significant businesses.

The phones will be made by a small French manufacturer, ModeLabs Group.

Dior Chief Executive Sidney Toledano says the idea of creating a Dior phone was driven by demand in new luxury markets such as China and Russia. “In the same way that we have developed our watch and jewelry lines, we want to increase sales with the phone,”.
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Veuve Clicquot : Concept Night-Clubber

Baptiste Mathieu has designed this concept called Veuve Clicquot Night Clubber at the occasion of the talent show “Les espoirs de la creation 2008”

It consists of a luminous glass and a bottle that allows every consumer to experience the festive opening of its bottle. The champagne bottle features double cap for blocking the stopper.

The leather trim imparts the luxury feel and polished aluminium treatment is also given to accentuate the design.
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Most expensive vintage car ever sells for $11 million

A Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder once owned by U.S. actor James Coburn fetched nearly $11 million (5.6 million pounds) at auction, making it the most valuable vintage car ever sold under the hammer, organisers said on Monday.

The rare black convertible was one of 33 cars and scores of Ferrari memorabilia sold at auction on Sunday in the luxury sports carmaker’s hometown of Maranello in northern Italy.

The 7 million euro price paid by British radio and television host Chris Evans eclipsed previous records for cars sold under auction, organisers RM Auctions said.
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Hawker Beechcraft Launches Latest Business Jet, the Premier II

Hawker Beechcraft, the business jet spinoff of Raytheon has released their latest jet, the Premier II.

Evolving from the successful Premier IA, the Premier II will feature higher cruise speeds, a 20 percent longer range with four passengers and an increased payload… while still offering the largest cabin and most technologically advanced single-pilot business jet in the world.

The Premier II will be a twin turbofan, swept wing, light jet aircraft featuring a high-strength, state-of-the-art all-composite fuselage that allows for a medium-jet sized cabin at light jet costs.

The planes will use new FJ44-3AP turbofan engines from Williams International which offer more than 23 percent more thrust from the Premier IA (and have lower emissions than those of the Premier I). Combined with new elliptical winglets which offer reduced drag, the new engines let the business jets hit a maximum cruising altitude of 45,000 feet and fly farther.

The Hawker Beechcraft Premier II is expected to be put into service in 2010 with orders being taken at present.

Luxury watch : Romain Jerome Titanic DNA Limited Edition

If you really loved that Titanic movie then you’d probably also be interested in owning a piece of the infamous luxury liner.

Romain Jerome, a Swiss watchmaker has created a new timepiece called the Titanic DNA which uses parts of the actual ship in its construction.

The watchface has a black dial thanks to a lacquer paint made with coal recovered from the wreck and the housing will be composed of precious metals like platinum in addition to steel procured from what’s left of the ship.
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Motorola RAZR2 V9 Ferrari Edition

Following up from the recent super car phones that have been launched. The Moto Z8 Ferrari was a good limited edition offering from the cell phone giants and has inspired the new RAZR2 V9.
It is available in a lamb-skin case and a 2.2 inch display screen. It has a 2.0 megapixel camera and provides HSPDA support.

Motorola RAZR2 V9 Ferrari Edition will only be marketed in Latin America and Asia.

Most Expensive Guitar Pick

Australian company Starpics has created a completely unique pair of guitar picks made from meteors.

Said to be around 4 billion years old, Gibeon meteorites were discovered in 1836 in Namibia, Africa, where their sale and export were banned by the local government.

Despite that fact, over twenty-five tons of the meteorites have been recovered and it is the most commonly found meteorite on the market today.
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Haruo Suekichi – watch maker extraordinaire

Japanese watchmaker Haruo Suekichi lives in Tokyo where he spends his days and nights hand-crafting these limited edition watches.

His individualistic approach shines through his watches. They all have a very industrial, or steampunk, look about them.

Lots of leather, copper, pointy bits and dials. Freaky curves and impractical designs, they’re all there! The classic look of the watch gives you the brilliant retro touch Continue reading

Mobiado unveils Professional 105 ZAF, the world’s thinnest luxury phone

Mobiado’s luxury phone lineup gets a great new addition. Claimed to be the thinnest luxury phone in the world, the 105 ZAF measures luxury phonea mere 10.6mm thin. The entire front and back of the phone has been fabricated from large pieces of sapphire crystal, providing a modern minimalist look with a wear resistance second only to diamond.

The Professional 105 ZAF 3G luxury phone utilizes a unique and hidden sliding battery cover mechanism with the battery cover being made entirely from one piece of sapphire crystal.

The phone frame is crafted from aircraft aluminum to create a strong yet light body, polished, and then anodized to produce a ceramic surface for the toughest of uses.

The keys and bolts are elegantly placed with stainless steel polish. The revolutionary Mobiado Professional 105 ZAF can be picked from variety of six shades viz. black, blue, grey, red, black satin and silver. It features 2″ display with up to 16 million colors, 2 megapixel camera, 1GB of internal memory, Bluetooth connectivity, microUSB port, and music and video player that supports AAC, eAAC+, and MP3 audio formats.

Pricing hasn’t been disclosed for now, but this sleek luxury phone won’t come cheap.


Daniel Romano Unveils Sculpted Steel Billiard Table

Those of you tired of playing pool on conventional wooden table shall try their luck on this No.6 Sculpted Steel Billiard Table from Carbon Studio. Priced at $27,000, this innovative table is designed and handcrafted developed by Colorado sculptor Daniel Romano.
It features a hot rolled steel finish that comes with refined edges, hand structured metal pockets with rubber liners standing on steel legs.