Iconic London hotel Claridge’s has unveiled its Christmas tree, which this year has been designed by Dior creative director John Galliano.
The tree, which takes its inspiration from icy snow scenes, mixed with a tropical twist, dominates the hotel’s lobby.
It is painted in white and metallic blue and perched among its branches are a handmade leopard, several parrots and a dragonfly.
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Luxury brand Christian Lacroix is to cut most of its staff and close its main clothing design business after a court approved a restructuring plan.
The French fashion house will shed 100 staff, leaving just 11 employees to manage its accessories and perfumes.
The fashion label has never made a profit and earlier this year was forced to seek bankruptcy protection after incurring €10m ($15m) in losses.
However, prospective buyers for Lacroix can still negotiate directly with its owners – Florida’s Falic Group.
Gulf investor Hassan bin Ali al-Nuaimi and France’s Bernard Krief Consulting both indicated interest in buying the firm, but missed a deadline to provide financial guarantees.
Last night the French minister for industry, Christian Estrosi, said he “had not lost hope” for the house.
Mr Estrosi said French diplomats in the UAE would “alert the sheikh to the urgency of the situation†with the label.
Source: BBC – Photos: Getty Images
Korean designer Daisung Kim has hand-crafted a “24K pencil,†whose surface is carefully plated with a thin layer of 99 percent pure gold.
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Maserati just took the wraps off a limited edition of its GranTurismo S, specially outfitted with items from the company’s MC Sport Line.
The car, decked out in a matte white “ice” paint scheme, was unveiled last week in the futuristic surroundings of the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Only 12 examples finished in a Matt White “ice” color will be built and sold exclusively to customers in the Middle East.
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A couple plan to sell their £5 million home in the heart of Belgravia London in a competition where potential homeowners can buy tickets for just £50.
The winner has to guess the correct auction value of the house, which has been calculated by averaging valuations by three local estate agents.
Property competitions have become popular since the economic crisis with homeowners who are failing to sell in the traditional way.
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A ring with a pink diamond the size of a chickpea was auctioned off for a record HK$83.5 million ($10.8 million) in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
“Vivid Pink,” as it’s called, is a five-carat stone flanked by two white diamonds and set in a ring by elite jeweler Graff. It hails from a private collection.
The so-called fancy-vivid stone broke the per-carat record for a diamond established in May.
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Monocle has teamed up with BlackBerry to produce 100 unique Bold 9700 handsets.
Each device comes pre-loaded with Monocle’s 25/25 travel guides to the best business cities in the world and will also include specially design wallpapers.
They have 16GB cards and are also supplied with battery, charging pod, world charger, media player headset, USB and gift packaging.
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Maison Prunier in Paris have released this limited edition caviar called Love 2010 by Yves Saint Laurent.
The name is derived from the seasons greetings sent by Yves Saint Laurent to friends and family in the form of paintings, each based on the theme of love.
The caviar used is of the Saint-James variety introduced in 1932 for the opening of the Prunier restaurant on St. James Street in London.
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Karl Lagerfeld gave a SpongeBob SquarePants doll a makeover for a Paris fundraiser for the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
The figurine was outfitted in the image of his maker, with Karl’s signature dark shades, a white shirt and fingerless gloves.
This auction of celebrity look-a-like dolls was held on the 26th of November at the Pavillon Eau and succeeded in raising more than €7000 for the charity.
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Italian police have crashed their most valuable patrol car, a $235,000 Lamborghini.
The front end of the Lamborghini was crushed in the accident, near Cremona, and the driver and a passenger were injured, although not seriously.
Reports say the car swerved to avoid another vehicle which crossed into its path, ploughing into two stationary cars. It was damaged beyond repair.
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The luxury mobile phones manufacturer Vertu has launched a special edition of its Ascent Ti in support of the Institute for Brain and Spinal Cord Disorders.
This special edition has been created to raise funds for the ICM charity with donations made from each Special Edition sale.
The luxury mobile phone is handcrafted in England and has a design inspired by supercars, which is supposedly a favorite of Jean Todt – ICM President.
Gucci has announced its 5th anniversary charity campaign which will benefit the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
This year’s collection is inspired by Snowman in Africa, the sequel to the best-selling children’s book Snowman in Paradise.
Between November 16th and December 31st the book will be sold only through Gucci and 100% of its revenue will be donated to UNICEF.
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Bonhams will auction off what is believed to be the world’s second-largest documented pearl, a five-pound gem found off the coast of the Philippines.
Dubbed the “Palawan Princess,†the gem is next to the 14-pound “Pearl of Allah†in size that was also found off the coastal waters of the Philippines.
The natural non-nacreous pearl was found in saltwater near the Philippines’ Palawan island and “bears an uncanny resemblance to a human brain”.
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Guerlain has launched an exclusive edition of “Idylleâ€, its new fragrance.
The Artist Edition of Idylle was created by Ora Ito, who designed the solid 18-carat gold perfume bottle enveloped in a clear Baccarat crystal ball.
The golden bottle must be kept intact for the piece to serve as decoration, or the crystal must be broken in order to access the famous perfume.
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Japanese cafe chain operator Saza Coffee Co plans to sell Panama’s Esmeralda Especial coffee beans for 1,200 yen per cup ($18) starting Dec 2.
Saza is the first company in Japan to buy the high-quality beans through an auction by paying $117.50 per pound for the coffee.
And that is almost 100 times more than the cost of average coffee beans.
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BMW has revealed the new 5 Series Sedan, a beautiful midsize car with a modern design, athletic and executive looks, driving dynamics typical of BMW, and innovative comfort and safety features.
Design features emblematic of BMW are to be found at the front with its kidney grille inclined slightly forward, in the stylish and elegant side view of the car, and at the muscular rear end.
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According to Italian daily Corriere della Sera, Veronica Lario, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s wife, is seeking 3.5 million euros per month during divorce proceedings.
Berlusconi had rebuffed her demand, and offered a more reasonable 200,000 euros a month (he is ready to go as high as 300,000).
He is also prepared to let her keep her the stunning villa Belvedere at Macherio near Milan where she lives with two of their three children Luigi, 21, and Eleonora, 22, while Barbara, 25, lives in Switzerland.
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The philosophy of Francesca Furzi, Italian jewelry designer, is to gather the essence of eternity and to express it in every one of her creations.
Each jewel is influenced by a journey incorporating the art of sculpture, the concreteness of the technicalharmony of vehicle shapes, the world of fashion, but also by history and other sketch, the cultures.
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France’s Iconic Orange Liqueur Grand Marnier is celebrating this year’s winter holiday season with a playfully red limited edition of its classic Cordon Rouge, named ‘Irresistible’.
Adorned with vivid red lacquer, it is the 7th of a series released annually by Grand Marnier since 2003.
This year’s theme celebrates a “playfully indulgent” holiday season with elegance and a slightly unorthodox yet refined adventure for the taste buds.
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