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NEW YORK – A square, 32.01-carat emerald-cut diamond that billionaire philanthropist Leonore Annenberg bought for her 90th birthday sold for $7.7 million at auction on Wednesday. About the size of a walnut, the flawless, colorless diamond sits on a ring designed by Manhattan jeweler David Webb. It is flanked by two pear-shaped diamonds, one of them 1.61 carats and the other 1.51 carats. The ring was offered for sale by Annenberg's estate. Christie's auction house did not identify the buyer, who bid by phone. Annenberg died in March at the age of 91. She served as U.S. chief of protocol...

Following Vietnam’s property market collapse earlier this year, luxury apartment prices have fallen sharply, with a 30% drop in places like Phu My Hung and as much as 60% in other areas. The slump has been particularly hard in the luxury segment. Independent financial expert, Bui Kien Thanh, said local developers had focused too highly on luxury properties. He said the luxury segment is set for more trouble since customers have raised complaints about the quality of the apartments they have bought. Former deputy minister of natural resources, Dang Hung Vo, said that property prices would continue to fall if...

In December, travelers will be able to board a $1.4 billion ship five years in the making. After five years of planning and construction, Royal Caribbean is unveiling the Oasis of the Seas, a $1.4 billion ship that will be the largest and tallest cruise liner in the world when it takes its maiden voyage this December. At 1,184 feet from stem to stern, it's nearly as long as the Empire State building is tall--while rivaling the amenities of any world-class Las Vegas resort. A crew of roughly 2,160 will man 18 decks and tend to 5,400 passengers (assuming two...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Gone are the hot breakfasts in most dorms and the pastries at Widener Library. Varsity athletes are no longer guaranteed free sweatsuits, and just this week came the jarring news that professors will go without cookies at faculty meetings. By Harvard standards, these are hard times. Not Dickensian hard times, perhaps, but with the value of its endowment down by almost 30 percent, the world’s richest university is learning to live with less. The Faculty of Arts and Sciences, Harvard’s largest division, has cut about $75 million from its budget in recent months and is planning more....

Bankruptcy professionals have a grim view on the U.S. corporate recovery, despite a recent rise in stocks and an uptick in business deals. "I think it's going to be a sad holiday season," said Lynn Tilton, chief executive officer of Patriarch Partners, a private equity firm that specializes in distressed companies. Consumers will be stingy with their spending, keeping malls and resorts empty, bankruptcy professionals said at the Reuters Restructuring Summit in New York this week. Even the wealthy will steer clear of the wild, brand-conscious spending that marked the last few years. "No one is conspicuously consuming they way...

"No one is conspicuously consuming they way they did in 2006," said William Derrough, a managing director at investment bank Moelis & Co. "That excess spending creates little boutique hotels, it creates that restaurant that sells the $19 doughnut and the Kobe beef burger. Those things don't need to exist." Higher unemployment and little bank lending will keep a lid on economic gains, likely forcing thousands more companies into default, bankruptcy or liquidation. "I just don't see a rapid recovery," said Tilton.

China has become the country with the strongest purchasing power of luxury cars in the world. Many luxury cars are eager to enter the Chinese market. The latest statistics show, the BMW Group's global sales fell 19%, but its sales in China grew 26%. In addition, while the financial crisis causes demand for luxury brands decline in Europe and the United States, the Chinese luxury market is still getting better. At present, China's luxury consumption accounts for 25% of the global market and for the first time it surpassed the United States to become the world's second-largest luxury goods consumer...

They Died With Gucci's On /snip Satellite photos show that construction of new facilities continues in the suburbs of the capital, where the elite families live. There is no let-up in the importing of luxury goods, including automobiles. The leaders in the north are determined to go down with their Gucci's on. One thing the elite cannot have is cell phones. The use of such devices was made legal again at the beginning of the year (at least in the capital), and all the swells, and even their college age kids, have them. But not the most senior officials, who...

As the health care debate rages on, President Barack Obama will begin a week-long vacation Sunday in Martha’s Vineyard, an enclave of liberal royalty far from middle America, where his approval numbers are starting to stall. Already, at least one group on the right is taking a jab at Obama over his beach vacation — at a 28-acre farm, said to rent for up to $50,000 a week. Obama has struggled against the perception that he has trouble connecting with average voters, and some are questioning his choice of a getaway spot for the well-to-do. “The danger for President Obama...

Downturn Pushes Escada into Bankruptcy Escada, the German luxury fashion brand, filed for bankruptcy protection with a Munich court, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. Escada was badly hit by the global economic downturn and had been negotiating with bondholders to restructure its debts, but the negotiations were broken off on Tuesday. Along with the recent bankruptcy of Lacroix, the French luxury clothing brand, the Escada case reveals the heavy toll the recession is taking on the high-end fashion industry. According to French newspaper Le Monde, Italian luxury fashion brands are also suffering from serious financial woes. Gianfranco Ferre, one of the...

(IsraelNN.com) Despite an international diplomatic and media campaign to portray themselves as impoverished refugees, local Arabs are expected to swarm into several new luxury malls which are opening in Arab-populated areas of Judea, Samaria, and other parts of Israel. Last month, fireworks burst above Jenin's new Hirbawi Home Center, a luxury shopping center on the outskirts of a city notorious for producing terrorists. In 2002 as part of Operation Defensive Shield, a bloody battle took place between Israel Defense Forces and terror cells in the town, during which 23 Israeli soldiers and 52 Arabs were killed.

The economy may have started showing some signs of life lately, but unemployment is still extremely high in the U.S. and Europe. Car sales everywhere are down significantly. Yet there’s a silver lining for one company: Rolls-Royce announced today that it would increase its manufacturing workforce 50% — that’s 150 new employees — to build its new Ghost, which goes on sale in 2010. A design sketch of the Ghost is pictured above. If you want to move to England to work on the Ghost assembly line, you can check out Rolls-Royce's current vacancies here.

A 1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa has set a world record for the most expensive car ever sold at auction, costing almost £8 million. RM Auctions, which organised the sale, said that the price - 9.02 million euros - which includes a 10 per cent buyer's premium on top of the "hammer price", is nearly two million euros more than the previous record set at a similar auction at Ferrari's headquarters a year ago. "The historical significance of this car attracted a bidding war as collectors from around the world - both in the room and on the telephone -...

As China's Communists gather, luxury sales soar By David Barboza Saturday, March 14, 2009 BEIJING: A week ago, a finely dressed Chinese man walked into Louis Vuitton's flagship store here trailed by a bodyguard and said he wanted to purchase a gift for a government official. "This is for a very senior official," the man told a clerk. "I tell you, he is at the top. So what kind of handbag do you think is suitable for him?" Sales clerks at Louis Vuitton and other luxury stores in Beijing offer an intriguing explanation for the appearance of such customers: every...

Reporting from Sacramento -- Some California lawmakers haven't let the state's financial calamity keep them from enjoying the good life; they've been using campaign cash for first-class travel abroad, expensive dinners, salon makeovers and visits to luxurious spas. Spending reports filed with the state covering the last three months show: * Several lawmakers checked into the Fairmont Hotel on Maui on donors' dimes two days after the start of an emergency session on the budget in November. * The lead state senator on budget issues joined colleagues who left the fiscal crisis behind to go to India, where they toured...

AFFLUENT JEWELERS OPEN BOUTIQUES ON MADISON AVENUE Despite the financial crisis, upscale jewelers are opening and expanding new boutiques on the Upper East Side. British diamond merchant Graff opened a giant boutique - with imported marble and an array of solid bronze fixtures...... Asprey, Chopard, Pomellato and Leviev all opened new boutiques.... new shops coming soon - David Yurman, Girard-Perregaux, Carat and Jack Vartanian.....Madison has become the Jewel Coast.........compared to Bond Street, London, and Place Vendome, Paris, home of jewelry giants like Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels. In a down economy, jewelry sales hold up better...... a super-wealthy shopper...

Back in August, my colleague Deidre Woollard reported on a court ruling that Saddam Hussein's yacht Basra Breeze (formerly Ocean Breeze) belonged to the Iraqi government after a Cayman island firm partly owned by King Abdullah of Jordan claimed possession. Now the Iraqis have put the 269-ft. megayacht up for sale with a pricetag of $30 million, but the décor is so tacky and outdated it will require at least another $30 million to overhaul the ship, the London Times reports. Launched in 1981, the ship features acres of marble and gold, Arabesque arches, dark wood carvings, "deep pile carpets...

Luxury Stores Brace for Slowdown By CHRISTINA PASSARIELLO and RACHEL DODES The luxury-goods industry is bracing for fallout from the global financial crisis. Some companies, including jewelers' Tiffany & Co. and Bulgari SpA, are considering a brake on future store openings to reduce costs ahead of a likely sluggish holiday season. French fashion house Dior SA may close some boutiques in smaller U.S. cities. Until recently, the world of luxury perfumes, leather goods, jewelry and designer clothing seemed impervious to the retail slowdown affecting apparel and home furnishings. Their resilience was due largely to growing business in emerging markets, such...

October 4, 2008 They’re Pinching Hundred-Dollar Bills By GERALDINE FABRIKANT The jet set, too, feels the pain. Louis L. Gonda, a regular on the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans, has put two jets on the market. Interested parties could pick up the pair for $108 million. A private businessman who has given many millions to charities, Mr. Gonda, along with his father and a partner, sold their airline leasing company to the American International Group in 1990 for stock and cash. While it is not clear how many shares of A.I.G. he held onto or whether A.I.G.’s problems...

Kenya's cabinet 'soaks up 80pc of the budget' By Mike Pflanz in Nairobi Last Updated: 2:11am BST 17/04/2008 Kenya's expanded new government will spend 80 per cent of the entire national budget on luxury vehicles, inflated salaries for ministers and general running costs, a local anti-corruption group claimed on Wednesday. Raila Odinga speaking after he and President Mwai Kibaki [right] agreed to form a coalition government Of Kenya's annual budget of £5.4 billion, more than £4.3 billion will go on 93 ministers and their government's general running costs. Only £1.3 billion will be left for roads, schools and hospitals for...

It's amazing what $5 US per gallon of gas can buy... This palace is owned by the family of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the former president of the United Arab Emirates and rule of Abu-Dhabi. My Mom said to always look at the bright side of things -good things these people are doing so 'well'!

Life can have its little irritations when you're cruising around the world on your £100million superyacht. For example, the endless vista of clear blue sea fails to provide much greenery to ease the eye - apart from the odd tropical island. For the owner of a forthcoming craft named WallyIsland, however, this will not be a problem. For he, or she, will have a personal ocean-going garden. The 325ft-long yacht is to feature a growing area with shrubbery and flower beds, kept healthy by an irrigation system. It will also have a tennis court, pool and five accommodation decks including...

http://home.peoplepc.com/psp/newsstory.asp?cat=TopStories&referrer=welcome&id=20080125/47996cd0_3ca6_15526200801252003174801 MADRID, Spain - A speeding motorist who killed a teenage cyclist is suing the boy's parents over damage to his luxury car, the government says. Enaitz Iriondo, 17, died instantly in August 2004 when businessman Tomas Delgado's Audi A8 crashed into him at 100 mph near Haro in northern Spain, an Interior Ministry traffic report said. The speed limit was 55 mph. snip

IT was a retail juggernaut that swept through America’s shopping malls and bedroom closets, rewriting the rules of class and consumption. But affordable luxury is not looking so affordable — or sustainable — anymore. During the 2007 holiday shopping season, the middle-class consumers who spent the last decade splurging on $300 saucepans and $600 scarves, tightened their purse strings in the face of slipping home prices and rising energy costs. As a result, an entire economy built around aspiration is starting to collapse. Affordable luxury purveyors like Tiffany & Company, Nordstrom and Coach have experienced slowing sales and plunging stock...

KABUL, Afghanistan — An explosion went off Monday at a luxury hotel frequented by foreigners, reverberating throughout Kabul, police said. It was not clear if the explosion was inside the Serena Hotel or in its large courtyard where the parking lot is located. Police kept journalists and onlookers far from the building. -snip-

Being broke need not mean social death in Sweden - as long as you are well-educated. But for Americans and Russians having a good all-round education is no substitute for having cash, according to a new survey on status symbols in the three countries. The international survey by analysts United Minds asked 1,000 people in each country what values confer status. 'Bling' items such as expensive jewellery and designer clothes come well down the list for Swedes, while featuring more highly for Americans and, particularly, Russians. "Sweden is the only country where you can be penniless but well-read and still...

Stockholm's most prestigious department store, Nordiska Kompaniet (NK), has had to remove a set of black ragdolls from its Christmas window display after receiving a number of complaints from concerned customers. A visit to NK's Christmas displays has been a part of Stockholmers' staple holiday traditions ever since 1915. This year's theme was “A dream Christmas”. Puppies, dragons and polar bears danced side-by-side with sugar plum fairies and... what appeared to be golliwogs. When the windows were first available for public consumption on Sunday, one featured three of the black dolls emerging from a Christmas package. "The company that does...

Some modern ministers and ministries spend lavishly. But is that any of Congress' business? November 18, 2007 A U.S. senator is putting a new and troubling spin on the question: "What would Jesus drive?" Sen. Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa), who is pressing tax-exempt churches to be more open about their finances, told The Times that "Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem on a donkey." Given that example, Grassley asked, "Do these ministers really need Bentleys and Rolls-Royces to spread the Gospel?" Actually, they do, according to a politician who attends a Georgia church that has attracted the attention of...

As my taxi pulled up at Changi airport, I knew this was going to be a special day - the day of the first A380 commercial flight was finally here. The airport had long been adorned with banners and posters declaring Singapore "A380 ready" and anticipating the flight.

By almost any definition — except his own and perhaps those of his neighbors here in Silicon Valley — Hal Steger has made it. Mr. Steger, 51, a self-described geek, has banked more than $2 million. The $1.3 million house he and his wife own on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is paid off. The couple’s net worth of roughly $3.5 million places them in the top 2 percent of families in the United States. Yet each day Mr. Steger continues to toil in what a colleague calls “the Silicon Valley salt mines,” working as a marketing executive for...

Malmö’s famous Turning Torso skyscraper is among the tallest housing blocks in Europe. Behind the ultra-modern exterior is one of the world's most luxurious apartment complexes, writes Paul Steele. People in the south of Sweden are total sceptics to new projects until they’re finished. The Öresund Bridge – no one will ever use it. The City Tunnel – complete waste of money. Turning Torso – Ha! Who would ever want to live there? I for one, and probably half of south Sweden and greater Copenhagen for another. One of the tallest accommodation blocks in Europe, Turning Torso is the leading...

- Family of six - and 600 staff - need extra space In the most conspicuous sign yet of India's unprecedented prosperity, the country's richest man, Mukesh Ambani, is building a new home in the financial hub of Mumbai: a 60-storey palace with helipad, health club and six floors of car parking.

It's Official: Study Confirms Arabs Buy Flashy Jewelry More Than Most By Debbie Schlussel One of the stereotypes Arabs frequently complain (or, at least, complained--past tense--before Hollywood whitewashed them post 9/11) about is their occasional portrayal as swarthy, flashy jewelry-wearing persons with a fetish for the garish. Now, a Capgemini/Merrill Lynch Financial Advisory survey confirms the stereotype as based much more in fact than in fiction. The study found that while there are rich people around the world, wealthy Arabs spent 1/3 to more than double the percentage of their wealth on jewelry than those from other regions of the...

The number of millionaires in the world increased by 8.3 percent in 2006, with about 9.5 million individuals now estimated to have more than a million dollars in financial assets, a report said Wednesday. The survey by financial services group Capgemini and US investment bank Merrill Lynch said strong global economic growth and gains on the stock market explained the expansion of the exclusive club of "High Net Worth Individuals" (HNWIs). The financial assets owned by the group totalled 37.2 trillion dollars (27.7 trillion euros), an increase of 11.4 percent from 2005, with Singapore, India, Indonesia and Russia producing the...

oceanfront resort when police fired into their bungalow after they refused to drop a handgun, authorities said. Police were called Sunday to the Montage Resort and Spa by a security guard who said a man and a woman were engaged in a domestic dispute, said police Sgt. Jason Kravetz. "It may not have been domestic violence, but that's how we were called to the scene," Kravetz said. "Usually in a domestic violence (case) the woman doesn't go out and try to shoot at other people." Several 911 callers said a naked woman was running around the hotel waving a gun,...

Is it time to upgrade your current set of wheels to something a little more professional and comfortable? Are you trying to figure out how to drive something that looks like it should be on Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, but with a nickel-and-dime budget? So where can you find a car that will impress without breaking the bank? Check out this list of cars that are all high on luxury and under $30,000 on the lot.

(02-08) 09:45 PST WASHINGTON D.C. -- A political odd couple, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and White House spokesman Tony Snow, today slammed critics of Pelosi's bid to use a government plane that can fly her nonstop between Washington and her home district in San Francisco. "This is a silly story, and I think it's been unfair to the speaker,'' Snow told reporters. E-mail Edward Epstein at eepstein@sfchronicle.com.

Critics charge that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is abusing the perks of power by asking for a jumbo military jet with sleeping accommodations for her flights across the country. After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Pentagon agreed to provide the speaker, who is second in the line of presidential succession, with a military plane for added security during trips back home. Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, flew in a small commuter-sized Air Force jet. Pelosi wants a larger aircraft that can fly to her San Francisco district without stopping to refuel. Some sources are claiming that Pelosi...

Kim's life of luxury as the people starve By Richard Spencer in Beijing (Filed: 16/10/2006) From imported lobsters to cognac and Mercedes-Benz cars, the expensive tastes of North Korea's secretive leader, Kim Jong-il, have never failed to stagger those who have witnessed his conspicuous consumption. However, his love of the finer things in life, in a country where his people have been allowed to starve, is now being challenged by the United Nations sanctions imposed at the weekend. They include a clause banning the export of luxury goods to North Korea and aim to cut off or at least greatly...

The federal program that provides legal assistance to poor Americans turns away half of its applicants for lack of resources. But that hasn't stopped its executives from lavishing themselves with expensive food, chauffeur-driven cars and trips to Ireland. Agency documents obtained by The Associated Press detail the many luxuries that executives of the Legal Services Corp. have given themselves with federal money — from $14 "Death by Chocolate" desserts to $400 chauffeured rides to locations within cab distance of their offices. The government-funded corporation also boasts spacious headquarters in Washington's trendy Georgetown neighborhood — with views of the Potomac River...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Diamonds are no longer a girl's best friend, according to a new U.S. study that found three of four women would prefer a new plasma TV to a diamond necklace. The survey, commissioned by U.S. cable television's Oxygen Network that is owned and operated by women, found the technology gender gap has virtually closed with the majority of women snapping up new technology and using it easily.

Turning Away Customers to Maximize Sales The glass door of Le plus Joaillerie, a jewelry shop in Seoul’s affluent Cheongdamdong, is always locked, though the inside is brightly lit. When a curious customer knocks on the door, a manager in a designer suit comes out and politely tells them to go away unless they have an appointment. Well-heeled Gangnam, the area south of the Han River, is seeing more of such snob appeal from savvy businesses. Instead of luring customers, they are more likely to turn them away, as if to say we don’t need you. Surprisingly, it works. Le...

Given the kinds of cases they’re getting these days, French courts are starting to resemble clown circuses. Last week a French court had to listen to “Goldfinger” George Soros’ whine about his human rights being violated for an inside trading conviction. This week, a French court gets to listen to Venezuelan “International Man of Mystery” Carlos The Jackal carp about not getting enough terrorist-issue Froot Loops inside his French jail cell. Apparently, pate and champagne aren’t happening for him these days in Paris. And for the Shagadelic Jackal, that’s no fair. The Austin-Powers-era Marxist terrorist is actually suing in a...

The owner of a Los Angeles car dealership is suing Mercedes-Benz, its parent company DaimlerChrysler and other affiliates, alleging that a $1.7 million car purchased in 2004 wouldn't run for more than 10 blocks without problems. The car, a Mercedes-Benz AMG CLK-GTR Limited Edition Roadster, was supposed to be one of only five made. In the lawsuit, the owner of exotic car dealership Grand Prix Motors also alleges that six were actually made, reducing the value of his car. A two-door sports car, the CLK-GTR has a carbon fiber body and a 6.9-liter 12-cylinder engine enabling it to go from...

    Auto Stuff Science Stuff Health Stuff Entertainment Stuff NEW! - Mobil Travel Guide Computer Stuff Electronics Stuff Home Stuff Money Stuff People Stuff Shop for Stuff Main > Money > Luxury Items Click here to go back to the normal view! How Maybachs Work by Marshall Brain Let's say that you've just won the lottery. Chances are that one of the first things you would buy is a new car. What kind of car would you get? It really depends on how much money you want to spend and what kind of image you want to portray...

THE world's ten most expensive cars include such dreams-come-true as a street-legal, ten-cylinder Porsche race car, the Carrera GT, and cars with over 1000 horse power (HP) each. These kinds of cars make Ferraris and Aston Martins look like relative bargains; despite their fame, they are much cheaper than the cars on the Forbes list. Of the ten most expensive cars, only two are made by brands with household names, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz, although that depends on what your household is like.

The luxury plane was exported to Havana from Russia Cuba is buying one of Russia's most up-to-date airliners, carefully crafted for President Fidel Castro's personal comfort. The purchase is part of an initial Cuban order for two brand new Ilyushin planes worth $110 million (£63 million) which Russian officials say is a shot in the arm for their struggling airline industry. To head off criticism that a new presidential jet is an expensive luxury in austere times, Cuba says one of its new planes is being used to ferry workers to and from Venezuela. To finance the deal, Cuba has...

NEW YORK — In an era of bankrupt airlines and no-frills travel, something odd is happening over the Atlantic. On a jet designed for 220 people, Eos Airlines passengers stretch out in a spacious cabin holding a mere 48 seats. At the touch of a button, each motorized lounger reclines into a 78-inch-long bed, complete with a cashmere blanket. On these flights between New York and London, airline food is an on-demand multi-course meal, served within each traveler's 21-square-foot "suite." "Each seat is its own sort of ecosystem," said John Stevenson, an executive with a Connecticut firm that provides supermarket...

... At the bottom of a document that detailed Ellison's 2000 debt load, Simon had scrawled a rough accounting of Ellison's lavish spending, according to deposition testimony: "1) Life Style -- annual $20m 2) Interest Accrual -- annual $75m 3) Villa in Japan -- $25m 4) New Yacht -- $194m -- over 3 yrs 5) America's Cup -- $80m -- over 3 yrs 6) UAD -- 12m over 3 yrs." It's not clear what UAD refers to. Since this rough budget, Ellison has reportedly spent $200 million building a Japanese-style estate in Woodside, which includes a reproduction of a 17th-century...

WHETHER it's providing a helicopter pad or installing jade-inlaid marble in the master bedroom, William S. Smith III has grown accustomed to satisfying every request from his custom-yacht customers - except when it comes to finding places where they can park their outsized boats. Many megayachts have grown so big - sometimes as long as a football field - that their very size rules out docking at most marinas, which don't have large enough slips to accommodate them. To combat the crunch, Mr. Smith, vice president of Trinity Yachts in Gulfport, Miss., one of the top custom yacht builders in...