Monthly Archives: September 2010

Ritz-Carlton rolls out loyalty program for affluent travelers

By Kaitlyn Bonneville, Luxury Daily

The Ritz-Carlton is rolling out its Ritz-Carlton Rewards loyalty program, offering consumers a variety of incentives for frequently staying at its hotels. The luxury hotel chain is targeting affluent frequent travelers with the program, which is free to join. It was created in response to consumers’ request for a program that extended beyond complimentary stays and airfare.

The Ritz-Carlton has rolled out a loyalty program

“Ritz has been looking at a loyalty program for years,” said Laurie Goldstein, spokeswoman for Ritz-Carlton, Chevy Chase, MD. “It’s something we evaluate every year.”

Marriott International-owned Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company operates 73 hotels in the U.S. and internationally.

theUltimateLuxuryCommunity: The $35,000 a night Hotel Room at Four Seasons in New York , Gansevoort Hotels in NYC to Add Porsche Fleet , The Greenwich Hotel NY, ownership by Robert De Niro , World’s first Armani Hotel in Dubai , The Savoy London To Reopen 10.10.10 , Overview of Raffles Hotel in Singapore Island , Claridge’s: London’s Art Deco Jewel , Palazzina Grassi by Philippe Starck

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World’s Most Expensive Penthouse Sells for $308 Million in Monaco to Greek billionaire Constantine Alexander Goulandris!

by Jared Paul Stern , Luxist

Barely a month after we reported that a London penthouse had sold for $220 million, making it the world’s most expensive private residence, the record has been shattered with the $308 million sale of a palatial penthouse in Monaco (above). The Monaco property, called La Belle Epoque, has quite a history; formerly the home of billionaire banker Edmund Safra, it’s where he was found dead following a mysterious fire that gutted the apartment in 1999.

The three-bedroom, 17,500-sq-.ft. duplex penthouse, which includes a double-height library and vast roof terraces complete with mature 15-foot trees and an infinity pool.
The apartment’s luxe features include a panic room with reinforced glass and surveillance cameras, cinema screens which emerge from walls at the touch of a button, numerous walk-in wardrobes and dressing rooms, a leisure room with billiard tables and arcade video games, a Jacuzzi and spa, and a media room with special executive chairs which convert into beds. The penthouse was sold by British property developers Christian and Nick Candy, who acquired the space relatively cheaply following the fire from Lily Safra and hired designer Martin Kemp to oversee $40 million in renovations, including a dining room (above) with a platinum leaf ceiling.

A well-connected Luxist follower has written in to inform us of the identity of the buyer of the record-shattering $308 million Monaco penthouse (above) we just reported on. The new owner of the world’s most expensive apartment we’re told is Greek billionaire Constantine Alexander-Goulandris, a close friend and business associate of Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich. According to Wikipedia, the American-born Alexander-Goulandris, 47, who’s based in Monaco, is an influential advisor to the Saudi royal family and the emirs of Qatar and Kuwait, as well as the leaders of the UAE and many of the world’s largest oil companies.

In addition to Abramovich he’s also close to Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin. Though not on Forbes‘ list of the world’s richest people, he’s said to be worth an estimated $15 billion thanks to investments in petroleum and energy shipping and real estate, including the Olympic Tower building in NYC. In addition to Monaco Alexander-Goulandris reportedly maintains residences in Paris, London, Antibes, New York and Hawaii. He also owns one of the largest yachts in the world, the Dubai-registered, 279-ft. Delma, and jets around on a Boeing 767 and two Gulfstream G550s.

Interested in Luxury Real Estate Monaco? View this video!

Paris’s 25th Biennale des Antiquaires: Even Bigger and Better

By Emilie Gouband, ARTINFO France

The Biennale des Antiquaires, the huge international fair devoted to antiques, fine arts, and jewelry established by the Syndicat National des Antiquaires or National Antiquarians Guild (SNA) in 1962, takes place every other year in the impressive setting of Paris’s Grand Palais. Known for the quality and distinction of its offerings, it has become an unmissable art market event.

This year, in its 25th iteration, the biennial will welcome almost 90 participants into a space of over 43,000 square feet from September 15-22. ARTINFO France takes a look at what’s new this time around and at the galleries that will be participating for the first time.

A Fluid Layout . Patrick Bazanan of Decoral is the exhibition designer again this year. He has created an understated and refined décor with a more open layout. The imposing entrance opens onto a large central pool that reflects the vaulted ceiling of the Grand Palais. On either side of the pool long aisles with eight central plazas along their path lead to the various booths. Bazanan also incorporated quiet and inviting meeting or resting spots. In a video interview on the fair’s Web site, president of the SNA Hervé Aaron praises Bazanan’s design for its clarity and openness, adding that participants have the option of embellishing their booths and “doing whatever they want with world-famous designers in order to create a fantastic setting for their items.”

Leading Galleries . Fans of archaeology and art from non-Western traditional societies will want to visit the booths of Kervorkian, Phoenix Ancient Art, and Bernard Dulon. Asian art will be shown by Jacques Barrère and Christian Deydier. For objects of silver and gold, as well as jewelry, the galleries that can’t be missed are Au Vieux Paris, Martin du Daffoy, Balian, Castiglione, and Faerber. The prestigious jewelers Chanel, Cartier, Harry Winston, and Van Cleef and Arpels will be joined by Piaget and Louis Vuitton.

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Couturiers and Top Models Shine in New York Fashion Week S/S 2011

by Elianna Fokianakis via Thema

New York lives in the pulse of Fashion Week showing the collections for the season Spring / Summer 2011. The next summer seems to have the palette of the 90s, but the courage and cynicism of 2010. Dithyramb reviews for Chalston show, who became famous since the entire cast of Sex and the City wore his dresses. Simple lines, minimalist designs, sexy cuts. Just like the girls of Sex and the City.






*Video:new york fashion week s/s 2011

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Christie’s Expects Bulgari Blue Diamond to Sell for $12M or More

The Bulgari Blue Diamond

via Israeli Diamond Industry

In October 20, 2010, collectors of fancy coloured diamonds will have a chance to acquire the largest triangular-cut fancy blue diamond ever sold at auction. Christie’s is auctioning off the Bulgari Blue Diamond, a 10.95-carat triangular cut stone with a colour grade of fancy vivid blue. The blue diamond is set in a ring along with a triangular-cut 9.87-carat white diamond, and was originally commissioned from Bulgari in Rome to celebrate the birth of the owner’s first son.

The Bulgari ring is the prize lot at the upcoming sales, and Christie’s expects it to attract major figures among diamond collectors and diamond traders, and eventually fetch upwards of $12 million.
Members of the public can view the Bulgari Blue Diamond at Christie’s auction houses in Geneva, Hong Kong and London in September and at Christie’s in New York during the week preceding the sale.

Interesting videos : The most expensive blue diamond & Take a look at the 16 million dollar diamond!!

Armani Beats Gates and Abramovich to Buy $190M Scorpios Isl., property of Aristotle Onassis

by Jared Paul Stern via Luxist Source : IlSole 24ORE, video theULC-Greek Heart

Legendary Italian fashion designer Giorgio Armani has reportedly become the proud owner of one of the world’s most beautiful and expensive private islands – Skorpios (above). In closing the deal, said to be worth about $190 million according to reports in the European press, the designer faced stiff competition from rival bidders including Bill Gates, Roman Abramovich and Madonna. Located in the Ionian Sea off the western coast of Greece, the island formerly belonged to famed Greek shipping billionaire Aristotle Onassis and was the site of his wedding to Jackie Kennedy in 1968. It was sold to Armani by his granddaughter and heiress, Athina Onassis Roussel. There is a lavish villa on the island known as the Pink House which Onassis built for Jackie, along with tennis courts and plush gardens, though most of the island remains undeveloped and pristinely beautiful.

Similar articles in theUltimateLuxuryCommunity: Private paradise of Athina Onassis in the hands of Giorgio Armani , The Obama Winter White House Sold , Du Parc Kempinski: Switzerland’s most expensive property

Watch the video to learn more about Aristotle Onassis.





*Video:armani beats gates and abramovich to buy $190m scorpios isl., property of aristotle onassis

Diane Von Furstenberg at NYC Fashion Week S/S 2011

from New York fashion, video ABC

Diane Von Furstenberg. In 1972, Diane Von Furstenberg first made waves with a simple yet radical directive: “Feel like a woman. Wear a dress.” Five million wrap dresses later, she graced the November 1976 cover of Newsweek, touted as a new icon of female liberation and the most marketable designer since Coco Chanel. After a dalliance with her own cosmetics line and a home-furnishings collection, she stepped away from the fashion limelight and moved to Paris, only to reenter in 1992 with Silk Assets, a pioneer in television shopping (its debut collection sold out in less than two hours). In 1997, Von Furstenberg relaunched her clothing line, and the iconic wrap dress found a warm reception once again. This time, it was the daughters of the first-wave audience who welcomed the wrap into their closets. Today, the DVF empire includes sportswear, beauty, and fragrance lines, and the flagship store is a cornerstone of the meatpacking district’s fashion quarter, functioning as a boutique, design studio, and pied-à-terre for the CFDA council president. In addition to the wrap, DVF hallmarks include graphic floral prints, cinch-waist skirt suits, and forties glamour by way of seventies hippie chick.


		
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More about NYC Fashion Week? Watch this video.

The Obama Winter White House Sold

by OceanHome

Located on 27,000 square feet on the windward eastern shore of Oahu, just 20 minutes from Honolulu, Paradise Point is a gated, island retreat comprised of three structures—including the Plantation oceanfront Estate and a guest suite—marked by exquisite luxuries and unmatched scenery. President Barack Obama and his family have been content to call this corner of the world their home during the past two winter holiday seasons, prompting many to dub this private estate on Kailua Beach the “Obama Winter White House.”

The home, which was featured on the cover of the March/April 2010 issue of Ocean Home magazine, was sold recently to readers Glenn and Debra Weinberg of Owings Mills, Maryland. “The oceanfront properties featured in Ocean Home magazine are always stunning. This was especially true of the Obama Winter White House feature, which first introduced me to our new home,” commented Mr. Weinberg, who is a vice president of The Cordish Co., a real estate development firm based in Baltimore.

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The $35,000 a night Hotel Room at Four Seasons in New York

via Gawker’s, video money.cnn, image gallery Four Seasons Hotels

The country’s most expensive hotel room (outside of Vegas) is at the Four Seasons in New York. It comes with free room service, private butler, chauffeured Maybach, and a $120,000 chandelier.

Ty Warner Penthouse occupies the entire top floor of the hotel, took seven years to design, and cost $50 million to build. Considering the balconies, views, art collection, library, and sinks carved out of solid slabs of crystal,they got their money’s worth. (They don’t even let just any maid clean this thing. They have to have special training on how to do it right. You just can’t trust the help around nice things.)

Though the suite is only occupied a quarter of the year, it is never offered at a discount and its price went up a $1,000 since last year. There’s nothing more luxurious than thumbing your nose at a recession.

ROBERTO CAVALLI returns to profit in first half of 2010

at CPP-LUXURY.com

Italian fashion house Roberto Cavalli returned to profit in the first half, as a pick-up in sales helped offset lower licence fees. The Cavalli group posted a net profit of 1.9 million euros in the six months to June on Monday, compared with a 3.5 million loss a year ago. “As a result of a strong reorganisation at the group, retail and wholesale revenue grew 4 percent compared with the previous year, offsetting a decline in royalty revenues,” the group said. Cavalli, looking to boost its accessories and menswear lines in the next two or three years, said sales at its own stores grew 27 percent, including those from new openings. First-half net consolidated sales were 86.2 million euros, broadly in line with a year ago, after being hit in 2009 by financial woes at Italian licensee Ittierre.