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Fangio’s rare F1 Mercedes sells for $29.6 million


A classic Mercedes-Benz race car driven by Formula 1 legend Juan Manuel Fangio has sold for 19.6 million pounds ($29.6 million) at Bonhams Goodwood Festival of Speed Sale auction on Friday.
The 1954 Mercedes-Benz W196 single-seater was driven by the five-time world champion racer when he clinched his second title in 1954. The Argentine drove the car to victories in the 1954 German and Swiss Grand Prix races.
Bonhams chairman Robert Brooks called this car the “most important historic Grand Prix racing car ever offered for sale”.
A Ferrari 330GT, first owned by John Lennon, fetched 359,900 pounds at the same auction. The late Beatle bought the blue Ferrari after he passed his driving test in 1965 and sold it three years later.

Sao Paulo rich use choppers to beat traffic jams


Former model-turned-business mogul Cozete Gomes owns eight companies and does not really have time to be stuck in Sao Paulo‘s epic traffic jams. So she just flies over them.
In Brazil’s sprawling business capital, home to 20 million people, millionaires sick of nightmarish bottlenecks on the roads are taking to the skies, relying on a massive fleet of private helicopters to get around town.
“For me, the helicopter is a necessary tool,” Gomes told AFP as her chopper flew high above the city’s clogged streets into Campos de Jordao, northeast of Sao Paulo — a mountain resort for the rich dubbed the “Brazilian Switzerland”.
“I use it in my day-to-day activities, for my business, my meetings. It makes my life a whole lot easier,” she said during the 50-minute ride earlier this month in a private six-seat helicopter.
There are 420 helicopters registered in Sao Paulo — a total second only to New York, according to the Brazilian Association of Helicopter Pilots.
With a net worth estimated at $125 million, the multi-millionaire Gomes, 41, is part of a select group of Sao Paulo’s super-rich elite who either own helicopters or can afford to rent them for $1,300 an hour.
There are up to 500 helicopter flights daily in Sao Paulo and the city has a staggering 193 heliports. Helicicade, the city’s largest, boasts nearly 80 helicopters owned either by individuals or private companies.
“The helicopter business in Brazil has been growing about 20 percent in recent years,” said Carolina Denardi, a spokeswoman for the Brazilian Association of Helicopter Pilots, known by its acronym ABRAPHE.
The country has a nationwide fleet of more than 1,900 helicopters, including nearly 700 in Sao Paulo state alone, the association said. On average, more than 300 operator licenses have been issued annually over the past three years.
While most Sao Paulo residents struggle to get around the city, wealthy executives and socialites — oblivious to the maddening gridlock — cruise overhead, hopping to their luxury condos, beach resorts or business meetings.
According to Wealth Report 2013 published by Wealth-X, a Singapore-based wealth intelligence firm, Sao Paulo was last year home to 1,880 individuals with net assets of $30 million or more.
The number is projected to shoot up to 4,556 in 2022, a reflection of resource-rich Brazil’s soaring prosperity.
Gomes — a former model and beauty queen whose eight companies focus on promotional marketing, event management and modeling — says she is one of the few Brazilian women to have built her fortune on her own.
She shot to national fame in January with her television appearance on the “Rich Women” reality show, which spotlights the extravagant lifestyle of “travel, luxury cars, jewels, shopping and lots of champagne” enjoyed by Brazil’s expanding millionaire class.
“I agreed to appear on the show to share my success, my life story with the whole of Brazil, to show the positive experience of a women who started from nothing and built her own business,” she told AFP.
“There are many other Brazilians who are richer than I,” Gomes noted, as she nonchalantly sipped a glass of champagne at the luxurious La Villette guest house, which has its own helipad.
Indeed, the Wealth-X report identified 50 Brazilians with net assets of over $1 billion.
According to Forbes Magazine, the richest Brazilian is 73-year-old beer magnate Jorge Paulo Lemann with a net worth of $17.8 billion, followed by 74-year-old banker Joseph Safra with $15.9 billion.
The richest Brazilian woman is 83-year-old Maria Helena de Moraes, with a net worth of $6.2 billion tied to her 25 percent stake in the family-controlled Votorantim Group, Brazil’s largest cement maker and one of Latin America’s largest industrial conglomerates, Forbes says.

Lalique For Bentley Crystal Flying B Paperweight


Drive the elegance of Bentley right up to your workstation. Lalique and Bentley Motors have teamed up to allow the liberty of parking the essence of the flying B right on to the desk. Bentley’s flying B bonnet ornament in its crystal avatar will add momentum to work pace without compromising on style.

Weighing almost a kg, the Lalique crystal paperweight is shaped like the iconic Bentley mascot and inspired by legendary car mascots created by Rene Lalique in the 1920s. The emblem of British luxury car icon celebrates the richness of Lalique’s past and its modernity.

The French crystal and glassware manufacturer encapsulates the creation as ‘The dynamic of its wings, wrought in gleaming crystal, epitomizes timeless beauty while evoking lightness, speed and elegance.’ Standing tall at 5 inches ( H5.55″ / L6.77″ / W3.70″ to be precise), the Flying B paper weight by Lalique is individually numbered and available for $1,700.

Top 10 Destination Spas of 2013


A medically supervised spa in Austria where guests learn everything from proper chewing to sound eating habits, nutrition and therapeutic “self-discovery” was named the best destination spa among readers of Condé Nast Traveller UK.
The Parkhotel Igls in Austria (pictured below) was given top marks for its health-oriented spa treatments based on Modern Mayr Medicine, a six-pronged approach that focuses on cleansing and detoxing the body via fasts or customized diets, tutorials on vitamin and mineral intake, indoor and outdoor activities, and psychological counseling.

CN Traveller readers also gave The BodyHoliday, Le Sport in St. Lucia top marks for its exercise programs, and singled out Ananda in the Himalayas for the quality of its spa treatments.

Here are the top 10 destination spas according to CN Traveller’s Readers’ Travel Awards 2013:
1. Parkhotel Igls, Austria 93.54
2. COMO Shambhala Estate, Bali 93.50
3. Brenner’s Park-Hotel & Spa, Baden-Baden, Germany 92.31
4. Chiva-Som International Health Resort, Hua Hin, Thailand 91.5
5. Banyan Tree Phuket,Thailand 91.10
6. Ananda in the Himalayas, India 90.67
7. Espace Henri Chenot, Palace Merano, Merano, Italy 89.66
8. The Body Holiday, Le Sport, St Lucia 88.58
9. Grayshott, Surrey 87.34
10. Canyon Ranch in Lenox, Massachusetts, USA 86.26

Buffett donating $2.6 billion in stock to charities


Warren Buffett, the billionaire investment guru known as the Oracle of Omaha, is donating about $2.6 billion in stocks to five charities as part of a plan to give away the bulk of his wealth before he dies.
The bulk of the annual donation, about $2 billion, went to the Gates Foundation, the philanthropic organization set up by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. Buffett also donated millions to his own foundation and the charitable organizations set up by his three children.
Buffett, the second-richest American and the third-richest global billionaire on Forbes’ lists, has been a leading advocate for philanthropy among the wealthy.
Buffet and Gates launched The Giving Pledge in 2010, encouraging the world’s wealthy to commit to donating 50% or more of their fortunes to philanthropy during their lifetime or after they die.

Rolls-Royce SUV will not compromise brand


Luxury car maker Rolls-Royce will not compromise its exclusive image if it builds a sports utility vehicle (SUV), its chief executive said Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists in Singapore, Torsten Müller-Ötvös said the firm known for its stately sedans is now in the early stages of designing its first SUV for the super rich.
“I have tasked our designers to come up with some ideas on paper how they would imagine our car, the Rolls-Royce, would look like in this segment,” he said. ”This segment is interesting, it keeps growing and growing and growing, even at a time when the whole automotive industry was quite in a crisis.”
The auto press is abuzz over the idea of a Rolls-Royce SUV but Müller-Ötvös said the BMW-owned British company would tread carefully as “Rolls-Royce is not sporty, Rolls-Royce is not utility (and) it is not in the genes of this brand”.
“There is no decision yet made, and we aren’t rushing it, and there is also really no need to enter that segment. It only makes sense if this can be credibly represented by Rolls-Royce,” he said.
Bentley in July said it would go ahead with plans to launch an SUV by 2016. Lamborghini, which like Bentley is a unit of Volkswagen, is also eyeing the SUV market along with Fiat’s Maserati.
Porsche, also part of the Volkswagen group, is well ahead of the pack, with its sales boosted by its hugely popular Cayenne SUV.

Saint Laurent unveils diamond jewelry line


Hedi Slimane is launching a new line of stunning diamond jewelry for the Parisian luxury house.
Titled ‘Saint Laurent Diamond,’ Slimane’s latest jewelry collection features stunning modernist designs in gold, set with brilliant-cut diamond paving.
The hand-crafted jewelry line, which features rings and bracelets for men and women, follows “the tradition and savoir-faire spirit of Parisian joaillerie,” says the brand.
Customers have the choice of 18K gold or 18K white gold set with diamonds and according to Saint Laurent the collection will be “permanent and evolving.”

Grammy-themed cruise set to launch next year


Music lovers are being wooed to sail the seas with Norwegian Cruise Line, which announced plans to launch a Grammy-themed ship next year.
The Grammy Experience will be located on deck 8 of the latest addition to their fleet, the Norwegian Getaway. In addition to housing artifacts curated from the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles, the ship will also feature live performances by past Grammy winners and nominees.
Construction on the 4,000-passenger Norwegian Getaway is currently underway in Germany, and will be the largest ship to homeport year-round in Miami when it sets sail in February next year.
Highlights of the ship’s features include an open-air boardwalk, three decks to optimize oceanside viewing, and a seafood restaurant developed by US Food Network celebrity chefGeoffrey Zakarian.

What families are looking for on their next vacation


When it comes to family travel, eat-free programs, kid-friendly activities and healthy food options are some of the most important priorities for parents when booking their holiday.
That’s according to two separate reports released this week which looked at family travel — the largest segment of the leisure travel industry, says Expedia.com.
In its family travel trends report, Expedia found, for instance, that value-for-money was top of mind for budget-conscious families who are more apt to be persuaded to book a hotel that offers free breakfasts, eat-free programs or free stays for the first child.
A report out of the Holiday Inn chain also found that saving up for a family vacation was the biggest challenge for families — more than trying to coordinate schedules or taking the time off work.
Pools, kids’ suites, and special on-site children’s activities are also important amenities for parents. And while the Holiday Inn report found that nine in 10 parents said their kids’ opinions are influential when choosing their vacation destination, gone are the days when holidays were planned for the exclusive enjoyment of kids, a fact that some hotels have long realized.

Parents are now looking for hotels that offer babysitting services and kids’ activities so that they can escape for a child-free romantic date. Increasingly health-conscious families also appreciate hotels that offer healthy food choices and appropriate portion sizes for kids.
Looking for accommodation ideas for your next family trip? TripAdvisor readers selected the Cavallino Bianco Family Spa Grand Hotel in Ortisei, Italy as the best hotel for families this year.

Louis Vuitton for Only Watch 2013


Participating for the fourth time, Louis Vuitton has produced a superb piece unique for the upcoming Only Watch charity auction. As in prior years, Louis Vuitton’s piece for Only Watch 2013 is extra special because it was designed in collaboration with young Paul Pettavino.
Paul has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and it is research towards a cure for this disease which proceeds of the event go to support. Paul’s father LUC is president of the Monaco Association against Muscular Dystrophies and a figurehead in the Only Watch event.
This year, Paul designed the enamel and gold sailboat or painted on the dial and the painted Louis Vuitton Damier canvas trunk. A message signed by the young boy is also stuffed inside.
This Tambour Regatta Spin Time has a 45.5mm x 16mm rose gold case, and the regatta timing function uses LV’s novel “spin time” mechanics (the red squares are actually rotating cubes). The “spin time” collection was first introduced by LV in 2010, and then in 2012 it was applied to regatta timing.

The regatta timing is managed by the button on the case at 8 o’clock. Pushing the button sets the watch to regatta timing mode. Note the subdial up top starts at “25″ and counts to “30″ (marking the five minutes preceding the start of the regatta). The red cubes then mark race time in 5 minute increments.
Source: perpetuelle.com

Splendidly Renovated Italian Castle Displaying Charming Details


Originally built between the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the fabulously elegantCastello di Semivicoli in Casacanditella, Italy, is an inspiring travel destination for people worldwide. During 2005 and 2010, the hilltop castle went through  an extensive renovation led by Oriano Associati Architetti. They transformed the charming palace from seriously degraded into an inviting luxury travel destination. Spreading over 2,500 square meters (26,900 square feet), the fantastic property showcases additional 20,000 square meters of parks and gardens overlooking the picturesque surroundings.

An elongated rectangular ground floor houses spaces once used as a mill, a winery and a warehouse, while the main floor shelters a collection of private spaces occupied by the owners, the Masciarelli family and their guests. The rest of the property is divided between fascinatingly remodeled spaces:

The mezzanine floor and the attic, for a time for the servants and then inaccessible and unused, welcomes now the rooms and ancillary spaces of the accommodation. The last level, soaring above the attic, was originally intended as a barn is now home to the most prestigious accommodation units with a 360 degree view of the Maiella and Gran Sasso, the Adriatic, and the cultivated valleys.

A minimalist elegance is seen throughout, alongside strictly maintained architectural details. Resulting in an awe-inspiring architectural composition, Castello di Semivicoli is an excellent example of a successful modern upgrade.













Medieval Castle Turned Into Authentic Hotel in Italy


Located in the mountains of Abruzzo at 1250 meters above sea level, S. Stefano di Sessanio is a picturesque fortified medieval village, just a two-hour ride away from Rome. It is in this scenic part of Italy that the creative team at Oriano Associati Architetti decided to preserve and refresh the historic structure of a medieval castle, turning it into a unique accommodation unit.

By working alongside local organizations, the team converted Sextantio Albergo Diffuso into a traditional village hotel: “To retain Santo Stefano’s local character all modern technology is hidden. We searched out original architectural materials, and our furniture and textiles are authentic items from the Abruzzo mountains. We have preserved traces of bygone countryside life in the fabric of the buildings – symbols of hardship which evoke the spirit of ancient rural life”, explained the architects. The interior arrangements were intentionally reduced to minimalist functionality, yet the hotel’s atmosphere is very welcoming and genuine.












Tumi’s New York Flagship Opens At Madison Avenue


To make a big statement in the heart of New York city, Tumi has opened its latest flagship store at 610 Madison Avenue.  New Jersey based manufacturer of suitcases and bags for travel has thrown open the doors of this 1,800 sq ft outpost to woo shoppers to with their new appearance.


It is designed by award-winning international designer and architect, Dror Benshetrit to attract visitors to indulge in effortless shopping experience. The brand’s logo, illuminated in signature red color, is installed on the façade of the second floor in an attempt to be visible from far end of the street too.


Clients can step in to come across day bags right at the front of the store. Larger travel cases are placed on pristine white platforms at the rear end and at the center, smaller leather items, like wallets and phone cases, are displayed on white tables. All the products are available to be tried on hand without hesitation. The brand has also brought forth their monogramming station, readily accessible for customers keen to add a personal touch to their shopping.


Designboom explained that the interiors have been done up with emphasis on neutral toned materials to provide suitable backdrop to highlight Tumi’s wide-ranging collection. The 18 ft ceilings rise high to render generously soaring legroom. Other features like walnut-finished wooden fins and highly polished metal fixtures add to the elegant interiors. Also four-paneled 12 ft flat screen run the label’s seasonal marketing campaigns, keeping the shoppers and those accompanying them glued.


Dror Benshetrit shares the same sentiments as the luggage brand, ‘When you look at a TUMI bag, there’s a lot of logic and reasoning behind the design. Whether you’re creating a bag or a store, you’re designing for that same customer. We wanted to add a sense of hierarchy within the space to provide a seamless experience – moments where the consumer is guided towards what they’re looking for. TUMI customers know exactly what they want.’
CEO of Tumi, Jerome Griffith also stated, ‘As a design leader, we seek partners with a shared philosophy who can also bring a fresh perspective. Our relationship with Dror began with a successful product collaboration. Partnering with Dror for the new store design was a natural fit. Together, we developed a space that represents our heritage of design excellence, technical innovation and superior functionality.’