Archive for the 'Luxury Gifts' Category
21st Century Clocks
This futuristic clock doesn’t necessarily belong in the luxury home discussion, but it certainly provides some interesting global details:
- Abortions are far more prevalent than marriages.
- There are more divorcecs than HIV infections.
- Bicycle production still far exceeds auto production.
- Bicycle production also outpasses the manufacture of computers.
- Respiratory disease is far more prevalent than STD/HIV and AIDS.
- Suicides are more common than violent deaths.
- And in the time it takes to leisurely sigh, 8 more people will have joined the human race.
Check it out: World Clock
read comments (0)Interactive Luxury Home Surfaces?
Much has been written and said about Microsoft’s new surface computing technology.
It is the WOW technology of the year. Sooner than many of us thought possible, this technology will first become a defining feature in luxury homes, and as adoption increases and prices drop, it will likely appear as a builder option in many tract subdivisions.
Imagine interactive coffee tables that wirelessly download photos from your digital camera. Or how about kitchen counters that come to life with not only recipes and schedules–but may also allow you to order groceries, pizzas or Chinese carry-out and pay for it all by laying your credit card on the counter.
Expect to see early adoption of this technology not in luxury homes, but in bars and restaurants.
The possibilities will stagger the imagination.
Luxe Rocks for Luxury Homes
Leave it to Italian designers to create the ultimate in luxury rocks for exterior lightscaping.
These remarkable lighted rocks by Oluce look as if they might have been swiped from the lawn of a distant planet. In reality, though, they were created by Italian designers Marta Laudani and Marco Romanelli with Massimo Noceto. Made from weather-tested polyethelene, these lighted Oluce stones glow with the aid of a screw-in fluorescent bulb.
Dont expect to find these luxe rocks in your local hardware or lighting store though. They are available by special order and then only in œlarge quantities whatever that means. The good news? The price has just been reduced from $513.50 to just $316.00 each. Such a deal!
I hope to seem some of these luminous beauties in San Diego’s luxury homes before too long.
For additional information, you may call ylighting at 866.428.9289 (This is an unpaid, unexpected and unsolicited commercial
)
I wonder if these lighted rocks would attract bugs???
Other fun and imaginative luxuries for the luxury home:
D. Porthault Sheets and Linens
As well as other recent luxury reads:
The Snoring Room
The Self Service Spa (Do it at home?)
Long-Lasting Roses
Induction-Cooktop for the Luxury Kitchen
Ultimate Phone for the Luxury Bath
How to Hide the Bedroom TV
Switchable Mirror Glass Windows
SONOS: The Ultimate Sound System
Haute Refrigerators for Cool Kitchens?
The Overflowing Infinity Tub
Wine Storage for Oenophiles
The Illuminated Bathtub
Luxury Home for Jets and Toys
Even private jet owners from Dubai might want to stop in Carlsbad, California for fuel, red carpet service and a concierge service second to none. Celebrities, business tycoons and savvy fliers already know about the Premier Jet facility at the McClellan-Palomar Airport and the buzz is starting to spread.
With U.S. Customs opening an office at Palomar in June, a $24 million facelift in the works, and the runway being lengthened to accommodate more traffic, international high fliers may make this Carlsbad airport a new must-stop.
I had the opportunity to interview Marc LaChance, developer of the Premier Jet facility, and find out a little more about the this amazing airport complex that is a combination of upscale office space, glossy hangars and luxurious rest and relaxation areas for pilots and passengers.
Marc was kind enough to spare part of his morning to show me the Premier Jet complex which features 14 elegant office spaces ranging from 1500 to 8000 square feet, 19 private executive hangars spanning 3500 to 15,000 square feet and hallways wide enough to host a diplomatic reception line.
Need red carpet, a limo or catered gourmet meals for inflight service? The on-staff concierge will attend to those requests either in person or via flight communications. Limos and caterers stay on call. There are private lounges, luxe conference rooms, a luxurious reception and concierge area, fuel and full flight planning services.
The light and glossy hangars are offered for sale, and most have already been sold. As of this writing, there are a few left ranging from around 3500 to 4800 square feet, with an approximate price of $235 per square foot. Who buys these hangars? Some are corporate buyers, and others are hungry for space to store their toys. After all, few luxury homes offer private runways.
Marc foresees enormous growth in the private jet industry with the new composite construction for jets. This will reduce both the cost of the jet and its fuel costs (because of its fiberglass construction and lighter weight) and increase travel safety. Add to this the desire by many to avoid the parking hassles, security lines, and the time lost just trying to board a jet and travel by private jet looks more attractive all the time.
What is providing additional fuel for growth in this industry are companies like Net Jet, which has around 600 jets under fractional ownership. The concept is similar to timesharing and offers significant savings over charter jet travel. But it is small jet construction that may propel private jet travel into much broader market reach. œWith composite jets, the cost for fractional ownership might be, for example, $50,000 plus $500 per hour. This will open private jet travel to a much larger market, said Marc. He added that perhaps 50 percent of the jets at Premier are held under fractional ownership.
Marc La Chance is an aviation buff and visionary who foresees enormous changes in flight travel during the next twenty years even more than we have witnessed in the last sixty. And composite construction, fractional ownership and artificial intelligence are just the beginning. Programmable personal air vehicles could also become a significant means of commuting and travel for many.
Its enough to put the mind, imagination, and Jetsons into high gear.
The Luxury Blingdex
Luxury is booming and Wall Street is keeping a keen eye on how the rich are spending their wealth. And what better way to measure that hedonism than by creating a variety of indexes that track the shopping of the ultra-rich? The demand for four-figure handbags, five-figure baubles, six-figure cars, luxury resorts and travel, insurable art and heady wines has created a new and trackable economy for the very wealthy.
What intrigues investors is how well the carriage trade merchants are faring. This is mostly due to the fact that the rich are getting richer and their numbers on a global basis are growing along with their spending habits. A look at some of these uber-wealth tracking indexes reveals more than a little about the favored products and shopping stops of the rich. For example, sales at Saks Fifth Avenue and Barneys New York are increasing at twice the level of the retail sector as a whole. Some of the indexes and the luxury companies they track include:
- Merrill Lynch tracks a basket of companies including BMW, Porsche, Bulgari, Coach, Tiffany Jewelers, auctioneer Sothebys and the private banking firm Julius Baer. The performance? Up 23 percent in 2005 and 12.5 percent in 2006. This compares to the respective 14 and 7 percent for global consumer stock during the same periods.
- Citibanks Plutonomy Index tracks world spending of the worlds growing class of plutocrats. This index mirrors much of Merrills, but also includes Japans highly regarded Shinwa Art Auction and Hong Kongs Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group. We might call this one the œruler of wealth.
- Deutsche Borse introduced its own World Luxury Index earlier this year. It tracks Bulgari, Sothebys, Hermes International and requires that the companies it tracks generate at least 50 percent of its income from luxury spending.
What is the appeal of these indexes? Some surmise that those who cant afford the lifestyle of the ultra-wealthy can still be œin the money by investing in so-called luxury stocks. Finding true luxury stocks can be a difficult task, though. Many of these high end brands are now part of larger conglomerates. And because publicly-traded pure luxe companies are becoming so rare, many of the indexes are including brands such as Nike, Puma, Gap Stores, Harley Davidson and other popular products in their mix.
The reason for this interest is obvious. The rich are getting richer and are far more numerous. The number of millionaires in the US has more than doubled since 1995 and total wealth held by the top 1 percent has increased by more than 50 percent since 1998 (much due to real estate appreciation, Im sure). It should come as no surprise that luxury spending has kept pace with the soaring incomes and wealth at the top rung of of the economic ladder. And according to a Citigroup study, the top 20 percent of American earners are responsible for between 37 and 70 percent of total consumption.
And what is fueling this consumption? Its the desire to have the finest in homes, travel, dining, dress, art and social connections, according to Margaret Mager with Goldman Sachs High-End Consumer Index. œToday the good life is defines by the assets you have, she said.
Tip of the top hat to Robert Frank and The Wall Street Journal Wealth Report
