He bought 24 bottles for himself and many others for George Washington.

Controversy raged when bottles of the 1794 Chateau d’Yquem found by the collector, Rodenstock, were sold by Christies for 200,000 pounds.  Evidence came to light that they were probably fake - this would have reduced the price to 2,000 pounds!  The main problem was the engraving on the bottles. Jefferson’s estate said that he never engraved his bottles and, if he did write his initials, he signed them differently.  The engraving may have been done by a modern tool.

There were law cases about the wine and the story of Jefferson’s wine has inspired a book and a new film which will probably star Will Smith.

The December fair lost some of its lustre.  Ksenia Sobchak, the master of ceremonies, told attendees that they were ’superheroes’ for coming and basking in the luxury.  Money was not flowing the way that it used to at the fair.  Premier Yachts had a tough time selling 18 metre yachts even though they were including free 10 metre ones!  Many of the people at the fair were journalists, instead of millionaires.

The global economic crisis has hit Russia hard and many of its wealthy are losing lots of money. 

The next fair will be in Amsterdam.  Many protestors are expected, including anarchists and socialists, shocked at the conspicuous display of wealth shown at the Millionare’s Fair.

One wonders what the future of the fair will be as most of the world enters into recession.

The exclusive jewelry store, Tiffany & Co. has a well-known rule.  The distinctive  robins-egg blue box with the white ribbon in which its jewelry is packaged can not be bought at any price when it is empty.  It must contain an object from the famous store.  The shop assistants at Tiffany’s will never break this rule.

Almost every woman dreams of receiving a present from Tiffany & Co., a name practically synonymous with luxury, good taste and extravagance.  If a man buys his intended fiance an engagement ring wrapped in the gorgeous blue packaging she will certainly open it with great excitement.

The founder of the store, Charles Lewis Tiffany, chose the gorgeous, bright color, and ordered that all of the packaging and advertising of the New York store should be in exactly this shade of blue.  The color proved very popular in Victorian times.

Now Tiffany Blue is a trademarked color and a strong part of the store’s popular brand.  Even the store’s website is filled with the evocative color. It evokes memories of beautiful Holly Golightly, played by Audrey Hepburn in the movie, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, saying how she loved Tiffany’s and dreamily window-shopping.

When Tiffany & Co.’s new store was opened on Wall Street in 2007 the color pervaded the area outside.  Models in Tiffany Blue taffeta gowns stood outside the store while blue and white cookies were handed out and musicians played Moon River.

Although the store’s sales may decline in the recession the strong branding helped by the lovely color of the packaging of the exclusive jewelry will help Tiffany & Co. survive.

‘Patte Barham, an L.A. socialite, thinks that many ofRussia’s Crown Jewels are buried in the Gobi desert in Mongolia.  She was the step-daughter of George Meskhi-Gleboff, an aide to Czar Nicholas II.  Meskhi-Gleboff told her that he was instructed by Czarina Alexandra to take the splendid jewels, including Faberge eggs, rubies and diamonds, to the Bank of China in Beijing.  After bandits attacked, Gleboff hid the jewels in the desert.

According to Barham, he gave her a hand-drawn map of the area where the jewels are located.  She wants to have an expedition to find the jewels and return them to the Russians.

Some of the Russian Crown Jewels were sold in London by Christies at a famous auction in 1927.  They fetched very low prices, probably because the Soviet government just wanted the money.  Empress Maria Feodorovna’s Imperial Russian nuptial crown, for example, with its double row of brilliants and diamond cross, was bought by a Parisian jeweler, M.Founess, for only $30,500.  This appears to be an unbelievably low price, even in the twenties. Some of the jewels, once guarded night and day by Soviet soldiers, remain in Russia. They can be seen at the Kremlin Armoury Museum.

There is a beautiful online exhibition of the jewels: <a href=”http://www.alexanderpalace.org/jewels/highlights.html”>Jewels of the Tsars</a>

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One business that has been affected is Tiffany & Co.  Holiday sales were lower and the share price declined.  The company is expecting worse to come as incomes become lower, more people are put off, and tourists become thin on the ground in New York where Tiffany’s has its flagship store.

Many other luxury companies have fared even worse. The shares of LVMH, Bulgari, and Richemont SA all declined by about 50% from last year’s peak recently.

Shoppers don’t feel like buying luxury goods any more and those people who ‘flaunt’ their Prada dresses and Jimmy Choo shoes on the high street will soon be seriously unfashionable as this becomes uncool.  Charlie Chaplin once said that: “I can imagine nothing sadder than getting used to luxury.” It sounds pretty good to me!  However, in a time of recession many might agree with this and stop wanting luxury products.

However, the company still manufactures perfumes and its beautiful vintage perfume bottles are favored by collectors. A collector from Seattle recently bought a glass Faberge perfume bottle for 102,000 euros at the Bukowski auction house.  He paid far more for the bottle, encrusted with white enamel and diamonds, than the minimum asking price of 35, 000 euros.

I love to read about and look at Faberge jewelry and eggs, haute couture clothes, and luxury yachts.  However, I don’t really want any of them (maybe some Faberge jewelry!). I can’t sail and I can’t afford the yacht or the crew. The only way for me to have these things is to either be incredibly successful or marry an extremely wealthy man and it’s too late now! (I’m married and I haven’t made a huge amount of money.)

You may think that it’s all very well for the head of Chanel to make this statement.  After all, he probably can afford many of these things although he apparently leads a simple life and sleeps in a single bed! 

I see what he means.  I don’t think that luxury items shouldn’t exist or that people shouldn’t buy them just because I can’t afford them.  There probably is something wrong with too much ostentation and materialism but it’s also wrong to envy the wealthy too much.  In the Russian Revolution the workers took over the houses of the wealthy, kicked them out or made them live in a very small space (if they didn’t murder them)  and tried to have total equality. We all know how that worked out!

What do you think? Do you agree with Lagerfeld?

The umbrella was a gift from the woman’s mother-in-law.

This story reminded me of the day when a woman on the Antiques Roadshow was over-joyed to learn that her beautiful antique diamond brooch, a family heirloom, was a Faberge piece.

It may be worth checking those old items and heirlooms soon!

Paris does a lot of charity work and has pledged to do more so she was surprised to be berated for spending $5,560.00 at Australian designer, Wayne Cooper’s Melbourne boutique.  She bought 31 items. Tim Costello, the head of World Vision Australia, said that this was ‘obscene’ and this amount of money could have greatly helped the Third World.  Tim Blair, however, wrote thatTim Costello earns $250,000.00 per year himself, a large amount of money.  He thought that Paris Hilton’s money helped small business and to keep Australian jobs.  He even wrote that we need more American heiresses!

Paris Hilton is going to visit sick children in hospital during her stay on Australia’s relaxing but glitzy Gold Coast so people will probably soon forget her spending spree.

Who do you agree with? Tim Costello or Tim Blair?

Clive Christian perfumes contain the finest and most expensive ingredients.  No.1, for example, has aged Indian sandalwood, so rare that its use is regulated by the Indian government, and Tahitian vanilla, which is obtained by a very labour-intensive process. 

In spite of all this, the scent was described by Canadian Beauty.com as ‘floral and fresh!’ (I would want a better review than this if I were Clive Christian!)

Recently Clive Christian introduced the Oriental Ambery for men, which is also the No.1 for Men Pure Perfume, and is just as expensive.  It also contains very luxurious ingredients, such as Bergamot and Sicilian mandarin, and comes in a handmade bottle of lead crystal.

These two scents continue the tradition of making luxury scents which began in 1872 with the Crown Perfumery business which included Queen Victoria as one of its clients.  David Christian, an English millionaire and interior designer, bought the business in 1999.  The stoppers of the No. 1 perfume bottles are in the shape of Queen Victoria’s crown as a tribute to the company’s most famous customer. 

I will think about buying a tiny quantity of Clive Christian’s famous perfume!