Luxury

The jewellery auction season is upon us and this year Sotheby’s and Christie’s are going head to head with some of the most magnificent stones seen on the market for some time. I have previously written about the high demand for investment grade spectacular gemstones and the pieces on offer are sure to whet the appetite of collectors. Each of the auction houses is presenting a stunning array of jewels, but for me the most special ones are the large coloured diamonds and precious stones.

On the way back from the ‘Trans-Antarctic’ photographic exhibition at the Royal Geographic Society late this February, which is a stones throw from the Albert Hall, I stopped by Daquise café and restaurant (www.daquise.co.uk) with a friend to taste some Polish fare. It didn’t disappoint.

Bentley unveils the revised Continental GT Speed, raising the bar even further in terms of exclusivity and performance. The fastest production Bentley ever, with a top speed of 206 mph (331 km/h), now delivers even more power and torque, and a striking new Black Edition model joins the Speed family.

In the last 20 years, jewellery has experienced an explosion of creativity and innovation not seen since the heady days of the Belle Epoque, when new diamond cutting techniques and the innovative use of platinum for setting raised the look of jewels to heights of dazzle and delicacy never seen before.
The three main reasons for this have been the great strides made in manufacturing technology, the enormous increase in interest in unusual coloured stones and a surge in demand for bespoke pieces.

Bugatti is celebrating a world premiere at the Geneva International Motor Show: the French luxury brand is unveiling the Bugatti Chiron, the most powerful, fastest, most luxurious and most exclusive production super sports car in the world.
 

McLaren launched the brand new and exciting 570GT in Geneva today, but they gave a lucky few a sneak preview over a month ago at the Hurlingham club.

jewellery buyers have become increasingly discerning in the last few years and with that knowledge comes a desire for stones of the highest quality. We have seen this in the price surge for important coloured gemstones, with several stones smashing world records at auction last year; we are seeing this now with diamonds mined from the Golconda. In real terms, white diamonds have not proved to be a completely failsafe investment. According to Martin Rapapport, developer of the industry approved Rapapport Index, prices for diamonds of 1 carat have fallen 7% over the last year.

The eXcellence Group hosted a luxury network event of British excellence and wealth at McLaren London, 100 Knightsbridge last month.
The event brought together the very best British and International luxury brands, combined with the opportunity to invest in the latest successful innovative tech, media and luxury startups. The guests were a mix of ultra high net worth, angel investors, capital investment firms, family offices and successful entrepreneurs looking to invest in new technologies and future forming business ideas.

A contributor to International eXcellence and freelance journalist has been honoured at the 2015 State Street Institutional Press Awards, which recognise “outstanding performance” in institutional financial services reporting.
Roger Aitken, a former FT journalist who has written for International eXcellence on topics including luxury brands, classic cars in Turin’s Parco Valentino and Czech medical tourism, scooped the journalist of the year award in the ‘Regulatory Issues’ category at this year’s awards held at Momo’s restaurant in London on 11 November.

Brown Fleming dominated the market for imitation wax prints on the West African Coast and although several attempts had been made to get an insight into Previnaire’s production process it was only around 1910 that several other companies in the United Kingdom, Switzerland and in the Netherlands managed to produce a quality of wax print that compared to the quality of Previnaire. These companies were extremely keen to do so, because the production of Previnaire’s two sided printed cloth was very time consuming, hence the production volume was very low while the demand was quickly growing.