Luxist

One of the best kept holiday secrets on the East coast is the annual Christmas Stroll on Nantucket Island. The island located off the coast of Massachusetts, has long been famous as a summer destination for the wealthy and occasional celebrity or well known politician. It is also renown for maintaining its charm and old fashioned feel, accomplished through strict development and zoning laws that regulate what can be built.

The holiday season begins the first Friday after Thanksgiving when the Chamber of Commerce sponsors an Annual Tree Lighting and Community Caroling event. Nothing could be more picturesque that the antique cobblestone filled town illuminated by over 150 Christmas trees while sounds of the carolers fill the air. The 36th annual Christmas Stroll is held over the weekend of December 4th-6th as part of the month long Nantucket Noel Celebration.

Some of the highlights include a Main Street parade featuring Santa and Mrs. Claus, who arrive by Coast Guard vessel rather than sleigh and ride up Main Street in a horse drawn carriage accompanied by the town crier, carolers in Victorian costumes and a Magical Talking Tree to entertain the little ones. The shops and restaurants are all open and feature holiday themed window decorations and often offer hot toddies and cookies to visitors. A charming way to experience a little bit of an old-fashioned Christmas as well as get some early shopping accomplished.

There are many lodging options available for the special weekend. The Chatfield-Taylor Real Estate company has set up a special website for homes to rent for the Christmas stroll weekend. Many are quite conveniently located either in town or with in a short walking distance of the festivities and come in all sizes in case you'd like to bring the extended family or just want a romantic couples retreat. There are numerous Inns and Bed & Breakfast in town as well as the famous The Wauwinet a Relais & Chateau property located on the beach.

On May 1st RM Auctions will inaugurate a new annual sale in Monaco headlined by a rare Ferrari expected to fetch up to $3.5 million. The Sporting Classics of Monaco event will be held at the Grimaldi Forum during the same weekend as the 7th Grand Prix Historique de Monaco. 80 of the world's finest motor cars will be on offer, headlined by a stunning 1962 Ferrari 400 Superamerica Cabriolet Pininfarina (above). One of only six short wheelbase examples bodied by Pininfarina, the Ferrari, chassis no. 3309SA was the last example built, and displayed as a factory show car at the Geneva and New York Auto Shows in 1962. The car, which recently underwent a no-expense spared, nut and bolt restoration by top tier marque specialists, won an award at this year's famed Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. Widely regarded as more exclusive, powerful and luxurious than the SWB California Spider, its offering is set to garner significant attention from collectors around the world.

[via JustLuxe]

The hint of a recovery we got in the first half of 2009 has fallen off a bit,according to Art Price's Art Market Confidence Index. The latest report suggests that art prices have dropped 37 percent since January 1, 2008, when the art market first showed signs of weakness. But, there are some indications that it's headed in the right direction over all. Art Price does state that the third quarter is almost always weak. Only 12 percent of auction lots sold during all third quarters over the past decade, and low sales volumes tend to mean low prices.

The art market appears to have hit its worst point in the first quarter of this year, when art prices were down 38 percent over the previous 15 months. Values plunged to 2004 levels, and spectators figured that conditions would only get worse. Prices edged up 1.2 percent after the first quarter, but a slow summer didn't yield any real progress.

Art Price sees the November results as promising, with seasonally adjusted growth for the Post-War period up 2.1 percent since March and the Old Masters picking up 4.5 percent. And, for the past two quarters, only 38 percent of lots failed to sell, and it looks like October and November will stay consistent with that result.

More than anything else, the numbers suggest that confidence is increasing -- which is the first step in a recovery.

BMW has finally taken the wraps off its brand-new 5 Series sedan, culminating months of anticipation for the Bavarian automaker's mid-range luxury saloon. The styling takes its cues from the new 7 Series and the recently launched 5 Series Gran Turismo, ending years of controversial styling ad replacing it with a more dynamic shape.

The new 5 is being offered in the North American market with a choice of two turbocharged engines: an all-new 300-horsepower twin-scroll 3.5-liter inline six for the 535i, and a 400hp twin-turbo direct-injection V8 in the 550i. Both are mated to an eight-speed automatic transmission and benefit from F1-derived regenerative braking for improved economy and optional four-wheel active steering. Additional engines – including diesels and more compact gasoline engines – are also available in overseas markets, with more powertrain options expected to join in the future, including hybrids and a new M5 performance model.

It's a pivotal product for BMW, and features a state-of-the-art cabin with all the luxury amenities you could expect from a luxury sedan. Browse through our high-resolution gallery below for a closer look, or follow the link to our sister-site Autoblog for a more in-depth analysis.

More big diamonds and big prices were seen at the Christie's Geneva auction on November 18. A 62.30-carat, D flawless diamond sold for $8.051 million amid a sale which sold 82 percent by lot and 93 percent by value. Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading in New York paid $130,000 per carat for the 62.3-carat, Type IIa flawless diamond. Paul was on a buying spree, he also submitted the top bids for two natural color diamonds, bidding $2.68 million for a diamond ring by Wolfers that paired a 3.30-carat, rectangular-cut, fancy intense blue diamond with a 3.90-carat E, VS2 diamond estimated at $580,000 to $740,000. He also spent nearly another $2.68 million on a fancy vivid, fancy intense and fancy blue diamond clasp, circa 1950, which had been estimated at $500,000 to $650,000. He has a history of buying or trying to buy important stones. Last year he was the underbidder against Laurence Graff for the Wittelsbach diamond.

In the same sale a 65.20-carat fancy intense yellow, cushion-shaped diamond pendant sold for nearly $1.04 million and a 4.42-carat fancy intense, square-cut green diamond ring sold for $783,000. The largest recorded fancy grayish-yellowish-green "chameleon" diamond in the world, cut into a 19.13 carat briolette and mounted as a pendant, sold for $987,000, setting a new world record price for a chameleon diamond.

Back in 2005, BMW shocked the Formula One racing world by announcing it would leave its longtime partner Williams F1 in order to acquire its rival Sauber. But after four years of racing, the economy tanked and the coffers ran dry. BMW announced it would withdraw from the sport, leaving Sauber to look for a new investor.

A new investor was found, but reports now indicate that the deal could have been an elaborate fraud. The buyer was identified as Qadbak Investments, a mysterious Swiss firm that had recently acquired a football club in England and which was supposedly backed by wealthy Middle Eastern investors who preferred to keep a low profile. After an exhaustive chase of paper trails and dummy companies, it now appears that Qadbak is nothing but a front for one Russell King, a British national based in Dubai previously convicted of fraud.

According to the report, King was planning on using Sauber as a means to tap into the revenue sharing scheme in Formula One, worth tens of millions of euros.

With a shrinking economy and rising environmental conscience worldwide, the era of Bigger is Better in automobiles is coming to an end. In its place, customers are demanding more compact automobiles, even in the upper echelons of the market, and it now appears that both Bentley and Rolls-Royce are preparing to meet demand with smaller, more versatile products.

Bentley's plans are coming into focus with reports of a new range to be positioned below the existing Continental and Mulsanne. Sources suggest that the project tentatively known as the New Compact Bentley (NCB) could breed a three-door "shooting brake" (think a sportier take on the estate wagon) and a crossover. Both would sell in the $110-130k range, powered by a 4.5-liter twin-turbo V8 driving 550 horsepower to all four wheels through an eight-speed automatic transmission.

Rolls-Royce's plans are a little less clear at this point. The most esteemed of luxury marques recently went down-market with the new Ghost, and is tipped to begin outfitting luxury Minis, but is also said to be working on a new compact crossover of its own. Code-named SHRIMP (for Short High Rugged International Metropolitan Project), the new Rolls would be positioned below its current offerings and take the brand into new territory.

Mercedes-Benz has a long history in grand prix racing. In the inter-war period, it competed with the famous Silver Arrows. After the war, the German automaker returned briefly, only to withdraw again after just one year. It wouldn't be until decades later that they'd come back to the scene, supplying engines first to the Sauber team (later acquired by arch-rival BMW) and then to McLaren, the championship team with which Mercedes has been tied – including a part-ownership and collaboration on the SLR McLaren supercar – since 1995. McLaren and Mercedes won several world championships throughout their fourteen-year history together, but now the two companies have gone their own separate ways. McLaren is building their own supercar – the MP4-12C – and Mercedes the SLS AMG, and now the two have announced a separation on the race track as well.

Although Mercedes will continue to provide McLaren with engines, the automaker has sold its stake back to the racing team. In its place, Benz has acquired a 75% stake in the Brawn GP team – which was previously Honda's, which in turn took over from British American Racing and Tyrrell before that. In its inaugural season, Brawn won both the constructors' title and the drivers' title, and will now be rebranded as Mercedes Grand Prix for the upcoming season. Eager to demonstrate German talent, the new Mercedes team has already signed Nico Rosberg – one of the youngest and most promising talents on the grid – and is preparing to announce its second driver shortly before returning for the 2010 championship in an effort to repeat this year's success.

Basketball player Shaquille O'Neal likes to wear a lot of hats. Actor, musician, sheriff, Twitter star and now art curator? O'Neal is curating a gallery show for New York's Flag Art Foundation titled "Size DOES Matter." The exhibit ponders the question of idea of scale in contemporary art and features some big names in the art world including Chuck Close, Jeff Koons, Andreas Gursky, Kehinde Wiley and many more. The show is scheduled to open in February at the Flag Art Foundation's exhibition space in the Chelsea neighborhood.

O'Neal told Bloomberg News that his turn as curator was "a little harder than I thought it would be." The exhibition will feature 52 artworks, five are special commissions, many others are loans from private collections and museums. The choice of Shaquille O'Neal as curator should attract additional attention for the show. Writer James Frey, famous and also infamous for his bestselling book "A Million Little Pieces" is writing an essay for the exhibition catalog.

Expect to see a lot more BMWs, Rolls-Royces and Minis in Hollywood as the German automaker has signed a new deal with one of the world's leading product placement agencies. The firm, Propaganda GEM, represents such brands as Panasonic, Bang & Olufsen and Nokia, to name just a few, but is ending its 13-year tie-in with Audi – which placed its vehicles in such hit films as Iron Man and I, Robot – in favor of a new one with the BMW Group.

BMW is certainly no stranger to product placement, having launched both the Z3 and Z8 roadsters in the Piece Brosnan-era 007 films. The Bavarian automaker also launched a highly successful short-film series called The Hire in 2001 that attracted several guest directors and starred Clive Owen. But now that BMW has pulled out of Formula One, Propaganda plans on using some of the newly-available marketing funds to place BMW products – including the cars and motorcycles as well as Minis and Rolls-Royces – in more films, TV shows, music videos and video games, in addition to sponsoring events like the upcoming 2012 Olympic Games in London.