The team fielded by famed French jeweler Cartier beat back rivals Brioni, Maserati and Swiss banking house Julius Baer to capture the 26th World Polo Cup on Snow in St. Moritz the other day. 15,000 well-heeled spectators cheered on during the four-day event, culminating in a nail-biting finale where Cartier and Julius Baer were tied 3 - 3 up until the very last minute when Cartier won a penalty shot with only 8 seconds remaining on the clock. A team of seven well-known Swiss star chefs with a combined total of 118 Gault-Millau points catered to the guests on the chic resort's frozen lake where the matches are staged. In snow polo the ponies are shod with special cleated shoes to provide better traction, and the ball is larger, lighter, and painted bright red to accommodate winter conditions.

They say money can't buy happiness and one millionaire asserts that it is true. The Daily Telegraph reports that Austrian millionaire Karl Rabeder has decided to give away everything it spent him a lifetime to accumulate. He has already unloaded a collection of six gliders and an Audi A8. His stone farmhouse in Provence on 42 acres is listed for sale and his villa in Tirol is being sold in a raffle with tickets available for 99 euros each. The Tirol home is a 3,455 sq ft villa with Alps views. It has a swimming pond, a beach volleyball court and an outdoor entertainment pavilion.

Rabeder sold his successful furnishings and accessories company in 2004 and supports several orphanage projects in Central and South America. He and his wife have created a micro-credit organization. They plan to use the proceeds of the house lottery, on the one hand, to pay back existing house construction loans and cover the startup costs for MyMicroCredit which will fund self-employed entrepreneurs in several South American countries. A total of 21,999 lottery tickets will be sold.

It's not the first time we've seen this type of thing. Last year after a divorce English banker Andrew Paul started the Win A New Life website to give way his his home, car and boat in a competition that anyone could enter for £20. Up for grabs were his £1.1m five-bedroom house, a £160,000 Aston Martin DBS and his £200,000 Sealine 35 Sport motor boat. He was looking to sell 200,000 tickets but did not sell the required amount of tickets for the first prize of his belongings so a cash sum was given out instead.

Exclusive Fisher Island off the coast of Miami, where the likes of André Agassi, Ricky Martin, Julia Roberts and Oprah Winfrey have houses, is frequently named as the country's most expensive zip code. Now even if you can't afford a chunk of the island's prime real estate you can still vacation like a mogul at the newly revamped Fisher Island Club. The historic Vanderbilt Mansion there (above), centerpiece of the Fisher Island Hotel & Resort, has just been restored to its original glory as part of a $60 million island-wide restoration project. The Mediterranean-style mansion, built by William K. Vanderbilt II in 1925, crowns the 216-acre property housing a luxuriously-appointed 45-room boutique hotel. Other luxe amenities include a brand new private beach club and revamped 9-hole professional golf course, tennis center and marina.

[via JustLuxe]

Warren Buffett isn't the only generous billionaire in the world. Businessweek reports that Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin has said that he will plans to leave almost all of his estimated $2.1 billion fortune to charity within the next decade. Unlike Buffett, Potanin is a bit younger, just 49. He has three children. His assets include 25 percent of OAO GMK Norilsk Nickel, Russia's biggest mining company, 30 percent of lender OAO Rosbank, and the Rosa Khutor Olympic ski development. His Interros Holding Company will manage the assets which will eventually be transferred to a "special charity fund" but no designated benficiary for his largesse has been revealed. Ahead of the big donation Potanin will raise contributions to his existing charitable fund to at least $25 million a year.

What's Potanin's motivation? An article in The Financial Times says that Potanin was inspired by Bill Gates and Warren Buffett and has a long history of philanthropy. Potanin told the Financial Times he also wants his children to achieve and felt that inheriting wealth would only be a hindrance. Some feel that Potanin's generous move may inspire more Russians toward philanthropic aims, a trend I first heard Roustam Tariko, founder and chairman of Russia Standard vodka, speak about a few years ago.

Getting behind the wheel of a Dartz Kombat, the ridiculous $200,000 Russian grenade-proof luxury SUV, may not be very high on your 'to do' list at the moment, but if you really feel the need head to the Cote d'Azur. Dartz - which earlier announced plans for a $1.5 million version upholstered in whale penis leather, then backed off after Pam Anderson and PETA protested - has partnered with Cannes Car Rental to offer the clownish conveyance for those looking to play the part of an oligarch on-the-go. The rates start at $8,000 per day but you get to choose the color you want and attending bodyguards are also available. Here's Dartz's sales pitch in its inimitable awkward English:

"Dartz Kombat is your soul car. Strong and armored – but friendly and lovely, Your friend car, Your guard car. Car which remember Tzars and Princesses, car which remember wars and rally's, lost's and victory's. Car which were loved by commie Tzars and car which once shocked this world. Dartz Kombat is the most original, luxurious and expensive SUV in the world."

Roman Abramovich's recently launched Eclipse is currently the world's largest private yacht at a whopping 557 ft. His oceanic supremacy may be short lived however, as Belgium-based Emocean Yacht Design has just unveiled plans for a 656-ft. gigayacht (above) which would put the the oligarch's new toy to shame. Like Emocean's 541-ft. design for the UK's Devonport Yachts to be featured at the upcoming Abu Dhabi Yacht Show, the 656-footer is a completely bespoke design, with equipment, styling, configuration, and class tailored to the desires and tastes of the client.

The monstrous but attractively styled vessel features a drive-in garage, two 98-foot day boats, helipad and hanger, a 100-ft. swimming pool, nightclub, casino, games room, two-level cinema, three beach clubs, a health spa, and 10 VIP rooms, 22 guest suites and a private owners deck accommodating a total of 45 passengers, along with 70 crew. Even at that size she'll be impressively fast, with a planned maximum speed of 28 knots, a cruising speed of 20 knots and a range of 6,500 nautical miles at cruising speed. No price has been mentioned yet but expect it to clock in at well over $500 million.

[via JamesList]

Mikhail Prokhorov, also known as the Richest Man in Russia and hopeful new owner of the New Jersey Nets NBA franchise, is reportedly planning to launch a new city car through his Onexim Group. Reports coming out of Russia are saying that the vehicle will sport some kind of "advanced technology," which many are taking to mean either a hybrid or fully electric drivetrain.

The car will be built in the Yarovit Motors plant in Russia, and in order to get the new city car into production, Onexim is putting in an estimated $141 million investment. That's an amazingly small amount of money to get a new project such as this off the ground, leading many to suggest that it will never happen unless the government gets itself involved somehow.

In any case, the goal is to put the small eco-friendly vehicle on the road for about $12,500. At that price, the machine would be going up against such well-known and formidable competitors as Volkswagen and General Motors. We'll just have to wait and see how this one plays out.

[Source: Inside Line]

Can anything good come from this economic slowdown? If there's a silver lining in this cloud of a sluggish economy, it's that prices on things usually considered expensive are falling, making these small (and not so small) luxuries more affordable. Sort of. Check out these luxe items gone cheap, or at least cheaper.

LOBSTER--If you live around New England, you may have noticed the lower prices on this pricey crustacean, driven by recession-inspired lower demand. You can buy lobster locally from the fisherman on the corner for half of what it used to be a few years ago. If you don't live near the lobsters, check out your local grocery or warehouse store. Earlier this year, buyers were finding lobster for $7.99 a pound at a Costco in San Antonio, Texas. Try Hancock Gourmet Lobster to get it delivered to your door.

Forecast: Enjoy. Thanks to responsible fishing practices and lower demand, prices will stay low and supply isn't falling anytime soon.

CHAMPAGNE --With competition from first-class sparkling wines and Champagne exports dwindling, many retailers are sharply discounting bottles of bubbly. As consumers realize the abundance of high quality Champagne-like substitutes, spots like Good Cheap Wines will continue to offer their take on the best of all vine inspired libations.

Forecast: Enjoy. There will always be expensive bottles and there will always be the cheap stuff. Since inexpensive Champagne and sparkling wines are tasting better while becoming easier to find, have fun taste testing to find the one you like.

For $70 million you can be the proud new owner of the SS Delphine, one of the last great private steamships of the 1920s, built for motorcar magnate Horace Dodge. The 257-ft. yacht was launched in 1921, fitted out with an interior by Tiffany & Co. and every conceivable luxury a gentleman could wish for on the high seas. Constructed at the Great Lakes Engineering Works in Michigan, she was pressed into service during World War II as the flagship for Admiral Ernest Joseph King, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Navy, and Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt are said to have met aboard her prior to convening the Yalta Conference with Stalin in 1945. In the decades following she fell into disrepair until a European clothing mogul had her fully restored to former glory, including the steam engines, several years ago at a cost of $60 million. Along with accommodations for 26 guests and 28 crew members, there's a music salon, cinema, fitness center, spa, sauna, smoking room, swimming pool and original fixtures like the telegraph machine in the mahogany pilothouse.

[via Duncan Quinn]

British department store Debenhams has a new kind of registry: Divorce.

In recent years as I've shopped for bachelorette party goodies, I've noticed a swell in tacky garb brazenly boasting "Newly Divorced" and "RIP Marriage," for themed parties of a different kind. The idea that divorce is something to celebrate is a controversial one. According to DivorceRate.org, the divorce rate in America for a first marriage is 41%. The statistics are worse for second marriages, with 60% ending in divorce, and a staggering 73% of third marriages ending as well.

It's hard to speak generally about divorce, as each one is so different, but whether it's amicable or not, it signals the end of an era. Reuters reports that Debenhams new registry is "for those wishing to help a loved one with the pain."

So. Salt and pepper shakers?

Debenhams' head of retail services Peter Moore gave this statement: "A divorce means that one partner will be leaving the marital home and therefore be left without any essentials in their new house." The recommended gift list includes items like "cookware, cutlery, crockery, glasses, bed linen, towels, small electrical goods such as toasters and microwaves as well as non-iron shirts, large plasma screen TVs and computer games," according to Reuters. The registry has yet to appear online.

[via Reuters]

Could the future of magazines be in the Middle East? Saudi Arabia's Prince Faisal bin Salman, the Chairman of the Saudi Research and Marketing Group (SRMG), has created a new magazine through his Specialized Publishing company that is an Arabic translation of the magazine, "Robb Report." His company also has an Islamic finance magazine and translations of Italy's design magazine, Domus and is planning other translations including Better Homes and Gardens. He has also established a school for training journalists and other mediapeople. He also knows quite a bit about spending money, he races and breeds horses. The announcement of the magazine was made at the two-day meeting of the SRMG which looked at the challenges facing the media. Prince Faisal is enthusiastic about the future including the fate of print media.

For the second year in a row, Jay-Z and Beyonce (right) have topped a different kind of chart; the Hollywod's Top-Earning Couples list from Forbes. Last year, the mono-household-named celebs earned a combined $162 million, but this year, they earned just $122 million. It's a recession after all.

Or is that really the reason? According to Forbes, when the couple won last year, "about half" came from "each star," whereas this year, Beyonce brought home $87 million (well over half of $162 million), compared with just $35 million from Jay-Z. Far be it from us to call $35 million under-earning, and far be it from Beyonce as well -- the couple famously never discusses their relationship with the press.

Other top earning couples include Harrison Ford and Callista Flockhart, who made bank ($65 million) with Indiana Jones and Brothers & Sisters, respectively, Brangelina, who pulled in $55 million from their film endeavors while raising six kids (and gave a whole lot of it to charity, for example, $333,000 to SOS Children's Villages -- thanks guys), and Will and Jada Pinkett Smith, who made $48 million. All out-earned Britain's first couple, David and Victoria Beckham, who made just $46 million.

Come on, Posh and Becks. Jay-Z made almost that much on his own.


[via Forbes]

If you are driving a Bentley, rest your left hand gently on the rearview mirror just out the window -- this is how other drivers will notice your stunning Patek Philippe watch. At least, this is how you should roll if you're a millionaire in China.

According to a survey by Hurun magazine, China's wealthy love watches by Cartier and Patek Philippe and like to slip behind the wheel of Bentleys. Vacations in the United States are also favored. But, for cigarettes and first-class flights, Chinese millionaires like to keep it local. Air China tops the list for luxury flights, and Chunghwa is the favorite tobacco, according to Hurun, with Chinese who have at least $1.46 million in wealth. Unlike cigarettes, though, the favorite cigar brand, Davidoff, is from abroad.

The average respondent to the Hurun survey takes 15 days off a year, on average, has three cars and owns five watches that cost at least $10,000 each.

According to Rupert Hoogewerf, chief researcher and founder of Hurun, the Chinese "have a greater awareness of brands." He continued to Bloomberg News, "They are also more international-minded and keener to give their children a foreign education." Four out of five are planning to send their kids to school abroad for high school and beyond, with the United States the preferred destination.

Being wealthy doesn't mean this community is finished coveting. Now that they are taking more time off, 50 percent want to buy a yacht, and 15 percent would love a private jet.

It looks like Kate Moss came pretty close to being royalty. Emanuele Filiberto di Savoia, Prince of Venice and Piedmont and heir to the now defunct throne of Italy, has admitted to a nearly year-long affair with the supermodel that they apparently kept hidden from the tabloids. The dashing prince says they were introduced by Moss' friend, singer Marianne Faithfull, when they holidayed at his villa in Corsica several years ago. "Who would not fall in love with Kate Moss? She is charming, intelligent and very beautiful," the prince told Italian magazine Chi. "We were together for about eight months and she was a wonderful and fascinating woman, not bizarre or weird at all. Then our relationship ended because that's how things go. But I remember her as a passionate woman." The Prince, who runs a hedge fund in Geneva, is now married to French actress Clotilde Courau.

Cab driver-turned-fertilizer king Tamir Sapir has just listed his palatial New York abode, the famed Duke Semans mansion on Fifth Avenue, for sale at $50 million with Brown Harris Stevens. The billionaire bought the historic seven-story Beaux Arts mansion (which we first mentioned back in 2005) across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art from Doris Duke's heirs for $40 million in 2006 after a single walk-through, and announced plans for a $10 million renovation project with the intention of turning it into a museum for his world-class collections; as we reported last year, Sapir's fondness for exotic animal trophies has gotten him into trouble with authorities. The 20,000-square-foot mansion, built in 1901, currently has a doctor's office in the basement, a five-story main residence, a penthouse duplex on top, 12 bedrooms, 14 bathrooms, and 11 wood-burning fireplaces.



[via Curbed]