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100+ Russian Children to Inherit $1 billion Apiece

For the very first time in the history of Russia, over 100 children are in line to inherit more than $1 billion each from their ultra-rich oligarch fathers. Russian business magazine Finans has found the number of likely legatees swelled to 112 this year, as compared with 70 last year, the London Telegraph reports.

At the top of the list are the two toddlers belonging to Russia's richest man, Oleg Deripaska, who stand to inherit as much as $20 billion each. The paper notes the list is not terribly scientific, however, as the rankings were arrived at merely by dividing each billionaire's fortune by the number of children he has, without regard to age, primogeniture or other mitigating factors.

Therefore, since Luxist mascot Roman Abramovich (right) has five children, his brood only clocks in at No. 34, with an expectation of $4.6 billion each. Elsewhere on the list, Lukoil owner Vagit Alekperov's son makes No. 2 with $13.5 billion coming to him, and steel tycoon Vladimir Lisin's three children rank at No. 14 with $7.40 billion. See the gallery for some of Russia's richest dads.

Gallery: Russian Billionaires

Oleg DeripaskaVladimir LisinVagit AlekperovAlexei MordashovMikhail Prokhorov

Cindy McCain's $300,000 Outfit for the RNC

Thanks to the calculator-savvy fashion dept. over at Vanity Fair, we've got an estimated grand total for Cindy McCain's outfit from Tuesday evening's Republican National Convention festivities. The final cha-ching? $300,000. Highlights include her Oscar de la Renta fierce-collared shirtdress, a pair of $280,000 diamond sparklers and Chanel's J12 white ceramic watch. The shoes have yet to be identified -- any guesses readers? (I'm betting Manolo.)

At least in the realm of fashion, Cindy is the elitist in this race. Remember Michelle Obama's pick for her appearance on The View? A $148 number from mass chain White and Black.

Mulholland Brothers Boardroom Collection

Matching luggage was all the rage at one point but today the trend seems to be moving away from brightly colored bags so perfectly matched they're all but identical to more gently coordinated sets like this Boardroom Collection from Mulholland Brothers. Made from materials that could do double duty as a business suit, the bags feature all the class and reserve of pinstripes and leather plus a few splashes of modern style in the way of the occasional bright print. Prices range from $92-$610 and the set include every shape and size you could possible need, from wallets to garment bags to carry ons.

Via acquire

Gallery: Mulholland Brothers Boardroom Collection

Chicago Luxury Home Tour


Real estate may be sluggish but that hasn't seemed to stop the luxury home tours. For three weekends in September, Sept. 5- 21, Chicago-area real estate gawkers can check out the houses in the 5th annual Chicago Luxury Home Tour. The homes are all new and feature green construction such as asphalt shingle roofs, geo-thermal heating and cooling, radiant in-floor heating and recycled and recyclable materials. Tickets can be bought in advance for $15 at local locations or for $20 at the homes. Or if you aren't in the area, sneak a peek at the photo gallery on the Chicago Home Tour website.

[via Chicago Tribune]

Cappellini Love Table

Do you feel guilty about all your old magazines, even if you are recycling them? New York designer Stephen Burks certainly must have given it some thought which explains his line of eco-conscious tables for Italian manufacturer Cappellini called Cappellini Love. The small tables are made from recycled paper and shredded magazines. The tables have a paper structure stuffed with paper and then a paper maché like design of magazine strips on top which is treated with adhesive and hardener. Burks designs made a big impression at the Milan furniture show earlier this year where he was interviewed by Cool Hunting about his process about the production of the tables. It almost seems like a project I might be tempted to attempt to try to recreate at home if I weren't certain it would end in gluey disaster.

Ralph Lauren To Launch Ultra-Premium Fragrance

Ralph Lauren is betting that some people will be willing to pay over $4,000 for a bottle of perfume this holiday season. His "super premium" perfume titled simply "Love" will be launched at Harrods in October. The fragrance will come in a gold-plated bottle and wlll be aimed at luxury consumers over the age of 25. I haven't been able to find out any details on what it actually smells like yet.

Avila in Tampa, Estate of the Day


Let me take the opportunity of today's estate of the day to remind everyone just how much I love getting tips on outrageous real estate. If you find a luxury property you think I should see, please use the tips form on this site to send in the info.

Today's estate was referred to me by Luxist reader Chris who rightly thought it would make an interesting estate of the day. Certainly we don't see homes this lavish in Tampa, Florida too often. The huge compounds usually tend to be on the Atlantic side of the state near Palm Beach or Boca Raton. Today's home is located inside Avila, a private country club community. The gated home is on over five acres overlooking the golf course, pond and conservation areas within Avila. The compound is over 28,000 square feet of space and with attached guest quarters it has 10 bedrooms. The home is pretty ornate. Outside it has a grand manor-like look. Inside there is a large ballroom, a library paneled in dark wood , 14 fireplaces, elevator, wine room. The grounds include a pool and spa with cabana and basketball court. Obviously a lot of money has been spent here but I question the overall effect. The dark wood, marble and touches of gilding. It reminds me of Villa Versailles in Malibu which is on the market for around the same price in that it aspires to grandeur but seems too overblown to be livable even for those with the most lavish of tastes. This home is listed at $25 million.

Experience more lush living in luxury homes and mansions or see the stars living large with celebrity homes galleries at AOL Real Estate.

Gallery: Avila in Tampa

Continue reading Avila in Tampa, Estate of the Day

M by Michael Mondavi Wine

After reading the ins and outs of the Mondavi clan in The House of Mondavi book, I'm even more intrigued to see what former Mondavi CEO and chairman Michael Mondavi has cooked up with his first wine. The 2005 M by Michael Mondavi is made from 100% Cabernet Sauvignon from his Animo vineyard in Atlas Peak, Napa. The wine was aged for 22 months in French oak and bottle aged for a year.

You can pick up M by Michael Mondavi this fall for a steep $199. In a recent interview with Steve Heimoff, Mondavi explained how he reached this price. He explained that his team bought a bunch of top cult wines and did a blind tasting asking themselves how much they would pay for each wine. Because their wine came out strong they prices it below some of the super-pricey cult wines and above some of the ones it showed better than. Of course the costs of managing the 15-acre vineyard were also a factor.

Heimoff's interview also reveals that Mondavi has learned his lesson about rapid expansion. He says that at his Folio Wine import and production company they have just two rules, only work with those they respect and want to spend time with, and only sell wines they would like to serve to family and friends.

Vacheron Constantin Explorer Series Watches


Vacheron Constantin has revealed the latest in their Explorer series of watches. The two new models celebrate Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus (previous models were devoted to the Chinese admiral Zheng Hé and Magellan). The enamelled dial is made of two parts that partially overlap. The top part features a map of the explorer's journeys and the bottom part shows twelve hour numerals traversing a 132° minute scale on the lower part of the dial. The case is 18K gold and measures 40mm and the movement is the automatic Vacheron in-house caliber 1126AT, with 36 jewels, beating at 28,800 bph and with a power reserve of 40 hours. There are 60 watches of each explorer.

Derringer Cycles: 180 mpg, 1920s Styling


In Los Angeles, Derringer Cycles are the new Bentley. Whether you want to go green or just look good doing it, these moto-hybrids are a trend to hop onto. You can reach speeds of 40mph, pedaling not required. (Hence the hybrid in moto-hybrid: you can pedal as if on a traditional bike, use the engine for assistance pedaling, or rely completely on your bike's 4-stroke engine, traveling near and far without ever breaking a sweat.) Depending on how often you choose to pedal, your moto-hybrid can get up to 180 miles per gallon.

The Derringer cycle was conceived by famed industrial designer Adrian Van Anz (Brad Pitt is a fan) to "take the compromise out of environmentalism," riffing on parts Ducati and parts Schwinn. You can order up your hand-built cycle in splashy colors ranging from Fresco Blue to Bad Girl Pink (there's Good Girl Pink, too), or custom paint jobs like 22-carat engine-turned gold. Check out the gallery for all the cool options.

Derringer has a retail store at 7954.5 West 3rd St., L.A. and can talk bikes with you over the phone at 323-944-0091. Cycles sell for $3,500.

Gallery: Derringer Cycles

The 10 Richest Streets in the World


The Times of London has come up with a new list of the world's 10 richest streets based on property prices. The most expensive street on the globe, unsurprisingly, is in ultra-rich Monaco - Avenue Princess Grace, to be exact, where average prices run about $17,000 per sq. ft. It's a pretty safe bet that anyone with an address there is a millionaire at the very least. In second place is Severn Road in Hong Kong's Victoria Peak district (above), where the average price is about $11,000 per sq. ft. Here are the rest of the runners-up:
No. 3 - Fifth Avenue, New York
No. 4 - Kensington Palace Gardens, London
No. 5 - Avenue Montaigne, Paris
No. 6 - Ostozhenka, Moscow
No. 7 - Via Suvretta, St, Mortiz, Switzerland
No. 8 - Carolwood Drive, Beverly Hills
No. 9 - Wolseley Road, Sydney, Australia
No. 10 - Altamount Road, Mumbai, India

Gallery: World's Richest Streets

Avenue Princess Grace, Monaco, #1Fifth Avenue, New York, #3Kensington Palace Gardens, London, #4Via Suvretta, St. Moritz, #7Carolwood Drive, Beverly Hills, #8

The World's Biggest Billion-Heiresses To Be

Forbes has come up with a new list of the 10 young women most likely to inherit their mega-rich fathers' fortunes - in short, the billion-heiresses of tomorrow. The final list does not merely represent the daughters of the world's richest men, however; for a true accounting, the magazine started with the daughters of the world's 150 richest people, all worth $6.4 billion or more, but then focused only on those with few or no siblings to divide the loot.

They further narrowed the field by disqualifying those with fathers like Bill Gates who have declared their intention to leave their fortunes to charity instead of their children. Also, they did not include those who have already inherited their money, like the world's richest woman, L'Oréal heiress Liliane Bettencourt.

No. 1 on the Forbes list is India's Vanisha Mittal Bhatia, daughter of Lakshmi Mittal, the fourth-richest person in the world with a fortune of $45 billion. The No. 2 and 3 heiresses are also the daughters of Indian tycoons, while No. 4 is Delphine Arnault-Gancia, daughter of LVMH chairman Bernard Arnault, the world's 13th-richest man with a fortune of $25.5 billion. And clocking in at No. 7 is championship equestrienne Georgina Bloomberg (above), daughter of New York's billionaire mayor Michael Bloomberg. See the gallery for more.

Gallery: World's Biggest Heiresses

Vanisha Mittal Bhatia, #1Delphine Arnault-Gancia, #4Marta Ortega Perez, #5Marina Berlusconi, #9Samantha Kluge, #10

The Sound of Luxury Cars Rev A Woman's Engine


Men sometimes buy luxury cars partly based on the response from women. Now here comes the science to back up that behavior. British psychologist, David Moxon has performed a study for auto insurer Hiscox which says that the revving of a luxury car engine is sexually arousing to women. His research involved having 40 adults listen to recordings from Maserati, Lamborghini and Ferrari engines using the sound of a Volkswagen Polo for contrast. His team used saliva samples to measure the level of testosterone before and after listening to each car.

Moxon found that all the women had a significant increase in testosterone levels after listening to the Maserati engine but only half of the men marked an increase. By contrast the Volkswagen Polo led to a decrease in testosterone for some in the study. So maybe instead of putting on soft music when you want to get romantic you might want to try the throaty rumble of a Porsche instead.

High Tech Wine Fraud Prevention


The latest tool in the battle against counterfeit vintage wines is rather high tech. Antique Wine Company in London asked Guegan's Centre for Nuclear Studies to create technology that zaps bottles with ion beams generated by a particle accelerator. The beams are meant to determine how old the glass in the bottles is and where it originated from. They can compare the suspicious bottles with known bottles from a certain chateau.

Of course this brings up the problem of new wine in old bottles. That involves another test, a method that tests for levels of a radioactive isotope, cesium 137, in the wine itself. Techniques like this were used in the case of wines sold by Hardy Rodenstock, the wine dealer who is the subject of "The BIllionaire's Vinegar" a recent book that includes the story of American collector William Koch who has sued Rodenstock claiming bottles which allegedly belonging to US president Thomas Jefferson were fakes.

Because of the high cost of testing, techniques like this are only used when there are significant amounts of money on the table. This may force savvy fraudsters to move into the mid-range of the vintage market where clients are less likely to resort to such elaborate means.

Vogue India Fashion Spread Stirs Controversy

For Vogue India's latest issue, editors decided to shoot some of the country's poorest citizens modeling such luxury goods as a Hermes Birkin bag and a Burberry umbrella. An older woman -- missing her upper teeth -- held a baby wearing a Fendi bib which cost as much as she might earn over a several month period. (Remember most of India still lives on little more than a dollar a day.) The juxtaposition has a number of Vogue readers (and non-readers) astir.

In a place polarized by caste and an exceptionally apparent disparity of wealth, one would think Vogue might have been a little more discreet. What infuriates me most about the photo spread is that Vogue didn't even get the names of the men, women and children posing. They are simply referred to as "lady" or "man" while the cutline goes into great detail about the various objects they model -- people as props, handbags as the main story.

The real shame? That somehow poverty never quite goes out of fashion.

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