Looks like Charlize Theron will be heading to court against watchmaker Raymond Weil. The case, which we first reported on last year, has gone before a New York judge who ruled that the case has enough weight to proceed to a jury trial. Raymond Weil is suing for $20 million in damages saying that Theron violated her endorsement contract, which dictated that she only wear Weil watches, by wearing a Dior watch at a public appearance. She of course has also been the face of Dior's fragrance, J'Adore. Damages will be decided at trial but it seems likely that the opposing sides will settle before then. Charlize Theron has already gone on to a new watch, jewelry and accessories contract with Breil Milano.

UPDATE: Theron has settled the suit for an undisclosed amount.

Charlize Theron may not have gotten along too well with the Raymond Weil watch people but she seems to be doing just fine with Breil Milano. The leggy blonde actress has renewed her contract with Italian luxury brand signing up to appear in the company's advertising campaigns until 2011. She will appear in ads not just for watches and jewelry but for Breil Milano's forays into the luxury leather goods and eyewear markets. She has filmed a new campaign with photographer Jean-Baptiste Mondino in Los Angeles.

Bernard Arnault, chairman of luxury goods monolith LVMH, says that despite dire economic predictions and reports of a falloff in parts of the luxury sector the company expects profits to actually improve in 2008. "We are in a position to meet our objectives for a sharp rise in earnings in 2008," Arnault just announced at LVMH's annual shareholders meeting, according to Women's Wear Daily. "Every time we've been [in a difficult economy] we've increased market share. We've started the year strong. We will not pull off [of the accelerator]. We are focused on innovating."

Arnault, whose company recently added Swiss watchmaker Hublot to its portfolio of luxury brands, singled out handbags as a strong earner. "There are tons of new leather goods," he declared. "The Richard Prince bag for Vuitton" - one of our Handbags of the Day -- "has been an immense success and we won't be able to meet demand," Arnault said. "We can't produce the pieces fast enough." He also predicted strong sales this year for Fendi, calling it "one of the most important Italian brands on the market," and Dior as well -- no doubt thanks to Charlize Theron's captivating fragrance ads (above).

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Gisele Bundchen has lowered the price on her penthouse apartment, bedroom shown above, from $10.9 million to $9.2 million. The listing is here.
--Another supermodel Natalia Vodianova and her husband Justin Portman have marked down their fabulous penthouse from $11 million to $9.9 million. It was our estate of the day back in June.
--News anchor Kaity Tong and her husband, Patrick Callahan, have been living at the Gramercy Park Hotel after their Chelsea apartment was invaded by mold that may have come from a construction site next door.
--Real-estate marketing icon Louise Sunshine has listed her two-bedroom West Palm Beach condo at Trump Plaza for $1.399 million.

From the NY Observer's Manhattan Transfers:
--Vera Wang has paid $23.1 million to the estate of her late father Cheng Ching Wang for his duplex at 740 Park.
--Jerry Moss, co-founder of A&M Records, has paid $9,472,597.13 for an eighth-floor Plaza apartment.
--Two co-ops at The Ritz Tower at 465 Park Avenue that belong to late oil man Warren Alpert have sold for relatively small amounts. A two-bedroom apartment went for $1.4 million, city records show, and a fourth-floor studio/storage space sold for $175,000. Before his death he gave $100 million to Brown University's medical school.
--Celebrity photo retoucher Pascal Dangin paid $5.8 million this month for a townhouse at 281 West Fourth Street, in the West Village brownstone dreamland near West 11th Street.

From the Wall Street Journal's Private Properties:
--Yves Saint Laurent and his business partner, Pierre Berge, have listed their estate in France's Normandy region again for less money and less acreage. The property, now about 52 acres, is for sale at €12.5 million, or about $17.8 million. The entire 67-acre Deauville estate was first listed more than two years ago for €20 million, then withdrawn last year. In 2005, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie were rumored to be purchasing the home.
--Photographer and painter Richard Prince paid $9.7 million last month for a 1.9-acre property of his neighbor Diane Fuhrmann in Wainscott, N.Y., bringing his property to about 3.2 acres.The new land has a five-bedroom house.
--Screenwriter Peter Griffiths sold his Los Angeles house last month for close to its $29.5 million asking price.

From Berg Properties Celebrity Big Time Listings:
--Lori Loughlin has sold her Cape Cod-style house in the Hollywood Hills for $2.4 million.
--Radio host Tom Joyner and his fitness-guru wife Donna Richardson Joyner have sold their house in Beverly Hills, Calif. for its $5,600,000 asking price. It was our estate of the day back in August.
--It's time for another round of guess who owns this celebrity house.
--Public records reveal that the official price Paris Hilton got for her Los Angeles home was $3,865,000.
--Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban have gone to contract to sell their Nashville house, which had been on the market for $2.45 million. It was our estate of the day back in September.
--Charlize Theron is latest buyer in the new Broadway Hollywood building in Hollywood paying at least $2 million for her unit.
--Professional skateboarder Eric Koston has paid $2,075,000 for a single-family house in Los Feliz.

From the Real Estalker:
--Mike and Irina Medavoy have listed their home in Beverly Hills, CA for $23.5 million.Indulge your eyes at the estate website here.
--Tony Danza has listed his five-bedroom Sherman Oaks home for $6.15 million. It is our estate of the day later today.
--Rumor has it that Shaquille O'Neal may have sold his home in Star Island, Miami which was listed at $32 million. The scuttlebutt is that baseball player Alex Rodriguez may be the new owner.
--Fashion designer Jennifer Nicholson has listed her charming four-bedroom home in Santa Monica for $7,995,000. The listing is here.
--Actress Katherine Heigl has purchased a home in Los Feliz for $2.55 million.
--Avril Lavigne's long-ago-vacated home is on the market for $6.2 million. The lavish property website is here.
--Dan Akyroyd and Donna Dixon's Hollywood Hills home which has previously been owned by Mama Cass and Ringo Starr is now listed at $4.2 million. The listing is here.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Matthew McConaughey is ready to move out of his Airstream trailer in Malibu and into a real home. He has found a four-bedroom home for around $10 million in Malibu that sits on over an acre.
--David Draiman, lead singer of the band Disturbed, has put his fantastic Northridge castle, complete with turrets, gargoyles, dragons and griffins, on the market for $2.849 million. The listing is here and is listed as status "pending" so it may already be sold.
--David Barenholtz, co-owner of the Beverly Hills-based tea emporium Le Palais des Thés and Culver City-based David Gallery, and his partner, Jeffery Allyn, have purchased the home of the late screenwriter and producer Bernard Gordon for nearly its $2.3-million asking price.
--Dan Dugan, a production manager of the TV series "Girlfriends" and "The Game," and his wife, Jessie, have purchased a getaway on Maui for $1 million.

After Academy Award-winning actress Charlize Theron's rather disastrous alliance with watch company Raymond Weil, I'm a bit surprised that the beauty signed herself up for another watch shilling gig (not to mention one that has a very similar sounding name to the last company she worked with) . Last time the poor girl got sued for breach of contract just for wearing another company's watch. Let's hope her new job as the face of Italian luxury brand Breil Milano goes more smoothly. Theron has been signed to a multi-year contract and the ad campaign is already out. She will star in all Breil Milano advertisements, including spots on television ,print media and outdoor advertisements in various the countries where the brand is marketed.

Actress Charlize Theron is experiencing the dark side of celebrity endorsement. Sure you get a fistful of cash but you also get a lawsuit if you don't wear the products. Swiss watchmaker Raymond Weil has filed a breach of contract lawsuit against Charlize because she had signed an endorsement deal saying that from October 2005 through December 2006 she would only wear Weil watches. In March 2006 she was spotted wearing a Dior watch. That's a big no-no and the company is taking action. This isn't the first celeb endorsement lawsuit we've seen. Jessica Simpson was sued by Princy for wearing True Religion instead of her own branded jeans and Melanie Griffith got in trouble for not mentioning the name of the designer she wore to the Golden Globes in 2006.