Monaco Grand Prix

Steinmetz Encrusts McLaren Gear with Diamonds for Monaco Grand Prix

Filed under: Jewelry, Luxury Cars & Autos, Sports

In the fast-paced, weight-obsessed, space-age world of Formula One racing, there's not much room for ornamentation. Except maybe in Monaco, the most glamorous race on the calendar. That's where the F1 circus is heading this weekend, and it's also where Steinmetz Diamonds will be unveiling a unique tribute to the McLaren team and its world champion drivers.

Steimetz has taken the helmets and steering wheels of both Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and embellished them with Forevermark diamonds. The pieces were unveiled at Villa la Vigie – once owned by Karl Lagerfeld and now the home of the Steinmetz Salon Privé – on Wednesday. Both world champions – Button 2009 and Lewis 2008 – will be sporting their diamond-encrusted helmets and steering wheels at this weekend's grand prix, where Hamilton, for one, hopes to recreate his 2008 Monaco GP win, where he also wore Steinmetz diamonds on his helmet.

Gallery: McLaren helmets and steering wheels by Steinmetz

Tags: diamonds, f1, formula 1, formula one, grand prix, jenson button, lewis hamilton, mclaren, monaco, monaco gp, monaco grand prix, monte carlo, steinmetz, villa la vigie

$1.5 Monaco Grand Prix Gift Package With Custom Supercar

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Yachts & Sailing, Luxury Cars & Autos, Wings, Events, Sports, Holiday Guides, Wealth

Last month we reported that the glossy chronicle of the filthy rich Robb Report is offering the world's most expensive Christmas gift this year - a matching custom private jet and megayacht set costing $500 million. The profligate publication has a few more eye-popping offerings as part of its Ultimate Gift Guide, a seasonal smorgasbord of over-the-top exclusives. Among the most enticing is a $1.5 million Monaco Grand Prix gift package, consisting of the following: a VIP experience at the 2010 Monaco Grand Prix F1 races in May; round-trip private jet travel from North America to Nice, France, and helicopter transfer from Nice to Monte Carlo for a party of four; five nights' accommodation in the top-floor suite at the luxe Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort; privileges aboard a private 170-ft. yacht that will provide a prime vantage of, and tender service to, four days of racing and activities; and last but not least a custom Spyker C8 Aileron Spyder (above) "as a keepsake".

Tags: Christmas, Formula 1, Formula1, France, holiday 2009, Holiday2009, Monaco, Monaco Grand Prix, MonacoGrandPrix, Monte Carlo, Monte Carlo Bay Hotel Resort, MonteCarlo, MonteCarloBayHotelResort, private jet, PrivateJet, racing, Robb Report, RobbReport, Spyker, yacht

Martini Girl Too Hot for Formula 1 Drivers in Monaco

by Jared Paul Stern (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Spirits, Luxury Cars & Autos, Events, Sports

A billboard featuring sultry model Jessiqa Pace (above) on the racetrack at the Monaco Grand Prix had to be taken down after it proved too distracting to Formula 1 drivers over the weekend. Pace, 29, appears in the campaign for Martini, the Italian winemaker founded in 1863 and famous for its iconic vermouth.

F1 team representatives asked for the posters to be taken down after drivers complained during trial runs; champ Lewis Hamilton crashed in Saturday's qualifying round close to the gigantic image of Jessiqa. "All the attention is overwhelming," she told the London Daily Star. "I find it really funny. Obviously it's very flattering that I'm distracting the drivers so much, but I'd feel terrible if someone got hurt."

Gallery: More Jessiqa Pace