US

There is risk and there is reward, but during December's Ulysse Nardin event in Boca Raton Florida there may be only reward. Opening up a dedicated boutique for the first time in a specific market can be a challenge and a risk. It is an expensive endeavor and failure can hurt your reputation as much as it can your bottom line. High-end watch brands tend to do only one thing well – and that is make watches. Being sales people isn't always their bag.

Lucky for Ulysse Nardin that they don't need to worry much about managing the store with their name on it. They opted for a cleverer means of opening their first US boutique store. Have a successful existing dealer in the area do it for you.

Sprightly and young for a man of his wealth, Bobby Yampolsky who owns and runs East Coast Jewelry can claim to operate one of the most successful watch selling businesses in the US. An existing Ulysse Nardin watch dealer, he was chosen to have the honor of starting and operating the Ulysse Nardin boutique. In the Boca Raton Town Center Mall located relatively close to his main store in South Florida, he put on quite a show for the boutique's opening event.

For the first time, England based watch maker Linde Werdelin has produced a limited edition timepiece to be exclusively sold in the United States. Limited to just 11 pieces, the Hard Grey DLC will feature the same base watch as "The One," but with a gray colored DLC (diamond like carbon - very hard material) coated case. Featuring the standard Linde Werdelin case, the watch will have an almost neon yellow SuperLumiNova coated set of hour indicators and hands, a new red-colored Linde Werdelin logo on the dial.

The steel case is 44mm and very comfortable. Inside the watch is a Swiss ETA 2892 automatic movement, while the watch comes with two straps. One strap is the pictured brown alligator strap with gray contrast stitching, and Linde Werdelin also includes a black rubber strap. Look for these 11 pieces sold exclusively in the US where Linde Werdelin watches are sold. Price is $7,300.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.

Red roses are popular year round but take on special importance at Valentine's Day. Suddenly they are everywhere. Bouquets of roses are sold by the side of the road and by salespeople hovering around restaurants. This, combined with the overflowing buckets at the grocery store, saturate a market that is deserving of a richness equivalent to its history. Favored mostly for its beauty and durability, combined with fragrance, the rose's popularity has caused an outbreak of ecologically harmful and trade-wide problems.

Many roses are raised in Ecuador and Colombia, and there is an ongoing concern of heavy pesticide use, unfair wage and labor conditions and the possibility that the rose tips themselves may have been treated with anti-fungal chemicals that are harmful to human beings.

Flower arranger and horticulture expert Betty Miles explains the importance of careful-sourcing and following care that will result in a longer life and a clear conscience. She notes that, due to favorable climate conditions as well as cheaper labor, most long stem roses (the most popular in America) are grown in greenhouses around the world, and generally in Colombia, Ecuador and parts of Africa. There can be a big difference between the white-bucketed variety amongst conventional locations and the fresher and perhaps more local available at a credible florist. Betty goes on to say:

When sourcing flowers in person, check underneath the bud to see if petals will have been removed. This will prove the flower to be old or not as fresh, diminishing their cut-life. 'Hardening-off' is a common flower arrangement term- taking a cut flower from a garden or, later, florist, and diagonally cutting an inch off the tip of the stem then immediately placing it in water (or cutting while the stem is submerged in water). Doing these steps, along with removing the lower leaves and stems will avoid rotting and water-contamination thus, shortening the life. If not removed, the most distal part of the stem will get dried, killing the cells within the stem, rendering it inactive, and killing the flower. This can and should be repeated by the distributor, the florist and finally, the customer. Though the packet of "flower-extender" that comes with your flowers appears artificial, it is an inert and biodegradable substance (typically a formula including dextrose and bacteria-inhibitors) that will extend the life of your cut flowers.

Not everyone is looking to settle down, particularly celebrities and other extremely wealthy people, so the market for luxury rentals that offer a no strings attached home for as long as they care to stay is booming. Forbes has a list of the most expensive rentals of 2007. Instead of simply picking ten million-dollar-a-month pads, Forbes chose to list the most expensive in ten different metropolitan areas, which is something to keep in mind if you change cities as often as you change clothes. On their list, you'll find:

• Atlanta - $6,500 per month for an 1,800-square-foot, two-bedroom, two-bath condo in Buckhead in a building with a 24-hour concierge and fitness center.
• Washington, D.C. - $12,500 per month will put you in a 14,000-square-foot, six-bedroom estate in Spring Valley that looks a bit like a castle and features a heated swimming pool.
• Los Angeles - $40,000 per month is all it takes to get into a Monterey-style Spanish colonial in the Hollywood Hills. The six-acre property has a 7,000-sq. ft., six bedrooms house with gardens, a heated pool and a 2,700-sq. ft. guesthouse.
• Miami (pictured) - it is $300,000 a month for the 11,000-square-foot Villa Miami XIII on Palm Island. The 6-bedroom estate has "a full gymnasium, cinema-style theater, two Jacuzzis, a regulation beach volleyball court, heated pool and a waterfall," in addition to a boat dock that can accommodate up to a 100-ft. yacht.

With the advent of a screening process that allows couples to screen for various traits, including gender, of their babies, some fertility clinics are seeing an upswing in foreign clients. This is because the US does not have as strict regulations as some other countries over embryo selection and allows doctors the freedom to select for gender - a desirable thing for many couples considering children. In other countries, such as Australia, screenings are permitted only for genetically inherited diseases, so a couple that wants a girl can come to the US and, with the help of a doctor here, can get one.

Doctors say that the bulk of their clients come from Canada, where girls are very popular, and China, where boys are in demand, though potential parents come from New Zealand to Austria, too. The procedure costs about $20,000.

Not all clinics offer this sort of service and many doctors and legislators oppose what they say amounts to "amounts to medical tourism for designer babies " Other doctors simply say that they are serving the marketplace and fulfilling a need.

But is it ok to turn a potential parent into a consumer who is on the lookout for only a specific type of child?

Hotel prices are rising so quickly that it's a wonder anyone can keep up with them. The situation isn't helped by the fact that everyone ones to be the one to offer the most expensive, most luxurious suite possible. The average hotel room costs around $90 per night and that number increases every year. Some hotels, of course, are simply not equipped to offer $25,000 per night rooms, but it won't be long before the benchmark set by the Atlantis is surpassed. In fact, rumor has it that New York's Four Seasons Hotel is about to offer a room for $30,000 per night.

Forbes has the newest list of the US's most expensive hotel rooms. Starting at $10,000 per night, these super suites offer a super stay to celebrities and business people every day of the year. The highest priced suites include:

The Penthouse at The Setai in Miami costs $25,000 per night. It includes a personal butler, Andrew Marston, who used to supervise the Buckingham Palace staff. The suite also has four bedrooms, two of which are master suites, and twin living rooms.

 

After making it's debut a few months ago, the new Porsche 911 Turbo drew a crowd at the New York Auto show this week and Michael Bartsch, the vice president of Porsche Cars North America gave out some release dates. The Porsche will be available for purchase starting in June with a sticker price of more than $122,000. Shortly afterward, in August, a street-legal version of the Porsche racer the 911 GT3 is to be released in the United States at $106,795. The company plans to sell about 800 units during their first year.