They say jewelry is a bad investment but it depends on what you buy. Calvin Klein, who bought jewels belonging to the Duchess of Windsor for Kelly Klein made quite a return on his investment. The collection of natural pearls the couple put up for sale brought in $4.82 million, far above the $3.1 million high estimate. I hope whoever bought it wears it, wearing pearls helps them keep their luster.

The jewels were part of the Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels auction in New York Tuesday in which 366 lots went for a total for $48.827 million. Other expensive pieces included a pair of Harry Winston diamond pendant-earrings that sold for $3.961 million and a pear-shaped 32.16 carat Harry Winston diamond ring which went for $3.289 million. The Jewels for the Jungle auction also did well bringing in a total of $1.181 million for the World Wide Fund for Nature.

Europastar leads us to the new watches created for CK Jeans. Meant to invoke the aesthetic of Calvin Klein Jeans the watches are made of brushed stainless steel with denim canvas and tanned leathers. The watches have jeanswear-inspired buckles, straps, and stitching details. Each watchstrap is lined with tanned suede. Like many other CK products they are unisex and have a sort of American classic appeal.

A good tote bag is a summer essential. Why? People seem to carry around a lot more in the summer. Perhaps it is the long days and gorgeous weather, though it might be the spirit of summer vacation lingering from your school days, but once June comes around everyone has hats, books, three pairs of sunglasses, a bottle of water and sometimes an extra pair of sandals that they need to have with them at all times. After all, you never know when the opportunity to hit the beach might up.

The Coach Motif Tote is a fun, straw bag covered with bright appliques and accented with white patent and silver metallic leather. It coordinates perfectly with Coach's Mattie Wedge sandals. What's not to like? $358

From the LA Times Hot Property:
 --Another case of famous sells to famous.Kevin Costner has sold his Hollywood Hills home there to Ryan Seacrest for $11.5 million.
--Conductor Zubin Mehta and his wife have sold their Malibu getaway for $15 million. The home sold the first day it went on the market.
--Film producer Charles Roven has sold his Beverly Hills-area home for around its $9.5-million asking price.
--Lou Diamond Phillips has sold his home in Monteria Estates, a gated community in Chatsworth, for $2.1 million.


From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Nice discount! One of New York's $50 million listing has been reduced to $39 million. Real-estate developer and former WorldCom director Francesco Galesi is eager to sell. Does Galesi overestimate the value of his properties? He originally listed a Southampton mansion for $45 million and ended selling (to Calvin Klein) for $28.9 million.
--Calvin Klein's daughter Marci is buying a SoHo condo for around $10 million. Klein is a senior producer and chief talent booker at Saturday Night Live.
-- Iris Cantor, the widow of Cantor Fitzgerald founder B. Gerald "Bernie" Cantor is in a bidding war for a penthouse with a  $14 million asking price which is being built at 110 Central Park South.
--Bear Stearns CEO James Cayne becomes the latest deep-pocketed person to buy an apartment at the plaza. He is spending $25 million for a 5,000 square foot space that will be available for occupancy next year.
--Thomas Siebel, founder of Siebel Systems, is buying the entire 79th floor of the Time Warner Center's south tower for $29 million. He is also buying half of a lower floor for around $16 million.

From the NY Times Big Deal:
--Everyone's talking about the Time Warner Center, it's officially sold out with a total sales of over $1 billion. The building might be the best place in New York to meet a billionaire.The very monied who will live there include J. Joe Ricketts who founded Ameritrade (floor 78);  as mentioned by Braden Keil of the NY Post, Thomas Siebel (floor 79) and Time Warner Center developer Steven Ross (floor 80);  as well as John W. Kluge, No. 52 on the Forbes list of billionaires and Jon L. Stryker No. 428 on the Forbes list with $1.8 billion and David Martinez who spent  $54.7 million. on two floors of raw space.
--Joseph M. Jacobs, a hedge fund manager who once planned to build the biggest house in Greenwich, Conn., has now spent $13.6 million on a three-bedroom apartment at 1 Central Park West, the Trump International Hotel and Tower. He also owns a home in the Conyers Farms section of Greenwich that he planned to live in while building their  now-scrapped 39,000 square foot mega manse.

The fragrance industry just hosted their 34th annual FiFi Awards, the industry's biggest event. The FiFis recognize the best scents, best packaging and best ad campaigns in the industry. Top honors for women's and men's luxe fragrances went to euphoria by Calvin Klein and Armani Code by Giorgio Armani, respectively. The other 2006 winners included:

• Best Women’s Direct Sell : So in Love by Victoria’s Secret Beauty
• Best Men’s Direct Sell: Today. Tomorrow. Always for Men by Avon
• Best Women’s Popular Appeal: Spirit by Antonio Banderas for Women
• Best Men’s Popular Appeal: Stetson Black
• Best Packaging Women's and Men's: Armani Privé by Giorgio Armani
• Best Televised National Advertising Campaign: Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker

The Senior Corporate Vice President of Estée Lauder, Evelyn H. Lauder, was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award for bringing "extraordinary ingenuity, dedication and inner resources [to her company and] to the fragrance industry as a whole."