We can understand the frustration. You drop a third of a million dollars on a new Rolls-Royce and then you pull up next to one just like yours at the traffic light. Nobody wants that, especially not oil-rich sheikhs in the Persian Gulf, where spotting Rolls-Royces is as common as spotting celebrities in Hollywood. So to satisfy one of its most demanding clienteles, the luxury automaker has launched a new limited run of special edition Phantoms specifically for the Middle Eastern market.

Called the Phantom Bespoke Collection, the service allows wealthy customers in Gulf states to specify from an endless array of unique trims and colors outside the usual catalog. The example pictured here is outfitted in Arizone Sun and English White two-tone paint scheme, echoed inside with Creme Light and Saddle Tan leather together with hand-woven silk rugs and mother-of-pearl inlays. Only six examples will be made, and we don't doubt they'll all find very elaborate homes.

Malaysian designer Faisol Abdullah is creating the world's most expensive dress decorated with 751 diamonds from Middle Eastern jeweler Mouawad. The $30 million frock tops Chris Aire's $20 million diamond dress (above) created last year and ties the $30 million diamond bikini in terms of the world's most expensive item of clothing. Abdullah plans to debut the silk and taffeta evening gown, which features a central 70 carat pear-shaped diamond and is dubbed the "Nightingale of Kuala Lumpur," in time for next month's STYLO Fashion festival in the Malaysian capital. Mouawad, which produces Heidi Klum's jewelry line, is a red carpet favorite of Nicole Kidman, Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Lopez and Britney Spears.

"Stocks drop, gold is even falling but a diamond is forever," Abdullah tells Reuters. "This is a dress with diamonds. Why go backwards, why can't we go forwards? We are going to the fantastic, but its real. You are getting value for money with these diamonds." "It's a security and insurance nightmare buts it's worth it," adds Antoine Bakhache, head of Mouawad's Asia operations. "It's not throwing $30 million right down the drain, it is an investment for the super-rich." Nancy Yeoh, chief executive of STYLO which commissioned the dress, says they plan to present the garment to royal courts around the world starting with the Middle East, noting, "It's art and there are still enough rich people who would want to buy."

European-based luxury vehicle design and tuning firm Platune has teamed up with Sand-X, a Swiss company specializing in sand dune racers, to develop the world's fastest off-road vehicle. The Platune-Sand-X mobile (above), designed to be the Ducati of off-roaders, will be the safest, fastest, and most powerful ATV ever built, with giant front tires and a rear track. Available only in an exclusive limited edition, the Platune-Sand-X will be able to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in as little as 2.8 seconds and achieve a top speed of 185 km/h. While pricing has yet to be announced, we expect the vehicle will be extremely expensive; unsurprisingly, it has already stirred considerable intertest in the Middle East. The collaboration celebrates the two companies' "mutual quest for luxury, perfection, exclusiveness [and] an extraordinary driving experience."

The other day we wrote about the Emir of Qatar's fight with the mayor of Paris over his plans to expand a historic mansion. Now another megarich Middle Eastern potentate is having similar problems - but in this case it looks as if he'll get his way. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid al-Maktoum, the crown prince and ruler of Dubai, bought the Inverinate Estate, a 14-bedroom mansion on 63,000 acres in the Scottish Highlands near the Kyle of Lochalsh, 25 years ago for about $3 million. However, the Sheikh (above, at the Royal Ascot races), who was ranked at No. 5 on Forbes' list of the world's richest royals in 2008 with a fortune of $18 billion, recently decided the place is too small, the the Scotsman reports.

The Sheikh planned to build a new modern two-story lodge featuring a penthouse suite, dining room, kitchen and 16 bedrooms, all with en-suite baths and some with living-room areas. Made from a mix of natural stone, timber paneling and glass, it consists of three main blocks linked by glassed-in walkways. Though the present mansion was built in 1929 to replace an earlier 1880 building, critics initially opposed the Sheikh's plan for the incongruous addition, noting the building is a fine example of Scottish vernacular architecture of its period. After having been brought to a vote by the planning council however, the Sheikh will now be allowed to construct what one critic described as "something you would find in the Arabian desert."

Tennis star Boris Becker has been busy making big plans over on the luxurious Al Marjan Island: he's building a mega-resort that's being touted as one of the area's most ambitious ever. The Boris Becker Beach Resort and Tennis Academy will offer two ocean front exposures and 2.5 million square feet of luxury holiday homes, high end resort and spa facilities, a five star hotel, and of course a world-class tennis academy 50% owned by Becker himself.

A couple of interesting facts: the academy and resort will be partially solar powered, the design is meant to represent a sea turtle when viewed from the air, and it's all scheduled to be finished by 2010.

Italian design house Gianfranco Ferre has signed multi-billion dollar deal to develop real estate projects with a fashionable flair. Ferre is partnering with Mideast-based GIO Developments on the deal, and the first project, called "Gianfranco Ferre Stresa," will be a mixed-use highrise in Dubai. The $1.2 billion tower will combine residential, commercial and hospitality spaces, and the partnership has dubbed it the first example of "concrete couture." Other similar projects are planned around the globe. Mr. Ferre himself, who was fittingly known as the "architect of fashion," died last year. The company bearing his name already has a strong presence in the region with existing stores in Dubai, Beirut and Istanbul and new openings planned for Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait within the year. Other design houses currently collaborating on Dubai developments include Versace, Christian Lacroix and Elie Saab.

We've done lots of talking lately about luxury brands in Russia and China but the Middle East is rapidly turning into one of the shopping capitals of the world and WWD has a comprehensive report on how the luxury market is changing in the Middle East. With oil up over $100 a barrel, money is pouring into these countries with large oil reserves. In the past, luxury retailers generally encountered Middle Eastern shoppers spending abroad in cities like Paris or London. Now, not only are the people in the Middle East more interested in spending more at home, the new cosmopolitan condo complexes and hotels are drawing tourists from around the world.

Dubai has already become one of the places that tourists flock to for the shopping. The past few years have brought incredible growth to the area with so much construction underway that it is currently as much a city of cranes as anything else. Recent data indicates that over half the tourists coming to Dubai are coming from Russia, leading Fendi to stock their store their with fur coats for Russian shoppers. Luxury retailers are finding that that they are needing to add multiple stores in places like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Qatar to attract tourists who are drawn by new lavish hotels and need a place to stay.

For luxury retailers there are some unique challenges to having stores in the Middle East. Because many Arab women wear black abayas, jewelry, shoes and handbags are particularly important categories. Some designers also offer longer styles that are more body covering and done in lighter fabrics to be more comfortable in scorching desert heat. Jil Sander is working on a version of the abaya and Tom Ford is on the case to create local robe-like dishdasha outfits for men.

The picture above is of a Dubai mall during the Christmas season. It looks like even though Christmas is not an official holiday in the region, retailers still want to encourage holiday shopping. As stores learn to adapt to the specific needs of the Middle East, retailers also seem to be importing a few Western traditions.

The British architecture firm Foster + Partners has unveiled a new design for yet another planned city in the Middle East. Their latest, Al Madina Al Zarqa, the Blue City, will be a new coastal city near Muscat in Oman. Al Madina Al Zarqa, the Blue City, will be home to 200,000 people. The Blue City is the largest development in Oman and is part of Oman's drive to attract foreign investment to develop its tourism potential and economic growth.

The Blue City takes it is inspiration from traditional Omani architecture, combining local styles with a look that will appeal to potential tourists. The city will be formed of clustered communities with schools, a university, stadia, golf facilities, a marina, hotels, a concert hall, shops and souks with the waterfront developed as a luxury resort. Forster + Partners strives to make sustainable projects and this one will have natural ventilation and careful orientation to minimize direct sunlight and maximize ventilation.

[via Building Design]

The latest large structure planned for the growing area of Abu Dhabi, the Seba tower, has a curvy appeal. This 50-story mixed-use tower will include retail space, offices and 316 apartment which will be available for rent by mid 2010. The curved bands around the tower are balconies offering views of the sea and the famous Abu Dhabi Corniche. The curves will be illuminated which will throw flashing "bands of light" against the sky. The tower will be topped with a rooftop terrace that includes a health club and an outdoor pool.

I've often written about the luxurious Emirates Airlines which operates out of Dubai, now they are expanding at a rapid rate with the announcement of the largest aircraft commitment made by any airline at one time. Fueled by high oil prices and a rapidly booming tourism industries, Emirates has been booming which shows in a $34.9 billion deal that includes orders from both Airbus and Boeing. The deal was announced at the Dubai Airshow and will include 120 Airbus A350s, 11 A380s, and 12 Boeing 777-300Ers. Emirates also comfirmed that they still want the eight A380s they ordered earlier this year and ordered three more bringing their total order of A380s to 58. Their total orders now number 246 aircraft worth a total of over $60 billion dollars.

Ferrari is developing what may be the new "end all, be all" of automotive adventure -- the Ferrari Theme Park, scheduled to open in 2009 on Yas Island, just a 30-minute drive from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

The $40 million project promises to offer up everything from roller coasters to a pit-lane team experience, go-karts, virtual reality racing simulators, a racing school, and a g-force simulator that helps laypeople experience the forces felt by race car drivers. An interactive museum will also be at hand, particularly useful for cooling off and waiting for your raging endorphins to ebb.

In addition to the park being a sweet tourist destination for gearheads, the economic benefit will be a great perk for Abu Dhabi, which is currently trying to lessen its economic dependence upon the oil business.

[Source: The New York Times via Newsvine]

Mina Al Fajer Resort will be a new mixed use mountain-sea front community in the Hajar Mountains of Fujairah, one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arah Emirates and the only one that is mainly mountainous.The $163 million project will have a 200 room five-star hotel managed by the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts. The property is located on the ocean and will feature a marina, 48 mountain villas, 13 solarium villas, and 80 marina apartments, The resort is the first in a planned portfolio of projects planned for the Middle East , Europe and India. Building will start in June 2007 and is expected to finish before the end of 2009.

There haven't been a lot of huge towers in Bahrain the way there have been in Dubai yet but that's about to change with Bahrain's Infinity Tower, a 50-story high-end residential complex that is being built. The $150 million project will have around 350 apartments, including penthouses with skygardens and infinity-edge pools. The development has sea views and is located on an "island" plot created from reclaimed land. The tower will also be home retail space, restaurants, an outdoor swimming pool and fitness areas. Prices for the residences haven't been released yet. The project is expected to be completed in mid 2008.

Tiger Woods is clearly ready to move on to the second part of his golf career, the mogul part. Fast on the heels of the announcement of his new partnership with Ernie Els in the Bahamas, Tiger has announced that the first-ever Tiger-designed course will be the "Tiger Woods-Dubai." Tiger's company, Tiger Woods Design, is joining up with Tatweer, a member of Dubai Holding, to create an exclusive golf community that will include "Al Ruwaya, a Tiger Woods-designed Golf Course, golf academy; a 60,000-square-foot clubhouse; an 80-suite boutique hotel for VIP guests; 300 luxury villas; 20 mansions and a community retail area. The course itself will be a par 72 designed to challenge all levels of golfers. In the press release Tiger is quoted as saying that he is "excited about the challenge of transforming a desert terrain into a world-class golf course." The community should be completed in 2009 and will be located in the massive Dubailand project.

The latest mega project to hit the Palm Jumeirah in Dubai has a historical name. The Kingdom of Sheba will be one of the largest projects on the already overloaded Palm Jumeirah's Crescent. The Kingdom of Sheba will be managed by Fairmont Hotels and will include residences, a hotel, a private residence club, vacation club and a retail plaza.

The resort will take its influences from historic Arab architecture and the residences will cost in the $1 million to $7 million range for villas and penthouses which will all have sea views. The five-star hotel will include a spa and a private beach and pool complex, the fractional ownership residence club will have 50 apartments, some with terrace pools and the vacation club will offer 100 units. The whole shebang will be a billion dollar project and should be completed in 2010.