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HARDWOOD SUITE

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• Basketball Half-Court• Professional Locker Room• Scoreboard• Pool Table• Lounge• Full Bar• 2 Master Bedrooms• 3 Extra-Large Murphy Beds on the Court• Extra-Large Jacuzzi ® Tub• Rotating Loveseat/Booth• Dining Area• Living/Media Room• PS2 TM • Plasma TVs• Superior Sound System• Creston Controlled TVs and Drapes• 10,000 Sq. Feet• Capacity - 325• Nightly rate: $25,000

Top Ten Most Expensive Handbags

According to CoolDesignerHandbags.com

January 28th, 2008

1. Fendi “B.Bag“

$27,700*

Hailing the return of the structured bag, this might be Fendi’s best seller since the Baguette. Although the white lambskin runway bag (pictured on the runway) was well-received, the $27,700 black crocodile version is truly coveted.

2. Hermès “Birkin”

$20,000-plus*

Nearly all Hermès Birkin bags, named after English actress and ’60s fashion icon Jane Birkin, are special orders, like this red leather version. Most Birkins are upwards of $20,000, but the final price depends on skin and hardware.

3. Yves Saint Laurent “Muse”

$18,990*

Seen on the arm of everyone from Kate Moss to Jessica Simpson, the roomy yet refined Muse riffs on the traditional bowling bag. Linda Evangelista’s sage green version, pictured above at Paris Fashion Week last February, is now available in white crocodile for $18,990.

4. Prada “Frame Bag”

$15,090*

This structured crocodile bag, embossed with the signature Prada emblem, made its first appearance on the Autumn/Winter 2006 runway in Milan. It is available in the tan color shown above, known as Krusca.

5. Zac Posen “Alexia”

$15,000*

With his first line of bags, Posen has created the ultimate homage to the ’70s. This blue crocodile version oozes opulence.

6. Ralph Lauren “Ricky”

$14,000*

The latest of the exclusive bag set, Ralph Lauren’s is named for his wife and is available in silver crocodile. For the shocking orange version, you’ll have to travel to RL’s newly opened Japanese flagship.

7. Chloe “Paddington”

$12,880*

After experiencing a huge wave of popularity a couple of years back, the Paddington satchel, which features metal accoutrements, including the signature golden padlock closure, remains relevant by maintaining its exclusivity. This grey leather version was the bag du jour last autumn, and now admirers can scoop up the chocolate crocodile style for close to $13,000. Due to high demand, luxury department store Bergdorf Goodman allows customers to order no more than three every 30 days.

8. Gucci “Boston”

$11,990-plus*

This medium-sized croc bag, with bamboo details and gold hardware, rings in at almost $12,000, but the larger version will set you back $13,900. It’s also available in black crocodile, patent leather and guccissima leather.

9. Bottega Veneta “Bambina”

$7,800*

Unlike powerhouses Louis Vuitton or Chanel, Bottega Veneta has no recognizable logo or trademark handbag shape. Available only at Bottega Veneta boutiques, the spring line offers quality, exclusivity and status. This soft crocodile Bambina, available in Biscotto Fume, has a suede lining and magnetic closure.

10. Devi Kroell “Crystal Disco Ball”

$4,900*

Devi Kroell, who first became well known in fashion circles for her slouchy, metallic python hobos, gives the evening bag a much-needed injection of edgy glamour by covering it in black crystals.Source forbes.com

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The world’s most expensive doghouse.

This doghouse, features Hello Kitty, was created by Sanrio for a sales event at a department store in Tokyo. It has 7,600 Swarovski crystal beads and is large enough for a Chihuahua or terrier.

This one-of-a-kind Hello Kitty doghouse sold for a mere $31,660.

Rare Islamic ewer expected to fetch over $5 million Wed Sep 10, 1:06 AM ET



LONDON (Reuters Life!) - A 1,000-year-old carved rock crystal ewer, one of only seven known surviving examples, will be offered for auction next month at Christie's Islamic art sale and is expected to fetch over 3 million pounds ($5.3 million).

The auctioneer said the ewer was made for the court of the Fatimid rulers of Cairo in the late 10th or early 11th century, and has been embellished in enameled gold mounts made in 1854 by a French silversmith.

The ewer is the same one that came up for auction in Britain in January this year and fetched 220,000 pounds, or more than one thousand times its pre-sale estimate.

It was catalogued then as a 19th century French claret jug and valued at 100-200 pounds, but experts said they believed it was in fact an extremely rare ewer from the Fatimid dynasty which ruled parts of northern Africa and the Middle East in the 10th-12th centuries.

Auction house sources said the January sale was later "annulled by agreement," but gave no further details.

The ewer was carved from a single piece of flawless rock crystal which was hollowed out and carved by hand, and is decorated with cheetahs and link-chains.

According to Christie's, by the middle of the 11th century the Fatimid state had become so impoverished that much of the contents of the Royal Treasury had to be sold, including the ewers.

Of the other six surviving examples, one is in London's Victoria & Albert Museum, two are in the treasury of the Basilica of San Marco, Venice, one is in the Cathedral of Fermo, Italy, another is in the Louvre in Paris and one was stolen from the Museum of Limoges, France, in 1980.

There was one other known ewer, but it was dropped by an employee of a museum in Florence in 1998 and shattered irreparably, according to reports.

Christie's holds its sale of Islamic and Indian art on October 7 in London, and expects to raise more than 11 million pounds in all.

In April, rival auction house Sotheby's sold a 12 century key to the Kaaba in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, the holiest site in Islam, for 9.2 million pounds, setting a new record for an Islamic work of art at auction.

The Abbasid period key, made of iron and measuring 37 cm long, sold for more than 18 times its pre-sale estimate.

(Reporting by Mike Collett-White, editing by Paul Casciato)

You may have read details about Mukesh Ambani's new house-in-the-making at Altamount Road, but even as work on its construction goes on in full swing, here on your right is the first picture of what it will look like when it's complete.




Mumbai Mirror is in possession of the entire architectural plan for Residence Antilia (as the house is going to be called, after a mythical island), the subject of enormous curiosity in the city ever since the Reliance Industries Ltd chairman purchased the 4,532 sq mt plot in 2002.The plan, drawn up by the firm Perkins+Will, reveals that the house will resemble a virtual glass palace, with entertainment centres, a health club, a swimming pool and various green spots thrown in for good measure.C onstruction of Mukesh Ambani’s new house at Altamount Road, where real estate prices are now in the region of Rs 75,000 per sq ft, began in late 2006, and the first six floors are already in place now. The building is expected to be complete in September 2008.



27 FLOORS

According to the plan, the house will rise to a height of 173.12 meters, equivalent to that of a regular 60-storeyed residential building. However, Antilia will have only 27 storeys in all, which means each floor will have a ceiling considerably higher than the current average of nearly three meters.Six floors for parkingThe first six floors — which have come up — will be reserved for parking alone, and that too for cars belonging only to Mukesh's family. Space for a total of 168 'imported' cars has been earmarked here.



Floor for car maintenance

Sources said the Ambanis would prefer to have all their cars serviced and maintained at an in-house service centre. This centre will be set up on the seventh floor.



Entertainment floor

The eighth floor will have an entertainment centre comprising a mini-theatre with a seating capacity of 50. Balconies with gardensThe rooftop of the mini-theatre will serve as a garden, and immediately above that, three more balconies with terrace gardens will be independent floors.



The 'health' floors

While the ninth floor will a 'refuge' floor — meant to be used for rescue in emergencies — two floors above that will be set aside for 'health.' One of these will have facilities for athletics and a swimming pool, while the other will have a health club complete with the latest gym equipment.



For guests

There will be a two-storeyed glass-fronted apartment for the Ambani family's guests above the health floors. One more refuge floor and one floor for mechanical works will be built on top of these apartments.FamilyThe four floors at the top, that will provide a view of the Arabian Sea and a superb view of the city's skyline, will be for Mukesh, his wife Neeta, their three children and Mukesh's mother Kokilaben.



Air space floor

According to the plan, two floors above the family's residence will be set aside as maintenance areas, and on top of that will be an "air space floor," which will act as a control room for helicopters landing on the helipad above.



Helipad

The plan states that three helipads are to be built on the terrace. However, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation officials told this paper that permission for the helipads has not been granted yet. "The residential plans were approved three-four years ago. Two levels of basement have also been shown in the proposed project," Sudhir Shinde, deputy engineer at the BMC's building proposals department said.



Staff

Nearly 600 staffers are expected to work full-time in the building, sources said. Total statsAccording to BMC records, the total area of Mukesh's Altamount Road plot is 4,532.39 square meters. The proposed built-up area is 4,778.09 square meters (only for residential purposes), and the permissible built-up area 4,939.81 square meters.