Tattoo in real gold

A new business in Dubai is offering temporary 24-carat gold tattoos as the ideal body adornment for weddings and other special occasions at a modest starting price of $50, an affordable option given rising gold prices. Precious Skin has two outlets in Dubai - one at the luxury, sail-shaped Burj Al Arab hotel - which will design and apply body tattoos made of 99.9 percent gold or platinum to add a bit of glitz to your personal style.

"It's a revolution in the body art business, it's the first time we can use 24 carat gold and platinum on skin," said Arnaud Flambeau, managing director of Flambeau Luxury Trading and Precious Skin.

"We have had a lot of interest so far because it's a new idea and a new product that's between jewelry, makeup and accessories and it's a lot easier to make the decision to get a gold tattoo than buy new jewelry," said Flambeau. A thin film of gold or platinum is used to make the tattoo which is then applied to the skin and can last for up to a week, he said.

"More elaborate and larger designs can cost up to $5,500, and the idea really is just to have something that is very unique and new," Flambeau said.

Jewellery at Auction at Hong Kong

A Cartie bracelet mounted with 9 sapphires was auctioned for $6.9 million in Hong Kong, which is 800% more than 1988.  The total weight of stones is 50 carats, costing $140000 per carat which is just $5000 per carat less than the record price. 5 carats make 1 gram. The sapphires on it have more saturated colour. 

Due to Chinese buyers, Hong kong has become Christie;s biggest gem market, keeping Geneva and New York behind. Jewellery by Carties is consistently beat estimates.

For Jewellery products, one must first love and appreciate the piece. 

Coloured stones won more prices at this Asia auction than previous ones beating diamonds which were sold at lower prices. A 6.14 carat white diamond of flawless clarity and the fifth ranked colour of H sold for HK$1.16 million against its market price of HK$1.5 million.

A heart-shaped fancy-vivid blue diamond of 5.01 carats sold at HK$36.5 milion, pair of diamond earrings fetched HK$34 million and a necklace with 51 vitreous jadeite beads fetched HK$56.7 million. The presale estimation of necklace was of HK$80 million.

The gems market has calmed down from its peak in December. 

Luxury watches

Ikepod

In the U.S., sales of watches costing more than $100 fell by 65% last year, Swiss watch exports fell 22% last year, the biggest drop since 1932. Most of the people buy watch with their first bonus. In the year of recession, no bonus was given.  

But in 2010, sell of watches is improving, slowest improvment being in the segment of luxury watch.  Swiss watch shipments,  rose 14% in February, led by sales gains in Morocco of 174%, Saudi Arabia of 157%, the United Arab Emirates of 68% and China of 50%.

Limited-edition watches by top brands such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Cartier, Richard Mille fared better than fashion brands such as Bulgari. Piaget saw a single-digit growth for the year. The watches above US $ 20000 are in demand in China. For Audemars Piguet, selling watches of average price US $35000, showed growth only in Latin America last year. In 2009 Piaget reduced its production of luxury watch by 10%. Audemars Piguet made 23000 watches against estimated output of 29000 wathces. 

Roberto Chiappelloni, owner of Manfredi Jewels in Greenwich, Connecticut, sold a $690000 watch by Greubel Forsey in December 2009, overall sales declined 15% from the previous year.

Ikepod, a tiny Swiss brand, introduced a "Cannonballs" model. instead of launching it at a watch fair, Ikepod released it at Art Basel Miami beach. The platinum model comes in an edition of 10, priced at 36,000 euros ($48,614).  Piaget is indicating its 2010 platinum Altiplano model as THE SLIMMEST automatic watch ever, at prices ranging from $18900 to $22000. 

Extreme Obesity

Extreme obesity affects about 6.4% of children, according to a Kaiser Permanente study that suggests overweight kids are getting even heavier.

More children are graduating from “obese” to “extremely obese,” according to the study, the first to evaluate kids using U.S. guidelines published last year that distinguish among degrees of obesity. The report drew from the electronic medical records of 710,949 patients ages 2 to 19 years old enrolled in 2007-2008 in Kaiser health programs in Southern California.

First Lady Michelle Obama began a nationwide campaign against childhood obesity last month, urging American youths to get more exercise and develop healthier eating habits. Studies by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have shown that the rising childhood obesity rate has leveled off at around 17% in recent years.

The Atlanta-based CDC last year defined extreme obesity as those whose body mass is 120% of the 95th percentile.

For a 10-year-old girl who is 4 feet 6 inches tall, extreme obesity starts at 129 pounds. For an 18- year-old boy who is about 5 feet 10 inches, 272 pounds is classified as extremely obese.

The high rate of extreme obesity in the study surprised doctors, even though children in Southern California are slightly heavier than the national average.

About 7.3% of boys and 5.5% of girls were extremely obese, translating to about 560000 children and adolescents in California.

Children who are extremely obese have higher risk of heart illness than obese patients, as indicated by increased rates of hypertension, high cholesterol and elevated liver enzymes. The best way for parents to help obese children is to involve the entire family in eating healthier meals and exercising.

Without major lifestyle changes, these kids face a 10-to- 20-years shorter life span and will develop health problems in their 20s that we typically see in 40-60 year olds.

Luxury Hotels - Tourists are returning

Hotel occupancy rates are forecast to rebound this year in the U.S. and Europe. Some luxury hotels have already been able to lift rates as demand for $600 rooms, butler service and poolside cabanas recovers in cities such as Miami, New York and London.

Luxury hotels have some ability to raise prices again because they were hit the most last year. They are the ones that cut prices the most - as much as 25 percent.

Europe’s total hotel occupancy may climb to 65 percent in 2010 from 61 percent last year, with the average room price in 2011 increasing by 5 percent.

Occupancies peaked in 2007 at about 64 percent in the U.S. and 69 percent in Europe.

Tourists seeking to escape a winter of heavy snow in the U.S. Northeast are also booking sunshine getaways in Florida and California.

Prices for top-end rooms declined 16 percent in 2009 as tourists and businesses trimmed travel budgets during the recession, which was the industry’s worst slump since the Great Depression. Revenue per available room at U.S. luxury hotels plunged 24 percent last year.

Now, companies including Morgans Hotel Group, the New York- based operator of hotels including the Mondrian in Los Angeles and London’s St. Martins Lane, say they are starting to increase prices in some cases.

At the Breakers in Palm Beach, Florida, where high-season rooms start at $500, the hotel expects a 20 percent increase in occupancy in this year’s off season from 2009. 

Leisure travel is leading the recovery, with travelers who may have been skipping their second holiday returning to the market.

At the five-star resort, an ocean-view room costs $649 a night for the week of March 29, according to its Web site. Amenities include lap and mineral pools at the spa deck, private poolside cabanas and the Nature’s Wonders center with animal exhibits.

Hotel shares have rallied in the past year as investors anticipated an earnings recovery. Marriott has risen 95 percent as the company cut staff, froze hiring and lowered investment spending to trim costs. It is still down 39 percent since the end of 2006.

London is being helped in part by a weaker pound. Sterling has dropped about 25 percent against the dollar and 15 percent against the euro in the past two years, making hotel stays more affordable for many foreign visitors.

Overall, Rocco Forte’s sales started to improve in November after more than a year of monthly declines, led by U.S. customers, Power said. Like-for-like sales, or revenue from hotels open for at least a year, rose 10 percent in February, excluding the impact of currency swings.