When it comes to real estate, where haven't Russia's wealthy elite ended up? A mystery Russian billionaire recently scooped up the world's most expensive house on the French Riviera. We've seen them move in to the Plaza in New York, snatch up historic homes in London and pick up ski real estate in Colorado. The Moscow Times says that the next big flood of Russian real estate investment may be headed to the turquoise waters and white sands of the Caribbean. The lure is two-fold, part of it is the natural charm of an idyllic tropical paradise and part of it is the potential property tax breaks that make the homes both pleasure and a smart investment.

While Russian billionaires have long had Caribbean homes, now there is a move by multimillionaires to get their own piece of tropical paradise, buying in to the many developments springing up practically everywhere there is an untended beach. Projects such as Isla Moin in Costa Rica, Costa Blanca in the Dominican Republic and Vita Tower in Panama, which were in many cases originally designed for the American wealthy, have begin to sell toward Russian investors. The Moscow Times also reported last April that Florida real estate projects were also seeking out Russian buyers. The current weakness of the U.S. dollar is also spurring on Russian investors who are finding they can get some great deals.

This is a gorgeous clutch, and right up my alley because not only do I love the gentle dove gray color but I also love that it manages to look very luxe and a little glitzy without featuring any jewels or over-the-top crystals.

The Chain Embroidered Clutch by Stella McCartney is a generously sized (looks bigger on the model than I would have expected) simple silk frame clutch with heavy chain embroidery decorating the sides, silver hardware (including a clasp on the top for closing), and a black satin lining. $1,395

When the time comes for you to move out of your home and into a facility, be it a nursing home, assisted living center, or just a retirement community, get ready to pay a huge rent check.

The estimated average annual cost of living in an assisted living facility starts above $30,000, not including the entry fee that could be over $100,000. Retirement communities that don't offer health care programs may have lower rent, but the waiting list can be long and the entry fees much steeper.

Some savvy seniors have put their savings into a much more lively retirement, like 89-year-old Beatrice Muller, who has spent the last nine years living on the luxury cruise ship RMS Queen Elizabeth 2. There are always physicians on the ship in case of a medical emergency, Muller gets all the food she can eat -- it's much better than nursing home cafeteria slop -- and she's seeing the world and meeting new people all the time. According to Muller, she pays about $7,000 a month, which makes this retirement cost about the same as, or even cheaper than, many high-end retirement communities.

The market is catching on, and now there are whole cruise ships dedicated to full-time residents. To purchase a condo for year-round residency on the Magellan will cost anywhere from $4 - $18 million, but fractional ownership (like time-shares) is available as well, starting under $200,000 for two-week ownership. This ship has 300 ports of call in 150 countries, and features luxury amenities like four fine dining restaurants, an observatory, tennis courts, swimming pools, and golf. Construction is due to be completed on this ship in mid-2010, but you can buy your condo now.

You would have to have a serious love affair with wine and one eclectic house to pull off the JugSimple Collection from Carlo Rossi. I imagine guests may wonder if they can actually sit on the Cabernet Couch but certainly the creative look confirms your passion for the vine. If you think this is the look for you then go beyond the couch and complete your room/house with the Chardonnay Chandelier, Paisano Plasma TV Stand, Sangria Sound System, Burgundy Bookshelf, and Rhine Reading Lamp. Not sure what these oenophilic designs will cost you but I would hope they would include some free wine with the shipment.

[via Neatorama]

Carbon Fiber Gear highlighted recently a Ferrari 355 gas cap paperweight. Made by RaceChairs.com, it's constructed of a 6″ x 6″ piece of carbon fiber, a colored suede underside and a real (but unused) gas cap from a Ferrari 355. (Also available with a Lamborghini Diablo gas cap.) The carbon fiber weave is clearcoated for shiny finish, and the bottom of the paperweight is covered in your choice of black, yellow, or red suede, to ensure it won't scratch your desk. The gas cap is highly polished aluminum with the Ferrari logo on the center. Optional: have an engraved plaque added or get wall hangers for display. $325, but just $199 on RaceChairs.com at the time of this writing. Looks like something our sister site, autoblog, might take a liking to.

[Thanks, Dave]

I've got a fun one to show you today. Lioncrest is a 30,000 square foot English Tudor manor home overlooking the James River in Maidens, Virginia. The castle-like home is on over 56 acres that include formal English gardens as well as more rustic space. It looks old but the MLS says it was built in 1995. It certainly aspires to a different age with its large stone fireplaces, stone arches, use of shields and crests and a huge beamed grand hall that could easily be a setting for a scene in Harry Potter. Some of the wood and stone dates back to the 1600s and there is a concrete tiled roof. The huge house includes a tavern area, elevator, library, multi-car garages and a full apartment. The lower terrace level is home to woodworking shop, garden shop, morning room, pub, three wine cellars, rec room, sauna and more. The listing pics don't show much of the private spaces (the listing says there are nine bedrooms and 10.5 baths) and some are a bit blurry but I bet this is one fun house to tour. It is listed at $15 million.

For more prime properties and lush locations, see Luxury Homes and Mansions.

This idea either sounds like torture or like a good way to avoid a DUI...unless of course you can't steer the handlebars after a day's worth of tasting...is that called a RUI?? Getaway Adventures offers a fantastic, car-less way to explore the valleys of Napa or Sonoma via a bicycle (or kayak if you prefer a more refreshing option). Whether you are looking for just a day-trip, corporate/group event or weekend excursion I doubt you will be disappointed. A spread of local foods is provided for lunch, stops at a myriad of local wineries is included, and local tour guides will expand your knowledge of flora, fauna, and vineyard as you ride.

Don't expect a strenuous adventure -- it is geared toward the 'enthusiastic beginner' as they put it so don't worry if you aren't Lance Armstrong. Vacation...wine tasting...exercise all in one? Perfect.

Tours are available from March 1st to November 30th.

British luxury watch brand Bremont's new pilot's watch, the EP120, is made with parts of a famous RAF 1942 Spitfire Mk V fighter plane which shot down six enemy aircraft on a single day during WWII. Original pieces of the Spitfire, which has been featured in films such as The Battle of Britain, salvaged during restoration, are incorporated into the EP120's dial and movement. The limited edition timepiece, which has already been spotted on the wrists of Bremont fans like Orlando Bloom and Ewan McGregor, costs about $12,600 and will be available in September.

[via Men.Style]

I simply LOVE this collection of jewelry! Aptly named Restoration Rocks, each piece contains fragments of Frank Lloyd Wright's historic Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum that were set aside and saved during the 2007 restoration process. In the hands of jeweler Cara Tilker the little bits of concrete become wearable works of art that, due to the very nature of the material, are each individually unique and in limited edition. The collection is made of sterling silver and crystal clear acrylic, but a few of the pieces are also available in 14K gold by special order. Prices range from $125 - $4,350.

Via psfk

One of the investors in Billionaire, the famed club for the megarich on Sardinia's swank Emerald Coast, says the club should be shuttered because of the current economic climate. Billionaire, a favored haunt of tycoons who come to frolic with the likes of Dolce & Gabbana, Kate Moss and Sean Combs, is controlled by rakish Formula 1 mogul Flavio Briatore (above), but Italian entrepreneur and politician Daniela Santanchè has a 10% stake.

Santanchè says that the ultra-exclusive club, where methuselahs of Cristal go for $50,000 a pop, is an offensive relic of a more wasteful age, the London Guardian reports. "With people struggling to get by, Billionaire should be consigned to history," Santanchè says. "I myself have put my Aston Martin in the garage and get around in a Fiat 500."

"Daniela has been in the sun too long," Briatore, who has dated the likes of Naomi Campbell and Heidi Klum, fired back. "What she's saying is absurd. If luxury is suddenly a problem let's close Bulgari and Cartier, or even all the discos, restaurants and the whole of the Emerald Coast." That may not be necessary, in any case. The New York Times recently reported that the hotspot has lost a lot of its exclusivity lately and that some recent visitors aren't even millionaires, let alone billionaires.

On September 18, Sotheby's will auction 118 lots of rare (and rarely at auction) Indian and Southeast Asian paintings, miniatures and objects. The group is expected to fetch a total of between $2.3 and $3.2 million. Sotheby's has experienced unusually high prices for traditional Indian art in recent years, as economic growth in India appears exponential, and young collectors turn from modern pieces to those artists' historical roots.

One highly anticipated lot is a museum-quality illustration that depicts a pair of ardent lovers, Krishna and Radha, characters from a 12th century poem. The illustration, seen above thanks to ArtDaily, is estimated at between $200,000 and $300,000.

Most people, when they get an Olympic gold medal hang onto it for dear life. Jason Kidd, who played on the Olympic basketball team however is giving his away. And to whom? No other than Elaine Wynn, wife of casino mogul Steve Wynn. It turns out that Kidd met Mrs. Wynn last year while he and the rest of the U.S. team were staying at the Wynn while training in Las Vegas. They got to talking over a banquet and Kidd promised that if the team won the gold he would give her his medal. No, he's not in debt to the house, Kidd says it's just a thank you because "the way they treated us at the Wynn, it was the least I could do." I'm hoping the Wynns display the medal at one of their hotels.

Pirates have attacked another luxury yacht. This time is was the Tiara, a 178-foot sailing sloop that first came to my attention in 2005 when the owner, Jonathan Leitersdorf listed his yacht and his Broadway loft with the same agent real estate agent. The yacht is a helicopter-carrying beauty designed by Dubois Naval Architects and launched by Alloy Yachts International. It is full of fine mahogany and 1930s-styled interiors and in 2005 was listed at $36 million. The yacht has since become a popular charter hosting the rich and famous including Giorgio Armani, Sean Combs and Jack Nicholson.

While off of southern Corsica in the Mediterranean, Tiara was attacked by four masked men with guns who pulled up in a speedboat. The pirates robbed the passengers and crew of more than $180,000 in cash from the yacht safe and from the nine guests who had chartered the yacht. The speedy pirates also took jewelry and artwork and within ten minutes quickly got back in their boat and disappeared. No one was hurt. Pirate attacks have occurred in the Philippines and off the coast off Somalia as we saw earlier this year but are rarer in the Mediterranean.

The Tiara charters for €180,000-190,000 per week, pictures from her charter listing are in the gallery below and show the beautiful wood interior that includes a master suite with a fireplace.

British painter Lucian Freud's portrait Benefits Supervisor Sleeping (above) sold to Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich for $33 million in May, setting a new world record for a living artist, and no doubt making him very happy. Freud just got some bad news, however; the artist was recently informed that one of his subjects, Bernard Breslauer, destroyed a similar portrait because he found the work "unflattering". Breslauer, a famed millionaire New York rare books dealer who once bought a Gutenberg Bible, destroyed the painting because of Freud's "unsightly depiction of his double chin," the London Daily Mail reports.

The destruction of the multimillion dollar painting by Breslauer, who died at the age of 86 in 2004, was discovered by a curator researching works painted by Freud between 1939 - 1954 for a retrospective exhibition taking place in London next month. Freud is reportedly extremely distraught at the discovery - as are Breslauer's heirs, no doubt.

Clutch maven Lauren Merkin has turned her talents to travel with a new line of small leather accessories that will have you eager to take a spontaneous trip. Each leather item is available in teal, eggplant, rust, camel or black, featuring playful detailing and lined in micro-fleece. Prices range from $25 for the leather luggage tag to $250 for the first laptop sleeve that you won't want to hide in the bottom of your totebag. Check out the entire line plus a few of Merkin's latest handbags in the gallery. To order, head to laurenmerkin.com.