British luxury, Bordeaux index and the billionaire book club – June wealth links

Monday, June 28, 2010 | Posted by: Fiona Cullinan
Categories: Personal | Tags: links, HNWIs, Bespoke, magazine, Walpole, Jonathan Hick, brands, luxury, wine, Josephine Home, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, passion investments, Rafael Nadal, Rococo Chocolates, Charlotte Olympia, interior design, Abahna, Mawi

Our monthly pick of the web as it relates to high earners and HNWIs.

FREE download of Bespoke magazine : Firstly, Issue 3 of Grant Thornton’s magazine for private clients is now out. To get your free PDF copy, visit the downloads page (short registration required) or to receive future editions as a hard copy, please email your name and address to bespoke@gtuk.com. In this issue: Tudor gold-digging, capital gains tax, the Dubai property bubble, a day in the life of ‘Secret Millionaire’ Jonathan Hick and much more.

Britain’s big luxury brands of the future? : Walpole, the trade body for the British luxury industry, has announced seven 2010 Brands of Tomorrow. They include Abahna (bath, body and home fragrance), Charlotte Olympia (shoe/accessories designer), Josephine Home (fine linens), Mawi (jewellery house), and Rococo Chocolates (as presented to all world leaders at the G20 summit last year).

The things contractors, designers do for the rich : How far will wealthy clients go to get that exclusive, high-end, interior design ‘trophy’ product? Quite a long way it seems…

HNWIs’ passion investments are on the rise : According to a new Merrill Lynch survey, passion investments for the HNW community are back in fashion, particularly for art and collectables such as coins, antiques and wine – with the hope that they will gain value over time. Luxury travel and ‘jewellery, gems and watches’ were also favoured. I blame Rafael Nadal’s £350,000 watch for that last one.

Live Bordeaux Index launched : Now you can do your fine-wine trading using real-time prices.

The Billionaire Book Club: what the rich are reading this summer : Over in the US, JP Morgan Private Bank curates a popular summer reading list for its richest clients. Narrowed down from an initial list of 450 non-fiction books, this year’s top 10 covers Thai cookery, best vintages, Facebook, BlackBerry, Louis Armstrong, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Mark Twain’s final years, Warren Buffett’s son’s search for fulfilment, the global financial crisis and a book about… water.

The meaning of wealth translated around the world : Power, freedom and being able to buy the best things? Yes, but around the globe there are other rewards to be gained through acquisition.

Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? First question fails : Couldn’t resist this one as a sign-off – someone has collated videos of all the first question fails on the TV quiz show for super-quick wealth acquisition. But these aspiring millionaires can’t even get off the blocks.

Image: Joe Shlabotnik, 2008

Read more Bespoke wealth links.