London among most expensive cities for expats

London is the 17th most expensive place for foreign workers to live in the world, research has suggested. Consultancy group Mercer ranked London as the 17th most expensive place for expatriates to live, while Aberdeen was the UK's second most expensive city coming in 149th place, followed by Glasgow at 155th and Birmingham at 158th.

But Belfast was found to be one of the cheapest places for expats to live, ranked 182nd out of the 214 cities considered. Luanda in Angola was found to be the most expensive place in the world for foreigners to live, the first time an African city topped the list. It was followed by Tokyo and N'djamena in Chad, with Moscow coming in fourth place and Geneva fifth.

Libreville in Gabon also made it into the top 10. Mercer said the presence of three African cities in its list reflected the growing economic importance of the region to global businesses. It added that the living costs in some African cities could be "extraordinarily high" because of the cost involved in finding good, secure accommodation.

Karachi in Pakistan was found to be the cheapest place to live for expats, followed by Managua in Nicaragua and Islamabad, also in Pakistan. The survey looked at 214 cities across the world and measured the cost of living in each place based on 200 items, including housing, transport, food, clothing and household goods.

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The World’s Most Expensive Suit

These days, the truly rich never wear suits. Suits are for the people who work for the wealthy. Unless, of course, you are talking about the new line of suits from Britain’s Richard Jewels. Mr. Jewels is a Manchester tailor who is selling a cashmere wool-and-silk blend, two-piece suit for £599,000–-or roughly $890,000 to you and me.

That makes it the world’s most expensive suit, easily topping the $103,000 suit from Amosu that used to hold the top position. What makes it worth so much? Well if you have to ask….

According to the Stuart Hughes website, the suit is embellished with 480 diamonds (half-carat each), stitched into the suit by jeweler Stuart Hughes. The whole suit took 600 man hours to make. (Click on the above link to see the bejeweled suit.)

He already has sold one to a customer in France (size 41, long fit). Mr. Jewels plans to make only three. “I hope to establish a luxury brand that will not only capture the eyes but the hearts of the consumers,” Mr. Jewels said in The Sun. “The emphasis on our products is to solidify one’s individuality.” Lest you think an $890,000 suit is indulgent excess at a time of financial worry, Mr. Jewels assures that 10% of the purchase price will go to a Haiti relief fund.

Is this all marketing hype? Of course. Luxury companies can always find three people to buy almost anything. But the suit is yet another sign that mad, conspicuous consumption is creeping back.

What is the most you would ever pay for a suit?

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World's most expensive model car is gold Bugatti Veyron costing £2m

The high price is enough to purchase two of the real cars, which are owned by celebrities including Simon Cowell. The very limited edition models - only three will be made - are the creation of the Liverpool-based designer Stuart Hughes and the Swiss luxury model car maker Robert Gulpen. It comes with working doors, bonnet and, reportedly, steering.

Under the bonnet will be a tiny version of the 16-cylinder 'W' engine, which drives the real car to almost 254mph. The model is called the Bugatti Veyron Diamond Ltd Edition. The full-size version is named after Pierre Veyron, the French Le Mans winner, who drove for Bugatti.

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The World's Most Expensive Tattoo Is Temporarily Expensive

South African jeweler, Shimansky, has come out with the world's most expensive tattoo and it's made completely out of diamonds.

The temp tat is made out of 612 Shimansky ideal cut 1/2 carat diamonds and costs $924,000!!! While the idea seems kind of stoopid, we're guessing when the diamonds fall off you could at least make something out of them that's more permanent.

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Montreal’s city council most expensive in the country

Montreal has the highest number of elected representatives in Canada, standing at 103.

And with that record comes a record amount of money. Last year alone the combined cost of council salaries, benefits.

And expenses reached $12.6 million. In comparison Toronto, the country’s largest city, racked up almost half that amount, coming in at $7.3 million for 44 councillors in total.

The city of Vancouver has just 10 councillors, whose combined costs total just over $1 million.

With this hefty price-tag comes quite the debate. While some, like former borough councilor Karim Boudros feel Montreal has too many councillors, nearly twice as many as needed, others defend the city council. City councillor Marvin Rotrand says Montreal is better served by having additional representatives in council.

Regardless of what side of the debate you sit on, if any change to the number of members of Montreal’s city council is going to happen, it would not be possible until the next municipal election in 2013.

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The most expensive pharma deal ever

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The most expensive pharma deal ever
June 7, 2010 |12:11 | By : Team X


It took four hours for Ajay Piramal to negotiate a whopping USD 3.7 billion valuation for his generics business with Abbott. Just how did he pull it off? The secret rendezvous was set at a hotel in Dubai early this year. Ajay Piramal, the chairman of Piramal Healthcare, India’s fifth largest pharmaceutical company, and his daughter Nandini had a two-hour meeting lined up at this carefully chosen neutral location. They met up with Miles White, chairman of USD 30 billion Abbott Laboratories.

The world’s seventh largest drug maker. A couple of weeks later, the Piramals met another senior Abbott executive Olivier Bohuon, executive vice president pharmaceutical business for a couple of hours. During his meeting with White, Piramal handed over a succinct three page note detailing his basis for the valuation. White would have to revert within a week, if the deal was to be consummated. Eventually, White did get back, and offered nearly as much as Piramal had asked for.

Today, most pharma industry watchers would die to get hold of a copy of that note. After all, it formed the basis for the Rs 17,500 crore deal that Piramal clinched for a business that he had started 22 years ago with a capital of just Rs 16.5 crore. This isn’t quite the biggest deal in the Indian pharmaceutical industry. In 2008, Japanese firm Dai Ichi paid USD 4.6 billion for a 50% stake in Delhi-based Ranbaxy Laboratories, India’s largest pharmaceutical company.

Yet the valuations would make it one of the most expensive, especially for a firm like Piramal which sells inexpensive, off patent drugs (also called generics). Abbott will eventually pay Piramal nine times the current sales, 60 % more than what the Delhi-based Singh brothers — Malvinder and Shivinder — got for selling their stake in Ranbaxy.

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World's Most Expensive Barbie - A Jewel

Barbie's creators, Mattel, have commissioned a jeweler of the stars, Stefano Canturi, to create the world's most expensive Barbie doll. Canturi accessorized the 12-inch icon to create Barbie by Canturi, which is priced at $600,000.

According to Mattel's Barbie Collector.com, Canturi created a necklace and ring for Barbie in conjunction with the festivities surrounding the recent release of the Barbie Basics dolls in Australia. The Barbie Basics is a group of 12 dolls with a dozen different faces of the world. Each doll comes with a different basic black outfit.

The key piece of Barbie by Canturi is the necklace. It contains a 1.00 carat pink diamond with a square emerald cut that is framed by 3.00 carats of white diamonds. The pink diamond is a registered tendered stone of an Australian Argyle mine. The necklace and ring for Barbie are reminiscent of pieces from Canturi's Cubism collection.

Jewelry designed by Stephano Canturi has adorned some of Hollywood's most influential leading ladies seen standing on the red carpet at newsworthy events and affairs, such as the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes.

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