Riviéra Special: Excess living.

Today, Sunday the 24th of March, marks the finale of one and a half weeks of glamorous festivities on the sunny French Riviera. Warm up began with the Cannes Film Festivals where A-list Hollywood stars, directors and producers converged on European soil and put their latest motion pictures up for critique and scrutiny of top film pundits. Drifting east of Cannes along the coast of France, the road eventually leads to the small but dreamy principality of Monaco. If Cancun is the sin city for American university students and Las Vegas the city of gambling and prostitutes for soon to be married bachelors, then Monaco is the playground of obscenely wealthy billionaires. And for racing drivers the Monaco Grand Prix is the most prestigious race, if not the most prestigious sporting event to win, and today British racing driver Jenson Button commemorated for his magnificent triumph at the urban circuit.


20 minutes away from the country 33,000 inhabitants is Nice airport where private Cessna and Gulfstream aircrafts have swarmed the landing grounds like seagulls on an abandoned pier. Equally astonishing is overcrowded beach pier where yachts the size of family homes are docked to let the jet set playboys spectate the race close to the roaring engines of 20 Formula 1 cars while their female chaperones are working on their tans on the upper decks. This year’s Moby Dick is Indian billionaire Vijay Malay’s mega yatch which was the largest one at the Formula 1 spectacle this weekend. With traditions stretching back to the 1920 the Monaco Grand Prix is equally as enchanting every year. Here the wealthy and famous George Lucas get to spend a weekend in a utopia of rosé champagne and Mediterranean extravaganza. It’s the one time and one place during the year when money can be spent guilt-free. In Monaco the word recession is an alien word that is nowhere to be found in the dictionaries, but tax evasion is a highly familiar terms as many racing drivers and business owners relocate their residence to this land of no income tax. A flock of British high income earners are bound to pack their Dunhill brief cases and Richard James shirt, and move to lavish Monaco now when UK income tax for the rich has been increased to distressing 50%.


Consumption in the capital city, Monte Carlo, is beyond the levels of premium and luxury and is the stratosphere of excess where buying a Ferrari F430 Scuderia or a hillside mansion on impulse is not considered to be beyond reason. Even focused racing teams are drawn into the flaunting and self indulgence by hosting lavish parties for VIP guests, Sponsors and team members. Mclaren Mercedes takes it a bit further by giving their drivers a healthy dose of diamond Monaco every year. Reigning world champion and Monaco 2008 winner, Lewis Hamilton, had the number “1” studded on to his bright yellow helmet this weekend. Other endorsed merchandise worn by driver such as Hublot, Tag Heuer and Certina wrist watches were admirably kept clear of precious stones. One of the ten commandments of men’s fashion says that “thou shall not twinkle like a little star”. Men shall therefore keep diamonds and pearls to a minimum and devoid of sparkling wrist watches and bracelets excessively studded with diamonds.

Envy and hatred lurk like snakes in the grass and diamonds have a tendency to attract unwanted looks and be social frowned upon. Notably heated, is the discussion regarding the origin of diamonds and social responsibility should be at the forefront when buying diamonds to ensure that greedy middle men in Antwerp have obtained the very diamonds you want to buy, in the most ethical and morally correct way possible. If diamonds don’t have a dark cloud and a history of blood covered hands, then proceed with buying a watch with diamond dials. Despite their better suitability for women, diamonds are beautiful and the Rolex watches pictured are a respectable of carrying beautiful stones without compromising your image or social status.