Across various sectors of the luxury market the story seem to be the same, the mid-range is suffering while the high end remains strong. Reuters reports that Italian jeweler Buccellati has seen a drop in less expensive jewelry in the United States. Maria Cristina Buccellati, head of communication for the company, says that they've only just started to feel affects of the faltering economy in the U.S. Bucellati's concerns follow those expressed by Buglari and Richemont. For Buccellati sales of jewelry priced between 10,000 euros ($15,880) and 30,000 euros ($47,152) had slowed in the United States but jewelry items priced above 100,000 euros ($157,175) are still having strong sales.

Buccellati is fairly protective of their brand and are not as well known as other high-end jewelers, partially because they are one of the only high-end jewelers who does not routinely lend jewelry for actresses to trot out on the red carpet. They also don't aim for the masstige market, Buccellati makes only about 3,000 jewelry pieces a year and around 500 of those are one-of-a-kind pieces.

From the LA Times Hot Property:
--Garth Brooks and Trisha Yearwood have picked up a home on the Malibu beachfront that had been listed at $5.45 million. Big Time Listings found the property website which is here.
--Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer has listed his Laguna Beach, California home. It's our estate of the day later today.
--Michael D. Kunce, the president of Armstrong Garden Centers and his wife, Marianne, have listed their palatial Claremont home, Villa Di Fiori, for $3 million. The listing is here.
--Stuntman-turned-director Scott Gillen has listed his midcentury modern in Malibu at $5.475 million. The property website is here.


From Big Time Listings:
--Teri Garr has sold her two-bedroom house in Brentwood. It was listed for $3,995,000.
--Danny DeVito and Rhea Perlman have sold their two-bedroom condo unit in Encino after it had been on the market for $750,000.
--Andrew Alexander, who co-owns the Second City improvisational comedy troupe in Chicago has paid $1.395 million for a house in the Beverly Hills Post Office area.

From the Real Estalker:
--Denise Richards has put her Hidden Hills home on the market for $4.25 million. The listing is here.
--Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly's Brooklyn home has gone to contract. It was our estate of the day in May.
--Brett Butler has sold her home for $2 million.
--Producer Mark Brazill is still trying to unload the 1920s home in Los Feliz he bought from Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. He paid $4.795 million for the home, relisted for $4.885 million and has now cut the price all the way down to $3.995 million which means he will take a huge loss on the home. The listing is here.
----Angela Bassett and Courtney Vance seem to have finally sold their Hancock Park home. The home which was originally listed at $5.999 million went all the way down to $3.9 million and is now listed as "looking for backup."
--CSI: Miami actress Khandi Alexander's home is back on the market for $2.995 million. The listing is here.
--Real estate agent Joe Babajian has put a home in Westwood on the market for $1.95 million. The listing is here.
---Ellen Degeneres and gal pal Portia Di Rossi have picked up a third property on Cabrillo Drive which will allow them to request permission from the city of Beverly Hills to gate the entire street. It is rumored that Ellen may have spent around $40 million total to create a new massive compound.
--Candy Spelling is selling a pair of condos in Century Woods, a small gated community in Century City. Both condos have five bedrooms but the one with over 8,000 square feet is listed at $7.895 million and the one that is a bit under 5,000 square feet is listed at $4.795 million.
--Musician Beck and Marissa Ribisi have put their Hancock Park home on the market for $9 million. The pair bought for $6.75 million a little over a year ago. The six-bedroom home also comes with a professional recording studio and rehearsal room in the guest house. The listing is here.

From the NY Post's Gimme Shelter:
--Ralph Fiennes has paid $2 million for a one-bedroom condo loft on West 13th Street.
--Veronica Hearst sold her Upper East Side co-op (two apartments) at 4 E. 66th St. for $36.5 million.
--Diana Ross is planning to renovate her Sherry-Netherland hotel apartment and raise its price from $9 million to $11 million sometime after Labor Day.

From the NY Observer:
----Another huge listing in New York City. This time a Fifth Avenue duplex, shown above, belonging to Karen Fleiss, who founded the hedge fund KMF Partners, and her husband, David, a Fifth Avenue orthopedic surgeon has been put on the market for $47.5 million. The listing is here.
--Exiting Metropolitan Museum of Art director Philippe de Montebello and his wife, Edith, director of financial aid at the Trinity School, sold their two-bedroom co-op at 25 East 86th Street this month for $2.195 million. The buyer is graphic designer Holly Okner, whose father is the investor Peter A. Aron, the chairman of the South Street Seaport Museum from 1987 to 2000. De Montebello has moved to another apartment nearby.
--The founder of Rag & Bone David Neville and his wife, celebrity makeup artist Gucci Westman just bought a duplex penthouse loft at the Spears Building, a former warehouse on West 22nd Street for $4.426 million.
----Charmaine Ho, a 22-year-old handbag designer and freelance fashion write bought a 25-foot-wide Greek Revival townhouse on West Ninth Street earlier this year for $8.1 million. Her parents, who live in Hong Kong, are paying for the bulk of the mortgage and will pay around $200,000 to renovate the floor-through apartment that she will live in. A three-bedroom apartment downstairs and the one-bedroom place upstairs are being rented out.

Atlanta's condo market may be slowing down but that doesn't stop people from building and planning. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution profiles Taz Anderson, a local entrepreneur who is behind a new luxury residential tower in Vinings. Anderson and his son Geoff, president of Taz Anderson Realty Co., are working on a condo project called The Aberdeen, an upscale residential development in Vinings with 55 units, some up to 4,000 square feet.

The 12-story tower will have views of downtown Atlanta and Buckhead. The project takes its Scottish name seriously and the units all have names of Scottish origin. A penthouse is listed at $2.9 million. Eleven buyers have reportedly signed contracts thus far. A healthy number but a little shy of what is generally considered enough sales to build. Given the precarious state of several other Atlanta projects it seems to be a bit of a dice roll.

Marcel Wanders is at it again with a playful creation with Droog Design. The seat of this swing can be filled with soil and seeds planted inside. It is designed so that vines will grow up the ropes. The swing is made of polyethylene with a nylon rope and comes in white, black or green. It can be used indoors or outside but will cost you more than a rope and a board, it sells for $550.

Azimuth is a relatively new watch company, founded in 2003, but they already have created a variety of intriguing designs. Their designs span the watchmaking spectrum from their Militare - 1 collection which are inspired by the pilot watches from World War II, to their angular and quirky Gauge Mecha-1 BMF designs. My favorite has to be the SP-1 Mechanique concept watch. The so-called spaceship watch has a rendition of Earth as seen from space which rotates every sixty seconds. It has a jumping hour display powered by a Unitas 6497 movement. It has a rotating disc which is at the base of a minute hand. The dial is decorated with small dots to resemble stars and the 45mm stainless steel case is capped by a domed sapphire crystal.

Beach house season is upon us and Figure Eight Island is one lovely place to spend your summer. The private island in North Carolina has around 450 homes and is reached by a guarded causeway bridge.Today's home on the island is a new build. It has a reverse floor plan with the main living level on top floor. The home has four bedrooms including a large master suite that includes a steam shower in the master bath. The home has large porches and decks and is built for entertaining with a chef's kitchen, wine cellar, family room with a wet bar and an elevator to all three levels. This home is listed at $4.595 million.

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

Most of the companies that offer charms shaped like pets offer just the most popular breeds but Meche goes the extra mile. Their dog charms cover all current AKC breeds and they have begun working on the cats, starting with the most popular. The pieces are three dimensional and free standing. They can be ordered in 14K white or yellow gold and customized with diamond collars and eyes and finished with custom colors.

There are few places more idyllic to be on a summer holiday weekend than Nantucket, the beautiful island of the coast of Cape Cod. Now there is a new way to experience the Nantucket getaway without owning property or staying in a one of the island's inns. Harborview is a string of 10 intown, waterfront, urban-chic cottages with concierge service. There are one-, two- or three-bedroom units available. The units are available in one-eighth shares ( six weeks ownership) and prices range from $550,000 to $950,000. Potential buyers who want to own an entire unit will be paying $2.4 to $4.6 million depending on unit size.

Usually when not shoved on top of my head, my sunglasses end up thrown on a table but a new sculpture provides the perfect resting place. The Schnoz from Lush Life is a bronze statue that provides a surrogate nose to rest your sunglasses on. The amusing statue sits on a table or shelf, keeping your sunglasses in easy reach. The sculpture is available with either male or female features and sells for $350.

The Boston Beer Company has created a unique program to benefit low and moderate income microentrepreneurs seeking to make their fortune in the food and beverage industry. Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream will provide these entrepreneurs with the tools they need to help them grow and succeed. Boston Beer has partnered with Accion USA which is the country's leading not-for-profit micro-lending organization providing critical capital and other types of assistance to small businesses. Boston Beer has made an initial $250,000 commitment to establish the Samuel Adams Brewing the American Dream Micro-Loan Fund at Accion to provide much needed capital for lower and moderate income microentrepreneurs whose businesses would not be approved for a bank loan. Accion USA business loans range from $500-$25,000.

Boston Beer also plans to develop and execute a series of business education and financial literacy seminars aimed at the educational needs of food and beverage entrepreneurs and offer microentrepreneurs access to the advice and expertise of Samuel Adams employees through regular events. Brewer and founder Jim Koch says he was driven to create this program because he was one of the "little guys" when he started Samuel Adams back in 1984. He's shown above handing a check to the first recipient of the program, Carlene O'Garro, a Boston baker who runs Delectable Desires, a dessert bakery and caterer.

Today's home is located in a prime area off Dupont Circle in Washington D.C. This home was built in 1890 and is a stately townhome on Massachusetts Avenue next to many other similar homes which are embassies, cultural institutions, foundations, associations and private residences. The first floor of the home is given over to grand public rooms for entertaining including double formal parlors and a large dining room with a fireplace. There is also a catering kitchen and a custom wine cellar . The second through fourth floors are the family space including a family kitchen, living room and five bedrooms. The home is done in a luxurious and formal style that would befit the family of a senator or dignitary. It is listed at $17.5 million.

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

Summertime in the sweltering South calls for that thirst relieving concoction known as sweet tea. Now a South Carolina distiller has created a liquored-up version. Firefly Sweet Tea vodka is an infusion of American Tea and Firefly Vodka which is a muscadine grape vodka. The new flavor is a huge hit in Charleston where local bartenders are creating new tasty drinks for summer sippers. The vodka is sold in South Carolina, Colorado, Nevada, New York currently and will soon be making its way to other states but it's perhaps best experienced in states where sweet tea is already a beloved drink.

[via Charleston City Paper]

Thistle & Bee sells a variety of luxury objects including jewelry, picture frames, home goods and baby gifts. The company has a full range of sterling silver products including a large range of enameled pieces such as cufflinks and keychains. The American flag keychain shown above has handpainted enamel detail and sells for $250.

Thistle & Bee has now expanded into gemstones and fine jewelry with new collections of gold pieces featuring diamonds and colored stones. Examples and prices are in the gallery below.

In the summer months the American Red Cross often struggles to collect much needed blood because many potential donors are on vacation and colleges are not in session. In southern New Hampshire, International Cars, Ltd. and the American Red Cross have a unique solution to this problem. They are offering the Drive of a Lifetime, a summer promotion at the grand opening event for the new Porsche of Stratham and Audi Stratham. The care dealer is raffling off a one-year lease of a new Porsche to presenting blood donors in New Hampshire this summer. Those who donate between now and Sept. 30 will have the opportunity to enter to win. All who donate blood and visit any of International Cars' five New Hampshire locations can get a second entry through a test drive or vehicle service.

[via Fosters]

It's a bit bulky but if you your weekends involve a lot of tailgating, the Party-A-CarGo just might be for you. The Party-A-CarGo is a hitch-mountable, self-contained beer kegerator/entertainment system. It can pour up to 160 ice cold beers, play 12 hours of music and TV without having to recharge the battery. It has its own power source, a deep cycle marine battery, and a built-in battery charger. It also includes a five pound CO2 tank, a keg tap D-system, faucet wrench and drain tray. The entertainment package includes 230 watt, 6 X 9 speakers, a 10" subwoofer, 2 or 4-channel amplifier, CD player, satellite radio and a LCD screen with TV tuner. The dimensions are 50 w x 35 h x 26 d with 10" hitch post and it weight 80 pounds empty. It sells for $2,900-$3,800 depending on options.

[via UnCrate]