If you own a $2 million-plus supercar, chances are you want to keep it in top condition both inside and out. Of course, no ordinary car wash can be trusted with a Bugatti Veyron or Pagani Zonda. Fortunately for owners of the most expensive cars in the world, Gurcharn Sahota of Elite Detailing offers the most expensive car wash in the world.

Sahota’s premium detailing process begins with a thorough wash using pH neutral shampoo and citrus degreasers, as well as clay bars to remove tarry substances. He then uses an electric scanner and ultra-fine sandpaper to remove even the most miniscule scratches in the paint before applying a Brazilian wax that costs over $12,000 per can. The entire process can take as long as 4 weeks and costs over $10,000.

Incredibly, Sahota runs Elite Detailing out of his parents’ house outside of Derby, England, where he has converted their garage into a workshop complete with a pit and special tiles imported from Italy.

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I first heard of Trygve Harris and her West Village shop, Enfleurage, from a friend who is nearly religious in his devotion to rare aromatics. He spoke of the integrity of her sourcing and the quality of her product in hushed, respectful tones. I visited the store on my next trip to New York, but it wasn’t until my first newsletter arrived that I understood the Harris magic.

“I could pray to this flower. I might pray to this flower! Ok, I did pray to this flower!” she wrote about frangipani oil from a farmer in India. Then I looked at the website: “This is the rawest and most volatile of the oudhs,” she wrote, about Agarwood Hindi Birrin. “He is like a wild young man, completely out of control. […] though he might make you uncomfortable, there is something alluring and seductive about him, even if you feel a little weird about it afterward.” All right then, I thought, this woman is one of us.

I began following Harris’ blog just as her modern enfleurage project in Columbia yielded the world’s first commercially available gardenia oil in seventy years….

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Okay, so you finally purchased the luxury car of your dreams, so now who are you going to trust to wash it?  Well, maybe you should leave your new baby with 30-year-old Gurcharn Sahota who is offering the world’s most expensive car wash.

For approximately $11,000 Sahota will use over 100 different cleaning fluids to clean your baby, along with a high-end wax job.  Each vehicle requires at least 250 hours to clean and to prove that each and every inch is clean beyond measure, Sahota will even show you your car under a police forensic microscope.

Not too shabby, if you had a late night in the car, eh?

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Come October and Heritage Auctions will host a sale of historic manuscripts including a letter written by Abraham Lincoln. The letter was written by Lincoln in 1864 and is said to contain a military appointment. The pre-sale estimate of this letter is between $4,000 and $5,000. Besides the letter by the late President, the sale will also boast of a copy of the Declaration of Independence. The copy of the historic Declaration of Independence was printed on thin woven paper and dates to 1833. Expected to fetch between $20,000 and $30,000, this copy was originally created to be published in an 1848 publication by Peter Force. The sale also has a treat for literary enthusiasts. Lovers of the classic novel, Pride and Prejudice have an opportunity to bid for an 1813 First Edition of this celebrated book by Jane Austen. The First Edition is published by T. Edgerton and is bound in brown morocco by Riviere and Sons. The classic novel is expected to fetch a bid over $30,000. Besides this first edition, six other novels by Jane Austen are expected to be featured at this sale.
Given the items to be featured in this sale, there is no doubt that it will be a historic sale.

[Luxuryinsider]
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Red headed Russian spy Anna Chapman has attracted the attention of the world. One such person to stop and take notice of this Russian spy is none other than Angelina Jolie. Rumors suggest that Angelina Jolie personally requested that the Anna be invited for the Moscow premier of her latest movie, Salt. Jolie who plays a Russian spy in America has publicly spoken of her incredulity at the unexpected link to a real-world spy drama. So to help promote her movie, Angie has gone ahead and requested local promoters of the Russian premiere of Salt to try to contact Chapman and invite her. The only hurdle is that nobody has a clue where the spy is currently residing. Reports say, that Chapman who is referred to as ‘Agent 90-60-90′ by the Russian media due to her bootylicious figure (90- 60-90 refer to measurements in centimeters), is being interrogated by her superiors along with nine fellow deported agents at an undisclosed government compound in Moscow.
The local promoters have however sent an invitation to Chapman’s last known address. Will the spy get the message and be the arm candy of Angelina Jolie at the premier, we can only wait and watch.

[Monstersandcritics]
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Like every cricket lover, I too am a fan of the Little Master, Sachin Tendulkar. The great Indian batsmen who has to his credit several records, is a living legend and icon of many. Die-hard fans of this cricketing legend love to collect each and every memorabilia related to the star. So when a limited edition book, the Tendulkar Opus, about the master blaster was announced and said to feature a page made from paper pulp that includes the master batsman’s blood, there was no doubt that it would be usurped in a jiffy. Yes, ten diehard
fans have actually preordered the $75,000 special edition book that contains a page made from the cricketer’s blood. According to the publishing firm, Kraken Media who came up with this idea, this red raisin colored page allows fans to get as close as possible to their idol. The book is sure to become the crowning jewel of any Sachin Tendulkar collection, given that it boasts of 852 pages, weighs a cool 37 kgs and is edged in gold leaf! Slated to be published in February to coincide with the World Cup in India, the book will feature never before seen pictures of the legend and his family. All proceeds from the sale of this special edition book will go towards Tendulkar’s charitable foundation to help build a school in Mumbai.
The publishers have also announced that 1000 copies of the “regular” edition of the book will be published. This regular edition will be signed by Tendulkar and include a DNA map, but no blood page and boast of price tag of around $2000 – $3000.

[HT]
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When we think of Mumbai (Bombay), the first thing that comes to our mind is Bollywood. The city of dreams that blinds you with all its glamour will now have a structure that casts the same effect. Yes, the headquarters of Mumbai’s municipal body, The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) located at Fort in South Mumbai is all set to dazzle you with its real gold plated dome (A befitting crown for the country’s richest municipal corporation, what say?). Work on the gilded dome christened, the staircase dome, is complete and the structure is ready to cast its glow on the citizens. The gilded work is part of a project to restore the colonial stricture to its original glory. Heritage architect Abha Narayan Lambha said her team had found specs of gold on the dome during the
restoration work. Research later revealed that the dome was indeed gilded when the building was constructed in 1893.
Thus, began the process of restoring the dome with the original material. For the restoration, 23.5 carat gold has been used and every square meter of the dome now glints with 10gm of gold. The intricate work was carried out by ‘swarnkars’ (craftsmen/artists) from Rajasthan. The swarnkars began their task by first making plates and pasting them on the dome. On that, they applied oil and special clay from Rajasthan. Finally, the gold foils were placed over it. Wonder what the citizens of Mumbai have to say about this new trimming.

[Mumbai Mirror]
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There are some folks who love their cars more than their loved ones. So if you count yourself to be one such car enthusiast and lover, I bet you would love to treat your baby with a luxury car wash. After all, your four-wheeled baby needs some pampering too. So send her to her very own spa, a.k.a. Britain’s most expensive car wash, dubbed the Elite Detailing. Started by Gurcharn Sahota, an accountancy graduate and former valet, this car wash boasts of charges going up to a cool £7,200 ($11,006) for every luxury car. He started his car wash business five years ago from his parent’s garage. For ensuring a thorough cleaning, Mr. Sahota makes use of equipments such as a £5,000 police forensic microscope to detect minute scratches, £8,200 ($12,533)-a-tub wax and more than 100 different cleaning fluids. He has also lined the walls and floor of the double unit with specialist tiles imported from Italy which help reflect flecks of dirt on the cars. No easy job this, according to Mr. Sahota each supercar takes up to 250 hours to clean. He begins every clean by washing the car with a lambswool mitten and water mixed, with Ph neutral shampoo and applied by a jet wash reaching temperatures of up to 120C (248F), depending on the body panel. The wheels are then steam cleaned at 150C (302F) with a machine purchased from the NHS and designed to kill the MRSA superbug, after which the car is dried with a microfiber towel and an industrial blower. A clay bar is then rubbed over the bodywork to pick up any remaining decontaminants and the car is rinsed and dried all over again, followed by a microscopic examination to detect scratches.
The standard valet services which start at around £700 ($1,069) depending on the car, involve a two-stage polishing process to remove any scratches and then ’sharpen up’ the paintwork. But if you want to go all out, it’s the £7,200 ($11,006) service that you need. This ultra premium service involves sanding the car down twice to make sure the paint is exactly the same thickness all over the car, then polishing it by machine in three stages. Three coats of the highly-concentrated carnauba wax (imported from Brazil), are then applied to seal the paint, compared with one coat on the standard valet, while plastics are also treated in a special sealant at a cost of £50 ($77) per 15 mililitres. Mr. Sahota however says that each car requires only one £7,200 ($11,006) in its lifetime. A rejuvenating experience for your car, you are sure to fall in love with your car all over again once it comes home after this lush treatment. Sahota who already has a list of high end customers including rock stars, actors and other high profile people is now planning to shift his workshop from his parent’s garage to a new workshop he opened in Worcester.

[Dailymail]
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Car auctions are best if you can get your hands on dead and rare brand of cars. And this time around, it’s the turn of U.S. auction house Russo & Steele to bring over 250 classic cars under the hammer for the Monterey Classic Car Week in California. And showcasing their lot is the beautiful 1963 Shelby Cobra CSX2009. Crafted specifically for the FIA/SCCA racing circuit, the automobile won several races between 1962 and 1971.
If was subsequently restored over a period of ten long years by its current owner, to bring it up to Concours-winning standards. The car is touted to fetch anything between $900,000 and $1.2 million.
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What is the best way to bring out the cultural and social transformation of the western civilization over a period of 50 years? If you are a watch marker, you create a line drawing inspiration from the changes. Jean Dunand is now all set to bring back the glorious period from 1880-1930in a collection called the Palace. It picks up its external inspiration from the Eiffel Tower. The path of the watch hands draw references from the 1903 “Milwaukee Mile” racing circuit, while the winding mechanism and Tourbillon are a homage to Charlie Chaplin’s classic film, Modern Times or the industrial revolution.
The chronograph has 38 x 36.4 mm dial dimension and 703 part including 53 jewels. The watch comes with a 72-hour Power reserve along with GMT indicator for second time zone and 30meters of water resistance. The casbande is crafted in titanium with a bezel-caseback-lugs set in 18k red gold or white gold, set inside with sapphire crystal cases.

[Worldtempus]
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