Tuesday, December 31, 2013

Luxury in London

London now has more multi-millionaire residents than any other city, according to WealthInsight, with more than 4,000 with more than £20m each.

Yevgeny Chichvarkin is the owner of Hedonism Wine in Mayfair, London. His customers are in the money no object category and to him spending £120,000 on a bottle of wine is not an absurd extravagance. "Why?" He says, adding he knows several people who would happily spend this much on the Penfolds Ampoule of 2004 Australian cabernet sauvignon. "For some people who have been rich for a long, long time, it is quite hard to make an impression." It's not decadent. "I know families who spend more than £100m for a yacht," he says.

His customers are wealthy bankers, lawyers and rich residents, who would be able to spend £16,777.80 on a bottle of 1882 Chateau d'Yquem. The customers at Hedonism do not look at the price, and that's what he likes about it – that people will walk in and possibly spend £98,000 on a bottle of Chateau d'Yquem.

He is irritated by things Britons take for granted: that you can't get a plumber at the weekend, even if you're prepared to pay extra. "They charge crazy money, very lazy people...”

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