'Affluent luxury living index' shows rising prices of watches, cars, jewellery, fine dining and art
Keeping up with the Abramovichs just keeps on more expensive, as Swiss watches, luxury cars and blingy jewellery soar in price, driving up the cost of living for London's super-rich.
The growing cadre of billionaires in the Middle East and Asia is pushing up the price of a luxury lifestyle, with insatiable demand sending up the cost of everything from caviar, to golf club fees and a private box at the Royal Opera House.
The "affluent luxury living index" compiled by Stonehage wealth management group rose 4.9% this year, faster than inflation, which hit 2.7% in May. Like the consumer prices index, the affluent living index, tracks a basket of goods over time. Unlike the CPI, which includes tea bags and breakfast cereals, the luxury index basket includes a shotgun from Purdey – supplier of firearms to Queen Victoria – as well as botox, a Burberry trench coat and a full-time housekeeper.
The index underscores how London has become a paradise for the global super-rich, who are insulated from falling wages squeezing UK workers in the longest and deepest slump in a century.
Driving up the cost of high-end living was a 14.8% increase in the price of "passion" investments, a category that includes an Aston Martin car, a Patek Philippe gold watch – starting prices from around €20,000 (£17,000) – and baubles from bespoke jeweller Boodles. Acquiring a masterpiece has also got more expensive, as the art market continues to defy expectations. Last year a painting by Paul Cézanne of two peasants playing cards smashed records when it sold for £158.4m to the Qatari royal family, while a work by Mark Rothko of blurry red, pink and blue rectangles fetched $75m (£49m) from a mystery buyer.
Eating and drinking is also getting pricier, if your weekly shop stretches to champagne and foie gras. Food and drink was up 5.3%, largely driven higher by the cost of eating out at London's most expensive restaurants, such as celebrity hangouts, the Ivy and Le Caprice.
In contrast housing costs crept up by just 0.6%, as rent on elite housing in Kensington and Chelsea fell because of a glut of fancy properties on the market.
Savings on below-inflation housing could be funnelled into free time. The price of sports and hobbies went up 4.4%, as the super-wealthy get a taste for shooting grouse and pheasant, as well as joining elite gyms and spas. However, the price of a seat in the executive box at the Wimbledon semi finals was down 8%, which Stonehage attributes to the 2010 Bribery Act, as anxious firms are more careful about showering clients with corporate hospitality. Travel costs for this globe-trotting elite were up 4.4%, pushed up by the rising cost of first-class and private travel, as well as the cost of a room at Europe's most expensive hotels.
Ronnie Armist, executive director at Stonehage Investment Partners said "consumer confidence among the ultra-wealthy in London has risen, following a surge of wealthy families to the capital including those from countries where relatively harsh tax conditions, together with economic and poltical pressure, are having a negative impact on their lifestyle".