Lamborghini is celebrating an important milestone for a supercar manufacturer: the assembly of the 12,000th Gallardo.

Lamborghini Gallardo was first introduced back in 2003 and over the years, many variants of Gallardo have been introduced.

Some of the recent Gallardo variants are LP 570-4 Superleggera, LP 550-2 Valentino Balboni, LP 560-4 and LP 560-4 Spyder.

In comparison, the Gallardo’s bigger brother – the Murcielago – sold just 4,099 units during its ten-year production run from 2001 to 2010.

The Murcielago has been replaced by the Aventador, which debuted last spring at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, and the Gallardo will also soon be replaced.

Maserati will lift the covers on its new GranTurismo Sport at the Geneva Motor Show next month. The new car replaces the GranTurismo S.

The new GranTurismo Sport will see a further improvement in performances thank to its new 4,7 liters V8 engine now capable to deliver 460 Hp.

On the outside there’s a new front bumper and headlights (including the ubiquitous DRLs), while at the rear the tail lights have been refreshed.

A significant restyling also characterizes the interiors of the car with completely redesigned front and rear seats and a new steering wheel with a more sporty and muscular look.

Ferrari has confirmed the revised 2012 California convertible will get more power, a lower body weight and a new optional handling package.

The model will be about 30kg lighter and will deliver an additional 30 HP. Both the exterior and interior will also be improved.

The changes in weight and power have cut the car’s zero-to-62 mph (0-100 kilometers per hour) acceleration time to 3.8 seconds.

The California, which currently starts at $192,000, will be available with an optional suspension setup called the Handling Speciale package.

It includes computer-controlled shock dampers that react faster than before to keep the car’s body from rolling in turns while maintaining a comfortable ride.

Along with the mechanical upgrades, the new California will get a wider range of colour choices, including two-tone finishes and three-layer paint technology.

The company said availability of the new California, which is in production now, will vary by market, with the first deliveries scheduled for Europe.

The upgraded Ferrari California will be officially unveiled at next month’s Geneva motor show.

Giorgio Armani has opened a new wine bar in Tokyo located on the top floor of the Armani Ginza Tower.

Formally a private, member-only bar, the new space is now a wine lounge open to the general public. Over 300 types of Italian wine are available.

Armani hopes to introduce Japanese shoppers to the idea of the Italian aperitivo, by offering wine and small bites on the top floor and a full dinner on the floor below.

The bar has an attached terrace with views of the surrounding buildings in Ginza.

The Gresso company presents an exclusive Grand Monaco collection model, designed entirely in extravagant black color.

The new model is released in two editions: Pure Black Cayman with crocodile leather and Pure Black Carbon with Italian carbon leather.

The phone case is executed from high resistant and light titanium alloy. At the finale stage of the manufacturing the case is being covered with several high-tech ceramics layers.

For the first time in the Grand Monaco collection the numeral keyboard is set on the plate of black toned glass. The phone screen is also protected with 42 carat sapphire glass polished by hand with a diamond tool.

The keyboard of the device is crafted from surgical steel. The accurate and impeccable shape of every key button is created due to precision cutting technology.

The titanium PVD-surface coats the keyboard which makes it mirror- black and resistant to the mechanical damages.

The Gresso Pure Black Model has a limited production run of just 100 units and cost a cool $2,700 each.

The phone is available for sale at authorized Gresso dealers only and at online-boutique www.gresso.com.

To celebrate the launch of the Continental GT V8 with its powerful new 4.0 V8 engine, Breitling has created a 250-piece limited series of the Bentley GMT chronograph.

Its distinguishing feature is the mobile inner bezel in a metallic red shade which depicts 24 cities for the GMT (second time zone) function.

You will notice that the dial is equipped with an red triangle-tipped hour hand (see below) — this hand completes one rotation every 24 hours.

That allows the user to instantly read off the time in all the world’s timezones in relation to that shown by the 24-hour hand.

Movement is the Swiss automatic Breitling caliber 47B with 38 jewels, 28,800 vph and a power reserve of 48 hours.

The selfwinding chronograph movement, chronometer-certified by the COSC, offers another technical asset exclusive to the Breitling for Bentley collection:

A 30-second chronograph with a sweep seconds hand making one full turn of the dial in half a minute and thus enabling readings accurate to the nearest 1/8th of a second.

The Breitling for Bentley GMT V8 is a limited edition of 250 pieces priced at $10,590.

For the first time in at least two decades of reporting the worldwide cost of living survey Zurich sits atop the ranking as the world’s most expensive city.

An index swing of 34 percentage points pushed the Swiss city up 4 places compared to last year to overtake Tokyo which remains in 2nd place.

Geneva, the other Swiss city surveyed saw a 30 percentage point rise in the cost of living to move up six places into joint third alongside Osaka.

The authors of the bi-annual report said both Japan and Switzerland have seen strong currency movements over the last few years which have made them relatively more expensive.

Currency movements in Australia also explain the presence of both Sydney and Melbourne in the list of top ten most expensive cities to live.

Hong Kong, which has long been noted as an expensive place to live, is surprisingly ranked at 22, much lower than its third-placed position a decade ago.

The survey of 130 cities worldwide compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products, including food, clothing, transport, rents and private schools.

The price of a litre of petrol for example varies hugely from city to city. In its breakdown, the EIU shows that it is $2.17 in Paris but only $0.96 in Moscow.

Despite eurozone weaknesses, western Europe still accounts for 24 of the most expensive cities in the top 50, with 14 hailing from Asia.

Top 10 Most Expensive Cities In The World – 2012

1. Zurich, Switzerland
2. Tokyo, Japan
3. Geneva, Switzerland
4. Osaka, Japan
5. Oslo, Norway
6. Paris, France
7. Sydney, Australia
8. Melbourne, Australia
9. Singapore, Singapore
10. Frankfurt, Germany

Distiller John Walker & Sons has bottled 60 crystal decanters of Diamond Jubilee Blended Scotch Whisky to mark the Queen’s 60 years on the throne.

The grain and malt whiskies have been maturing in a marrying cask of English oak from the Queen’s Sandringham Estate since 1952.

The amber liquor is presented in lead crystal decanter adorned with a Britannia silver collar, featuring a half-carat diamond set by hand, and a numbered seal.

It also comes with a pair of hand-engraved lead crystal glasses and a leather-bound, hand-embellished artifact book.

Sixty bottles of the Diamond Jubilee by John Walker & Sons were bottled on February 6, 2012, exactly 60 years to the day since the Queen took to the throne.

One will be gifted to the Queen and the other 59 crystal decanters will be sold around the world for £100,000 ($160,000) each.

All profits from the sale will be donated to the Queen Elizabeth Scholarship Trust, with a guarantee of £1 million. The trust offers scholarships and mentorship programs to support traditional craftsmanship.

With delivery of its highly anticipated Model S coming sometime this year, innovative electric car manufacturer, Tesla Motors, presents a newly envisioned CUV: the Model X. Designed to give you the best of an SUV with the storage benefits of a minivan, this prototype offers Telsa’s inventive electric powertrain system performing with extreme efficiency. Going from 0-60 mph in less than five seconds, this CUV features two trunks as there is no engine need, futuristic falcon doors, seating for seven, and a large intuitive touchscreen dash. Telsa

French luxury group Hermes has posted record sales of 2.8 billion euros ($3.8 billion) in 2011, highlighting the resilience of luxury brands in the face of the weakening global economy. The group’s sales were up 18.3 percent last year, beating the target of 15-16 percent growth, it said in a statement, and its operating margin was up more than 30 percent.

The famed maker of luxury bags and silk scarves said revenue growth had been led in non-Japan Asia, where sales were up 29 percent, and in the United States, where they were up 26 percent. Sales in Europe were up 16 percent. Japanese sales struggled however and were down one percent.

The company said sales in its own stores were up 19 percent while wholesale revenues were up 15 percent. Silk and textiles sales were up 23 percent, sales in leather goods, including handbags, were up 12 percent, fashion and accessories up 30 percent and perfumes up 16 percent.

The company said that in 2012 it will continue its long-term strategy of “maintaining control over its know-how and distribution network.

“Hermes will continue to invest in developing its production capacity and its distribution network, with the opening or renovation of some 15 branches,” it said.

The company, which will publish its full results in March, said it would pay an interim dividend of 1.50 euros per share on March 1. It said it had bought back 1,292,215 of its own shares in 2011, for the sum of 286 million euros.

Luxury brands have continued to enjoy strong sales despite world economic concerns, with French luxury goods giant LVMH saying last week it had enjoyed a banner year in 2011 with net profits above three billion euros.