Gold Everywhere

radiant : Sonia Kruger

UK cricketing captain David Gower may think Australian cricket fans are devoid of culture but the Aussie cricketers sure have damned fine luggage. That was evident at this week's 2013 Gold Ball where one of the auction items was a splendorous set of Louis Vuitton luggage created for cricket captain Michael Clarke.
The Louis Vuitton luggage was just one of the many donated items along with Paspaley Pearls and world airline trips that saw around one million dollars being raised for the Sydney Children's Hospital in Randwick.
The Gold Ball brought out 350 of the good and great including former prime minister Paul Keating and captains of industry including the new slimline 'Aussie John' Symonds and new girlfriend Amber Keating , PM Paul's former daughter-in-law and a newly svelte Joe Hockey MP.
 Also there was Nine Network boss Jeff Browne and partner Rhonda Wyllie. Nine will be hosting the Gold Telethon this Queen's Birthday Holiday and Nicole Kidman, the hospital's patron has kicked in $100,000 to get the ball rolling.

slimmers club : Joe Hockey MP, John Symonds & Amber Kaeting

Glenn & Sarah McGrath

The Tony Assness designed ball room was really quite sensational with what seemed a million candles glittering and with catering by Matt Moran and endless crates of the finest chilled Bollinger. The idea first kicked around by PR gal Skye Leckie and Professor Les White (Chief Paediatrician for NSW Health) 17 years ago has grown to be the must attend social event.

Rhonda Wyllie & Jeff Browne

cute blonde Lea Goodrem &daughter Delta

Professor Les White & Mrs White

Peter Overton & Jessica Rowe

It's Raining Men

Joel & his Great Gastby look

The Sydney Opera House-splendid in the sunshine, gloomy in the rain. It bucketed down tonight at GQ’s Men Of The Year Awards.  We didn’t let that stop us attending yet another red carpet shindig where nice statuettes are handed out at another excuse for a celebrity turn out.

Maybe not quite as celeb heavy as the UK awards in October with Johnny Depp, Keith Richard, Duran Duran and Bradley Cooper, or the LA awards with winner Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, and Michael Fassbender.

We did have Jack Thompson, Alex O’Loughlin, Rachel Taylor and this year’s Man Of The Year-Joel Edgerton who is currently filming in Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby (in glorious 3D) around Sydney.

Xavier Samuel at GQ

Jay-Z

Rachel Taylor

Speaking of which-I wish Baz would choose his dates better when filming around Centennial Park (which is standing in for Long Island in the movie). Last Saturday, trying to get to Paspaley Pearl’s Polo In the Park was a nightmare with streets blocked off and hundreds of sightseers hoping to glimpse Leo DiCaprio (he was only there on Thursday but you can catch him bike riding through Centennial Park in the afternoons. But not in 3D)

The Full Monte

TWO late arrivals at the Mother Of All Balls last week had all eyes swivelling in their direction.
Not just because one was the ample bossomed party girl Sharon Sargeant who became something of an Internet star in India when her picture from the same event last year was featured in the Times Of India newspaper, but it was also her seemingly new partner, an inscrutable looking gentleman in a rather magnificent robe that drew many comments

Even the Shuttle, well used to seeing the world's most famous private eye Frank Monte around town was momentarily fooled and thought Sargeant had found a new paramour.

Monte's superb disguise  fooled all, particularly as he wandered the room nodding and saying hello to various friends who looked perplexed at the sight of the stranger greeting them.

It was possibly the best costume of the night. According to one guest  the ball's mastermind actress Rachel Ward voiced that opinion whilst her husband, actor and producer Bryan Brown noted that the cloak Monte wore would be ideal for a feature film he had in mind.

Monte's robe was an amazing original Emperor's gown from the Shang Dynasty (3000 years ago) which normally hangs in a case on a wall in his New York office.

"When I heard that the theme was Shanghai Chic I thought it was the prefect outfit even though Shanghai didn't actually exist when this ceremonial gown was created. I bought in Paris 25 years ago and it was authenticated by the National Palace Museum in Taipei. They've said when the time is right, they would love to add it to their collection of Chinese antiquities which is the best in the world."

Until then, Monte is having the cloak crated and shipped back to New York,.

There are over 20 sponsor marquees at today's Polo In The Park at Centennial Park but most action is expected to be happening around the Paspaley Pearls tent. The event has become increasingly popular since it began in 2006.
Brisbane held the first matches last week followed by Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
All eyes will be on the star attraction- handsome young Argentinian player Baron Jakob Von Plessen.

Pearly Kings & Queens

If you don't have your own set of pearls to twirl then it's time you got yourself a string of these timeless and stylish classics.

And where better than Paspaley Pearls, the leaders in the industry who have been producing South Sea Pearls since 1935 and are the largest suppliers in Australia and are highly regarded in the fashion houses of Paris, London and Milan.

Caroline Laws & Anna Lisa Klettenberg

Paspaley excel in choosing unique locations for their season launches and last Thursday was no exception. In downtown Redfern - once a no go area but now decidedly up market- in the magnificent antique centre The Residence owned by Martyn Cook and Thomas Hamel which not only had plenty of space but some precious antiques perfect for use as display cases, plus a few gorgeous models.

The Residence is just a few doors from the premises once known as the Geebung Polo Club which was years ahead of it's time but crashed and burned putting paid to Wilton Morley's (the son of actor Robert Morley) plans to open a stable of Sydney bars (It's now a gay leather club called Mrs Marys).

Jenny Sweeney & Tim Holmes a Court

Deborah Knight & Kathryn Robinson

Social heavyweights like Anna Lisa Klettenberg and Isolde Tornya, chef Michael Moore, Glen Marie Frost and Carla Zampatti joined a younger set including a brace of Holmes a Courts and designer Bowie Wong to marvel at the beautiful pearls on display.

A late arrival- Princess Caroline Laws' chauffered Rolls Royce tentivelly inched it's way down the narrow lane before depositing her at the front door.

The Most Expensive Dinner in Town

We counted 4 billionaires and a dozen multi-millionaires whose wealth is the hundreds of millions amongst the 750 guests. And a host of young heirs and heiresses who will inherit those fortunes.





adding colour-Ruby Jacenko

  

 Property tycoon Lang walker, the Nutrimetics founders Bill and Imelda Roche, Aussie Home Loans boss John Symonds, TV network supremo David Leckie and his wife Skye, Opposition MP Malcolm Turnbull (possibly the next Prime Minister) and wife Lucy, Grant Vandenburg (he manages Russel Crowe), dentist to the stars David Carr (Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and a host of Hollywood stars sport his perfect molars) while British banker Duncan Mount and his clan paid a visit from Byron Bay (he bought Paul Hogan's country estate but is planning a move back to Sydney).



Duncan & Sally Mount (centre) & clan



Rounding the corner of New South Head Rd into Rose Bay and the sight to behold was something special. Marquees snaked around the promenade, each one dedicated to one of the world's most renowned chefs who were going to prepare a sumptious banquet for the Flood Appeal in association with the Salvation Army. Every penny-and it's estimated one million dollars was raised (at $1000 a head), will go to the Queensland flood victims.

Chefs included Neil Perry, Matt Moran, Bennelong's Guillaume Brahimi  and Maurice Terzini from the Bondi Icebergs. The event was the mastermind of Catalina's Michael & Judy McMahon and everyone from the local council, waiters who donated their services, providors and vineyards to the Rose Bay police performed admirably as the night went as smooth as silk.



Jessic Mauboy



Russell Crowe's manager Grant Vandenberg & family



The wonderful indigenous singer Jessica Mauboy sang up a storm as a gentle breeze cooled the air and fruit bats filled the sky on their nightly vigil from the Botanical Gardens to their abode in the east. The moon was full but no craziness ensued.

Emirates Airways provided a raffle prize in the form of a first class world trip as did Paspaley Pearls with a stunning necklace worth $200,000.

  # Paspaley also hosted a charity party on the same night at Ottos on the Finger Wharf in Woolloomooloo with guest Xavier Samuel of the Twilight series and entertainment from Australian Idol winner Wes Carr raising $325,000 for the same cause.










Lang & Sue Walker









Bill & Imelda Roche

A Swell Party-One Missing Guest !

It was one of the smartest bashes Sydney has seen for some time.

The 75Th Birthday party for one of the top producers of pearls in the world-the famous Paspaley Pearls who dominate the industry in Darwin and Australia.

Thrown at the magnificent Great Hall (part of the snooty gel's school SCEGGS) in East Sydney.

Models stood very still in nice poses on marble plinth's wearing beautiful pearl and diamond creations valued at millions of dollars and a host of well heeled Sydney-siders and Paspaley customers trotted out for the evening to view the gems, scoff Darwin oysters and quaff the finest French champagne.

We counted ten multi-millionaires in the room including the Man From Uncle-publisher Matt Handbury , (he's Rupert Murdoch's fabulously rich nephew) hotel csar Terry Schwamberg and heiress Anna Lisa Klettenberg who quietly informed us that she has just purchased a few chalets in her favourite skiing town Aspen, as one does-"so much nicer than hotels my dear". Quite.

But there was an undercurrent coursing through the room. The magnificent decor had been put together by designer Edward Coutts Davidson.

For the unenlightened Coutts Davidson swept into town from London eighteen months ago, took up residence and brought his well thumbed CV to impress the locals. That includes designing and decorating houses for Madonna, Kate Moss and George Michael and a dozen glitzy magazine articles told us all about it.

Paspaley's 75th was to have to been a superb showcase for Coutts Davidson's exceptional talents with it's genteel guest list, wonderful location and the Chiparus tableau living statues in a 1920's hall decorated as a speakeasy complete with a lively floor show of black musicians specially flown in from Harlem for the evening.

In a town where the party decorator James Gordon reins supreme, Gordon may have found a rival to his unique talents. But it seems it isn't to be. Coutts Davidson appears to have vanished and was certainly not at the party he designed which was a credit to his skills.

It seems Mr Coutts Davidson has fled these shores unexpectedly and some prospective clients are a tad unhappy, others extremely disgruntled. Something about large deposits paid, goods undelivered and so on. There is talk of Inspector Knacker getting involved.

Apart from that minor detail, we can assure you that not only do Paspaley's deserve their reputation as one of the world's finest jewellers-they know how to give a memorable party !

Marylynne Paspaley poses with a bunch of hoofers from Harlem