Having come into contact with high-net-worth individuals all around the world, Christopher Scanlon made an interesting observation. They all had unique stories, very different tastes and very different lifestyles, and yet all their bank cards looked exactly the same.
So Scanlon launched Aurae at the end of 2015. Membership of this uber-exclusive lifestyle club comes with a 14-carat or 18-carat yellow or rose gold, custom-designed MasterCard, weighing a whopping 43 grams to 60g. The card can be etched with a design of your choice – existing examples include a lion's head with sapphire eyes, a dragon, floral patterns and Chinese symbols, while one UAE member has had a portrait of Sheikh Zayed engraved onto the front of hers.
Your card, which is crafted by master jewellers and produced under a patented process in a high-security facility, can also be embedded with diamonds or other precious stones, and will be presented to you in a handbuilt box. Should you be prone to misplacing your valuables, fear not. Your card is covered by Lloyd’s of London, the company responsible for insuring Toni Braxton, Celine Dion, Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen’s vocal chords.
Beyond the card, Aurae Lifestyle members are privy to elite concierge services. Need someone to organise a private jet? Travel itineraries? Dinner reservations at a Michelin-starred restaurant? A New Year’s Eve party at your mansion? Aurae is on hand to help. You’ll also be invited to events on the Aurae Social Calendar, which include the Billboard Music Awards and Monaco Grand Prix.
There are three membership tiers, and services vary accordingly. It will cost between US$25,000 and $100,000 (up to Dh367,315) for the card itself, and a further $5,000 (Dh18,365) in annual membership fees thereafter, although the first year is free. The Executive Lifestyle tier includes an Aurae-branded MasterCard in 14-carat gold, as well as concierge services that can include personalised travel and private aviation services, exotic-car rental, negotiated rates for first class and business class travel, as well as hotels around the world, personal-shopping services and luxury-product procurement – which can cover anything from a Matisse to a Maserati.
You’ll get all that and more if you’re a member of the top-tier Elite Lifestyle, including a customised and jewelled MasterCard in 14-carat gold (with an 18-carat option), a butler and personal assistant, a personal style consultant, property-management services, airport transfers and even time-management services.
“Credit is given. Status is earned” is Aurae’s strapline. And a solid-gold debit or credit card will certainly impress your dining companions when it’s time to pay the bill. Needless to say, membership is by invitation only, and just 1,000 people are admitted globally each year – so you’ll have to go to the website and see if you’re eligible first.
Read this and other stories in Luxury magazine, out with The National on Thursday, June 23.
sdenman@thenational.ae
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Read more from Johann Chacko
The smuggler
Eldarir had arrived at JFK in January 2020 with three suitcases, containing goods he valued at $300, when he was directed to a search area.
Officers found 41 gold artefacts among the bags, including amulets from a funerary set which prepared the deceased for the afterlife.
Also found was a cartouche of a Ptolemaic king on a relief that was originally part of a royal building or temple.
The largest single group of items found in Eldarir’s cases were 400 shabtis, or figurines.
Khouli conviction
Khouli smuggled items into the US by making false declarations to customs about the country of origin and value of the items.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, he provided “false provenances which stated that [two] Egyptian antiquities were part of a collection assembled by Khouli's father in Israel in the 1960s” when in fact “Khouli acquired the Egyptian antiquities from other dealers”.
He was sentenced to one year of probation, six months of home confinement and 200 hours of community service in 2012 after admitting buying and smuggling Egyptian antiquities, including coffins, funerary boats and limestone figures.
For sale
A number of other items said to come from the collection of Ezeldeen Taha Eldarir are currently or recently for sale.
Their provenance is described in near identical terms as the British Museum shabti: bought from Salahaddin Sirmali, "authenticated and appraised" by Hossen Rashed, then imported to the US in 1948.
- An Egyptian Mummy mask dating from 700BC-30BC, is on offer for £11,807 ($15,275) online by a seller in Mexico
- A coffin lid dating back to 664BC-332BC was offered for sale by a Colorado-based art dealer, with a starting price of $65,000
- A shabti that was on sale through a Chicago-based coin dealer, dating from 1567BC-1085BC, is up for $1,950
More from our neighbourhood series:
RESULT
Bayern Munich 3 Chelsea 2
Bayern: Rafinha (6'), Muller (12', 27')
Chelsea: Alonso (45' 3), Batshuayi (85')
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Election pledges on migration
CDU: "Now is the time to control the German borders and enforce strict border rejections"
SPD: "Border closures and blanket rejections at internal borders contradict the spirit of a common area of freedom"
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Profile
Company: Justmop.com
Date started: December 2015
Founders: Kerem Kuyucu and Cagatay Ozcan
Sector: Technology and home services
Based: Jumeirah Lake Towers, Dubai
Size: 55 employees and 100,000 cleaning requests a month
Funding: The company’s investors include Collective Spark, Faith Capital Holding, Oak Capital, VentureFriends, and 500 Startups.
