Tower of London. It includes the diamond brooch given to Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, and later acquired by Mrs Astor, queen of 1950s New York society. Esmerian is - for the moment - the owner of a Van Cleef and Arpels brooch 'encrusted' with diamonds and a Rene Lalique Art Nouveau bracelet, both of which are worth

at least half-a-million.

And then he borrowed another $120m from his new friends at Merrill Lynch. This time the money was for buying the showy Fred Leighton jewellery shops on Madison Avenue and in the Bellagio casino in Las Vegas.

Getting into the spirit of the age, Esmerian, 68, ventured from the genteel parlours of Fifth Avenue to dress the stars in his bedazzling gems for their red carpet appearances. Cameron Diaz, Mira Sorvino (left) and Sarah Jessica Parker have all strutted in Special Collection diamonds, emeralds, rubies and gold. Dolly Parton of the big boobs and American vernacular was draped for the Oscars in jewels from the Fred Leighton shelves and boasted: "These cost $1,200,000!"

With the money flowing