Page 2 / News, Trends, Gossip and Stuff To Do : Web Watch : Surf for the Very Best

Want to scour the world for the best in bed linens, boats, jets, scented candles, caviar or gems? Want to know how to pronounce Pratesi--or what London hostelry offers goose-down comforters and personal laundresses for its guests? Maybe a private tour to the Galapagos, a small Picasso or Magritte? These and other items in the very lap of luxe will be but a mouse click away when the new Web site LuxuryFinder.com (https://www.luxuryfinder.com) opens its virtual doors next month.

It’s the brainchild of publishing magnate James Finkelstein, former owner of, among other things, the New York Law Journal and National Law Journal--both of which he sold recently for $203 million.

Finkelstein--a New Yorker with a penchant for well-staffed seaside mansions--sold his publishing properties on the World Wide Web, made a bundle and was adrift wondering what to do next. Then inspiration hit: “Let’s put luxury on the Web.” It was something not yet done--at least not in the ultimate, tippy-top, upscale way Finkelstein envisioned it.

“Most people don’t realize that the Web is proportionately wealthier than the population at large. I mean, there are proportionately twice as many people on the Web who earn $150,000 annually” as there are in the regular population, he says.

Within a month he had commitments of $20 million. The site will offer only top merchandise in everything from home furnishings and art to real estate and personal services.

“We edit everything for you--we edit out the less than fabulous, and only offer the most luxurious and tasteful,” coos Pamela Gross, Finkelstein’s bride of one year. “If you went to Yahoo and typed in handbags, you might get 7,000 matches. At our site, you might get only the 100 best.”

The couple has hired Alexandra Penney, former Self magazine editor in chief, to create original editorial content for the site, such as an upcoming story on “jetiquette”--the manners and mores of private jet travel. Social swimmers, such as Lord Charles-Spencer Churchill, will dish on the latest in entertaining and style.