MOSCOW -- The man who introduced himself as Roman Manashirov said he had already spent $720,000 for a Mercedes sedan, for ferrying his 8-year-old son to school, and $108,000 for a white grand piano destined for a white-and-gold banquet room at his house in Rublyovka, the Moscow suburb that is also home to President Vladimir V. Putin.
Now, visiting displays at the city's inaugural Millionaire Fair, he expressed interest in furs. Manashirov pointed to a floor-length coat made from lynx and mink and asked the price.
"Forty thousand dollars," the saleswoman said.
He asked her to slip it on. Almost disappearing into its folds, she dropped her chin and swiveled her head from side to side as glamorously as she could.
He liked the coat.
"We are hoping for discounts, of course," Manashirov smiled. Perfect for his brother's wife, he said.
Not since the czars' formal balls has Russians' conspicuous consumption been as conspicuous, as demonstrated at the city's first Millionaire Fair.
For five days, helicopters, thoroughbred horses and other luxury goods were offered at an exhibition center that also holds trade union conferences.
Salespeople talked up $26,000 cell phones, single-malt scotch, real estate in Dubai, seven-seat whirlpools and a matching tuxedo and evening gown fashioned entirely out of currency - one in dollars, the other in rubles.
"Russian buyers are very good spenders," said Marina Najda, whose jewelry kiosk priced a 1-carat diamond ring at $2 million. "They earn a lot very quick, and they also are able to spend a lot quick."
It's doubtful that the architects of Russia's democracy foresaw such extreme wealth.
The combined net worth of Russia's billionaires, according to a survey last year by Forbes magazine, was equivalent to nearly a quarter of the country's gross domestic product.
Moscow had the distinction of being home to more billionaires than any other city in the world, along with a substantial number of Russia's 88,000 millionaires.
Parts of the city, especially near the Kremlin, are showrooms of wealth, including bodyguards standing alongside long black sedans parked outside the city's upscale restaurants.
Boutiques where price tags are beside the point fill GUM, the former State Department Store on the east side of Red Square, opposite the Kremlin.
Most Russians, of course, live and shop modestly.
