Glitz & the Gulf: Blinging It Up Saudi Style

London has always been a city of both foreign and homegrown wealth, and the high prices that goes with it. But this past weekend saw one of the largest gatherings of luxury brands -- and those who shop at them -- that the city has ever seen.

The Saudi Gulf Luxury Trade show was held at the Intercontinental Hotel Park Lane, in the elite Mayfair district of London. Exhibitors ranged from British luxury car manufacturer Aston Martin (recently bought by a pair of Kuwaiti investment companies) to Danish high-end electronics merchant Bang and Olufsen.

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The headliner was the world's most expensive abaya, a traditional woman's garment. The diamond-studded cloak, by renowned British couturier Bruce Oldfield, carried a $350,000 price tag.

As much of Europe and the United States suffer through a bank-closing credit crunch, this event was not only a grand display of opulence but a potent reminder that for the super rich, not much has changed.

One advertiser at the show was Crockford's Private Gaming Club, considered London's oldest casino, which claims the duke of Wellington among its former members. Today its clientele is about 85 percent Middle Eastern, according to gaming director Chris Ralfe, who spoke with ABC News.

The economic downturn has not affected turnover at the casino. "Probably our Middle Eastern clientele has benefited from the higher oil revenues. It cuts both ways. We've been more affected by the smoking ban," club director George Pohell told ABC News.

"The fair is to promote the business ties between the U.K. and the GCC [Gulf Cooperation Council] countries," Afnan al-Shuaiby, secretary-general of the Arab-British Chamber of Commerce, told ABC News. The GCC is a six-nation Arab economic consortium established, in part, to improve trade with the West.

"There's a big market in the Middle East [for luxury goods], keeping in mind that the Middle East is going through an economic boom. That has not happened for so many years, so there's a lot of interest from this side toward the Middle East," al-Shuaiby explained.