What credit crunch? Super-rich still showing an 'unquenchable appetite for luxury items'

But there's one group that have barely noticed that the nation has hit harder times - the super-rich.

Apparently, they still have an 'unquenchable appetite for luxury items' such as yachts, customised cars and works of art.

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An annual investigation into their shopping habits by investment bank Merrill Lynch said shopping among the super-rich 'remains robust'.

This will be a bitter pill to swallow for those worrying about how to find the money for their next mortgage payment.

Diamond-encrusted watches: Prices can go well beyond the £20,000 mark, but that's chicken feed for the super-rich

The 12th annual World Wealth Report catalogues some of the items that feature on the shopping lists of the super-rich:

• Jewellery, particularly coloured diamonds. A 6.04-carat emerald-cut blue diamond-recently sold for £600,000 per carat.

•  Customised motorbikes, with buyers paying more than £150,000 for the 'one-of-a-kind works of art'.

• Lavish holidays, such as flying to Italy to race Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches across country.

• Yachts of up to 200ft built to the owner's specific requests.

• Trips to see how their charitable donations are being spent in developing countries - while staying in a luxury hotel.

Other coveted items include watches from Patek Phillippe or Franck Muller and classic cars.

Around 500,000 people in Britain have assets of £500,000 or more - excluding the value of their properties - according to Merrill Lynch.

Many are 'ultra high-net worth' which means they have millions, or even billions of pounds.

Their spending is distinguished by the fact that they want their purchases to be unique, says the report.

For example, if they buy a Bentley, it must be one that has been custom-made.

A spokesman for the car firm said it regularly receives elaborate demands, such as customers asking for wood from their own trees to be used to make the car's dashboard.

Art has become one of the biggest ' investments of passion', according to the report, published yesterday.

An auction by Christie's this week raised £144million, the highest-ever total for an art auction held in Europe.

David Norman from Sotheby's, said much of the money comes from those speculating on oil prices.

He said: 'We used to think in terms of hedge funds when targetting new customers.

'Now we look for barrels of oil.'