
It’s a new Dawn for Julian and Aleen Movsesian.
Their $750,000 bid at the the festival won them the world’s first 2016 Rolls Royce Dawn, with an Artic White exterior and a Consort Red leather interior.
The fashionable fetch was too alluring for Julian Movsesian to pass up.
“It’s a special car, and it’s the first,” he said.
Rolls Royce is seeing “tremendous demand” for the Dawn, said Joseph Wierda, general manager for the luxury automaker’s southern region.
The convertible Dawn is sleek and eye-catching like a sports car, but spacious enough to seat four people, Wierda said.
“You can invite your spouse and a couple in pure luxury and pure comfort,” he said.
The Dawn is fully customizable, and the wine festival lot gives Julian Movsesian the chance to choose everything from the trim to the color of the umbrella, which pops out from the passenger side like a James Bond movie prop.
Rolls Royce will deliver the car to the Movsesians by March, said Wierda. It will be flown to the United States straight from the south of England, the home of Rolls Royce, he said.
The Movsesians, who live in California, said they have visited Naples for the last few years just to attend the auction and raise money for the children in Collier.
In previous years, the Movsesians have won other lots, including a safari and a trip to Cuba, said Aleen Movsesian.
Helping children is a priority, said Julian Movsesian.
“Children are our future and helping educate the kids — we all will have a better future,” he said.
A 10-day “insider trip” to Chile and Argentina with vintners Shari and Garen Staglin raised $350,000.
And Shari Staglin said she is thrilled.
“My husband goes to such great lengths to put this together,” she said.
For the last three decades, the family has owned a 50-acre Napa Valley vineyard, known for its Cabernets, she said.
“We love wine,” Shari Staglin said.
They appealed to their friends for help putting the lot together.
“And they came through,” Shari Staglin said. “They donated everything.”
The lot includes several bottles of wine and accommodations in both countries.
Knowing their effort has reaped a significant donation for Collier County’s children feels like an accomplishment, even though the family lives in California, she said.
“We care a lot about the children,” Shari Staglin said. “We care about the good it does here.”
—Maryann Batlle