Right now may not seem like the best possible time to launch a new credit card, but presumably a potential clients for this new MasterCard may not be overly concerned about the credit crunch and the cost of mortgage repayments.

The new MasterCard will come decorated with a 0.2 carat diamond and gold in what the company wants to be the mother of all credit cards. They rather soberly named "Diamond", is the latest in elitist high end plastic money.

The diamond will carry with it an annual fee of around £550 and is being released by that not so well known issuer of celebrity and rich people's plastic money the Bank of Kazakhstan

Not very well known to Westerners, Kazakhstan is one of the “Stans” the now oil rich Eldorado’s in Central Asia that were formerly part of the Soviet Union. The country that not too many people have heard of is awash with oil millionaires and quite a number of oil and gas billionaires.

The bank says that it expects to issue is somewhere around 1000 of the new cards at a rate of around 30 per month from November 13.

In fact, the "diamond" is not completely new. Dubai had opened the way last year with a new rich guys MasterCard, the Dubai First's Royale. It is issued only by invitation and the lucky owner can spend without limit, assuming he can pay back without limit.

It also has a small diamond in its centre and has an Inno Design, a company known worldwide for its design innovations and who were engaged to create its unique look. With a Royal card you can land anywhere in the world at local polo club or rent a yacht instantly without any of the usual tedious formalities that we have all grown tired of.

Not surprisingly the Royal card is rare, and only nine cards are made each day, because we all hate the tacky feel of those machine made cards, each one is of course made by hand.

Credit cards have long been the outward sign of wealth that you place in the international jet set as surely as your surname in the French aristocracy. The famous "black card" of American Express, for example, is aimed at all the rich who dreamed of being super rich.

To get one you simply commit to use a bare minimum of $ 250,000 per year, pay an entrance fee of $ 5,000 and an annual fee of only $ 2,500. The spending limit is based on the income of the owner. The most extreme purchase ever made with a "Black" would be a jet at $ 30 million.

The card gives the owner special privileges such as a private seller at Tiffany in New York, invitations to exceptional events and, for the lucky, a few holes in the company of Tiger Woods.

Gift cards have also gone upmarket; the "gift card" is a market worth about $26 billion dollars last year in the United States alone. One of the most glamorous is the card offered by Halcyon, a provider of ultra luxury aircraft.

If you offer the "dream card" by Halcyon to your “friend”, she can travel in private jet anywhere in the world with a value of up to $ 5 million. A personal concierge consultant is in the air permanently with you and if you need for example, a nutritionist who is an expert in airline food you can of course contact them instantly any time of the day night.