London — Whatever did we do before Tasmanian Rain bottled water, captured from the skies overlooking Australia's big southern island, supposedly the purest skies on Earth?

The product, launched in January, is sold for up to $25 per 750-milliliter bottle at high-end hotels, including the Tides Hotel and Turberry Isles in Miami and Bal Harbour Towers in Bal Harbour, Fla.

Spokesperson Kelley Blevins said the New York-based company is benefiting from an upward trend in the upscale market.

"We are finding that not only are luxury consumers demanding exquisite packaging and superior quality of the product itself, they also are increasingly intent on acquiring the most helpful ingredients possible for achieving good health," Blevins said.

Even as most American consumers tell pollsters that they are cutting their spending because of high gasoline prices, the London-based Datamonitor research firm estimates that the global luxury market will jump 71 percent to hit $450 billion by 2012.

"Premiumization" is already well-established. No sector, product, or industry will escape a premium version this year, says www.trendwatching.com, an Amsterdam-based Web site.

Electronics is a prime example.

Laptop computers, Bluetooth handsets and computer mice decorated with Swarovski crystals are going for thousands of dollars.

French luxury goods company Christian Dior unveiled a line of mobile phones in May with prices starting at about $5,500. Last year, the Italian designer Dolce & Gabbana and its partner Motorola Inc. sold more than $300 million worth of the label's gold Razr phone.

At the same time, another Italian designer, Giorgio Armani, has collaborated with Samsung Electronics to create a luxury LCD TV that will go on sale globally this year.

Meanwhile, Tasmanian rain isn't the only food product being premiumized.

Consumers have been paying $13.95 for a 750-milliliter bottle of Evian water in a glass bottle decorated by fashion designer Christian Lacroix.

Meanwhile, the fastest-growing segment of the chocolate business is premium chocolate, with sales jumping 129 percent between 2001 and 2006, to $2 billion, according to the Mintel research firm.

The maker of M&Ms recently rolled out a new premium product, M&M's Premiums, which come in mocha, triple chocolate, raspberry almond, and chocolate almond flavors, and which began selling for $4 a box in June.

Suki Larson, chief executive of Keep, a London-based luxury market consulting firm, called the current downturn a "prosecco recession," after the sparkling Italian wine that's often substituted for Champagne.

"Individuals are still looking for the niceties in life," Larson said. "They have acquired a taste for luxury and aren't giving it up.

"They are still more than willing to spend on specialness, authenticity — items that feel genuine and tasteful and give consumers a feeling of the quality they have become accustomed to."

While ordinary people seek comfort in upscale versions of everyday items, there's also a burgeoning number of super-wealthy people.

In 1982, Forbes tallied 13 billionaires on the planet. By 2006, the number had reached 793 individuals who, together, controlled $2.6 trillion in assets.

"Most of the wealthiest people are above the age of 50, and these people have been through recessions and downturns before, so they aren't so bothered by them," said Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a research firm in New York. "Many are conservative and patient investors who know that things are cyclical."

He agreed that many wealthy people are consuming more discreetly, perhaps, but they are still consuming.

"People still want to reward themselves," he said. "The psychological value of luxury items is still important."