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Most Expensive Cigar
Gurkha Black Dragon
Price: $1,150 each
Gurkha
Cigars’ Black Dragon cigars were introduced in 2006, according to cigar.com. The cigars are hand-crafted in
Honduras and come in a box made of carved camel bone and brass. Gurkha Cigars
produced only five chests of 100 cigars, each chest priced at $115,000, and
only one chest remains. A new and less expensive version of the Black Dragon
was released in 2007.
Most Expensive Champagne
Heidsieck Monopole Champagne 1907
Price: $35,000*
In 1997, a
search team uncovered a ship that sank in the Baltic Sea containing valuable
cargo, including 2,000 bottles of Heidsieck Monopole Champagne. The
Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Moscow claimed 10 of the bottles and made them
available for sale in 2008. According to the hotel’s spokesperson,
Sergey Logvinov, the first bottle sold within the first month to a Russian
collector. A few bottles are still available for purchase.
*Converted from 880,000 rubles
Most Expensive Hotel
Room
Royal Penthouse Suite, Hotel President Wilson in Geneva
Price: $65,000 per night
This
palatial suite, which occupies an entire floor of the hotel and measures
18,083 square feet, has 10 rooms and seven bathrooms. It was renovated in
January 2009 to add a new private fitness area, according to a spokesperson.
Most Expensive Bicycle
Aurumania Gold Bike Crystal Edition
Price: $114,464*
Scandinavian design company Aurumania made only 10 of these
hand-crafted, 24-carat gold-plated bicycles. Each is decorated with 600
Swarovski crystals. According to Chief Executive Bo Franch-Mærkedahl, this
bike was originally conceived as a show piece but quickly attracted interest
from buyers. The firm, founded in September 2008, has sold five units to
buyers in the U.K., Dubai, Russia, Italy, and most recently, Australia. He
adds that four of the clients also bought a matching gold-plated wall
rack.
*Price converted from €80,000
Most Expensive Golf Club
Long-Nose Putter Stamped “A.D.,” attributed to Andrew Dickson
Price: $181,000
An “A.D.” stamp on this circa 18th century, long-nose putter is
attributed to Andrew Dickson, the oldest known clubmaker to mark his clubs.
He is said to have served as a caddy to the Duke of York as a young boy,
according to Sotheby’s. This item was estimated to sell for $200,000 to
$300,000 but fetched $181,000 in a Sotheby’s auction in New York in
2007.
Most Expensive Wine
Screaming Eagle Cabernet Sauvignon 1992
Price: $500,000
This sale is left off many lists because the proceeds went to charity, but
Screaming Eagle’s $500,000, six-liter bottle of cab holds the top spot
for the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold. It was purchased at the Napa
Valley Wine Auction in 2000 by Chase Bailey, a former Cisco Systems
executive, reported Time magazine.
Most Expensive Chess Set
Chess Set by Charles Hollander*
Price: $600,000
Jeweler
Charles Hollander’s Royal Diamond Chess (shown in photo), priced at
half a million dollars, is often cited as the world’s most expensive,
but Hollander tells Bloomberg Businessweek that the first of his seven chess
sets, which made their debut about 10 years ago, quietly sold for $600,000
just after launching. The set was studded with 320 carats of black and white
diamonds and two kilograms of 14 carat white gold. Hollander says he
presented the unnamed piece at the Basel Jewelry Show and sold it within the
first hour to a Russian collector. Hollander has made seven luxury chess
sets, all designed by Bernard Maquin, and has moved all but one. Another set,
called the Jewel Royale chess set, by U.K. jeweler Boodles, was valued at
$9.8 million but has not yet sold.
*No images of the set were taken before sale, according to Charles Hollander.
The image shown is of the Royal Diamond Chess.
Most Expensive
Motorcycle
Dodge Tomahawk V10 Superbike
Price: $700,000
The Dodge
Tomahawk, a 1,500-lb. motorcycle with four wheels, has a Dodge Viper’s
V10 engine and can go from zero to 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, according to Edmunds.com.
The top speed is estimated to be more than 300 mph. The vehicle, which made
its debut at the 2003 North American International Auto Show in
Detroit, was reportedly priced at $550,000, but a Dodge spokesperson
confirmed to Bloomberg Businessweek that two units were sold at an even
higher $700,000.
Most Expensive Camera
Susse Freres daguerreotype camera
Price: $775,000
A
daguerreotype camera designed by Frenchman Susse Freres that dates back to
1839 sold at the WestLicht Auction in 2007 for €576,000 ($775,000). It
was believed to be the oldest commercially manufactured camera in the world,
reported the Most Expensive Journal. Another daguerreotype camera will be
auctioned in May and is expected to fetch up to $950,000.
Most Expensive Speakers
Transmission Audio Ultimate System
Price: $2 million per pair
With a total
of 12 units—four dipole subwoofers, two dipole mid-woofers, four dipole
medium-frequency and high-frequency ribbon panels, and two dipole
high-fidelity super ribbon panels—Transmission Audio’s Ultimate
speaker system is a hefty piece of equipment, spanning 37 feet and weighing 5
metric tons. All units are made from aircraft aluminum and have stands in
polished red or black granite. The set was introduced in late 2009, and so
far two pairs have been preordered, says Bo Bengtsson, president of
Transmission Audio. None has yet been delivered, as the assembly time is
about six months.
Most Expensive
Television
PrestigeHD Supreme Rose Edition by Stuart Hughes
Price: $2.3 million*
Swiss luxury television maker PrestigeHD asked Stuart Hughes of Goldstriker
International to design a spectacular piece for the company, says Hughes. So
he took a 55-inch PrestigeHD television and covered it in 28 kilograms of
18-carat rose gold and 72 diamonds. Alligator skin was hand sewn into the
bezel. This limited edition TV, introduced just this year, surpasses
Hughes’ £1 million television for PrestigeHD, which uses 22-carat
yellow gold and 48 diamonds. PrestigeHD CEO Simon M. Troxler says the company
is close to closing its first contract for the Supreme Rose Edition and
“we are very confident that the limited edition of only three TVs will
be sold out soon.”
*Price converted from £1.5 million
Most Expensive Guitar
Fender Stratocaster guitar
Price: $2.7 million
A group of the world’s renowned musicians signed this guitar, auctioned
in Qatar in 2005, to raise funds for tsunami victims, according to a press
release. Signatures include Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton,
Brian May, Jimmy Page, David Gilmour, Jeff Beck, Pete Townsend, Mark
Knopfler, Ray Davis, Liam Gallagher, Ronnie Wood, Tony Iommi, Angus
& Malcolm Young, Paul McCartney, Sting, Ritchie Blackmore, Def
Leppard, and Bryan Adams. It was bought by Qatar’s royal family earlier
that year, donated back to the charity, and sold again for $2.7 million.
Most Expensive Cell
Phone
iPhone 3GS Supreme Rose by Stuart Hughes
Price: $2.97 million*
Stuart Hughes—who also designed the most expensive
television—made headlines in 2009 when he crafted a 22-carat gold
iPhone studded with 53 diamonds for an unnamed Australian businessman for
£1.92 million. More recently, he says, he was commissioned to make an even
pricier version of the phone in 18-carat rose gold with hundreds of diamonds,
including a single-cut, 7.1-carat diamond for the main navigation button.
*Price converted from £1.93 million
Most Expensive Piano
Heintzman Crystal Piano
Price: $3.22 millio
A nine-foot piano made by Heintzman Piano in Beijing was recently purchased
at auction by a private bidder for a record $3.22 million, according to a
company release.
Most Expensive Domain
Name
Insure.com
Price: $16 million
In 2009, California-based Internet marketing firm QuinStreet bought insure.com for $16 million, setting a new
record for the most expensive domain name. It was previously held by sex.com, which sold in 2006 for more than $12
million, reported the Guardian.
Most Expensive Ring
Chopard Blue Diamond Ring
Price: $16.26 million
The centerpiece of Chopard Blue Diamond Ring is a 9-carat blue diamond (in
photo) with diamond shoulders. The 18-carat white gold band is paved with
diamonds. It sold overseas in 2007 to a fancy color diamond collector,
reportedly for $16,260,000, but a Chopard spokesperson says the estimated
value of the ring today is $18,561,310.
Most Expensive Car
1954-55 Mercedes-Benz W196
Price: $24 million
Think a brand-new $1.7 million Bugatti Veyron is expensive? Try the
Mercedes-Benz W196, which won the Grand Prix in 1954 and 1955, and sold at
auction in 1990 for a staggering $24 million. According to the U.K.’s
Times Online Times Online, Mercedes donated the car to the National Motor
Museum at Beaulieu in the 1980s, which later sold it for £1.5million to
finance a museum renovation. It was again sold in 1990 to a French
industrialist for $24 million but changed hands once more to a German
industrialist for less than half that sum.
*The image shows a model of the W196.
Most Expensive Watch
Haute Joaillerie Watch from Chopard
Price: $25 million
Chopard’s colorful, glittery timepiece sold in early 2000 for a
reported $25 million. The watch has 201 carats of pink, blue, and white
diamonds, including a 15-carat, heart-shaped pink diamond, a 12-carat,
heart-shaped blue diamond, and an 11-carat, heart-shaped white diamond. The
hearts spring open to expose the yellow diamond-studded watch face. The
bracelet has 163 carats of white and yellow pear-shaped diamonds.
Most Expensive Drawing
Raphael’s Head of a Muse
Price: $47.9 million
The most expensive work on paper was sold at auction in December 2009 by
Christie’s London. Raphael’s Head of a Muse, a black chalk
drawing on paper, sold for $47,941,095, handily beating the estimate, which
ranged from $19.7 million to $26.3 million.
Most Expensive Sculpture
L’Homme qui marche I (Walking Man I), Alberto Giacometti (1961)
Price: $104.3 million
After only eight minutes of bidding at a Sotheby’s auction in London in
February, this life-size bronze sculpture sold for three times its asking
price to an anonymous telephone bidder, reported the Daily Telegraph. The
work not only set a record price for a Giacometti; it is also the most
expensive piece of art ever to sell at auction. The previous record was held
by Picasso’s Boy with a Pipe, a painting that sold for $104 million.
Most Expensive Painting
Number 5, 1948, Jackson Pollock (1948)
Price: $140 million
Billionaire record and film producer David Geffen reportedly sold the 4-ft.
by 8-ft. painting to financier David Martínez in 2006, although neither
commented on the deal, according to an article in The New York Times.
Most Expensive Private
Jet
Boeing 747-8 VIP
Price: $295 million*
This jet, which has 4,786 square feet of cabin space, is the newest member of
the 747 family and replaces the 747-400. Boeing has sold seven 747-8 VIPs
since May 2006 and will start delivering them next year. While the interior
is intended to look less like a plane and more like home, Boeing does not
furnish the jets—customers must hire interior designers, which can
easily add millions of dollars in additional cost, says Boeing spokesman
Bernard Choi. He says the jet probably will not enter service until after
2012, because the interior has to be put in.
*Price does not include the interior.
Most Expensive House
Antilla
Price: $1 billion
According to a February report by Property Magazine Property Magazine , the
most expensive house in the world, named Antilla (in picture above at left),
is in downtown Mumbai, India, and will be the residence of Reliance
Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani. The 27-story, 570-foot-tall tower has a
helipad, a health club, and a six-floor garage that can hold 168 cars. Each
level has gardens. It will be serviced by a staff of 600 people. Some reports
list the price of the house at $2 billion. The architecture and design firms
working on this project, Perkins+Will and Hirsch Bedner Associates, declined
comment.
Most Expensive Yacht
Eclipse
Price: $1.2 billion
This 560-foot-long yacht has two helipads, 11 guest cabins, two swimming
pools, three launch boats, an aquarium, and a minisubmarine that can dive to
50 meters below the ocean surface, according to London’s Daily Mail.
The master bedroom and bridge have bulletproof glass, and the security system
includes missile detection systems that warn of incoming rockets. The owner
Roman Abramovich, a Russian billionaire who also owns Britain’s Chelsea
Football Club, reportedly fitted the yacht with a laser system that prevents
paparazzi from taking photos. It was built by Blohm + Voss in Hamburg,
Germany
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