Expensive Camel

Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashed Al-Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, spent $16.5 million dirham ($4.5 million USD) at a recent beauty pageant in the United Arab Emirates’ capital city of Abu Dhabi. The remarkable part is that the acquisitions, like the contestants in the pageant, were camels.

The contest included over 10,000 camels from the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain. It was organized by the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage in order to celebrate unique aspects of the Gulf region’s culture.

The most expensive camel in Sheikh Hamdan’s lot, a 10 million dirham ($2.72 million USD) female, is also the most expensive camel in the world. While no details regarding the camel or Sheikh Hamdan’s plans for it have been released, it is known that female camels are faster than their male counterparts.

Money for the pageant was donated by Abu Dhabi’s ruling family. Altogether, owners of winning camels will receive a total of $9.5 million and 100 cars.

Expensive Diamond

The Wittelsbach is a 35.56-carat blue diamond mined in India. The historic diamond was chosen by King Philip IV of Spain as part of the dowry for his daughter, the Infanta Margarita Teresa. Her suitor, Leopold I, later became Holy Roman Emperor and passed the diamond on to his heirs after she died in 1673. When the Archduchess of Austria married Bavaria’s Crown Prince in 1722, the diamond became known as “Der Blaue Wittelsbacher” (The Blue Wittelsbach) after the Crown Prince’s family.



The world’s most expensive diamond sold for $24.3 million, beating a previous record of $16.5 million for a 100-carat diamond in 1995. While the Wittelsbach is the most expensive diamond ever sold at auction—and likely the most expensive diamond ever sold, period—the world-famous Hope diamond would no doubt put the Wittelsbach to shame were it ever sold.

Expensive Bullets

The retailer sells gold bullets, platinum bullets and, of course, a whole lot of silver bullets. Their premier offering, however, is this 45 ACP hollow-point made of 14-karat white gold. Mounted within the hollow-point are ninety diamonds surrounding a sparkling amethyst. Like all of Bullet Forge’s custom bullets, this beauty is inert—it can’t be fired. However, it does feature a loop attached to the base so it can be worn on a necklace.

Bullet Forge also offers a 9mm, again made from 14-karat white gold, with only diamonds mounted in the hollow-point.

Both of these expensive bullets sell for “about $3000” although, as customs, the price varies depending on the materials used. Unfortunately, Bullet Forge isn’t currently accepting online orders—they’re too busy filling backorders and protecting their intellectual property.

Expensive Cloth

The fabric is the first in the world to be woven from 100% worsted vicuña. Vicuña, as you may recall, is the world’s most expensive wool and can only be shorn from the animal once every three years. The cloth can be purchased in three different colors—natural, midnight and black.

Unfortunately for Holland and Sherry, their offering, priced at £3,000 (US $4,319) per yard, falls somewhat short of being the world’s most expensive fabric.

Scabal—whose clients include Bill Clinton, Daniel Craig, Robert DeNiro and Jack Nicholson—announced their expensive fabric a mere eight months before Holland and Sherry announced theirs. Also made of vicuña, Scabal has gone one step further by weaving gold into the cloth. The result is the Gold Treasure range, priced at £4,000 (US $5,759) per meter—that works out to $1,755 per foot versus Holland and Sherry’s $1,439 per foot.

It can be purchased in charcoal, black or midnight blue.

Expensive Ring

The Chopard Blue Diamond Ring is the ring that makes any other diamond ring look bad. Set with an enormous, oval-shaped blue diamond, the expensive ring also has diamond shoulders and an 18k white gold band paved with diamonds.


Blue diamond is among the most expensive diamonds in the world. It is found among boron deposits, from whence it derives its shade. This particular gem weighs in at nine carats.

The world’s most expensive ring is valued at $16.26 million, enough to put a dent in the wallets of even the wealthiest individuals.

Expensive Cigars

Gurkha’s premier cigar

Gurkha’s premier cigar, His Majesty’s Reserve. Rightfully touted as the most expensive cigar in the world, these cigars aren’t just made with premium tobacco—they’re also infused with a generous portion of Louis XIII Cognac in a process that retains the flavor of the tobacco. Louis XIII Cognac, as you may know, is one of the finest cognacs on the market today.

Each year, fewer than 100 boxes of His Majesty’s Reserve cigars are produced and Gurkha’s president oversees their allocation to retailers. At $750, just one of these most expensive cigars will probably cost more than your vintage smoking jacket, but for the true aficionado, it may be a smoke too good to pass up.

Expensive Cigars

Cigar tobacco is grown in many places throughout the Americas and Caribbean, but certain cigars manufactured in Cuba are widely considered the best cigars in the world. Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar. As expensive cigars are symbols of wealth and success, the world’s most expensive cigars may hold far more value than their price tag suggests.

When Altadis of Spain launched their “Behike” cigars, they were the most expensive cigars in the world. The expensive cigars were reportedly named after the tribal chief or sorcerer of the Cuban/pre-Colombian Taino tribe. A mere four thousand of the limited edition Cohiba brand cigars have been released and each box includes forty expensive cigars and allegedly retails for around $18,846. Yes, the expensive cigar will cost you $420 for each smoke.

Expensive Chair

The expensive armchair had belonged to a Paris-based art dealer before finding its way into the hands of Saint Laurent and Bergé. Reportedly, that very same art dealer is the person who paid ten times the chair’s estimated value to procure it at a Christie’s auction.

The chair was made by Irish designer Eileen Gray sometime between 1917 and 1919. Called the “Dragons” chair, it is one of Gray’s masterpieces and was expected to sell for €2-3 millions.

At Paris’ Grand Palais, held February 24th, the most expensive chair in the world was sold for €21.9 million—that’s US $27.8 million!

Expensive Tequila

One Tequila connoisseur has bought earlier this year what is thought to be the most expensive bottle of Tequila in the world at US$225,000: Pasion Azteca, Platinum Liquor Bottle by Tequila Ley .925

Each one of the limited-edition expensive tequila bottles, which resemble a barbed sea shell and are engraved by Alejandro Gomez Oropeza, a Mexican artist, are filled with Pasion Azteca tequila, made from pure sap of the blue agave plant that has been fermented, distilled, and aged for six years.

An additional 33 bottles have been made out of gold and platinum and retail slightly less for $150,000 while the range of gold and silver bottles of expensive tequila will set you back by $25,000.

Mr Altamirano, whose company, Tequila Ley .925, has won several awards for its unorthodox bottle designs, claimed one buyer has already bought an undisclosed number of bottles but he refused to say where the offer came from.

“Since we started out, we began with the idea of making the finest, most expensive bottle of tequila in the world,” Mr Altamirano said.

Much of the Pasion Azteca’s price tag is down to the quantity of platinum of the bottle rather than the actual quality of the tequila inside, but it is the world’s most expensive tequila.

Expensive Cognac

Cognac, like Champagne, is named after the area of France from whence it originates. In order to be considered worthy of the name, the brandy must be produced in the area surrounding the town of Cognac and it must be made at least 90% from three varieties of grapes that grow in the region—Ugni Blanc, Folle Blanche or Colombard grapes. In fact, those are only two of the criteria required by the Bureau National Interprofessionel du Cognac (BNIC), the body that has ultimate control over whether or not a brandy may be called Cognac.

Considering the specific processes required to produce the most basic variety of the drink, the most expensive Cognac in the world must be something special indeed.

Called Henri IV Dudognon Heritage after the French king whose descendents have been producing this wine since 1776, this particular wine was aged for 100 years in barrels that were air dried for five years before use. The final product is 41% alcohol (82 proof).

That alone wasn’t enough to make it the world’s most expensive Cognac, though. The priciest aspect isn’t the wine itself, but the packaging. Dipped in 24k gold and sterling platinum, the bottle was adorned with 6,500 brilliant cut diamonds by its designer, jeweler Jose Davalos.

The final price of this costly Cognac is £1 million (around $2 million USD) and, if you’ve been paying any attention at all, it shouldn’t surprise you that Tequila Ley, the Mexican distilling company responsible for the expensive brandy, is planning to sell it in Dubai.

Expensive Xbox 360

This unique faceplate was auctioned on eBay in 2005. Made of 999.9 ounces of solid 24k gold, the faceplate was cast with access to all the ports and receivers necessary to enjoy your Xbox to its fullest extent.

Sadly, information on whether or not it sold, and for how much, is scarce. What I can tell you, though, is that it had an opening bid of $36,000.

If you can’t find a solid gold faceplate for your Xbox 360, then why not try the next best thing—or, rather, the next most expensive thing. Featuring the popular Tomb Raider heroine, Lara Croft, this extravagant case is made with 43,000 crystals.

Only a few of these Xbox cases are being produced and sold in Germany, where it commands a price of around $11,000.

Expensive Chopsticks

French design conglomerate Louis Vuitton, known for their luxury handbags, wallets and other accessories, has created this set of elegant chopsticks for the discerning consumer of Asian cuisine. The Louis Vuitton VIP Chopsticks Set includes two pairs of finely carved, hand polished rosewood chopsticks sporting the LV monogram. The hinged presentation case is just as exquisite as the utensils themselves, with its plexiglas inset and monogrammed finish. Even the rest, that small block of wood intended to keep the business end of the chopsticks from touching the table, features the LV logo.

The most expensive chopsticks in the world are priced at $450. If you know of a more expensive pair of chopsticks, we’d love to hear it!

Expensive Hard Drive

The most expensive storage on the market is an array of twenty RamSan-620 solid state drives weighing in at a grand total of 100 terabytes. According to Texas Memory Systems, makers of the storage system, the RamSan 6200 is capable of 5,000,000 IOPS (independent operations per second) and sustained bandwidth of up to 60 GB/s.

The RamSan 6200 offers data protection with dependable chips, an “active-spare” system in case a drive actually does fail, and data mirroring in separate Logical Storage Units.

Perhaps the most impressive part of the system is that it draws only 6 kilowatts.

The world’s most expensive storage system has a hefty price of $4.4 million

Expensive Pencil

Count Anton Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, purveyor of the Graf von Faber-Castell Collection, knows his writing instruments. They’ve been his family’s business since 1761, when Kasper Faber began producing pencils in Stein, Germany. In 1839, Baron Lothar von Faber created the world’s first branded writing instrument. In 2008, the Faber-Castell collection produced the world’s most expensive pencil.

A limited edition of the Graf von Faber-Castell Perfect Pencil, the most expensive pencil is made of 240-year-old olive wood and has an endpiece and extender with built-in eraser and sharpener, all made of 18-carat white gold. The pen’s cap even features three diamonds beneath the Faber-Castell coat-of-arms.

Only ninety-nine limited edition Perfect Pencils were created. At a retail price of €9,000 (about $12,800), it truly is the world’s most expensive pencil.

Expensive iPod Accessory

It’s larger than some living room furniture and over 170 lbs—not exactly a mobile device—but it may just be the world’s most expensive iPod accessory. Switzerland-based Geneva’s GenevaSound Home Theater system embodies the concepts for which Apple has become famous—utility and simplicity.

Each GenevaSound system is completely housed in a lacquered wooden cabinet that not only belies the sophistication of its inner workings but also ensures the sound is natural and warm. The Home Theater features seven individually powered speakers—2 x 1″ tweeters, 4 x 5 1/4″ woofers and a 12″ sub-woofer—and an equal number of digital hi-fi 100-Watt amplifiers. The horizontal surface is 66” x 21”, so there’s ample space for a high-definition television, Xbox 360, Playstation 3 or whatever else you want to put on it. The system also features a CD player, FM Radio, and both digital and analog line-in.

It also has a universal iPod/iPhone dock that can deliver both audio and video output from your iPod to your home theater.

Am I stretching the definition of “iPod accessory”? Perhaps I am, but kindly note that nearly every promotional image of this extraordinary piece of equipment features one of Apple’s iconic devices and the word “iPod” displayed on the GenevaSound’s display.

The most expensive iPod accessory in the world has a retail price of $3,999. Geneva also produces GenevaSound System Models M, L and XL—audio systems intended for rooms sized from small/medium to extra large—for $799-$1,449.

Expensive Suit in the World

The fabric of the single-breasted suit is made from vicuña wool, the most expensive wool in the world due to its scarcity and stringent regulations on wool-gathering, and qiviut, luxury wool made from the coats of muskoxen. It’s also threaded with 18-karat gold and its single button features pave set diamonds.

This fantastic suit took a total of 80 hours to make and has already been sold to an anonymous buyer for an equally fantastic price of £70,000—over US $100,000.

Expensive Grill (For Your Teeth)

The most expensive grills are offered by rapper, jeweler and “People’s Champ” Paul Wall, whose designs start at $65 per tooth. The grills are custom made from mouth molds performed by your local dentist and your teeth can be covered in 14- or 18-karat yellow or white gold with diamonds in yellow, white, rose gold or pink.

Of course, the design is one of the most important factors in the price of the grill. The most expensive grill mentioned on Grills by Paul Wall’s site is the American Flag grill that sells for $10,000. It must have something to do with their 10% discount for military personnel.

Conscientious buyers take note—no blood diamonds will be used in your grill.

Expensive Curry

An Indian restaurant in London is celebrating the DVD release of Slumdog Millionaire in its own, special way. It’s called Samundari Khazana—“seafood treasure”—and, at £2,000, it’s the most expensive curry in the world.

Bombay Brassiere has packed this platter full of the most expensive ingredients they could find. Devon crab and white truffle and a half tomato filled with Beluga caviar and dressed with gold leaf are just the start of this lavish dish. A Scottish lobster, also coated with gold, four abalone and four shelled and hollowed quails’ eggs filled with even more caviar round out the dish.

Bombay Brassiere’s head chef, Prahlad Hegde, expects to sell the dish despite the recession that makes the £2,000—over US $3,200—price tag seem ludicrous to some. Regardless of its success as a standalone dish, the hype surrounding the world’s most expensive curry will undoubtedly bring some new faces to the Brassiere.

Expensive Wood

While not yet on the endangered species list, the African Blackwood—or Mpingo, as the natives of Tanzania call it—is considered a threatened species. It is also the most expensive tree in the world.

Mpingo once grew in southern Ethiopia and Kenya, but can now only be found in Tanzania and northern Mozambique. It is a slow-growing tree that survives on little water, doesn’t compete with corn, coffee or bananas and even fixes nitrogen in soil.

African Blackwood is harvested for the dense hardwood it yields. The wood, once considered ebony, is primarily valued for use in woodwind instruments. The unsustainability of its harvesting can be attributed to both the tree’s 60-year maturation and the smugglers who illegally transport the wood into Kenya.

The world’s most expensive wood commands a price commensurate with its utility and rarity—$25,000 per cubic meter.

Expensive Energy Drink

The drink was created to be sold at the European leg of The Gloved One’s 1996 HIStory world tour. Mystery was promoted by Jackson with one request—that the drink should have no artificial ingredients.

Of course, another unopened can has already been sighted on Craigslist, available for a significantly lower price of $800. Beosal, as of this writing, has no bids.

Even if it only sells for $800, I think we can still call this the most expensive energy drink in the world.

Expensive Train Ride

The Trans-Siberian Railway, stretching across Russia from Moscow to Vladivostok, was originally approved by Czar Alexander II in the late 19th Century. Nowadays, it’s used for 30% of all Russian exports and a trip across the country can be made in as little as seven days. It’s also the route for the most expensive train ride in the world.

The Golden Eagle Trans-Siberian Express was unveiled by Britain’s Prince Michael of Kent in April 2007. The train’s Gold Class cabins are equipped with LCD screens, power showers, underfloor heating and individual air conditioning while chefs in the restaurant cars prepare the finest local cuisine. The Golden Eagle takes wealthy tourists and other travelers almost 6,000 miles in 15 days, with frequent stops for day trips.

The world’s most expensive train ride costs $22,195 for a single room or $15,795 per person for a twin cabin.

Expensive Soap

Among its ingredients, Cor has chitosan to even out skin tone, sericin—a silk extract—to trap moisture and provide UV protection and four types of collagen to help maintain skin structure. Silver, a known antibacterial agent, is what makes Cor the most expensive soap in the world.

On the other hand, it’s questionable (at best) that any of that crap can really help your skin. Chitosan and sericin will rinse right off and collagen is more useful in deeper layers of skin. The silver is, of course, proven, but there are much cheaper antibacterial soaps out there.
Cor retails for $125 for a 120 gram bar.