World’s Most Expensive Beauty Pageant Crown

The Miss Russia Pageant has only been around since 1993 and, since then, it has produced one Miss Universe and two winners of Miss World (one of whom was, unfortunately, later dethroned). Now, however, the pageant has a new claim to fame—the most expensive beauty pageant crown in the world.

The new Miss Russia crown was unveiled at Imperial Park Hotel & SPA, just outside of Moscow, and will be bestowed upon the pageant’s 2010 winner after she is announced on March 8th. Created by the Yuvelirny Teatr jewelry house, the exquisite crown is made of 18k white gold adorned with 2,358 diamonds totaling 62 carats and fourteen pearls, the foremost of which is an enormous 19 mm.

While this crown is claimed to be the most expensive in the world, its exact value remains unrevealed.

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World’s Most Expensive Bathtubs

Nothing says luxury like lazing the hours away in a tub that costs more than a lot of houses. Those looking for such a tub, however, have a few more options than they used to. If you’re not happy with plain porcelain, you can purchase a tub made from fine materials or hi-tech gadgets.

Water Games Technologies’ Red Diamond bathtub – $47,200

Designed by Aldo Puglielli, this bright red tub is big enough for two people. That’s just the beginning of the tub’s laundry list of features, however. It also includes a console framed in gold—42 grams of 18-karat gold, to be exact—and Swarovski crystals. The console controls two waterproof HDTVs that remain hidden when not in use. Among the tub’s other features are a massage function, multicolored lighting, a hand-held shower unit, automatic disinfection and even a Swarovski-coated Champagne holder. At $47,200, however, the Red Diamond bathtub is not for the faint of wallet.

Kallista Archeo Copper Bathtub – $67,557

Made of solid copper, this tub is hand-crafted by the very people who refurbished Lady Liberty’s torch. Over five feet long and two-and-a-half feet wide, the tub is spacious enough to comfortably accommodate just about anyone. The fluted faucet and hand-held shower unit are designed with the same aesthetic quality as the rest of the tub, featuring a finely engraved starfish-on-seashell knob.

Baldi malachite bathtub – $222,000

This boat-shaped tub, designed by Luca Bojola is made from turqoise malachite that is perfectly complemented by its ornate, 24k gold-plated feet.

Baldi Rock Crystal bathtub – $790,310

Also designed by Luca Bojola, the first of these three-person bathtubs was created in 2008 and shown at that year’s Salone de Mobile. TThat tub was carved from a single piece of Amazonian rock crystal measuring over 8 feet in diameter and sold for over $850,000. This second tub was created for Harrods and, as the exteriors of both tubs were left rough, is as unique as the first. Baldi even offers a rock crystal basin to complement the exquisite bathtub.

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Luxury Scarves

Scarves, without doubt, owe their global popularity to their wide variety of uses. A scarf can keep you warm on a cold day or it can be used to wipe the sweat from your face on a hot day. They can be used to keep dust and insects out of your mouth while you’re riding a horse. They may be used to communicate the religion you practice, the university you attend or the sports team you support. Of course, they are also very fashionable.

In 1837, saddlemaker Thierry Hermès founded his company. One hundred years later, Hermès produced their first scarves. Today, Hermès scarves are among the most expensive scarves in the world.

Hermès scarves have been considered traditional heirlooms in France. Their scarves were made from raw Chinese silk spun into a tough fabric and individually screen-printed with designs that sometimes took years to compose. The company still focuses on producing quality, handcrafted goods to this day.

The cheapest of these luxury scarves commands a price of $260. A Hermès dip-dyed giant silk scarf, on the other hand, is priced at $720.

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World’s Most Expensive Spare Tire Cover

Maybe you have the right clothes and the right jeep or SUV, but that plain black spare tire cover just isn’t going to cut it. It doesn’t say enough about you as a person and it certainly didn’t cost enough. No, you need the most expensive spare tire cover in the world.

That’s where celebrated artist Damien Hirst comes in, as his spin painted wheel cover is as costly as it gets. The cover, offered by Other Criteria, is made of stainless steel and high impact plastic, and the painted surface is protected from the sun by UV laminate. Of course, each of these bespoke spare tire covers is made to fit one of the varieties of 4×4 tire used by off-road vehicles.

The Damien Hirst Stainless Steel 4×4 Wheel Cover is priced at £900 (US $1,377).

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World’s Most Expensive Paint

Byzantine emperor Justinian I wearing Tyrian purple.

Modern science has almost eliminated the demand for the most expensive paint in the world. In fact, its main usage in the modern era is to restore the works of antiquity. Still, what artist wouldn’t sell his or her right arm to work with genuine Tyrian purple?

Tyrian purple is produced by the purple dye murex, a kind of sea snail, and a single garment dyed with the pigment required the milking or crushing of twelve thousand snails. As such, it was extraordinarily expensive and wearing a Tyrian purple garment was a sign of incredible wealth. Also called imperial purple, the luxurious dye was used in garments worn by the emperors and kings of classical antiquity, including Alexander the Great, the Ptolemaic kings and the emperors of Rome.

Today, genuine Tyrian purple retains its high price. A mere gram of Tyrian purple may cost in excess of $3,725.

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World’s Most Expensive Movie Posters

A movie poster collection may be anything from an extension of another hobby to a sign of serious passion for film history. One buyer may be willing to pay $10 or $20 for an original “Fellowship of the Ring” one-sheet while another pays $47,000 for one of the few remaining “Grand Hotel” posters. With the latter type of collector in mind, we turn to the most expensive movie posters in the world.

“Metropolis” – $690,000

A private collector acquired this expensive movie poster at auction from the Austrian National Library in Vienna in 2005. Only three other copies of the poster are known to have survived to the current day—one in the Museum of Modern Art in New York, another in a private collection and a second copy in the Austrian National Library. The expensive poster was created to promote Fritz Lang’s 1927 science fiction masterpiece, “Metropolis.”

The German film, set in the year 2026, dealt with the schism between two societal castes in the film’s titular city—the wealthy thinkers and planners, and the underground working class. The film cost roughly $14 million to make, adjusted for inflation, and was the most expensive silent movie at the time of its release. Sadly, much of the original footage has been lost and it cannot be viewed in its intended form.

“The Bride of Frankenstein” – estimated at $700,000

Heritage Auctions expects to sell this teaser one-sheet, the only surviving poster of its kind, at their Beverly Hills Signature Movie Poster Auction in November, 2010. The poster comes from the Collection of Todd Feiertag, likely the largest collection of vintage horror movie posters of all time.

“The Bride of Frankenstein” is the sequel to the original 1931 “Frankenstein,” starring Boris Karloff as Frankenstein’s monster. In the film, the monster coerces his humbled creator into creating another monster to serve as his mate. The film cost just under $400,000 to produce, or around $6 million in today’s currency.

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World’s Most Expensive Vases

Some of the earliest pottery has been discovered in China, dating back to 9000 BC, and ceramic goods from the region can be traced back to the dynasties under which they were created. In fact, the first porcelain is believed to have been created under the Han dynasty from 202 BC to 220 AD. As China’s history is rich with beautiful ceramic art, it’s no surprise that the most expensive vases in the world are Chinese.

Ming dynasty vase – over US $10 million

The Ming dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644. That era in Chinese history saw the creation of a startling amount of carved lacquerwares, glazed porcelain wares, embroidered silks and works of art in a variety of other materials. The Empire of the Great Ming also produced a great number of forgeries designed to part unsuspecting purchasers from their wealth. This was such a problem, in fact, that guides were printed to help detect such forgery. We can be sure, then, that this vase is quite authentic.

Hailing from the time of Hongwu, the founder of the Ming dynasty, the expensive vase was most recently purchased at auction by Steve Wynn. The Las Vegas casino owner and insatiable art collector is often criticized by the art community for paying high prices for second-rate pieces, but this purchase is certainly an exception. The 14th century vase is decorated in copper red scrolling flowers and is, well preserved as it is, quite rare.

Mr. Wynn purchased the expensive vase at the Christie’s Imperial Sale in Hong Kong for 78,520,000 Hong Kong dollars. Rather than keep it locked away in his private collection, however, he returned the vase to China by donating it to a Macau museum.

Qianlong vase – over US $80 million

The Qing dynasty succeeded the Ming dynasty and ruled China until 1911. The Qianlong Emperor became the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty in 1736 and, during his time in power, imperial supervisor Tang Ying authored an illustrated memoir called “Twenty Illustrations of the Manufacture of Porcelain.”

This 18th-century porcelain vase was inherited by a mother and son who, if reports are to be believed, have gone into hiding due to the £12 million in taxes they will be expected to pay after the vase, only expected to sell for £1.2 million, reached an amazing £53 million at auction.

The buyer was a wealthy Chinese industrialist and collector of antiquities.

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World’s Most Expensive Coat Hangers

For the fashionista whose designer coats are made drab by pedestrian hangers, there is a solution. The most expensive hangers in the world aren’t just pricey—they’re made specifically for those who are tuned in to the world of fashion.

These Cityscape Coat Hangers, designed by Christopher Jarratt, are made from high quality birch plywood and feature a water-based finish to make sure they last. While the range of designs has expanded since the line was introduced in 2004, the original Cityscape hangers depicted five of the world’s top fashion and design meccas—London, New York, Paris, Tokyo and Milan.

These luxury coat hangers are priced at $460.

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World’s Most Expensive Christmas Trees

Nothing says “Merry Christmas!” like a Christmas tree. Every few years, it seems, the world’s most expensive Christmas tree is outdecked, outjingled and outpriced by the most expensive Christmas tree in the world.

Soo Kee Jewellery Diamond Christmas Tree, 2007
US $1,005,000

Bugis Junction, a shopping mall in Singapore, may just have had the merriest Christmas in the world in 2007.

Soo Kee Jewellery produced the expensive tree, decking it with 21,798 diamonds (913 carats total), 3,762 crystal beads and 456 lights. The tree is nearly 20 feet tall and weighs in at over 7,000 pounds. Just remember that Christmas isn’t about how much money you can afford to spend decking the halls and giving gifts. That’s what they’ve been telling me, anyway.

Ginza Tanaka 24k gold Christmas Tree, 2008
US $1.6 million

This golden tree is adorned with 240 jewels—diamonds and strings of pearls included—and weighs in at 46 pounds total. That’s a far cry from Soo Kee Jewellery’s 7,000-pound, 20-foot Christmas tree. The gold tree was on display at the Ginza Tanaka jewelry shop in Shinsaibashi, Osaka throughout the 2008 holiday season.

Emirates Palace Christmas Tree, 2010
US $11.4 million

In 2010, the merriest Christmas goes to patrons of the Emirates Palace hotel in Abu Dhabi, as their extravagant tree has smashed the previous record. While decked with over $11 million in jewelry from Style Gallery, the tree itself is merely a 13-foot faux evergreen. The jewels include 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones. This is certainly a fitting decoration for one of the most expensive hotels in the world.

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World’s Most Expensive Sunglasses

A pair of designer sunglasses can easily become one of the most expensive accessories in your wardrobe. With sunglasses priced in the thousands and even hundreds of thousands, there’s evidence aplenty that a good designer will never lack for work.

Louis Vuitton Evasion – $1,200

The omnipresent LV rears its fashionable head again. In this case, their Damier motif is feature on the wide temples of these titanium frames. The sunglasses come with a Damier graphite case.

Chrome Hearts Kufannaw I – $1,350

Chrome Hearts are known for their stylish sunglasses featuring fleur-de-lis, dagger and floral cross designs. The rims are made of titanium decorated with sterling silver and the temples are made from exotic wood.

Moss Lipow sunglasses – up to $3,800

A pair of Moss Lipow sunglasses

New York artist Moss Lipow may not have been trained in the design of eyewear, but that hasn’t stopped him from producing a variety of uniquely eccentric sunglasses. One of those designs, framed in ostrich and alligator leather and priced at $3,800, has become one of the most expensive pairs of sunglasses in the world. Lipow, a former student of NYU’s film school, has a broad visual arts background and can reasonably claim to have the largest collection of vintage 20th century eyewear in the world; his collection includes over 3,000 different frames. For the most part, his inspiration comes from early rock n’ rollers and that preference can easily be seen in his favorite piece from his collection—a pair of Buddy Holly style frames from the 50s that he used to wear regularly.

Luxuriator Style 23 – $65,000

Buffalo ivory temples and 132 diamonds set in 18k gold frames set this pair of luxury sunglasses apart. The fact that one of those diamonds weighs in at 2 carats and accents the right lens only adds to the appeal of these designer sungasses.

Dolce & Gabanna DG2027B – $383,609

Completely blowing those pricey frames out of the water, Dolce and Gabanna recently released a pair of sunglasses whose price easily overshadowed that of Lipow’s $3,800 shades. The brown-tinted shades are framed in gold and appear to have the brand’s logo written on the arms—in diamonds.

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World’s Most Expensive Written Manuscript

Giacomo Casanova, the world’s greatest lover, may have been Venetian, but it was the French government who, in early 2010, paid top dollar for the licentious libertine’s manuscript.

Casanova wrote of his adventures from 1789 to his death in 1798, during which time he was employed as the librarian to Count Waldstein in the Castle of Dux, Bohemia. The manuscript, “Histoire de mi vie” or “History of my Life,” allegedly details his conquest over more than 100 women—at least one of which was a nun—and several men. Unfortunately, the general public has only seen censored and otherwise altered versions of the account.

The 3,700 manuscript was acquired by the Brockhaus family in 1820 and survived the bombing of Leipzig in World War II. It was smuggled out of Germany on a US military truck in 1945 and published fifteen years later.

The French National Library purchased the cultural artifact for a cool €7 million—over US $9.4 million—making it the most expensive written manuscript in the world.

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World’s Most Expensive Wallpaper

What kind of artist works with a hunting knife? Ask Mark Evans, the pioneer whose work has been called “leather sculpting.” That work will soon adorn the walls of one Russian billionaire’s mansion as the most expensive wallpaper in the world.

Evans works by etching the leather down to the suede with a number of bladed tools of different sizes, from a large hunting knife to several sculpting knives. The results are photorealistic depictions of animals, the crucifixion and even the celebrated “Fight of the Year” between Doug Jones and Muhammed Ali.

Evans’ leather etchings will cover the walls of two rooms in a mansion in Moscow. The unnamed billionaire’s wallpaper will cost $2.71 million, or around $23,675 per square meter.

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World’s Most Expensive Tattoo

Tattoos have had a number of uses throughout human history. A tattoo may be spiritual in nature or simply aesthetic; it may even mark the bearer as part of a particular gang. The most expensive tattoo in the world, however, may be the first to display the bearer’s wealth so well.

The tattoo worn by South African model and Shimansky brand ambassador Minki van der Westhuizen wasn’t a tattoo in the traditional sense, as no ink was involved in its creation. Why nitpick, though, about someone who spent 8 hours having 612 Shimansky Ideal Cut .5 carat diamonds attached to her skin? Shimansky used a water based adhesive to affix the diamonds to the model, but only temporarily. Eventually, the formula had to be dissolved off Westhuizen’s skin.

The world’s most expensive tattoo is valued at 7.2 million South African rands, or around 924,000 US dollars, and the luxury jeweler has considered making similar tattoos available at any of their eight South African or four international locations.

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World’s Most Expensive T-Shirts

T-shirts, so called due to their ‘T’ shape, were originally considered undergarments. Nowadays, of course, these ubiquitous shirts are commonly used to express the wearer’s taste in art or music, their political views or their fondness for bad jokes. While T-shirts are usually relatively cheap, sometimes they become collector’s items and enter the ranks of the most expensive T-shirts in the world.

(Via Vintage Vantage

Run-D.M.C. “My Adidas” T-shirt – up to $13,000

This T-shirt was produced as a promotional item for a Run-D.M.C. concert in the early 80s. Because of the rarity of 80s hip hop tees, especially Run-D.M.C. shirts, and the group’s legendary partnership with Adidas, this shirt has become something of a collector’s item. The back of the shirt features a joint Adidas/Run-D.M.C. “My Adidas” logo.

John Lennon “Home” T-shirt – $16,400

(Replica sold by 8ball.co.uk.)

This shirt was originally given to Lennon by Richard Ross, owner of the now-defunct Home restaurant, frequented by Lennon and Yoko Ono, in New York’s Upper East Side. He wore it for several shows and it became such an iconic part of his image that reproductions are available to this day, despite the restaurant’s closure.

Hanes/UNICEF 1996 Olympics T-shirt – $42,000

In the days leading up to the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia, Hanes and UNICEF partnered up to raise funds for Olympic Aid-Atlanta, an organization dedicated to helping children in war torn countries, by auctioning T-shirts. The daily auctions raised nearly $1 million for the charitably organization and the highest bid came on the final day of the auctions.

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