~ MOST EXPENSIVE THINGS IN THE WORLD ~

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.”

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.

[MysteRy]

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.