The World's Most Expensive Stuff 2010!

For the world's wealthiest, money is no object when extraordinary things enter the market—even during a global recession. Items may be deemed "priceless" for their cachet, beauty, rarity, or historic significance. Extremely well-to-do consumers have paid $3 million for a gold iPhone, but more unbelievable sums have been offered for elite luxury goods. To identify some of the biggest sales ever made, Bloomberg Businessweek combed through years of news reports and blogs and spoke with high-end retailers and auction houses. We looked at objects ranging from automobiles and boats to jewelry and electronics. The biggest price tag is for the Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's new megayacht, the Eclipse, which is expected to cost as much as $1.2 billion. While average consumers cut spending during the recession, the market for diamond-studded accessories and high-end art has been surprisingly resilient. The economy has not deterred aficionados with the means to spend, says Bo Bengtsson, president of Transmission Audio, a company in Sweden that recently introduced a $2 million speaker set. "I've been getting calls from very rich people who are also huge music lovers," he says.


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."

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 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 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 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 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 £1.5 million 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.

Most Expensive House



Antilla
Price: $1 billion

According to a February report by 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.

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 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 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.


Souce: the-worlds-most-expensive-stuff-2010: Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance

Shameful...except for the Mercedes and Dodge. :eusa_doh:

Give me the benz and the 747..rest does not interest me

Oh come now bum-man! I'm sure you wouldn't mind that Diamond iPhone..Lol

I don't have AT&T.

Speechless.

Lol...Well how about this...



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.


At least it's only $600,000.

The TV and the phone. :t-banghea

What an uber ridiculous list,only the Benz and the jet for me too.

I wouldn't mind the Yacht.

I'll take the iPhone, Mercedes, Tomahawk, house, and jet.

For one second I though this was a thread made by Rob.

The car and the Bike for me. The rest is a waste of money. LOL, but then again, this is a car forum afterall.

Nothing for me. I'll take mony in sted.

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.

I will take the car, boat, plane, house, wine, and diamonds to keep any girl happy.

I'll take everything why not?

I'd second that. Couldn't agree more!

Would like a Airbus A380 or A340-500/600 instead!! Or a smaller one - can use shorter runways and isn't that bad too:

http://www.airbus.com/fileadmin/backstage/files/cabin_showroom/360_degrees_views/ACJ.htm

Nevertheless wouldn't mind to get such a big jet. Love the Merc!! Absolutely stunning and beautiful car. Bit sceptical about the other stuff - don't play golf, and that Hotel room doesn't look really special to me as well.

God the phone and the tv are ugly :t-banghea Was also surprised that the most expensive hotelroom was in Geneva, would thought that it would have been somewhere in the states or UAE, the picture of it wasn't too special, except for the B&O telly that is. The Merc is the only thing what I want badly from this list, of course wouldn't mind if they would be donated to me.