The holiday shopping season is here already. The intensity of the shopping started earlier than usual this year with Hanukkah beginning Wednesday night before Thanksgiving.
The drumbeat of hype around Cyber Monday and Black Friday, or maybe its Black Thursday now, began weeks ago. Thought of what to buy this aunt, that brother or mom and dad are enough to drive anyone crazy.
But try being so wealthy that money is no object when it comes to gifts. What would you buy then?
Would an iPhone for cousin Clara be good enough? Or would she expect it to be covered in jewels or even gold.
Even the dog or cat in your life would expect something more extravagant than a rawhide bone or a new blanket.
There’s no need to worry, though. Merchants and designers have you covered with offerings from designer ice to, well, intimate hygiene products.
Whether you have money to burn or are simply curious about how the superwealthy spend their loot, we bet you’ll enjoy window shopping for the Top 10 Most Ridiculous Luxury Items. ThinkAdvisor’s pick for the silliest is No. 1 on the list:
10. Yo Ho Ho
Yachts have long been a favored toy of the superwealthy, but why be miserly when you could own the most expensive yacht in the world? The History Supreme comes with a price tag of $4.5 billion—yes, billion. If that sounds a tad high, remember the outside of this 98-foot boat is covered in more than 220,000 pounds of platinum and gold. Designed by jeweler Stuart Hughes, the favorite bejeweler of the rich and famous, the inside comes with a liquor bottle adorned with an 18-carat diamond, a statue made from the bone of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and various pieces of meteorites. An unnamed Malaysian businessman bought the yacht; we wonder how much his insurance costs.
9. Vroooooom Vroooooom
You can’t head to the polo club or the marina in just any old vehicle. Why not spring for the Lamborghini Veneno Roadster. The special edition car, of which only nine are being built, was created just for the automaker’s 50th anniversary. It tops out at a cool 221 mph and costs $5.3 million. Since time is money, the superwealthy can waste a lot less time getting from here to there.
8. What a Jolt!
Those looking for a jolt to start their day, or perhaps opening their own cafe, might not have to even plug in their Kees van der Westen designed espresso machine. That’s because the cost, $20,000 for the top model, should set the pulse racing. To be fair, the brew is supposed to be good to the last drop.
7. Talk Is Definitely Not Cheap
Anyone can customize an iPhone with a colorful case. But just how many can afford to have their 5s model covered in gold, diamonds and even sapphires? Very few, if the $16 million price tag is any guide. Jeweler Stuart Hughes evidently couldn’t resist adorning the smartphone. If that seems too much, Gold Genies offer a similar luxury iPhone for just $78,000. They even allow you to have the gold and jewels moved when you upgrade your phone.
6. Expensive Pet Items
Many pet owners will do anything for their pets. Sometimes, as in dressing them in costumes or treating them like children, their expressions of love can appear odd to others. So is it any surprise that merchants have taken heed by stocking pet products for the superwealthy? From a Versace Barocco pet bowl for $754 to a Louis XV pet pavilion and a doghouse complete with spa and plasma and TV priced at $410,825, the possibilities seem endless and expensive. We won’t even mention the $3.2 million diamond-encrusted dog collar designed by a jeweler in Los Angeles, well, actually we will—it's pictured above.
5. But Can It Make ‘The Bachelor’ a Better TV Show?
There are a lot of expensive TVs out there and a few years ago Panasonic even offered one encrusted with 160 diamonds for $140,000. That’s a lot of cash for 46 inches of screen real estate. Still no one could top, once again, Stuart Hughes who offers a TV for $2.25 million, called the PrestigeHD Supreme Rose Edition. The 55-inch set has a base and shell made of 18 carat rose gold and the outer frame features 72 diamonds. If that doesn’t sound like enough for your millions, the frame of gold and diamonds surrounds an inner frame made from hand-sewn alligator skin.
4. This Is Not a Big Fish Tale
This lure by MacDaddy is not just something you'd buy for that fishing afficianado friend who watches Bassmaster on ESPN, no, this lure is actually for big game fishing. At just over 12 inches long, it has over 3 pounds of gold and platinum, and is encrusted with 100 carats of diamonds and rubies, and costs more than $1 million. Now, if it only had a way to catch a million-dollar fish...
3. Bon Apetit
The race to make the most expensive hamburger in the world reached absurd heights in 2012 when New York City’s 666 Burger food truck introduced a patty with a $666 price tag. Named the Douche Burger (that alone may stop you from buying it), the burger was created as a joke. Still, at least one has sold. What makes it worth a devil’s price? It’s a Kobe beef patty stuffed with foie gras, covered in gold leaf and smothered in Gruyere cheese melted with Champagne steam. Toppings include lobster, truffles, caviar, and a BBQ sauce made with Kopi Luwak coffee beans run through the intestinal tract of the Asian Palm civet. Yum!
2. Taste the Chill
If you’re going to drink expense liquor, you don’t want to use ice made from plain old tap water, do you? Of course not. Thankfully, Glace Luxury Ice Co. has you covered. Billing itself as the “world’s premium drink-ice brand,” the company guarantees the ice has no impurities or taste. At $40 for five pieces at least they deliver.
Look at the next slide to see our choice for the silliest, overpriced everyday product …
1. Personal Hygiene Is Important, but...
Every woman needs feminine hygiene products, but only someone with way too much money, or a man in her life with seriously strange ideas of gift giving, would pay $1,000 for tampons. The holder and applicator shaped like a lipstick case were designed by artist Andrew Mettler (we guess Stuart Hughes drew the line here).
-- Check out more Top 10 lists at ThinkAdvisor:
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