THE WITTELSBACH DIAMOND

$24.3 million

"In the midst of these challenging times, we were thrilled to achieve an historic price for an historic diamond. At $24.3 million, the 35.56ct Wittelsbach blue diamond, dating to the 17th Century, has become the most expensive diamond sold at auction, topping the previous record of $16.5 million for a 100ct diamond in 1995 in Geneva. It was purchased by the leading international jeweler Laurence Graff, bidding against Aleks Paul of Essex Global Trading, a professional of Russian origin based in New York.” said François Curiel, Chairman of Christie's Europe and International Head of Jewelry.

The Wittelsbach diamond is accompanied by a certificate from the Gemological Institute of America dated September 24th, 2008, indicating that the diamond is fancy deep grayish-blue, VS2 clarity.

Origin of the name

This rare blue diamond of Indian origin that has a recorded history dating back to the late 17th century, eventually came into the possession of the Wittelsbach family in 1722, the German noble family that provided rulers of Bavaria and of the Rhenish Palatinate until the 20th century. Bavaria was ruled for over 700 years by Dukes of the Wittelsbach family, from 1180 to 1918. The name Wittelsbach was taken from the Castle of Wittelsbach, which became the official residence of the Dukes of Bavaria. The diamond gets its name from the Wittelsbach family, in whose possession it remained as a family diamond until the abdication of the last king in 1918.

The Wittelsbach is a 35.56-carat, cushion-cut, dark blue diamond of fancy deep grayish-blue color and VS2 clarity. The diamond is also said to be pure apart from a few surface scratches. There are 82 facets on the diamond. The main facets on the crown are vertically split and the pavilion has 16 needle like facets arranged in pairs and radiating from the culet.

The Wittelsbach is the 3rd largest of the known famous blue diamonds in the world.

It is interesting to note that the first four largest blue diamonds are all historic diamonds of Indian origin, the original source of blue diamonds in the world. The remaining diamonds are all of South African origin.

The main source of blue diamonds in India, was the famous Kollur mines near Golconda, in Andhra Pradesh, in Southern India. The main source of blue diamonds in South Africa, is the De Beers Premier mines, in Transvaal, South Africa.

Another fact is the restricted size of blue diamonds. All the diamonds are below 50 carats in weight. In comparison yellow diamonds and colorless diamonds which are more predominant in nature have much larger carat weights. The 1st, 2nd, and 3rd largest colorless diamonds in the world the Cullinan I, Cullinan II, and the Centenary, have weights of 530.20 carats, 317.40 carats and 273.85 carats respectively. Likewise, the 1st, 2nd and 3rd largest yellow diamonds in the world, the Incomparable, the De Beers, and the Red Cross diamonds have weights of 407.48 carats, 234.65 carats, and 205.07 carats respectively. Thus it appears that in blue diamonds the rarity of the color is combined with the restricted size of the diamonds.

Being a blue diamond the Wittelsbach is a rare Type IIb diamond, which constitute only 0.1 % of all naturally occurring diamonds. Blue diamonds are Type II because they are nitrogen-free or contain undetectable quantities of nitrogen. They are Type IIb, because instead of nitrogen they contain trace quantities of another impurity boron, which imparts the blue color to the diamonds. Another feature of blue diamonds is, that unlike other diamonds which are non-conductors of electricity, blue diamonds are semi-conductors.

Novo Yellow Diamond Ring

$1.35 million

Of all the pieces one might find inside that famous blue box, this 25.27-carat novo yellow diamond ring set in platinum and yellow gold is priciest. Its beauty and its cost make soon-to-be-engaged girls swoon, and their beaus shudder. Can’t make it to the New York City location? Tiffany’s efficient online catalog makes ordering from home easy.

Emerald Cocktail Ring

$2.14 million

Luxury watch and jewelry manufacturer Chopard’s collection includes many high-priced pieces. But this bold cocktail ring–with half-moon diamond shoulders holding up a 33.02-carat solitaire emerald on a pave-set diamond and platinum band–outshines its rivals.

Regal Pear Shape Diamond Pendant

$2.5 million

Showstopper or credit-limit topper? Either way, Tiffany’s Majestic Diamond Necklace will be center stagShowstopper or credit-limit topper? Either way, Tiffany’s Majestic Diamond Necklace will be center stage wherever it’s displayed. With a fluid design that lies softly on the neck–and really, what other way is there?–this glittering choker evokes breathtaking glamour, with a 41.4-carat, pear-shaped diamond accompanied by a multitude of round and pear-shaped diamonds. Each stone is top-of-the-crust in color and clarity, of course, as is the pretty blue box it comes in

Magnificent Diamond and Emerald Necklace

$3 million-plus


A virtual cascade of white and green, this Magnificent Diamond and Emerald Necklace from Chopard’s “Haute Joaillerie” collection will keep all eyes on your sweetheart, whatever the occasion. There are 191-carats worth of Columbia’s most beautiful emeralds on there, completely set by 16 carats of rose-cut and drop-shaped diamonds. Though officially “price upon request,” you should figure on spending $3 million-plus.

Diamond Drop Earring by Harry Winston

$8.5 Million Earrings


Harry Winston is the ‘jeweler to the stars’ and you can find him, where else, at the House of Winston at 371 N. Rodeo Drive, Beverly Hills, California. Every year Harry Winston lends out hundreds of millions of dollars worth of jewelry to the stars so they can look good at the Oscars. For 2006 the House of Winston created a pair of ‘Extraordinary Diamond Drop Earrings’ consisting of two pear-shaped diamonds in a platinum setting totaling 60.1 carats of wallet emptying glitter. If you’re interested in buying the world’s most expensive earrings be prepared to shell out a cool $8.5 million USD

Heart of the Kingdom Ruby

$14 million


This 40.63-carat, heart-shaped Burma ruby, mounted on a 155-carat diamond necklace, claims top spot in the British jeweler’s collection. Got a débutante in your family? The diamond necklace can be transformed into a tiara. The stone is accompanied by two independent Swiss laboratory reports that verify its rarity.

Chopard Blue Diamond Ring

$16.26 million

Blue diamonds are among the rarest of naturally colored gems. That’s why this oval-shaped diamond ring, with triangular-shaped diamond shoulders and a pave-set diamond band in 18-carat white gold, will set you back about $1.7 million per carat. A pricey and unique alternative to the typical engagement

Diamond of Hope

$180,000

Cartier wanted a lot of money,” says Washington Post Columnist Sarah Booth Conroy, “and Evalyn was hesitant. So Cartier added, ‘Well, we’ve fixed it up now with a wonderful setting and you’ll like it.

Why don’t you keep it for a few days?’ And so she put it on her dresser and she looked at it and she looked at it…” “For hours that jewel stared at me,” remembers Evalyn in her autobiography, “and at some time during the night I began to really want the thing. Then I put the chain around my neck and hooked my life to its destiny for good or evil.”
The deal closes at $180,000; Cartier’s elaborate sales pitch has worked. The Hope diamond is the largest and most perfect blue diamond in existence, but for the young and impetuous heiress, its fascinating past is the hot selling point. “Besides that,” says Conroy, “she thought things that were unlucky for everybody else would be lucky for her, because she was an exception

The Blue Diamond

$7.98 million

It is the ultimate diamond in the rough. And if you have to ask how much it costs, you can’t afford it. A rare
and flawless blue diamond has set a record as the most expensive precious jewel of its kind ever sold. The gem, which is 6.04 carats and sparkles with an unusual blue hue, is almost as breathtaking as the
price it fetched at a Sotheby’s auction in Hong Kong.

Expensive Diamond Necklaces

$5 million


Diamonds are not only the girl’s best friend. They are also an economical man’s worst enemy! It is no secret that diamonds and diamond necklaces as well as diamond jewelry are costly. The ordinary you and I might wish to have a necklace with small, cheap diamonds just to tell others we have diamond necklaces as well, but well, otherwise, the more exotic diamond necklaces with large stones or many stones are simply not for average folks.

How about a diamond necklace that has a pear shaped diamond, about 75 carats? The necklace looks simply stunning with the diamond in it, and it costs only about US $5 million. There is also a diamond ring that is quite cheap - about $1 million. A beautiful diamond necklace, by Stefano Canturi, costs only about &750,000 - $1 million.

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 Cigars

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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.

Expensive Tires

A British transportation museum may have just purchased the world’s most expensive tires.

The Lincolnshire Road Transport Museum’s premier exhibit, a 1929 Leyland Lion bus, required new tires to make it roadworthy for the museum’s 50th anniversary. In order to replace the old and significantly cracked tires, the museum was eventually forced to order specialty tiles from America.

The Leyland Lion is the only surviving example of its model, the other three having been scrapped after serving as transport during World War II. This particular bus was used as a snowplow until it became the museum’s first acquisition around 1954.

The most expensive tires in the world cost the museum over $800 each. In comparison, normal bus tires cost around $250.

Expensive Trash Can

The world’s most expensive garbage cans are the work of contemporary pop artist Sylvie Fleury.

Created in a limited edition of twenty-five pieces, these garbage cans are made of steel pressed with gold leaf. Each one is stamped with “SF 2003” and its individual number on the underside. Number 25 was made available at Phillips de Pury & Company’s Contemporary Art Sale in New York on May 15th 2009.

Fleury’s other works include various “MINISKIRTS ARE BACK” paintings and an installation featuring a pyramid of Slim-Fast boxes.
The most expensive trash cans in the world are valued at $10,000-15,000.

Expensive Shampoo

We’ve already told you about the world’s most expensive soap, but that isn’t going to do anything for your hair. After all, why pay top dollar for soap and leave your hair at the mercy of an inferior product? Enter Alterna Ten, the world’s most expensive shampoo.

Alterna Ten contains exotic ingredients including African cacao extract, caviar age-control complex, photozyme complex with “color hold,” white truffle oil, Champagne grape seed oil, Bulgarian Evening Primrose and Arabian Frankincense. The shampoo is inspired by enzyme therapy, a process that uses enzyme supplements to treat conditions from digestive problems to cancer.

The world’s most expensive shampoo retails for around $60 for an 8.5 oz bottle. A shampoo and conditioner set may be priced over $400.

Expensive Lighter

French luxury firm S. T. Dupont—no relation to the chemical company—has been dealing in extravagance since 1872, when it was founded by Simon Tissot Dupont. Recently, for instance, they created a line of accessories inspired by the 2006 James Bond film, Casino Royale. This year, they’ve produced the world’s most expensive lighter.

Part of the company’s Prestige Collection, the Ligne 2 lighter comes in four distinct varieties. While the solid gold, white gold and the “Rose” pink gold and diamond lighters are all exquisite in their own ways, the Ligne 2 Champagne is truly exceptional. Made of 18-karat white gold and decorated with 462 diamonds (5.2 carats) of GVS quality, the Ligne 2 Champagne positively glitters with excess.

The most expensive lighter in the world can be had for $79,000. Its companion piece, a pen with another 502 diamonds, commands a mere $74,000 price tag.

Expensive Cheese

Cheese is likely the most popular dairy product in the world, a food that predates written history. In 2004 alone, over 18 million metric tons of cheese were produced worldwide. The world’s most expensive cheese, however, is only produced at one farm and at a very specific time of year.

Unusually, the cheese isn’t made from cow’s milk—the milk comes from moose! Moose House, a 59-acre moose farm located in northern Sweden, is where the cheese is produced from three foundling moose named Gullan, Haelga, and Juna.

The moose are unusually tame, which is the only reason Moose House owners Christopher and Ulla Johannson can collect milk for the cheese. Even then, they can only be milked between May and September and the process takes about 2 hours per animal, hence the outstanding price of the cheese.

The most expensive cheese in the world is 12% fat and 12% protein and about 660 lbs are produced annually. The Johannsons sell it to high end Swedish hotels and restaurants for about $500 per pound.

Expensive Potato

It’s not just the world’s most expensive potato; it’s one of the world’s five most expensive foods. It’s called La Bonnotte and it grows only on the French Isle of Noirmoutier.

The costly tuber owes its price to the fact that it must be harvested by hand and that its growing season lasts a mere ten days—from May 1st to May 10th. La Bonnotte is so fragile, in fact, that it would’ve gone extinct between World Wars I and II if not for a group of devotees to the pricey potato.

The potato’s flavor is said to be both earthy and salty, owing its complexities at least partially to the presence of algae and seaweed in the soil.

La Bonnotte can be purchased from ritzy restaurants in France and the Netherlands until around May 15th. While normally sold for around €70 per kilo (US $45 per pound), the potato has been sold for up to €500 per kilo (US $322 per pound).