There are some things in life that money just can’t buy.
The most obvious of which are happiness, love, longevity, and, to some extent, health.
But there are a shit-ton of fabulous things money can buy, and today we are going to see
what some of those things are, in this episode of the Infographics Show, Most Expensive Things
in The World.
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We can’t put a price tag on some things that haven’t been sold yet or can’t be
sold, but we can look at estimated values and similar things that have been sold in
the same milieu.
Let’s take the art world for instance, where certain objects can get a little pricey.
The most expensive painting ever sold was (Go-gan’s) Gauguin's 1892 picture of two
Tahitian girls called ‘Nafea Faa Ipoipo’ (or When Will You Marry?).
It doesn’t look like much to the untrained eye, but it went to a private Qatari collector
for around $210 million in 2015.
The Guinness Book of Records puts Leonardo de Vinci’s Mona Lisa as the most valuable
painting in the world, with an estimated price tag of $790 million in 2016.
The most expensive antique ever sold that could sit under your Gaugin was a Pinner Qing
Dynasty Vase, which was sold at a UK auction for $80.2 million in 2010.
You’ll need a good-looking house for your precious decorations.
In 2017 it was reported that the USA’s most expensive abode was a 380,000 square foot
mansion known as the Bel Air Spec Manor, located in Los Angeles.
It was listed as being worth $250 million.
That’s not much on a global scale.
An Indian businessman called Mukesh Ambani owns a rather strange looking multi-level
property in Mumbai called Antilia.
It’s thought his house, that has a staff of 600, is worth a cool billion or more.
According to reports, some of the Indian public are proud of such ostentatious wealth in the
country, while others have said it’s a disgrace in a country with so much poverty.
Only one house is thought to be worth more, and that’s England’s 775-room home of
the royals, Buckingham Palace, which is valued at around 2.9 billion dollars.
The royals themselves own some decent stuff as you can imagine, with the Crown Jewels
thought to be worth 4 to 6 billion dollars.
It’s thought the Cullinan I Diamond, known as the the Great Star of Africa, is worth
about 400 million dollars alone.
It sits at the top of a scepter.
The Brits keep everything a little secret, so the crown Jewels may contain more goodies
than we know.
59.6 Nonetheless, they are not up for sale and it’s not known who could sell them anyway.
There is only one other diamond that comes close in value, and that’s the Hope Diamond
that is currently located in the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History in Washington, DC.
It’s thought to be worth between 250 to 350 million dollars.
These are not for sale, but you can get yourself an expensive diamond.
According to Fortune magazine, the most expensive gem ever sold went at an auction in Hong Kong
in 2017.
That was a 59.6 carat pink diamond that sold for $71 million to a local jewelry dealer
called Chow Tai Fook.
That’s one expensive fooken diamond!
If you’ve got that kind of cash, you could probably buy a good piece of furniture to
store all your valuables.
The most expensive piece ever built, perhaps amusingly made to keep shoes, sports equipment
and tools, is the famous 18th-century Florentine Badminton Chest.
It was sold for 36.7 million dollars in 2004.
If you are more prone to educating yourself than to merely showing things off, you might
also throw a few books in your new cabinet.
According to experts, some of the oldest books and manuscripts in the world are priceless
and could never be sold, such as the beautiful Book of Kells written by Celtic monks in 800
AD or the 2500-plus year old Pyrgi Gold Tablets.
You could, however, get your hands on the Book of Mormon manuscript, sold this year
for 35 million dollars.
You could also get yourself an original copy of the Magna Carta for around 22 million dollars,
or perhaps Leonard de Vinci’s scientific journal, Codex Leicester, thought to be worth
almost 50 million dollars.
But staying home can get boring, so let’s see how much going out can possibly cost you.
You could just spend your money on regular upmarket clothing labels, but we may as well
push the boat out given that we just chilled out with de Vinci’s scribbles.
According to Time magazine, one of the most expensive items of clothing ever sold is Marilyn
Monroe’s dress that she wore when she sang happy birthday to President John F. Kennedy.
It was sold for $1,267,500.
It was later beaten by the dress she wore in the film, Seven Year Itch, which went for
$4.6 million in 2011.
To go with the dress, why not wear a pair of ruby slippers modeled on those worn by
Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz.
Designed by Harry Winston and sprinkled with 4600 gemstones, they went for a cool $3 million
and are the world’s most expensive shoes.
The original pair from the movie was auctioned for $2 million, but just one shoe sold for
$612,000.
If you men are feeling left out here, you may have to drive, as long dresses and slippers
are not conducive to getting behind the wheel.
According to Forbes in 2017 the world’s most expensive car is the 2.7 million dollar
Bugatti Chiron.
Bugatti called it, “the world’s most powerful, fastest, most luxurious and most exclusive
production sports car.”
It can reach 62 mph (100 kmh) in 2.5 seconds and has a top speed of 260 mph.
It isn’t, however, as much as someone paid for a vintage Ferrari 250 GTO built in 1963.
It went for $38.1 million to a collector in 2013 and is the most expensive car ever sold.
You may as well eat at the world’s most expensive restaurant, which according to numerous
sources is the SubliMotion, located in Ibiza.
A meal for two there should be about $4,400.
You could wash that down with a bottle of wine called Château Margaux 2009, which was
priced at $16,250 per bottle.
It only comes in a case of 12 for $195,000.
The Dubai airport shop offering the wine said it was the most expensive wine ever to be
retailed, but buyers also got a first-class trip to France thrown in with the deal.
More expensive wines have sold at auction, such as a $275,000 bottle of Shipwrecked 1907
Heidsieck champagne.
If you don’t like wine, you could see about buying The Macallan M Imperiale bottle of
Scotch, which was sold in 2015 for $628,000.
When you are too drunk to stay out, head over to Geneva, Switzerland, and stay in the world’s
most expensive hotel room.
A night in the Royal Penthouse Suite, Hotel President Wilson, will cost you $80,000.
If you soon get tired of all the social stuff, you may as well just take off and buy your
own private island.
One website, Private Islands Online, puts their most expensive listing as Rangyai Island,
Thailand, which is currently going for $160 million.
Forbes reported that Oracle founder Larry Ellison’s $500 Million Hawaiian Island called
Lanai is the most expensive ever sold.
You could take the world’s most expensive private Yacht there, the UK-built ‘History
Supreme’, which was sold to a Malaysian businessman for 4.5 billion dollars.
It’s not only a feat of engineering, but also contains precious metals and stones,
as well as statues made from dinosaur bones.
It’s actually tiny compared to the $1.1 billion ‘Streets of Monaco’, which is
described as a floating island.
You could of course just fly.
Most rich people are ok with a small private jet, but some very wealthy people make a passenger
jet their private flying home.
One such person is Saudi prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
He spent about $500 million on his customized Airbus A380.
According to website Luxatic, it contains a “concert hall, a Turkish bath, a garage
for a Rolls-Royce and even a prayer room with electronic mats which automatically rotate
to face Mecca.”
So, what would you buy if you could buy anything?
Let us know in the comments!
Also, be sure to check out our other video called What a Million Dollars Gets You Around
the World?!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!