The acquisition of works of art is often considered one of the ways to invest. Buying the works of artists, sculptors, jewelers or cabinetmakers, the investor expects that over time, due to the uniqueness of the product, the value of the product will increase many times over. This approach is also used when buying expensive exclusive items, regardless of their purpose. Over the years, they can grow significantly in value. Let’s get acquainted with the rating of the most expensive things that are likely to cost even more over time.
Investment attractiveness and disadvantages of expensive things
Before rushing to register on the website of a well-known auction house to buy the most expensive thing in the world according to the 2021 version, you should weigh the pros and cons by looking at the proposed investment object from an investment point of view.
Let’s start with the benefits. The main quality of expensive things is their uniqueness, which depends on many factors: the brand of the manufacturer, the material, the technology of creation. It is the uniqueness that allows exclusive things to add in value, overtaking the growth of inflation and many stock indices. The second reason for buying an exclusive is the high capital intensity. To get your money back, you will need to make one transaction. And the third is the increase in price over time. Over the years, expensive things turn into real antiques.
At the same time, there are also disadvantages. First, low liquidity. You are unlikely to be able to quickly and profitably sell an expensive and rare thing – this is the main difference between such assets and commodities or securities that are in public circulation. Secondly, storing expensive items comes at a cost, including security costs. Thirdly, during periods of crisis, the value of such items falls, and their sale will certainly be unprofitable. Expensive things, as a rule, are more profitable to buy in a crisis, and sell them in a phase of economic recovery.
We have prepared a rating of expensive items representing various categories. Some may well be used for their intended purpose, while others deserve attention only as objects for non-standard investments. We selected movable property items in our rating based on public and verifiable information.
Rating of the most expensive things in the world
- Yacht Eclipse, $ 1.2 billion Today it is the most expensive thing in the world. The vessel was launched in 2009 at the Hamburg shipyard Blohm+Voss. The length of the yacht is 162.5 meters. It is equipped with the latest technology and has two helipads, a submarine for twelve people, four boats and 20 scooters. The yacht is equipped with elements of protection against attacks by pirates and other uninvited guests. The hull can withstand a small missile hit. There is a paparazzi protection system that is capable of suppressing the operation of the light-sensitive elements of digital cameras with a directed laser beam.
Notably, the Eclipse can be rented for a modest €2 million per week. This is often used by politicians and show business stars who want to relax while maintaining privacy.
- Koh-i-Noor diamond, more than $1 billion. A diamond that, after being cut, became a diamond weighing 105.6 carats. Legends attribute to this stone a history of over five thousand years. However, the first reliable data about it date back to 1300. The stone was owned by Indian rajas, representatives of the Mughal dynasty, Afghan leaders, Persian shahs. In the middle of the XIX century. it came to the British, and in 1852 was cut and faceted in a more modern manner. In 1902, Koh-i-Noor adorned the crown of the British queen. The diamond has never been sold, it is not the largest of these stones, but it is still considered the most expensive in the world. Experts estimate its value at more than $1 billion. Such a high price for a piece of jewelry is primarily due to its unique history.
- Airbus A380, $600 million The world’s most expensive private jet belongs to Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia. It contains five bedrooms, combined with bathrooms, 20 guest cabins, a stable, a garage, a room for hawks. The Saudi Prince’s Flying Palace is one of the heaviest passenger planes in the world. The board consists of two decks. In the commercial version, the A380 is capable of carrying up to 853 passengers, not counting crew members. The maximum range of a non-stop flight is over 15,000 kilometers. Large dimensions and huge weight impose restrictions on the use of the A380 as a private aircraft – not every airfield has an appropriate runway and the necessary equipment.
- Painting Salvator Mundi or “Savior of the World”, 450.3 million dollars. It is believed that its author was none other than Leonardo da Vinci, who painted the work around 1500, that is, more than five centuries ago. Its dimensions are only 65.7 by 45.7 cm. The painting, which is sometimes called the “male Mona Lisa”, depicts Jesus Christ. The record price (including the premium) was set during the auction at Christie’s held in New York on November 15, 2017. The starting price of the lot was $ 90 million. The name of the owner of the painting “Savior of the World” is currently unknown.
- Sculpture “Walking Man I”, $104.3 million The creation of Swiss sculptor Alberto Giacometti was sold for a record amount at Sotheby’s in February 2010 to the widow of Brazilian banker Edmond Safra. The bronze sculpture was created in 1961. Its height is 183 cm. “Walking Man I” is depicted on the 100 Swiss franc note, and is also present in the frame of the film “Iron Man 2”.
- 1963 Ferrari 250 GTO sports car . release, 70 million dollars. The most expensive car in the history of mankind. Equipped with a three-liter engine, which allowed to accelerate to almost 300 km / h. The supercar was sold for a fabulous $70 million in 2018. It is noteworthy that before that, in 2000, he changed hands when the deal was only $6.5 million. Cars of the Ferrari 250 series were produced from 1953 to 1964 .
The most expensive cars .
- Hallucination women’s watch, $55 million The Graff Diamonds watch with a pink dial is set with a total of 110 carats of diamonds in different colors – pink, yellow, blue and brown. The diamonds are set on a platinum bracelet. The name of the watch “Hallucination” speaks for itself – it’s hard to believe that you see so many diamonds in reality. The watch was first presented at Baselworld in 2014.
- Diamond Bikini by Susan Rosen, $30 million The reason for the high cost of a swimsuit is the materials: it is made of platinum and precious stones. In essence, the Diamond Bikini is a piece of jewelry. For its manufacture, the Israeli jewelry company Steinmetz Diamonds, which implemented the ideas of the designer Susan Rosen, used 254 gems, six of which are diamonds of 51, 30, 15 and 8 carats. The total weight of diamonds spent on the set was 150 carats.
- US $20 coin, $ 18.8 million. The 1933 Double Eagle coin is made of gold. Sold for a record amount on June 8, 2021 at an auction in New York through Sotheby’s. The “double eagle” refers to those US coins that have never been put into circulation. They were minted from 1849 to 1933 in different denominations. In fact, gold coins were a means of interbank settlement and a type of gold and foreign exchange reserve. The “Double Eagles” of 1933 became the most expensive gold coins in the world. They were minted in the amount of 445 thousand pieces – almost all of them were included in the US gold reserve. However, 20 coins were stolen and have since wandered through private collections and auctions. The history of their conversion was helped to restore by the US secret services, who announced a real hunt for the “Double Eagles” at one time.
- Violin “Lady Blunt”, $ 15.87 million. The most expensive musical instrument in the world is the work of the famous master Antonio Stradivari. This violin was sold at auction in London in 2011. Among its owners is Lord Byron’s granddaughter Anna Blunt. It is noteworthy that 50 years ago, “Lady Blunt” was bought at auction for 200 thousand dollars. This is not the first musical instrument to become the most expensive in the world. At one time, the Duport cello, also made by Stradivari, was considered such. Mstislav Rostropovich played it for a long time. In the media, one could see publications that after the death of the maestro, the Japanese Music Association bought the instrument, paying $ 20 million. But these data have not received official confirmation. In 2014, a Stradivari viola was put up for auction with an initial price of $45 million, but it never found a buyer.
The above list contains both works of art and luxury items, which are the pinnacle of engineering. But it is obvious that the price is primarily influenced by the history of the thing, what and who is associated with it. That is why it is impossible to accurately answer the question of how much the most expensive thing in the world costs. There is always a chance that there will be a billionaire who will inflate the price of any item at times. This is clearly and regularly demonstrated to us by the results of the auction. People love stories and pay for them. Therefore, if you decide to invest in exclusive items, think about what history these items will have in 10-20 years.
