The Top Five Most Ridiculous Consumer Purchases

We’re all consumers, but some of us definitely have more money than others. How are the super rich’s consumption habits different from ours? Sure they buy faster cars, live in nicer houses, and wear more expensive clothes, but what about the truly affluent. How on earth can you spend all that money??? This list catalogs the top 5 most ridiculous consumer goods purchased or available today.

1. The $225,000 bottle of wine. And you thought 2005 Bordeaux was expensive. This legendary bottle is now the subject of a new book entitled the Billionaire’s Vinegar; simply because this bottle is completely undrinkable, but exists solely for the pleasure of owning it. The bottle is a 1787 Chateau Lafite Rothschild from Bordeaux in France, rumoured to have belong to Thomas Jefferson; however, this bottle only sold for $165,000. The true winner of this prize is its accompaniment, a 1787 Chateau Margaux, also originally owned by Thomas Jefferson. The bottle was broken by a waiter in a London restaurant in 1989, forcing the bottle’s insurance company to pay $225,000!!! The wine was, at the time, for sale for $500,000.
2. The $11,000,000 wrist watch. Commissioned to be built in 1933 by a banker named Henrey Graves, the most expensive watch in history was built by the famous luxury watch manufacturer and jeweler, Patek Philipe. The watch took 3 years to design and an entire 5 years to build! The watch was sold in 1999 at Sotheby’s auction for an incredible $11M.
3. The $8,000,000 car.Only one of these beasts currently exists, as it is a concept car created by the super-luxury car manufacturer, Maybach. The Maybach Exeleron is the world’s most expensive car, and it’s not even close to the fastest. 0-60 MPH takes 4.4 seconds, and its top speed is 204 MPH, meaning it is a member of the supercar club, but only barely. What makes this car so expensive? It’s rarity of course! And the badge prestige…
4. The $500,000,000 yacht. Weighing in at half a billion dollarsis the world’s most expensive yacht! Currently under construction, the GigaYacht Everest will be approximately 200 metres long when completed, and will include it’s own submarine, hangar, and helicopter pad. The Everest will also be protected by a military defense system complete with deck launched torpedoes and ship to air missiles.
5. The $1,000,000,000 painting. Topping the list of most ridiculous purchases would have to be a painting. There have been some pretty crazy art purchases made in the last century, including David Geffen’s purchase of Jackson Pollock’s Number 5 for $140M in 2006, and Pablo Picasso’s Boy With Pipewhich sold in 2004 for $104M. Taking the cake however, for most expensive painting, is Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisawhich has been valued at $1 billion: This truly priceless painting is, of course, not for sale. It was however, stolen in 1911, but eventually returned to the Louvre museum in France, where it continues to hang today.

So there we have it! The most expensive consumer goods available to the truly, insanely, affluent. I hope you enjoyed reading!