You probably know that the advent of the web has caused a steady decline in newspaper circulation. Eventually, printed broadsheets may become a thing of the past entirely, relegated to museums and rare book libraries. In that case, certain newspaper copies may command exceedingly high prices for their historical value.

For now, though, it’s the stamps that matter.

The world’s most expensive newspapers is an issue of the Romanian newspaper, Zimbrulu and Vulturulu (The Aurochs and the Eagle), that was mailed to Galati when it was published in 1858. Because of its weight, the newspaper required no less than eight Cap de Bour (Bull Head) stamps. These stamps are now quite rare, quite expensive and quite coveted by philatelists (i.e. stamp collectors).

The priceless paper found its way into the hands of the David Feldman auction house. From there it was auctioned to art collector Joseph Hackmey for €829,500—over $1.3 million in the US! That makes it not only the most expensive newspaper in the world but also one of the most expensive philatelic objects in the world.

An expensive diamond necklace is more than a simple accessory. It’s a statement of opulence that will set members of your family apart for generations. Check out some of the world’s most expensive diamond necklaces.

H. Stern’s Venus Necklace - $3.17 million

This 110-carat diamond necklace features a number of cushion, square and pear-cut diamonds set in 18k noble gold. Even the clasp is exquisite, featuring a 14-point diamond star. This is truly a piece that looks just as good from behind as it does from the front.

The De Beers’ Marie-Antionette Necklace - $3.7 million

From the De Beers High-Jewellery collection, this luxurious necklace features over 181 carats of mixed cut diamonds. Beneath the deep pink diamond (1.84 carats) on the first string are two yellow diamonds (5.24 and 7.06) along the second and third strings. The 8.05 carat pear-shaped white diamond hanging from the fourth string, though, is the showstopper on this beautiful piece of jewelry.

Neil Lane’s Diamond Necklace - $4 million

The 140 carats of diamonds featured on this valuable necklace feature three different cuts—pear, cushion and teardrop. The diamonds are set in platinum along the six strings that make up this necklace.

Garrard’s Heart of the Kingdom Ruby - $14 million

The most expensive necklace in the world features a 40.63-carat, heart-shaped Burmese ruby surrounded by 155 carats of diamonds. Burmese ruby is one of the most sought after varieties of ruby due to its blood-red hue. This gem is particularly valuable due to its extraordinary size—Burmese rubies rarely exceed a few carats!

The most expensive necklace can also be worn as a tiara.

(via Baller House)

Fine champagne needs an equally fine glass. It follows, then, that drinking the most expensive champage requires the most expensive champagne glass.

Enter John Calleija, designer of a pair of champagne glasses sure to put any others to shame. Adorned with 1,700 diamonds—both white and a rare argyle pink—these glasses were hand carved from a pair of 8kg blocks of quartz crystal. The glasses are nearly 6 inches tall, over half a pound apiece and share between them 15 carats of diamonds.

Calleija, wishing to expand his work into luxury goods, drew diamond-covered letter openers, scissors, chopsticks and even salt and pepper shakers before hitting upon the more conventional idea of a pair of luxurious champagne glasses. An anonymous client, upon seeing the design, immediately commissioned them and plans to make them into family heirlooms.

So how much did this anonymous businessman pay for the world’s most expensive champagne glasses? A mere $400,000 allowed him to secure this sparkling legacy.

What could say “I’m rich” better than paying for your morning coffee with a bill pulled from the world’s most expensive money clip?

The Hou Yi money clip, handmade by Chinese craftsman Li Bosheng, is made of 14 karat gold and high-grade sterling silver. The part that really makes this a special money clip, though, is the centerpiece—a hunk of chiseled Hetian jade.

As it is only found in two rivers in Xinjiang, China, this white jade is extremely rare. In fact, it is likely that the supply will be completely depleted within five years. It is considered the most valuable jade in the world and was used by Chinese emperors in their personal seals.

The stone is treated as its pedigree demands. Li Bosheng is known as a master jade craftsman and, as you can see, the final piece does justice to both the artist and the medium.

The most expensive money clip in the world is made to order and requires an estimated 4-5 weeks to be completed. A Hou Yi money clip will set you back $5,600. Of course, in order to make use of it, you’ll have to carry around actual paper money.

Didn’t think of that, did ya?

via bLavish

The world’s most expensive rug may be silk, Persian and four or five hundred years old, but does it really tie the room together? One anonymous buyer seems to think so.
Sold by Christie’s for $4.45 million, the 16th or 17th century Persian rug measures 7’ 5” by 5’ 7”. It was previously owned by Doris [...]

Nothing says luxury like lazing the hours away in a tub that costs more than a lot of houses. Those looking for such a tub, however, have a few more options than they used to. On the one hand, there’s the elegant, decorative tub that with its simple beauty. On the other hand, there’s the [...]

An anonymous party represented by Mitsukoshi Ltd., a company that operates department stores, recently made history by making this statue the most expensive piece of Japanese or Buddhist art ever auctioned.

The twenty-six inch, gold-painted statue, thought to be sculpted by Kamakura-period (1185–1333) artist Unkei, depicts a seated Dainichi Nyorai sun goddess. While it was expected [...]

How would you like to gain a piece of television and fashion history while helping out children with learning difficulties? Bid on one of the most expensive sweaters and you may be able to do just that.
Erinn Cosby, one of Bill Cosby’s four daughters, is auctioning off three of her famous father’s notorious sweaters “just [...]

We’ve already told you about the world’s most expensive haircut, a one-off service provided by stylist Stuart Phillips to retired millionaire Beverley Lateo, but Mr. Pillips’ usual fee of £150 (around $300) is far short of that commanded by some. The wealthy, after all, are willing to pay a handsome fee for a stylist who [...]

Rococo is a style of art and interior design developed by the French in the 18th century. Rococo-style rooms favored form over function, featuring ornate furniture, elegant tapestries, ornamental mirrors and other lavish trappings. Sold at a Christie’s auction in Philadelphia, the most expensive table in the world is just one example of rococo furniture.
The [...]

A financially endowed bass player might look at any one of Jens Ritter’s bass guitars, which start at $6,000, and be content. After all, the German luthier’s expensive basses are made with some of the same techniques used to make Stradivarius violins. One customer, however, wasn’t satisfied with one of Ritter’s “normal” guitars and we’re [...]

Jeff Koons’ “Hanging Heart”
The record for most expensive living artist seems to change hands like a $20 bill. Currently, the record is held by Jeff Koons for his “Hanging Heart” piece, which sold for $21.6 million. Before that, the record belonged to Damien Hirst. His “Lullaby Spring” pill box sold for $19.1 million at Sotheby’s [...]

Swiss designer Roland Iten won’t touch a timepiece of any sort, but he still manages to create high precision, mechanical fashion accessories for men of discriminating taste. His solid gold, mechanical belt buckle is as much a work of art as it is a work of engineering. It takes nine to eighteen months to produce [...]

A movie poster collection may be anything from an extension of another hobby to a sign of serious passion for film history. One buyer may be willing to pay $10 or $20 for an original “Fellowship of the Ring” one-sheet while another pays $47,000 for one of the few remaining “Grand Hotel” posters. With the [...]

Ever wonder what someone does with a mathematics degree other than teaching math? Richard Garfield, while studying combinatorial mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, decided to apply his arithmetic skills to game design. He earned his PhD in 1993, the same year role-playing game publisher Wizards of the Coast first published a card game of [...]

Fabergé eggs are extravagantly decorated, jeweled eggs created by master jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé and his assistants. The Russian jeweler made at least seventy-five eggs between 1885 and 1917, fifty-two of which are “Imperial Easter eggs” presented to Russian Czars Alexander III and Nicholas II as Easter gifts for their respective wives. Each of the [...]

One of the world’s oldest forms of body modification, the practice of wearing earrings has almost certainly been around longer than recorded history. The world’s most expensive earrings, on the other hand, were created much more recently.

Harry Winston’s Extraordinary Diamond Drop Earrings weren’t made by Harry Winston—he died nearly thirty years before they were made—but [...]

If someone were to say, “I just bought a Toto,” you might think they’d purchased a little black Terrier and named it after the Wizard of Oz costar. They could, on the other hand, be the proud owner of one of the world’s most expensive toilets.

Neorest 600
What more do you need, when doing your business, [...]

Anyone who purchased tickets to a Madonna show last year probably knows that they paid $300 USD for the most expensive concert tickets in 2007. Madonna doesn’t hold the record for the most expensive concert tickets ever, though. That honor goes to Led Zeppelin, whose tickets were recently auctioned off for £83,000 ($164,929 USD) for [...]

The Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368 to 1644. That era in Chinese history saw the creation of a startling amount of carved lacquerwares, glazed porcelain wares, embroidered silks and works of art in a variety of other materials. The Empire of the Great Ming also produced a great number of forgeries designed to part [...]

Nothing says “Merry Christmas!” more than a Christmas tree. Bugis Junction, a shopping mall in Singapore, may just have the merriest Christmas in the world. They certainly have the world’s most expensive Christmas tree.

Soo Kee Jewellery produced the expensive tree, decking it with 21,798 diamonds (913 carats total), 3,762 crystal beads and 456 lights. The [...]

With three or four multi-million dollar blockbusters popping up every summer, it’s clear that film is important to American culture. In fact, the top three movies of 2006 grossed nearly $1 billion altogether. At its peak, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, the highest grossing movie of 2006, was shown in over 4,000 different [...]

Prior to the widespread use of the printing press, monastic orders preserved important texts by spending painstaking hours reproducing them calligraphically. These texts were often illuminated with illustrations in color or even in gold or silver. Each of these hand-copied texts became a work of art on its own and, in the modern era, can [...]

The Koran, or “The Recitation”, is the central text of the Muslim religion. It may also be written Qur’an, Quran or Al-Quran. In its original Arabic, it is believed to be the word of Allah (the Arabic word for “God”) dictated to Muhammad by the angel Gabriel. The first known Korans were printed from wooden [...]

What has ninety gemstones, nine diamonds, a star-shaped ruby and an entry in the Vietnamese “Guinness Book of World Records”? If you guessed the expensive bouquet on display on the sixth floor of Ruby Plaza in Hanoi, you’d be right. Valued at around $125,000 USD, this wedding bouquet of red and white gemstone flowers just [...]