Sometimes a product is the most expensive because it’s a technical marvel. Sometimes the price comes from embellishment with gold, gems and other precious minerals. Other times, though, the merit is entirely in the price tag.

Such is the case, it seems, with “Les 4 Mondes,” which is likely the most expensive coloring book in the world.

Hailing from luxury house Hermes, famous for their scarves and other premium apparel, the costly coloring book features twenty-four designs printed on a mere twelve pages. The 15” x 11” book is featured among Hermes’ baby gifts, although it is marked “for kids and adults.”

“Les 4 Mondes” is priced at $130. Of course, you’ll want to find a set of expensive crayons to go with the book.

And try to stay within the lines, will ya?

What better way is there to make the most of your summer than to get outside and throw some steaks, hot dogs or even veggie burgers on the grill?

The Talos Outdoor Cooking Suite is an open-air professional kitchen custom-built to your specific needs. The hand-crafted stainless steel exterior houses a 42” grilling area, three 25,000 BTU cast burners, a 20,000 BTU searing station and griddle, a hardwood cutting board and a warming drawer to keep your food ready to serve. It even has a bartending station with everything you need to mix your guests’ drinks.

Of course, all that convenience comes with a hefty price. This expensive grill can be had for $35,000.

If you’re looking for something truly spectacular, however, then settle for nothing less than the most expensive grill in the world.

This grill, created by BeefEater for the “World’s Finest” exhibition, features six high-output barbecue burners, a wok burner, a roasting hood with viewing window, a vaporizer grid and a warming rack and reflector system.

Oh, and it’s also plated entirely in gold.

Unfortunately, the grill will likely never see mass production. If it did, however, estimates put the price anywhere from $50,000 to $150,000.

If your passion for performance and luxury autos cannot be stopped, and your McLaren F1 is becoming a bore along with the rest of your exotic cars, it might be time to check out Top Gear’s “Car of the Decade,” the Bugatti Veyron. The most recent model, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, has an estimated price tag of $2.3 million and, if that figure is even close to the ultimate price, will be the most expensive car in the world.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport “World Record Edition”

The Super Sport, unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August 2010, is not your typical luxury car. Its W16 engine—essentially two narrow-angle V8s sharing a crankshaft—with four turbochargers generates 1,200 hp and, along with improved aerodynamics over the original Veyron, allows it to reach a top speed of 268 miles per hour. That makes the Super Sport the fastest production car in the world.

The original Bugatti Veyron 16.4, which entered production in 2005, hits 60 mph in 2.5 seconds, does the quarter-mile in 10.5 seconds and reaches its top speed of 252 mph in just 55 secs. It came after a long absence from the market for Bugatti and helped the brand reclaim its title as the ultimate performance car and reign supreme as the world’s most expensive production car.

The Bugatti Veyron 16.4

The Veyron is named after Pierre Veyron, who won the 1939 24 Hours of Le Mans while driving a Bugatti Type 57 with Jean-Pierre Wimille.

According to New York’s Luxury Institute, who surveyed 500 households with incomes over $200,000 in 2006, Porsche is the most prestigious brand of automobiles. While some may argue in favor of Bugatti or Rolls-Royce, that is still high praise indeed.

Porsche Carrera GT

The most expensive new Porsche currently avaialable is the Porsche Carrera GT at $440,000. With a top speed of 205+ mph and the capability to accelerate from 0 to 60 in 3.9 seconds, it’s certainly fast enough to justify its price.

Porsche 918 Spyder

Their new concept car, the Porsche 918 Spyder, will be the German company’s next most expensive production car. The 918 Spyder is a two-seater convertible with a 500 hp V8 engine. It has a top speed of 199 mph and can accelerates from 0 to 60 in under 3.2 seconds. Its electric drive-systems allow it to run 15 miles on electric power and it consumes fuel at a rate of 78 miles per gallon.

This fantastic new Porsche is likely to have an MSRP around $650,000.

If you’re looking for the most expensive Porsche in history, however, look no further than this Porsche 917, chassis no. 031/026.

This Porsche, originally a 1970 Gulf-JWA Le Mans 917K Coupe numbered 026, made history when it was driven by David Hobbs and Mike Hailwood in the 1970 Le Mans. In the middle of a downpour in the 50th lap, Hailwood cruised past the pit stop where rain tires were readied and crashed into a parked car. What was left of the vehicle was repaired with the 031 chassis, but swapped numbering with the original 026 chassis to avoid complications.

The original 026 chassis, now numbered 031, was repaired and re-issued as a 1972-73 Porsche 917 Interserie Spyder. It was driven by Ernst Kraus in the 1972 European InterSerie Championship and by Jurgen Barth in the 1973 series.

This storied Porsche is equipped with a 5.4 liter, flat-12 cylinder, 630 horsepower engine and weighs approximately 1,600 lbs. It was sold at an August 2010 Bonhams & Butterfields auction at Quail Lodge in Monterey, where it achieved a staggering $3.9 million price.

Whether played for family fun or intellectual stimulation, board games have a long history and some even predate the written word. It isn’t surprising, then, that some are willing to shell out thousands—or even millions—of dollars to purchase the most expensive board games in the world.

Zontik Games’ Trivial Pursuit – up to $6,200

A beautiful and luxurious leather-bound edition of this popular trivia game is being retailed by Zontik Games. The board is meticulously leather-inlaid by hand and then embossed in gold or silver with felt-lined storage compartments for the game pieces. The dice cups and question card boxes are also inlaid with leather. Optionally, the game may include pieces inlaid with sterling silver. This expensive Trivial Pursuit board is not available in Canada or the US.

Outrage! Deluxe – $12,465

In this game, players attempt to steal the crown jewels from the Tower of London. The board in this deluxe edition is laminated and set in a solid mahogany cabinet with a drawer for the sterling silver playing pieces, solid gold crown jewels and cards edged with gold leaf. The board also features an individually numbered brass plate.

Kiseido Imports Go Set – $12,950

This ancient Chinese game is often played with a traditional board with legs. A complete set also includes a pair of bowls to hold the players’ stones. Kiseido Imports offers a masame wood board with legs for $10,000, a set of yuki-grade shell and slate stones for $1,950 and pair of mulberry Go bowls for $1,000.

Charles Hollander Backgammon Set – $1.5 million or more

Created for the Charles Hollander Collection, this amazing board game features 61,082 black, white, and yellow diamonds totaling 2071.48 carats. The set also boasts over 6.77 kg of yellow gold and about 150 grams of silver. This masterpiece of art and jewelry required over 10,000 hours to create.

Sidney Mobell Monopoly Set – $2 million

The most expensive Monopoly set is a special board created by jeweler Sidney Mobell. It was crafted with rubies, diamonds, sapphires and 23k gold. Even the dice are encrusted with diamonds.

Jewel Royale Chess Set – $7.8 million

This single chess set is the most expensive and exquisite game set of any kind in the world. Constructed of gold and platinum, it contains diamonds, emeralds, rubies, pearls and sapphires. The king alone weighs 165.2 grams of 18k yellow gold and has a spiraling mid-section graced by 73 rubies and 146 diamonds. Boodles, a British custom jewelry company commissioned its production.

A recent survey by Tableau Software has concluded that iPad users in the US are lucky enough to pay for the fifth most expensive iPad data plans in the world—“lucky” meaning, at $12.50 per gigabyte, we’re not paying the rates of the top four.

Users in France pay the local telco, Orange, the most for their iPad data plans. At $25.47 per GB, their rates are over twice that of AT&T in the US. Users in Belgium and Luxembourg pay Mobistar $21.77 per GB and users in the Netherlands pay an average of $19.58 per GB to either Vodafone or T-Mobile.

The cheapest rates are available in Singapore, where users may pay as little as $.51 per GB. Users in Hong Kong, Germany, Japan, Italy and Austria all pay less than $1.50 per GB. This may be due to the fact that, in many of these countries, iPad users have more than one option for their data carrier. Of course, that didn’t help the Netherlands.

The global average is around $7 per GB.

A person typically spends a third of their life sleeping, so why not make the most of that time by spending a ridiculous amount of money on an extravagant bed? Each supremely expensive bed is luxurious in its own way, and we’re certain almost anyone will find one of these beds most desirable.

Parnian Furniture bed – over $210,000

Furniture designer Abdolhay Parnian treats his furniture like works of art and it shows in the final product. It’s taken him two years to design this bed and I think you’ll agree that it was well worth the wait. It’s not only visually striking, with the eyelike headboard that will surely dominate any bedroom, but also equipped with features sure to intrigue even the most jaded of millionaires. The purchaser may choose from a variety of materials, including the ebony, sapele and curly maple in the pictured display model, as well as technological features such as iPad holders and charging stations, hidden compartments and pop-up swiveling televisions and computer monitors.

Jado Steel Style Gold Bed – $676,550

If you want to go all out with a bed that conveys wealth like no other, you can’t go wrong with the Gold Bed. As its name suggests, the luxurious waterbed is coated in 24k gold and features Swarovski crystals along the sideboard. It’s equipped with a DVD player and Bose sound system, Blu-ray player, Playstation 3, a foldaway plasma television coated in gold and can even be connected to the internet.

Magnetic Floating Bed – $1.6 million

The 2006 Millionaire Fair in Kortrijk, Belgium saw the debut of a magnetic floating bed that pretty much takes the cake for the coolest bed in the world—and the most expensive. Conventional beds and mattresses haven’t changed much over the years, and that’s where Dutch architect Janjaap Ruijssenaars comes in. The goal in his project was to make a usable piece of furniture that wasn’t constrained by the laws of gravity.

Ruijssenaars reportedly worked on the technology for six years in collaboration with Bakker Magnetics. Permanent opposing industrial-strength magnets allow the bed to float around 1.3 feet off the floor while holding almost 2,000 lbs. This aesthetically pleasing technology could also be applied to other areas in home furnishings like coffee tables, sofas, and Japanese dining tables. How cool would it be to eat sushi and drink sake off a floating table?

While the most expensive bed in the world will run you €1,200,000 (US $1.6 million), a smaller unit, one fifth of the full size, costs €115,000 (US $153,000). If you are a millionaire and simply must have this eye-catching bed, the people at Universe Architecture would be happy to make it happen for you.

It’s great to be able to provide your pooch with the trappings of luxury, but what happens when you leave home for that 12-day cruise from Barcelona to Venice? Well, if you happen to live in the San Francisco Bay Area, you can lodge your canine companion at the most expensive boarding kennel in the US.

Owners who choose to board their dogs at the Pooch Hotel in Sunnyvale, Calif., have four different options that run from $50/night to $100/night. Both the Presidential (9’ by 9’ for $75/night) and Palace Suites (12’ by 10’ and 20’ by 15’ for $100/night) are equipped with flat panel televisions, webcams and luxury bedding. The Palace Suites are located in their own wing, in case your pampered pup is shy or elderly, and have the added luxury of raised bedding.

The Pooch Hotel also offers swim, treadmill and underwater treadmill sessions, as well as six week classes, holistic diet consultations and aromatherapy baths at the “Spaw.”

Beer is one of the oldest drinks known to man—and one of this writer’s favorites. While many people enjoy drinking light and less expensive beer, there are still some beer connoisseurs out there. If you don’t believe it, then check out the proof–the world’s most expensive beers.

Tutankhamun Ale – $52 per bottle

This expensive beer has a peculiar history. It’s brewed in a Cambridge laboratory from a recipe discovered in the Queen Nefertiti’s Temple of the Sun in Egypt. The beer is named after the queen’s stepson, more commonly known as King Tut. The temple, which housed a brewery, is believed to have been built by King Akenhaten, Tut’s predecessor and likely father. This beer is also limited and may be purchased for $52 per bottle.

Samuel Adams Utopias – $100 per bottle

Vintage No. 1 may be four times as expensive as Samuel Adams/Boston Beer Company’s Utopias, the former most expensive beer, but Utopias still holds a Guinness World Record for being the strongest beer at 50 proof.

Utopias was brewed with a blend of high-quality hops and sold in an ornate copper-plated brew kettle and offers a flavor unlike any other expensive beer or beverage in the world. The sweet flavor is richly highlighted with hints of vanilla, oak and caramel. The expensive beer is non-carbonated and should be served at room temperature.

Production of Utopias was limited to 8,000 bottles.

Carlsberg Vintage 3 – $348 per bottle

The Carlsberg Group, a brewing company founded in 1847 and named after founder J. C. Jacobson’s son Carl, is best known for their light-bodied lager, Carlsberg Pilsner (also known as Carlsberg Beer or Carlsberg Hof). In 2008, however, Carlsberg introduced another beer guaranteed to be linked to the Carlsberg name in the public consciousness, Vintage 1.

Vintage 3 is the third in the trilogy of beers created from 2008 to 2010. At the time of its launch, the “pale barley wine” was the only available beer to have been aged in French Côte d’Or oak barrels in the Carlsberg founder’s original cellar. Only 1,000 bottles of this exclusive beer were hand tapped and labeled with art by Kaspar Bonnén and two artists selected from the Radiant Copenhagen project.

The price of Vintage 1, 2,008 Danish kroner, reflected the year it was introduced. The brewer introduced Vintage 2 in 2009 and Vintage 3 in 2010, priced at 2,009 and 2,010 kroner respectively.

Brewdog’s “The End of History” – $765 per bottle

Well, PETA is going to have a field day with this one. Scottish brewery BrewDog has produced a beer served in bottles as shocking as the beer’s extremely high alcoholic content.

Only eleven bottles of this expensive beer, named after a book by philosopher Francis Fukuyama, were produced. The blond Belgian ale, infused with nettles from the Scottish Highlands and fresh juniper berries, is 55 percent alcohol and will be BrewDog’s final high ABV beer.

The bottles, however, are the beer’s most striking aspect–each one is encased in a squirrel or weasel stuffed by a gifted taxidermist. The four grey squirrels and seven weasels selected were all roadkill, however, so their immortalization as beer bottles may actually be considered more respectful than ignominious roadside decomposition.

Tomboy turned fashionista Kelley Dooley knows it’s hard for women to find fitness wear that looks good, which is why she founded BodyRock in March 2009. Browse her shop and you’ll see collections with names like “Keep ‘em In” or “Lock ‘em Down.” You’ll also find the most expensive sports bra in the world.

The Trenta Bra is made with black spandex and gunmetal burnout fabric, which helps to ventilate, with black diamond Swarovski crystals along the neckline. The true-to-size bra also incorporates gunmetal sterling silver jewelry from Knight & Hammer’s Trenta collection, which can be detached from the bra and worn as either a long necklace or as a necklace and bracelet. It even features an open pocket on the back.

This luxury sports bra can be purchased online for $1,850 and comes in sizes ranging from XS to XL.

Scarves, without doubt, owe their global popularity to their wide variety of uses. A scarf can keep you warm on a cold day or it can be used to wipe the sweat from your face on a hot day. They can be used to keep dust and insects out of your mouth while you’re riding a horse. They may be used to communicate the religion you practice, the university you attend or the sports team you support. Of course, they are also very fashionable.

In 1837, saddlemaker Thierry Hermès founded his company. One hundred years later, Hermès produced their first scarves. Today, Hermès scarves are among the most expensive scarves in the world.

Hermès scarves have been considered traditional heirlooms in France. Their scarves were made from raw Chinese silk spun into a tough fabric and individually screen-printed with designs that sometimes took years to compose. The company still focuses on producing quality, handcrafted goods to this day.

The cheapest of these luxury scarves commands a price of $260. A Hermès dip-dyed giant silk scarf, on the other hand, is priced at $720.

If you own a $2 million-plus supercar, chances are you want to keep it in top condition both inside and out. Of course, no ordinary car wash can be trusted with a Bugatti Veyron or Pagani Zonda. Fortunately for owners of the most expensive cars in the world, Gurcharn Sahota of Elite Detailing offers the most expensive car wash in the world.

Sahota’s premium detailing process begins with a thorough wash using pH neutral shampoo and citrus degreasers, as well as clay bars to remove tarry substances. He then uses an electric scanner and ultra-fine sandpaper to remove even the most miniscule scratches in the paint before applying a Brazilian wax that costs over $12,000 per can. The entire process can take as long as 4 weeks and costs over $10,000.

Incredibly, Sahota runs Elite Detailing out of his parents’ house outside of Derby, England, where he has converted their garage into a workshop complete with a pit and special tiles imported from Italy.

Google’s Android mobile platform has made some waves since it was announced in 2007. As of May 2010, Android claimed 13% of the market share of smartphones in the US—over half of that claimed by the iOS platform run by Apple’s seemingly ubiquitous iPhone. One of the great advantages Android has over iOS is that it isn’t married to a particular hardware manufacturer, allowing many different companies to try their hands at Android smartphones.

The Chairman by Ulysse Nardin is one example of such a phone. Billed as the “world’s first luxury hybrid smarthpone,” the Chairman includes both a touch screen and a physical number pad. The Ulysse Nardin name is most often associated with luxury watches and that fact shows in the Chairman’s sophisticated design. The volume controls look like watch buttons and the crown between them can actually be wound to generate power for the device. In fact, the phone features a kinetic rotor power system visible through the backplate.

As for its hardware specifications, the Chairman has 32 GB of internal memory, an 8 megapixel camera, a Freescale i.MX processor and a display capable of high definition video playback.

There are five versions of the phone, made using either steel or 18k rose gold in the frames. Only 1846 units of each model will be produced. At a staggering $12,800 to $49,500, it’s the most expensive Android smartphone in the world.

Of the four most expensive bikes in the world, three were created in honor of Lance Armstrong, whose victory over cancer is as legendary as his ongoing career. The Lance Armstrong Foundation, founded in 1997 after Armstrong was diagnosed with the disease, raises funds and awareness to support cancer research and help cancer sufferers.

7-Diamond – $75,000

This expensive bike was sold to an anonymous buyer at the Lance Armstrong Foundation Gala in 2005. Studded with seven 1-carat Gemesis man-made diamonds and 300 white diamonds, the gold-plated bike commemorated Armstrong’s victory over seven Tour de France events. The expensive bike was a joint effort between Trek Bikes, Nike, jeweler Alan Friedman and artist Lenny Futura.

Aurumania’s Gold Bike Crystal edition – $114,000

Aurumania’s Gold Bike Crystal edition is almost entirely plated with 24 karat gold—even the spokes. The seat is a Brooks saddle made of the finest leather, while the handlebars have grips made with hand-sewn, chocolate brown leather. Even the numbered badge is made of leather. Of course, the bike isn’t called “Crystal edition” for nothing. It’s decorated with over 600 Swarovski crystals—including the Aurmania name written in Braille along the crossbar. Only ten of these spectacular bicycles were produced.

Trek Yoshitomo Nara Speed Concept – $200,000

Yoshitomo Nara created this work of art, a Trek Speed Concept bike embellished with his signature angry, childlike figures and his own take on the Livestrong logo, as a custom time trial bike to commemorate Armstrong’s renewed cycling career in 2009. The bike was displayed at the Stages event organized by The Lance Armstrong Foundation and Nike to raise cancer awareness. It was sold at the Bikes of Stages auction at Sotheby’s, which raised $1,125,000 for The Lance Armstrong Foundation.

Trek “Butterfly” Madone – $500,000

Like the Speed Concept above, this Trek Madone was decorated in honor of Armstrong’s return to cycling. When Damien Hirst got his hands on the bike, he coated it with hundreds of wings taken from butterflies. While PETA were predictably angry at Hirst’s chosen medium, the “Butterfly” Madone became the most expensive bicycle in the world at the Bikes of Stages auction.

A Heligan pineapple.

A fruit produced in the Lost Gardens of Heligan in Cornwall, England, may just be the most expensive pineapple in the world.

The gardeners at Heligan, who began restoration of the derelict gardens in 1990, first purchased fruits for the Pineapple Pit in 1994. Utilizing the same techniques used 70 years ago, during Heligan’s heyday, Heligan’s Productive Gardening Team produced a miniature pineapple that was, according to the gardeners, “the most delicious pineapple flavour ever tasted.”

The “hotbed” technique used in the Pineapple Pit involves heating 30 tons of straw and horse manure through glass. The team was lucky enough to locate the proper mixture of straw and horse manure at a stable near Falmouth, about an hour from the gardens.

While the price of a modern day Heligan pineapple is yet to be announced, the original Heligan pineapples are estimated to have cost the Victorian equivalent of $15,000 to produce.

After the first fruit was tested by Heligan’s gardeners, the second was delivered, by hand, to the Queen.

(via Daily Mail)

The baked potato may not be the most healthful item on your plate but, thanks to chef Ben Kingdon of The Cary Arms, it could be the priciest.

The Cary Arms is “The Inn on the Beach” in the coastal town of Torquay in Devon county, England. It’s there that Kingdon produces the gastropub food for which the inn is known—including the most expensive baked potato in the world.

The 24-year-old chef refers to this delicacy as the “tuxedo spud,” as a baked potato is known in Great Britain as a “jacket potato.” The potato’s flesh has been mixed with creme fraiche, lemon, chives and spring onions, and topped with caviar. Sides include balsamic-roasted vine tomatoes and a side salad, served with the potato on a wooden board. The dish is served with a glass of champagne.

The expensive potato is priced at £40—US $60. Unfortunately, only one was ordered in the two weeks after its debut.

Rarity alone isn’t enough to qualify a metal as precious. It must also be naturally occurring, lustrous and ductile, possess a high melting point and low reactivity and, most important to anyone wishing to wear jewelry made from the metal, it must not be radioactive. Natural, radioactive metals like polonium and radium need not apply.

Gold, silver and platinum are undoubtedly the most well known precious metals, but they fall short of being the most expensive precious metals in the world. As of this writing, platinum (around US $1,500/ounce) and gold (around US $1,200 per ounce) take second and third place, respectively. Silver, in the low double digits, doesn’t even rate.

The world’s first pure rhodium bullion coin,
created by the Cohen Mint

The real money is in rhodium.

A member of the platinum group of metals which, unsurprisingly, includes platinum, rhodium is most commonly found mixed with other platinum group metals. This makes it difficult to extract, which can only increase its value. The silvery white metal is primarily mined in South Africa, North America and Russia’s Ural Mountains.

Rhodium has a variety of applications. It is used in the process of “rhodium flashing” white gold and platinum in order to give jewelry made from those metals a whiter, more reflective surface. It is also particularly suited to the production of catalytic converters. In 1979, Paul McCartney was presented with a rhodium-plated disc in honor of his status as the Guinness Book of World Records’s all-time bestselling songwriter and recording artist.

So how much is rhodium worth? It’s currently valued at twice the price of gold—around US $2,400 per ounce!

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. If you’re not happy with plain porcelain, you can purchase a tub made from fine materials or hi-tech gadgets.

Water Games Technologies’ Red Diamond bathtub – $47,200

(via bornrich.org)

Designed by Aldo Puglielli, this bright red tub is big enough for two people. That’s just the beginning of the tub’s laundry list of features, however. It also includes a console framed in gold—42 grams of 18-karat gold, to be exact—and Swarovski crystals. The console controls two waterproof HDTVs that remain hidden when not in use. Among the tub’s other features are a massage function, multicolored lighting, a hand-held shower unit, automatic disinfection and even a Swarovski-coated Champagne holder. At $47,200, however, the Red Diamond bathtub is not for the faint of wallet.

Kallista Archeo Copper Bathtub – $67,557

Made of solid copper, this tub is hand-crafted by the very people who refurbished Lady Liberty’s torch. Over five feet long and two-and-a-half feet wide, the tub is spacious enough to comfortably accommodate just about anyone. The fluted faucet and hand-held shower unit are designed with the same aesthetic quality as the rest of the tub, featuring a finely engraved starfish-on-seashell knob.

Baldi malachite bathtub – $222,000

This boat-shaped tub, designed by Luca Bojola is made from turqoise malachite that is perfectly complemented by its ornate, 24k gold-plated feet.

Baldi Rock Crystal bathtub – $790,310

Also designed by Luca Bojola, the first of these three-person bathtubs was created in 2008 and shown at that year’s Salone de Mobile. TThat tub was carved from a single piece of Amazonian rock crystal measuring over 8 feet in diameter and sold for over $850,000. This second tub was created for Harrods and, as the exteriors of both tubs were left rough, is as unique as the first. Baldi even offers a rock crystal basin to complement the exquisite bathtub.

When you’re traveling, only one thing can say as much or more about you and your lifestyle than the clothes on your back, and that’s the luggage you carry. Luckily for the elite jet set, they have the option of showing off their status with the most expensive suitcase in the world.

The Henk Travelfriend doesn’t just show off your wealth, though. Its customizability allows you to show off your own brand of aesthetic. Purchasers may create their own Henk suitcase by choosing from fifteen different color and material combinations, including options such as carbon glossy and calfskin in a variety of colors with optional ostrich or crocodile motifs. Each of these different combinations may be chosen for the exterior, inside lockers and doors, bottom lockers and inside frame. Two options are available for the button, which may also be customized with a logo or monogram.

The Henk Travelfriend opens from both sides and features an extendable handle and retractable wheels.

This luxury suitcase may be purchased from the Dutch company for $20,000.

In the 1920s, white linen sheets were de rigueur. That all changed when Madeleine Porthault convinced her husband, Daniel, to offer a home couture collection through his small Parisian lingerie boutique. Their business thrived and many others followed suit, but the D. Porthault name still carries weight among the wealthy and their bath towels are the most expensive towels in the world.

The practice that sets D. Porthault apart from their competitors is that they still silk-screen their prints by hand. This process allows their hand-mixed paints to set deep within the fabric, making their towels and other home coordinates vibrant for a lifetime.

D. Porthault’s most expensive towels are made with 65-gram Egyptian cotton with double-rolled, hand-sewn scalloped edges. These luxury towels are priced over $400 and may be purchased in the US at their New York boutique at 470 Park Ave.

A Māori male wearing Huia tail feathers in his hair.

You might think the most expensive feather in the world would come from some rare and exotic bird verging on extinction—and you’d be half right. In fact, the most expensive feather came from a bird that has already gone extinct.

The Huia bird had black plumage on its body with white tips on its tail feathers and orange wattles on its face. The female had a length and curvature of the female’s beak, when compared to the male’s shorter and relatively straight beak, made the Huia more sexually dimorphic than any other species of bird.

The Huia bird, indigenous to New Zealand’s North Island, was a sacred bird to the native Māori and only highly respected individuals were allowed to wear its skin or feathers. The last living Huia were seen in December of 1907, however, as 17th century European settlers deforested the birds’ winter habitats and hunted them for museums and other collectors of mounted specimens.

The white-tipped tail feather of a Huia bird was purchased at a New Zealand auction, where it was expected to fetch around NZ $400 to $500. It sold for NZ $8,400, around US $6,800, to a family who wished to remain anonymous.

You can’t put a price tag on good company—or can you? While some might shell out for an entrée laden with gold flake and white truffle, foie gras or a Cabernet Sauvignon from Chateau Mouton Rothschild, patrons of the world’s most expensive lunches are there for one thing—the company of billionaire investor, industrialist and philanthropist Warren Buffett.

For the last decade, Mr. Buffett has hosted these Power Lunches to benefit the Glide Foundation, a San Francisco community-based charity organization. The lunches are auctioned on eBay and, at $2.63 million, this year’s Power Lunch beat the 2008 record of $2.11 million. The winner and up to seven guests may dine with Mr. Buffett at Smith & Wollensky in Manhattan.

This year’s record-setting lunch is particularly auspicious as demand for the nonprofit’s services has increased by thirty percent during the recession, while donations have fallen by twenty percent.

Another expensive lunch was had by Roman Abramovich in 2009. The Russian billionaire and nine other guests dined in at Nello’s restaurant on Manhattan’s Upper East Side for $52,000. That lunch included three bottles of La Tache, two bottles of Chateau Petrus and two magnums of Cristal Rose—each wine being $5,000 per bottle. Other highlights of the lunch include three plates of truffle tagliolini at $195 each and two plates of truffle carpaccio for $100 each. The group was apparently feeling generous, as they supplemented the over-$7,000 automatic gratuity with an additional $5,000.

You’ve probably heard of antique coins dating back to the early 1900s selling for millions of dollars, but what about coins dating back to the early 2000s? It’s no fiction, as Canada unveiled the world’s largest and most expensive new coin in 2007.

This coin, featuring Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and a set of three quintessentially Canadian maple leaves on the reverse, is a 220 lb behemoth of 99.999% pure gold. The massive coin is 21 inches in diameter and 1.2 inches thick. It has a face value of C$1 million (around US $977,000), although the current price of gold would place it closer to C$4 million in 2010 and even in 2007 the gold used would’ve been worth more than C$2 million. Even so, it’s the highest denomination to ever grace a coin.

The coin was originally created to promote the Royal Canadian Mint’s new one-ounce gold bullion coins. On June 25th, 2010, the world’s most expensive gold coin will be auctioned in Vienna.

While Apple’s iPhone is already something of a luxury device, there are clearly some who believe it just isn’t flashy enough. Luckily for them (and those of us who write about such things), luxury designers have created these—the most expensive iPhones in the world.

Goldstriker iPhone 4G Diamond Edition – $19,460

Stuart Hughes of Goldstriker International presents the iPhone 4G Diamond Edition, likely the first of a bevy of luxury editions of Apple’s latest iPhone. Hughes has adorned the phone’s surrounding metal band with 6.5 carats of VVS diamonds and, on the back, recreated Apple’s iconic logo in platinum and diamonds. The iPhone 4G Diamond Edition has 32 GB of memory and is factory unlocked so you can enjoy it regardless of your wireless carrier. It also comes with an ostrich-foot wallet with pockets for up to four credit cards. If you want the phone, though, you’ll have to act soon–only 50 will be made.

Peter Aloisson’s iPhone Princess Plus – $176,400

The Princess Plus got its name from the Princess cut used on 138 of the 318 diamonds on its surface. The other 180 diamonds on the phone were brilliant-cut. In total, the phone has 17.75 carats of diamonds set in 18k white gold around its rim. The iPhone Princess Plus is worth $176,400 while the somewhat more pedestrian “Brilliants only” version sold for $66,150.

Peter Aloisson’s Kings Button iPhone – $2.4 million

The Kings Button iPhone is, like its predecessor, a jewel-bedecked iPhone. This time, however, Aloisson had the iPhone 3G to play with—and, apparently, a bit of a bigger budget. One hundred and thirty-eight brilliant-cut diamonds line the sides of the phone, but the real prize is the home button—a rare 6.6 carat white diamond.

Goldstriker iPhone 3GS Supreme – $3.2 million

Stuart Hughes is known for giving luxury devices such as phones and video game consoles the “Supreme” treatment—covering them with gold and diamonds—and the iPhone is no exception. The iPhone 3GS Supreme features a casing made from 271 grams of solid 22k gold and a screen trimmed with fifty-three 1-carat diamonds. The home button is covered with a single rare 7.1-carat diamond. That’s not all, though—the iPhone 3GS Supreme comes in a chest carved from a single block of granite and sports Kashmir gold and an interior lining made with Nubuck top grain leather.

South Africa is hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and local jewelry house Shimansky is celebrating with the world’s most expensive soccer ball.

The ball took three months to design and is still in production. When finished, it will be festooned with 6,620 white diamonds and 2,640 black diamonds, for a total of 3,500 carats of South African diamonds. It will be the size of a standard soccer ball, but will weigh 4.8 lbs.

The ball is intended to entice wealthy tourists and soccer aficionados into purchasing some of Shimansky’s South African gemstones. Shimansky is also producing crystal replicas of the ball to be displayed in their local stores and auctioned off for charity.

The Shimansky diamond soccer ball is valued at a phenomenal 20 million South African rands—that’s US $2.59 million!

Aside from the ball, Shimansky has also created a 9.3 carat World Cup dome ring worth nearly $16,000 and a pair of silver commemorative World Cup cufflinks worth $129.

Like snakes and lizards, birds are fairly exotic pets by default. To a bird lover with a little extra cash, however, truly rare and amazing feathered friends, like those talkative parrots indigenous to Africa, are available. So what are the world’s most expensive birds?

The Yellow-naped Amazon is a popular species of parrot. Normally green with patches of yellow on the forehead and hindneck, birds of this species are intelligent, playful and capable of mimicking human speech.

They’re even relatively obtainable, with one major exception—the Blue Mutation Yellow-naped Amazon.

These extremely rare individuals are covered in beautiful turquoise plumage and were discovered in Honduras over a decade ago. While very few have been imported, breeders like Hill Country Aviaries have had some success with these birds.

More expensive individual birds, like one supposedly purchased by a Kuwaiti for over $300,000 in Saudi Riyals, have been reported. However, at $18,000 to $20,000, the Blue Mutation Yellow-naped Amazon is the most expensive species of bird available to most bird lovers.

Every once in awhile, a car enters the spotlight and becomes an instant classic. Years down the road, these cars demand hefty prices when sold at auction. These are the most expensive classic cars in the world.

1937 Bugatti Type 57S – $4.4 million

When relatives of the recently deceased and “eccentric” Dr. Harold Carr opened the garage he’d left to them in his will, they had no idea what to expect. Sure they’d heard that there might be a Bugatti in there, but that was just a bit of local legend. As it happened, there really was a Bugatti in there—and, when it went to auction at Bonham’s Retromobile car show in February of 2009, it sold for €3,417,500—around $4.4 million at the time.

This 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante was originally purchased by Earl Howe a month after it left the Bugatti works. Over the 8 years that he owned the car, Howe added new bumpers, a luggage rack and rearview mirrors. It was later brought up to SC specification with the addition of a Marshall K200 supercharger by its next owner, J P Tingay. Eventually, the car found its way into the hands of Lord Ridley, who held it for a year before selling it to Dr. Carr. Combine this pedigree with the fact that only seventeen Type 57S’s—a version of the Type 57 modified specifically for competitions—were produced and you have quite an expensive car.

007 Aston Martin DB5 – $5-$10 million

An unusual addition to our list of the world’s most expensive classic cars, this 1964 Aston Martin DB5 has a few unique features and a unique pedigree—it’s one of two DB5s driven by legendary 007 actor Sean Connery in “Goldfinger,” complete with twin machineguns mounted behind its front turn signals.

Radio broadcaster Jerry Lee originally purchased the car from Aston Martin in 1969 for $12,000, after the car had appeared in both “Goldfinger” and “Thunderball” and had toured in a 007 promotional campaign. He has entered the car in “Automobiles of London,” where it will be auctioned on October 27th, 2010.

The other DB5 is believed to have been destroyed after its reported theft in 1997.
Aside from the (non-functional) machineguns, the car also features an ejector seat (also non-functional) and revolving number plates. These and other factory-installed gadgets are all in working order after a recomissioning program by RM Auto Restoration.

This spectacular piece of film and automotive history is expected to fetch between $5 and $10 million.

1961 Ferrari 250 GT California Spyder – $10.8 million

Sold in May 2008 at the RM Auctions/Sotheby’s Ferrari Legend and Passion auction, this Ferrari 250 GT was owned by former Magnificent Seven star James Coburn for twenty-five years. During that time, Coburn would test his skills against fellow enthusiasts Steve McQueen and James Garner. In fact, one of the latest lines of Ferraris, also designed by Pininfarina, has been named “California” in honor of Coburn’s car.

1957 Ferrari 250 Testa Rossa – $12.4 million

One of only twenty-two of its kind, chassis no. 0714TR features a distinctive pontoon-like design by Carrozzeria Scaglietti. The Ferrari 250 TR is famous for having won ten of the nineteen races in which they were driven between 1958 and 1961.

This particular TR won 4th place when driven by Piero Drogo in the 1000 km Buenos Aires in January of 1958. Drogo drove it one more time, in the Grand Prix of Cuba, before he sold it to American Alan Connell who drove it in nine races and spent most of that time in 1st or 2nd place in class. It featured in twelve more races between 1960 and 1963, making it one of the most raced Ferraris of all time.

It was sold at auction in Maranello, home of Carrozzeria Scaglietti and birthplace of the TR, for an impressive sum of €9,020,000.

1934 “Star of India” Rolls-Royce Phantom II Continental – $13 million

Hans-Gunther Zach, owner of the Rolls-Royce museum in Germany, is selling off his entire collection–including the museum’s premiere acquisition, the Star of India.

This bespoke Rolls was one of 281 Continental Phantom II’s ever produced. Built for the Maharajah of Rajkot, one of its custom features is, among its 14 headlights, a pair that turns with the steering wheel. Also particular to the Star of India is its unique orange-over-aluminum color combination.

The Star of India was auctioned alongside twenty-four other rare Rolls-Royces and another three Bentleys. After the auction, it appeared for sale at $13 million, but the listing was later removed.

Peter D. Williamson Bugatti Type 57S Atlantic – $30-$40 million

If you thought the Bugatti Type 57S above was expensive, then check out this piece of phenomenal piece of Bugatti history. The Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic was based on the “Aérolithe” concept car. The Aérolithe’s Electron and Duralumin construction required external riveting, resulting in a distinctive seam not unlike a dorsal fin. Despite the Atlantic’s aluminum construction, which required no such riveting, the seam was retained.

Only four Type 57SC Atlantics were produced and only two have survived to this day. Fashion guru Ralph Lauren owns one while the other was owned by late Bugatti collector Dr. Peter Williamson. The Williamson Bugatti, chassis #57374, was the first Atlantic off the production line and was originally owned by Lord Victor Rothschild. While it was drastically modified by its second owner, Dr. Williamson restored it to its original specifications after acquiring it for $59,000 in 1971. After Williamson’s passing, it was sold to an undisclosed buyer, reportedly for a sum between $30 and $40 million.

Pierce Brosnan as James Bond wearing a Brioni tuxedo.

The word “tuxedo” technically refers to a men’s black dinner jacket, but the term is often used to refer to the entire suit worn to black tie events. Both the term and, supposedly, the fashion originate from New York’s Tuxedo Park, where Griswald Lorillard wore a black dinner jacket to the Tuxedo Club’s annual Autumn Ball.

Italian fashion house Brioni has been making men’s suits since the end of World War II. Each year, their 900 tailors—each of whom must undergo a four year apprenticeship—create 200 different models of men’s suits. Their tuxedos are meant to emphasize a man’s broad-shouldered and narrow-waisted physique. They’re most famously associated with that suave secret agent, James Bond, who has worn Brioni suits since 1995.

Brioni tuxedos start at $3,000 and can cost upwards of $10,000 or more.

Tattoos have had a number of uses throughout human history. A tattoo may be spiritual in nature or simply aesthetic; it may even mark the bearer as part of a particular gang. The most expensive tattoo in the world, however, may be the first to display the bearer’s wealth so well.

The tattoo worn by South African model and Shimansky brand ambassador Minki van der Westhuizen wasn’t a tattoo in the traditional sense, as no ink was involved in its creation. Why nitpick, though, about someone who spent 8 hours having 612 Shimansky Ideal Cut .5 carat diamonds attached to her skin? Shimansky used a water based adhesive to affix the diamonds to the model, but only temporarily. Eventually, the formula had to be dissolved off Westhuizen’s skin.

The world’s most expensive tattoo is valued at 7.2 million South African rands, or around 924,000 US dollars, and the luxury jeweler has considered making similar tattoos available at any of their eight South African or four international locations.

Shorts may seem like a simple garment but, like any article of clothing, there will always be a costly luxury option. Luckily for anyone wishing to ditch their cheapo shorts, Huffington Post compiled a list of some of the most expensive women’s shorts in the world.

Emilio Pucci Cotton/Silk Gabardine Shorts – $660

These Italian gabardine shorts are made of viscose rayon and feature a front zipper with a snap enclosure, as well as front pleats and pockets. They also have detail on the side D-rings that adds a little flair to the khaki shorts.

Erdem Silk Floral-Print Shorts – $820

These shorts, imported from the UK, feature a floral pattern on silk satin with a pleated trim, silk lining, a front zipper with a hook-and-bar enclosure and side pockets. They are roughly 14 inches long.

Chloé Lambskin Leather Shorts – $2,015

Yes, you read that correctly—$2,015. These cream lambskin leather shorts are pleated at the waist and feature a front zipper and hook, slit back pocket, belt loops and a nude cotton liner to ensure they’re as comfortable as they are stylish. Did I mention the lambskin?