VeRY COSTLY STUFF--3

COSTLY RAZOR-

If you’re the kind of guy who manages to cut himself with a safety razor, the world’s most expensive razor is not for you. If you have steady hands, an appreciation of fine craftsmanship and the kind of budget that lets you buy a $30,000 razor, though, then you may want to take a look at what Hommage has created for people like you.

Known for their luxury personal grooming products, Parisian company Hommage certainly lives up to their reputation with the Damascene Razor. The name comes from the Damascus steel used to make the blade. While the technique for making the True Damascus encountered during the Crusades has been lost since the 1700s, modern pattern welding techniques have produced similar blades. The 128 layers of steel in the Damascene Razor produce a rose and torsion pattern much like those seen in True Damascus blades.

The blade isn’t the only expensive material used to make this extravagantly crafted straight razor, though. The razor’s sheath is platinum plated and it comes in a lacquered gift box of Tanzanian anigré wood. 






COSTLY CAR AUDIO SYSTEM-

While the RA:1K is highly customizable, the majority of systems will be installed with nine or ten drivers—four tweeters, four mid-range drivers and one or two subwoofers. These will be supported with up to six amplifiers capable of delivering extraordinarily clear sound at equally extraordinary volumes (0.0008% harmonic distortion at 100 watts and a signal-to-noise ratio higher than 115d. All of these features will ensure that your car stereo will sound better than it ever has.

The most basic version of the most expensive car audio system can be purchased for $72,000, but a serious audiophile can spend over $300,000 on all the bells and whistles that may be included.

Prior to the unveiling of the Rogue Acoustics Audio System, Critical Mass’ CES5.1 Electrostatic Surround Sound System was the most expensive car audio system available. It was lauded for the twelve relatively small electrostatic speakers included in the system; such speakers are normally quite large. In fact, the system outfitted four seats with independent left, right and center drivers while a single pair of rear speakers and a UL12 subwoofer dominated the back of the car. Only ten of these systems were made and they were priced at $259,000.





COSTLY TV -

From Italian company Keymat Industrie comes an expensive television studded with 160 real diamonds, 20 carats. Costing €100,000, the Yalos Diamond is the most expensive TV in the world. This expensive TV has no visible screws or welds, and the aesthetics are the work of Japanese designer Takahide Sano.

Not everyone can afford such an expensive LCD TV, but for those who absolutely must have the world’s most expensive television, the Yalos Diamond is the current choice. If you were thinking of upgrading to your first HDTV, this may not be the best option, but if you are remodeling your mansion, consider this expensive TV set.





COSTLY iPOD speakers-

Hammacher Schlemmer Studio-Quality Triode-Tube iPod Speakers.

This is the first tube-based iPod speaker system, producing a luxurious warmth and clarity prized by audiophiles and previously difficult to reproduce outside of custom-built amplifiers of a handful of live musicians.

Developed and built by German audio technicians, the system consists of an aluminum-encased amplifier housing four powerful Class-A tubes which glow gently as they generate warm, low-octave sound that is virtually distortion-free, considered by audiophiles to be the most pleasing to the human ear. The tube amplifier smooths over distortions found in modern digital recordings while helping to compensate and minimize the quality loss inherent in compressed audio such as MP3s. The matching double-cone, full-range speakers—designed solely for use with this system—faithfully generate warm, realistic tones using a single, highly synchronized chassis per speaker (reducing ill-timed and out of phase audio).

The set of speakers will only put you back a mere $3,999.95.





Portable digital audio players, more commonly referred to as MP3 players, have taken the world by storm since Apple released their original 1.8” 5 GB iPod in 2001. The iPod wasn’t the first MP3 player, though. The first of the modern successors to portable tape and CD players was produced in 1997 by SaeHan Information Systems. Their MPMan, later licensed to Eiger Labs for distribution in North America, held only 32 MB of music.

Since then, MP3 players have become as ubiquitous as cell phones—and they’re status symbols in the same way cell phones are, as well. A variety of expensive MP3 players have been released in the past decade. What follows are the most expensive MP3 players in the world.

Wowing attendees at CeBIT 2006, the TrekStor i.Beat Organix gold MP3 player was one of the first luxury MP3 players. Cast in 18 karat gold and covered with 63 one carat diamonds, TrekStor’s gold MP3 player sold for $20,000 on Amazon. The player’s technical specifications included a gigabyte of memory, a Lithium-polymer battery that allowed an operating time of twenty-five hours, an FM radio, SRS WOW surround sound and even an audio recorder for note-taking. 




Over twice as expensive, however, is the Douglas.J Presidential MP3 player by London-based Meng Duo Ltd. When you order your own Presidential, you need to choose not only the gold used in the casing (white or yellow) but also the physical configuration of the diamond buttons set in the front of the player. This expensive digital audio player includes a gigabyte of memory, a 65k color screen for video playback and support for a plethora of audio and video file formats. The Presidential is possibly the most expensive MP3 player in the world at around $45,000. The price includes Class 85 membership to get you exclusive access to a small group of clubs as well as hand delivery of your blinged out MP3 player anywhere in the world.








COSTLY COFFEE-

The most expensive coffee in the world does not hail from Jamaica or Hawaii, but instead from Indonesia.

Kopi Luwak the most expensive coffee in the world does exist, and those who drink the expensive coffee insist that it is made from coffee beans eaten, partly digested and then excreted by the Common palm civet, a weasel-like animal.

“Kopi” the Indonesian word for coffee along with “luwak” is local name of this animal which eats the raw red coffee beans. The civet digests the soft outer part of the coffee cherry, but does not digest the inner beans and excretes them.

Apparently the internal digestion ends up adds a unique flavor to the beans, removing the bitter flavor, and then beans are then picked up by locals and sold. The most expensive coffee beans can cost up to $600 a pound, and up to $50 per cup, if you can get over the fact that you are drinking such a strange brew.

You would know if you drank the most expensive coffee in the world, because the quantities of it are tiny amounts.






COSTLY RUM-

A festival in Europe had the most expensive rum in the world, but not necessarily for drinking. This bottle, dating back to the 1940s, is worth over $54,000 USD. It’s one of four unopened bottles of a blend of Wray and Nephew Rums. In fact, some of the rums used are over ninety years old at this point.

The Jamaican distillers who bottled this blend were forced to abandon their traditional distillation methods due to the 1930s Mai Tai craze draining their supplies. That makes this rum especially valuable, as it comes from that lost tradition.



Another bottle that might hold the claim as the world’s most expensive rum was recently launched from Havana Club. The Máximo Extra Añejo, the most expensive rum ever sold in Canada, is yet another blend of older rum reserves. Only nine bottles of this rum were made available.

The Wray and Nephew bottle was on display at RumFest, Europe’s first ever rum festival. The Máximo Extra Añejo is on sale in Toronto’s Summerhill LCBO for a mere $2000 CAD.