Everyone has heard about the common types of
products in the luxury market: cars, yachts, jets, fashion apparel, jewelry,
watches, shoes, etc. Today we explore a stranger side of luxury. Call it the
niche of niches. The truly rare and exotic items that are not meant for the
public or rather not meant for even the most irrational collectors. Although
there are more items that stretch the luxury market, these three embodied much
of the drives that elicit the consumer to buy regardless of the price. Bear
with me as we pull the curtains back and reveal the deepest reaches of the
luxury market.
First up: Lionel Messi’s foot. The internationally
known football (soccer) star has been immortalized with a solid gold replica of
his left foot. Although Messi’s real foot would be worth a lot more, this is
the closest you can get to owning the icon’s foot. Created by Japanese Jeweler,
Ginza Tanaka, this gold statue has a price-tag of $5 million USD. Ginza Tanaka
is also famous for his other solid gold works including a statue of Santa and
Walt Disney’s character, Stitch.
What you’re looking at is a pen valued at $1 million
USD. The Montegrappa Centennial Dragon fountain pen is used to celebrate the
100th year anniversary of this brand. Moreover, the price of this
brand as rich as its history. This writing instrument has been the brand of
choice for heads of state and titans of industries and used to sign contracts
and treaties that made history. When the Dragon pen debuted in 1995, it was
used to pass the torch from Boris Yeltsin to Vladimir Putin as President of
Russia.
Probably the strangest and possibly borderline absurdity
of the luxury market product is Icelandic designer Sruli Recht’s “Forget Me
Knot” ring. This ring is a gold band with 4 inches of Recht’s skin actually cut
from his abdomen. At a price of $470,000 USD, this comes with a DNA certificate
of authenticity and a DVD detailing its creation process. This truly is a
one-of-a-kind ring (granted the artist doesn’t slice off more of himself).
The luxury market is as unique as the products that
saturate it. Above are three products only a handful of people in the luxury
industry have seen and fewer in the eyes of the public. While it’s understandable
to want to possess a piece of history such as the Montegrappa Dragon Pen, it is
hard to rationalize the “Forget Me Knot” ring. When purchasing these items one
must try to comprehend the type of lifestyle the buyer wants to portray. Is it
a fanatic appreciation of an iconic superstar, an ownership of a piece of
history, or a sense of exclusivity? It is these inner drives that fuel the need
to purchase such extravagant items. In the grand scheme of things, these items
represent an extreme end of a spectrum where luxury finds itself entangled with
human imagination.
