In order for humans to live, the basic necessities of living must be met. These include water, shelter, food, clothing, and air. Communication has also been vital to human survival. Hence, its inclusion in this article is not to be discounted. While several people are still unable to afford these needs especially in the poor areas of Africa and Asia, some wealthy individuals all over the world, who have so much money it has become a problem what to do with it, are spending thousands to millions just to satisfy their elevated needs.
If you won $100 million in the lottery, what would you do with it? Would you splurge it on your dream hobbies and interests? Would you spend it thriftily to grow it more? Or would you crave for higher standards of living, which most people in the world do not achieve?
This post gives you the six (6) most expensive basic needs ever bought by money.
The Most Expensive Water
Let’s start with water. Clear, potable water should be accessible to everyone, but that’s not yet the case. Droughts and geographic disadvantages have led to some water shortages in the world, mostly in Africa. Due to these shortages, some companies have flourished out of the need to give water access to the world’s most water-deprived people --- and that is, in bottles. Meanwhile, a few highly affluent people take a sip of the world’s most expensive bottled water goes to Acqua di Cristallo Tributo a Modigliani which has auctioned for a staggering $60,000 per 750 mL through a global warming-inclined foundation. With each bottle made up of 24-karat gold and designed by late Italian artist Amedeo Clemente Modigliani, it is the water for the most classy and luxurious. For what it’s worth, every drop definitely makes you regret why you just let it down the drain
The Most Expensive Clothing
In 2011, a study published in Molecular Biology and Evolution has revealed that humans began to wear clothing 170,000 years ago. That’s a long, long time ago! It just proves how extremely significant clothing is to us and our ancestors. Note that the modern form of humans only evolved around 200,000 years ago, so that’s around 30,000 years of being naked before finally realizing the need to clothe thyself!
Nowadays, clothing is not just a necessity, but a luxury with large fashion houses introducing pricey collections to the patronizing public. Other pieces of clothing worn by popular celebrities make it to the auction house and the responses of the bidders are just insane. The most crazily priced piece of clothing? It goes to Marilyn Monroe’s “Happy Birthday Mister President” dress which fetched a record $1,267,500 dollars! That’s more than 57 million Php for a secondhand dress!
The sultry dress was worn by the blonde international icon as she gave a “Happy Birthday” serenade to resident President John F. Kennedy on May 19, 1962. The flesh-colored million-dollar dress hugged the curves and stood out with jewels encrusted tightly and sheer. It was purchased in 199 by Manhattan-based collector Gotta Have It! When it was auctioned by the widow of Lee Strasberg, Monroe’s acting coach.
The Most Expensive Food
Who doesn’t love good food? Everyone, given that you have lots of money in your purse, would undoubtedly go on a food trip with friends to try the best tasting dishes in your locale. But while there are limits as to how much you would, without regret, shell out for good fine dining experience, the ultra-rich wouldn’t mind giving a thousand bucks for the most delectable, expensive food in the world.
There are so many cuisines in the world with a myriad of dishes to choose from, but what most likely stands for status and luxury would be caviar. Those who are able to munch on caviar somehow feel they have a lot of say in society. They’re a cut above the rest. And the most expensive food award goes to the Albino “White Gold” caviar which is derived from the white roe (or eggs) of the albino beluga, which can be found in Caspian sea but is on the road to extinction. Laced with 22-karat gold, the albino caviar or Strottarga Bianco costs $300,000 per kilo or $40,000 per teaspoon! Imagine your 1.8-million-peso sports car simply going down the toilet in just a few seconds! What a waste.
The Most Expensive Communication Tool
With the world becoming globally interconnected, it’s a no-brainer that smartphones are here to stay forever until advances in telepathy takes place. Smartphones have that one main functionality which is extremely needed by anyone in the world, and that is to communicate. People want to be in touch with one another. And the breakthroughs in communications technology have broken down barriers and simply linked families separated by distances.
Though most consumers just want that smartphone which gives them the essentials for talking, texting, and entertaining, a select few have managed to seek for everything better from appearance to use. Introducing, the world’s most expensive smartphone ---the iPhone 5 Black Diamond---which one can buy for a titanic $15.3 million! That’s more than half a billion pesos encased into one thief-attracting phone!
But wait, what’s so expensive in this phone? Wait for it! Just take a deep breath and relax. The iPhone 5 Black Diamond apparently has a rare 26-karat black diamond embellished on it which replaces the home button of the phone. Designed by luxury British designer Stuart Hughes for a Hong Kong-based businessman, the iPhone was made of 135 grams of 24-karat gold and was bombarded with 600 white diamonds. Not just one, but 600 pricey gems, 53 of which dotting the Apple logo at the back! The rest of the diamonds inlay the chassis of the iPhone 4. And it’s more than just a robber-friendly smartphone; it’s a piece of everything jewel lovers would want to have. Its package is placed with rare stones such as Opal, Charoite, and Pietersite. Also, don’t forget the polished piece of T-Rex bone that comes with it! Just the dream smartphone anyone would just want to hide in an extra-guarded and well-programmed safe.
The Most Expensive Shelter
Everybody dreams of having a house they can call their own, their area of relaxation, their piece of serenity, their refuge. Let’s read no further as the world’s most expensive house took a whopping $1 billion dollars to make!
The Antilia, located in Mumbai, India, is owned by Indian business magnate Mukesh Ambani. Named after a mythical island in the Atlantic Ocean, the Anntilia has 27 stories (yet with double-height ceilings takes the height of a 40-storey building) and 400,000 sq. ft. in area. It boasts of six underground levels of parking space fit for 168 cars, 9 elevators, three helipads, a ‘health’ level, a spa, some terraced gardens, a temple, a ballroom, a theater, and some guest suites. And it takes 600 people to overlook this extravagant home!
The Most Expensive Air
We’ve got all the most expensive basic things we need in life covered, but one - air. Believe it or not, air which is ubiquitous and is supposedly freely breathable has been given a price tag somewhere in Asia. But the price speaks so much as it is about its quality. So what is the reason? Smog. China has been tackling its severe smog problem. And a Canadian startup Vitality Air has come up with a solution. It’s selling bottled clean air collected from the Rocky Mountains in the town of Banff. Priced from $14 to $20, depending on the size, 500 canisters of it have already been sold. Orders for shipment of 1,000 bottles are now ongoing. Environmental destruction definitely has a price.
