Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Christmas. Show all posts

Monday, December 10, 2012

World's Most Expensive Christmas Dinner: $200,450 For Four People


Christmas time is a season of get-togethers and festive dinners, and this year we have the father of all Christmas dinners with Ben Spalding’s $200,450 Christmas dinner for a group of four. Ben Spalding is the Head Chef at John Salt London, and has worked at more than 12 Michelin-starred kitchens in more than four countries, so you can expect this Christmas dinner to be quite a spread.

Chef Ben Spalding with the Menu Card for this Christmas Dinner

This $200,450 Christmas dinner is a one-off luxurious feast, which will be specially prepared and served at their home of the buyer, by Ben Spalding and his team of culinary experts. There is a bit of charity here too: Ben Spalding will be contributing 80 percent of his fee to Cancer Research UK and Hospitality Action.

Four Courses Of The World’s Most Expensive Christmas Feast

So, what will be served at the world’s most expensive Christmas dinner? Well, this expensive luxury Xmas feast is a four-course meal, during which diners will relish some of the most expensive food and drinks available in the world.

Almas Caviar that will be served as the first course of this Xmas dinner

For the first course, a bottle of Piper Heidsieck 1907 champagne worth $59,340 will be served in diamond-encrusted champagne flutes. This will be followed by Almas caviar (the world’s most expensive caviar at £5,000), and 150-year-old balsamic vinegar (priced at £1,030).

For the second course, Spalding’s team will serve Yubari King melon from China (this is the world’s most expensive melon at $4,010). This melon will be presented with saffron and whole white Alba truffles costing £3,500.

The third course will be the traditional Christmas turkey, which is a must-have at any luxury Christmas dinner. However, this will be a costly turkey of the rare Dodine breed that costs £500. Beef fillet from the famous Wagyu cows of Japan (costing £4,500) will also be served during this course. The whole turkey and beef fillet will be wrapped in gold leaf (costing £6,000), and garnished with Akbari Pistachios (costing £5,000).

A packet of Kopi Luwak coffee

The last course of this Xmas dinner is the dessert, which will be served to the guests in a gold Ugandan vanilla plate which is priced at £1,500. This dessert consists of seedless Densuke watermelon (costing £2,600) from Japan, Amadei chocolate and whipped Kopi Luwak, the most expensive coffee in the world at £3,000.

I was surprised to hear that this Kopi Luwak coffee is made from coffee beans that are fermented in the intestines of the Asian Palm Civet Cat. I've seen this wild cat in the Delhi Zoo. It was cute, but just imagine, having cat-poo for desert…people actually pay for this?

Other expensive ingredients that will be used during this four-course Christmas dinner are:
  • Diva Vodka - £2,000
  • Pullet de bresse’s for stock - £2,500
  • Periogord truffles - £900 
  • Amadei chocolate - £150 
  • 1949 Cheval Blanc - £4,680 
  • 1988 Corton-Charlemagne, Coche-Dury - £1,390
  • 1959 La Tache - £5,400 
  • 1976 Chateau d’Yquem - £990
While this festive spread is the most expensive Christmas dinner, it is not the world’s most expensive dinner ever. This honour goes to the lavish spread offered by the five-star Lebua Hotel in Bangkok, which offers a ten-course feast for a whopping $300,000 per person.

What do you think of the world’s most expensive Christmas dinner? Would you rather have something else served at your dining table for the price of $200,450?

From: Daily Mail

Monday, November 26, 2012

Mickey Mouse Pure-Gold Christmas Tree - $4.2 Million


Check out this pure gold Christmas Tree, with charming Disney figures like Mickey Mouse, decorating it. Made by Japan based jeweller Ginza Tanaka, this pure-gold Christmas Tree is now the most expensive Christmas tree in the world.

Ginza Tanaka is a jewelry design company based in Tokyo, Japan, with more than 115 years experience in creating opulent pieces of jewelry, fabricated from precious metals like gold, silver and platinum.

Features of the Pure-Gold Christmas Tree

The gold Christmas Tree designed by the jewelry company is made from 48 kilos of pure gold, and stands about 2.4 metres tall. It is 1.2 metres in diameter, and revolves on a dais, to display the 50 cut-outs of Disney characters on it. These Disney characters include Mickey Mouse, Alice, Genie, Aladdin and Cinderella, amongst many others.

Pure-gold revolving Christmas tree from Japan

All these characters are silhouette cut-outs made from pure gold. The Christmas Tree is topped with a giant gold cut-out of Mickey Mouse’s head. The Mickey Mouse Christmas Tree also has ribbons made from gold leaf, draped over it, to increase its splendour. This gold tree took about two months to complete, with about 10 master craftsmen from the jewelry store working on it, during that period.

In the past, this Tokyo-based jewelry company had launched a pure-gold Christmas Tree, priced at $2 million. With this bigger gold Christmas tree priced at $4.2 million, they have broken all records for the most expensive Christmas Tree in the world. The tree will be on display till December 2nd, by which it is expected to get sold.

Disney characters on the real-gold Christmas tree

If you find this Disney Christmas Tree too expensive for your Holiday budget, the Japan-based jewelry company also offers a smaller gold tree, which costs less. This tree measures only about 25 centimetres in height, has 20 Disney characters, and can be bought for the price of $243,000.

The miniature version of the pure-gold Disney Christmas Tree is already reported to have found a few billionaire buyers, including some celebrities and business tycoons. It makes a great Christmas gift for the elite, as gold is always a good investment too!

What do you think of this pure-gold Christmas Tree? Would you buy it as a Christmas gift?

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Expensive Designer Christmas Stockings by Karl Lagerfeld


If you are looking to gift someone a pair of expensive designer stockings this Christmas, then read on. Karl Lagerfield’s grey ski-boot like Christmas stockings is the rage, amongst elite buyers.

This pair of designer Christmas stockings can be bought at the Selfridges store on Oxford Street, a luxury department store that are famous for its opulent window displays and sparkling Christmas décor.

Luxury designer Christmas stockings by Karl Lagerfield

The fashionable Christmas stockings designed by Karl Lagerfield are priced at $307. They have a monochrome design in black and grey, and are shaped to resemble a ski boot.

What do you think of this designer Christmas stocking? Would Santa be impressed when he slides down the chimney on Christmas eve?

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Chopard’s Disney Princess Collection Of Necklaces


If you’ve always been fascinated with Disney’s Princesses, then this Christmas season, check out these necklaces inspired by them. Chopard, the distinguished jewelry maker, has launched a wonderful Haute Joaillerie jewelry collection, with elegant but playful necklace designs, based on various Disney princess characters.

Chopard necklace with coloured stones based on Belle

This jewelry collection includes ten jewelry pieces, including necklaces, earrings, bracelets and hairpieces, based on Disney Princess characters like Cinderella, Ariel, Mulan and Belle. Chopard has worked with luxury goods store ‘Harrods’ and Disney, to bring out this collection of Disney jewelry, in time for Christmas and the Holiday season.

Chopard necklace with blue stones based on Tiana

This collection of Disney Princess jewelry by Chopard, will be available at Harrods this Christmas. For 2012, Harrod’s has planned a festive Christmas celebration with a Disney-theme, and these Chopard jewellery items blend well with the theme.

Disney Characters And The Chopard Jewelry They Inspired

  • Tiana: This Disney character inspired a necklace with blue stones, which looks like the floating flowers, on which Princess Tiana and her Frog Prince floated upon. 
  • Sleeping Beauty: This Disney princess was the inspiration behind a pair of earrings that shows two birds carrying flowers, similar to the birds in the Sleeping Beauty story. 
  • Rapunzel: This collection includes a golden colour necklace that reflects the long, cascading golden hair of Rapunzel, and a hairpiece clip in pink stones. 
  • Belle: This collection consists of a sparkling necklace that seems to be inspired by the yellow dress, worn by Belle (from Beauty and the Beast), and another necklace with coloured stones all around. 
  • Evil Queen in Snow White: This Disney character inspired a ring with apple-like rubies, similar to the poisoned apple the Evil Queen served to Snow White.
Chopard earrings based on Sleeping Beauty

What do you think of these Disney character inspired jewelry pieces by Chopard? Which is your favourite Disney Princess? Would you like this as a Christmas gift?