Most Expensive Bicycle

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.

 

[Source: Most-Expensive Journal]

Most Expensive Speeding Tickets

Here in the US, you can expect to pay the same for a speeding ticket whether you’re a millionaire or a pauper. Not so in Europe, however, where countries like Switzerland, Germany, France and Austria assess traffic fines based on the offender’s income.

In 2007, Switzerland overhauled their flat traffic fine system due to the disregard wealthy individuals had shown for basic traffic laws. This has led to a $290,000 fine for one repeat offender with an estimated $20 million in assets who was caught doing twice the 30 mph speed limit through a small village.

Similarly, a driver in France was charged 70,000 francs for speeding at 151 miles per hour.

Both of these fines, however, are dwarfed by the penalty to one Dutch 22-year-old who was caught doing 100 mph in a 50 mph zone near Rotterdam. In the Netherlands, an offense of that severity can result in the offender’s vehicle being confiscated by the authorities.

Unfortunately for the youth, son of Trust International CEO Michel Perridon, he was driving dad’s Bugatti Veyron valued at around $2.4 million, and now the most expensive traffic fine in the world.

Oh, he lost his license, too.

[Source: Most-Expensive Journal]

Most Expensive Cupcakes

Do you like cupcakes? What about diamonds? Gold? If you said “Yes!” to all of these questions, then you’re in for a treat—or two—as we tell you about the most expensive cupcakes in the world.

Decadence d’Or – $750

First, there’s Decadence d’Or by Pastry Chef Long Nguyen. Available at Las Vegas’ Palazzo Resort, ‘Decadence’ is made with edible gold flakes, gold-vanilla caviar, a Louis XIII de Remy Martin Cognac bottled around 1900 and Palmira Single Estate Chocolate. This cupcake truly has the “most expensive” look with its fantastic ornamentation.

 

Diamond cupcake by Mervis – $30,000

Created by Mervis Diamond Importers, these classy cupcakes weren’t just well-decorated—they were well-decorated with diamonds. Made to usher in the 2009 wedding season, each cupcake included a single, 2-carat asscher cut diamond surrounded by eight brilliant cut diamonds. Clearly the cupcakes weren’t bad enough for your teeth without the diamonds.

 

ROX diamond cupcake – $150,000

Created to mark the three-day Glam in the City fashion event in Glasgow, Scotland, this iced pastry—pardon the pun—is sparkling with gems from ROX luxury jewelers. ROX collaborated with Cupcake Glasgow to create this delightful diamond dessert. The event, fronted by fashion consultant Gok Wan, runs from June 18th to June 20th, 2010.

[Source: Most-Expensive Journal]

Most Expensive Apple MacBooks

Apple’s MacBook laptop computers may have gotten off to a rocky start in 2006, but that doesn’t mean things can’t get rockier still. Of course, we’re not talking about random shutdowns anymore. No, this time the rocks are diamonds and Swarovski crystals.

PowerMax Maxbook pro – $6,499 or $7,999

In late 2007, PowerMax introduced us to the gold-plated MacBook Pro. The 24k gold case, complete with diamond-studded Apple logo, housed a 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo CPU and could be purchased in 15.4” and 17” models.

 

 

 

Bling My Thing MacBook Air – $40,000

The extraordinarily thin MacBook Air has been given the Swarovski treatment. The Golden Age MacBook Air is coated with 12,000 hand-set Swarovski crystals. These special lead crystals bring out the sparkle in the 24k gold plate that forms the laptop’s case. Only twenty of the expensive MacBook were made and it took about a week to place all those crystals by hand.

 

Stuart Hughes MacBook Air Supreme Ice Edition – $200,000

Stuart Hughes’ “Supreme” luxury devices are usually high-end consumer electronics with their outer shells swapped out for solid gold and buttons replaced with precious stones. With the MacBook Air, however, he’s gone a slightly different direction. This time, the shell is made of 2.5 kilograms of pure platinum. Of course, he hasn’t forgotten the stones–the Apple logo is made with 53 flawless diamonds weighing in at 25.5 carats. The most expensive MacBook in the world is a limited edition of only 10 notebooks.

[Source: Most-Expensive Journal]

Most Expensive Wallpaper

What kind of artist works with a hunting knife? Ask Mark Evans, the pioneer whose work has been called “leather sculpting.” That work will soon adorn the walls of one Russian billionaire’s mansion as the most expensive wallpaper in the world.

Evans works by etching the leather down to the suede with a number of bladed tools of different sizes, from a large hunting knife to several sculpting knives. The results are photorealistic depictions of animals, the crucifixion and even the celebrated “Fight of the Year” between Doug Jones and Muhammed Ali.

Evans’ leather etchings will cover the walls of two rooms in a mansion in Moscow. The unnamed billionaire’s wallpaper will cost $2.71 million, or around $23,675 per square meter.

[Source: Most-Expensive Journal]