7 housewarming gifts for millionaires
They may tell you to just bring a bottle but everyone having a housewarming secretly wants their guests to bring something awesome to help deck out their new pad.
There are all kinds of things that pass themselves off as house warming gifts, from toilet roll holders to Persian rugs and it it is often difficult to know where to start and where to draw the line.
To show you where the ceiling is, whilst helping you to spend vast imaginary fortunes, we’ve put this list of billionaire house warming gifts together that would blow your friend’s minds as well as a whole lot of money.
Champagne
In 1916 a Swedish freighter on it’s way to the Imperial Court of Tsar Nicholas II of Russia was torpedoed by a German submarine in the Gulf of Finland. On board was an exquisite cargo including a Heidsieck cuvee called Diamant Bleu from 1907. The ship sank to the ocean floor where it and it’s contents remained in the chilled waters for over 90 years. In 1998, 2000 bottles were salvaged from the shipwreck and have recently gone on sale for $275,000 each - making it the most expensive champagne in the world.
Books
The most interesting part of any study or office room in a house is the bookcase. Sure to wow any curious bibliophile scanning across the shelves would surely be an original copy of Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘Codex Leicester’. However, in order to get it, you’d have to buy it off of none other than Microsoft’s Bill Gates who purchased it in 1994 for a staggering $30.8 million.
Wallpaper
Armed only with a knife, artist Mark Evans sculpts leather into glorious artworks that have gone on to be used as wallpaper in the homes of Russian billionaires. One such Slavic character is having two rooms papered in Mark’s beautifully etched leather for a wallet smashing $2.71 million. To give the gift of housewarming wallpaper like this it will set you back around $23,000 per square meter so you’d better hope they move into a small bungalow with lots of windows.
Cheese
The most expensive cheese in the world is extremely simple, if somewhat off-putting. Called ‘Pule’ the cheese with the greatest price tag you can find in the world is made solely out of donkey milk - nothing more, nothing less. Pule makers can be found in the Zasavica special nature reserve north of Belgrade in Serbia and will sell you a kilogram of their smoked donkey cheese delicacy for $1,000. Although it will hit your wallet mighty hard it won’t impact your waistline as it is incredibly low in fat.
Whiskey
After all the boxes are finally unpacked don’t you think your friend would love to celebrate with a dram of the oldest whiskey ever bottled by the Macallan distillery? Especially when it’s stored in a one of a kind crystal decanter created to celebrate the anniversary of master glassmaker René Lalique’s birth. A unique tipple that warms the cockles as decadently as this one certainly doesn’t come cheap - the only Macallan 64 year old whiskey ever bottled in this way sold for $460,000 at a charity auction in November, 2010.
A vacuum cleaner
Every house needs a vacuum cleaner and most will have a Dyson, a Hoover or a little Henry from Argos. But if you’re a billionaire with some pocket change to spare for your best friends’ move into their first home together, why not get them the Crystal Ergoripado by Electrolux. Bedazzled with 3,730 Swarovski crystals, this haute couture super sucking vacuum could be yours for just $19,340.
A new bed
Made out of chestnut and ash this handmade bed is evocative of the sort of 18th Century furniture most frequently associated with French palaces and romantic novels. However, this particular bed is brand spanking new and called the Baldacchino Supreme. Lacqured and decorated with over 100kg of 24 carat gold, the Baldacchino will set you back a supreme $6.3 million. You’d have to be extremely rich to be able to sleep well after writing that cheque.
If you're looking for something a little more affordable than these decadent billionaire playthings, check out the range of excellent house warming gifts available at Rex London.
Image source: Julia Sudnitskaya