Crufts 2015, billed as the world’s largest dog show, asked Samsung UK (this year’s official sponsor of Crufts) to build the “dog kennel of the future,” according to the Huffington Post. What it got was a doghouse that cost $30,000 to build and includes dirt-covered treadmills, a hydrotherapy pool, built-in tablets (presumably for when your dog needs some quality time alone with Netflix, as dogs often do) and paw-operated snack dispensers.

This “dream doghouse” will be on display for pet owners to drool over at the dog show, which takes place this week in Birmingham, England.

Andy Griffiths, president of Samsung Electronics UK and Ireland, told the Telegraph, “With the Samsung Dream Doghouse, we wanted to reflect the nation’s growing trend for using technology. From dogs who have social media profiles to owners who use video calling to check on their pet while away, technology is fast becoming an integral part of everyday life.”

According to the Telegraph, 64 percent of dog owners believe their pet would benefit from more technology and gadgets. With the new Samsung dog dream house, pets can bask in all the technology they could ever want; maybe they’ll finally get enough computer time to keep their social media profiles up to date.

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Image via Sony

Are you a music lover with $1,119.99 to burn? Then Sony has just the device for you: the new Walkman NW-ZX2.

Made for “serious music lovers,” according to Sony, the new Walkman boasts a solid aluminum body, 60-hour battery life and a 128-Gb expandable capacity for storing music. And not just any music — the new ZX-2 is intended for Hi-Res files rather than the compressed MP3 files most listeners are used to.

Converting analogue sound to digital formats like CD and MP3 can compromise the purity of the original signal,” says Sony in a press release. “Hi-Res Audio retains far more detail during the analogue-to-digital conversion process, for a more authentic, emotionally involving musical experience…. With immense amounts of musical detail to enjoy, you’ll feel as if you’re really there in the studio or concert hall.” (And after spending nearly $1,200, you’ll even feel as if you’d really paid for expensive concert tickets!)

Time reports that a typical Hi-Res file is about 150 MB, which is pretty large. However, the new Walkman’s storage capacity is so large that it will still be able to hold about 1,700 songs of this size.

The ZX-2 operates on an older Android platform (4.2 Jelly Bean) and can access apps through Google Play, says Business Insider. It also uses Bluetooth technology; its LDAC connection allows it to transmit data three times more efficiently than previous Bluetooth connections, claims Sony. The company touts the new Walkman’s superior sound quality, which is due to “carefully selected components including coils, MELF type resistors and film condensers with superior audio characteristics… No less than seven extra-large condensers, ‘OS-CON,’ maintain superb frequency response and minimise noise at the output stage.”

The ZX-2, which was unveiled at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, will go on sale in Europe this spring.

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Image Via imgur

Some people just have money to burn. For people who just can’t find a way to spend their money fast enough, there are frivolities like gold toilet paper and a diamond chess set. Here are 17 absurdly expensive versions of things we commoners have been buying for much, much cheaper.

$1.2 Million Toilet Paper Roll

Image via imgur

Australian company Toilet Paper Man has created the world’s most expensive roll of toilet paper using 22-karat gold. “As you use the toilet paper 22 carat gold flakes will fall onto the floor and your behind taking you to another level of sophistication.” The website assures potential buyers that the roll is completely safe to use. For a price tag of $1,376,900 AUD, or about $1.23 million USD, it better be safe to use.

$60,000 Bottle Of Water

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The Acqua di Cristallo “Tributo a Modigliani” was the world’s most expensive bottle of water, fetching $60,000 at auction. The bottle itself was handmade glass covered in 24-karat gold. The water was a blend of natural springs water from Fiji and France along with glacier water from Iceland. The 1.25 ml bottle contained 5mg of 23 K gold dust in the water. Proceeds from the sale went to a foundation fighting global warming.

$800 Beer

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Australian beer company Nail Brewing made 30 special bottles of beer in 2010 using Antarctic ice. Thought to be the world’s oldest and purest beer based on the water, a single bottle sold for $800. Proceeds were donating to an ocean conservation charity.

$250,000 Shirt

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Datta Phuge, an entrepreneur in India, commissioned this $250,000 shirt made of pure gold. He says the 7-pound top is the ultimate status symbol.

$2,300 Hot Dog

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New York City lounge 230 Fifth created the world’s most expensive hot dog, priced at $2,300. The 12-inch hot dog spared no expense, including truffle-enriched, marbled Wagyu beef, white truffle butter, and saffron-infused ketchup.

$1.47 Million Pen

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The Aurora Diamante fountain pen costs $1.47 million, and just one is made each year. It’s covered in De Beers diamonds and has an 18-karat solid gold nib.

$250 Popcorn

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The most expensive popcorn in the world is covered in gold flecks and goes for $250 per gallon. Thrifty shoppers can save by buying in bulk: a 6.5-gallon tin only costs $1,000. What a bargain!

$408,000 Sunglasses

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I’ve never paid more than $10 for a pair of sunglasses, but $408,496 seems reasonable. Swiss luxury brand Chopard created these sunglasses with 51 River diamonds totaling 4 carats in weight.  They also had 60 grams of 24-karat gold.

$2 Million Champagne

This is one liter of Dudognon Heritage Cognac Grande champagne with an alcohol content of 41 percent. It comes in a bottle dipped in 24-karat yellow gold and sterling platinum, with 6,500 certified brilliant cut diamonds.

$600 Coffee

Image via Shutterstock

Kopi luwak coffee beans have been eaten and fully digested by a small animal called a civet. The enzymes alter the chemical makeup of the beans, supposedly making them extra tasty when they come out the other end. The coffee will run you $600 per pound or $50 for a cup.

$1,188 Socks

Image via imgur

These socks are made of wool from the vicuna, a llama relative with an especially soft and warm coat. Only 10 pairs of the socks were for sale, for $1,188 per pair. A matching vicuna pullover, of which 20 were made, would cost $3,300.

$1,060 Cupcake

Image via Bloomsbury Cupcakes

The Golden Phoenix was offered by Dubai’s Bloomsbury’s Cupcakes for the equivalent of $1,062. Made of edible gold and the finest chocolate, the pricy cupcake was served on a 24-karat gold cake stand.

$565,000 iPod Dock

AeroDream One

The AeroDream One is an 11-foot iPod dock with a built-in ladder, five amplifiers and a hefty price tag to match. Customers can choose from chrome, black or white docks.

$9.8 Million Chess Set

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This Royal Diamond chess set is made of gold and platinum and is valued just under $10 million. It has diamonds, emeralds, pearls, rubies and sapphires built in and took 30 people to create.

$1.3 Million Stool

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This pure gold stool weighs a whopping 110 pounds and is valued at $1.3 million.

$100 Toothpaste

Image via Facebook/Theodent

Theodent 300 toothpaste costs $100 per tube. It contains an extra-large dose of Rennou, a proprietary blend of a chocolate extract with other minerals that help to strengthen tooth enamel.

$30.8 Million Book

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The Codex Leicester was a notebook written by Leonardo da Vinci and contains a mixture of sketches and writing. It was purchased by Bill Gates in 1994 for $30.8 million, or about $48.4 million adjusted for inflation.

The post 17 Insanely Expensive Versions Of Everyday Items appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via iVIP

If you’ve got a large surplus of income to spend money on random items you won’t see until you’ve already paid for, a new elite subscription service named Blackbox may be a great solution for you. If not, you can wish you had a large income to spend money on things you can’t see until you’ve paid for.

The UK-based luxury lifestyle box comes from the company iVIP. The “premium” box ships every two months and costs $1,800 per box.  An “infinity box” costs $152,000 a year and includes a consultation and a personal shopper, who will meet and personally deliver the box to the subscriber anywhere in the world.

Each Box will contain new, unique, exclusive, or limited edition items scoured from around the globe; hand-curated, highly-coveted items from labeled goods to literature, tablets to telescopes,” says the website.

Some gifts that may be included in the boxes are pre-released novels signed by the author, watches, original artworks, designer frames, Polaroid cameras, or limited edition wines. Some gifts will be catered to the location of the subscriber, such as tickets to an exclusive fashion show nearby or tickets to see a band play.

Everybody likes to treat themselves — and the people with most disposable income treat themselves most lavishly,” iVIP co-founder Matthew Rowe told MarketWatch.

The company’s slogan is, “Everything you never knew you wanted, delivered to your door.” Of course, some critics disagree. Edgar Dworsky, founder of ConsumerWorld.org, said, “This certainly is a niche market, appealing most to the Donald Trumps of the world,” Dworsky says. “Heck, give me $75,000 — half the price — and I will provide endless surprises to anyone you want for a year.”

If you have the funds to cover Blackbox’s asking price, there are some up and downsides. The upside is that a year’s subscription will also buy you shares in the company. The downside is that if you don’t like the gifts you’ve been given, you can’t return them. “We’re offering the eclectic, undiscovered and unknown,” says Rowe. “It would be impossible for us to manage returns per item.”

If you want some random, more affordable mysterious gifts, there are other subscription services, like My Brown Box (a beauty box geared towards women of color with a $20 monthly subscription) and BirchBox, a more versatile gift box with options for men and women, ranging from $10 to $20 in price.

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Image via Gouts de Diamants

Really feel like impressing your friends? Try inviting them over for a casual bottle of Goût de Diamants’ Brut Diamond champagne, which bubbles in a bottle worth $1.8 million.

You would have to commission it yourself, of course, as the unnamed client did of this specialty bottle filled with a light and flowery mixture of Grand Cru Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Pinot Meunier. Like this wealthy client, you could even get your name engraved on the 18-carat white gold that forms Goût de Diamants’ logo, where the real value of the bottle lies.

Nestled in the white gold, where the usual Swarovski crystal would sit, is a 19-carat diamond, providing the $1.8 million value of this unparalleled champagne bottle. For some people, crystals clearly don’t make the cut when it comes to bottle adornment.

The UK’s Alexander Amosu was commissioned to fabricate this bottle, a task that should not have been a big challenge for the man responsible for creating a bespoke suit service “based not only on the opulent fabrics” but also on Amosu’s years of experience and training as an expert tailor, according to his website, where you will also find his “bespoke mobile phones” and other luxury accessories.

As the Daily News reports, Goût de Diamants is not alone in putting their wine in a wildly pricey container. Champagne De Watère performed a similarly dramatic value increase before by including a 24-carat gold coin on the bottom of their bottle. At least the Goût de Diamants version put the expensive piece where we can see it.

The post World’s Most Expensive Champagne Bottle At $1.8 Million appeared first on Wall Street Insanity.

Image via Car Shoe

Auto enthusiasts may be well aware 2013 marks Lamborghini’s 50^th birthday. But they may not realize it’s also the golden anniversary for Car Shoe, which is known for its driving leisure apparel. So it’s no coincidence the two companies have teamed up to create a commemorative pair of moccasins.

Image via Car Shoe

The limited-edition shoes include a variety of Lamborghni-inspired details, including colors—red, black or blue—and the iconic Raging Bull logo. Moccasins were the perfect commemorative design for Car Shoe—now owned by the Prada Group—since it gained fame from its original moccasin back in 1963.

Image via Car Shoe

Thus far, the shoes have been given as promotional gifts. During Lamborghini’s 50^th anniversary grand tour—a 745-mile road trip including participants from 29 countries and 350 different models of Lamborghini—some participants received the shoes. But Car Shoe plans to release them to the public in the future for $460 a pair.

Image via Car Shoe

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Image via Bonhams

The Hope Diamond is envied by jewelry enthusiasts worldwide for its size, history and brilliant blue hue. The diamond found in the Smithsonian Natural History Museum is more than 45 carats and was once owned by King Louis XIV of France. When originally mined in India, it is thought to have once been as many as 112 carats when crudely cut. According to auctioneer Bonhams, blue diamonds—created when boron atoms mix with the carbon that comprises the diamond’s structure—make up less than 1 percent of all diamonds mined worldwide, and those exceeding five carats are extremely rare and highly sought-after in the market.

That theory rang especially true last month when a 5.3 caret blue diamond sold for an astounding $9.6 million—about $1.8 million per carat—at Bonhams. The cushion-shaped “fancy deep-blue” diamond is set in a “Trombino” ring made by Italian jeweler Bulgari—a company known for bejeweling Hollywood elite—sometime around 1965. “Fancy deep-blue,” describing the intensity of the color, is one of the rarest among diamonds.

The winning bid of $1.8 million per carat set a new world record, according to Bonhams, beating the previous blue diamond record of $1.68 million per carat. Of about 25 telephone bidders and a packed saleroom, London’s Graff Diamonds, an international dealer, came out the winner April 24.

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Image via Floatworks

Dip your body and mind into the tranquility of the womb with the i-sopod floatation tank. Called the purest form of relaxation, the tank looks like a spaceship and provides users with impenetrable calm as their anxieties melt away.

According to Floatworks, the maker of the i-sopod, the floatation tank was designed with precision engineering to create the most technically-advanced and luxurious system ever. With 16 years of floatation industry experience and by dedicating three years of research and development, the i-sopod sets new standards in quality, performance and durability.

The i-sopod floatation tank is unique in that its saline solution is heated outside the tank, eliminating electro-magnetic fields created by embedded heaters.  The tank was also designed with top-of-the-line safety features.

Image via Floatworks

With prices starting at $25,500, the i-sopod floatation tank is not for those with slim wallets or too few zeros in their bank balances. But the tank can not only be purchased for home relaxation, but also for use in a commercial setting. Spa and health club owners can certainly innovate their businesses with the addition of an i-sopod floatation system. The tanks can be hand-finished to customers’ specifications, including color choice. And the internal floatation area is 50-percent larger than most other tanks on the market.

The tanks also include underwater LED lights to enhance the experience. Likewise, the tanks are integrated with audio—stereo sound is supplied through a built-in MP3 player.

Floatworks began making tanks in 1993. After finding issues tanks across the industry for years, the company concluded the ideal system didn’t exist, which led to the research and development—and ultimately the creation—of the i-sopod.

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Image via Brooks Brothers

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s classic “The Great Gatsby” is hitting the big screen May 10, and excitement over the picture starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby has the fashion world roaring back into the 20s. For decades, the novel’s key figures have inspired designers, and this season promises to put the style back in the spotlight.

Image via Brooks Brothers

Brooks Brothers will do its part in bringing back the Roaring 20s by releasing a limited-edition menswear collection inspired by costumes from the recent film. It only makes sense that the iconic company launch a line inspired by the “The Great Gatsby.” Fitzgerald was a Brooks Brothers man himself, and Oscar-winning costume designer Catherine Martin actually looked at old 1920s Brooks Brothers’ pieces to help design the film’s more than 500 outfits.

Image via Brooks Brothers

The new Brooks Brothers art-deco inspired collection was designed in collaboration with Martin and features sophisticated formal wear as well as more casual day wear, including three-piece suits, shirts, bow ties, wing-tip shoes and tuxedos. The shawl cardigan worn by Tobey Maguire in the film is even included in the line, as is a beech wood walking cane.

The collection—available online and in stores—will set shoppers back a pretty penny, however. Prices range from $55 for a silk tie to a whopping $848 for a tuxedo jacket.

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Image via Camus

It’s been 150 years since the Camus family produced its first bottle of Cognac, and the company is celebrating its anniversary with the Cuvee 5.150 from the Camus “Masterpiece Collection.” A luxurious blend of five of the finest eaux-di-vix from the independent French Cognac house’s cellar, each marking a generation of the Camus family’s 150-year history, makes up the precious spirit: 37-year-old Bons Bois, 22-year-old Fins Bois, 37-year-old Petite Champagne, 22-year-old Borderies and 32-year-old Grande Champagne.

“When you taste an exceptional cognac, you are left with a lasting memory, and this is precisely what we were thinking of when we blended the Cuvée 5.150,” Cyrus Camus, president of Camus, said. “In our 150th year, we wanted to be respectful of our past while resolutely looking towards our future. The Cuvée 5.150 is a tribute to how each generation has built on the skills of the previous one and breathed new life into enduring traditions.”

Image via Camus

The Cuvee 5.150 is offered in just 1,492 limited-edition, numbered Baccarat crystal decanters inside individually-numbered black lacquered wooden cases for just $13,500 each. The decanter is actually the same Camus Masterpiece used for Camus’ 100^th anniversary, an asymmetrical design from perfume bottle creator Serge Mansau. The difference can be found in the corks. The 5.150 includes a cork made of black lacquered crystal, while the 2.105 stopper was decorated with silver and golden rings.

The Camus 5.150 will be sold nationwide, complete with an “Ultimate Sample”—a 100-milliliter taster of the liquor taken by the cellar master just before the decanters were filled so buyers can taste the spirit without unsealing the collectible decanters.

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