When it comes to holiday decorations, holiday movies are quick to show how competitive rivals can get to create the biggest, brightest, and most outlandish decorations. For the past two years people have been taking Christmas trees to new heights. While in 2006 a 21karat gold tree was made by Japanese jeweler Ginza Tanaka that sold for $850,000, the tree that takes the cake is bigger and better. Last year, Soo Kee Jewelry of Singapore commissioned what was at the time the world’s most expensive Christmas tree. The tree was almost twenty feet tall and weighed over seven thousand pounds. It was adorned with almost four thousand crystal beads and was decorated with almost five hundred lights, yet none of these things are what made the tree so expensive. That factor was based on the fact that the tree was encrusted with just short of twenty two thousand diamonds, totaling nine hundred and thirteen carats. With a value of $1,005,000, this was one tree that literally looked like a million bucks.
The record for most expensive tree was broken later last year, and the new record holder measures in at a mere sixteen inches tall. This tree is made of a small tower of preserved miniature roses and contains four hundred and eight diamonds with a weight of one hundred carats and a red teddy bear with a diamond pendant. The store selling the tree notes that “the smaller diamonds sparkle charmingly like morning dew on petals while two-carat and three-carat pieces mesmerize admirers with their noble glow.” It is intended to fit atop a desk, and only one such tree was made and offered for sale. The tree is offered for a staggering one million eight hundred thousand dollars by the Chinese department store chain Takashimaya.
This year’s most expensive tree is on display at the Ginza Tanaka jewelry store in Shinsaibashi, Osaka, Japan. Weighing in at only 21 kilograms, this gold tree contains over 240 jewels, including numerous diamond baubles. The tree is decorated with strands of pearls and has a value of roughly one and a half million dollars.
In addition to diamond studded Christmas trees, high end makers have also pushed limits when creating ornaments. German maker Krebs Glas created the world’s most expensive Christmas ornament. Made of finely sculpted 12 carat solid gold and encrusted with 120 VS1 diamonds with a combined weight of 5.1 carats, this ornamentation surrounds a beautiful red glass ball. The ornament has an estimated retail value of thirty one thousand four hundred dollars.
These trees and decorations are part of a larger trend of encrusting even the most common items with diamonds. From computers to cell phones and even coffee makers, there is a rapidly growing trend that if an item can be encrusted in diamonds it will be. Aimed at a small and unique group of people, these items are typically sold as one of a kind or limited edition gifts.
Diamond encrusted items are nothing new, as many antique items have been sold at auction that are encrusted in diamonds as well. It seems to be a trend that waxes and wanes in popularity. In a time where the economy seems unsuited for such items, diamond sales remain steady. A recent auction at the famed Christie’s auction house brought in over twenty four million dollars for the famed Wittelsbach diamond, passed down through royal lineage from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries.
It is certain that these items are not for everyone, but there is certainly a market for them. There are actually a large number of people interested in diamond encrusted tech items and toys as well as decorative items. Because most of the pieces are produced in such limited editions, they are considered to be an investment as well as a usable product, and the value of these items is expected to rise significantly over time. When considering what a vintage video game system can sell for these days, it is hard to imagine how the value would have increased if the maker had issued a small number of jewel encrusted models.
In short, diamond covered Christmas trees, while highly unique, are nothing new. Many people enjoy seeing the new trees that come out every year, and it is stunning to learn the amount of hard work that goes into producing these decorations. People flock from all over the world to get a good look at the trees, which are only on display for a short time every year. While this year’s trees are quite astounding, there is little doubt that many people are already excitedly planning next year’s trees. There is also very little doubt that an even larger number of people are waiting anxiously to see them.
