If you thought the recent global economic recession had put an end to our urge to splurge, well, you were wrong. According to a recent study conducted by International Proceedings of Economics Development and Research (IPEDR) ,despite the recent global economic downturn of 2008, luxury goods have maintained their popularity as some of the most popular products in the world even as the sales of other goods have fallen significantly. How else would you explain the ‘off-plan’ sale of all the three models to be ever made of the Dh14.3 million Lamborghini Veneno.
Surely some people have money to burn (fuel). Even if you don’t have Dh15m to splurge on a supercar, there are those that want to indulge themselves in luxury at perhaps one-third of that. If you do have Dh5 million to invest in Dubai, property is not a bad option at this time, considering prices have been on a major upswing since mid-2012.
In that amount, you can very well own a three-bedroom unit in one of the most prestigious addresses in the city – Downtown Dubai, or a villa in one of the prestigious localities across New Dubai. But as we step into the world of the rich and famous, this Dh5 million may not necessarily be the ‘life-savings’ amount that it might be for common folk like me.
The ultra-rich consider these luxuries seriously. These upper crust enhance their daily lives, ranging from spacious seaside villas, to classic cars, to gold-plated bathroom fixture and now a piano, which you can encash and buy a pad of you own in Dubai. Catering to the taste of these rich and famous, Galaxy Piano has a collection of pianos to suit the palette of the rich and the extremely rich.
Based in the UAE, the company exports pianos to other parts of the world. According to Mark Murphy, the sales and marketing director of the company, most of their pianos are sold overseas. “Ninety per cent of our products are sold internationally whereas 10 per cent of our pianos are sold locally. The pianos are assembled in Dubai/UAE but all major piano components come from Europe,” he says. “The price range of our products is from Dh350,000 for acrylic pianos and from Dh150,000 for the wooden pianos. We have also signature pianos like the Piano Bar or our 24-carat gold-plated fibre glass pianos. All our pianos have an Intelligence Self Playing System controlled by iPad,” he adds. The gold-plated piano that Murphy is referring to costs a mere €1 million (Dh4.78 million), and might well be the world’s most expensive piano on sale.
That price-tag might not necessarily be music to the ears of numerous fans of melody. Imagine what you could do with that money – from investing in property to perhaps inviting Yanni to perform exclusively for you! But for people who are born rich or make it to the big-spenders’ list, such an expensive item can make a great showpiece in their living room, if nothing else. For sure, they don’t have space constraints that come with a small apartment.
