From a towering Christmas tree bedecked with $11 million in fine jewelry to a $4.2 million “tree” of pure gold, these four festive centerpieces have taken holiday decor to the next level.
Christmas has always been the season for cheerful, sparkling decorations. Many people tend to bring out their very best ornaments, crockery, cutlery, crystals, and the like for the festivities, ensuring that they provide the very best experience to their loved ones. Businesses, malls, and luxury hotels do something similar for the season, yet they are known for taking it to a whole new level, especially when it comes to setting up a Christmas tree — undoubtedly the beating heart of the holiday ambiance. Rather than the usual vibrant orbs and stars, think fine jewelry and precious metals.
If you’re curious to know which tree setups have made history as some of the most extravagant and valuable in the world—or if you’re looking for some opulent inspiration—here are four record-breaking centerpieces to marvel at.
$15 Million Christmas Tree at Kempinski Hotel Bahia
In 2019, a $15 million Christmas tree at the Kempinski Hotel Bahia broke records as one of the most expensive of its kind. It wasn’t the tree itself that was particularly valuable, but rather, the ornaments that adorned its branches. The hotel spared no expense to deck it out with ornaments created by celebrity designer Debbie Wingham.
The tree featured decor with millions worth of jewels, including pink, red, white, and black diamonds, as Cecilia Rodriguez of Forbes reports. Also included were 3D-printed chocolates and other sweet treats in the shape of peacocks, feathers, perfume bottles, and ornate ostrich eggs, adds Amy Woodyatt of CNN.
$11 Million Christmas Tree at Emirates Palace
Next is another star tree that earned the Guinness World Record for “Most Expensive Christmas Tree Decorated” in 2010. Costing around $11 million at the time, the tree served as the holiday centerpiece at Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi. According to the records, it measured 43.2 feet in height and featured an impressive 181 pieces of jewelry.
$4.2 Million Gold Disney “Christmas Tree” Piece at Ginza Tanaka Jewelry Store
While not necessarily a tree, Japanese fine jewelry brand Ginza Tanaka’s creation served as the store’s tree ornament in 2012, wowing both visitors and the media with its appearance and value. Smaller than the other “trees” in this list (7.9 feet), the Ginza Tanaka piece embodied the business with its material: 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of pure gold, as Reuters states in a report.
The magical piece also showcased the silhouettes of 50 beloved cartoon characters from Disney, including Mickey Mouse, Tinkerbell, and Cinderella. “Right now gold is over 4,400 yen per gram. We used pure gold and had an expert craftsman form each Disney character by hand,” explained Tomoko Ishibashi, a member of the marketing department of Tanaka Kikinzoku Jewelry (which runs the Ginza Tanaka jewelry store) to NBC News in a 2012 feature.
$700,000 Swarovski Christmas Tree at the Pavilion Kuala Lumpur
Swarovski, a leading creator of fine jewels and crystals, also had quite the show to give at Malaysia’s premier shopping mall, Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, back in 2015. Its 75-foot Swarovski Christmas Tree was the tallest indoor one in Asia.
The towering decorative piece sparkled with more than 3,000 crystal strands—a total of around 175,000 individual crystal pieces—which were valued at around $700,000 (RM3 million) at the time. The tree’s accents and overall look was also inspired by the brand’s stunning Christmas Collection with Australian model Miranda Kerr in 2016.
Banner photo by Reuben Teo via Unsplash.
