Ten Things That Are Expensive (Why They Are Worth It)

I'd bet that even before you laid eyes on this sentence a slew of expensive materials already crossed your mind. Right? I'm not talking about unique and exuberant oddities such as jewel-encrusted bikinis, or private jets, but commonly known items that one may find in the home of any distinguished well-to-do person.

Here's a list of expensive items I conjured up.

(Your list may be different or even better.)

Gold

Diamonds

Pearls

Perfume

Wines

Paintings (by the way, do you know the difference between a Manet and a Monet?)

Caviar

Porcelain

Persian Carpets

Silk

If we rate them the Digg way each will most likely get a 'thumb up' for significance, value, and popularity. You're probably thinking “This is so blase- common knowledge.” True. But I'd like to present some new and interesting facts and attributes, some of which we may not know about.

Gold. According to the American Museum of Natural History, ancient peoples revered it by accolading phrases. The Aztecs called it teocuitlatl, meaning “excrement of the gods”. The Incas and the Andes called it “sweat of the sun”. It's worth its weight.

Diamonds. Neatorama tells us that in 2004 an astronomer named Travis Metcalfe discovered a chunk of diamond as big as the moon, and it weighs 10 billion, trillion, trillion carats. For some, it is a most prized adornment because of its hardness and brilliance. They serve us in a myriad of applications one of which is electronic, for its value as a semi-conductor and insulator. For today's technology, they're really worth it.

Pearls. We all know they're made by oysters. Natural pearls command a hefty price because they are rare. There is no other use for pearls that I'm aware of other than adornment. We're bedazzled by their beauty, so they are certainly worth capturing.

Perfume. We all know it's expensive because it takes hundreds of flowers to make an ounce of it. We like it because it makes us smell good, and a little dab of it lets out a lasting aroma that works to our advantage, like pheromones. Definitely worth it.

Wines. Wines are expensive because the best quality wines must be aged and kept under the right conditions. Gourmands tell us the older it is, the better. People the world over are willing to wait because aging brings out the best in it. And the sharing of wine brings about camaraderie. We like.

Paintings. Art collectors and aficionados value works of art with tender loving care. Various works of art express profound meaning by the artist. And, according to Carl Jung, centuries old paintings mystically express the collective consciousness of today. But (and don't beat me up) instead of keeping and adoring paintings by Van Gogh or da Vinci, extremely gifted artists, I'd sell it for cash. So they're worth it in more ways than one.

Porcelain: Wikepedia tells us that porcelain comes from the Italian word "porcella", a word for the shell of a mollusk, because the surface of porcelain has that same translucency as the shell. Sometimes we call it China because that's where porcelain making began. A stunning testament to the quality of porcelain can be seen in the Dakin Building in Berkeley, California, built 2004. Its exterior panels were constructed with porcelain. My guesstimate is that the architect designed it with porcelain for its thermostatic effect. It is a semi-conductor, so it can transfer heat away from the building and also insulate warmth into the building. Super savings in energy!

Caviar: An excerpt from a scene in an old movie between two socialites goes something like this: Man: ...'after we fish, we take our catch home, scoop out the innards and throw away the eggs, and then put it on the grill'. Woman: (Laughter) 'That's funny. In Russia we take out the eggs, and throw out the fish'. We import a lot of our caviar from Russia. One time my curiosity got the best of me, so I went to the local delicatessen and bought some caviar. I tried it. Then I wondered "What's the big deal? Maybe one just has to acquire a taste for it". Then one day a client gave me a large can of Beluga caviar. It was divine! But was it worth the price? I'll put it this way: if I had a lot of money I'd stock up on Beluga caviar.

Persian Carpets: Some time ago we (I and fellow club members) invited a Middle-Eastern gentleman to guest speak at one of our meetings. We get our guest, and he gets to promote his product. As he spoke I can tell by the look on his face that his talk fell on deaf ears. Not mine. The making of Persian carpets was fascinating. They're expensive not only because they're hand-woven. Each one has a different design; no two are alike. Moreover, woven into the carpet is a story, a different saga in each one. But get ready for this: Persian carpets appreciate in value. (That got their attention.) The more they're used, the more valuable they are. He said that an older, well-trodden carpet would be much more expensive than a brand new one in its box at the warehouse. (Eyes widened.) There are other kinds of investments besides all their jewellery. That last sentence was an exaggeration.

Silk: Once again, a lowly creature endows us with something spectacular. Silk is soft, smooth, and shiny without being slippery. And it's amazingly tough. Unlike synthetics, it doesn't melt under a hot iron. Ironing then becomes a pleasurable activity when it's done with silk. But here are some facts about silk that are almost as exciting as fractals: the silk worm lets out only one continuous thread that reaches up to a mile! (I pictured the silk cocoon as that of a long playing record with one groove.) Also, a cross-section of the silk thread is three-sided, and like a prism light through it radiates color in an extraordinary way. (Isn't it just like the holographic effect?) Nature knows nothing inconceivable! Oh, yes- and silk feels good to us because its molecular structure is close to that of our skin.

All in all, after having taken a more in-depth look at their characteristics, we see that their prices are justified by their value. We even see that the value of some items far outweigh the cost. Come to think of it, if any or all were to be in My possession, I wouldn't shed a tear.