The World's Largest Private Yacht Just Left A Hamburg Shipyard A Few Weeks Ago, But There Are...

The World’s Largest Private Yacht Just Left A Hamburg Shipyard A Few Weeks Ago, But There Are Already Two Bigger Ones In Production

“In the case of the Roma, the owner’s wife didn’t only want to have all furniture handles embellished with Swarovski stones. She also insisted the surfaces of the closets be covered in the exclusive skins of rays. Gehr, a master carpenter by trade, faced a challenge: Where could he get ray skins? What was the best time of year to buy them? How do you work with the stuff? What did it cost? And what should he estimate? When all the questions had been answered, and the furniture had been upholstered in ray skin, the owner and his wife came to Lunestadt in Lower Saxony to see the result. Unfortunately the owner didn’t like the fish-covered surfaces at all, saying, ‘Get that off, and replace it with beige leather!’ The order was carried out. But he paid for both variations.”
 — If you’d like to puke over the conspicuous consumption of the super-rich (and, who wouldn’t, right? This is America and we’re all fucked up that way), you should read this Der Spiegel

article about Germany’s booming luxury yacht business. It includes details about things like multi-level helipads, personal mini submarines, $20,000 daily maintenance fees and special RainSky shower-heads that spray a variety of scented waters or, if you’d prefer, champagne. And this very enjoyable section hed: ‘A Yacht Is a Status Symbol.’