Let’s be honest, we all like to save money, which is why half the time we’ll settle for the cheapest option available, but it’s not always the smartest thing to do.
Some items may carry such a huge price tag that it seems bonkers to buy them, but every now and then luxury products come along that really do deserve having a lot of money spent on them.
Maumasi knives
According to most chefs, a good knife is the difference between effortless pleasure and utter blood-boiling frustration. Even if your cooking only gets as adventurous as a simple salad, spending some cash on a quality blade will have you slicing and dicing cucumbers and onions like a pro.
Mareko Maumasi is said to be one of the greatest living knife makers, and his handmade wares will set you back anywhere from a few hundred dollars to upwards of $3,000, depending on the model. Chefs are adamant they’ll last you a lifetime as there’s a lot of craftsmanship gone into each blade to justify the price tag.
Mareko was an apprentice of Bob Kramer, possibly the most distinguished bladesmith in the world. His knives have won multiple awards. Due to the high demands, he had to stop accepting orders. Currently, there is a 3-year waiting list to get one! The knives are made from Damascus steel, created via a long process of layering steel, leading to a strong and aesthetic pattern forming on the blade.
According to Maumasi, the best way to sharpen a high-quality knife like this is on both sides of the cutting edge with leather, rather than a metal honing rod.
Metal sharpening can cause the minute teeth on a blade to wear out and fall off. But leather is a much gentler way to keep your knife sharp for decades. And if you’re spending so much on a knife, you’re going to want to make it last for as long as possible!
Lab-grown chicken
Love meat but hate the fact that you have to kill for every mouthful? Rejoice! San Francisco based Memphis Meats has the solution. They’ve discovered the recipe for the world’s first meatless chicken that actually tastes just like chicken!
The process uses regenerative stem cells from the birds, and the meat offers the same taste, texture, and nutritional values as regular chicken.
Apparently, it’s delicious: served up as classic southern fried chicken, taste testers gave it their seal of approval. Memphis Meats has also created duck, so it won’t be long until you can enjoy your crispy pancakes guilt-free!
At $6,000 per pound, their chicken’s not exactly affordable right now. However, the price can drop in the future because of the ongoing research. Then, we’ll be able to eat meat ethically without feeling guilty about damaging our planet!
Mason Pearson hairbrush
My hair is my prized possession, and if you’re anything like me you’ll go to any extreme to protect every precious strand. And it seems, I’m not the only one who feels like this.
Mason Pearson’s hair brushes are hand-made in England and are designed to massage your scalp while turning your average head of hair into the silkiest of manes. The reviews on Amazon should be enough to convince you of its majesty, with one claiming that “this is not a hairbrush. It’s the fingertips of God.” Wow.
It retails for upwards of $200 and that might seem like a lot for a hairbrush. But, models and vloggers love it, and if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for me.
Litter-Robot
If you prefer spending your hard-earned cash on your pets rather than yourself, check out this Litter Robot that Redditors are going crazy for.
The litter box is a specially designed sphere that rotates to separate any waste from the clean litter. Litter-Robot founder Brad Baxter says that this is a great thing if you have more than one cat as they don’t have to suffer the humiliation of padding around in another cat’s mess. It’s also great for you as you don’t have to deal with the gross job of emptying dirty litter.
There’s also a carbon filter that absorbs waste, so you’ll never have a guest asking you “what’s that smell” ever again.
There’s even a nightlight in case your kitties are afraid of the dark! What more could your feline friends want? This high tech litter box will set you back $499 for the top model, but your cats are worth that, right?
The Critical Babe
The world’s greatest bonsai tree artists use these spectacular scissors for their art, but if that’s not your jam they do a great job of slicing through food and paper, too.
Mastercraftsman Yasuhiro Hirakawa is a 5th-generation scissor-maker and learned blacksmithing from his father. He’s been honing his craft for over half a century and is now the only traditional scissor maker actively working in Japan.. His attention to detail is second to none and he uses only the best quality raw materials for his creations.
Mastercraftsman and blacksmith Yasuhiro, who hails from Osaka, Japan, says that handmade items possess a warmth that machine-made items lack. I’m not sure about that, but his incredible pieces take a week or longer to make, working 10 hours a day. For this reason, his most popular pairs cost around $1,100, whereas his most expensive pair goes for around $32,420.
Customers consult with the master scissor maker for around an hour to agree on the scissors they require, and you can understand why people are happy to fork out so much for an item they could buy inexpensively elsewhere. Good scissors don’t damage bonsai trees that much because the cut is very clean. When you’re working with bonsai’s worth thousands of dollars, the benefits of clean cuts would pay for themselves over time.
