A platinum Christmas tree with a price tag of ¥100m (£524,000, $800,000) was unveiled on Thursday (19 November) at a jewellery store in Tokyos high-end shopping district of Ginza. Shiny platinum ornaments featuring a Walt Disneys Cinderella theme and a spinning slipper adorned with three-carat diamonds were among the main features of the costly tree.
We used nine kilograms of high-quality platinum and diamonds to create this ¥100m Christmas tree, said Miho Fukushima, the store manager of Ginza Tanaka.
The made-to-order Christmas tree became available for purchase along with its unveiling, but Fukushima said customers have to wait for up to two months to get their ordered items. The store declined to say how many orders it has received. In every Christmas season for the last few years, the store has chosen a theme to embody the spirit of Christmas.
We want our store to be loved by our customers, just as Cinderella has been loved throughout generations, the jewellery maker said in a release.
The exotic Christmas tree lured shoppers and passers-by to walk into the store. I was mesmerised by its glimmer, said 68-year-old customer Kazuyo Kawai.
Another shopper liked the idea of featuring Cinderella for the platinum Christmas tree. I like it because it embodies a dream; a double dream – Disneys dream and the aspiration toward expensive things, 62-year old Masuo Tanaka said.
Last year, the store created a Christmas tree featuring Disneys hit animation Frozen, with a ¥300m price tag.
