A $420,000 diamond heel is the world’s most expensive shoe
Step into the record books with this Dh1.52 million diamond-encrusted heels.
Fit for Cinderella, these are the world’s most expensive shoes, adorned with 21.18 carats of diamonds, lace and embellishment.
These heels are a result of a teaming together of Kathryn Wilson, New Zealand’s most successful footwear designer, with Sarah Hutchings of Orsini Fine Jewellery.
Priced at Dh1.52 million (£276,000, $420,000), the creation of these magnificent shoes involved 50 hours of surgeon-like precision using tweezers and a special adhesive to painstakingly attach the diamonds to the shoe, one by one.
Both Kathryn and Sarah wanted to create a shoe that signified the ultimate in designer luxury and embodied the ‘Cinderella’ fantasy.
The wearer of these shoes was perhaps on the mind of Paul Simon when he wrote the lines:
“She’s a rich girl
She don’t try to hide it
Diamonds on the soles of her shoes…”
Simply called ‘the Diamond shoe’, this stunning pair is especially made for Ronald McDonald House children’s charity auction, for which Kathryn is an ambassador.
According to the UK’s Daily Mail, Kathyrn approached Sarah to work with her on the project for her Winter launch. “I loved Kathryn’s work and I have a lifelong passion for shoes so it seemed perfect,” she was quoted as saying.
Known for her passion for fine jewellery, Sarah gave Kathryn’s shoe a bespoke diamond makeover, continuing her love for creating most exquisite and hand-crafted jewellery.
The single classic court-heeled shoe features almost half a million dollars’ worth of white diamonds to make it a one-of-a-kind work of art.
“’It was incredibly time consuming and a lot of thought went into it before I even began.
“The shoe was originally black so to give it more impact I painted it white, then used a pencil to mark out the patterns and designs.
“I also had to work out how many carats of diamonds were required and how much space I needed to place the lace and embellishments. Then the late nights painstakingly placing the diamonds onto the shoe using tweezers at home, one night I was still going at 2am!
“The final product was well worth the sleep deprivation and pain.”