An Indian man has bought one of the world's most expensive shirts. The shirt is made with more than 3 kg of gold and is worth $250,000. His is an extreme case of an Indian obsession with the precious metal.
Datta Phuge's nickname is "the gold man". His knuckles, neck, and wrists are weighed down by the precious metal - signet rings, chunky bracelets, and a medallion that even an Olympic champion might envy.
And on top of that, draped resplendently around him, glittering in the light, is a shirt of gold. Weighing a staggering 3.3kg (about 7lb), it cost him a cool quarter of a million dollars (£162,000).
"Some people ask me why I'm wearing so much gold but it was my dream. People have different aspirations. Some elite people want to own an Audi or Mercedes, and have big cars. I chose gold," he explains.
Given its impractical nature, the shirt only gets an outing on special occasions, like parties and important functions.
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| The Indian Man with his Gold-made Shirt. |
Either way, to ensure the shirt stays on his back, Phuge has a security guard with him wherever he travels.
"The challenge was to make this as comfortable as wearing a normal shirt," says Tejpal Rankar, of Rankar Jewellers, a 133-year-old business in Pune, a few hours' drive from Mumbai.
"Once we decided to make the shirt we researched designs and patterns. We didn't want it to be like wearing a sheet of gold."
To that end Rankar and his team of craftsmen decided to make a gold cloth based on an Italian weave, using a special machine.
They drew inspiration from old images of Indian kings wearing suits of Armour To prevent it scratching, they stitched a velvet lining inside.
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