$1.2m jewel-encrusted Kuhn-Bosendorfer grand piano: world’s most expensive?

Update: This piano is now available to buy for a cool $800,000

An amazing fusion between glass art and masterful grand piano construction has created the first limited edition Kuhn-Bosendorfer worth an estimated $1.2 million.

The seven-foot-four-inch black grand piano is inset with over 100,000 hand cut, lead crystal jewels arranged in a glittering array of diamond patterns on the case, lid, legs and fallboard.

It took a year-and-a-half to make and is a “grand collaboration” between L. Bosendorfer Klavierfabrik GmbH of Vienna, Austria and Jon Kuhn, the world’s foremost cold glass sculptor.

“This piano is beyond words,” Kuhn said during the launch event. “It’s breathtaking. We knew it would turn out great, but nothing like this. It’s vibrant. Alive. It’s the first time – ever,” he noted, “that another artist has participated in the creation process, and I most emphatically consider Bosendorfer craftspeople to be artists, true artists. And what a privilege it has been to collaborate with them.”

“Bosendorfer has worked with top artists and designers since the nineteenth century to create uniquely designed, hand-built pianos of unusual visual as well as musical quality,” noted Eric Johnson, the maker’s US operations manager and Eastern regional sales manager. “We’re very pleased with the initial Kuhn-Bosendorfer. And now that we’ve had the pleasure of working so closely with Jon, we’re looking forward with great anticipation to the next one – and the one after that.”