A pillow is just a cloth bag filled with cotton, polyester or something soft, but that does not mean every pillow is comfortable. People invest quite a lot in mattresses and pillows to help them sleep better. The cost can go up to a few hundred dollars or maybe a few thousand if you really want to delve into luxury but nothing tops the pillow that this Dutch physical therapist created after spending 15 years of his life on the design. The tailor-made pillow comes at a crazy price of $57,000, and Thijs van der Hilst claims it can solve all your sleep problems.
Thijs, who is considered to be a neck specialist created the pillow with Mulberry silk, Egyptian cotton, non-toxic Dutch memory foam, and a 24-carat gold fabric. In the zipper are studded four stunning diamonds and a 22.5-carat sapphire. Pretty extravagant, no? If you are trying to add up the cost of the ingredients with the precious jewels to see if the price makes sense, then no it does not. The pillow has more to offer.
The extravagant pillow is not meant to serve as a status symbol, but Thijs’ motive was to invent the perfect sleeping pillow for his clients, and the only way to do it is to create a custom pillow keeping in view the individual’s body shape, and sleeping habits. The inventor puts it as:
“As a cervical specialist I used to advise my patients to buy a good pillow. But what is the best pillow for which patient, I asked myself. If there are three sizes of pillows available, which one would fit the best? As our feet are all different, so are our shoulder heights and neck lengths. And the sleeping position varies person to person. Everyone is unique – so the pillow should be too.”
Thijs did not just get up measure people and stitch a pillow. He gets his clients to send him 3D scans of their bodies using portable 3D scanners. He and his team in Netherlands then use a custom built algorithm to do the calculations and draw the appropriate pillow. This pillow is then carved out of a memory foam using a robotic milling machine. The result is a pillow that fits your shape. The cherry on top is the custom stitched Louis Vuitton case so you can carry your pillow to every trip.
Thijs van der Hilst’s invention, the luxury pillow will be unveiled at the Index Design Series interiors exhibition in Dubai, that will be held in May. According to the event director Samantha Kane-Macdonald, the world’s most expensive luxury pillow is one of the most anticipated products on the exhibit:
“As an interiors exhibition, we cater to all budgets and styles and can’t wait to see the response to a pillow that guarantees a perfect night’s sleep. For me, I’d maybe need a lie down after spending $57,000 on a pillow, but many of our visitors may well just find that Thijs creativity, expertise and advanced technologies could change their lives forever.”
If Louis Vuitton and diamonds make the price okay for you, let us put things into perspective with cars. Tesla Model 3, begins with the price of $35,000 which is well just $22,000 less than the luxury pillow. Then again, things like this are meant for people who have a hard time spending money because they just have too much of it. A $14 million trip, $2 million dinner, or just a doll house worth $8.9 million, if someone has done all of that, half a million dollar for a real comfort is not really a big deal, is it?