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Ultra Expensive Rugs, Why Are They So Costly?

Last year the world's most expensive rug sold for $4.45 million to an unnamed buyer. That rug was made of 17th Century Persian silk, but what are today's ultra expensive rugs made from? What makes them so ultra-spendy? A number of factors, including type, style, fabric, design, and more.

Style

Rug styles or types range from classic Persian to contemporary, country, Southwest, traditional, and more. The style of the rug has more to do with personal taste than price. Just because a rug is Persian does not mean that it is the best or most expensive rug. A traditional rug could just as easily cost in the thousands of dollars.

Material

The vast majority of expensive rugs are made from high quality wool fabric, or sometimes a combination of wool and silk. These fabrics are not cheap and certainly add to the cost of the rug. In addition, the most luxurious rugs will use all-natural dyes to provide the rich and detailed color patterns and are expensive as well.

The Hands of Time

Still the most illuminating characteristic of an excellent rug, the one that sets it most apart from its peers, is not what it is made of, but how it was made. The world's most luxurious rugs are hand knotted (remember that rugs are knotted as opposed to stitched), a custom handed down from the famed oriental rugs of Persia and Tibet.

Because the rug is handmade, it requires a significant amount of time to manufacturer, especially considering the intricacy of most designs. Thus making time is the biggest factor driving up the cost of today's ultra-expensive rugs.

So How Much Do They Cost?

If it's ultra-expensive rugs you are in the market for, you won't have to look too hard. Compare the, say, $32 price tag of a machine made, chemically dyed rug to the $6,000-$8,000 cost of a hand woven, luxury rug. This of course is ignoring the age factor: hand woven, naturally dyed AND antique rugs can have an amazing price tag...just look back at the first sentence of this article. If you are antiquing, however, be sure to learn the signs for telling a fake from the real thing.

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