Yahoo Finance The £4,999.99 bouquet of roses – is this the most expensive Valentine's Day gift yet?
A bouquet of roses costing just shy of £5,000 is unquestionably one of the most lavish gifts available to purchase this Valentine's Day, with the 999 premium long stem Red Naomi roses targeted at wealthy customers who want to splurge on their loved one.
For the same price as a second-hand Audi A3, Orchidya London, a boutique well known for its award-winning orchids, is offering the "Mon Amour" bouquet in five sizes, the biggest of which – the "phenomenal" – costs £4,999.99, to signify the 999 individual stems in each bunch.
"We created this for a very particular kind of client who may wish to go above and beyond a mere bouquet. This is not so unusual in London and some of our clients are in this category," a spokeswoman for the firm said.
It said the price, which covers gift wrapping and a gift card (but not delivery, which is an extra £6.95) reflects the high demand for red roses at this time of year, when there is a global price increase.
"As is the case with all florists, we have to adjust our prices during the Valentine's period, however we have been careful not to inflate the price which is representative of grade A+ roses," the spokeswoman said.
Ahead of Valentine's Day on Wednesday, growers of red roses, which largely come from Ecuador, Mexico and Columbia, have been rushing to meet the enormous demand coming from Europe and the US.
The demand pushes up prices far above what a red rose would cost at any other time throughout the year. Supermarkets will typically charge £10-15 for a bunch of 12, whereas the price rockets to more than double this in the days leading up to February 14.
While major supermarkets attempt to undercut each other with their pricing, none offer bouquets of roses quite as cheaply as bargain chains Lidl and Aldi, which are offering a dozen roses for just £4 and £5, respectively.
These roses have shorter stems and are of a poorer quality to those sold at high-end florists, but are easily accessible and affordable for any romantic.
The Mon Amour isn't the most expensive bouquet ever to go on sale. In 2016, online florist Arena Flowers sold 5ft tall bouquets of 1,000 rose stems for a hefty £9,000.
Other splurge items available to buy this Valentine's Day include a 100ml bottle of Roja Parfums perfume from Harrods, which costs £2,500, and a 6L bottle of Dom Pérignon 2002 rose for £8,500.
Alternatively, a £1m "JetCard" by aviation services group Air Partner will give the lucky recipient 86,625 miles of free private jet travel around the world.
