Put that in your pipe and smoke it

The Life: You too can smoke grape shisha from a $1 million hookah. But don't delay - it's a limited edition.

Aurentum's $1 million shisha is solid gold. Courtesy Aurentum

Devotees of this column will remember that back in November we brought you the gold-finish water cooler retailing for US$1,769. Now we up the stakes and introduce you to Aurentum, the company that makes the $1 million shisha.

Readers who attended January's Big Boys Toys luxury-lifestyle exhibition in Dubai may already be familiar with Aurentum because that is where the company debuted its Aurum79 collection of water bottles and glasses.

The collection is limited to three one-off sets each of a different design. Made of either crystal or silver, the bottles are covered in 24-carat gold and diamonds. Coléo, another Swiss company whose work is inspired by nature, crafted the butterflies and beetles that adorn the bottles.

Each bottle and glass set comes in its own wooden box that has a 24-carat gold lock and a gold key that can be worn as a necklace. Price per bottle is $300,000. Rather philanthropically, the company will donate 10 per cent of the profit of each sale to charity.

Aurentum has again teamed up with Coléo to produce its top-end shisha."We wanted to keep up the old traditions, and complete it with modern art, in a very luxurious fashion," Aurentum says on its website.

The $1m shisha is solid gold and weighs more than 12kg. It is decorated with eight scarabaeus made of platinum, diamonds and rubies. The creature pictured is intended to be reminiscent of the Bentley symbol. These are designed by Coléo. The golden shisha is a one-off and it's still up for grabs.

For those on a "budget", silver and gold-plated shisha are available from $73,556. These also have Coléo's bejewelled creatures. They can also be customised to the buyer's wishes.

Remo Brun, a spokesman, says the company is optimistic about demand for its products in the Middle East. He added that there is a lot of interest in the Asian markets, particularly in Hong Kong. A must for any well-heeled hookah aficionado.