Figure of the month: 11 million

The figure of the month December is – of course – about Christmas. After all, gold, along with red and green, is one of the dominant colours in the Advent season. In 2010, a hotel manager came up with the idea of decorating a Christmas tree not only with gold-coloured bows and baubles, but also with real, high-carat gold. The result: a Christmas tree worth around US$11 million, equalling approximately €9.7 million at present.

In the huge, mostly golden lobby of the Emirates Palace Hotel in Abu Dhabi, a 13-metre-high fake Christmas tree was first erected, which alone cost no less than US$10,000. In addition to the traditional Christmas decoration, the branches of the tree were also decorated with "gift ideas" for the mostly wealthy guests of the hotel: necklaces, earrings and wristwatches made of 24-carat gold and, of course, richly decorated with diamonds, rubies, emeralds or sapphires. Hans Olbertz, the general manager of the hotel, immediately contacted the Guinness Book of Records to secure an entry.

The 2018 edition of the christmas tree in the Emirates Palace Hotel (photo) did cost considerably less than the record tree in 2010, but hardly looks any less impressive.