Marcus Richards
The most expensive slot machine comes studded with rubies, sapphires, and diamonds, irresistible to the eye and a wonder to behold.
Sydney Mobell is no ordinary jeweller. He is a San Francisco based artist. Holding the Guinness World Record for designing the most expensive board game, Monopoly ($2 Million), Sidney has bedazzled us by creating the most expensive slot machine that history has ever known. His creations are exhibited in museums and bought at extremely high prices.
Sydney’s most ambitious project was to redesign one of the oldest slot machines that his friend gifted to him – the 1929 Calle slot machine. This redesigned $18 million worth slot machine came to be known as the Lady Luck slot machine, Sydney’s masterpiece. Curious to know more about this luxurious and extravagant creation? Well, read on!
Sydney Mobell – The King Midas of Today
This octogenarian artist is a man of tremendous talent and spirit who remodelled daily objects into spectacular bejewelled masterpieces. His life started as an orphan in Denver, Colorado. To make both ends meet, he sold newspapers and worked as a sweeper in the jewellery store. During all this time, he dreamt of creating something artistic and splendid from simple day-to-day objects. The name and fame that Sidney Mobell has right now is the result of his lifetime of labour.
His works of art are showcased at the National Museum of Natural History and the Commons Museum in the original old Smithsonian Castle Building. He took up challenges that others avoided.
For instance:
- He picked a plain Mickey Mouse wristwatch and converted it into a luxurious piece by adorning it with gold. He made it for Roy Disney. But that’s not the end of it!
- He also designed a golden mousetrap for Ray Kroc, a significant contributor to McDonald’s success.
- His quirky collection includes a diamond, ruby, and sapphire-encrusted 14-karat gold Nokia cell phone, a golden sardine can, and a jewel-studded golden toilet seat.
His ideas are certainly not lacking in creativity. Most of his works have made it to the Smithsonian Museum in Washington so that everyone can witness the transformation of simple everyday objects to elevated aesthetic pieces.
Sydney was elated when his gold monopoly created in 1988 with 23-karat gold and diamond cubes became a part of the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive board game in the world.
The Lady Luck Slot Machine
This luxurious and rare piece of the slot machine is a museum treasure and worth millions of dollars. Sydney took up the challenge of redesigning one of the oldest and most basic slot machine(a 1925 Calle to be precise) and bejewelled it with 818 gemstones. Can you believe it?
For Sydney, the more the gold, the better it is. Please get to know these unique handpicked gemstones that he acutely encrusted in this slot machine. They are:
- 317 Sapphires
- 183 Diamonds
- 302 Rubies
As unbelievable as it may seem, this million-dollar slot machine is the world’s most expensive slot machine. When it comes to generosity about gold and gemstones, Sydney is more than a lavish supplier.
Expensive Casino Slot Machines
Slot machines are known mainly for making casinos a lot of money. Factually, online slots games in India easily surpass all other casino games in terms of income and profit. But, you’re wrong if you think it’s cheap for gambling establishments to launch slot machines. Casinos have to pay out a lot of money to buy these machines. Slot machines are, after all, enclosed in huge cabinets with the latest technology. As you can imagine, they can easily cost an arm and a leg.
But exactly how expensive are slots? As expensive as $18 million or can you get the lucrative ones at an amount less than that?
Slot Machine Expenses for Land-Based Casinos
Since the machines require a robust sound system, good power source, balanced lighting, card reader, buttons, and more; they will cost Casino establishments a pretty penny. Obviously, online casinos must also pay for the slot machines that they use. These slots are, after all, designed by paid game development teams. But the expenditure of online casinos to license the slots from developers doesn’t even come close to the total estimate of money spent on filling a casino with physical cabinets.
Land-based casino premises are essentially forced to offer lower RTP to cut the costs of their slot machines. Brick-and-mortar venues also have to worry about higher overhead costs, such as paying staff members, expensive maintenance and utility bills.
Land-based casinos essentially create a unique money-making experience for gamblers. Many visitors like the plain sights and old-school sounds of brick-and-mortar one-armed bandit slot machines.
Preference of Online Casinos Over Land-Based Ones
These gambling establishments pay a fortune on slot machine equipment. However, when given a choice between an online and brick-and-mortar casino, people would likely choose the latter as online slots come with greater RTP and thus, greater winning chances. The best gambling sites in UK usually offer a variety of online slots with sizable prizes that are worth checking out. Most online Casino slot games will offer you almost everything that land-based Las Vegas casinos have to provide, and they are just a click or tap away. Anyway, the most important that online slots free.
The online casino industry has earned the cutting edge with its innovative welcome bonuses, promotions, rewards, and stunning casino games. They keep presenting new and unique ways in which they can create a spark that makes players want to stick around.
The Smithsonian Museum
An artefact to have entered the esteemed Smithsonian collection is no small feat for the creator. The Smithsonian Institution—the largest museum and research complex in the world—includes 19 museums and galleries and the National Zoological Park. The total number of works of art and specimens in the Smithsonian’s collections is counted as 156 million. Several of Mobell’s works are housed in the reputed Smithsonian museum for public display.
Summing-up
If you’ve got millions to spend, you can call the gold-plated, jewel-studded Lady Luck slot machine as your own. Spend enough time exploring the gold artefacts at the Smithsonian museum, and you might just start connecting the dots between gold’s everlasting allure and your everyday life!
