Ferrari studs its history with 1,500 diamonds

Launches Rs 8.2 cr official Ferrari Opus Enzo Diamante edition
World’s favourite sports carmaker Ferrari aims to rake in an all time high of over $1.6 million (Rs 8.2 crore) from sale of the official Ferrari Opus Enzo Diamante edition in India. The book, which contains anecdotes from the top Ferrari officials and engineers to latest models and Ferrari’s historic arc­hives that have never been published before, is studded with diamonds.

The Italian carmaker claimed that the book would be one of the most expensive sold in India. In fact, it costs more than the company’s models that have been launched between Rs 2.2 and Rs 3.4 crore earlier this year.

The base price for the unique book had been kept at $250,000. The auction, which started yesterday, will be held for a week. Top high net worth individuals including corporate honchos are expected to attend the auction and bid for the single copy of the Ferrari Opus. India is the seventh country where the exclusive Enzo Diamante edition of the book will be sold after the US, Spain, Belgium, UK and Australia.

“We sold the Opus in 2007 for $1.6 million. We think we can surpass this figure in India. We have already received interest from four individuals today (Thursday),” said Karl Fowler, chief executive at Opus. The exclusive book is limited to only one copy per country to guarantee exclusivity. It features a 30-carat diamond-encrusted Ferrari horse made up of 1,500 specially selected stones.

Asiroya Holdings, a 40-year old Dubai based company run by people of Indian origin, has manufactu­red the exclusive diamonds used in the book for Ferrari. “These are top quality rare white diamonds of VVS (grade quality),” said Anshul Siroya, managing director of Asiroya. “Opus, like a Ferrari, is a unique experience,” said Antonio Ghini, editor-in-chief of the Ferrari magazine and creative advisor on the project. The Opus weighs 37 kg and is encrypted with 200,000 words and 2,000 pictures across 852 pages.