14th April 2023, SINGAPORE – Steinway & Sons was featured by a+: At The Vanguard, Singapore’s leading luxury specialist. Editor in Chief, Farhan Shah writes about Steinway pianos emerging as a viable alternative asset investment class.
Steinway & Sons Model D Concert Grand selling for US$2.5 million.
a+ Article:
Whisky, wine, fine art, and even handbags—these are examples of alternative asset classes that HNWIs and UHNWIs are pouring their money into. But what about pianos? Celine Goh, general manager of Steinway & Sons, reveals an “increased demand from ultra-affluent Singaporeans and foreigners”.
And it’s not just older buyers. Goh notes that more and more Millennials are buying Steinway pianos, both for investment and pleasure.
The appeal is obvious. Each Steinway is handcrafted to perfection, following the ethos of founder Henry E. Steinway who strived to build the best piano possible with no compromises. From the selection and preparation of the wood to the weight and balance of each key, a Steinway piano goes through an incredibly rigorous manufacturing process.
It begins when the wood arrives at the factory. It is dried for over two years, allowing the water to evaporate naturally to achieve the best acoustic quality. Then, the craftspeople focus on the rim, which comprises 17 laminates of hard maple and a mahogany veneer, and bend it into the iconic curved shape of a grand piano. Incidentally, Henry’s son C.F. Theodore invented and patented this innovation in 1880.
The keys are played up to 3,200 times to test their stability. Towards the end, six coats of paint are applied to each Steinway. Each time it’s painted, the piano maker lets it stand for a week before applying another layer.
“The culture of Steinway is not a race against time,” Goh says. “We don’t mass produce for higher profits. Instead, we follow a slow and steady pace in the pursuit of higher quality.”
It’s no wonder Steinway pianos fetch record prices on the market. The most expensive one now has a price tag of US$2.5 million. It’s the “Pictures at an Exhibition” Steinway & Sons Model D Concert Grand that celebrates the great Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky.
The “Sound of Harmony” Concert Grand Steinway piano.
George Michael paid $2.1 million for John Lennon’s Steinway Model Z in the year 2000. Seven years later, art purveyor Guo Qingxiang bought the “Sound of Harmony” Concert Grand for $1.63 million. This model took four years to build and comprises 40 varieties of wood.
Goh believes that demand for a Steinway will only continue to rise. “It offers the opportunity for higher returns compared to traditional stocks, bonds and hedge funds, while also having a low correlation to these markets and to each other. Steinway buyers with an investors’ mindset, in search of new ways to diversify their portfolio, or finding an opportunity to benefit from investing into exotic asset classes would have noticed that the market is growing, and it will help to balance the risks and reward across different asset classes,” she says.
a+ Article: https://readaplus.com/article/a-case-for-steinway-pianos-as-an-alternative-asset-investment-class
