There are only 650 Stradivarius instruments left in the world and most of these are in the hands of private collectors. What’s so special about them?

Stradivarius instruments were hand-made by the Italian family Stradivari, particularly Antonio Stradivari, who was a master craftsman of string instruments during the 17th and 18th centuries. Some claim that the quality of sound that a Stradivarius instrument creates is irreplicable, which is why an authentic instrument made by this family could be worth hundreds of thousands to several million U.S. dollars in today’s prices.

Simply put, this is the type of vanity purchase you make when you grow tired of hearing sub-par violins (which anyone who's been in the vicinity of someone learning the instrument for the first time can relate to) and have more money than sense (something I hope to one day relate to).

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