New Delhi: Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, personally owned and wore a pair of brown suede leather Birkenstock Arizona sandals that have been reportedly sold for a whopping $218,750. (Rs 1.77 crore), according to the auction company Julien's Auctions. The auction began on November 11 and closed on November 13. The sandals were originally priced below $200 (approximately Rs. 16000). Till now the auction company has not disclosed the name of the buyer, but this indeed has set a record for the highest price ever paid for a pair of sandals!
As revealed by the auction company, the expected bid was more than $60,000, but the final bid turned out to be $218,750. The auction also featured a book by photographer Jean Pigozzi and an NFT image of the sandals. The book was titled "The 213 Most Important Men in My Life" and is said to feature the late Steve Jobs as one of the significant figures.
Describing the product, the auction house mentioned that the sandals were worn by Steve Jobs at numerous crucial times in Apple's history. He and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak conceived the company's initial ideas in a Los Altos garage in 1976 at the time when Jobs intermittently wore those sandals and Jobs was said to be enthralled when he learned about Birkenstocks' creativity and usefulness.
The auction house said, "A pair of brown suede leather Birkenstock Arizona sandals that were personally owned and worn by Steve Jobs. Jobs would wear this particular pair of sandals in the 1970s and 1980s. This pair of Birkenstock sandals were previously owned by Mark Sheff, the house manager for Steve Jobs"
Furthermore, it is claimed that these sandals have been seen in a number of exhibitions, including the Salone del Mobile in Milan, Italy in 2017, the Birkenstock Headquarters in Rahms, Germany in 2017, and the company's first U.S. location in SoHo and New York, among others.
According to reports by NDTV, the former wife of Steve Jobs, Chrisann Brennan discussed the recognisable piece of Mr. Jobs' clothing in an interview with Vogue. She said, "The sandals were part of his simple side. They were his uniform. The great thing about a uniform is that you don't have to worry about what to wear in the morning."
She further went on to add, "He would never have done or bought anything just to stand out from others. He was simply convinced of the intelligence and practicality of the design and the comfort of wearing it. And in Birkenstocks he didn't feel like a businessman, so he had the freedom to think creatively."