Harrods, the famous department store in London, is a cabinet of curiosities when it comes to luxury. Now it is preparing to launch Svalbarði “luxury water”, at £50 ($63) a bottle if there ever has been such a thing.
The product was conceived by Jamal Qureshi, a Norwegian-American Wall Street businessman when he visited a remote Norwegian island in the Svalbard archipelago in 2013 and brought back melted iceberg water as a gift for his wife.
A few years later, he got an approval from the governor of Svalbard and now charters an icebreaker and harvests the icebergs in Kongsfjorden, 1,000 kilometers from the North Pole. Once 15 tons of ice is collected by the crew, it’s melted and bottled by hand. The company says that only micron filters and UV light are used to preserve the water’s natural composition and pure taste. The water is almost entirely mineral free, with no nitrates or pollutants.
There are two expeditions per year, producing 13,000 bottles each time. Each batch will be sold as a limited edition.
The aerial view of Svalbard.
The 750ml bottle looks more like a bottle of wine than water. The mint-colored ring around the top symbolizes the polar rings and the wooden bottle top symbolizes drift wood.
Harrods was chosen as the first store to stock this product and the global launch is scheduled for February 15.
If you’re looking for something unusual other than packets of tea or chocolates on your next visit to the Harrods Food Hall, the Svalbarði water is certainly uncommon. Can a bottle of water be worth £50 ($63)? That’s for you to try and decide.
Svalbarði will be exclusive to Harrods for now but can be shipped worldwide.