The Lockheed Lounge

After selling for more than £2 million, the Lockheed Lounge by Australian designer Marc Newson has preserved its record as the world's most expensive design object. Newson's riveted aluminium and fibreglass chaise longue sold for £2,434,500 Wednesday night at Phillips auction house in London. This exceeds the £1.4 million raised by a prototype of the design sold by the same auctioneers in 2010 when it became the most expensive object sold by a living designer for the first time.

The Lockheed Lounge, designed in 1990, is one of Newson's most well-known early works. The seat was produced in ten editions, four artist's proofs, and one prototype. Phillips' edition, which was anticipated to earn between £1.5 million and £2.5 million, was eventually sold to an anonymous telephone bidder.

As one of the most expensive chairs in the world, the Lockheed Lounge is made of thin aluminium plates welded side by side, with rivets along the seams. The metal wraps around a body of fibreglass-reinforced plastic, and the feet of its three legs are rubber-coated.

Price: $2.9 million