Hästens Vividus Review: Is It Worth the Price?

There’s been a recent spurt of health and wellness focused items in various industries. From organic food to natural skincare products to environment-friendly cookware, health and wellness have become an entire industry in itself, and consumers are also hooked. Everyone wants to be healthy, eating right and sleeping well. And these health and wellness products aim to make this easier for consumers. A case in point is the sleep industry. Even till a decade ago, no one could predict that this nightly phenomenon that all of us go through could become a whole market in itself. But today this is a reality, with hundreds of products claiming to improve sleep quality and keep away sleep disorders.

From luxury mattresses to sleep-related gadgets like light alarm clocks and sound machines, there is an endless list of products to splurge on. But have you ever considered splurging more than $100,000 on a bed?

No, we aren’t kidding. If you thought that your $3,000 bed was the most expensive it could get, you are making a huge mistake. There is a mattress – probably the only one in the world right now – that’s close to $150,000 and has the world in awe. It’s possibly the most luxurious bed that’s fit for a queen and is still touted as worth the money. Why? Let’s find out.

Hästens Vividus – What Is It?

As you probably have already guessed from the name, this is a Swedish luxury bed. But the question is, with thousands of luxury beds available today, what exactly sets it apart, aside from the price tag?

The Hästens Vividus bed isn’t something consumers would buy at the drop of a hat. It’s for those who not only have that kind of money to spend but also the lifestyle to fit it in. It’s a custom, continental bed that’s crafted to perfection by four master artisans at the Hästens workshop in Sweden’s Köping. You pay $149,000 for a pinewood frame and steel springs, with layers of horsetail hair, flax, wool, and cotton batting. If that reminds you of mattresses made in the early centuries, you are right. Hästens specializes in making beds that are entirely handcrafted with pure, natural materials, just like the mattresses of yore.

The Hästens Vividus could well be the bed that Queen Victoria slept on. And it has absolutely no competitors in the mattress industry. None at all. Of course, for that price, you get several other things, such as the finest diamond necklace from Tiffany or a Mercedes AMG GT S. If you choose to buy this bed instead, read on to learn more about its features.

Quality and Features

The Hästens bedding company has been around since 1852, and their motto has always been “The Spirit of Excellence.” We wonder if it can get any more excellent than this entirely handcrafted bed made of all-natural materials. In a market where latex and foam are the key materials, the mention of horsetail hair and flax certainly makes you take notice.

Hästens has a number of showrooms around the world, including the US, and every interested customer is encouraged to visit a store to check out the product before shelling out the massive sum.

But you may wonder the advantage of horse hair and flax in a mattress when the market is flooded with things like gel memory foam, air-engineering, and open cell technology. Hästens has been in the bedding industry much before latex or memory foam came into existence. In those times natural materials were used to make mattresses. Even though today these materials seem very outdated, back in those days they made some of the finest beds. This Swedish company sticks to the tradition and continues to make all-natural handmade beds. In fact, a story goes that’s the Swedish royal family was so impressed with the craftsmanship of Hästens that the company was named the Official Bedding Supplier to the Swedish Royal Court. This was over 65 years ago.

There is no doubt that the Swedes are incredible at the craftsmanship. From knives to cutlery to furniture to bedding, anything manufactured in Sweden becomes a collector’s piece. The same applies to the Hästens Vividus. Every bed is made to order and customized according to preferences. Although there are beds on display at their showrooms, Hästens takes care to specially craft a bed for you once you place an order. This makes every bed unique.

There are several benefits of an all-natural bed. Horse tail hair is a natural temperature regulator, absorbing moisture as the bed heats when you sleep and releasing it the moisture as the bed cools when you get out of it. Flax has antibacterial properties, making the mattress hygienic and safe. Flax is also used to make linen fibers. Cotton is excellent at wicking moisture and helping you stay cool, while wool keeps you warm in the colder months.

Sure, you don’t get the bounce of memory foam, but you do get a bed that’s 100 percent natural, free from chemicals, and has been made just for you by master craftsmen in faraway Sweden. Besides, Hästens has researched a good deal about the science of sleep and makes sure that their beds help customers get the best sleep ever.

So Why Hästens Vividus So Expensive?

This is where the fun begins. When you first see the Hästens Vividus bed up close, it can slightly anger you: why is something that looks so ordinary priced $149,000? It doesn’t look anything like those technology-driven mattresses that are the rage today. It doesn’t look like a cloud, and it doesn’t promise to feel as soft either. It doesn’t have any built-in gadget– no phone charger, no smartphone app, no television or refrigerator. Then why on Earth is it so expensive?

To understand this, we need to know the history of the Vividus. When the bed was first made in 2006, it used to take 160 hours to build and was priced at $112,900. In the next 10 years, the company researched more about regulating body temperature and offering more comfort and support without using any artificial material. They did manage to make the Vividus better, but it only started to take double the time– 320 hours. That’s because Hästens has only four certified craftsmen and only one atelier in Sweden. Each bed is made to order and requires at least 10 weeks to build.

Next, come the materials. The frame is made from Swedish pine wood that’s slow-growing and not abundant. Needless to say, Swedish pine wood is expensive and not easily available. Next in line is the box spring, which has steel springs as well as several layers of flax used to soundproof the bed. On top of that sits the mattress, made with more springs, and multiple layers of horsetail hair lining and cotton and wool batting, layered just the way you would bake a cake or lasagna. The topmost layer is the mattress pad, called the “topper,” made with many more layers of wool, cotton, and horsehair.

Horsehair is one of the most critical components of the bed and also requires the most effort and time. The hair is hand braided and then unwound, to make it bouncy. Once the strands of horsehair are curled, they function like springs, giving the bed bounce and support. Unlike human hair, horsehair is hollow and excellent at wicking away moisture to prevent sweat buildup.

Because all these materials are natural and cannot be manufactured in a factory, they are hard to obtain and also expensive. There are no screws and nails in the bed, only dovetail joints. The step-stitching is done by hand with an 18-inch-long needle.

However, the advantage is that when you lie on the bed, you not only feel supported overall but also have your legs slightly elevated, which is beneficial for blood circulation.

Besides the customized comfort, you also get a 25-year warranty, and a bed that’s fit to be passed down to next generations.

Is Hästens Vividus Worth It?

If you have the money and want to splurge not on diamonds or gold watches but on sleep, then the Hästens Vividus is for you. You don’t easily find such beds. Free from chemicals and artificial materials, the Vividus is crafted for the most blissful and most hygienic sleep.

You don’t necessarily have to lie on a $150,000 mattress for the most restful sleep. If you have a sleep disorder, then a mattress isn’t going to cure it. However, if you do want to invest in the most luxurious sleep, it doesn’t get any better than the Hästens Vividus.