Swiss-made Holborne Analog 2 Mk II turntable ($7495) and Dual Pivot tonearm ($3475) adds up to $10,970, which is slightly less than the $11,200 cost of the Van den hul Colibri cartridge mounted on the tonearm.
This is a photo of Touraj Moghaddam's $35,000 Vertere tonearm. You can see the built-in cueing light in the head shell but you can't see the details of the complex machining and unique bearing system that does not use gimbals or any sort of pivot point (s).
Pictured from left to right: Touraj Moghaddam, former Roksan turntable designer, Franc Kuzma, who needs to introduction and AMG designer and former machinist for Brinkmann turntables (as well as a former Lufthansa pilot) Werner Roeschlau.
The PBN Groovemaster turntable in Macassar Ebony with gold plated brass accents and SME 312S sure looked nice. It will cost you $20,000. I didn't get a chance to hear it.
As I predicted in my review of the $10,000+ Moon Evolution Series Phono Preamplifier, good things happen to those who wait for the company to trickle the technology down to less expensive units.