Full Breakdown
Eiffel Tower Staircase Segment Sells for €450,000
5/22/2026, 2:39:00 AM
Auction Highlights
On 21 May 2024, a spiral segment of the Eiffel Tower’s original staircase sold at an Artcurial auction in Paris. A French collector in the room bought the 14-step, 2.7 m-tall, 1.4-tonne piece for €450,160, about three times its €120,000–€150,000 estimate.
Historical Background
The Eiffel Tower, built for the 1889 Paris World’s Fair by engineer Gustave Eiffel, originally featured a spiral staircase linking the second and third floors. In 1983, elevators replaced the stairs, which were dismantled into 24 pieces. Over subsequent decades, roughly 160 m of the staircase were cut into smaller sections and sold, with mechanical lifts taking their place.
Timeline of Notable Staircase Sales
Key sales include the tower’s completion in 1889, staircase dismantling in 1983, a 2008 U.S. purchase reported at €550,000/€553,000, a 2016 Artcurial sale for €524,000, and the 21 May 2024 auction of a 14-step segment for €450,160 to a French collector.
Data & Statistics
The piece has 14 steps, is 2.7 m tall, and weighs 1.4 tonnes. It sold for €450,160 (? $523,000), about three times its €120,000–€150,000 valuation. Prior high-price sales were €550,000/€553,000 in 2008 and €524,000 in 2016. Sections are displayed near the Statue of Liberty in New York, in the Yoshi Foundation gardens in Yamanashi, Japan, and in private collections worldwide.
Why It Matters
Artcurial’s Art Deco design director Sabrina Dolla linked the heightened demand to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, where the Eiffel Tower, Place de la Concorde and the Grand Palais were prominently featured. The global visibility of these landmarks seems to have revived collector enthusiasm for artifacts embodying Parisian cultural symbolism among collectors worldwide.
Official Statements & Responses
Sabrina Dolla said acquiring a piece of the tower equates to owning a fragment of Parisian heritage and its imagination. She noted a “renewed interest in what it symbolizes and its aesthetic appeal,” linking the surge to the Olympic spotlight on the city’s iconic structures.
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The 2008 record price is reported as €550,000 in one source and €553,000 in another, a minor discrepancy. The current sale price appears as €450,160 in one account and “around €450,000” in another, showing slight variation. No details are given about the buyer’s identity or intended use of the segment.
Verbatim Quotes
- “When you buy a piece of the Eiffel Tower, you’re buying a piece of Paris, along with all the imagination and symbolism it represents,” — Sabrina Dolla, Art Deco Design Director, Artcurial Paris
- “We're definitely seeing renewed interest in what it symbolizes and its aesthetic appeal,” — Sabrina Dolla, Art Deco Design Director, Artcurial Paris
