Buy Buy, Baby: The $5,500 Toilet

"Buy Buy, Baby" is a new Friday feature that explores unique luxury goods and what makes them special. Check back every week for more items to put on your wish list.

Goh Chok Tong, a previous prime minister of Singapore, threw down a challenge for his nation in 1996, saying it could "measure its graciousness" by its bathrooms. Clean toilets indicate a prosperous country -- that was the gist of his take on national pride.

These days, it may take more than just a simple, clean water closet to prove one's worth. You need to do better than that. And so, if it seems as though your investments have been flushed away in recent months, why not simply invest in the toilet itself?

Enter the $5,000-plus john. ...