Former banker Jay Dweck enjoys swimming, collecting violins and being rich. After earning his fortune on the Street, the former Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley exec decided to splash out on a pool that would combine these passions.

Dweck contacted award-winning landscape architecture and masonry firm Cipriano Landscape Design, a New-Jersey-based outfit that recently added custom-designed swimming pools to their repertoire. The "exact replica in scale of a 1700s era Stradivarius violin with all of its detail and intricacies" that they came up with, in accordance with Dweck's wishes, is just nuts; the firm describes it as "one of the most complex pool designs and installations within the whole design and build industry."

First off, look at the amount of detail and AutoCADding that went into just the tiles, which are translucent glass and number nearly 500,000:

Typically gradient tile patterns transition in one [or two directions, but here] the tiles were blended to transition in a 4 way gradient pattern. [We] collaborated with the tile manufacturer to assign a numeric value to each sheet of tile from 1-15, based on that particular sheet's gradient transition. Using [AutoCAD, we planned] the location of every single sheet of tile to ensure that the gradient pattern would transition perfectly to the numerous curves and corners of the organically shaped violin pool.

A similar level of detail went into the rest of the pool:

Fiber optic rope lighting detail that illuminates the entire periphery of the pool.

Violin strings represented by 5760 strands of fiber optic lighting, which glow beautifully at night and can be synchronized with music playing externally.

12-person perimeter overflow spa, with independent LED lighting.

Two fish-filled koi ponds, built to resemble the "bow" of the violin, are visible to swimmers via two transparent acrylic panels, and are outfitted with 250 fiber optic star-lights.

If that wasn't enough, the pool is also kitted out jet system capable of creating a current "strong enough to kayak or swim against," and it's all-weather, thanks to a 1,000,000 BTU heater. Underwater speakers mean you can hear your Mozart while submerged, and in a weird nod to Guitar Hero, Dweck is toying with the idea of synchronizing the individual strings' lighting to the notes coming out of the sound system.

Well, what can we say? This thing beats the heck out of the pool down at the Y, where this blogger will be getting his laps in this summer. Sigh.

See also: Buildings That Look Like Other Things...