The Instrument of the Immortals" - Steinway (National Geographic, May 1920)
The pattern
This still is filed under Price-anchoring offer.
Define
A higher reference number is shown first so the real price reads as a concession, not as a starting bid.
Mechanism
People judge a price against the first number they see. The anchor must be a real comparison or it collapses.
Verdict
We have a credible reference the buyer will accept
Why it works
The ad argues nothing about the product and instead transfers authority by association, letting Liszt's quoted line do the testifying so Steinway never has to praise itself. Naming the category "the instrument of the immortals" defines the market on Steinway's terms, which makes every rival a piano and Steinway something else - a positioning move that survives decades because it cannot be copied without conceding it. The complete absence of price, model or feature signals that price is not the axis of the decision, and the deliberate darkness of the halftone makes the reader lean in. The closing line about homes where you find the one and there also is the other converts the purchase into an identity claim about the buyer.
Steal this when
Use this when you are the prestige leader and any feature comparison would drag you onto a challenger's ground. Name the category after the company your buyer wants to keep, borrow one unimpeachable third-party voice, and say nothing about price.