There are certainly more expensive pistols to be found, but the one that surprised me and impressed me the most in my younger years was the S&W M3913. Then, the late production M3913TSW reinforced that impression.
If they'd have continued to make the 3rd gen metal guns, and had ever offered the compact single stack in an all-stainless version (a 3916TSW, since the '6' would've denoted a stainless frame, like in the 3906?), I'd have stopped searching and just collected a couple more. As it is, I own that first 3913 (late 90's revision), a CS9 from the early 2000's and a late production 3913TSW I bought as a former issued duty weapon.
I wasn't interested in collecting (or carrying) full-size pistols in the latter part of my career, or I might've taken a 5906PC I was offered from a close friend's estate when he passed. I was the reason he'd originally ordered that 5906PC, since I'd told him S&W was making a run of them, and he called and had one shipped to his FFL. It was a fun 9mm to handle and shoot, but I wasn't personally interested in collecting and carrying boat anchors.
A bit of a tack-driver, though.