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Fine jewelry are supposed to be heirloom objects, passed down from generation to generation.
In contrast, tech objects like smartphones, smart watches and laptops are things that begin going obsolete almost immediately, and become unusable in a matter of years, as operating systems move on and the objects don't. They're destined to have short lives.
In other words, combining these two product categories doesn't make much sense. But UK-based Goldstriker International begs to differ. The fabrication firm utilizes fine jewelry artisanship to provide "exclusivity for the fashionistas" who want unique and expensive versions of their tech objects, things that we humble 99%-ers could never afford. Thus Goldstrikers produces things like:
"24ct gold MacBook Pro"
"Luxury Gold & Wood iPhone XS"
"24ct gold and marble iPhone XS"
"Sapphire button on iPhone XS"
"24ct Gold and crocodile leather iPhone"
"24ct Gold iPhone X hand engraving with diamonds set in the skull"
"24ct gold and crocodile leather Apple Watch Series 4"
"Platinum Apple Watch with black diamonds set in the skull"
"Diamond iPhone XS"
"24ct Gold Apple Watch 3"
"Luxury iPhone X with 24ct gold , Diamonds , Rubies , Ostrich or Crocodile skin"
As far as how much this stuff costs: Prices aren't listed, but these are the folks who made a £10 million (USD $13.3 mil) iPhone 5, "officially the world's most expensive handset," they boast.
I’m a lapsed industrial designer. I was born in NYC and figured I’d die there, but a few years ago I abandoned New York to live on a farm in the countryside with my wife. We have six dogs.
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Smartphone and Tech Object Mods for the 1%
Probably the less we report on this the less it will occur.
Rain,
Why is the common aesthetic style of the people who pay for these types of customizations always Gold, Crystal, Marble, Diamonds and The Lord Of The Rings prop? And why do this on an item that is inevitably obsolete? Actually, maybe seeing the level of cost and craftmanship put into these items is a motivator to go against the continuos product launches and iterations of the same object with minimal increments in improvements. My Nokia 3310 and old iPhone 4S still work, only the software and battery life makes them obsolete. I am genuinely impressed with the level of craftmanship on those engraved iWatches. Maybe Apple should offer this and give them a longer life like the analogue watches they are competing with?
For the price tag the website is garbage
I love stuff like this. I was in an eye doctor's office once back in the early aughts. I saw a magazine sitting there and decided to look through it. I believe it was the Robb Report. I never knew there was so much I would never know. Its fun to see what people come up with using the fanciest materials.
Some of these are objectively awful but love the irreverence of modding these devices.