How much money is too much to spend on a smartphone? The average well-heeled user will tell you that ten grand is about the upper limit for a flagship, perhaps a bit over if, like Apple’s latest and greatest, there’s a boatload of flash storage included from the outset. But R40.5 million? That’s pushing it, surely?
Still, that’s what a company called Goldgenie (the clue’s in the name) is punting as a Valentine’s Day gift for the person in your life worth several homes in the most affluent of South African suburbs. Actually, that R40 mil figure is the upper limit for one of these Diamond Ecstasy Collection devices, which entail getting your hands on a custom iPhone with “…a choice of 24K Gold, Rose Gold or Platinum and embedded with hundreds of light-catching diamonds.”
The handsets available from the custom smartphone outfit actually start at around a mere R180,000 or so, but your choice of gems for the encrusting process is what drives the price up to that magical two-homes-in-the-heart-of-Sandton price. Prospective buyers have the option of “…raditional white diamonds alongside their coloured counterparts in pink and black, sapphires, corundum, topaz, emeralds, rubies, tourmalines and tanzanite.” It all depends on how much you like your hardened carbon, we guess.
Once your phone has been encased in rare metals and gems, Goldgenie will provide it to you in a Cherry Oak-finished presentation box, along with a bunch of accessories that you’d find in your old standard iPhone 6 box. Because nothing says “usable” like a wooden box to keep your bling safe.
It almost goes without saying that Goldgenie counts mostly corporations and celebs among their clients – if we were to guess, there are probably very few ‘normal’ people keen on getting one of these handsets. Even if there are a couple, they probably couldn’t afford it. Still, if you really want to say you care, R40 million is an expensive way to get the message out.
