These phones and laptops will make you look like a million bucks.
Ever wondered what Shah Rukh Khan’s laptop or Amitabh Bachchan’s mobile phone looks like? Well, if you think they tote around a regular Apple MacBook or good old Nokia phone, then think again. Both film stars have dumped ostentation and moved towards understated indulgence, and sport gadgets made especially for them — let your mind wander from diamond-studded and gold-plated laptops to custom paint jobs on mobile phones.
So, if your money’s burning a hole in your pocket, these are the perfect over-the-top gadgets to spend it on. The sky is the limit.
You will drool over PowerMax’s gold-plated MacBook Pro. The laptop comes in a 24-karat gold case complete with diamond-studded Apple logo. This laptop is not just for showing off with. It comes in 15.4-inch and 17-inch models for Rs 3,12,000 ($6,499) and Rs 3,85,000 ($7,999). The golden MacBook can also be ordered coated with 12,000 Swarovski crystals. Only 20 such MacBooks will be made, because it takes a week to set all those crystals by hand.
If you want something quirky and exclusive, the Tulip Ego Diamond laptop is your answer.
Ego Lifestyles, a Dutch company that makes high-end consumer electronics, offers this laptop inlaid with solid white-gold plates, hand-set with diamonds. The laptop can be accessorised to the nth degree. The outer skin pops off, letting users mix and match colour schemes. The Tulip Ego is a fashion statement as well as a tool. The downside is that, at Rs 1,70,67,000 ($355,000), it costs as much as a house.
Not everyone wants a laptop covered in diamonds or gold. Turn to Falcon Northwest, a computer-maker with celebrities and royal families among its customers. The company employs artists to give your laptop or desktop a custom paint job — think car quality but on a PC. An average built-to-order Falcon Northwest computer or laptop costs Rs 2,40,000 ($5,000).
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For those who want their computers ultra-fashionable, Swiss manufacturer Pat Says has the perfect peripheral. The world’s most expensive computer mouse, it is cast from 18K white gold and set with 59 brilliant-cut diamonds. At Rs 11,62,000 ($24,180), you have a choice of two designs, Diamond Flower and Scattered Diamonds. You can even add your initials in diamonds, and choose yellow, red or white gold with white or black trim.
British designer Alexander Amosu has created the world’s most expensive BlackBerry phone. It takes 350 man-hours to make just one handset, so only three such devices will ever be produced. According to Amosu, 4,459 brilliant-cut diamonds (weighing 28.43 carats) will adorn a solid 18K yellow gold case. This BlackBerry will cost Rs 94,89,000 ($197,412). The five-star treatment continues with the addition of your name or company logo, and a 24-hour global concierge service (like the luxury phone brand Vertu’s concierge service).
If you have really big bucks, you could have your mobile phone swathed in diamonds. Swiss luxury mobile phone maker GoldVish sells the Le Million Piece Unique handset at more than $1 million. The phone is made of white gold and covered with 120 carats of diamonds. Yes, it makes phone calls too. GoldVish also has other designs with at least 150 gm of solid 18K gold casing.
Less rarefied is the Rs 91,67,678 ($190,735) diamond-encrusted iPhone. And for those with a truly modest budget there is the Nokia 8800 Arte Pink phone for Rs 6,48,878 ($13,500), with 680 pink and white brilliant-cut diamonds.