Mobile phones are almost universally owned now, and most people even have a smartphone. Some phones are extremely expensive compared to what the majority of people have in terms of an average disposable income; this goes for all mobile devices. This guide is going to run you through some of the most extravagant mobile devices and accessories that, for most people, are on a lottery prize budget, similar to the kinds of high-value prizes often associated with draws like the 49s.
iPhone 5 Black Diamond
The iPhone 5 Black Diamond is a luxury smartphone that is valued at $15 million, this is because the phone features a unique black diamond home button, a solid gold chassis to house the interior, and 600 white diamonds around the outside. As you can imagine, these glitzy modifications to the phone’s hardware pushed the price of the phone up, significantly. The phone was meticulously designed and built by Stuart Hughes and took over 9 weeks to complete.
This particular model was designed with a black diamond at the request of a businessman who wanted to incorporate a black diamond that had been in his family’s possession for generations into the phone’s design. The phone is extremely unique, and the
The black diamond is used instead of the traditional home button, the chassis of the phone itself is covered with white diamonds and has a full, solid gold plaque on the back. The phone’s back is made of around 135 grams of 24ct gold and features a special sapphire glass screen. The Apple logo is encrusted with 53 diamonds; all these additions make it one of the most expensive phones ever sold. The software, however, is no better than a standard iPhone, but the outer body is clearly much more lavish and even more boujie than the designer intended, with the addition of the black diamond the businessman added to the original design.
Maison de Sabre
There is an £11,000 phone case released by Maison de Sabre, which is available in a variety of different colours from lavender to black. It features an 18 carat gold camara guard which is set with 38 brilliant-cut, hand-set diamonds. The camera guard also has 8 rare sapphires interrupting the continuous ring of diamonds, the colours of which represent the leather colourways available for the phone cases. The cases are completely handmade by a team of jewellers in France, and the specification describes the case as jewellers, which seems accurate, based on it featuring more jewels than most people own at all, never mind on their phone case.
You might be happy to know that they do produce a phone case for £60, too, although this is probably too expensive for the majority of people as well. Maison de Sabre truly is a company that has solidified its place as a luxury brand.
Balenciaga
Balenciaga is responsible for the Sneakerhead Phone Holder, which is heavily inspired by its namesake streetwear subculture, sneakerheads. Rather than being designed as a regular case or pouch, it is unsurprisingly shaped like a miniature sneaker, intended to carry a smartphone. Balenciaga has moved away from designing a phone case or holder as just that; they have incorporated creativity into the design, making it a fashion item, too.
By using a trainer silhouette as a functional accessory, Balenciaga has reframed everyday tech items within the context of streetwear. The holder features laces and sole detailing that perfectly emulate the brand’s oversized footwear for which it is well known, and this approach aligns with a broader trend in which luxury labels transform regular objects into eye-catching statements.
In practice, the bag wouldn’t be very protective for your phone; the bag itself is worth a couple of thousand pounds and could therefore be at risk of theft, without the added value of a phone inside. Because it is a holder rather than a case, your phone needs to be removed from the bag before you can use it. If you want to protect it when it is out of the bag, you would also need to buy a phone case.
Parts of Four
Parts of Four are a company that focuses on making pieces that are also conceptual art and not just standard jewellery pieces. Its customers are often drawn to its pieces because they are dark and even slightly architectural looking.
The luxury jewellery company has released a UBS necklace made from sterling silver and brass, which houses a 128 GB USB stick at its centre. The lid at the bottom needs to be removed in order to use the USB stick, but it is fully functional and was first introduced to show the company’s appreciation for the mechanism.
Conclusion
There are so many companies designing and making phone and earbud accessories these days, now that everyone needs phones and their accessories, there is a huge market for them. There are products in these categories for a wide range of prices, from a couple of pounds to millions of pounds, this list has compiled some of the products affordable on lottery prize budgets!
All of these devices and accessories are expensive, not because they have capabilities that few other mobile devices do or because they offer extra protection for your phone compared to other cases or accessories. They are expensive because they sit at an intersection between jewellery and function, and a lot of them are just made with very high-cost materials.
A lot of people would doubt that a phone could cost into the hundreds of thousands or even millions to buy, but it is true, and has happened multiple times.
