Whenever Apple releases a new product, such as the Vision Pro, there’s a small group of people thinking “okay, but what if it was covered in gold?”
Enter Caviar, purveyor of extremely expensive, customised Apple products.
Caviar’s latest is the Apple Vision Pro CVR Edition, of which the casing and protective mask is plated in 18 karat gold. The headband is finished in Connolly leather, a company which provides soft leather to the British Royal Court and Rolls-Royce. And, the flip-up protector is based on flip-up glasses from Tom Ford, plus Gucci ski goggles.
It's quite something else.
As you’ve probably guessed, this headset isn’t aimed at those of us who fly cattle class, if we fly at all. It’s aimed more at the private jet crowd.
When it launches later this year – Caviar says the intended release date is in the fall of 2024 – there will be just 24 headsets made. And each one will cost an estimated $39,900. That’s roughly £31,600.
What is Caviar, and who's buying its products?
Caviar is a luxury brand that’s been making very odd and very expensive tech products for over a decade now. The brand specialises in combining cutting-edge tech with “exquisite materials”: not just gold but diamonds, carbon and even bits of meteorites.
You may have seen its work before - it put out a gold-plated PS5 in 2021 and a custom, $20k Biden vs Trump iPhone 12 in 2020.
The current range includes some very distinctive Apple Watch cases, gold-plated Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultras that look like they’ve been unearthed from a Pharoah’s tomb, and a diamond-studded iPhone 14 / 15 Pro / Max. Also, if bling isn’t quite your thing, the company also crafts some carbon fibre iPhones and crocodile leather cases.
I know I’m not the target market for any of these things - I balk at the price of an official Apple iPhone 15 case - but it’s fun to imagine what kind of person would buy a forty grand Apple Vision Pro.
It’s not going to be an app developer, that’s for sure. I’m thinking private jets, Bugatti cars and a whole bunch of outstanding extradition warrants.
