diamond

It may come as a shock, but not all customized iPods need to look like something only Paris Hilton would buy. As shown by the recently featured 18k gold Shuffle, for example, beauty and luxury can indeed coexist.

In fact, a new model by U.K. jewelry designer John Harrington has shockingly found a way to use both gold and diamonds without being garish. His "Diamond Shuffle" uses only five high-quality stones in its laser-etched design, according to BornRich, featuring his signature "Renaissance" motif.

At a little over $600 it's hardly a bargain-basement item, but … Read more

If more tech companies were as aggressive as Amosu, we probably wouldn't have nearly as many product launch delays as we do today. The U.K.-based bling meister--which promises to customize pretty much anything in "diamonds, gold or white gold"--has done it again with a diamond encrusted Nokia N95.

And unlike so many "special editions" that number in the tens or even hundreds of thousands, the diamond N95 is limited to just 10 handsets. The specs indicate why: It's made of 18-karat solid gold and festooned with 325 diamonds totaling 3.30 … Read more

Perhaps chrome isn't the new gold after all, where Macs are concerned. An outfit called Computer Choppers, which has gotten some attention recently for its Digg case mod on eBay, will also customize your Macbook Pro in gold plate and a diamond-encrusted Apple logo. If that's not enough, you can also choose sapphires or other precious stones to make your statement.

Luxist says pricing for the gold plate costs $1,200 to $1,500, though the diamond logo alone can run the bill up another $2,400. But remember, all of this is a drop in the bling … Read more

While this certainly goes into the what-else-can-we-encrust category on Crave, it's also a coup de grâce for the art world.

This work by Damien Hirst, titled "For the Love of God," is made of diamonds, human teeth and the platinum-plated skull of a 35-year-old European male from the 1700s rumored to be a monk or minor saint (hence the name).

The diamond-encrusted skull sold for 50 million pounds ($101 million) on Wednesday. In fairness to Hirst, the skull did cost him $20 million to produce. Hirst is part of the investment group that bought the … Read more

Don't get us wrong: We're all in favor of using fashion, or whatever else it takes, to de-stigmatize ailments. But a gold and diamond hearing aid isn't exactly what we had in mind.

Unlike the tasteful designs we've seen in other versions, Widex is offering a horrific 24k hearing device and controller studded with 220 diamonds, according to Gizmodo, for the princely sum of $49,590. Even if carbon-bearing materials have some kind of audio-enhancement properties that we don't know about, this has got to be one of the more ridiculous examples of egregious excess … Read more

There's a simple yet invariable rule for retail products: Whenever a well-designed creation comes on the market, it will be followed by a horribly overdone version from a competitor who doesn't know when to stop. (Or sometimes from the same manufacturer as the original.)

Case in point: While we certainly don't approve of gilding as a rule, the recently featured 18k Shuffle actually caught our fancy. Then today, we almost reflexively poked an eye out upon viewing an unfortunate little guy that not only was made of gold but also "caked with loads of glittery diamonds,&… Read more

Contrary to popular belief, we don't think that all loudspeakers are depraved or trying to conquer humankind. To prove it, today we offer a pair that we truly admire, at least from an aesthetic perspective: Dynaudio's limited-edition "Sapphire" line.

This special pair, released at the 2007 Hong Kong High End Audio Visual Show to commemorate the German company's 30th anniversary, have Danish maple cabinets finished with heavy lacquer and house a 28mm tweeter, 15cm subwoofer and two 20cm woofers, Gadgetell says. But what really stands apart is their unique design, which resembles an uncut crystal … Read more

Within the next decade, you might take calls and surf the Web on a diamond-laced handset that would put the iPhone to shame. Unlike high-end, gem-studded cell phones, no bling would sparkle on the shell. But inside, diamond-covered components would enable crisper, faster communications.

Advanced Diamond Technologies is bringing diamond down to size for potential usage in a vast array of products, including wireless phones and medical implants. The company announced last week that it can make the first diamond coatings ideal for use in microelectromechanical devices, such as "tuning forks" in cell phones. The grains in ADT'… Read more

Silly us. After seeing some of Vertu's recent handsets, we thought the luxury phone maker might be headed in a more subdued direction. After all, they were a far cry from the $310,000 "Signature Cobra" or even its Ferrari anniversary edition.

But nay. The company has come back with a vengeance, unveiling the "Pink Diamond Signature," a handset made of rose gold that Sybarites says "features a full spectrum of pink diamonds as well as clear diamonds paved in flower patterns along the side of the phone."

What, no platinum? It must … Read more