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Luxury gold-gilded gadgets will empty your pocketbook

Bling all the things! You'll need sunglasses to behold these gold-slathered items ranging from a Trump iPhone to a racing bike.

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amandakooser.jpg
Amanda Kooser
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1 of 13 McDonald's

McDonald's gold McNugget

A certain subset of the world is really into the idea of covering everything in sight with gold. These modern-day Midases can get their fix with gold-plated iPhones, drones and even toilets. 

McDonald's Japan took the Golden Arches concept a little too far when it unveiled an 18-karat-gold chicken McNugget in 2016 as a contest prize. You'd just want to be sure not to bite down on it, no matter how hungry you got.

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2 of 13 Sony

Sony DMP-Z1

Sony stepped up the shininess with its 2018 DMP-Z1 music player featuring a gold-plated knob and a significant price tag. It's more expensive than Sony's 85-inch TV. 

Gold bike
3 of 13 Goldgenie

Gold-plated bike

Goldgenie is a London and Dubai company famous for plating all sorts of crazy things in gold. This British racing bike from 2014 is a prime example of Goldgenie's wild streak. The blingmasters described it as the "ultimate once-in-a-lifetime gift for yourself or someone truly special."

Gold-plated Segwheel
4 of 13 Goldgenie

Gold Segwheel

Remember when one-wheeled personal transportation devices seemed really cool? That was around 2015 and UK blingsters Goldgenie got on board the trend by offering a gold-plated Segwheel electric uniwheel. It cost a healthy $44,000 (£28,000, AU$57,000).

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5 of 13 Drones Direct

Drone in gold

This DJI Phantom 4 drone is not like the others. Drone retailer Drones Direct offered this shiny gold version in 2016 for about $25,000 (£19,999.97, AU$32,000). The gold plating added some extra weight to the machine. This is one drone you won't want to get stuck up in a tree.

Gold skull chair
6 of 13 Harow

Skull armchair

French design firm Harow should be your first stop when outfitting your supervillain lair. The firm came up with the 24-karat-gold skull armchair in 2016. If you turn it around, you'll find a cushy black velvet seat. 

Gold BB-8
7 of 13 Kay Jewelers

BB-8 gets blinged

Kay Jewelers celebrated Star Wars in 2015 with the creation of a gold-and-diamond BB-8. It took jewelers over 600 hours to design and build the shiny droid, which is just over 4 inches (10 centimeters) tall and weighs more than 1.5 pounds (a little over half a kilogram).

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8 of 13 Caviar

Trump and Putin in gold

Russian-Italian luxury smartphone maker Caviar immortalized the alleged Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin bromance in 2017 with a custom gold-plated iPhone set featuring a profile of each world leader. Even better, the phones were called "One World."

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9 of 13 Dartz

Bulletproof car seat

This luxurious car seat might look like something Iron Man would use for his kid, but it's actually a bulletproof baby seat designed by luxury Latvian carmaker Dartz in 2015. The seat uses kevlar, gold stiching and gold-plated crocodile skin. 

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10 of 13 Goldgenie

A flashier Apple Watch

The gold-loving people at luxury-products maker Goldgenie enjoy blingifying Apple products, like this $164,000 (about £110,000, AU$214,500) Apple Watch from 2015. Not content with just rose-gold, the company also covered the watch in diamonds.

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11 of 13 Goldgenie

2018 'Gold iPhone Xs'

Apple's upcoming 2018 iPhones haven't even been unveiled yet, but that didn't stop Goldgenie from opening up preorders for a $127,000 (£100,000, AU$176,000) gold-plated version. The company took a guess that the new phone might be called the "iPhone Xs." It's certainly hoping the "excess" name comes true.

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12 of 13 Guggenheim Museum

Solid gold toilet

Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan tweaked the art world's nose in 2016 when the Guggenheim Museum installed his functional, solid-gold toilet in a bathroom. Patrons were allowed to spend some private time with the fancy loo. The piece is titled "America."

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13 of 13 Goldgenie

Royal wedding on an iPhone X

The very expensive 2018 royal wedding between Prince Harry and Meghan Markle got a fitting Goldgenie tribute in the form of a commemorative gold-plated iPhone X emblazoned with an image of the happy couple. So tasteful. 

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