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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.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
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. 

Goldgenie rose gold Apple Watch
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.

goldtoilet
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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