Customized gold & titanium $6300 iPhone XS models with clockworks launched by mod shop

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in iPhone edited October 2018
Russia's Caviar has launched specially-customized "Grand Complications" versions of the iPhone XS and XS Max, in which the rear shell has been replaced by precious metals and a working watch mechanism.

Caviar iPhone XS


The Caviar phones are available in yellow gold, rose gold, or titanium. The watch mechanism must be wound manually, but is exposed for visual effect and decorated with engravings and guilloche (ribbon-like) patterns.

Only 99 units of each design are being sold, likely because of the difficulty of making them and their cost. Even the cheapest option, a 256-gigabyte titanium iPhone XS, currently costs $6,320, half of which must be paid upfront. A standard 256-gigabyte XS from Apple is $1,149.

A 512-gigabyte iPhone XS Max in yellow gold is $8,080 with a $4,040 pre-payment.

A relative handful of luxury makers around the world have dabbled in customized smartphones for the rich, such as the now-defunct Vertu. Apple itself has stayed away from making iPhones with precious metals, but did briefly offer gold Apple Watches via the first-generation Edition line. These started at $10,000 and went as high as $17,000, despite not having any extra functionality.

The company has abandoned the Edition concept entirely with this year's Series 4 Watch, though rich shoppers can still get Hermes models with custom bands and watchfaces.

Obviously, the Apple warranty is voided by the modifications.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    simply258simply258 Posts: 133member
    The difference between the Max 256GB and 512GB is $680! And everyone thought Apple was screwing us with memory prices!
  • Reply 2 of 13
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    What? It's not even an automatic mechanism? Who winds watches these days?
  • Reply 3 of 13
    viclauyycviclauyyc Posts: 849member
    Steve would be so mad
  • Reply 4 of 13
    sweetheart777sweetheart777 Posts: 64member
    I would actually consider buying one, but...

    1. If you have a problem, you can't go to an Apple store.
    2. Yes, I want someone in Russia to reassemble my iPhone and put in microphones that beam straight to Putin.
    3. So now that they know you have more money than brains, it's worthwhile to steal your financial information and reroute it to Mother Russia.

    Such a shame though. They are...purty...shiny, too!
    macseeker
  • Reply 5 of 13
    dougddougd Posts: 292member
    What fool would buy one?
  • Reply 6 of 13
    paxmanpaxman Posts: 4,729member
    anome said:
    What? It's not even an automatic mechanism? Who winds watches these days?
    I think the most expensive watches are indeed wind-up ones. But besides that, whoever can afford this is a fool to buy it and should get a grip on reality and just give the money to me... or anybody at all that might need it. If there is a market for this it certainly proves that there is no correlation at all between riches and smarts.
  • Reply 7 of 13
    anomeanome Posts: 1,533member
    paxman said:
    anome said:
    What? It's not even an automatic mechanism? Who winds watches these days?
    I think the most expensive watches are indeed wind-up ones. But besides that, whoever can afford this is a fool to buy it and should get a grip on reality and just give the money to me... or anybody at all that might need it. If there is a market for this it certainly proves that there is no correlation at all between riches and smarts.
    That's just wrong. But to be really expensive, it has to be near impossible to tell time with it. The fewer markings on the watch face, the more expensive. I think the ideal is a watch with black hands on a black face so that you can't really tell where anything is pointing.
    StrangeDays
  • Reply 8 of 13
    analogjackanalogjack Posts: 1,073member
    In Australia, the Apple warranty would not be voided no matter what Apple said as long as it can be shown that whatever problem has occurred had nothing to do with the modifications. Just sayin'.
    chasm
  • Reply 9 of 13
    mknelsonmknelson Posts: 1,124member
    You have to wind the watch AND wireless charging is probably gone.

    Olie-GARCH!  :s
    chasm
  • Reply 10 of 13
    bigpicsbigpics Posts: 1,397member
    I'll take two. They're small.... 

    *...smh...*
  • Reply 11 of 13
    cincyteecincytee Posts: 404member
    From the people who brought us the Faberge eggs....
  • Reply 12 of 13
    zimmiezimmie Posts: 651member
    paxman said:
    anome said:
    What? It's not even an automatic mechanism? Who winds watches these days?
    I think the most expensive watches are indeed wind-up ones. But besides that, whoever can afford this is a fool to buy it and should get a grip on reality and just give the money to me... or anybody at all that might need it. If there is a market for this it certainly proves that there is no correlation at all between riches and smarts.
    Depends. A lot of super-expensive watches are based on customized versions of off-the-shelf movements like the ETA 2892.A2 or the ETA/Valjoux 7750 because they're the thinnest automatic movements available. They are frequently used for chronographs, but also sometimes with only minute and hour complications to make the watch as thin as possible (like in IWC's Portofino line). To get thinner, you have to eliminate the rotor and go manual-wind.
  • Reply 13 of 13
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,727member
    sweetheart777 said:
    I would actually consider buying one, but...

    1. If you have a problem, you can't go to an Apple store.
    2. Yes, I want someone in Russia to reassemble my iPhone and put in microphones that beam straight to Putin.
    3. So now that they know you have more money than brains, it's worthwhile to steal your financial information and reroute it to Mother Russia.

    Such a shame though. They are...purty...shiny, too!
    Remember Walkie-Talkie mode, you could buy two ;)
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