Russian jeweler and bespoke electronics accessory designer Caviar has announced it will be making a customized PlayStation 5 for individuals looking to have a distinct addition to their living room or gaming space.
Called “Golden Rock,” the console will be clad in eight pieces of 18 karat gold, weighing a total of 20 kilograms. As stated on the catalog page, “the case of this exclusive gadget is made in the original jewelry technique, which adds volume and texture to the model. The inspiration for the designers was the unique geometry of the gold ore and the graceful, beautiful outlines of the rock. That is why the console was named Golden Rock.” As for the DualSense controller, Caviar will be customizing that as well, indicating that it will be wrapped in crocodile leather and accented with gold inserts “for a real tactile pleasure.”
The catalog page does not list a price. It does, however, have a button for people to request a price quote (and seemingly assuming a pre-order). Given the current price of gold, a conservative estimate would put it at approximately $940,000 USD just for the console, though it is likely to be somewhat higher when factoring in labor charges, taxes, and shipping.
Food For Thought
This is almost the dictionary definition of “wretched excess.” The designers are talking about strapping over fifty troy pounds of gold on to a piece of consumer electronics which already weighs nine and a half pounds (or eleven and a half troy pounds if you want to stay consistent with your measuring systems). The PS5 is already pretty heavy, but this moves it into a completely different class. Worse, that much gold is almost certainly going to trap a significant amount of heat, which is almost certainly going to make playing any actual games on it an iffy prospect at best. As a piece of art, it’s not terrible. But as a “luxury” consumer good, it’s deeply frivolous.
