Store Adds Donald Trump's Picture To $150,000 Gold-Encased iPhones (cnn.com)

An anonymous reader quotes CNN's report about an iPhone 7 "encased in solid gold, encrusted with diamonds and bearing the face of Donald Trump." Priced around $151,000, it's just one example of the mind-blowing bling sold by Goldgenie, a store in the United Arab Emirates where the super rich do their shopping. "There are very wealthy, high-net-worth individuals all over the world and sometimes its very difficult to buy gifts for them because they have everything," said Frank Fernando, Goldgenie's managing director... But the phones are far from the most expensive item on sale. A gold-plated racing bike will set you back about $350,000. If you're thinking no one would buy a $150,000 Trump phone, think again. In the last month, they've sold ten of them.

Comments

Just so everyone knows

[tempo36]

For when you're really rich and want to make absolutely 100% sure that everyone knows you'd rather spend your money on displays of wealth than anything remotely beneficial to anyone else.

(p.s. Remember, when we help the wealthy make more money, they become JOB CREATORS!)

Re:Just so everyone knows

[ShanghaiBill]

For when you're really rich and want to make absolutely 100% sure that everyone knows

If you are really "super-rich", you prefer to keep a lower profile. The big market for "bling" is for posers and wannabes. Do you see Bill Gates or Warren Buffett displaying bling? I have actually met a few billionaires (David Filo, Jerry Yang, Larry Page, Sergey Brin). They were wearing jeans and sneakers or sandals. No bling.

Re:Just so everyone knows

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you see Bill Gates or Warren Buffett displaying bling? I have actually met a few billionaires (David Filo, Jerry Yang, Larry Page, Sergey Brin). They were wearing jeans and sneakers or sandals. No bling.

It's anti-bling. When you're at that level, you can wear anything you want. Walking into a business meeting where I have to wear a suit, they can show up in jeans and a T-shirt because of who they are. I walk in wearing jeans and a T-Shirt folks will wonder who the hell do I think I am.

Only a billionaire can look like a slob and be taken seriously. See what I mean?

Another example is this restaurant in Greenwich, CT. Suit and Tie for everyone BUT Paul Newman when he was alive. He wore jeans, shirt and cowboy boots - because he was Paul Newman. Even the billionaire Wall Street weren't allowed in like that.

Doing what you want - especially where it isn't appropriate - is a sign of power.

Re:Just so everyone knows

[Opportunist]

Totally different market, totally different mindset. To understand how this works, you'd first of all have to understand the mentality of the target audience.

In the UAE, if you're wealthy and want to "count", you have to show that you have the money. Actually, you have to show that money is so unimportant to you that you can throw it away. And that's best done by buying shit nobody that actually values money would buy. It takes a while to get used to this, but once you understand how status works in that area, the whole insanity starts to make a lot of sense. What matters is not what you do, but how. You have to make a phone call, but you do it on a 150k phone. You have to go somewhere, but you have to drive there with a Ferrari. And of course it has to be some limited edition, because everyone and their dog can simply buy a Ferrari.

You're dealing with people who have a completely different idea of status. In the US, being rich means that you buy a football team because that is somehow an investment. Or you do charity because that allows you to connect with people. Or you do anything else that actually has at least a side benefit. Over there, status is measured by being able to simply throw away money for no tangible return. And to show that you can throw away money, you need to show off crap that is insanely expensive but has no "real" net benefit. A normal iPhone makes calls just as well as the 150k version, but that 150k version shows that you can throw those 150k away without getting anything in return.

And this ladies and gentlemen

[rsilvergun]

is why I'm a socialist. Let capitalism run wild and we'll spend our resources on crap like this instead of Ebola vaccines. And don't say it's a false dichotomy. We are nowhere near ready as a civilization to support this level of veblen goods and a decent standard of living for the remaining 99%. Hell, in my country we'll still arguing over who's gonna pay for type-I diabetics to have insulin...

Well, it just goes to show.

[hey!]

Being rich doesn't mean you have taste or sense.

This

[rsilvergun]

so much this. People don't realize that just about every major health initiative is funded by the gov't. The basic science in particular all gets done by the gov't because it's not profitable enough quick enough to attract investors. Then a corp moves in, do cheap the finishing touches to turn it into a product and sell back the public works to us.