One Of The Rarest PlayStation 5s Ever Is Covered In 18-Karat Gold

In 2021, five PlayStation 5s were modded to feature panels made of 18-karat gold, priced at $263,000 before taxes at the time. There was no difference under the hood of the PS5, and there's no real news of what happened to the five consoles after they were sold. They weren't even the company's most extreme take on the console. Caviar's earlier Golden Rock PS5 was announced with 20 kilograms, or about 643 troy ounces, of 18-karat gold, which was worth around $1,400 per troy ounce at the time, or roughly $900,000 in total. At the time of writing, that same gold would be worth about $4,125 per troy ounce, or over $2 million. That's an increase of more than $1.1 million since the bedazzling company, Caviar, revealed its solid-gold PS5.

Of course, these couldn't last forever, and Caviar has since replaced the ludicrous model with a Golden Rock Light version. This retails for 999,000 Russian Rubles, or around $12,200 before taxes, at the time of writing. Apparently limited to 99 units, it's still listed on the store and purchasable.

Even the price of a used PlayStation 5 Pro is through the roof, nearing $1,500, although it is nowhere near the exorbitant price tag of $12,200. That, or you're saving up so you can own a piece of Steve Jobs' turtleneck with this over-the-top luxury iPhone.

As with other Caviar gold-plated tech, the prices are exorbitant, but still not the most expensive that's been done. In 2023, it encrusted an iPhone 14 Pro Max with diamonds, tallying the cost at up to $450,000 at the time. Stunt tech mods have been around for years, with other examples including Asus' ROG Astral RTX 5090 Dhahab Edition, which even sported a certificate of authenticity. It has become a bit of a small cottage industry, but the current Golden Rock Light Version available to purchase via Caviar's website, uses 24-karat gold plating rather than the solid gold Caviar used for the Golden Rock.

Leronza is currently selling a "24K Gold" iPhone Duo, but this retails for $5,690 with 2TB of storage, so it's clearly just a finish. Goldgenie is another, selling the Duo with another gold finish for $10,000 to $12,000 depending on the specs. One U.K. brand Vertu, famous for its jewel-encrusted phones in the 2000s, shut down in 2017 but later returned under new ownership. It was best known for the Signature range, which featured bejeweled phones for anywhere up to £39,100 (about $52,400) at the time of writing.