When they first hit the market, smartphones were a luxury item that few people could justify purchasing. The technology hadn’t quite matured enough yet, so these little pocket computers were just seen as a toy for the wealthy and those that aspired to be wealthy.
This changed very quickly though and, today, we use smartphones for just about everything. They’re an important communication tool that helps us to stay connected with friends, colleagues, and loved ones no matter if they’re in the same room or on an entirely different continent.
Smartphones have also become one of our most-used leisure devices, helping us to stay entertained on the go with access to near-unlimited libraries of music, books, movies, and television shows. Mobile gaming has also developed into a hugely popular hobby as billions of players from across the globe enjoy everything from puzzle games like Mini Metro to complex first-person shooters like Call of Duty.
In some parts of the world, online casino games have also become incredibly popular as smartphones have made traditional games like roulette accessible to a much larger audience. They have done this by creating multiple variants of these much-loved titles and by providing guides that explain their basic mechanics and rules.
With 80.76% of the world now owning a smartphone, it is safe to say that they have stopped being a luxury item. That hasn’t prevented some companies from developing exclusive lines and special edition products that are out of the reach of the average consumer. Some have gone down the road of designing luxury cases for iPhones but some have gone further and built some of the most expensive phones ever made.
Diamond Crypto Smartphone
Don’t let the name confuse you, the Diamond Crypto Smartphone has nothing to do with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. The mention of cryptography is a reference to the fact that this smartphone contains encryption technology that’s designed to protect the owner’s information should it be lost or stolen.
In today’s market, that on its own is nothing special. Most iPhones and Android devices encrypt their storage by default, but when it went on sale in 2006, it was revolutionary.
15 years ago, Engadget described the phone as being for “the rich and paranoid” and that seems a pretty apt description.
See, the encryption was necessary because the 50 diamonds that are contained within the case are likely to make it attractive to thieves.
When it went on sale, the Diamond Crypto Smartphone would have set you back $1.3 million.
iPhone 3G Kings Button
The iPhone 3G was a revolutionary smartphone as it added 3G and video recording to Apple’s flagship handset for the first time. For the super-rich, just having the cutting-edge tech wasn’t enough, so the iPhone 3G Kings Button was created.
Designed by Peter Alisson, this pimped-out device had a case made of 19-karat yellow, white, and rose gold with 138 diamonds set into the front edge.
Since this was a time before TouchID, the button on the front only functioned as a button. So Alisson replaced it with a 6.6-carat single-cut diamond, to create the most luxurious way to switch between different apps ever made.
When it originally went on sale, the iPhone 4G Kings Button would have set you back $2.5 million.
Falcon Supernova iPhone 6 Pink Diamond
Several designers copied Alisson’s idea with the models that followed the iPhone 3G, but most took the same approach of replacing the home button or decorating the outside with precious metals and diamonds.
The Falcon Supernova iPhone 6 Pink Diamond does something a little different. The case is made from 24-carat gold and has a huge pink diamond attached to its back. Unlike the King’s Button, this diamond serves no purpose other than to tell the world that the owner spent $48.5 million on their smartphone.
Like the Diamond Crypto Smartphone, the Falcon Supernova iPhone 6 Pink Diamond also comes with “hack prevention technology”. Though little detail is available as to what this is, we can assume it’s above and beyond the standard iPhone 6 encryption.