Caviar unveils $4,300 gold-plated iPhone engraved with Putin’s face

By Malarie Gokey June 30, 2014

caviar supremo putin gold iphone 5s — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Apple’s gold iPhone 5S was a huge hit all around the world when it first debuted, but luxury brands have been gold-plating iPhones long before Cupertino released it as a color option. Recently, Italian luxury goods company Caviar revealed a gold-plated iPhone 5S with Russian President Vladmir Putin’s face engraved on the back, alongside the Russian crest and a few lines from the country’s national anthem.

Now, you too can celebrate your love for Putin with the Caviar Supremo Putin iPhone 5S. The portrait is engraved by hand, into the iPhone’s gold-plated back, and once the product is ready, Caviar slips the phone into its own high-class velvet box.

Naturally, this is being offered in Russia, because we doubt it’ll find any success stateside or in many parts of the world. In the product description, the company claims that buying the Supremo Putin is the best way to show your patriotism. The phone will certainly cost you though: after all, 147,000 rubles, which amounts to $4,300, is hardly cheap.

Putting Putin’s face on a gold iPhone might seem like a strange choice for an Italian company, especially given the recent controversy surrounding the Russian president’s policies. However, Caviar is a luxury brand with a good following in Russia and this is one of the less extravagant iPhones the company offers, so perhaps it’s not so strange after all.

Caviar sells iPhones made with diamonds, alligator skin, cobra skin, and other bizarre materials, too. Also of note is the company’s gold-plated iPhone 5S with Muhammed Ali’s face engraved on the back. It’s unclear why Putin and Ali were chosen to grace the backs of these gold-plated iPhones, but perhaps Caviar saw a correlation between the two tough guys’ personalities.

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