Yawn. Another day, another £100,000 gold and diamond bespoke stiletto. We get it: You can make really expensive stuff. There are still some people left who are rich enough to buy it. So these diamond stilettos? They’re already tired.
The “Eternal Diamond stiletto” by House of Borgezie is handcrafted entirely from solid gold and encrusted with 2,200 brilliant cut diamonds, totalling 30 carats. FWIW, as we say in the trade. It looks strikingly like the plastic kind you can get for little kids at the stationery store, and customers of the latter will probably find these really impressive. Doubtless too they will be a hit amongst those who enjoy eating sushi covered in gold leaf – because they can – and actually buying whatever jewel-covered brassiere some poor Victoria’s Secret Angel’s had to schlep triumphantly down the runway for the benefit of Jamie Kennedy or whoever else graces the front row.
Call us jaded. But these feats of excess really don’t feel that impressive anymore. Once upon a time, people were probably reassured to know that kings and institutions had major swag. In an unsparkly world, bling could capture the imagination. But now, surrounded by neon and Claire’s and bedazzled vaginas, seeing precious metals is just kind of like looking at a lot of sequins – we know intellectually that this stuff is incredibly valuable, but in a world full of cheap glitz, it’s hard for our overstimulated eyes to get as excited. (And when you factor in diamonds’ provenance, it’s a whole ‘nother level of underwhelmed.)
At what point, after all, does a gimmick stop being a gimmick? You can make stuff out of precious metals and stones. People buy them. Why is this worthy of a press release? It’s one thing if someone has magical powers, like King Midas. Or can commission immortal lords of the underworld to craft bespoke accessories, like Venus. These things, would be stories. But just figuring out ways to cake more diamonds onto everyday stuff seems like a waste of time for artisans who could clearly be doing something more productive, and more beautiful.