Gallery: Cashing Out: Gear For When You Hit It Big
01Img16285-2
Sheathed in Gold, This is King Midas' iPad ------------------------------------------ Bling is nothing new. But how to make a statement ("I'm wealthy") without sacrificing your nerd cred? [Gold-plate your iPad](http://www.amosucouture.com/products.php?cid=9). That way, whether you're reading *Atlas Shrugged* or watching *Twilight*, the only thing other subway riders will be able to see is the reflection of their drooling faces. Offered by [Amosu](http://www.amosu.co.uk/index.php?lng=1) for around $4,300, this iPad wears a 24-karat jacket and a Apple logo made of 360 Swarovski crystals, and is otherwise just like every other iPad with WiFi and 3G connectivity. Amosu also customizes; pair it with a gold-plated iPhone, a pair of Swarovski ear buds, and a calfskin leather case, and you've got eight grand worth of consumer electronics. King Midas would be jealous. If you want to shine like the king, but prefer e-ink to the whole tablet thing, there's always Amosu's [gold-plated Kindle](http://www.amosucouture.com/products.php?cid=19&id=209). It's just as bright, but as *Wired* is only available on Android tablets, Kindle Fire and iPad, we respectfully recommend one of those devices for your reading pleasure.  *Photos: Courtesy of Amosu*
02GSS C520 on heli
This $750K Gyro-Stabilized Camera Rig Leaves Your GoPro in the Dust ------------------------------------------------------------------- Don't get us wrong; GoPros have a lot to offer. But at [$400 or less](http://gopro.com/hd-hero3-cameras), they hardly make you stand out. Instead, consider Gyro-Stabilized Systems' [C520 camera mount](http://gyrostabilizedsystems.com/products/c520). No, it won't fit on the end of your surfboard, much less your bike helmet. But you have a helicopter to mount it on, right? If not, for the price of this camera system you could buy a [Raven II](http://www.robinsonheli.com/rhc_r44_raven_series.html) and flying lessons and still have money left over. Plus, you've got a little time to save up. Gyro-Stabilized Systems partnered with [Teton Gravity Research](http://www.tetongravity.com/) -- makers of high-def extreme sports videos -- for an exclusive release, and are speaking on a case-by-case basis with other interested buyers. The system they rigged up for Teton Gravity Research ran about $750,000. The platform is designed to give five-axis stabilization to RED's latest camera, the [Epic](http://www.red.com/products/epic), a cinema-caliber rig that accounts for some $25,000 of the system's price tag and films at about four times the resolution of a GoPro. It's connected to a remote control system and comes with a 2-year warranty, though if you crash while using it, the camera's integrity will probably be the least of your problems. *Photo: Courtesy of Teton Gravity Research*
03mHeadset-BB
This Sapphire-Laden Luxury Headset Wants to Make Bluetooth Cool Again --------------------------------------------------------------------- We can’t promise anyone will notice it, or that if they do, they’ll do anything but laugh. But if you’ve got cash (a lot of cash) to spend and are interested in one last-ditch effort to make Bluetooth headsets cool again ([good luck](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/magazine/17-08/by_headset)), there are still companies out there making high-end versions of the blocky, blinking earpieces. In fact, luxury phone maker [Mobiado](http://www.mobiado.com/index_en.htm) just released a new one: their $360 [m|Headset](http://www.mobiado.com/mHeadset_accessories.htm), made of aluminum, mother of pearl, and sapphire, came out in February. Yes, February 2013. Sapphire crystal is actually a good material for electronics — it’s clear, and harder than even the [strongest glass](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/09/ff-corning-gorilla-glass/all/). It’s expensive, but has already started showing up in the screens of high-end phones, and [could start trickling down](http://www.technologyreview.com/news/512411/your-next-smartphone-screen-may-be-made-of-sapphire/) to the screens of more ordinarily priced devices. Bluetooth headsets, however, have no screen. You wear a Bluetooth headset in a (likely misguided) attempt to express how important you are, which these days nearly guarantees you’ll be recognized as one who missed the progression of electronics in the last five years. Chances are, if you’re spending $360 on a headset, that expression of pure wealth and lack of touch with reality might be just what you’re going for. Or maybe you think a few hundred isn’t that much for a Bluetooth headset. If that’s the case, there’s always the diamond-encrusted versions of Motorola’s $8,000 [Motopure H12](http://www.bornrich.com/entry/motorolas-diamond-encrusted-motopure-h12-bluetooth-headset/) and Plantronics’ $50,000 [Discovery 925](http://www.bornrich.com/entry/diamond-encrusted-bluetooth-headset-from-plantronics-worth-50000/). And if you want to stand out at a more reasonable price, there’s always [rhinestones](http://compare.ebay.com/like/220691257583?var=lv<yp=AllFixedPriceItemTypes&var=sbar). *Photo: Courtesy of Mobiado*
04Zdenka-Cuff-Paris-Everyday-kz-660x528
Derelict Chic: The $20,000 Recycled-Cardboard Bracelet ------------------------------------------------------ We still like paper. Just not this much. This $20,000 bracelet from designer [Keariene Muizz](http://www.muizzgallery.com/) was recycled from industrial cardboard, [reports TODAY.com](http://www.today.com/style/would-you-pay-20-000-cardboard-bracelet-1C8368691?franchiseSlug=stylemain). Yes, that's $20,000 for a recycled paper bracelet. At least you get to feel good about helping the environment. Muizz, a California-based artist, crosses from art to jewelry and back, with the [Zdenka cuff](http://www.muizzgallery.com/zdenka.html) falling close to the middle. Her [other cuffs](http://www.muizzgallery.com/HomageCollection.htm) range from $150 to $300, but for the Zdenka, we'll have to wait for IPO financing. And if we're lucky, it'll come in a [$290 paper bag](http://www.bornrich.com/worlds-expensive-paper-bag-jill-sanders-sells-290.html). *Photo: Courtesy of Keariene Muizz*
05himalayaeverest1-la11CD870
Everest Watch is the Peak of Bling ---------------------------------- The world is full of one-uppers. Got a diamond watch? Someone else has one with more rocks. But get the [Himalaya watch](http://store.koboldwatch.com/products/himalaya-everest-edition) (Everest Edition) from Kobold, and your watch is a guaranteed story-topper. Its face came from Everest. That's right. Kobold Watch Company started a division in Nepal, with a workshop and trained Sherpa watchmakers. Which is nice and all, but more importantly, they installed a sliver of rock from the peak of the tallest mountain in the world in the watch they produce there. And it's only $16,500! — [around one-third](http://www.mountainguides.com/everest-south.shtml) the price of a guided expedition to the top of the mountain. You may never have summited anything bigger than that pimple your local tourism department calls a hill. At least your watch has been places. Now, will somebody please make a watch with a face made of moon rocks? *Photo: Courtesy of Kobald*
06DSC-1927m-660x438
This Piggy Bank Doesn't Want Your Change ---------------------------------------- Piggy banks are for kids and unemployed young adults who live at home. Give us the B.B. Billosaur, a piggy bank for the upwardly mobile from [Le Mouton Noir](http://www.lemoutonnoirandco.com/default.html). The key to the Billosaur: It only accepts paper money. The design is loosely based on a dinosaur, and just like dinosaurs are cooler than pigs (don't argue), having money is cooler than not having it. And after the IPO, we’re going to have to stash all those Benjamins somewhere. Yeah, you could stuff George in there too. But you'd be doing it wrong. And besides, at $1 at a time it would take way too long to save up for [that McLaren](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/reviews/2012/06/mclaren-mp412c/).  *Photos: Courtesy of Le Mouton Noir*
07BigfootEbay
Bigfoot for Sale ---------------- Clifford LaBrecque bagged this stunning bigfoot specimen outside Des Moines in the summer of '77. Okay, maybe he didn't. This 8-foot-tall simian is actually a replica, made from fiberglass and fur, and [available on eBay](http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230826655963#ht_500wt_1305) for a starting bid of $80,000. But LaBrecque says the sculpture was inspired by a close encounter with the real thing in 1977. Instead of shooting the creature — with a gun or a camera — LaBrecque commissioned an artist to create the statue based on his description. We can think of all sorts of great uses for the big guy (best Halloween prop ever), so it's hard to understand why, with just two days to go, nobody has bid on it. Then again, for 80 grand we better get something with a little DNA in it so we can clone our own. (Via [Bigfoot Encounters](http://www.bigfootencounters.com/articles/desmoines1977.htm)) *Photo via eBay*
HELEN SLOAN08gameofthrones12-03.jpg
Game of Thrones Furniture ------------------------- You don’t need pet dragons to take this Iron Throne, just a cool $30,000. HBO is offering a [life-size replica](http://store.hbo.com/game-of-thrones-life-size-replica-iron-throne/detail.php?p=373634) of King Joffrey's seat from the hit fantasy series, made of 350 pounds of fiberglass and resin. (No, it's not actually iron. That would have required a crane for delivery.) Was the throne constructed using dragon's breath to melt the swords of a thousand vanquished soldiers? Doubtful. But we'd still like to own one. So once the IPO makes us all gazillionaires, expect to see us plugging away at stories, MacBooks on our lambskin-clad laps, perched in our pimp new task chairs. Here's hoping profits will go toward [improving special effects](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/underwire/2012/04/game-of-thrones-dragons-peaches/) for season three. *Photo: Helen Sloan*
09EthPlt-GC+book-map4-660x538
Millennium's $100,000 Atlas, Earth Platinum ------------------------------------------- There's a reason so many fictional books start with a map. Nothing sets the imagination loose like seeing the world displayed on a page. And nowhere has more of the world been displayed on one page than on [Millennium House's giant atlas](http://www.millenniumhouse.com.au/index.html). Standing six feet tall, Earth Platinum opens — with the help of two people to turn the pages — to a nine-foot spread, its 128 pages weighing in at 330 pounds. With a production run of just 31 copies — about 15 are still available — and a $100,000 price tag, you'll have to go to a museum to see it up close. "The sheer size sets up a relationship between the viewer and the atlas," says Millennium House Managing Director Gordon Cheers. The most eye-popping part of that relationship: when you turn the page and find a stunning panorama stitched together from up to 12,000 individual photos. "You feel you can touch the hills, you want to move in close and explore, then walk back and take in the whole." The atlas, which started shipping in February, surpassed the (somewhat outdated) Klencke Atlas, produced for England's King Charles II in 1660, as the largest atlas in the world. Size always matters, but in this case, it's merely an enabler, letting you nose-dive into the terrain, explore it up close, and most importantly, wonder: What's there?  *Photos: Courtesy of Millenium House*
Introducing the WIRED App
The app is the best way to read, watch, and listen to WIRED’s journalism.
WIRED Staff
Hackers Got Inside a Flock Camera. Its Data Shows How the System Really Works
A hacker collective pulled down a Flock camera and dumped its data. The files included thousands of videos and logs showing that the device captured 1.6 million images of 50,000 vehicles in 21 days.
Dhruv Mehrotra
The EU Bans Social Media For Under-13s
The bloc wants to curb Big Tech’s grip on children with its new EU KIDS ACTS, but age checks, parental oversight, and privacy concerns could make its plan difficult to implement.
Isabella Ward
I Made Robot Vacuums Clean Up Cherry Juice and Cheerios. These Won
My hands-on tests reveal which models can scrub stains, reach difficult corners, and navigate a chaotic home.
Nena Farrell
How Self-Driving Cars Might Change Crash Testing Forever
Lie down in a car, and you’re more likely to get seriously hurt in a crash. But a driverless future is forcing governments to revisit long-standing safety issues.
Aarian Marshall
Boox Just Announced the Palma 3 E-Reader
The e-paper device maker also launched two new color digital notebooks last night, the Note Air6 C and Mini C.
Nena Farrell
China Isn’t Buying Silicon Valley’s Call for an AI Slowdown
The US and China agree that advanced AI poses serious risks. But Beijing is deeply skeptical of a deal that prioritizes keeping US companies ahead.
Louise Matsakis
Why It Seems Like Great White Sharks Are Overrunning Maine
While a bunch of sharks cruising the Maine coast may seem ominous, it’s actually a sign of a conservation success story.
Molly Taft
Polymarket’s Next Bet? It Can Also Be a Media Company
The legal battle over whether prediction markets are a form of gambling has overshadowed something else entirely: They’re already a new form of media.
Kate Knibbs
It’s a Tablet! It’s a Laptop! It’s a 2-in-1—and Here’s What We Recommend
These portable computers balance tablet and laptop functionality, whether you want a screen that detaches or spins.
Luke Larsen
‘Smart’ Nanoparticles Deliver mRNA Directly to Tumors in New Cancer Therapy
The treatment can reprogram immune cells that have been corrupted by the cancer, strengthening the body’s ability to attack.
Javier Carbajal
HostGator Coupon Codes: 76% Off Hosting in September 2026
Unlock massive savings on HostGator web hosting, WordPress, VPS, and business email plans with our exclusive HostGator promo codes and deals.
Molly Higgins