Most Outrageous Luxury Items Made Of Gold
There’s extravagant, and then there’s gold-plated everything. Some of the world’s wealthiest people don’t just want the finest materials — they want the most expensive, the most excessive, the most unmistakably over-the-top.
And few materials say that quite like gold. It’s been a symbol of wealth for thousands of years, but today’s luxury market has taken things further than ancient kings ever imagined. These aren’t just expensive items.
They’re statements. Some are ridiculous. Some are genuinely jaw-dropping.
All of them cost more than most people will earn in a lifetime.
A Toilet Fit for Royalty — Or Someone Who Really Wants to Feel Like Royalty
There’s a fully functional solid gold toilet that once sat in a Guggenheim Museum exhibit before being stolen in 2019. It was offered for use by museum visitors — yes, you could actually sit on it. Worth an estimated $6 million, the piece by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan was called “America” and was as much a political statement as it was a plumbing fixture.
Whoever stole it presumably didn’t care much about the artistic message.
The Gold iPhone
Apple makes a premium phone. Some people thought it wasn’t premium enough.
Companies like Caviar and Goldgenie take standard iPhones and rebuild the exterior in solid or 18-karat gold, often adding diamonds and custom engravings for good measure. Prices range from around $5,000 for a modest gold-plated model up to well over $100,000 for the fully decked-out versions.
The phone still runs the same apps as a regular iPhone.
Gold Pills You Actually Swallow
Yes, they exist. For around $425, you can buy 24-karat gold leaf capsules that pass through your digestive system and come out the other side — gleaming.
The idea was created by artist Tobie Kerridge and nutritionist Shelley Bovey as a commentary on conspicuous consumption. Gold does nothing for your body.
It’s completely inert. You’re essentially paying to make your waste glitter, which is either the most profound art statement ever made or the most absurd thing money can buy, depending on your perspective.
A Steak Dinner That Costs More Than a Car
At Serendipity 3 in New York, the Quintessential Grilled Cheese sandwich sells for $214 and is layered with edible gold. But that’s almost modest compared to the $2,000 golden opulence sundae or the $295 Zillion Dollar Lobster Frittata on the same menu.
Other high-end restaurants around the world wrap everything from sushi to wagyu beef in gold leaf. The gold adds no flavor.
Chefs will tell you that themselves. But it makes the dish look undeniably dramatic in a photo.
Gold-Wrapped Supercars
A gold-wrapped Ferrari or Lamborghini isn’t rare in certain parts of the world. Dubai has seen entire fleets of luxury cars wrapped in chrome gold vinyl, which is a bit different from actual gold but still costs tens of thousands of dollars for the wrap alone.
Then there’s the 24-karat gold-plated Mercedes SL 600 once driven by Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei, who reportedly owns more than 7,000 cars. The car was plated in actual gold.
It spends most of its time in a garage.
A Chess Set Worth More Than Most Houses
The Royal Diamond Chess Set, made by Charles Hollander Collection, is valued at just over $600,000. The board is made of 14-karat gold and holds 9,900 black and white diamonds.
Each chess piece is hand-crafted. It’s a functioning chess set — you can technically play on it — though it seems unlikely anyone ever has.
The idea of sliding a gold king across a diamond-studded board during a casual match is hard to picture.
Gold Headphones
Normal audiophiles spend hundreds on headphones. Luxury headphones go further.
The Sennheiser Orpheus HE 1060 system costs around $60,000 and is widely considered the best headphones ever made — with no gold involved. But then there are gold versions of brands like Beats, Bang & Olufsen, and others that push into six figures purely on the basis of materials.
Master & Dynamic released a pair plated in 18-karat gold for around $1,500, which is actually restrained by this list’s standards. The ultraluxury versions tend to sit in display cases more than on ears.
A Gold Macbook
Because a gold iPhone wasn’t enough. Companies like Computer Choppers and CoverWorx sell custom MacBooks with 24-karat gold exteriors, diamond-encrusted Apple logos, and custom laser engravings. Prices start around $10,000 and climb toward $500,000 for the most elaborate builds.
The internals are standard MacBook hardware. You’re paying for the shell and the ability to casually pull out a gold laptop at a coffee shop.
The World’s Most Expensive Pen
The Aurora Diamante Fountain Pen costs $1.47 million. The barrel is made of solid platinum and 30 karats of De Beers diamonds.
It’s not gold, technically — but there are gold-dominant versions of ultra-luxury pens from Montblanc and Graf von Faber-Castell that run into tens of thousands. The Montblanc Mystery Masterpiece features alligator leather and 18-karat gold and costs around $730,000.
People buy these. Presumably to sign things.
Gold-Wrapped Furniture
Interior designers working for the ultra-wealthy sometimes gold-leaf entire rooms. Coffee tables, bed frames, bathtubs, and even ceilings have been covered in sheets of real gold leaf.
The Sultan of Brunei’s palace, Istana Nurul Iman, reportedly contains more gold than most national reserves. Fendi, Roberto Cavalli, and other fashion houses have crossed into furniture and offered gold-accented beds and sofas.
Some pieces run past $100,000 for a single chair.
A $1 Million Gold Coin — That You Can Technically Spend
Canada’s Royal Mint produced a series of 100-kilogram gold coins in 2007 with a face value of $1 million Canadian dollars. The actual gold content alone is worth far more than that.
Several have been auctioned for over $4 million. They’re legal tender, in theory.
No one is handing one of these over at a cash register.
Gold Sunglasses With Diamonds
Luxuriator by Franco sunglasses go for upward of $400,000. They’re made from 18-karat white and yellow gold, feature more than 100 carats of diamonds, and come in a custom case.
Other luxury brands like Cartier and Dolce & Gabbana offer gold-frame sunglasses in the tens of thousands. The expensive end of sunglasses works on a logic all its own — the more it costs, the less you actually want to wear them outside where they could get scratched.
Gold Thread Clothing
In Japan, there are kimonos woven entirely with gold and silver thread, some valued at over $500,000. High-end fashion houses have done gold-threaded jackets and coats that cost well into six figures.
In the Middle East, gold thread embroidery on abayas and thobes is a traditional practice that at the luxury end becomes extraordinarily costly. The weight of the metal in the garment is measurable — these aren’t light pieces of clothing.
A Gold Bathtub That Costs More Than a Penthouse
Hong Kong jeweler Lam Sai-wing installed a solid 24-karat gold bathroom in his jewelry store as a marketing stunt and eventually sold it off. The tub alone was valued at over $1 million.
For context, the gold in the tub could have funded a small building. Taking a bath in it would be oddly stressful — the kind of experience where you’d be afraid to splash.
When Gold Becomes the Point, Not the Product
Here’s a twist – gold hardly ever improves what it coats. A phone runs just like before. Water stays put in a tub regardless.
Chess pieces glide across squares without change. A gleam speaks louder than progress ever could.
What matters here isn’t function but what glitters – wealth made visible, worn like proof. Status doesn’t whisper; it shines too hard to ignore.
Luxury lives past need, floats where purpose ends. Beauty or nonsense? Likely depends on your view.
Yet perch yourself on a golden throne worth six million, and suddenly it’s hard to pick just one.
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