Now may not be the best time to buy a Russian bauble. It’s hard to justify buying gold-plated fripperies from the land of the tsars when western governments are busy confiscating oligarch’s yachts and love nests. Yes, well, in Putin’s Russia, iPhone 14 Pro Max case with embedded Rolex Daytona buys you . . .
Caviar Royal Gift (CRG) says their top-of-the-line iPhone case was “inspired by the Blue Bird supercar of Malcolm Campbell, the man who inspired and helped design the first Rolex Daytona watches.”
There’s a whole of of inspiration going on, but no. While Sir Malcolm set several land speed records on Daytona beach in various Bluebirds, he did so wearing a Rolex Oyster.
Rolex introduced a watch nicknamed the Daytona – the Cosmograph Reference 6239 – in 1963, a year after Rolex became the Daytona International Speedway‘s official timekeeper. The first actual Rolex Daytona – a timepiece officially sold as such – appeared in 1965.
So Sir Malcolm didn’t design the Rolex Daytona. If nothing else, he was prevented from doing so by dying – of natural causes – in 1948.
To be fair, CRG admits that their iPhone case is an homage to the Bluebird driver’s Daytona deal, without any direct connection to the British land speed record holder. And then they take it to a whole ‘nother level.
The phone body is made in the style of racing cars of the 1930s, such as Campbell’s Blue Bird, which set a world speed record on the Daytona track. Decorative speedometers and switches made of gold create the image of the dashboard of the supercar, which marked the beginning of the great Rolex Daytona watch collection.
caviar.global
Never mind the artistry involved in attaching a Rolex Daytona to a titanium and black PVD-coated iPhone case so it doesn’t fall off.
Give CRG credit for adding an 18k gold speedometer, oil and fuel indicators (painted with jewelry enamel), and three 18k gold rocker switches “which are functional, but only for the decorative purposes.”
CRG’s offering the iPhone 14 Pro Max with embedded Rolex – a limited edition of three – for $135,240 each. If you could score a box-fresh Everose gold Rolex Dayton from an authorized dealer, a would run you $44,800. So if you think about it, which I’m sure you haven’t, the CRG case only costs $90,440.
As regular readers of The Truth About Watches will attest, I have a soft spot for really expensive kitsch watches (a.k.a., tacky timepieces). The CRG iPhone case qualifies on all kinds of levels.
So is it churlish of me to wonder about how hard it would be to extract the phone from a pocket? Da. But telling onlookers what those decorative rocker switches do would be a whole lot of fun.
I see this as an accessory that would extend battery life. No need to turn on that always-on display just to clock the time (if you will).