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$20,000 Diamond-Crusted iPad Redefines Conspicuous Consumption

If you’re one of the skeptics wondering why anyone would ever spend $829 for a glorified netbook that can’t even play Flash, prepare to multiply your disbelief. Although the iPad itself hasn’t even arrived yet, a diamond importer has already announced a diamond-studded version that will charge nearly $20,000 for.

Mervis Diamond Importers now offers “the world’s first diamond iPad” for a rather steep $19,999. The princely ‘pad has been crusted with 11.43 carats worth of diamonds, hand set in the micro-pave style. For rock aficionados wondering just what they’re getting, the stones have been graded G/H for color and VS/Sl1 for clarity. The diamond-studded iPads will go on sale June 1 in “very limited” quantities.

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Mervis hasn’t divulged tech specs, but we had better hope they’re using the $829 version. We had also better hope the diamonds don’t roughen up the bezel too much for the dainty – possibly gloved – hands they’re sure to end up in.

What do you do with a diamond-crusted iPad in another year when a better version comes out? The same thing you do with your diamond-crusted first-gen iPhone: Give it to your butler and buy a new one. Just make sure not to send it in for battery replacement in the meantime: You might be disappointed with the one you get back.

Nick Mokey
As Digital Trends’ Editor in Chief, Nick Mokey oversees an editorial team covering every gadget under the sun, along with…
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