Whenever there’s a new high-end smartphone in the market, you can expect gold-plated versions from luxury brands to come out immediately after their official release (and some pre-release too). In Vietnam, Karalux is one such company that does this, and with the Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge now out in the market, you can also choose to have gold-plated versions of the new flagships if you’re feeling a bit luxurious.

It’s not just as simple as putting on a permanent gold case or painting a smartphone gold (kids, don’t do that at home). Karalux explains that the gold-plating process is complicated and long-winded, therefore probably justifying the price tag, apart from the 24-karat gold layer being added to your smartphone. They say that their engineers work 6 continuous hours through the 10 different stages of gold plating, which includes surface treatment, surface activation, creation of different precious metal layers, and the actual coating of the 24k gold layer.

The previous flagship devices from Samsung like the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, and the Note 5 all had the A7000 aluminum frames, which made it harder to gold plate since it had many different components. But this time around, Samsung chose the A6000 aluminum which is apparently easier. In order to protect the gold layer from fading and being worn, the engineers coat a Nano layer outside, which also makes the surface sturdier.

If you live in Vietnam, the price for both the phone and the gold-plating service is somewhere along $1600 (Galaxy S7) and $1800 (Galaxy S7 edge). But for international customers, it’s around $1700 (Galaxy S7) and $1900 (Galaxy S7 edge).

SOURCE: Karalux