Loewe Jacob $135,000 Headphones Desperately Flail in a Failing Luxury Market.

 

On its face, these pairs of headphones which are a collaboration between Loewe technology and Jacob the jeweller are yawn inducing.  They follow the staid and predicable trend of attempting to grab attention with eye-watering prices.  The silver pair being white god and diamond costing $135,000, and the fancy coloured black set costing $120,000 with multi hued sapphires and yellow gold. 

We've frankly seen it all before.  With excessively vulgar brands such as Gresso pumping out diamond studded iPhone's, and special limited edition premium versions of everyday items, such as the $2 million diamond shoes also from Jacob the Jeweller (here).

Yet, there was a whimsical, playful, and genuine sense that those other items were fun.  The Loewe Jacob headphones smack of desperation in the current dire luxury market's climate.  Launched at an event in Monaco which appeared to have been attended by a cast of super villains, a Forbes article waxed lyrical about how these are redefining what luxury means (here).  If they mean producing pointless tasteless products no-one wants and nobody will buy, as even the super wealthy would make fun of anyone buying these, then yes, they most certainly are "redefining luxury".