Skip to main content

LG and Samsung keep gluing crystals on their products and we don't know why

LG and Samsung keep gluing crystals on their products and we don't know why

/

Gemstone-studded TV and watch strap are latest additions

Share this story

If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

Curved TVs have already been criticized for being gimmicky and superfluous to user needs, but it seems manufacturer LG has been inspired to go one better in the pursuit of absurdity — it's covered a curved OLED TV in Swarovski crystals. The model, which LG chooses to call "luxurious" and "quite simply gorgeous" rather than "an upsetting monument to tackiness," is on show at Berlin's IFA technology show this week.

swarovski-band-samsung

Gluing shiny crystals onto electrical devices and appliances before selling them at a ludicrous mark-up is a practice that has been maintained for years by technology companies, and it doesn't look like it's going away: LG rival Samsung today also announced its own range of Swarovski-studded Samsung Gear S straps. Samsung says the straps will allow customers "to revel in fresh forms of self-expression through their wearable device," and also presumably demonstrate how much money the wearer earns. Both TV and Gear S strap will be available later this year, and both are yet to get a price tag.