Nouveau Riche Kitsch

[formercia]

Platinum jewellery takes the cake - 10th September 2007


A Japanese pastry chef and jeweller have joined forces to create a spectacular cake festooned with platinum ornaments.

Nobue Ikara's multi-tiered cake is draped in platinum necklaces as well as edible platinum foils, which can be worn either as a hair pin or as a necklace, ndtv.com reports.

The cake has been dedicated to Japanese actress Rinko Kikuchi, leading model Chie Kumasawa as well as other eminent women across the arts and in industry and was constructed as a promotional tool to entice women to buy more platinum jewellery.

Mikiko Ichikawa, of the Platinum Guild, said: "I think platinum and a white cake is the best possible combination as a present for women because both have the same colour of white, which is said to have pureness and brightness that lasts forever."

The cake retails at $130,000.

[whistle]

1. This is an example of the new "crumps rolling down" economic theory

[LostInAnomie]

2. If there is one thing I hate it is conspicuous consumerism.

$130K on a fucking cake! Ridiculous.

[baldguy]

3. How many people does $130,000 feed?

[LeftishBrit]

4. "Let them eat cake"

(preferably with platinum ornaments)

[formercia]

10. and while we're at it...

We can reinforce some racial stereotypes..

Mikiko Ichikawa, of the Platinum Guild, said: "I think platinum and a white cake is the best possible combination as a present for women because both have the same colour of white, which is said to have pureness and brightness that lasts forever."

[EstimatedProphet]

5. This is going to show up on Bridezillas, you can count on it.

[FloridaJudy]

6. Please tell me platinum is mildly toxic

I wouldn't want anyone to actually die of eating this cake, but a few days of the pukes and runs might bring the sort of people who would buy this travesty a little Karmic justice.

[formercia]

7. Platinum is pretty inert stuff.

It is used in some medical applications, but about all that will happen is those delicate little chocolate kisses will come out already wrapped.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

8. Meh, it's a PR stunt

Just like they say in the press release, they're hoping Ms. Middleclass will believe that some little ring or chain that's virtually indistinguishable from any other white metal will make her stand out among all the other mid-level managers at her mid-size company.

Nobody is buying diamond bras or platinum cakes and if they are, they're even bigger dupes than Ms. Middleclass. The real luxe market sells consumption that is not at all conspicuous because it makes the buyers invisible: privacy. Exclusive experiences in every sense of the word, that mask the wealthy and protect them from any contact with their inferiors. That's the real excess of the new gilded age.

[JNelson6563]

9. Most excellent points

Often the truly wealthy do NOT look conspicuously so, as you coreectly state. The ways to really identify wealth are things many people these days do not easily recognize. Excellent fabric and workmanship in clothes for one thing. Not the kind with designer logos on it, no, but the sort of quality the masses are generally unfamiliar with.

Julie--proud member of the huddled masses yearning to be free...

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

11. I saw a documentary about haute couture

that finally helped me understand it. In "The Secret World of Haute Couture," filmmaker Margy Kinmonth works patiently to access the very small, elite and discreet inner circle of customers willing to pay $100,000 for a dress from the likes of Dior and Chanel.

Kinmouth talks to those who will talk to her and looks in their closets, where every piece is impeccably bagged for preservation. (Betsy Bloomingdale not only bags but tags her wardrobe with extensive notes about where and when each outfit was worn.) She snares a rare interview with Karl Lagerfeld and follows the life of a dress from his first drawing to its runway presentation. This journey, marked by dozens of exquisitely skilled artisans applying their increasingly rare talents, gives credence to one buyer's assertion that these clothes are works of art; if nobody thinks twice about spending 100 grand on a one-of-a-kind sculpture, what is so outrageous about spending it on a one-of-a-kind dress?

Still. It makes ya puke, especially when you see Nancy Reagan's buddy Betsy. And Daphne Guinness, British brewing heiress whose grandparents were Oswald Mosley and Diana Mosley nee Mitford. And Susan Gutfreund, wife of former Salomon Bros CEO John Gutfreund, who asked her husband's permission before revealing the contents of her closet. They all made me sick.

Am I just jealous? Would I be one of them if I could be? Dunno. I was born into the huddled masses and that's where my loyalties remain. I like to think, though, that I would rather be a bird on a wire than one in a gilded cage.

[B3Nut]

12. If I'm going to spend serious green on things

I want something actually useful, like fine musical instruments or photographic optics or audio gear (recording or playback)...something where the money spent buys a tangible performance benefit. Play an Asian-made mass-produced acoustic and then play a handmade instrument from Breedlove or Santa Cruz Guitar Co. or similar...the feel and tone just can't compare. It takes a lot of man-hours to craft a truly-fine handmade guitar or bass.

I don't mind the art scene, I believe great artists deserve good compensation for their work, as great art enhances and furthers civilization. This cake in the OP, OTOH, is ridiculous. It's worse than overly-ostentatious jewelry. I do have a "thing" for an all-stainless-steel Rolex Submariner Date, though...I love the way those things are made. The Swiss sure know how to make fantastic mechanisms in miniature... :)

I couldn't deal with being showboatish about wealth though...if I came into that kind of dough I might indulge a Porsche, since I've lusted after those since I was a wee sprat, but that's about it. Fancy suits and so forth...meh...I am and always will be a jeans guy. :)

TP