This $167K Yarmulke Is The Status Symbol You Never Knew You Needed
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
If you thought $36,000 was a crazy amount to spend on a kippah, we’re about to blow your minds: For the bargain deal of $167,000, you can be the proud owner of a diamond and swarovski crystal encrusted yarmulke.
Yarmulkes have never really been a “luxury” item. It’s more that shiny polyester cap that’s given out at weddings and Bar and Bat Mitzvahs which are virtually indestructible.
But who said diamonds have to be a girl’s best friend? Where’s the plurality in that? Shouldn’t everyone get to adorn themselves in priceless diamonds?
Toks Daniel clearly thinks so. Daniel, a designer and artist whose business, TDaniel, supplies celebrities with personalized swag with a hefty dose of bling, spent 14 days designing and creating the $167,000 yarmulke.
Toks Daniel poses with jeweler Robert Goodman and the $167,000 yarmulke. Image by TDaniel/VeryFirstTo
Available exclusively on VeryFirstTo — a members-only site that features the most expensive and luxurious items in the market — the yarmulke features 3,500 swarovski crystals that completely cover the surface, with a bordered Greek meander pattern topped with a prominent Star of David.
In a way, it’s kind of the perfect Hanukkah gift: Jews at the summit, triumphing over their evil Greek overlords and finally able to afford an overpriced yarmulke. To sweeten the deal (and to justify its price), at the very top, in the center of the Star of David, is a 2-carat flawless diamond.
But what’s a goy from Nigeria doing designing a yarmulke of all things? Apparently, the designer is “enamored with [Judaism’s] rituals, principles and aesthetics,” Daniel said in a press release. He’s so enamoured that, if the yarmulke actually does get purchased, a highly specific $1,330 will be donated to the Chabad Lubavitch of Nigeria. Although it’s not exactly maaser (it comes out to only a tenth of the required tenth), it will go a long way to easing the feeling of I-can’t-believe-I-spent-more-than-most-people-make-in-a-year-on-what’s-essentially-a-tiny-hat.
Michelle Honig is the style writer at the Forward. Contact her at [email protected]. Find her on Instagram and Twitter.
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