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Caviar’s Zodiac Duo Phone Refuses to Keep Your Star Sign Subtle

✇Yanko Design
Par : Ida Torres

Caviar’s Zodiac Duo may be on your wish list this year. Well, at least if you’re an Apple fan drawn to the idea of a foldable iPhone with a rather extravagant finish. Caviar presents the customization for the iPhone Duo, itself already a sort of luxury item. If you want to make your phone a bit different from all the others, this may just be the one you’d want to spend your money on. And I mean a lot of money.

The Zodiac Duo isn’t simply a specially designed case featuring one of the 12 astrological signs. It’s a made-to-order customization offering with 12 zodiac-themed starting designs. There are eight steps to customize and personalize your phone, including changing things like the constellation, metal finish, decorative elements, and back-plate materials. Caviar says its jewelers will assemble the finished piece according to your specifications. So don’t expect this to be a simple or affordable kind of customization.

Designer: Caviar

The personalization aspect changes the decorative composition of your phone, rather than just its color or a generic zodiac symbol tacked onto it. You can configure several visually separate components, including the zodiac circle, medallion, frame, and decorative panel. The zodiac circle gives the design a visual structure, with the constellation and sign symbol guiding the rest of your choices. This way, you won’t just have various luxury materials scattered around a surface. There’s a recognizable theme holding everything together, even if your material choices are on the extravagant side.

Caviar lists silver, yellow and rose gold, and natural or black titanium among its metal options, although the exact construction depends on your configuration. Some components are specified as gold-plated rather than solid gold. For decoration, the choices include jewelry enamel, diamonds, sapphires, rubies, Swarovski crystals, and meteorite. The back plate can use crocodile, python, calfskin, or forged carbon. That’s quite a different set of decisions from choosing between a clear case and a silicone one. It also leaves room to decide how much sparkle you actually want.

The surface treatments deserve some attention, too. Caviar offers guilloché and clous de Paris hobnail patterns, adding intricate repeating details to the metal surfaces. These give you something else to consider beyond color and shine. A textured metal surface paired with leather suggests a different visual character from one surrounded by bright stones, even when both designs begin with the same zodiac sign.

For someone who follows astrology, the appeal is having a daily object connected to something personally meaningful. It could also make a very specific gift, assuming you know the recipient’s sign and taste well enough. The benefit here is self-expression. There’s no reason to expect a jeweled constellation to make your apps run faster or your photos look better.

The online configurator lets you see an estimated price as you make your selections. You can then save the design as a link or send it to a Caviar manager. That makes the process more manageable than trying to describe your preferred combination from scratch. Still, Caviar says the configurator image is illustrative, with the final appearance agreed upon with a manager. Those selections are the beginning of a conversation about the finished phone.

One configuration carries an estimated price of $16,629, but that isn’t a confirmed price for every possible combination. Buyers should request a configuration-specific quote and delivery information from Caviar. Before committing, I’d also want answers about the finished phone’s weight, charging compatibility, warranty, and repair options. Those practical details matter when the object you’re decorating still needs to function as your everyday phone.

The more interesting long-term question is what happens when that phone needs replacing. A zodiac sign won’t become outdated, but the device carrying it eventually will. At this price, knowing whether the decorative work can be repaired or reused would matter almost as much as choosing the right constellation.

The post Caviar’s Zodiac Duo Phone Refuses to Keep Your Star Sign Subtle first appeared on Yanko Design.

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Sony MDR-3R over-ear headphones revive nostalgia of the Walkman era

✇Yanko Design
Par : Gaurav Sood

Remember the Walkman headphones from more than four decades ago? Well, the nostalgia is revived as Sony has brought back over-ear headphones for a generation obsessed with wired audio gear. The new pair of earphones draws inspiration from the originals that debuted in 1981, with the original design drawings referenced in crafting this pair.

The inspiration doesn’t stop at the looks alone, as the earphones come with the same 23mm dynamic driver, so that the same sound signature can be replicated in these. All the modern conveniences are included, though, like a microphone for taking calls and the in-line remote control to toggle calls, music, and podcast streaming. This falls straight in line with the trend that brands like Final with AirWire and StillFrame are following.

Designer: Sony

For audiophiles who are constantly juggling their expensive gear, chasing that perfect sound, this is a subtle reminder of how it all started back then. The nostalgia of a balanced, warm sound signature that emphasized natural vocals and emotional richness. The earphones come with the iconic blue and orange earpads to customize the look. Hitting the rewind button, the OG earphones shipped with the Walkman TPS-L2 in 1979 and played cassettes.

You can barely distinguish the MDR-3R from the original one, and millennials will instantly feel the nostalgia. The small design details, like the metal headband and the holes on the outer casing of the drivers. Sony doesn’t stop there, as the packaging and the instruction manual also take you back to the golden era. Practicality of use is also taken care of, as the earphones weigh just 38 grams, bettering the original ones by 2 grams.

Since modern phones are rarely seen with a 3.5mm headphone jack, the pair comes with a USB-C connector to plug in easily with modern devices. I would have liked the headphones to come with a swappable option to plug in a 3.5mm or 4.4mm jack for high-quality playback with services like Tidal or Apple Music. That said, you’ll have to buy a USB-C to 3.5mm or 4.4mm jack so that you can plug it into DAPs like the HiBy W4 HiFi Amplifier.

Along with the OG classic version, the earphones also come in a Stranger Things Edition that has a black headband and the themed red and black foam pads to match the ones worn by Max. The standard MDR-3R over-ear earphones are priced at $59.99, while the Stranger Things Edition comes for $79.99.

The post Sony MDR-3R over-ear headphones revive nostalgia of the Walkman era first appeared on Yanko Design.

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