Cutting Edge: $100,000 Iridium Razor Goes On Sale

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Zaffiro

Shaving will never be the same again.

A limited edition razor called the Zaffiro has been released. It costs $100,000 and only 99 have been sold. Safe to say that if you’re making your mind up over whether to purchase one, there’s probably no rush.

But why the seemingly exorbitant expense? Well, the main reason is that it’s made out of iridium which, if you weren’t aware, is not only 10 times rarer than platinum, but one of the rarest earth metals, as only three tons is made a year. And if you’re not in touch with iridium, it gets used in rockets, so it’s serious stuff. Indeed, the company is claiming to call upon expertise in fields as diverse as rocket engine manufacturing, nanotechnology and particle physics, as it took three years to come up with this razor. But frankly at that price, one should expect Stephen Hawking and the spirit of Albert Einstein to have been involved in its creation.

(PHOTOS: Things Money Can Buy)

Leaving the snark to one side, let’s look at what else has gone into the Zaffiro. The blades are solid white sapphire, making them, “Hypoallergenic, impervious to oxidation and corrosion, and an order of magnitude more durable than any other shaving blade.” What’s more, the blades are apparently atomically sharp, “creating a blade edge less than 100 atoms across, or 5000 times thinner than a human hair.” The mind, at this point, boggles.

The blades come with a 10-year guarantee, with the company taking care of servicing and sharpening, which really seems like the least they can do. Our main fear, aside from the damage to NewsFeed’s wallet, is what damage an accidental nick could end up doing. (via The Consumerist)

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