Posted Mar 3rd 2007 7:00PM

What could make your Bentley fancier than it already is? How about a diamond and white gold gear shift? A gear company called IcedOutEmz created the amazing jeweled shift, which at $150,000, is nearly as expensive as the Bentley Continental GT which sells for around $165,000. The shift has 30 carats of diamonds and took 100 hours of labor to complete. The gear shift is on display at the company's headquarters in Las Vegas.

Diamonds as a Bentley’s Best Friend

A $150,000 shift **** for that $165,000 Bentley.

By BRENDAN I. KOERNER
Published: March 4, 2007
MODESTY is not considered a virtue in the vehicle-adornment industry: no one buys bejeweled wheel rims or a platinum steering wheel because he wants to keep a low profile.

Instead, such consumers demand flash in order to one-up rivals and epitomize their own success. The more ostentatious a product, the stronger its appeal.

The challenge for companies like the LP Wheel Group, then, is how to make each design glitzier than the last. Tony Lee, the owner of LP Wheel, is known among car enthusiasts for his line of Chevrolet and Ford emblems studded with multicolored Swarovski crystals, which are sold under the IcedOutEmz brand name.

But in preparation for the annual Specialty Equipment Market Association trade show, held last November in Las Vegas, Mr. Lee decided to create something several degrees more elaborate, and around 1,250 times more expensive: a diamond-festooned, 18-karat white-gold shift ****, priced at $150,000.

“I wanted people to feel luxury in the palm of their hand,” said Mr. Lee, whose company is based in Las Vegas, a hotbed of America’s high-end car culture. “People wear jewelry in their car, so I came up with the idea that the car should wear jewelry, too.”

Given the small number of consumers who can afford such opulence, Mr. Lee chose to design the shift **** for a commensurately pricey vehicle. “For the past couple of years, the most popular car for the big dogs has been the Bentley Continental GT,” he said, referring to a model with a suggested retail price of about $165,000.

Mr. Lee ordered a spare **** from Bentley Motors, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group. The **** has a sandwich-like design, with a metal alloy strip flanked by leather grips. Mr. Lee removed the center strip and created a mold out of its vaguely curvy shape. He used that mold to cast an identically sized and contoured band in 10 ounces of gold.

A professional jeweler was then enlisted to affix 30 carats of diamonds into the golden strip, using a setting technique similar to that used in wedding rings. Each diamond is 2.5 millimeters in diameter, a size that Mr. Lee insisted upon for maximum effect: larger stones would have created unsightly gaps around the ****’s edges, he said, while smaller stones wouldn’t appear dazzling enough to the eye.

Mr. Lee estimated that the ultra-blingy shift **** took 100 hours of labor to complete. It was finished just in time for the trade show, where it was displayed in a glass museum case, watched over by a model in an audaciously short dress. “Everybody’s jaw was dropping at how expensive it was,” Mr. Lee said.

So expensive, in fact, that the LP Wheel Group wasn’t able to sell the $150,000 ****; it’s currently on display at the company’s headquarters in Las Vegas.

But Mr. Lee said he believed that the publicity generated by the product’s mere existence has been worth the investment. Many high-rollers gawked at the glittery ****, he said, “and a lot of publicists have been calling us about making custom *****.”

“We could easily do a custom for $5,000,” he added, “depending on the size and clarity of the stones and the size of the shift ****.”

If someone wanted the original, however, Mr. Lee said he might now be reluctant to part with it. “I would rather just make another piece with the same amount of carats,” he said. “But if the price is right, well, everything is negotiable.”