Loewe and Jacob & Co. unveil bejeweled Ice Diamond and Noir Rainbow ultra-luxury headphones

Loewe has unveiled two bejeweled ultra-luxury headphones in collaboration with Jacob & Co.—the modestly-priced €99,000 (~$116K) Noir Rainbow and the €119,000 (~$139K) Ice Diamond. The handcrafted headphones are a collector’s delight, combining the latest audio technologies with hand-set gemstones and diamonds.

Jacob & Co. was founded in the USA in 1986 by Jacob Arabo, an emigrant from the former USSR with the dream “to invent things that haven't been done before. For the brand, it's about making the impossible reality.” His company is renowned for innovative timepieces such as the 2016 Billionaire Timeless Treasure, which incorporates 486 yellow diamonds weighing 216.9 carats around a 72-hour tourbillon.

Loewe was founded in Germany in 1923 by Siegmund and David Ludwig Loewe and invented the world’s first television set. The company is known for its timeless home cinema and audio entertainment devices.

Both over-ear headphones utilize 50 mm drivers compatible with high resolution music playback, with support for the SBC, AAC, LC3, and LC3+ audio codecs over Bluetooth 5.3 connections. They have Dolby Audio, 3D Audio, and active noise cancellation, which can be switched between off, on, and transparency modes. A personal AI assistant helps owners with spoken notes and real-time language translations. The IP53-rated headphones have a runtime of up to 65 hours and recharge in two hours, according to Loewe.

The headphones do have 3.5 mm unbalanced audio jacks for use with wired music equipment, but esoteric amplifiers like the $108,000 Audio-Technica HPA-KG Naru integrated tube amplifier are often better paired with balanced input headphones.

The Noir Rainbow is a symphony of colorful gemstones. The earcups are adorned with black patterned surfaces, highlighted by 14K rose gold rings in the center that hold a rainbow of hand-selected gemstones. A total of 15.97 carats of gemstones are hand-set into the gold rings.

The Ice Diamond showcases the purity of brilliant-cut diamonds. The earcups are adorned with silver-colored, patterned surfaces, highlighted by 14K white gold rings in the center that hold 456 round brilliant-cut diamonds. A total of 12.47 carats of stones are hand-set into the 42.5-gram polished rings.

A limited run of five units each was showcased for the first time in Monaco this September aboard the company's self-named yacht.

Readers with pedestrian lives may need to consider more accessible options, like these Audio-Technica wooden headphones available on Amazon.