For some people the sky and their imagination isn’t even the limit. One of these creative dreamers is avid skateboarder Matthew Willet. Willet had an idea. He wanted to design the world’s most expensive skateboard, and after some missteps he has succeeded. The fully functional board is 31.5 inches long, 8 inches wide and weighs 80% more than an average skateboard. Willet designed the board, which is being called “The Golden Skateboard,” for the New York based skateboard shop SHUT.
The reason that this skateboard weighs so much more that a traditional board is because it is made from 99.999 percent electro-plated pure gold. The skateboard is 100% functional and each of the components were individually coated in the gold. After they were plated, the individual pieces were assembled onto the board before the entire thing was polished to such a high shine that it positively glows.
Willet says that as a life-long skateboarder attempting this project was a no-brainer for him. He continued on to say that everyone on his team learned a lot through the process. The team had to push through some trial and error to discover what they were capable of, but once they figured it out they ended up with a masterpiece. The process that Willet’s team used to construct the skateboard is top secret and he isn’t spilling the beans on it. Although the board isn’t really intended for someone to ride it, Willet knew that it had to at least be possible, in part because of the hefty price tag of the golden board.
The board comes with a pair of cotton archival gloves to protect the finish from smudging. The designer shared with MailOnline.com that there has been a lot of interest in the skateboard and that they’ve received a great response about it.
Hopefully SHUT has excellent security, since the board is valued at a whopping $15,000, easily making it the most expensive skateboard in the world. In fact, the board is so expensive it actually costs more than many cars, even some brand new ones.
And what about the store that the designer created the board for? They couldn’t be happier about the creation, a representative for SHUT commented, “The board is the holy grail of skate that is worthy of its own Fort Knox.” We may not go that far, but we can see how skaters who just truly love the sport of skateboarding would think so.
The reveal of the golden skateboard begs a couple of questions, if you are the collector who drops the $15k to buy the board, what do you do with it? If you aren’t going to ride it, how would one display a skateboard? More importantly, how does Willet follow up that kind of success and if he had the imagination and resources required to design and execute something as awe-inspiring as a gold skateboard, what else can he come up with? Maybe a diamond encrusted platinum skateboard?
