Dyson doesn’t take shortcuts. When the technology company decided they wanted to get into hair care prior to the launch of their Supersonic hair dryer in 2016, they spared no expense setting up a team, building a lab and getting to know everything there was to know about hair.

So when it was decided they would release a limited-edition 23.75 karat gold hair dryer, the design team got in touch with a master gilder to create a prototype. The original idea was to use a metal-based paint or other alternative to recreate the look, but when compared to the real thing, nothing lived up to the quality of the finish.

 

To apply gold leaf in microns-thin (that’s very, very thin) layers, a gilder typically needs several years of training. To speed up the process, Dyson had a robot arm apply the adhesive before they were hand gilded.

Why 23.75 karats and not 24? It looked the best, says the brand.