Balenciaga's blinged-out iPhone ring and AirPods case are amazingly extra

The luxury market is already flush with options to spend more on case for your AirPods than the tech itself, but Balenciaga may have just outdone everyone else for the most over-the-top accessory.

The French luxury house is bringing “glam” to an AirPods case and phone ring holder with a mix of brass and rhinestones. Both accessories are blinged out to the max, continuing designer Demna Gvasalia’s case for their being no splurge too absurd. Balenciaga branding comes engraved, lest the rhinestones not bring enough attention, while the AirPods case comes with a chain for you to wear it like a necklace.

To get yourself the most ostentatious phone ring holder you can find, you’ll have to shell out $475, while the asking price for the AirPods case is a whopping $1,290. We can’t promise either will bring any levity to your life, but they’ll certainly succeed in lightening your wallet.

The wild world of Balenciaga accessories — Since taking over Balenciaga’s top design post in 2015, Gvasalia has simultaneously leaned into the frivolity of the luxury sector while turning the house into one of the hottest brands in the world. Just this year, he’s trotted out $1,000 LED-lit sunglasses, a $120 squared water bottle, and a $5,750 brass sneaker that you can’t even wear.

Balenciaga has even challenged the notion of what can be considered luxury with brow-raising collaborations including The Simpsons, The Hulk, and PlayStation. Even Crocs have gone luxe, with Gvasalia turning them into high heels and Wellington boots three years after debuting a platform version of the Classic Clog.

If this all seems like a big joke to you, well, you’re not wrong. But that still hasn’t stopped the rich from parting with nontrivial sums to either join in on it or consume with a complete lack of awareness.