Israeli jeweler makes $1.5m gold mask
Motza (Israel): An Israeli jewelry company is working on what it says will be the world’s most expensive coronavirus mask, a gold, diamond-encrusted face covering with a price tag of USD 1.5 million.
The 18-karat white gold mask will be decorated with 3,600 white and black diamonds and fitted with top-rated N99 filters at the request of the buyer, said designer Isaac Levy. Levy, owner of the Yvel company, said the buyer had two other demands: that it be completed by the end of the year, and that it would be the priciest in the world. That last condition, he said, was the easiest to fulfill. He declined to identify the buyer, but said he was a Chinese businessman living in the United States.
The glitzed-up face mask may lend some pizzazz to the protective gear now mandatory in public spaces in many countries. But at 270 grams (over half a pound) nearly 100 times that of a typical surgical mask it is not likely to be a practical accessory to wear.
In an interview at his factory near Jerusalem, Levy showed off several pieces of the mask, covered in diamonds. One gold plate had a hole for the filter.
Money maybe doesn’t buy everything, but if it can buy a very expensive COVID-19 mask and the guy wants to wear it and walk around and get the attention, he should be happy with that, Levy said.
Such an ostentatious mask might also rub some the wrong way at a time when millions of people around the world are out of work or suffering economically. Levy said that while he would not wear it himself, he was thankful for the opportunity. (AP)
Manager of Lahore mosque suspended over music video shoot
Lahore: The manager of the historic 17th century Wazir Khan mosque in Lahore has been suspended over the shooting of a music video on the shrine’s premises, it was reported on Monday.
“The mosque is the holiest place and no one can be allowed to trample upon its sanctity. Whosoever is found responsible will not be spared,” Dawn news quoted an official statement from the Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar’s office as saying on Sunday.
Pledging that he would not let the sanctity of the mosque be violated under any circumstances, Chief Minister Buzdar ordered that a comprehensive investigation be undertaken and those responsible for the incident identified.
Following a barrage of criticisms, Pakistani actress Saba Qamar, who features in the video, tweeted on Sunday: “Only one sequence was shot in the mosque which was a prologue to the music video featuring a Nikah scene.
“It was neither shot with any sort of playback music nor has it been edited to the music track.”
According to a news report, the shooting took place in the main chambers of the mosque.
A Punjab Auqaf official said that due to the history of the mosque, people do go there for Nikah ceremonies.
“That is why permission was granted for a Nikah shoot,” he said.
The mosque was commissioned during the reign of Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. The construction of the mosque which began in 1634, was completed seven years later. (IANS)