Gold-plated USB stick sparkles

A USB memory stick coated in gold and boasting five diamonds on its case was launched at the CeBIT trade fair in Hanover this week.

The glitzy memory stick comes with up to 2GB of memory, and can be coated in either 14 or 18 carat gold. The diamonds are optional.

Pricing varies depending whether the customer needs the full 18 carats of gold, or if they opt for the sparkly version. A 1GB version with 14-carat gold coating and five diamonds costs £2,000.

White Lake, the company behind the device, claims to have taken orders for 24 units in the last week, although the company wasn't able to say who they were from.

White Lake is part of Specs Distribution of the Netherlands, which manufacturers branded USB sticks for corporate customers.

Honore Bouwman, a Specs sales executive, told ZDNet UK that Specs was selling 125,000 branded USB sticks per month. He also predicted that such devices would continue to get much faster over the next year.

"Last year we were still selling 16MB memory sticks, but they have all gone now. Now, 64MB is the entry level and it's fading out. Next year, we'll be selling 4GB models, and maybe 6GB as well," Bouwman said.

White Lake's luxury USB stick in all its splendour