Leatherman's 25th anniversary, $40,000 Argentum multitool - Boing Boing Gadgets

I've been in love with multitools ever since I had the good fortune to land the multitool beat at Wired, and manufacturers started to send me every single model, without my asking. I'd return 'em if they'd supply a FedEx number and if there was anything left after I destruction-tested them, but that still left me with a quite a beltfull of tools.

I stopped carrying tools after the tenth or twelfth time I forgot about them and lost one to the TSA (I've just started carrying a tool again after about five years, only because the Leatherman Skeletool is so cute, functional, and cleverly designed. The other contender was Muji's sweet little no-frills feller).

Over on Boing Boing Gadgets, our Rob has found Leatherman's 25th anniversary "Argentum" collection, a set of heavily decorated, engraved tools that run from $12,000-$40,000. Makes me wish I was still getting these things for free -- I don't know that I'd pay for one of these gaudy suckers even if I could afford it.

Firstly, they're much better, as gadget bling goes, than opportunistic trivia like the De Vere diamond-studded iPhone. This sort of thing hearkens to the age of tools both beautiful and effective.
Some of them, however, are still pretty trashy. They beg to be advertised in Parade magazine on a 36 month finance plan, next to Oliver North's autobiography and gold-rimmed collector plate Jesuses painted by Akiane.