The remarkable story behind the world’s most expensive face mask
It’s valued at approximately $2 million. But there’s more to this mask than 3,608 black and white diamonds.
Not all face masks are created equal. Today, as you pull on your average cotton mask and board your average bus, spare a thought for the anonymous art collector in LA, who just became the proud owner of the most expensive face mask in the world.
Made from 250 grams of pure 18k gold and set with 3,608 black and white diamonds, the mask weighs in at approximately 0.25 kilograms. Which doesn’t sound like much, until you have to carry it around on your face (or so we imagine). It was designed by the luxury Israeli jewellery brand Yvel, which is known for its unique work with rare organic pearls. And glamorous face masks, it would seem.
But the thing about masks is there’s more to them — and the faces behind them — than what meets the eye. This is especially true for the Yvel face mask, which first made headlines in August when the brand’s founder, Isaac Levy, announced he would be taking up the challenge of designing and crafting the world’s most valuable face mask.
The timing of the news wasn’t ideal. As coronavirus cases in third world countries like India and Brazil continued to spike, many argued the diamond mask project felt like a flagrant display of wealth.
But it was the opposite. Like most small business owners in the diamond trade, at the beginning of the pandemic Levy found himself with a book full of cancelled orders and 150 staff, many of them African migrants, who were depending on him to be paid. It was then that the art collector, a former client of Yvel’s, dialled Levy and handed the business a lifeline.
“When things turned backwards this year he said ‘let me give you an assignment to create something with a lot of buzz,’” said Levy in a recent interview with Forbes. The ‘assignment’ was to meet three key criteria: it had to be 100 per cent functional and N99 compliant with approvals from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the European Union; it had to be ready before December 31; and it would be the most expensive protective face mask in the world. Cue the buzz.
But the profits from the face mask didn’t go straight into Levy’s pocket. The jeweller owns and runs the Megemeria School of Jewellery and Art from his factory just outside of Jerusalem, where he trains immigrants in jewellery making skills. The training academy was founded in 2010 to help create employment pathways for Israel’s large but vulnerable Ethiopian community; today, according to Yvel’s website, 90 per cent of it’s workforce is made up of immigrants that come from 23 different countries.
Three students from the Megemeria School were among the 25 artisans recruited by Levy to make his mask. The project took three months and it allowed the Yvel factory to remain open and its workers employed throughout the pandemic. Levy has said the money made from the mask offset the pay of those employees who weren’t part of the project — without it, his business would’ve been forced to lay off employees or worse, close down altogether.
So, how does a quarter-of-a-kilogram mask made from over 6,000 diamonds meet those N99 requirements? It all comes down to a specially made opening, which is intended to have a disposable mask slipped into it.
Here’s hoping that art collector doesn’t forget to grab his disposable mask to wear beneath his diamond mask, as he’s dashing out the door.