Golden MP3 player weighs in at £13k

German company TrekStor has received an order to make the most expensive MP3 player in the world.

Canadian-Russian billionaire Alex Schnaider commissioned the project after sampling the company's prize winning i.Beat organix player.

The new device will come plated in 18-carat gold, studded with 63 one-carat diamonds. A chain of aquamarine gems will also be included with the item.

While TrekStor provided the technology, Wenthe, jewellery experts from Mannheim, provided the embroidery. They put an astonishing 100 hours of manual labour into producing the finished article.

Dieter Wust, proprietor of the Atelier Wenthe, said: "We feel very honored that our atelier was entrusted with this challenging task.

"We invested a great deal of time and effort and are now very proud of our unique artifact.""

A limited number of the i.Beat organix Gold players are available for €20,000, which roughly equates to £13,000.

"I was so impressed by the technology of the i.Beat organix that I immediately ordered the MP3 player in gold as a one-off masterpiece," said its commissioner, Mr Shnaider.

"It's a spectacular toy," he continued.

TrekStor will be sponsoring Shnaider's Midland Formula 1 team for the remainder of the 2006 season.