Bang and Olufsen marks its 100th birthday with half a million dollar speakers

This year, high-end Danish brand Bang & Olufsen turns 100. To mark the staggering milestone, the brand has released an ultra-limited line of quirky, almost alien-looking Atelier Edition variants of its flagship Beolab 90 speaker – and they come with a predictably lofty Bang & Olufsen pricetag.

If you’re after a pair of these exclusive anniversary speakers, prepare to be set back by around $450,000. It’s a pricetag that’s over double the cost of a typical Beolab 90 pair (with the typical line costing $200,000 for a pair), but the Atelier Editions are certainly unique. They could easily be mistaken for a bold, geometric sculpture, with colourways ranging from cool, steely silvers to striking purple.

There are five different versions available. First up, the Titan Edition comes as the most simple-yet-futuristic of the bunch, stripping the Beolan 90 down to its clean aluminium core. Of course, the look was achieved with a Bang & Olufsen flare, with the cabinet being sandblasted by crushed volcanic rock particles.

Elsewhere, the Zenith Ddition also embraces an aluminium feel – but it opts for a bit more opulence. The speaker looks bedazzled thanks to its 1800 polished aluminium pearl spheres.

For those seeking a darker, more mysterious feel, the Shadow Edition replaces the speaker’s classic fabric covers with a black-coated stainless steel mesh, finished off with carbon-fiber accents scattered across the speaker’s angular design. The metal mesh renders the silhouette of the drivers within to appear almost holographic, again embracing that futuristic flavour.

There’s also a Monarch Edition, which opts for a more organic, grounded design. Its combination of white fabric and warm, Santos Palisander wood feels very classic, amped up by a unique rosewood lamella decorative panels to add some fun texture while also emphasise the speaker’s curved shape.

Perhaps the boldest of the bunch comes in the form of the Mirage Edition. The speaker looks positively iridescent, with its colourway embracing bursts of blue, magenta and purple. The gradient is achieved thanks to a newly knitted fabric, which emulates a semi-transparent holographic glimpse of the drivers while also showing off its bright colour.

For more information on the Beolan 90’s Atelier Editions, head to Bang & Olufsen.