Year in Review: Will a gold-plated mask protect you from COVID-19?
An Indian businessman was one of the first to break the mould of normal masks during the coronavirus pandemic.
When the pandemic initially hit, wearing a mask was the most foreign concept for the majority of the world.
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But now it seems as normal as sanitising your hands after touching just about anything.
Something very few people also expected was the creativity that would be put into facemasks.
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What started as a very basic piece of material soon developed into a fashion statement, an hilarious joke, or a matching moment for owners and their pets.
Shankar Kurhade from Pune, India, was one of the people who opted for a mask that had more than one purpose.
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Not only did the mask keep him safe, but it also made quite the statement.
Shankar paid just over R67,000 to produce a face mask made of pure gold.
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It took eight days to craft this customised face mask after he was inspired by another man who owned a mask made of silver.
Naturally, there was some speculation over whether this mask was actually effective and many people had the same question: can he breathe?
Gold isn't known to be a very breathable material.
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Explaining more about the custom creation, Kurhude said that the mask contains tiny pores that let's air in and is also incredibly thin.
Like most of us upon first seeing this next-level facemask, many people would ask for selfies with the golden boy and he definitely captured the attention of many when walking around town.
As the year progressed though, he definitely wasn't the only one with an expensive taste in face masks.
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Turns out the most excessively expensive facemask would cost you about R26-million.
But it seems like the time of weird, wacky, and wonderful masks could soon be coming to an end.
And we couldn't be happier.
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Main image courtesy of Hindutimes