This diamond and gold covered Colnago just sold for $133,000

Sotheby’s is used to auctioning the world’s finest jewels; less common is for a bicycle to be attached to them. 

When Colnago became the official bike of the Giro d’Italia, the legacy Italian brand did not hold back for this year’s 106th edition, releasing a super-limited run of 50 gold-leaf encrusted C68 road bikes, a series the brand calls Gioiello. 

Each one of the bikes, announced earlier this month to coincide with the start of the Italian grand tour, comes with a correspondingly inflated price tag of €22,000. That converts to just over $24,000 USD.

The Gioiello number one just became the most expensive Colnago ever sold. (Image: Colnago)

Also read: Giro d’Italia and three weeks on the ‘Bella Vita’ trail

As it turns out, that price — already about $10,000 more than top, albeit gold leaf-less, road bikes on the market — is for serial numbers two through 50. Colnago made Gioiello number one even more limited, with a price reflecting that.

The first bike in the Gioiello series just sold at auction house Sotheby’s for a staggering 120,650 CHF, or just over $133,000 USD. That makes it the most expensive Colnago ever sold, according to the brand.

As alluded to before, part of what makes Gioiello number one even more exclusive is the inclusion of a single 2.3-carat diamond on the headset cap — befitting a bike whose name means “jewel.”

The Colnago Gioiello number one features a 2.03-carat diamond. (Image: Colnago)

Additionally, the headset cap itself is a one-off 18-carat piece of gold. Two 24-carat Colnago ace of clubs logos are featured exclusively in this bike as well: one at the head tube and one on the seat tube. 

Colnago has added 24-carat gold badges to the Gioiello number one.

It’s a cool bike, no doubt, but it leaves the question in the minds of bike nerds everywhere: how do you adjust a headset when there’s a diamond where a bolt should be? Perhaps it’s a moot point; this bike will likely never see any actual miles on the road. 

The Colnago Gioiello number one features a 2.03-carat diamond atop an 18-carat piece of gold. (Image: Colnago)

The rest of the bike is the same as the other 49 Gioiellos, featuring a gold leaf finish on the frame and fork. Although the hand-applied nature of gold leaf means each frame is slightly different. 

For the 50-bike series, Colnago has also 3D printed a bottle cage designed to look like the Trofeo Senza Fine, the trophy of the Giro d’Italia. No surprise here, it’s also covered in gold leaf. 

The Colnago Gioiello has a 3D printed bottle cage designed to look like the Trofeo Senza Fine, the trophy of the Giro d’Italia. (Image: Colnago)

The bikes feature a number of other gold details and components from Enve, CeramicSpeed, Selle Italia, and Pirelli as well. You can learn more here. 

Pirelli, Enve, and other brands have gotten in on the collaboration as well. (Image: Colnago)

If you now have Giro d’Italia-themed luxury on the mind, you might be interested in a 10.57-carat “Eternal Pink” diamond, up for auction at Sotheby’s next month. 

Sotheby’s is putting this diamond up for auction next month, which is also on theme for the Giro. (Image: Sotheby’s)