Health & Fitness
$2.5 Million Rubik's Cube on Display to Preview 40th Anniversary Tour of Toy Phenomenon.
The $2.5 million bejeweled "Masterpiece Cube" was on hand Friday at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the world's most famous toy – the Rubik's Cube!
The $2.5 million “Masterpiece Cube” was on hand Friday at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey to promote a new exhibition that will open in April of 2014 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the world’s most famous toy – the Rubik’s Cube.
The toy’s creator, Erno Rubik, 67, traveled from his native Budapest, Hungary, to participate in the festivities, which included the attendance of “speed-cubers” who weaved in and out of the cocktail hour, impressing more than 2,000 guests with their ability to solve the puzzle in under a minute’s time, reported NJ.com.
Find out what's happening in Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
But to many attendees the biggest attraction on Friday night was the presence of a $2.5 million diamond-crusted Rubik’s Cube, an actual size, fully functional replica featuring 185 carats of diamonds, amethysts, rubies and emeralds set invisibly in 18-karat gold. Utilizing the combined skills of jewelers, lapidaries and stone setters, Houston-based Diamond Cutters International expertly cut and crafted 1,350 stones into a Rubik’s skeleton.
Although Rubik invented his cube in 1974, it didn’t reach Western markets until 1980. The “Masterpiece Cube” was originally designed in 1995 to commemorate the 15-year anniversary of the product’s introduction to the U.S. Since its inception, more than 500 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold worldwide.
Find out what's happening in Orangewith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Thanks to a Google sponsorship, the the Rubik’s Cube will be the subject of a seven-year tour that will visit science and art museums, starting in 2014. The “Masterpiece Cube” and a 35-foot glowing replica of the Rubik’s Cube will have a permanent home at the Liberty Science Center.
Rubik has insisted that he “discovered” the cube rather than invented it. “In my view it’s part of nature, and it’s not an artificial object; it’s a natural one,” he said.
Back in 1974, it took Rubik about a month to solve his own puzzle.
Check out this video - It shows 16-year-old Aussie, Feliks Zemdegs, setting the world record for solving the Rubik’s Cube. The record time? 5.66 seconds. How do you stack up??
