Carved Skins Are One of the First Accessories I’ll Want for the New iPhone 5

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Apple’s big announcement (or announcements) don’t happen until later today, but I already know one of the accessories I’ll be ordering for my iPhone 5. It comes from Carved, a small company that has completely and totally won me over.

First let me give you a bit of a background on how I got to Carved in the first place.

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I don’t recall where I first saw the company’s name, but I did, and then I checked out their website; I liked what I saw. The company makes back plates and front plates for various devices out of real wood. Some of them it can be a bit pricey, but they had a beautiful offering in ebony that was under $20. I figured it wasn’t worth checking out at that price and ordered a set.

Before we go further lets take a look at what they have to say about their products.

COMPLETELY UNIQUE! All of our products are made from real wood, no fake printed wood grain. The grain pattern will react beautifully to lighting changes. The product you receive will have a different grain pattern than what is pictured. It will be one of a kind.

NATURAL WOOD FEEL Our unique finish is carefully sprayed onto our products. This finish maintains a natural wood feel and look while providing a very high level of protection for your device. This is an amazing finish that ensures your new wood skin will look great for years to come. We carefully spray two coats of this finish and sand in between to give the final product a natural smooth feel.

What is a skin? How does it go on my device? This skin features a front and back cover, a beveled home button (to make going to your home screen easier), and a sealed coating that protects the wood. Purchase the back cover only or add the optional front cover.

Our unique adhesive lets you easily remove and reapply this skin. Hand-crafted from reconstituted ebony in Elkhart, Indiana.

So I ordered an Ebony set. It was just $19 bucks!!! Here’s what they have to say about it.

EBONY, IPHONE 4/4S WOOD SKIN:

Includes Back Cover (Front Cover Optional)

Unique Black finish

Precision Laser Cut and Engraved

Removable & Reusable (With Care!)

It arrived and the quality was excellent. The wood was beautifully finished and the cuts on it were clean. The only problem was – by that point I had sold my iPhone for S on eBay in preparation for the new iPhone. Rather than return the product, I sent it down to Texas where Judie put it on Kevin’s iPhone. She reported back that he loved it.

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Fast forward a week and a half. I was missing having an iPhone so badly that I went on eBay and won an auction for a used iPhone 4. No, it’s not the iPhone 4S but it is close enough that I was happy… for now.

Now that I had an iPhone again I decided to order another set of the carved offerings. I did, they arrived, and I installed them on my iPhone. What I quickly discovered was that not only did it look good in the abstract when I opened the package but it’s even better when installed on a phone.

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The backplate fits perfectly and, as Des, one of my students, said today, “it looks like it’s actually just part of the phone itself.”

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The same goes for the front which, until you install it, is rather delicate. Once it’s on the screen, however, it’s rock solid and, as an added benefit, it gives you “lay on the table” protection. I absolutely love the look and feel of the carved protectors.

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It adds a slightly rustic, but highly elegant, natural feel and look to the phone and, in the process, doesn’t add any noticeable weight. As someone who has taken to carrying his iPhone without the case much of the time it’s the best middle ground between not protecting my phone at all and having some protection on it.

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I absolutely love their products and can’t wait to get one for the new iPhone. Judie liked Kev’s so much that she ordered herself a front and back skin in Mahogany ($24) for her iPhone. Truth be told, I suspect I’ll get one or two plain sets for the new iPhone and have one made with the Gear Diary name and logo, too. You can check out all their information here on their site.

MSRP: Depends on the product, but iPhone back skins start at $19 and iPhone front skins are $5.

What I Like: Great quality; Quick shipping; Some nice choices

What Needs Improvement: Nothing, Judie and I’ve quickly become fans of this company’s products

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About the Author

Dan Cohen
Having a father who was heavily involved in early laser and fiber-optical research, Dan grew up surrounded by technology and gadgets. Dan’s father brought home one of the very first video games when he was young and Dan remembers seeing a “pre-release” touchtone phone. (When he asked his father what the “#” and “*” buttons were his dad said, “Some day, far in the future, we’ll have some use for them.”) Technology seemed to be in Dan’s blood but at some point he took a different path and ended up in the clergy. His passion for technology and gadgets never left him. Dan is married to Raina Goldberg who is also an avid user of Apple products. They live in New Jersey with their golden doodle Nava.