Alex Wiley doesn't need an app for that. He works at home and provides over-the-top luxury to high-end clients, who have included Lady Gaga and royal families in the Middle East, over the Internet.

Wiley's Henderson-based Computer Choppers specializes in swathing Apple products in precious metals - 24-karat gold or platinum - and encrusting the logos with diamonds or other gems.

It's not a bad life for a guy who was working in an Oregon barn just five years ago. While working 18-hour days to get his business up and running, Wiley shared workspace in a West Linn, Ore., barn with his brother-in-law, who worked on low rider-style cars.




Folks in "low-key" Oregon, as he put it, just didn't get it. Everyone he knew, from his family and friends to acquaintances, asked him why in the world he would want to put precious metals and gems on Apple products, much less think that he could make a living at it.

But Wiley said he knew he had a marketable and scalable idea because some people have a lot of money, and no one else does what he does.

It turns out that the ultra-rich do indeed have money and want Wiley's products. He said his business has grown steadily over the years, with 90 percent of his sales coming from overseas orders. His U.S. celebrity clients include Lady Gaga and Sean "Diddy" Combs.

Dressing up an iPhone runs $1,000 to $6,000; a laptop can cost as much as $50,000, depending on what the customer wants.

For his clientele, style and opulence matter far more than money. One woman has ordered 12 laptops in the past year, he said.

Wiley covers up to 100 laptops annually, and said he can't count the number of iPads and iPhones.

Business tends to come in waves, with fall and winter the busy seasons. And when Apple releases a new product, demand for added bling usually follows.

"During the winter it's so slammed around here, I end up contracting ex-Apple geniuses to help disassemble and reassemble the products," Wiley explained.

When an order is received, Wiley or an employee disassembles the product and covers its internal organs so they're not ruined by the application of hot metal to the case.

The parts are then shipped to a metal plater who can meet Wiley's specifications without ruining the electronics. Once the metals and gems are in place, the items return to Wiley for finishing touches and reassembly.

"For the amount of work we put in, we get told our prices are way too low," Wiley said.

Although he mostly works on Apple products, Wiley does get other requests. One guy wanted a Beadazzled vaporizer, while another wanted laptops to match the texture and color of a gold-clad room in Turkey. The project required weeks of engraving. That's about all he'll say about his clients.