Luxury Condoms: Silly Or Sexy?

They say you can't judge a book by its cover, but two French aristocrats-turned-designers have decided that you can judge a condom by its packaging. Last month, H.R.H. Prince Charles Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme and Count Gil de Bizemont, founders of the Original Condom Company, announced a line of luxury condoms packaged in cases inspired by high-end jewelry. 

According to the company's website, their products hail from—where else?—Condom, France, and promote "safe sex with elegance, chic and eco-aware." While the condoms themselves are of the standard latex, lubed variety, the packages themselves bear an uncanny resemblance to engagement ring boxes. We're talking an imitation suede make, velvet insides, gold lettering and a black exterior. Luxury boxes come in two sizes: the Pocket, priced at $13.50 for three condoms, and the Regular, which costs $20 for a package of six condoms. 

"Condoms protect everyone from disease, ours protect from tackiness," said the Count. Ideally, the owners of luxury condoms would keep them proudly in sight instead of tucked away in a drawer. Well, that's one way to make fishing for condoms during foreplay a little less awkward. 

The Original Condom Company isn't alone in its mission to re-brand condoms as stylish sexcessories. oooBoutique, based in Los Angeles, has released condoms designed to double as fashion statements, showcase your personality, and stimulate conversation (their words). Unlike the Original Condom, oooBoutique's products come in several colorful collections: for instance, Tryst contains three kinds of packages with three different intentions. Feel Me, which has pink trim in the shape of a heart, holds a sheer condom. Rock Me has a crown-shaped trim in citron and comes with flared condoms. Savor Me, which has a red lip-shaped design, contains six condoms in three different flavors. Other collections use photography or pen-and-ink designs to make condoms both pretty and practical.

Like the Original Condom, oooBoutique's products are more expensive than your average pack of Trojans, but then again, the companies' founders believe that their condoms will give you an above-average sex session. While we're big fans of the creative packaging, a fancy wrapper doesn't change how the condoms themselves actually feel. That being said, we wouldn't make luxury condoms our default mode of birth control, but we won't lie, we'd probably order them once and after the condoms run out, use the empty boxes to store our supply of traditional rubbers. It's not as if our partner would notice the difference between Durex wrappers and velvet packaging in the heat of the moment.

Would you use luxury condoms? Would you be impressed if a new partner fished them out of his or her drawer?