Blaupunkt gold-plated fiber optic cable

[Ultrapurple]

This is for real. I found it on eBay eBay auction: #303982007084. Presumably gold-plating the end of your fiber means better reflection back onto the source or something? 

Maybe one can persuade the cable to spontaneously lase if you align it just right with the ley lines during a favourable alignment of the planets.

[penfold]

Hmm, that looks like it might only be a gold-plated ferrule.

I could almost believe that plating on the end of the actual fibre could do something (not something particularly useful in that context... but still something) via surface plasmon interactions

[AVGresponding]

Presumably it's just to help the ferrule resist corrosion?

I'd be surprised to see Robert Bosch GmbH looking to enter the audiophool market.

[Haenk]

It's just the "plugging plastic part" made shiny. This has no effect on anything, other than being bling bling.
I assume the specification would not allow for a metal plug, as the counterpart is plastic as well and would become damaged.
You can find other optical cables "golden" plugs on Amazon and ebay, if you really want to buy one.

Btw. "BLAUPUNKT" is not the brand you might remember from the 80s (back to the 30s or so). It's just a "brandname for hire" from "GIP Development SARL".
So it's just your usual chinese stuff with a wellknown brandname.

[Alex Eisenhut]

The effect it has is to not contaminate the electrical contacts. That type of optical link was used in devices like mini-disc recorders where the same plug was also a regular stereo headphone jack.
I don't remember anymore if the metal tip was to tell the device that a fiber was inserted as opposed to an electrical cable.