40 years and billions of twists later Rubik’s Cube has become a phenomenon. It is a puzzle of  3,252,003,274,489,856,000 different twists out of which 43,252,003,274,489,855,999 twists are wrong leaving us almost 2000 twists to solve the cube. In the beginning of the 1980s it soon became the must-have toy for many children and adults. Though its popularity faded fast, in the last couple of years the cube is living its second advent, being more popular than ever.

Honouring the 40th anniversary of the cube, Ernő Rubik paired up with Liberty Science Centre and gathered the most unique cubes in New Jersey to host a special exhibition. One can follow the evolution of the cube as the very first cube can be seen made of wood and rubber bands, as well as the most expensive £1.5 million-worth cube made of 18 karat gold with 1,360 jewels, including white diamonds, green emeralds, red rubies, blue and yellow sapphires and purple amethysts.

"If you have a family you have the family. And naturally part of what your family is doing, you are loving it, you are criticising it and you try to modify. But it's your family. So you can't say you are not part of my family” said Rubik referring to the times he spent with polishing his cube.

The exhibition starts 26 April in 2014 and is going to be available for seven months before going on a seven year tour around the world.

Words by Christian Keszthelyi for XpatLoop.com