Right until recently, the vast majority of mobile phones had been priced between
£100 plus £300, with only Vertu, a division of Nokia, creation uber-premium
phones. With prices starting at around £4, 000 Vertu phones are only for the
filthy rich, as well as super famous.
However , Vertu's monopoly of the
luxury cellular phone market is coming to an end with the launch of several
innovative luxury mobile makers, including Gresso, Mobiado and GoldVish. Other
mobile phone manufacturers are also partnering with luxury makes to produce a
range of premium mobile phones, such as LG and Prada, D&G and Motorola, and
now Tag Heuer and Modelabs. Finally, there are the ridiculous, super-expensive
one-offs, made totally for headline grabbing, such as Goldvish's "Le million",
truly worth a cool $1, 000, 000, see below for info!
1 . Goldvish "Le
million" = $1, 000, 000 (£540, 540)
A PR stunt it may be, and they really
can't be expecting to sell any, but the Goldvish "Le million" is officially the
most expensive mobile phone in the world, according the exact Guinness Books of
Records. There's even been converse of a $1. 3million phone, but this has fewer
expensive diamonds than the Goldvish so I can't see where the extra purchase
comes from! The "Le million" is a one off, sporting a blinding 120 carats worth
of VVS-1 grade diamond jewelry, according to designer Emmanuel Gueit. If $1
million no longer has enough your price range. the Geneva-based Goldvish also
offer several other diamond-encrusted 18k gold models in your choice of rose,
yellow, or simply white, starting at a much more reasonable $25, 600 (£13,
837).
2 . Vertu Signature Cobra = $310, 000 (£167, 567)
Vertu is
now taking orders for the Unsecured personal Cobra, designed by French jeweler
Boucheron, but you had better be effective as only 8 are being made! The Cobra
could feature one pear-cut diamond, one round white gem, two emerald eyes and
439 rubies. Vertu also are offering a "cheaper" version, ruby free, at $115, 000
(£62, 162).
3. Sony Ericsson Black Diamonds = $300, 000 (£162,
162)
Apparently the Charcoal Diamond will be available in 2007, not from
Sony Ericsson but by a company called VIPN. Initially only some unique numered
pieces will be available for the unbelievable price of, look ahead to it...
$300, 000.
With regards to the specifications, don't expect nearly
anything remarkable for your money. It will have Quad-band with Wi-Fi, an Intel
400Mhz processor running windowsVertu mobile phone5, and a hint sensitive 2″ screen. It
will also include internal memory of 128mb and will come with a 2Gb SD card for
external storage, and a respectable 4 Megapixel camera.
The designer
Jaren Goh has used quite a few pretty impressive materials for the build,
featuring titane by using polycarbonate, mirror-finish cladding and
diamonds.
4. Vertu Personal unsecured Diamond = $88, 000 (£47,
567)
The Precious stone is Vertu's premium range of high-end mobile
phones. As the identity suggests the handsets in the Diamond range are
diamond-encrusted handsets made from platinum. Only 200 of the handsets have
been produced, the most expensive believed to be worth an estimated £50, 000.
