Luxury Cellphones

Talking about luxury lifestyle, some people cannot do without the daily cellphone (a.k.a. mobile phone or handphone in other countries) even though it cost a bomb.
Vertu, a Nokia subsidiary, retails cellphones around €4,000 up to €80,000, or US$5,100 to US$102,000. Such customers, as commented by Vertu, bought it because people noticed them. Egoistic???? Vertu is expensive due to it being assembled by hand in pristine workshops, Vertu's internal architecture features more than 400 mechanical parts, among them 18 jewelled bearings, all inside a case constructed of the finest materials. The effort to create such an instrument alone resulted in over 20 new patents. The sapphire used on the face is a scratch-resistant crystal second only to diamond in hardness.

GoldVish, a Swiss company, plans to ship in October a line of solid gold and diamond-encrusted handsets that start at US$24,500 (entry level cellphone). Goldvish is marketing their products as a collection for buyers. Next week in Cannes during the Millionaire's Fair, Goldvish will launch their top of the range, a 1001hp Bugatti Veyron, dressed up in platinum, gold and diamonds, costing a cool €1million (US$1,278,000). A Guinness world of records.

Siemens introduced a series of phones called Xelibri in 2003 with unusual shapes and odd- looking dialing keypads intended to appeal to style-conscious users.

Not getting left behind, the popular Motorola Razr VEi DG phone, a co-branded between Motorola & Dolce & Gabbana and sells for US$600.

Tag Heuer, the Swiss watch brand, will introduce a branded phone retailing at around €1,500 (US$2,835) next year, said ModeLabs Group, the French company producing it.

Why luxury cellphones appeals? "Ask yourself how bad it looks at a meeting when you wear a Patek Philippe watch, carry an Hermès briefcase, use a Montblanc pen and then answer a plastic phone?"
Tags: Mobile Phone, Cellphone, Handphone, Vertu, Nokia, Goldvish, Siemen, Xelibri, Motorola, Razr, Dolce & Gabbana, Tag Heuer, Modelabs Group, Lifestyle