Luxury mobile phone maker Vertu has teamed up with French jewellery house Boucheron to create the Vertu Boucheron 150, a limited edition mobile phone built from solid gold.
Prepared in celebration of Boucheron's 150th anniversary, the Vertu Boucheron 150 is crafted from individual solid gold ingots taking over 1000 man hours to cut to shape, with over 700 man hours of hand polishing followed by 500 hours of hand building.
The concave sapphire crystal keypad is intricately designed with 400 points, providing the toughest of challenges for the most skilled of craftsmen. The constantly changing angled surfaces allow a cut stone appearance, inspired by the clearly faceted stones which are part of Boucheron's core craft.
The Boucheron 150 was created to reflect both brands. The Vertu V-shape morphs into random proportioned patterns and directions of the three sided surfaces creating a blend of Vertu and Boucheron elements. It gains a visual sparkle not from precious stones but instead through pure form and line achieved with precious faceted metal.
The Boucheron 150 is housed in a bespoke hand-made wooden case by Reuge, the market leading Swiss makers of artisan music boxes. The box has a custom-built brass music drum that plays the signature Vertu sandpiper ringtone upon opening.
"Using the Vertu Signature platform, but taking it away from the core design and creating a visibly stunning statement that breaks all expectations of mobile phone design, resulting in a true piece of sculpture," said Frank Nuovo, Principal Designer of Vertu.
The Vertu Boucheron 150 will cost $30,000 and be on display at the recently launched Vertu store in London starting November 19, before a showcase tour at Vertu stores in Paris, Milan and Tokyo.
Looks really nice, but it is too damn expensive to me.
Whats your opinion?
2. Posted by drivefast
Fri Dec 12, 2008 8:56 am
Quite cheap! 30000 US$ minus 30% profit = about 21000$. Minus 3000 material cost = $18000 Devide $18000 by 2200 manhours = about $8 per manhour. I'm confused. Made in China?
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