World's Most Expensive Mobile Phones

Until recently, the vast majority of mobile phones had been priced between £100 and £300, with only Vertu, a division of Nokia, manufacturing uber-premium phones. With prices starting at around £4,000 Vertu phones are only for the filthy rich, and the super famous.

However, Vertu’s monopoly of the luxury phone market is coming to an end with the launch of several new luxury mobile makers, including Gresso, Mobiado and GoldVish. Other mobile phone manufacturers are also partnering with luxury brands 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 purely for headline grabbing, such as Goldvish’s “Le million”, worth a cool $1,000,000, see below for details!

1. Goldvish “Le million” = $1,000,000 (£540,540)

A PR stunt it may be, and they surely can’t be expecting to sell any, but the Goldvish “Le million” is officially the most expensive mobile phone in the world, according the Guiness Books of Records. There’s even been talk of a $1.3million phone, but this has fewer diamonds than the Goldvish so I can’t see where the extra expense comes from! The “Le million” is a one off, featuring a blinding 120 carats worth of VVS-1 grade diamonds, according to designer Emmanuel Gueit. If $1 million is out of your price range. the Geneva-based Goldvish also offer several other diamond-encrusted 18k gold models in your choice of rose, yellow, or 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 Signature Cobra, designed by French jeweler Boucheron, but you had better be quick as only 8 are being made! The Cobra will feature one pear-cut diamond, one round white diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies. Vertu will also be offering a “cheaper” version, ruby free, at $115,000 (£62,162).

3. Sony Ericsson Black Diamond = $300,000 (£162,162)

Initially only 5 unique numered pieces will be available for the unbelievable price of, wait for it… $300,000.

With regards to the specifications, don’t expect anything remarkable for your money. It will have Quad-band with Wi-Fi, an Intel 400Mhz processor running windows mobile 5, and a touch sensitive 2″ screen. It will also include internal memory of 128mb and will come with a 2Gb SD card for external storage, plus a respectable 4 Megapixel camera.

The designer Jaren Goh has used some pretty impressive materials for the build, featuring titane with polycarbonate, mirror-finish cladding and diamonds.

4. Vertu Diamond = $88,000 (£47,567)

The Diamond is Vertu’s premium range of high-end mobile phones. As the name suggests the handsets in the Diamond range are diamond-encrusted handsets made from platinum. Only 200 of the handsets are being produced, the most expensive believed to be worth an estimated £50,000.

5. Motorola V220 Special Edition = £28,000 ($51,800)



Austrian designer Peter Aloisson, has taken a standard Motorola, studded it with 1,200 diamonds and added a keyboard inlaid with 18 carat gold. The outcome is a £28,000 handset, suitable only for footballers and film stars!

6. Gold Edition Nokia 8800 Phone = $2,700 (£1,459)

If you have $2,700 to spare, you can now buy the Nokia 8800 in 24K gold. However, be warned, if you think you’ll be getting a better phone for your extra cash, you wont! The features found on the Gold Edition are the standard 8800 features, which are pretty basic. It includes a 0.5 Mega pixel SVGA camera, 64 MB of internal memory, 64 voice polyphonic rigntones, FM Radio, Mp3 Player, video recording and 180 mins talktime. However, the Gold Edition does includes a special edition box and charging dock!

7. Mobiado Professional EM (wood) = $1,900 (£1,027)





The Mobiado Professional EM, is a wood-clad upgrade of their earlier Nokia-based phone that includes a 1.3 megapixel camera, music player, FM radio, Bluetooth, and according to Mobiado it’s the first production phone with Titanium buttons. Only 200 are being made and each one has its limited number engraved on the back. At $1,900 however, you’re still paying an awfully high premium for a fairly basic phone encased in wood!

8. Bang & Olufsen (Samsung) Serene = $1,250 (£675)





Bang & Olufsen hooked up with Samsung to design the sleek but unconventional Serene. Its not a bad looking phone and it even has a built-in motor to assist you in opening and closing the phone. It’s not very practical however, requiring a special screwdriver to access the battery and the SIM card, and its circular keypad will take some getting used to. Also, for some strange reason they have positioned the camera lens on the side of the device, which will make it difficult to align snapshots via the viewfinder on the display.

9. Lamborghini 8800 Sirocco from Nokia = $To be announced

The Lamborghini Nokia 8800 Sirocco is another special edition, like the previously launch Aston Martin branded Sirocco. It will ultimately be a standard 8800 Sirocco but with the addition of the famous Lamborghini logo engraved on the font and the back, plus ball bearings from the auto company to in the slider phone mechanism. The Lamborghini phone will be a limited edition with only 500 being made. It will also feature Lamborghini graphics as wallpapers, screensavers, ringtones, and even has a short documentary video about the Lamborghini.

10. Gresso Luxury Phone = £expensive

The Russia based Gresso, is a new entry into the luxury phone market. Their aptly name “Gresso Luxury Phone” is made of gold and African Blackwood. Apparently they will be releasing a collection of five models called the Black Aura collection, and the designer is a “well known” Italian designer. Currently there are two versions of the African Blackwood phone, one with pink gold highlights named the Gresso Blackwood Gold Edition, and one made entirely of African Blackwood. In addition to the two African Blackwood phones Gresso also make a phone made entirely of pink gold named the Gresso Gold phone. Initially, the phones will be on sale only in Russia.

Gucci Cafe

This is perhaps any women’s dream. To shop, drop, rest and shop again. Women wants that, Gucci knows that. Gucci recently launched Gucci cafes, places where shoppers can take a break, and continue swapping their man’s credit card. Good way to lock down your customers, and having a cafe means they will not leave the shop; at least not so soon.

70 Million Pound House

                                                                     History

The original Updown Court, built in 1924 and later acquired by Lord parker of Burley 

in 1977, was severely damaged by a fire in 1987.

Developer Leslie Allen-Vercoe purchased the burnt-out shell of the property, for the approximate 2009 equivalent of $38.4 million. He invested a further $60 million.The new development was designed by John B Scholz, an Arizona architect. Notable aspects of the architecture, which has been described as "neo-classic Californian" include its double staircase that is modelled on the one that fashion designer Gianni Versace had in his mansion in Miami, its grey-slated rooftops, and its bathroom's honey-colored granite Guatemalan marble.

Estate

Entered by a $3 million heated marble driveway, Updown Court has 103 rooms, of which 24 are bedrooms, each with its own marble en-suite bathroom. Among other features, it has a two-lane bowling alley, five swimming pools, a squash court, a floodlit tennis court, a wine cellar, and a panic room in case of a terrorist attack. There are 5 acres (20,000 m²) of more than 30 different types of imported Italian marble, expansive terraces, and a 50-seat cinema. It also features an underground garage, with granite flooring, that has enough room for eight limousines. The first floor is the main residential area, featuring eight generous bedroom suites. The penthouse floor contains two separate penthouses, each with two bedrooms and occupies an entire wing of the property.

Updown Court is set in the centre of 58 acres (230,000 m²) of grounds, gardens and woodland. Neighbours include Elton john and Sarah, Duches of york

Ownership

Despite the extravagent nature of the property it is viewed by local residents as somewhat of a 'white elephant' given the length of time the property has been for sale without finding a buyer. The estate has NOT been sold and is still on the market.

According to the estate’s developer, Leslie Allen-Vercoe, Updown Court is specially built for and targeted at the billionaire market.

The 40,000 sq ft mansion triumphs that of both Hampton Court Palace or Buckingham Palace, and to give you an idea of the opulence, there are more than 100 rooms, five swimming pools (including a roof-top infinity pool and two indoor pools), a garage with room for eight limos, gold-leaf tiled mosaic floors in the study.

There’s even a 50-seat cinema with private bar, a two-lane bowling alley, a snooker room, squash court, sauna, beauty salon, and a banquet hall with two powder rooms.

It’s not difficult to imagine this palatial residence becoming the summer getaway for Chelsea’s millionaire footballers as a reward from Abramovic, provided a certain Mr Donald Trump hasn’t beaten the Russian to this property.

 

 

London’s Updown Court in Windlesham, Surrey, looks set to be the most expensive property in UK’s real estate market with a price tag of more than £85 million (or upwards of US$160 million).