KEY POINTS:
If bling is your thing, then get a load of this little number.
With more than 300 individual parts and with a price tag of up to $150,000, the new bejeweled cellphone from Vertu is the latest prestige gadget for New Zealand's upwardly mobile and filthy rich.
So
how much bling do you get for that sort of coin? For starters, this phone is more about fashion than function with a sapphire face, platinum or gold casing, titanium support for durability and ruby bearings under the keys that could sustain at least five million presses.
Some of the more expensive models feature tiny diamonds dotted all over, as well as a diamond-encrustred keypad.
Surprisingly, it doesn't have the bells and whistles that other phones do. There's no fancy ringtones, camera or other customised features - all you can do with the new Vertu is make calls and send text messages.
That's not turning people off, though.
So far Mansors Jewellers, the sole New Zealand stockist of the phones, has sold 11 Vertu phones with most buyers opting for the $10,000 model. Prices of models in the store range from $7000 to $100,000, although a $150,000 model is available but must be ordered in.
Most buyers, to date, had been Asian, some of whom were looking to take advantage of New Zealand's duty-free benefits before heading home, the shop said.
Salesman Fong Kiat Lee said Vertu was obviously not for people who winced when they received their monthly cellphone bill.
"Most people that walk in here can afford these great phones... but we get a lot of people coming in to ask why they are so expensive."
Overseas, Vertu has now become the established luxury cellphone of choice for the rich and famous. Internationally, Vertu's production increased a whopping 140 per cent last year and this year the company is on track for more than 100 per cent growth.
It's for you
* The Vertu phones are manufactured in the UK.
* The company launched its first phone in 1983.
* Each handset includes 388 mechanical components.
* Eight designers spent up to four man-years just getting the feel of the keypad right for some models.
* Up to three years is spent perfecting a new model.
