The seriously wealthy now have another way of flaunting their riches with a mobile phone priced at HK$152,000.
Vertu, a subsidiary of Nokia, released hand-crafted mobile phones for sale in Hong Kong this month. The company said the phones would be available in June and had attracted orders, but it refused to say how many.
The phones are available in platinum, white and platinum, or stainless steel with sapphire facing. The platinum casing is the most expensive and heaviest while the stainless steel is the lightest.
The phones, while sleek in design, are bigger and heavier than most Nokia models.
Since Vertu introduced its first collection of luxury phones 10 weeks ago in Paris, it has opened offices in Hong Kong, Singapore, New York, Los Angeles and London. Singapore is its regional headquarters.
Nokia's competitors, including Ericsson and Motorola, have for years produced limited editions of custom-made phones. So far, the very wealthy have been able to buy phones adorned with gold and diamonds from Motorola or cased in gold from Ericsson.
