To be fair, Continental Mobiles' diamond-encrusted Nokia N95 is a real bargain at £10,000 ($19,813) when compared to Amosu's £12,000 alternative, but seriously, real richies should be holding off for the evolutionary N96, anyway. For those with enough cash to care, this particular handset / status symbol packs a Sterling silver front-panel stacked with "4.42ct of brilliant-cut, VS1 quality, color G-H, naturally mined diamonds." If you're craving one, you'd better get your order in now, as it takes the British craftspeople crazy enough to sell these things three full weeks to whip one up.

[Via Pocket-lint]

Okay, we'd like to issue a retraction here. That Nokia 8800 we called "diamond-studded" earlier this month is actually just "diamond-accented." This, however, is patently studded. Crafted by designer Peter Aloisson, the 8800 Arte Pink is quite literally covered in 18-karat white gold and encrusted with over 680 pink and white diamonds. Best of all, the totally obtainable handset is being offered now to the peons of the world for a mere €85,000 ($131,673). A bona fide bargain, we tell ya.

[Via Ubergizmo]

Heads up, affluent sect. The immensely pricey Professional 105 line is expanding, as two new members slip in to tempt your stuffed wallet. Mobiado's Professional 105 EM is available in Cocobolo and Ebony, and the frame is even constructed from anodized aluminum; you'll also notice sapphire crystal buttons and a black finish. As for the Professional 105 GCB, it's layered with a 5-micron thick 24-karat gold plating and jazzed up with a fancy logo 'round back. Both candybars feature quad-band GSM support, a measly 1GB of internal storage space and a ho hum 2-megapixel camera, but fret not, as it'll (very likely) be the most expensive lackluster cellphone you'll ever pay for.

[Via UnwiredView]

If Christian Dior's $5,000 handset just wasn't rich enough for your blood, hopefully the crocodile skinned, Swarovski-covered iteration will put a sizable enough hole in your bank account to make you feel sufficiently important. Reportedly dubbed Lady Dior, the ModeLabs-created mobile features a 2.6-inch QVGA display, 2-megapixel camera, 640 Swarovski stones and absolutely nothing really worth the price tag. Speaking of which, said sticker is right around €18,000 ($28,360). Laughable, no?

[Via CNET]

We don't know what it is about Nokia's 8800, but fashionistas and high-end designers just can't seem to keep their fingerprints off of it. Enter Thomas Heyerdahl, the same artisan who gussied-up an iPod shuffle earlier this year. This fellow has crafted a version of the handset laced with 112 authentic diamonds, and it's said that only 100 of the coveted (and individually numbered) mobiles will be made available. All told, you'll find 0.7 carats of United Nations-approved diamonds per phone, and while the bulk of these things will be sold in select outlets for 30,000 Norwegian kroner ($5,933), numero uno is set to be auctioned for charity to the highest bidder. Pony up, son!

[Via LuxuryLaunches]

Vertu isn't the only game in town when you're looking to blow thousands on a handmade designer handset, and believe it or not, it's not the only game in town when you're looking for a Series 40 luxury phone, either. Mobiado crafts lovely shells of premium materials (you know, like steel) around the same guts that power Nokia's latest standard-issue dumbphones, producing devices that are more exclusive than they are powerful -- but let's be honest, power isn't necessarily what Mobiado's clientele is going for. The company's new Professional 105 ZAF takes its lengthy name in part from the fact that this is the "thinnest luxury phone in the world" at just 10.5 millimeters and features a 2 megapixel camera, 3G radio on the 2100MHz band, microUSB connector, and -- get this -- a battery cover "made entirely from one piece of sapphire crystal." If that's not form before function, we really don't know what is. Though it's not available in the US, the Professional 105 ZAF should be showing up shortly in boutiques around the world in a choice of six conspicuous shades.

[Via Mobile Phone Helpdesk]

You know how it goes -- when you're this high-end, don't even bother waiting for your bestest of friends to toss you a birthday party to celebrate ten years of mindless self indulgence. Instead, Vertu's doing the only thing it really can by cranking out a fashionable new collection to commemorate its decennial anniversary. The Constellation Rococo collection was reportedly inspired by "the eighteenth century French art, fashion and interior design movement by the same name," and if you're into floral patterns, bold colors and monogrammed Vs, you're sure to fall head over heels for this lot. Rest assured, however, that the epicurean handset maker won't be giving these away as gifts (or anything close to it) when they land this summer.

Surely those rumored shots of TAG Heuer's luxurious first handset from last week are still stuck in your head, right? Go on and purge those puppies right on out, as we've got the very first press shots (more in the read link) of the now-official Meridiist to focus our attention on. Reportedly, the handset was indeed developed in partnership with Modelabs, and beyond the all-metal casing, you can also expect a sapphire crystal screen, 2-megapixel camera, multimedia player, 1.9-inch QVGA display, Bluetooth and a battery good for 7-hours of yappin' aimlessly about how pricey your new mobile is. Speaking of which, did we mention this prized piece will run you between €3,400 ($5,420) and €3,900 ($6,216), depending on customizations, when it sashays onto the scene in Q2? Yeah, ouch.

When we first saw this picture, we immediately thought, "whoa, this thing could seriously give Vertu a run for its money for a fraction of the price." So yeah, we still think TAG Heuer's foray into the mobile market could give Vertu a taste of its own medicine (seriously, just look at it) all except for that "fraction of a price" bit; turns out the rumors have the candybar, named "Meridiist," priced somewhere around €3,400 to €3,900 (about $5,338 to $6,123) depending on how it's configured. Your fistful of euros will apparently get you a sapphire crystal display, 2 megapixel cam, 1.9 inch QVGA display (weak!), Bluetooth, and the full array of "luxury" materials like steel and leather when it launches later this quarter into the hands of the world's privileged.

[Thanks, Aniki]

Crave UK had a chance to check out Nokia's 8800 Arte and Sapphire Arte luxury sliders recently, and the reviewer discovered one... uh, "feature" of the Sapphire model not shared by its cheaper (but still very, very pricey) sibling. The box -- it's colossal. Not for any reason, mind you; no, Nokia just saw fit to line up the accessories contained within in a very linear, spaced-out fashion. Pretty weird for a Greenpeace-praised company with an obsession for everything environmental, isn't it?

[Thanks, T.I.]

Well, this is just a little self-indulgent, is it not? Everyone's favorite purveyor of unapologetically overpriced handsets is celebrating its tenth birthday this year (holy cow, has it seriously been that long?) and to commemorate the occasion in style, it's launching a series of Constellations in a "Monogram Collection." Here's the catch, though: the phones can't be monogrammed with their owners' initials. Oh, no, that would be uncouth. Instead, the phones bear Vertu's own "V" logo emblazoned repeatedly across their rarified hides in some sort of process that takes several hours to complete. They'll be available come April 1 in Pewter, Green, Red, Sky Blue, and Cerise -- and unlike their launch date, their stratospheric price tags will sadly be no joke.

We have to admit, we're pretty shocked that the world can support as many boutique, luxury handset manufacturers as it does; Vertu gets the lion's share of the attention and has the support of parent Nokia, but companies like Mobiado and Bellperre are fending for themselves -- and apparently doing a pretty good job of it, considering that Bellperre is releasing its second model and Mobiado... well, those guys have their own freaking fragrance. Anyway, we don't have a spec sheet for Bellperre's latest candybar, but we can tell you that it's hand-built in the Netherlands and will be available in a variety of sticker shock-inducing materials like crocodile, 18k rose gold, and various hardwoods. Bellperre claims that the new model uses "no plastic," but we've gotta call their bluff. What's that we see in the mini USB port, the handsfree jack, the SIM slot, and the battery contact, hmm? CeBIT attendees this year should be able to get up close and personal with a few of these purely unaffordable goodies.

If your money clip is flush with the green stuff and Vertu's offerings are a little too... shall we say, flashy, the Mobiado Stealth might just be right up your alley. The Russian firm known as much for its mobile perfume and silly accessories as it is for its luxury handsets has released details on what might be the lowest-key bespoke phone on the market, the appropriately-named "Stealth." The under-the-radar mobile is fashioned from aircraft aluminum, stainless steel, and sapphire crystal and is limited to a total run of 1,200 (though we imagine Mobiado could have its arm twisted into making a few more if the price was right) and features triband GSM / EDGE and WCDMA on the 2100MHz band; HSDPA support isn't specified, so we imagine the 3G action is limited to UMTS. Other priceless features include a QVGA display, 2 megapixel camera, microSD expansion, Bluetooth, and integrated media player -- in other words, the exact same stuff you get on a $50 on-contract piece from the carrier of your choice. The price of exclusivity these days, eh?

[Via MobileBurn]

In an exciting peanut-butter-in-my-chocolate development, Samsung has announced its plans to manufacture new products jointly designed with famed fashion magnate Giorgio Armani (of course, we knew this was coming). According to reports, Giorgio and the company are teaming up for the development of a "luxury" mobile phone, as well as a "luxury" LCD television, both of which are rumored to be extremely "luxurious." The phone (which we first heard about in July) will make its first "official" appearance at an Armani fashion show in Milan, Italy, while the television will rear its gorgeous head sometime in January. "This powerful partnership will match great design with leading technology to ensure performance is as impressive as appearance," said Yun Jong-Yong, vice chairman of Samsung. Could this be the company's answer to LG's Prada mash-up? We think yes.