Stars keeping in touch in style

NEED a new mobile? Then why not join the queue - which includes celebrity actress Gwyneth Paltrow - for a new phone costing up to 23,000 euro each?

The Shakespeare in Love star has placed an order for one of the phones along with fashion designer Tom Ford.

The phones, which start from 5,800, come in a choice of stainless steel, 18-carat gold or platinum.

Each has a special concierge button which wealthy users can press to call their own personal operator. They can ask for anything from local information to a table at the most exclusive restaurant in town, even if fully booked.

The handsets are made by Vertu, a subsidiary of mobile phone giant Nokia, which claims there has been keen interest since it began taking orders in January, ahead of their launch earlier this month.

The only place cash-rich customers can currently buy a Vertu phone over the counter are its two shops in Paris and Singapore. It also has client suites in London, Hong Kong, New York and Beverly Hills, where staff canhold meetings to discuss customers’ individuals needs.

The phones come in a choice of five casings: stainless steel, stainless steel with gold on the keypad, 18-carat gold, white gold and top-of-the-range platinum. They use Nokia technology which British-based Vertu says can be updated with any new advances.

Vertu spokeswoman Vanessa Bouganim said their phones should not simply be seen as a device for making calls. “Our customers appreciate the craftsmanship and see it more as a luxury accessory. In many ways it is like a high-quality watch, only that it also has the most proven technology around.”

With the theft of mobiles already a problem, a handset with a five-figure price tag inevitably raises security questions. “When a client purchases a phone we provide them with a certificate of ownership to include it on their home insurance,” says Ms Bouganim.