$1.3 million handset: the world's priciest phone

Guinness World Records certifies this GoldVish phone as the most expensive in the world--1 million euros, or about $1.3 million. The odd-shaped device is made out of 18-carat white gold and features 1,800 diamonds totaling 120 carats. A Russian businessman bought Le Million for his wife last September at a luxury goods fair in Cannes, France. Don't have a spare million for this made-by-request gadget? Geneva-based GoldVish has plenty of expensive phones in its lineup, including models with gold plating and diamond-studded cases.

Last year, Vertu teamed up with French jeweler Boucheron to make the second-most-expensive phone on our list, a limited-edition series of eight $310,000 handsets sporting red, jewel-encrusted snakes. The Signature Cobra includes two diamonds, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies snaking around an 18-carat rose gold case.

Like most of the phones on our list, Vertu's devices are fairly standard, "unlocked" handsets compatible with any wireless carrier whose networks use a calling technology called GSM--in the U.S., that's AT&T, formerly Cingular Wireless, and T-Mobile, a division of Deutsche.

Wireless both use a competing technology that's not compatible.) Vertu phones also include a direct-dial button to a concierge service, which can help with travel information, restaurant tips and events.

While some manufacturers flaunt diamonds, others are showcasing phone cases made from rare, antique wood. The pitch is that the varying grain patterns make each handset truly unique. Russia's Gresso boasts that its Black Aura handsets are 200 years old--the age of the African Blackwood on each phone's case. Canada's Mobiado says it has sold through its 200-unit run of the $2,200 jet-black Professional EM, made from ebony wood and hard-anodized aluminum with titanium buttons.

Source : fine-diamond

Yalos Diamond TV- Worlds Most Expensive TV

Following on from the likes of the i.Beat Organix Gold MP3 player, costing a cool £13,600, and the £160,000 Black Diamond mobile phone, the latest highly desirable piece of technology to feature in Thoughts from the Sidelines’ TechnoLust category is the rather fetching Yalos “Diamonds” LCD TV.

Created by the Italian company Keymat Industrie with input from Japanese designer Takahide Sano, this seriously bling 40 inch LCD TV boasts no less than a full 20 carats worth of diamonds embedded in white gold on the screen’s tempered crystal surround as well as two tuners and is, of course, is fully HDTV compliant.

However, as you would expect, it carries a serious price tag.

Further interesting features of the Yalos “Diamonds” LCD TV are that there are no visible screws or joins which affords this TV is incredibly sleek and refined appearance. The official site even mentions that the TV’s logo has “been screen-printed backwards and changes colour depending on whether the set is on or off”.

The set has provision for 1080i and 720p high definition picture formats and utilises Pixelworks technology so as to further unsure that the television’s picture is as clean and sharp as the sets overall design.

Further features include one HDMI, VGA, DVI, 2 x YPbPr, 2 x Scart, 2 x S-Video, 2 x CVBS connections, a resolution of 1366 x 768, a double RF tuner and a picture contrast ratio of 1200:1.

The price? A staggering £67,500.00.

Source : gemscollection

Most Expensive Stereo System

As one of the world’s largest consumer electronics trade shows, the IFA show in Berlin has certainly been host to some startlingly expensive electronic marvels. IFA 2007, which opened its doors on the last day of August, was no disappointment. Among the 1,212 exhibitors present at this year’s show was the aptly-named Audio magazine, there to show off the world’s most expensive stereo system.

Clearaudio Statement Turntable

This expensive stereo system includes JBL speakers that cost nearly $70,000 per pair, four 18-inch Velodyne subwoofers ($52,000), five Krell power amplifiers ($163,000) and a Mark Levinson pre-amplifier ($54,500). Then, of course, there’s the eye catching Clearaudio Statement Turntable, which adds another $137,000 to the overall cost of Audio’s expensive system.

The world’s most expensive stereo system isn’t for audiophiles alone, though. It also includes Pioneer’s BDP-LX 70 blu ray player and Toshiba’s HD-EXI for HD-DVD’s. SIM2’s HAT-500 projector ($68,000) provides video output, making this system as desirable for home cinema buffs as it is for audiophiles.

Unfortunately, the listening room at IFA 2007 wasn’t quite up to the challenge provided by Audio’s expensive system. Background noise made the improvement in sound quality nearly imperceptible.

Source : mostexpensive

Adam & Eve Flash Drives

Luxury phone company Gresso has strayed from the phones and into world of luxury USB flash drives. Their Adam & Eve flash drives are made of African Mahogany or African Blackwood and white diamonds and come in three different shapes, a bitten apple, a cross and a simple rectangle on a caoutchouc strap with a gold clasp. The prices for the jewelry collection of USB flash drives range from $300 to $1000 and will launch in October 2007.

Source : adam&eve

Cannon camera covered with diamonds

Canon kicked off its IXUS 10 celebrations last night with a star-studded party at the Atlantis Gallery in London's Brick Lane. The event saw the unveiling of a diamond IXUS worth more than €40,000 as well as three new additions to one of the most iconic camera ranges of all time.


Two key figures behind the IXUS success story – camera designers Yasushi Shiotani and Seiichi Omino – joined international fashion icons, celebrities and more than 600 media representatives to mark the tenth anniversary of the first IXUS. Shiotani's 'Box and Circle' design for the original APS-based IXUS camera in 1996 spawned hundreds of imitations and remains the signature motif of the range. Omino reinterpreted the concept for the digital age with his striking design for the Digital IXUS in 2000.


The €40,000 Super Diamond IXUS is covered with 380 diamonds. Nine 'his and hers' diamond IXUS cameras have also been produced with an estimated value of €3,500 each.


Canon debuted the three newest additions to the IXUS range with a catwalk show on the night: the titanium-bodied Digital IXUS 900 Ti, Digital IXUS 850 IS, and Digital IXUS i7 zoom.


"The challenge facing any iconic brand is to remain faithful to its original values while staying fresh and innovative," said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe. "That IXUS has kept its number one position throughout the last 10 years is testament to both the strength of the original IXUS concept and Canon's commitment to innovation."

Source : gemscollection