Ok, what would you pay to get a social status–type phone that is pretty much a blinged brick? Well, it’s not so bad after all, but I am a tech junkie, so it kind of hurts to see all the glamour for a real walky-talky style device. What am I talking about? Well, I’m talking about limited-edition 18-carat gold phones from Danish retail brand Aesir that is targeted as a collectors toy for the crème-de-la-crème of Russia. Three years in the making, the phone can’t send out emails, doesn’t support the internet, doesn’t have a camera, games, or GPS navigation, but it quite an eye candy. Priced at $57,400, the firm will release a phone once every 18 months till they exhaust the quota of 5,000 units for the classic model.
The phone will be available in gold, classic model (€42,000 ($56,334)) and a stainless steel (€7,250 ($9,724)) variant. While the brand hopes to make it a collector’s item, critics think otherwise. Company founder Thomas Jensen is optimistic when he says, “It’s a collector’s item. People are used to collecting, say, watches, while designer phones are a practically empty niche.” However, art-market investment expert Natalia Legotina counters, “It could find a place in the Russian market but definitely not in the culturally elite circles, which favor new smartphone models.”
[Smh]
