Parisian jeweler House of Bucheron linked up with Nokia subsidiary Vertu on this limited-edition series of eight cobra phones, which include a two-carat pear-cut diamond, a one-carat round diamond, two emerald eyes and 439 rubies totaling 21 carats. Vertu phones also link up to a special concierge service with information about travel, entertainment, restaurants and events. Other Vertu phones sell between $4,350 and $81,000.


Vertu, a subsidiary of Nokia, boasts that it takes expert craftsmen some three years of training to learn how to make its phones. This device, a Vertu Signature, contains 943 diamonds on its bezel and 48 more on its keypad, each set in place by hand in Switzerland.




Gresso boasts that its Black Aura cellphones are 200 years old--the age of the African Blackwood on each phone's case. GSM phones from the Black Aura line range in price from $6,500 to $13,000; the most expensive model features an 18-carat gold front panel. The company says the phones will be available in the second quarter of 2007.




Mobiado's limited-edition Professional EM is made from ebony wood, hard-anodized aluminum and has titanium buttons. Because of the wood grain patterns on each device, each of the 200 manufactured is unique. Inside the case is a Nokia GSM phone with 1.3 megapixel camera, music playback and FM radio. Mobiado's other phones run $1,300 to $1,900.




Unlike the jewel-studded phones on this list, many of the expensive parts of LG's Prada handset are on the inside. The device features a very large color touchscreen, Adobe Flash-based user interface, document viewing features and music and video playback. Plus, it's just 1.2 centimeters thick. Like Apple's iPhone, the Prada lacks a traditional keypad--buttons show up on the screen.




Priced at $500 and $600, and available only through Apple and AT&T, the iPhone mashes a 4- or 8-gigabyte iPod and a smartphone into one elegant device. In January, Apple chief Steve Jobs won oohs and ahhs when he showed off some of the device's unique features, like the ability to squeeze photos with your fingers to change their size on the iPhone's large, colorful multi-touch screen.