PARIS, FRANCE - JULY 03: Atmosphere during the CEO Alessandro Savelli And Contemporary Style Icon Julia Restoin Roitfeld Launch SAVELLI The World's First Luxury Smart Phone Especially For Women During Haute Couture Week at Musee Jacquemart-Andre on July 3, 2013 in Paris, France. (Photo by Julien M. Hekimian/Getty Images for SAVELLI)
Luxury smartphone designed as jewelry
02:47 - Source: CNN

Editor’s Note: Nina dos Santos is a news anchor and correspondent based in London. She is the host of CNN International’s London-based business show, The Business View. Follow her on Twitter.

Story highlights

Savelli smartphones come complete with 18-carat white gold casing

CNN's Nina dos Santos sat down with Savelli's CEO to talk about their new limited collection

Encrusted with precious diamonds, these phones come with a price tag of $250,000

CNN  — 

Smartphones just got smarter - or at least more expensive.

With a price tag of $250,000, Savelli smartphones come complete with 18-carat white gold casing encrusted with precious diamonds.

It’s as much a piece of jewelery as a gadget.

The mission of its makers, the Geneva-based jeweler Savelli, was to “elevate a phone into haute couture.”

“It’s the most important object one has with them all the time – it’s in your hand, it’s in your pocket, it’s next to you when you sleep, you can touch it 100 times a day,” Alessandro Savelli, the firm’s CEO, told CNN’s Nina dos Santos.

The jeweler is hoping to win the hearts of luxury shoppers, with the brand focusing exclusively on women.

“I think our customers are really looking for something special, really a beautiful object which they use every day and is extremely visible and really makes part of their persona,” Savelli said.

The limited collection features 11 smartphones powered by Google Android system and decorated with luxury materials, such as sapphires and emeralds, and finished off with ostrich, python and iguana leather.

The two most expensive models are limited to only 27 pieces. The hand-made Emerald Night, is embellished with 18-carat rose gold and 400 brilliant-cut emeralds, while Emerald Insane features 75 baguette-cut emeralds on white gold.

The same techniques and materials used in jewelry manufacture are used to produce the phones, Savelli said.

“We don’t really see the mobile phone industry as a competitor,” Savelli said. “We see more the watch and jewelery as our universe.”

After launching in Europe, the brand is now looking towards the east and emerging markets, such as China, Middle East and Russia, where the luxury business is booming.