Telephone is a ringer for royalty

DUBAI // If the legendary Egyptian beauty Queen Nefertiti had owned a mobile phone, it probably would look just like this. Whether the modern UAE woman could get away with pulling the new, gem-encrusted Nefertiti phone from her bag is another thing. Only 50 of the Givori-designed phones have been made and are all being sold in the UAE, priced at Dh16,300 (US$4,400). Covered in dozens of 24-carat gold-coated Swarovski crystals and vintage 1930s floral motifs, the phone was named after the wife of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Akhenaten.

Amine Aoude, the manager of Givori, said: "We have a dedicated core of glamorous customers who like to have the most up-to-date items and this extends to the look of their mobile phones. "The phone caters to exuberant tastes and ladies who are luxury fashion-seekers, who want to make a bold statement and want their phone to be seen." The gems are encrusted on a Nokia phone with one gigabyte of memory, a 3.2 megapixel camera and a music player.

Givori had previously released the Serendipity phone, with vintage gems from the 1930s and tiny specks of real gold to "reflect a bygone era of glamour and romance". Its Dh11,300 price included a box of chocolates. The Nefertiti is available in Harvey Nichols in Dubai and selected Axiom outlets. In two weeks, 300 of Motorola's Aura new phones will be released in the UAE, with a Dh7,850 price tag.

tyaqoob@thenational.ae