qualities see virt and virtus virtue . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . december 2011 learn how and when to remove this template message vertu type division industry luxury goods telecommunications founded 1998 founder nokia headquarters church crookham hampshire england united kingdom area served worldwide key people gordon watson chief executive officer 1 products luxury mobile phones number of employees 1000 parent godin holdings 2 website vertu.com vertu is a british manufacturer and retailer of luxury handmade mobile phones established by finnish mobile phone manufacturer nokia in 1998 . in october 2012 nokia sold vertu to private equity group eqt vi for an unspecified amount 3 rumoured to be 200 million 4 but retained a 10 % share . 5 by the end of 2013 the company had around 350 000 customers and phones were on sale in 500 retail outlets including 70 run by the company . 6 in 2015 it was announced that eqt had sold its share of vertu to godin holdings a hong kong based holding company . 2 contents 1 concept 2 collection 3 distribution 4 criticism 5 see also 6 references 7 external links concept edit according to the economist the concept was to market phones explicitly as fashion accessories with the idea if you can spend 20 000 on a watch why not on a mobile phone . 7 vertu phones or mobile communications instruments 8 are made in its factories in church crookham hampshire england . handsets are sold through an emphasis on craftsmanship style and service rather than mobile phone functions . 7 the business is based in the united kingdom with offices in new york city dubai moscow frankfurt hong kong paris and singapore . in november massimiliano pogliani was replaced by billy crotty as vertu s ceo who in turn was replaced by gordon watso three months later . 9 1 the business has 900 employees . collection edit a vertu signature phone in stainless steel the flagship model is called the signature . its key pad contains nearly 5 carats of ruby bearings . other models are ascent constellation classic constellation ayxta along with smartphones constellation quest and the constellation released october 2011 . ascent phones are designed to be lightweight and durable made of aluminium or titanium with vulcanised rubber and leather . the classics are simple and small handsets . ayxtas are flip phones that come in numerous variants and colors . the quest is the first smartphone by vertu equipped with a full qwerty keyboard made from sapphire sculpted keys . this was followed by constellation in 2011 which was the company s first touchscreen model . 10 in february 2013 vertu launched the vertu ti the first vertu handset to use an android operating system followed in june 2014 by signature touch . 11 the signature touch is a top tier device running a 2.3 ghz quad core snapdragon 801 processor . it comes with a 4.7 inch 1080p display 64gb storage lte nfc and qi wireless charging . 12 the signature touch s price ranged 10 300 7 900 for the base model to maximum price of 21 900 16 900 for the pure jet red gold . 13 vertu has also made limited edition handsets in collaboration with ferrari 14 bentley 15 lapo elkann 16 and ermenegildo zegna . 17 distribution edit old bond street boutique london vertu is available from around 500 stores including 70 vertu boutiques in 66 countries . 18 vertu phones are available in its own branded stores concessions in leading department stores such as harrods and selfridges in london and other authorised retailers such as tourneau in the u.s in parizska street in prague and dlf emporio new delhi india . beijing s oriental plaza in the wangfujing shopping district has a vertu boutique . there are three vertu boutiques in the united states located on madison avenue in new york city the wynn las vegas resort and casino and rodeo drive in beverly hills . citation needed there are a number of stores in dubai such as in the mall of the emirates the dubai mall and the burjuman mall . citation needed criticism edit vertu phones have been described as tasteless trash by wired magazine 19 and technologically modest by the financial times . 20 they are often described as bling . see also edit companies portal hampshire portal telecommunications portal goldvish references edit a b vertu s sudden ceo swap spells trouble after chinese buyout . engadget . 2016 02 09 . retrieved 2016 03 06 . a b luxury british phone maker vertu sold to chinese investors as ceo steps down . international business times . 2015 11 03 . retrieved 2015 11 04 . eqt s current portfolio vertu . retrieved october 7 2012 . vertu it makes sense for nokia to sell us . the telegraph uk . retrieved april 28 2013 . nokia will retain 10 % share in vertu . retrieved june 15 2012 . vertu chooses android over windows for luxury handset . bbc news . february 11 2013 . retrieved april 28 2013 . a b the origins of vertu . the economist . february 20 2003 . retrieved april 28 2013 . jonathan margolis december 5 2008 . bling bling the 1m mobile hand crafted in solid gold and encrusted with jewels just don t leave it on the train ... . mail online . retrieved april 28 2013 . richard lai . chinese owned vertu vows to keep making luxury phones in the uk . engadget . aol . vertu launch party hollywood stars try out the new constellation . october 19 2011 . retrieved april 28 2013 . vertu s signature touch combines top tech with a concierge . wired uk . 22 000 vertu android phone sure . top mobile trend . 6 january 2016 . retrieved 22 july 2016 . richard lai . vertu s signature touch puts the luxury back into specs . engadget . aol . vertu ferrari team up for titanium phone permanent dead link want to really impress at the boat club get a bentley premium smartphone made by vertu vertu and italia independent phones by lapo elkann . luxatic . kamakshi . signature vertu for ermenegildo zegna china 20th anniversary limited edition dazzles in gold . luxurylaunches . vertu 3 october 2013 . vertu presents new constellation at one mayfair london a new kind of ... . prnewswire.com . rob beschizza march 19 2008 . eight things we pretend to care about but don t . gadget lab . retrieved april 28 2013 . nokia prepares to lose its bling tone . financial times . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to vertu . official website retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title vertu & oldid 731585521 categories companies based in hampshireelectronics companies of the united kingdommobile phone manufacturersnokia mobile phoneshart district british brandsluxury brandsmanufacturing companies of englandmanufacturing companies established in 1998retail companies established in 1998shops in new york cityhidden categories all articles with dead external linksarticles with dead external links from july 2016articles with permanently dead external 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