I'm not one to usually be very impressed with jewel-studded cell phones, because even if they're pretty to look at they always seem so gaudy and impractical to actually use. But the design of this Lady Diamond phone by Gresso seems to have a nice balance of sleek common sense and indulgent luxury. Made in a limited edition of only 8 phones (seems like an odd number...) it's basically a red version of Gresso's Skeleton Gold model with 4 tiny diamonds on the center keys. It has the same 42K sapphire crystal display and transparent back as the Skeleton Gold, but the price is significantly higher at $5500.

Despite being out of the spotlight lately, Motorola hasn't given up on the RAZR and they've released a new, luxe model of the popular phone called the Motorola RAZR LúK. It's only available in one color but we think you won't mind since it's classic pearl white combined with equally classic (and shiny!) 18k gold plating. The phone's shape, keyplate, and flip design all remain unchanged but the interior specs of this 3G model are updated with HSDPA connectivity, video calling, bluetooth, and pretty much everything else you'd expect in a RAZR. I love it.

It used to be that having a mobile phone was a fairly expensive treat but oh how things have changed. In a strange twist it now seems that owning a landline has become the true luxury.

A recent Nielsen survey found that not only have 17% of homes already gone landline-less but that number is predicted to jump to a full 1/5 of the population (20%) by the end of the year.

So what's causing this trend? Finances, for most. It's a cold hard fact that for most people cell phones are cheaper to own and operate than landlines, all factors considered, and in today's ever-tightening economy luxuries like home phone service are getting cut out. Who would have thought, expensive and fancy as cell phones are getting these days, that the real status symbol would become the clunky home phone?

Via psfk

Polo Ralph Lauren will soon be offering American shoppers the ability to shop for goods via mobile phone. The technology itself is only about a year away (something about integrating codes for download) but the company expects Americans to warm up to the idea only very slowly after that. Although foreign consumers like the Japanese have been using similar technology for years, Americans are thought to be a little less comfortable with cutting edge shopping methods.

Do you think that's really the problem? Couldn't it be that we just have too much fun shopping to reduce the whole experience down to a tiny cellphone screen?

Hm, maybe that's just me. If you're interested look for the service to appear soon on a cell phone screen near you.

Here's a Bluetooth earpiece that manages to be quite fancy looking without having any Swarovski crystal or gold plated "bling." The Plantronics Discovery 925 has a unisex VFrame™ design and is available in 3 jewel tone colors (black, gold, and pink) with a cute color-coordinated leather carrying case and charger included. According to this review the features are pretty average, with the exception of excellent audio quality thanks to AudioIQ noise control technology. The Black Onyx version is available now, with the Alchemy Gold and Cerise Pink shipping next month. $149.00

The latest pricey phones from Gresso are the Black Diamonds series. The phones are made with African Blackwood and black diamonds encased in 18K gold. On the Royal Black Diamonds phone the keys are made of diamonds surrounded by 18k gold. They are made in a limited edition of just 50 and sell for 30,000 euros each. On the Black Diamonds phone just the four navigation keys are done in black diamonds and the rest are done in 18K gold. This phone sells for 9,000 euros. The keyboard uses Roman numerals so if you don't know your V from your IX this is not the phone for you. It has an internal memory of 64MB and an external memory of 2GB. The display is sapphire crystal glass. It has a camera, video and audio player.

Peter Aloisson has released a new design in the "way too expensive and over-the-top" cell phone category: the diamond studded gold Motorola V3i. The golden stainless steel case is hand-set with 855 diamonds, totaling 3.8 carats altogether. Of course it comes with all the same cool features as the regular Motorola V3i, and sells for a mere $10,000.

So, when this phone is obsolete a few months from now, what happens to all those little diamonds?

Who you are is largely communicated by your style, whether you like it or not. Whether you try, or don't try, either way says a great deal. And just what does "style" all include? Many major designers believe it's about more than just clothes and fashion, and are hoping to cash in on some of the other "angles" where their respective brand names can help somebody make a statement. After all, designers are all about style, and style is about a lot more than just fashion.

Specifically designers are branching out into technology and transportation -- and they're doing it in a big way. But then we wouldn't expect anything less from names like Prada and Versace, would we?

State-of-the-art touch screen cell-phones, sports cars, private jets, and even helicopters are just the beginning of this trend. So be on the lookout for more than just clothes bearing designer names and, of course, designer prices.

The Apple iPhone was officially announced today at Macworld. The mobile phone weighs 4.6-ounces, is just 11.6 millimeters thick and has a 3.5-inch (480x320) touchscreen display. It includes a 2 megapixel camera, 4-8 GB of storage (yes, gigabytes!), Bluetooth. It also runs the OS X operating system and will support a variety of programs and browsers, in addition to iTunes, and a partnership with Yahoo! will "allow all iPhone customers to hook up with free push IMAP email." The phone will be available as a Cingular exclusive starting this June, with the 4GB model at $499 and the 8GB model at $599.

For more views of the first one, check out the whole gallery at Engadget.

When Vertu first announced their Racetrack Legends phones, which pay homage to some of the world's most famous tracks, the company planned to sell them individually, releasing only 1000 of each of the six designs. So far, only 4 of the 6 designs have come out. To appeal to collectors during the holiday season, Vertu has just released a very limited edition Racetrack Legends Box Set that includes all six of the phones in a carbon-fiber box. The box also has three trays with cases for headsets and other mobile phone accessories. Only 51 sets will be sold. Price: £30,000 (approx. $59,000).

Partnering with Lamborghini, Nokia has just designed a limited edition Nokia 8800 Sirocco phone that is ideal for the Lamborghini owner who wants to match his car to his mobile. The stainless steel phone casing is etched with the Lamborghini logo and the words "Automobil Lamborghini." To further the theme, it also includes Lamborghini wallpaper graphics, engine-inspired and a short video documentary about the cars. The tri-band GSM phone has a screen of scratch-resistant sapphire coated glass, a 2-megapixel camera and 128mb internal memory, as well as an mp3 player, xHTML browser, email, Bluetooth connectivity and a hands-free speaker. Only 500 will be produced and they will be exclusively available at selected Lamborghini dealerships.

[via bornrich]

It looks like the gorgeous Nokia L'Amour phones are now available in the US. All three versions are on sale at the Neiman Marcus website. Sure, they sell them at the Nokia website, too, but wouldn't you rather pick out something to coordinate with your new phone? They're called fashion phones for a reason, after all.

There are two models, the ultra-slim 7380 ($650) is mostly camera and a little bit of phone. The 7370 model ($400) comes in both warm and cool color palates, so you can select which one will best match your existing wardrobe. The "warm" phone is a golden amber color with white floral etching, while the "cool" phone is a chocolate brown with grey and tan accents.