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for an unspecified amount, but retained a 10% share. 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. In 2015, it was announced that EQT had sold its share of Vertu to Godin
Holdings, a Hong Kong–based
418:
after plans to save it failed and Vertu
Corporation Ltd was put into liquidation, leaving its residual staff of 200 unpaid and unemployed. Vertu AK France is the parent company of Vertu Corporation, through which the Vertu brand and company continues its business today.
233:
with vulcanised rubber and leather. The
Classics are simple and small handsets. Ayxtas are flip phones that come in numerous variants and colours. In 2006, Vertu produced and released the Aerius Bluetooth Headset designed by Jacob Jensen Design.
314:
operating system. It was priced from £5,000 (stainless steel and leather) to £17,300 (yellow gold). This was followed by
Constellation in October 2011, the company's first touchscreen model. In February 2013, the
671:
326:
instead of
Symbian. This was followed in June 2014, by Signature Touch. The Signature Touch's price ranged from $ 10,300/€7,900 for the base model to over $ 50,000/€44,000 for the Pure Jet Red Gold.
229:
bearings. Other models include Ascent (2004), Constellation
Classic (2006), Constellation Ayxta (2009), among others. Ascent phones are designed to be lightweight and durable, made of aluminium or
178:, 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?" Vertu is the brainchild of the Italian
303:
The
Constellation Quest is the first smartphone by Vertu, equipped with a full QWERTY keyboard made from sapphire sculpted keys. Announced in October 2010, it is similarly styled to the
225:
Vertu was launched on 21 January 2002 and the first collection available later that year. The flagship model "Signature" was launched in 2003. Its key pad contains nearly 5 carats of
1085:
1120:
679:
252:
846:
359:, Hampshire, England. Handsets were sold through an emphasis on craftsmanship, style and service, rather than mobile phone functions. The business was based in the
186:. He proposed and presented the luxury concept to Nokia's board, who eventually accepted it in late 1998. At the time Nokia released their first luxury phone, the
1125:
1115:
410:
In March 2017 Godin
Holdings sold the company to Baferton Ltd. a Cyprus-based Turkish company. In July 2017, the new shareholders applied to a court for
407:. In November 2015, Massimiliano Pogliani was replaced by Billy Crotty as Vertu's CEO, who in turn was replaced by Gordon Watson three months later.
750:
264:
1080:
276:
988:
1090:
881:
422:
In May 2020, the factory and office complex in Church
Crookham, empty since July 2017, was demolished to make way for a retail park.
1060:
820:
240:
1130:
164:. Previously located in the UK, ownership of the brand is now contested between two entities located in Hong Kong and France.
701:
340:
The 2017 version of the Vertu
Constellation was the last Vertu handset released before the company went bankrupt in 2017.
448:
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In 2018, Vertu emerged from bankruptcy and introduced the Aster P smartphone in October at an event in
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20:
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821:"Want to really impress at the boat club? Get a Bentley premium smartphone made by Vertu"
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134:
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1061:"Vertu factory in the UK demolished to make space for supermarket | Nokiamob"
860:
43:
936:
672:"Vertu Launches the World's Most Exclusive Instrument for Personal Communication"
179:
786:
989:"Luxury British phone maker Vertu sold to Chinese investors as CEO steps down"
195:
187:
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380:
376:
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963:"Controversy surrounds $ 61 million deal for luxury smartphone maker Vertu"
940:
913:
529:
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316:
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24:
344:
334:
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308:
399:
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728:"Vertu Launch Party: Hollywood Stars Try Out the New Constellation"
384:
368:
295:
214:
191:
190:. The resulting products called "Vertu" were finally announced in
183:
161:
156:
handmade mobile phones, established in 1998 and formerly owned by
88:
1017:"Chinese-owned Vertu vows to keep making luxury phones in the UK"
702:"Vertu Constellation Quest: The blingtastic £17,300 smart phone"
226:
329:
Vertu also made limited edition handsets in collaboration with
1035:"Vertu's sudden CEO swap spells trouble after Chinese buyout"
319:
was the first Vertu handset after Nokia's sale, and uses the
847:"Luxury manufacturer Vertu returns with Aster P smartphones"
751:"Vertu's Signature Touch combines top tech with a concierge"
258:
A Vertu Signature phone in stainless steel, released 2003
201:
Vertu phones have been described as "tasteless trash" by
16:
British manufacturer and retailer of luxury mobile phones
937:"Vertu chooses Android over Windows for luxury handset"
446:
270:
A Vertu Constellation Ayxta on display, released 2009
577:"Nokia targets rich with luxury mobile phone range"
133:
123:
115:
105:
94:
84:
66:
58:
50:
628:"Eight Things We Pretend to Care About, But Don't"
207:magazine, and "technologically modest" by the
509:"We Tried Vertu's 'Web3' Phone. It Scared Us"
246:Vertu Aerius Bluetooth Headset, released 2006
8:
882:"Vertu: it makes sense for Nokia to sell us"
780:
778:
776:
36:
1086:Electronics companies of the United Kingdom
808:"Vertu, Ferrari Team Up for Titanium Phone"
559:"At Vertu, Designing Six-Figure Cellphones"
524:
522:
355:Vertu phones were made in its factories in
35:
1121:Electronics companies established in 1998
654:"Nokia prepares to lose its bling tone"
499:
453:
236:
909:"Nokia will retain 10% share in Vertu"
394:In October 2012, Nokia sold Vertu to
7:
1126:Retail companies established in 1998
787:"Luxury phone-maker Vertu collapses"
152:) is a manufacturer and retailer of
101:, Hampshire, England, United Kingdom
1116:Manufacturing companies of England
591:"A Mobile Phone For The Superrich"
14:
861:"EQT's Current Portfolio – Vertu"
1015:Richard Lai (13 November 2015).
785:Baraniuk, Chris (13 July 2017).
480:
468:
456:
287:
282:Old Bond Street boutique, London
275:
263:
251:
239:
194:in 2002, and part of a separate
42:
626:Rob Beschizza (19 March 2008).
749:Collins, Katie (3 June 2014).
557:Wallace, Amy (17 April 2010).
213:. They are often described as
1:
198:called Vertu owned by Nokia.
1081:Companies based in Hampshire
993:International Business Times
757:. Condé Nast. Archived from
182:, former chief designer at
72:; 26 years ago
1147:
1091:Mobile phone manufacturers
160:mobile phone manufacturer
18:
41:
23:. For the qualities, see
414:, the company went into
442:Bellperre International
324:mobile operating system
1131:Shops in New York City
609:"The origins of Vertu"
530:"The origins of Vertu"
416:voluntary liquidation
412:bankruptcy protection
682:on 29 September 2017
119:Luxury mobile phones
1096:Nokia mobile phones
887:The Daily Telegraph
615:. 20 February 2003.
125:Number of employees
38:
21:Vertu (collections)
943:. 11 February 2013
849:. 19 October 2018.
579:. 14 January 2002.
563:The New York Times
538:. 20 February 2003
507:Williams, Andrew.
487:Telecommunications
62:Telecommunications
1041:. 9 February 2016
995:. 3 November 2015
967:digitaltrends.com
730:. 19 October 2011
708:. 14 October 2010
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678:. Archived from
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363:with offices in
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969:. 13 March 2017
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658:Financial Times
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405:holding company
357:Church Crookham
353:
299:
298:, Japan in 2009
292:
283:
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271:
268:
259:
256:
247:
244:
223:
210:Financial Times
170:
126:
108:
99:Church Crookham
76:
74:
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32:
29:Virtus (virtue)
17:
12:
11:
5:
1144:
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1128:
1123:
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1108:
1106:British brands
1103:
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928:
917:. 14 June 2012
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761:on 5 June 2014
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396:private equity
361:United Kingdom
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1111:Luxury brands
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1101:Hart District
1099:
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1063:. 4 May 2020.
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827:. 7 July 2014
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619:
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613:The Economist
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569:
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535:The Economist
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365:New York City
362:
358:
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332:
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322:
318:
313:
310:
307:and runs the
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177:
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175:The Economist
172:According to
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147:
139:Baferton Ltd.
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19:For art, see
1055:
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1038:
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1010:
997:. Retrieved
992:
983:
971:. Retrieved
966:
957:
945:. Retrieved
931:
919:. Retrieved
912:
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891:. Retrieved
885:
876:
864:. Retrieved
855:
841:
829:. Retrieved
824:
815:
803:
791:. Retrieved
763:. Retrieved
759:the original
754:
744:
732:. Retrieved
722:
710:. Retrieved
705:
696:
684:. Retrieved
680:the original
675:
666:
657:
648:
636:. Retrieved
634:. Gadget Lab
631:
621:
612:
603:
594:
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540:. Retrieved
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342:
339:
328:
302:
224:
208:
202:
200:
173:
171:
149:
145:
144:
95:Headquarters
51:Company type
33:
180:Frank Nuovo
107:Area served
1075:Categories
999:4 November
831:25 October
789:. BBC News
494:References
221:Collection
196:subsidiary
148:(stylised
54:Subsidiary
866:7 October
765:10 August
475:Hampshire
463:Companies
389:Singapore
381:Hong Kong
377:Frankfurt
305:Nokia E72
111:Worldwide
1039:Engadget
1021:Engadget
973:19 March
947:28 April
941:BBC News
914:Mashable
893:28 April
755:Wired UK
734:28 April
712:19 March
706:cnet.com
686:19 March
638:28 April
542:28 April
432:Goldvish
426:See also
317:Vertu Ti
294:Shop in
231:titanium
116:Products
59:Industry
1045:6 March
921:15 June
793:14 July
449:Portals
351:History
345:Beijing
335:Bentley
331:Ferrari
321:Android
309:Symbian
168:Concept
158:Finnish
85:Founder
75: (
67:Founded
1023:. AOL.
825:Yahoo!
595:Forbes
437:Gresso
400:EQT VI
398:group
373:Moscow
154:luxury
135:Parent
676:Nokia
632:Wired
513:Wired
385:Paris
369:Dubai
296:Ginza
215:bling
204:Wired
192:Paris
184:Nokia
162:Nokia
150:VERTU
146:Vertu
89:Nokia
37:Vertu
25:Virtù
1047:2016
1001:2015
975:2018
949:2013
923:2012
895:2013
868:2012
833:2019
795:2017
767:2024
736:2013
714:2018
688:2018
640:2013
544:2013
387:and
333:and
227:ruby
188:8850
77:1998
70:1998
27:and
312:S60
129:200
1077::
1037:.
1019:.
991:.
965:.
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451::
79:)
31:.
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