Vertu already has one ugliest phone of the year award under its belt and it looks like they are going for number two. The previous winner was the Vertu Signature Cobr which had a gem studded snake around the keypad. This year Vertu is bringing out a new version of teh phone which will have a dragon around the keyboard instead. Ironically the phone is virtually identical and the dragon looks just like a snake. Look for Vertu to win the ugliest luxury phone award once again.

For those that have everything in life comes the Vertu Boucheron which is crafted from solid gold. If that doesn’t sell you on the $30,000USD mobile phone than maybe the fact that it was created in conjunction with French jeweler Boucheron will put you over the top. The phone takes about 1000 man hours to shape from solid gold and then another 700 man hours of hand polishing which is then followed up by 500 of hand craftsmanship. The surface is made to look jagged so that light reflects off the gold finish.

The life of mobile phone luxury is soon coming to Japan. Vertu has announced that it will launch service sometime this year for their high end phones. The deal will see Vertu partner with local carriers to buy airtime for their customers. The new service is being billed as the “Vertu Club”and will offer all sorts of amenities for its clients including a personal concierge service. Vertu Club will be offered through Nokia Siemens Network in Singapore which can handle clients in all of the Asian Pacific region.