Canadian co. launches mobile device made of sapphire crystals

If you thought gold-plated or diamond-studded phones were the last word in style, think again. A Canadian company has just announced a new mobile device--Grand Touch Executive--made from a 'stone hybrid material' and sapphire crystals.

Produced by luxury mobile design company Mobiado, based in Canada, the Grand Touch Executive was released on October 30.

The phone has been some two years in the making after an early prototype, the CPT001 -- which was crafted from a solid block of marble -- first started doing the rounds on the tech blogs in 2010.

The body of the phone is made from 'hybrid stone material' while the back panel and buttons are made from 'sapphire crystal.' The phone is available in a range of hybrid stone materials including granite and marble and can be found via Mobiado's website at mobiado.com.

In terms of specs, the unlocked phone is fairly low/mid range, boasting a 5 MP camera, a 4.65 inch S-AMOLED touch screen, 16GB of storage and common smartphone features such as Bluetooth/WiFi capabilities.

No pricing details are available on the Grand Touch Executive, but don't expect to see it in shops anytime soon: Mobiado's luxury phones, such as 2009's Grand 350 Pioneer, which contained meteorite, are typically seen at very exclusive events and trade shows to which the general public is not invited.

While it may seem that the market was not exactly crying out for a mid-spec marble-based phone, devices made with luxury materials are, in fact, part of a trend that refuses to die. Amosu Couture recently created a Swarovski crystal-studded Samsung Galaxy S3 which went on sale for around US$3,400, and Stuart Hughes recently created the iPhone 4s Elite Gold, a gold-plated iPhone styled as 'the world's most expensive phone' and retailing for over $9 million.