A Bristol-born businessman based in Dubai is bracing himself for a flood
of orders for iPhones clad not in the gold-effect finish of the new
iPhone 5S, but the real stuff.
Amjad Ali supplies royal families,
governments, and minted customers across Russia, China and the Middle
East with gold-plated devices that cost up to £50,000.
The
42-year-old entrepreneur, who grew up in Glasgow, has pre-ordered
hundreds of new iPhones. His team at Gold and Co. will set to work the
day after launch before delivering the devices to luxury retailers.
“We
strip the units down and then plate them in copper, nickel and then
pure gold,” he told the Independent. “We have limited units per region
and each is numbered and placed in a handmade wooden box with a
certificate of authenticity and wax seal.”
Ali typically delivers
50 devices a month, including Blackberries and iPads, but orders rose
to more than 300 a month when the iPhone 5 was launched last year. The
firm expects greater demand still for the sixth-generation device,
announced today.
Gold and Co.’s customers have included the Saudi
royal family, which, Ali says, ordered a gold iPhone studded with
hundreds of diamonds, including a giant piece that served as the
device’s “home” button. The bill: £50,000.
Basic models in gold or rose gold cost from £3,000. Ali
says he is fulfilling an order from the Nigerian government for 53 gold
iPhones to mark the country’s 53rd year of independence from Britain
next month.
“We will engrave them with the coat of arms, a shield and two horses,” he said.
The company has also supplied an engraved gold iPad to each of the rooms at the luxury “six-star” Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai.
For
the new iPhone, Ali has added a platinum option to the gold and rose
gold currently offered. “Muslim men are not supposed to wear gold,” he
explains. “We had government departments for example cancelling orders
so now we’re launching platinum to tap into a huge market. Most
importantly, it’s a third colour. Everyone wants to be different.”
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