The mega expensive and luxurious Chairman smartphone from high-end Swiss watchmaker Ulysse Nardin is priced from $12,800 to $49,500 but is far more than just an anachronistic contraption made to sap money from suckers. Running a customized version of Google’s Android OS, the Chairman launches with an optional subscription fee by which owners can send their units in annually and have the software and hardware upgraded, the mechanical pieces inside serviced just like a regular watch, and the exterior refinished. Owners will even get a loaner while theirs is in the shop.


Please note that these pictures are 10-months old and show the Chairman using a modified version of Windows Mobile, not Android.

Luxist had a hands-on play date with the exclusive Chairman designed for CEOs. When I first read about this phone, I was unimpressed with its Windows Mobile OS, but now that it runs Android, and Ulysse Nardin promises to keep the device up to date yearly for 10% of the Chairman’s retail price ($4,950 for the top range model!), my interest is piqued. Since the LCD and many parts of the phone are covered in synthetic sapphire crystal, it will be nearly impossible to scratch too, allowing the Chairman to retain its shimmer and shine after many months of usage. Ulysse Nardin is not going out of business anytime soon, so if the subscription program works, then this phone should always have the latest technology along with its mechanical coolness. If the winding power-reserve mechanism actually included timekeeping, I would seriously consider the $10K model. Naturally, I would need to sell a kidney to finance it, but I would.

• 3.2″ capacitive touch screen with full on-screen QWeRty keyboard and back-lit sapphire crystal cov- ered physical numeric keys
• Fingerprint reader for owner identification and phone lock
• eight-megapixel camera
• high-definition video replay capability
• youtube, Google maps, Gmail, Google talk and Facebook preloaded
• Qualcomm 3G Gsm/ WcDma - 2G bands 850/900/1800/1900mhz 3G bands 900/2100mhz
• smartphone platform powered by the Freescale i.mX processor
• 32 Gb internal memory
• extensive gaming ability
• Up to eight hours talk time and thirty days stand- by time
• Ulysse nardin Rotor (kinetic power system) and crown (for winding the phone) i.e. generating additional electrical power to the battery

Download the PDF brochure here.