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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