Your USB port is unlikely to have ever come in contact with African Mahogany or African Blackwood, and unless you are an idiot, or have a very nice desk, it never will. Regardless, that has not prevented Gresso from decking their new USB flash drives in the materials; they chucked in some diamonds and a gold clasp on the caoutchouc (rubber) strap, for good measure. The heaven sent devices will set you back between $300-$1000, depending on option choices, but it would surely be a sin to purchase. [Luxist]

Its design is almost the same as its Sol brother, but instead of that gold-spangled keypad, its numbers are of the less-exotic laser-etched variety, trying to impress those denizens of the latter-day Roman Empire with Roman numerals instead of those old-fashioned Arabic characters. Nobody's saying anything about pricing, but to give you an idea, the company was selling an 18-karat gold-encrusted MP3 player for around $6,500. Wonder if they also plan to ship zircon-encrusted tweezers. Available in the fourth quarter of this year, these Avantgarde phones should be some seriously expensive candy bars. [Sybarites]

Press Release:

New standard in Luxury.

Gresso is presenting a new collection - «Avantgarde», the intellectual mobile phone made of Gold and African Blackwood. The case of Gresso Avantgarde is manually manufactured and fastened with Gold screws.

The name of the new Gresso «Avantgarde» is derived from the French «avant-garde», which means «to be ahead of the time». This collection is an excellent illustration of the Gresso values: a quest always to push the limits further in pursuit of excellence, as well as the necessity to apply the latest technology.

It is this blend of innovative technologies, rare materials and exclusive design that makes Gresso Avantgarde truly unique.

Technology. New intelligent solutions.

Gresso Avantgarde is powered by the Gresso operating system based on the new Windows Mobile 6 Standard. It provides quick and easy access to the most frequently used applications.

TFT display of the phone supports up to 65? colors (320*240 pixels). Built-in 2 megapixel camera.

The mobile phone has all the functions that today's mobile consumers demand. It supports Outlook, Pocket MSN, EMS/MMS/SMS, Bluetooth, synchronization with the PC. The organizer will help to plan working day, there is a calculator, a MP3-player.

All these and many other opportunities are completed with ultraslim design. Thickness of the case executed of African Blackwood is only 14 mm.

Materials. Attention to detail.

The Avantgarde collection is made of African Blackwood, which age is more than 200 years. Two identical phones do not exist, as well as in the nature there are no two identical trees.

Gresso has paid particular attention to detail.

Sapphire crystal glass of 42 K frames the screen. A special feature is the keyboard with Roman numerals. This is also an innovation by Gresso. No phone had ever been designed this way.

Figures and letters of the keyboard are cut out by the laser. Moreover, the keyboard has special, scratch-resistant titanic covering, that has been developed and patented by Gresso company.

The back cover of the phone is executed of stainless steel with a titanic covering and hand polished to a mirror shine. This covering offers protection against scratches and is very durable.

Another technical feat of accomplishment is the magnetic lock of the battery cover, for the first time realized in mobile phone. This constitutes a double advantage, at once both an improvement in the reliability of fastening and in its ease of use.

The back panel of the device is decorated with Gresso logo executed of Gold.

World premiere.

The Avantgarde Collection will come in two models: Luna and Sol.

Gresso Avantgarde Luna. Flat keyboard. Navigation key is executed of Gold. The front panel is embellished by a triangle inset of Gold - one of the special aspects of all Gresso mobile phones.

Avantgarde Sol. Every function key is made of Gold using ultra-precision turning technology. This technology, unique for the jewellery industry, ensures a superlative degree of precision of each detail. A triangle inset of Gold on the front panel.

The Avantgarde Collection will be launched in the fourth quarter 2007.

The Gresso Symphonia Collection will be available this spring in various combinations of African Blackwood with white or pink gold trim. So far, so good, but it gets goofy when you consider that such a high-priced bauble only has 1GB of internal flash memory, although the company does throw in an FM tuner. Look out, though, these 18-carat gold-encrusted gems will cost you between $4000 and $6500. C'mon, how hard would it have been to put at least 8GB in there? Sheesh. – Charlie White

Gresso Symphonia MP3 Player [Sybarites]

Gresso Luxury Phone [via Sybarites]