Designer mobile phones costing up to £25,000 could be the most exclusive present available in the Channel Islands this Christmas.

The new TAG Heuer and Dior handsets are being exclusively sold by Guernsey jewellers, Ray & Scott, in conjunction with Sure, and have already proved popular across the world. Within hours of being launched in Selfridges last year, the first TAG Heuer handsets sold out.

“Ray & Scott has a reputation of selling unique items and having sold the first million pound watch earlier this year, it’s very exciting that, together with Sure, we are now the sole stockists of these fantastic mobile phones which I am sure will be on a few Christmas lists this year,” said Jeff Fox, Director of Ray & Scott.

Features of the Tag-Heuer phone include 60.5 carat sapphire crystal screens which can only be scratched by a diamond, surgical grade 316L stainless steel casing and the option of sustainably sourced leather, alligator skin or rubber for the case backs.

The phones include a two megapixel camera, an acoustic chamber around the neo-dymium speaker to create an unrivalled sound experience, and an Active Matrix Organic LED screen to ensure colours are sharper and more vivid. Each handset has a class-leading 28 days’ stand-by time and seven hours’ talk-time and each comes with an additional battery.

Each phone is hand-built and prices range from £2,550 to £25,000 with the most expensive, of which there are only three in the world, including 7.43 carat inlaid diamonds on the front and along the sides.

The phone’s creator Modelabs was approached by Tag-Heuer three years ago to create a range of handsets that complemented its product range. The Meridiist range, which has 12 different models, is now sold in 14 countries around the world. The name of the range came from joining the word meridian with specialist.

“Producing exclusive handsets such as these is very different. Normally phones are designed with consideration given to the internal structure first, but with the TAG Heuer and Dior phones, the respective designers knew exactly how the phone should look, so we were given a very different remit. The appearance of the phone is very important and needs to adhere to the very strict guidelines that the brands have. A brand is built with a distinctive DNA and so we follow closely that tradition in the design and manufacture of the mobile phones,” said Ian Broad, Modelab’s Country Manager UK.

“In keeping with the TAG Heuer timekeeping tradition, we have included a dedicated multi-function timepiece on an additional screen at the top of the phone, which is reversible depending on how the time is viewed. This is a pocket watch for the 21st century,” said Mr Broad.

After the success of the Tag-Heuer range, Modelabs worked closely with Christian Dior to design a range of handsets that were more suited to a female audience.

Designers have used Dior’s codes. These include the Dior lucky star, used after Christian Dior found a star shaped charm on the pavement as he was considering opening his first boutique. He saw this as a sign of good luck. The exterior features the Dior cannage pattern which Christian Dior was inspired to design and pays homage to the seat design at his favourite theatre.

The Dior range, which costs between £2,750 and £20,750, comes complete with the My Dior accessory which clips to the outside of a handbag and connects via Bluetooth to the handset inside.

“Market research showed that most ladies carry their phones in their handbag and often do not hear it ring so we patented the My Dior as the answer to this problem. It is effectively a mini mobile phone which can be used to answer calls and dial from the phonebook of the Diorphone,” said Mr Broad.

The phones, which will be officially launched at Jacksons on 12th November, will only be available from Ray & Scott and Sure.

“It’s a privilege that Ray & Scott has approached Sure to support them with the marketing and sales of these fantastic handsets. They are works of art and we look forward to showing them to islanders,” said Sure’s head of retail Hamish Kiernan.