Where do they produce the most expensive smartphones in the world? Excursion to the Vertu factory

Vertu was created in 1998 as a division of Nokia for the production of the most expensive and high-quality mobile phones in the world - premium devices. Nokia designers tried to answer the question of how the phone will turn out when using the best materials and the most expensive production process, and created a company whose gadgets to this day are indicators of wealth and high position in society.

Last year, Vertu received a “free” from Nokia and became completely independent, and then began producing mobile phones with the Android operating system on board. Needless to say, now Vertu are the most expensive mobile phones on Android. All devices are assembled almost entirely by hand at a factory located in a suburb of London. In the same building fit and designers, and engineers, and ordinary employees of the company.

Recently, The Verge journalists were able to visit this plant, and today we are pleased to present you a photo report of their trip.

The famous logo in the form of the Latin letter “V”, adorning the front doors of the building, was created before the company got its name. According to the chief designer of Vertu, the logo embodies the style and beauty that inspired him in the process of creating new products. To avoid the similarity with the logo of the Mazda car company, the letter “V” later became slightly wider, and the word Vertu was used to decipher it, which means “perfect” in Latin.

There are two wings in the factory. The offices of the administration and the premises of the designers are located on the right, and the production and delivery departments on the left. Therefore, sometimes you literally can see one of the assemblers right near the administration desk.

Each employee of the production department wears a special dressing gown made from unique materials.

Upstairs are Vertu’s managers and executives, while the lower floors are fully occupied by the assembly, testing and packaging departments of mobile phones. Premises with expensive materials are securely protected with the help of doors 10 inches thick, made of 15 high-strength materials.

Perhaps Henry Ford would criticize the company's top managers, but there are no pipelines at all on Vertu. For the production of each phone is responsible only one employee who performs the assembly of the mobile device from start to finish. Upon completion of the production on the phone engraved with the signature of the employee.

Vertu does not trust the execution of basic tasks to machines, believing that a person can cope with them many times better.

Every detail undergoes strict quality control. If the collectors are not satisfied with at least something, it is produced anew.

Pickers remember almost every device.

Vertu employees work on the most advanced equipment in the world.

In new devices, the company uses Qualcomm processors.

The smallest detail Vertu can get lost in your palm.

The assembled phone is immediately sent for tests, so that employees can verify that it works correctly.

Training in the skill of the collector takes from three months to one year. But even if you sharpen it to perfection, you still can never repeat the process blindly. It is incredibly complex.

Packing the phone in the box - one of the most crucial stages. After all, this is the first thing that the buyer will see.

The retail price of such a box with phones and covers from crocodile skin exceeds 25 thousand euros.

Vertu works with individual orders.

From left to right: Vertu 2008 Signature (the most expensive and exclusive phone), Vertu Ti on Android, introduced this year, and Vertu Constellation. Prices start at nine thousand euros, 7,900 euros and 4,900 euros respectively.

With the advent of the iPhone, Vertu has become less popular among the “stars” of the global show business, but now these phones are finding their buyers. Basically, Vertu is used by conservative millionaires / billionaires, and the company is trying to fix it, following the youth trends: for example, it began to produce phones on Android. And since the human need to demonstrate their wealth and superiority is becoming stronger, Vertu is unlikely to become bankrupt in the next 10 years.

The article is based on materials https://hi-news.ru/phone/gde-proizvodyat-samye-dorogie-smartfony-v-mire-ekskursiya-na-zavod-vertu.html.