The Celsius X VI II LeDIX, like the Ulysse Nardin Chairman Smartphone is a blend of a mobile phone and watch, with similarly stratospheric pricing.
And the Celsius X VI II LeDIX is both more prestigious and more stratospherically priced. There’s a choice of two editions:
- Celsius X VI II LeDIX Origine – a limited edition of 18, in grade 5 titanium with ebony inserts
- Celsius X VI II LeDIX Véloce – a limited edition of 28, in black PVD-treated titanium with carbon fibre inserts
The price of the Celsius X VI II LeDIX is in the neighbourhood of US$300,000.
The Celsius X VI II LeDIX is the brainchild of 30-year-old designer Thomas Pruvot, formerly of the industrial design department of Parrot, a Bluetooth accessories maker. Flying on a business trip in 2005, Pruvot became annoyed that in having to turn off his phone during the flight he lost his only timekeeper, planting the seed for the design of the Celsius X VI II LeDIX. He worked on the design in his spare time over the ensuing years, leaving Parrot in 2008, and then gathered other people to form a company to bring his design to life.
The phone tech side of the Celsius X VI II LeDIX is provided by Sagem. This is no smartphone, there are only 5 icons on the screen, to signify calling, messaging, calendar, address book and camera. Internet access is buried in a submenu. It’s fair I think to say that the focus here is on the watch, it’s primarily a watch that’s a mobile phone, rather than the other way around.
And it is theCelsius X VI II LeDIX’s watch side of things that really takes the eye, and probably has the more impressive tech. More than 600 parts, including a Flying Solitaire tourbillion, visible on both the outside and inside of the top part of the flip phone.
The phone is something of a hybrid-powered device. Along with power from the Lithium-Ion 770mAh battery, kinetic energy from each opening and closing of the clamshell phone is harnessed to provide 3 hours of power, up to a total reserve power storage of 100 hours. This patented system has the poetic name of ‘Remontage Papillon’, meaning butterfly winding mechanism. Celsius have a desire to in the future produce a phone that loses the need for a battery and have a phone powered only by a winding mechanism.
Specifications
General
- Clamshell mobile phone
- Around 600 mechanical parts, including 330 in the watch movement alone
- Structure entirely milled from a block of grade 5 titanium
- High-end watchmaking finishes: polishing, satin-brushing, Clous de Paris hobnail pattern, shotblasting
Mechanical movement
- Patented mechanical hinge (Remontage Papillon), serving to harness and store the kinetic energy generated by the user. On this specific model the energy is then used to activate the mechanical system.
- 100-hour power reserve. Each opening and closing of the clamshell phone generates an additional 3 hours of power reserve
- Flying Solitaire tourbillion visible on both sides. World’s most off-centred tourbillion (36 mm)
- Regulating organ mounted on shock-absorbers (4 springs)
- Movement integrated within water-resistant box in aluminium treated with GL coating of titanium and ceramics to ensure extreme resistance
Phone
- Mechanical battery-ejection system, Clous de Paris hobnail pattern
- 7 main sapphire parts, some featuring two radii of curvature
- Technology developed in cooperation with a French company, renowned for the high quality and reliability of its platforms. Every platform is tested to meet the highest standards.
- Platform: 2.75G GSM-GPRS-EDGE : Triband 900/1800/1900MHz
- Screen AMOLED : 2.2″ QVGA 320×240 262k colours
- Photo / Video : 3.2 megapixel camera, Autofocus, flash, digital zoom
- Music : MP3, AAC, AAC+, Music Player. Stereo, 3D sound
- Video streaming, video capture and playback, progressive download
- Bluetooth 1.2 Profile : AADP, AVRCP, MMS, Java application, 2Go internal memory (SD card), Browser open source
- Battery: Li-Ion 770mAh, >3.5 hours talking time, 240 hours of power reserve in standby mode
- Multilingual interface, including: French, English, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Arabic
Comments?
So, cost aside, what do you think of the Celsius X VI II LeDIX?