Rupert WatkinsElectronic Elegance
English Handset craftsmen Vertu - the Aston Martin of mobile phones - fuse technological prowess with artisan flair
Article by Rupert Watkins
Tucked away on a quiet industrial estate near Church Crookham in Hampshire lies a global firm dedicated to the highest standards of quality and craftsmanship. Vertu was founded in 1998 as a luxury mobile phone provider. Though these phones retail globally for an eye-opening £4,500 upwards, the skills and sheer dedication to detail demonstrates clearly the ability of UK firms to train and keep artisanal workforces able to compete for, and win, custom around the world.
Vertu offers a level of personalisation for what is now an indispensable item, at a level beyond any other manufacturer. As clients become ever more discriminating – China is beginning to leave mere “labels” behind as it embraces ‘stealth wealth’ – the desire to obtain the optimum level of performance and craftsmanship becomes ever more desirable. There is the inevitable problem of technical obsolescence, though Vertu solves this tricky issue by providing more memory and power in its phones than anyone else to allow for OS redundancy and upgrade.
Its factory is impressive – clean lined, minimalist and slightly clinical in its feel. It is the sole factory for the brand. Any Vertu phone bought anywhere in the world will have been hand-built here. Standing looking across the rather laboratory-like factory, that is the most arresting fact. In a world of robotic mass production – especially given the very nature of electrical goods – these mobiles are handmade individually by a single person. It takes a minimum of six months to train a new employee, much longer if they go on to work on the company’s premier offering. Despite this, Vertu has an excellent retention rate – many of the artisans (even in an electronics environment, this is the only term for them) Riddle chatted to have been with the firm for over a decade and a couple had been with it since the very beginning.
The attention paid to testing processes is incredibly high. Each phone will undergo 400 electronic functionality tests and six personal checks to ensure it is flawless. If a phone fails any of these, it is sent back to its original maker to be stripped back – and started again. Microscopic scratches are identified and dealt with. Watching a Vertu handset being constructed in front of you is remarkable. Despite knowing that logically the human eye, neuro-system and co-ordination should not be able to offer the 100 per cent degree of precision automated production would, these phones are put together with a level of accuracy and attention to detail that leaves robotic arms looking distinctly shoddy. At every point, the care and effort that has gone into each phase of construction is almost bewildering. Even the inside of the Signature’s battery cover is engine-turned – a process Vertu had to develop itself. Working with die cast aluminium, the firm were originally told the patterned finish was not possible.
As the mobile phone is such a heavily used (and abused) object - one that falls out of pockets on steps up to Learjets as well as pub staircases - I was interested to know how the phones were finished to prevent such workmanship being smeared, chipped and sweated on. Vertu do not make their own sapphire crystal screens, but have sourced from the finest providers available. This, allied with the application of a PVD (Particle Vapour Deposition) reactive coating means their phones have a far more resistant finish than is possible on mass produced equivalents. The firm works with a 150-year-old tannery in Austria to source the leathers and skins for the backing. Despite its well-known rugged qualities, English bridal leather is simply too thick to be utilised.
Sitting at the apex of Vertu’s range is the Signature. This is not actually a smartphone – but is the most watch-like of the firm’s phones and the most luxurious mobile available anywhere. Containing 314 separate parts, it is assembled by a dedicated team of the most experienced craftsmen. Small rubies are placed under each of the keys for longevity, so the button sounds and feels the same way every time it is pressed – even after 10-plus years of constant use.
The firm offers three levels of personalisation: monogram, made-to-measure and bespoke. At the made-to-measure and bespoke levels, Vertu aspires to do whatever the customer may desire. One special feature of the firm is that the name of each phone’s maker is lasered onto the back of the sprung SIM card cover (a unique Vertu innovation). This act allows the buyer to know who made it and feel they are intimately part of the craftsmanship process. Indeed, the firm often finds when phones are returned for occasional repairs that customers ask for the original maker to attend to the problem. Such is the desirability of these phones – allied to their unique markings – that when the inevitable replicas began appearing in the Far East, they were marketed as a “Wendy” after the maker of the Signature range phone that had unfortunately found its way into the counterfeiter’s hands.
Despite Vertu’s small size, such is its reputation and clout that it has an excellent relationship with Google and has developed partnerships with a small number of deluxe firms such as Bentley. The firm manages seven concierge hubs around the world, the UK’s being in London. When it launched in 1998, this service was unique, though clearly since then many more service companies have started. Despite this Jon Stanley, the firm’s head of PR, maintains that the personalised customer knowledge that Vertu can offer along with its experience in the concierge arena still allows it to be one of the market leaders.
In a global marketplace, Vertu is another example of the strength of the “Made in UK” idea. With sales across the Far East and Europe, this firm offers a product that allows a dedicated artisan team to show off an unusual and remarkable level of skill. 
