Nokia will soon bring its 8800 Sapphire Arte phone to India, offering users evolved features packed in a luxury device that will surely attract everyone's look. Besides entry-level, affordable handsets, the continuously emerging Indian market also needs more fancy and expensive mobile phones, and Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte fits perfectly into this category.

The handset has a sapphire gem stone on its D-pad, a stainless steel cover, anti-fingerprint coating and accents of brown napa leather (a soft but durable sheepskin).

Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte is a slider phone that measures 109 x 45.6 x 14.6 millimeters (when closed), weighs 150 grams and features tri-band GSM (900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz) as well as UMTS 2100 connectivity. The handset packs a scratch-resistant display with a 240 x 320 pixels display and support for 16 million colors, 1 GB of built-in memory and a 3.15 Megapixel camera (with auto focus and video recording) that will allow you to take pictures at a pretty good quality.

Other features include an ambient light sensor that automatically adjusts the screen brightness, easy silent mode (just turn over the device, screen-side down), EDGE, Bluetooth, USB, Music player, living wallpapers, Internet and email capabilities and so on.

Speaking about the Sapphire Arte handset, Devinder Kishore, Marketing Director at Nokia India, said: "Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte sets the benchmark for quality and craftsmanship. The high-end materials and seamless surfaces celebrate the art of individuality - inspired by natural light with minimalistic design."

There is no info about the exact release date for Nokia 8800 Sapphire Arte in India, but the precious handset will be available for a retail price of 62,829 INR ($1,565). This is about 20 times more expensive than most of the mobile phones commercialized in India, but I'm sure many users will still buy the Sapphire Arte.