While most phone firms hope to up their 2010 revenues by selling more smartphones, Nokia has instead slashed its smartphone production forecast and turned its attention to Vertu-esque phones made of precious metals.

Nokia's 6700: a golden classic?

The Finnish phone firm has given its 6700 Classic a dusting of 18-carat gold, transforming the formerly average phone into the 6700 Gold Edition.

While still cheaper than Vertu's Ayxta - Nokia's 6700 Gold Edition costs €370 (£334/$545), Register Hardware is left wondering why Nokia's focused on dressing up an old model in a new body, instead of designing smartphones, which are gaining increasing ground in terms of global sales.

Smartphone sales rose by 12.8 per cent to 41m units globally during Q3, compared with the same season in 2008, according to recent Gartner figures.

The phone comes with a memory card and carry case

But Nokia said last week that it will halve its smartphone portfolio in 2010 to reduce "unnecessary differentiation" and maximize the effort behind a few key models.

Nonetheless, if your head has turned at the sight of a golden Symbian handset then we should let you know that while the 6700's technical innards remain unchanged from the original model, the Gold Edition comes with custom wallpapers, a carry case and capacious "monster" memory card.

Nokia's 6700 Classic Gold Edition will be available during the first quarter of next year. A UK launch hasn't been specified. ®