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Last Words
Pricey phone goes astray at club
By Pamela J. Johnson, Orlando Sentinel
13/12/2002
Christian Rado was sitting with friends in a roped-off VIP section of Tabu nightclub in downtown Orlando drinking Belvedere vodka when he noticed his cellular phone was missing.
This is no ordinary cell phone. It's made out of 150 grams of platinum, and the faceplate is solid sapphire crystal. The keypads are made of rubies.
Rado, a 27-year-old professional drag-racer from Reading, Pa., beat out superstars such as Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow to become the first person in the world to own the $20,000 phone. The only Florida owner is Judge Judy of television fame who lives in Naples.
"It's gorgeous," Rado said Thursday night from his Reading home. "It had a purple glow to it. It's the most beautiful thing you ever saw."
Rado was in town Sunday to promote a souped-up 2003 Toyota Celica sports car at the Central Florida International Auto Show. Another race-car driver invited him to Tabu for a few drinks. They arrived shortly after 11 p.m.
Sitting at the table, Rado took the thin, sleek phone out of its black leather case to call a friend in California. He placed it on the round table, crowded with bottles of vodka and grapefruit juice and cans of energy drinks.
Shortly before 2 a.m., Rado noticed the phone was missing. He borrowed a cell phone and frantically called his number, hoping to hear his phone's distinctive loud ring. But all he got was his voice mail.
"Somebody had to have spotted the phone while I was talking on it," he said. "I was totally flabbergasted."
Rado said he ordered the phone from a store on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, Calif., in April. It was shipped to him about a week before he lost it. The extravagant purchase was consistent with his over-the-top personality, said Rado, who considers himself somewhat of an entertainer.
Plus, it matched perfectly his high tech, white gold $6,500 Rado watch. The name is just a coincidence.
"I'm a crazy kind of cat," he said. "I always do funky stuff. I like cool fashion, cool exotic jewelry, high-tech exotic watches, stuff like that."
Orlandopolice Detective Todd Pursley said the phone is useless to anyone other than the owner. Once the battery dies, the person in possession of the phone would have to call the manufacturer, Vertu, to receive a charger. No other charger would work.
As of Thursday night, no one had made a call from the phone, Pursley said.
Rado's last name is inscribed on the back with the model number 420/1000. It is complicated to work, Pursley said.
"Whoever has it wouldn't be able to figure out how to turn it off," he said.
"That's a lot of phone. Most people don't have the money for something like that. I know I don't."
Tabu co-owner George Maltezos said the club isn't responsible for lost items.
"People lose stuff there all the time," he said.
Rado is offering a $3,000 reward to anyone who returns his phone to him undamaged.
"No questions asked," Rado said. "Just say, 'OK, I screwed up. Here's your phone back.' "
Original article appeared at Orlando Sentinel
Links:
Vertu
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