By LAWRENCE TAN

After sheathing its Nokia 8800 Arte series in carbon fiber, the Finnish mobile phone giant has announced its latest iteration – the Gold Arte.

Dipped in 18-carat gold and clad in premium quality white leather, the Nokia 8800 Gold Arte touts the same specifications as its carbon fiber cousin, that is, 3G, a 4GB built-in memory, an OLED display, and a 3.2 megapixel camera.

It also features the range’s hallmark tap-for-time and turn-to-mute features. Expect the Nokia 8800 Gold Arte in Asia-Pacific from the second quarter of 2009.