Nokia’s general manager for the UK and Ireland, Conor Pierce, has branded the company’s first Windows Phone device “absolutely stunning.”

Pierce made his claims in an interview with British gadget site Pocket-lint this week. “To the partners we have shown the device to, their words, not necessarily mine – although I agree – upon showing it to them. It’s spontaneous and unprompted. They say ‘the first Nokia Windows Phone is absolutely stunning’ and that’s die hard gurus in this business, who have thick skin,” said Pierce to Pocket-lint.

Nokia is hard at work to bring its first Windows Phone device to market. Pierce reveals he has “seen what’s coming” and is confident that Nokia’s Windows Phone devices will be successful. “Nokia has made a decision to play hard on Windows Phone. That is our primary operating system. The scale and quality that we will bring to the WP7 ecosystem is unique. We aren’t dividing our time with other platforms. We will deliver a very superior smartphone, a very different experience,” says Pierce.

Despite the enthusiasm, Windows Phone device sales have been small so far. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer admitted that the company has “gone from very small to very small” in terms of Windows Phone sales. “We know we’ve got a lot to do but like the Cloud, like NT many years back, we’re all in when it comes to mobile devices. And whether it’s phones or slates OR PCs or console devices, we’re certainly pushing extremely far and extremely fast,” said Ballmer at the Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference earlier this year.

Pierce acknowledged the lack of Windows Phone sales in the interview with Pocket-lint. “We are very aware of the current state of Windows Phone in the market. We are trying to bring a whole new slant to that. We are confident that, by putting a strong focus into this, we will overcome that hurdle. It’s not about one device, it’s about creating the applications and the ecosystem that is important.”

Nokia is expected to unveil its first Windows Phone 7.5 device at Nokia World 2011 next month. The handset manufacturer is holding Nokia World 2011 in London on October 26 and a number of Microsoft executives will be in town to discuss Windows Phone on different levels. Joe Belfiore, who oversees Windows Phone Program Management, and is responsible for the design and software product definition of forthcoming generations of Windows Phones will be speaking on the first day of Nokia World. Albert Shum, Director of Mobile Experience Design at Microsoft and Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Bing and MSN chief will both also speak on October 26 in London.

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop will provide the opening keynote at 9AM on October 26 where he is expected to unveil the first Nokia Windows Phone device. Nokia’s first Windows Phone, codenamed “Sea Ray” was leaked to the internet recently after Elop demonstrated the device at a company meeting. The device is expected to be made available by Christmas. The design of the device appears to be identical to the recently announced Nokia N9. The device is “super confidential” at this stage and features gorilla glass, pillow shaped backing and a carl ziess 8MP camera. The secret nature of the device hasn’t stopped it leaking however. A new video emerged recently of ‘Sea Ray’ booting up into Windows Phone 7.5. The video demo provides a good hands on for the new device, expected to be named the Nokia 703.