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The 68-meter Lürssen Kismet leaves little to fate.
by Justin Ratcliffe
photography by Klaus Jordan
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11/01/2007
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| Lürssen 68 |  |
The geometric focal point of the yacht is the main-deck lobby
with its black granite floors, mirrored ceiling and cylindrical glass elevator
that serves all deck levels. The spiral stairwell is lined with an immense
bas-relief wall panel depicting an obelisk and traditional Persian motifs.
Handcarved from wood, the panel was then cast in resin and sprayed bronze. Two handcrafted alabaster urns double as lights and give off soft illumination for a
subdued, hotel-like atmosphere.
The full-beam master suite and its onyx-trimmed
bath. (Click images to enlarge)
Forward of the lobby is the full-beam master stateroom—a
138-square-meter luxury apartment with library, owner’s office and private
balconies to port and starboard. The full-height, lozenge-shaped windows provide
ample light and superb sea views, while the walk-in wardrobe also features a
large window for color matching garments in natural light and a separate closet
for the owner’s use when the yacht is being chartered. But the highlight of the
suite is the breathtaking forward head. Lined with what seems like acres of
honey onyx, the room provides his-and-hers facilities with a central oval spa
bath backed by a glass screen depicting peacock feathers that was handcrafted by
London-based Glasszoo, who also supplied a similar panel with leaf designs
in the main salon and a glass skylight sculpture in the upper-deck lounge.
Abaft the lobby is a cinema lounge with drop-down projector
screen and electrically operated sofas that can be re-positioned on tracks. The
main salon is lined with linen panels delicately embroidered with seed pearls
and glass beads. It sports a Steinway grand piano and granite-topped semicircular bar with limousine window onto the bar extension on the aft deck.
Exterior examples of Lürssen’s unrelenting
attention to detail are the overhead air-conditioning ducts that bathe the
guests seated on the barstools with cool air and the teak grating at the
entrance to the two doors on either side of the bar that cleverly disguise the
floodlight sill required by MCA and Lloyd’s. There is also a deck hatch to the
garage below with its own boom crane in the deckhead for stowing a motorbike—a
solution that also appeared on Apoise (ex-Marlin) launched by
Lürssen last year.
Top: An ornate drape tassel. Photograph by Justin Ratcliffe. Bottom: The formal dining room. (Click images to enlarge)
Guest accommodations consist of a VIP cabin on the upper deck
and four double cabins on the lower deck. The latter are identical in layout
(the beds can be separated to form twin singles) but contain varying soft
furnishings based on gold, bronze and copper tones and individual marble
countertops in the heads. Common to all the bathrooms are the Baccarat crystal
and Sardinelli fixtures and fittings and magnificent glass washbasins with gold
leaf scrolling that flames bright yellow when illuminated from below. They each
also feature two TV screens, one set into the marble wall above the vanity and
the other above the Jacuzzi tub. Even the dayheads are exquisitely appointed
with similar crystal basins and rich burl mahogany cabinetry.
In the formal dining room on the bridge deck, the immense wengé
and mahogany table can comfortably seat 18 guests and doubles as a conference
table with power and VGA sockets incorporated into the woodwork (the owner uses
the yacht for corporate entertainment in addition to private cruising and
limited chartering). On the forward bulkhead are two églomisé (gilded) paintings
on etched glass depicting details of the Statue of Liberty and the Chrysler
building in New York, powerful symbols of the owner’s American citizenship and
business interests in the automobile industry. A playful detail is the
mini-Chrysler building represented in the custom-made drape tassels by the
United Kingdom’s Spina Design.
Top: The informal "beach house" lounge on the upper
deck. Note the coffee-table tops made from tobacco leaves. Bottom: The sun deck is a supremely comfy outdoor
relaxation space with loungers and a hammock. (Click images to enlarge)
Abaft the dining room is a dedicated disco with an oiled teak
dance floor, overhead LED, strobe lighting and an onyx bar countertop. The soft
furnishings are, as elsewhere in the yacht, by the American designer J. Robert
Scott. They were chosen as such because Pascale Reymond believes Americans truly
understand the concept of lounging and make the most comfortable sofas. The
upper-deck décor is decidedly more informal and has a well-equipped gym, a
steam room and a beach house-style lounge with wraparound sofas, a bar unit
and circular coffee tables with découpage tops made from Brazilian tobacco
leaves.
Top: The lounge has a central skylight with a glass
sculpture by Glasszoo. Photograph by Justin Ratcliffe. Bottom: It opens onto the spacious aft deck. (Click images to enlarge)
Naturally, there is no lack of exterior social areas,
culminating in the Jacuzzi deck, which sports a barbecue unit on a lift system
that can be lowered when not in use so as not to rise above the bulwarks, and
the so-called "star bed," an open-air bed complete with reading lights where the
owner likes to sleep on balmy nights. For added privacy, there is a blue
do-not-disturb light at the bottom of the stair access (a feature repeated
outside the guest cabins).
A final detail that the owner was especially insistent about is the color of
the hull. With his interests in the auto parts industry, he identified BMW Michigan Blue as his shade of choice. The original Awlgrip paint match wasn’t
quite right, so he used his own machinery to analyze the color and come up with
a sample that Awlgrip could then use to produce a non-metallic version of the
automobile color. It actually looks more gray than blue, but at least the owner
is safe in the knowledge that there is no other yacht quite like
it.
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