Press Release
The story starts with dark wood and titanium, chairs by Mies van der Rohe and deer's antlers. These are the fittings that decorate the boutique of watch manufacturer Girard-Perregaux in Gstaad in the Swiss Alps - and these were the source of inspiration for one of the most exciting projects that BMW Individual has ever experienced. Transferring the atmosphere of the room to a BMW 760Li - this was the vision of the President of Girard-Perregaux, Dr. Luigi Macaluso, and the challenge for the designers from the BMW subsidiary that specialises in meeting exclusive requirements.
With the unique vehicle based on a BMW 760Li, BMW Individual is continuing its own success story in a most spectacular way: with an automobile in which the development of a common product has been brilliantly implemented - two brands that have both positioned themselves successfully in the premium segment in the international market. Both combine similar objectives: meeting the toughest demands in terms of precision, quality and aesthetics, realised with complete expertise. BMW Individual and Girard-Perregaux are appealing to the same target group: people who value exclusivity and emotion.
The unifying philosophy: precision and quality.
The beginning of this unusual cooperation was a commission which the President of Girard-Perregaux, Dr. Luigi Macaluso, entrusted to BMW Individual: to design a car which suitably reflected the philosophy of his luxury products. The model for the vehicle was the design of the boutique in Gstaad opened in 2005 - a geometrical space which in its stylistic consistency represents a minimalist, elegant jewellery case, whilst reflecting its roots in the genius loci of the Bernese Oberland in the materials and colours used: wood, leather and horn.
But how can the interior of a boutique full of wenge wood, green leather, titanium and antlers be translated into an automobile? By defining the exterior colour first of all. "I go from the outside to the inside" is how Christine Angermann, from the BMW Individual design team, describes her approach. Inspired by the materials and after intense discussions with former racing driver Luigi Macaluso, she decided on the colour "Silverstone II", a paint colour with a fascinating iridescence: "Very light green flashes shimmer through." They perfectly match the seating inside. The upholstery is in green leather, based on the Mies van der Rohe chairs in the boutique. This colour is a special colouring and was first created by BMW Individual.
BMW Individual produces something new: wenge wood, the colour green and horn. One of the particular challenges was the use of wenge wood for the interior trimmings. Wenge (milletia laurentii) is a tropical wood which is found mainly in the African states of Cameroon, Zaire, Mozambique and Congo. Because of its lively grain pattern and its warm colour, which changes from light brown to coffee black, wenge is very popular in the world of high-quality design and for inlays. It is very weather-resistant and extremely hard, but can have a tendency to split. "Shaping this hard wood with veneers for the interior was something absolutely new for us", says designer Christine Angermann. The wenge inlays in the steering wheel - a typical BMW Individual hallmark - is therefore a manufacturing achievement of the highest quality. A protective varnish of clear shellac shows off the open-pored structure of the wood very effectively.
To match the sense of technical flair generated in the boutique in Gstaad through the use of titanium inlays, aluminium is used in the automobile, since it can be worked more in line with its function. A glass bead polishing finish gives the brushed aluminium a discreet matt sheen which harmonises with the other colours without dominating them.
Reduction to the simple beauty of the materials.
"The concept of the car is based on the boutique in Gstaad, but also on the personality of the client. Luigi Macaluso is a sporting character", says the designer. "The overall impression in the interior needed to be simple and functional, reduced to the pure beauty of the materials." The focus was on precise craftsmanship: "This requirement unites us with the products of Girard-Perregaux; it's not about fashions - it's about quality workmanship at the highest level. Both brands value technical innovation and first-class quality."
And it was about understatement too. The President of one of the oldest and last watch factories in Switzerland did not want a watch shop on wheels, but rather wished to convey the ideal, formal quintessence of boutique architecture. "The concept became more and more puristic", the BMW Individual designer said in explaining the design process, "and so the watches are displayed very discreetly". In the centre console in the back, in addition to a display table, a "treasure box" has been installed. This is a removable wooden box, lined in velvet. This casket is concealed under a roller made from wenge wood, which can be gently pushed upwards using an elegant horn handle. The ceiling grips are also made from horn, in a discreet reference to the antlers which lend a touch of humour to the radical cuboid shape in Gstaad.
The imagination of a room and discreet luxury.
VIP customers of Girard-Perregaux who are driven around in the BMW Individual 760Li can also see the rest of the collection as a film presentation, thanks to the 9.5" screens which have been integrated into the backs of the front seats. In the interior, the references to this haute voiture are as discreet as the man who commissioned it: embossed initials on the leather upholstery in the rear, the tourbillion, which is the trade mark and masterpiece of the Girard-Perregaux collection, engraved in the iDrive, the company logo in the roller devices of the door panels and on the decorative rear strip.
The sophisticated aesthete and trained architect Luigi Macaluso feels that the execution has been a success: "The design project created by BMW Individual and Girard-Perregaux shows the similarity of character and the strengths of two brands, which have close links with research and technology and which strive for exclusivity and perfection." The President of the watch-making company thinks that automobiles and watches play a particular role in life: "Technology and function still leave sufficient space for sensuality. The common denominator is the feeling for beauty."
Luigi Macaluso sees his new BMW Individual 760Li as a "Concept". This automobile will also embody the style of Girard-Perregaux throughout the world - "a style that connoisseurs recognise immediately and that is never about exhibitionism but about being natural, authentic, for cultured people who have and appreciate an extreme attention to details".
"Both, automobiles and watches, are instruments, machines, yet the common denominator is emotion", he continues. "Brands have characters, but cars and watches have souls."
