Boat International – September 2019

PHOTOGRAPHY: ALAMY STOCK PHOTO; REX FEATURES; SHUTTERSTOCK

singlesliverisdifferent.“It’slikeabigpuzzle,”says

Čeferin,“andsometimesyouwon’tevenseeany

markstillyou’reatthepolishingphase.”Oncethe

slabshavebeenthoroughlyinspectedbythe

project’sleaddesigner–oftenoverseenbythe

owner’spersonalrepresentative–thenthehard

workbegins.

“We’remorelikejewellersthanstonemasons,”

explainsTomaž,andit’seasytoseewhathe’s

gettingat.Eachstudiohasanintenselyfocused

Santa’sworkshopfeelaboutit,withartisans

carryingoutpainstakinglydetailedandprecise

operations.Tinycolouredflecks,almostinvisible

tothenakedeye,forexample,arepickedoutof

ivoryonyxwithtinyscalpels,sothatthematerial

appearscompletelyflawless.Anyindentationsare

thenfilledwiththesamestone,usingarangeof

techniquesthathavebeendevelopedoverthe

years,sothatit’stheexactsameshadeasthe

originalmaterial.Minusculepiecesofstoneare

insertedintomosaicswithtweezers,fileddownto

slotintoeachspacewithpreciselynoroomfor

manoeuvre,afterthestonehasbeencutby

machine.AndaUVlightshoneintostonepicks

upeventhetiniesthairlinecrack,beforefurther

workoneachpiececontinues.

Infact,thecacophonyofwhirring,spurting,

smokingmachinesismisleading–everything,

literallyeverything,isfinishedoffherebyhand.

Machinesaregreattime-savers,andtheycanbe

incrediblyprecise–theycancutwithamarginof

0.03millimetres.Nevertheless,“ifyouwant

absoluteperfection–theexpressionontheface

ofasculpture,say,youjusthavetofinishitby

hand,”saysČeferin.

It’spainstakingwork.Onaverage,ittakes 100

humanhourstoperfecteachsquaremetreof

material.And,afterallthat,piecescan–anddo–

shatteroninstallation.Then,it’sbacktosquare

one,totrytosourceapiecethat matches

everythingelsethat’sbeensuppliedforthejob–

nomeanfeat.

Thereareotherchallengestoo.Eachpieceis

backedontohoneycomb-like materialto

reinforceit.Designerswantlargerandlarger

pieces,forbiggerandbiggerboats,andthestudio

isconstantlycomingupwithwaystomakethe

physicallyimpossible,possible.Similarly,artisans

arecontinuallyinnovatingonthejob,asnotwo

stonesrespondalike.“Sometimeswehaveto

createcompletelynewtoolsonthejoband

sometimeswehavetoimprovise,”saysTomaž.

“We’relearningallthetime.”

Sowhatadviceforthosewhoareplanningtheir

nextboat?Thinkaboutthemaintenanceofthe

material,theyadvise.Certainstoneswon’tholdup

welltonumerousredwinespills–and,let’sfaceit,

onsuperyachtsthat’snottoorareanoccurrence.

Likewise,crewoftenaren’tuptospeedonwhich

cleaning products touseon what. Harsh

Rockstars

ITALY

Carrara(right),Calacatta,

Arabescato(aboveleft),

Bardiglio(right),Statuario

SPAIN

CremaMarfil,Emperador

light,Emperadordark(below),

NeroMarquina

AFGHANISTAN

Greenonyx(left),

Whiteonyx

BRAZIL

Quartz(right)and

semi-preciousmaterial

“It’s all about

thepatternof

one particular

piece,how much

thereis ofittogo

around and how

badlysomeone

wants it– just

like antiques”

Above:anEgyptianmale

figureofAntinous,carvedin

bardigliomarblecirca 1900

174

09 2019 boatinternational.com