Istanbul-based Turquoise Yachts initially conceived the 174-foot (53-meter) Jewels as Project Tala for a client who wanted as much volume as possible within the length overall. Twenty months into the custom build, with only 18 months left on the schedule, another prospective client came on the scene. He wanted a yacht that could accommodate his large family.
As it turns out, the first client was already thinking about an even bigger build, so a deal was done as a win-win for all parties. After that, the work began on determining how best to reconfigure the sizable spaces.
“For a 53-meter, the yacht seems to offer as much space as a 90-meter yacht,” says Patrik von Sydow, CEO of Turquoise Yachts. “She is very large, a whopping 713 gross tons.”
Exteriors, for the most part, were already set. Luiz de Basto, principal of De Basto Designs, says his challenge from the start was to make the voluminous yacht’s profile look pretty on the water. “I tried to avoid stacking decks by breaking the horizontal lines,” de Basto says. “I kept a very clear sightline that runs from the swim platform to the to the base of the hardtop.”
The tiered effect in profile, and the geometric shapes, make the yacht look as if it’s propelling ahead. At night, linear lights further define the sharp, clean, modern profile.
Inside, though, the new owner wanted a demanding set of alterations. Turquoise Yachts—with two yards, in-house engineers, designers and craftspeople—had the ability to achieve the owner’s goals, but he still wanted the yacht delivered in 18 months. And he didn’t just want décor changes; he wanted a new accommodations plan, too.
Many of his requests came from his experience owning yachts and chartering, none of which were ever big enough for his family of six daughters and a couple of grandchildren. “We would end up needing to charter two yachts in tandem,” the owner says. Thus, a top priority was to add guest staterooms.
The owner also wanted the initial interior design and décor revamped completely to suit his taste. The team at Turquoise recommended using H2 Yacht Design, with which the yard had collaborated on numerous builds.
“I spoke to designer Jonny Horsfield from H2 Yacht Design on the phone, and after one conversation, he got it,” the owner says. “He understood what I wanted. He was able to convert a six-, seven-cabin layout into an eight-, nine-cabin layout without sacrificing any communal space in the main-deck salon or bridge-deck lounge.”
The biggest compromise was forfeiting the beach club to pull off an additional guest stateroom on the lower deck. To achieve five staterooms on that level, the sauna and spa were converted into an ensuite bathroom. The daughters’ staterooms are themed in colors such as green, purple and red, with gold textiles, and teak and walnut burl veneers. Each bathroom has bold-colored marble, along with gold details and appointments.
“One particularly good thing regarding the lower-deck changes was that I had always planned for an interior staircase from the beach club to the salon, so that made the whole concept of the new stateroom flow with the rest of the interior,” de Basto says.
The main deck has a traditional salon and dining room, as well as a full-beam owner’s suite and a neighboring VIP stateroom. Stained mahogany window framing and door architraves, combined with bulkhead panels of flame mahogany and burl sycamore, are all finished in high-gloss lacquer and then accented with gold inlays and honey onyx. Gold-rope detailing embellishes the built-in furniture. Amazonite marble panels sit on a backdrop of giallo siena stone, with mahogany joinery and more gold detailing in the master bathroom.
On the bridge deck, two staterooms were added between the bridge and the upper salon. In total, the yacht can accommodate 18 guests. “H2 made the changes appear seamless,” the owner says.
The owner also insisted on large, communal spaces for the family to gather in the main salon and upper lounge. Gold giallo siena marble soles visually link the common areas of the main deck. The formal dining table, flanked by built-in cupboards and windows, seats 12. The upper lounge has several seating areas with coffee tables that convert to dining height, seating as many as 18 people.
Here, the previous owner’s idea for a white, contemporary interior décor design became an opulent classical French interior with dark wood paneling. The new owner visited the yard frequently and was hands-on in the design process, including sourcing materials himself in Istanbul. His experience in the high-end jewelry business, he says, helped him understand “what looks beautiful and what works.”
Among the rich colors and materials, 16 shades of gold are incorporated into the fabric of the interior décor. “The interior design brief of Jewels favored a traditional yacht aesthetic combining classic mahogany and walnut joinery with gold inlays, bevel-edged mirrors, colorful textiles and highly decorative stones,” says James Bermudez, designer with H2 Yacht Design.
The owner is pleased with the results: “Jewels has already become another home for us. She is strictly intended for our private use for family and friends, so she simply has to appeal to the way we like to live.”
In the end, Turquoise delivered Jewels in 18 months. The owner and his family immediately spent three months aboard, and the yacht made her public debut at the Monaco Yacht Show last September as the newest gem in the yard’s worldwide fleet.
For more information: turquoiseyachts.com
TURQUOISE YACHTS’ JEWELS
LOA 173ft. 10in. (53m)Beam 30ft. 6in. (9.3m)Draft 10ft. 8in. (3.25m)Construction Steel/aluminumSpeed (max./cruise) 15.5/12 knotsGross tonnage About 713Naval architecture Turquoise YachtsExterior design De Basto DesignsInterior design H2 Yacht DesignBuilder Turquoise Yachts
This article was originally published in the Spring 2024 issue.
