J Craft partners with dunhill

Sometimes the stars align.

Last September, J Craft was invited to exhibit at the Via Arno initiative at Homo Faber, the pre-eminent show dedicated to craftsmanship, which takes place biennially in Venice. On the island of San Giorgio Maggiore, hosted in the Fondazione Giorgio Cini, the exhibition showcases the work of artisans from around the world, showing all manner of diverse disciplines in a joyful celebration of human creativity, excellence and the handmade.

Curated by the Michelangelo Foundation, the 2024 edition was Homo Faber’s third, this iteration being art directed by Italian film director and producer Luca Guadagnino, whose work includes A Bigger Splash, Call Me by Your Name and Challengers.

Unlike most of what is displayed at Homo Faber, J Craft makes functional machines, but the aesthetic beauty of these, and the fact that each vessel takes at least 8,000 hours of human endeavour to produce by hand, meant that the Swedish boatbuilder was singled out to be the only maritime exhibitor at the fair. Johan Hallén, J Craft’s master builder from Gotland, chose stylishly navigating the canals of Venice as a way of demonstrating the marriage of traditional handmade craftsmanship and high-tech capability that characterises the boats that he makes.

On one such trip, Hallén found himself captaining for Johann Rupert and his daughter, the businesswoman and luxury entrepreneur Hanneli Rupert. Rupert senior is chairman of the Richemont Group of luxury brands and established the Homo Faber project as a way to promote the culture of artisan craftsmanship. One of the brands that falls under the Richemont umbrella is Dunhill, which was also exhibiting some special products on San Giorgio Maggiore.

In a perfect example of how a fair like this should work, the serendipitous meeting led to a conversation between Dunhill and J Craft in which the parallels between the two companies soon became apparent. Dunhill is unusual for a modern-day luxury goods firm in that its history lies in what is essentially engineering. Alfred Dunhill founded his business in London in 1893, taking over his father’s business making bridlery for horses in an era when horse-drawn transport had been the norm.

However, Dunhill junior saw the coming of the age of the motor car and started to create accessories for the early motorists – things he called “motorities”. The firm’s motto was “everything but the motor”, which meant it provided, literally, the parts you needed to complete your machine, as back then the purchase of a car meant you bought the foundations and then customised it. Dunhill made headlights and horns and bonnet mascots and upholstery and all manner of kit as well as, over time, automotive clothing: car coats, gloves and the like. This ultimately led to clothing and accessories of a different sort, and by the 1960s, the Dunhill man could buy a tuxedo, as indeed did both Frank Sinatra and Truman Capote. Capote even wore a Dunhill tuxedo to his famous 1966 Black and White Ball.

Fast forward to today and in Simon Holloway, Dunhill’s British creative director, the firm has its own captain. Though certainly an expert in the world of fashion design – he served his early years at Ralph Lauren – Holloway is something of an engineer in his own right. ‘I am passionate about details and things like fabric development,’ he explains. ‘For example, working with mills to achieve tweed of just the right weight, or blending materials to create interesting optical effects and the perfect drape.’

He’s also reintroduced a whole series of what he calls “hard luxury goods” such as pens, cufflinks, lighters, board games and canes, including one walking stick that secretes a lighter in its metal handle. There was always something of the quirky inventor about Alfred Dunhill –take the firm’s Bobby Finders of 1903, driving goggles that functioned as binoculars with which you could spot a policeman (a “bobby” in British slang) in the distance to avoid getting a speeding ticket.

‘Dunhill was forged from a workshop, just like J Craft is,’ says Holloway. ‘When I look at these boats, I see the skill that has gone into the carpentry and upholstery, and the finish on the rose polished-steel dashboard, and the sheer quality of the materials throughout. We share a passion for artisanal expertise.’

On display at Homo Faber were a number of handcrafted Dunhill pieces that told of the house’s tradition of making bespoke one-offs, just as J Craft makes individual boats where none are the same. Dunhill Aquarium Lighters, referencing the archival pieces handmade by British master craftsman Ben Shillingford between 1949 and 1959, showed off the art of intaglio, each hand-engraved and hand-painted – and unique.
 
But pride of place was arguably occupied by the Alfred Dunhill Automotive Cocktail Case, a piece of supremely luxurious and shamelessly hedonistic design. Again, referencing the house archive in which numerous cocktail cases can be found, this paean to mixology is handmade in traditional bridle leather, housing a collection of bar tools and cocktail accessories. Included are crystal martini glasses, sterling silver drinks flasks and, the centrepiece, a handcrafted, silver-plated cocktail shaker. The cocktail sticks are adorned with silver Dunhill “Tweenies” – miniature versions of a devil mascot that Alfred Dunhill mounted on the bonnet of his car, thumbing its nose at the policemen who had given him speeding tickets.

The cabinet delighted J Craft’s owner Radenko Milakovic, and he and Holloway hatched a plan. Why not offer a bespoke cocktail case to J Craft owners, which could be slotted into the boat’s interior for drinks on the water and then removed and taken home for on-land enjoyment?

‘What an amazing piece to have on your boat,’ says Milakovic. ‘A portable bar to accompany you on your voyages. And it is so exquisitely elegant, it fits perfectly with the la dolce vita aesthetic of a J Craft.’

This initiative will be premiered at the Palm Beach International Boat Show, with an Alfred Dunhill Cocktail Case on show at the J Craft stand. Owners will be able to order this in a specification to match their boat, as well as customise its contents and colour. There are also plans to expand the offering to other specially made J Craft and Dunhill pieces in future. dunhill.com