Sep
25
Naples Daily News
More from Bonita Springs
See-worthy: The art of yachting
North Naples couple creates international buzz with mega yacht housing what they say is the world’s first traveling fine art fair. The Grand Luxe debuts Tuesday in Greenwich, Conn.
By Laura Layden 
Monday, September 24, 2007
In early August as crews swarmed around him to put the finishing touches on a mega yacht that has created an international buzz, David Lester showed it off like a rare jewel.
At every turn, the ship dripped opulence, from the gourmet restaurants to the marble bathrooms that looked like they belonged in a five-star luxury hotel like the Ritz-Carlton. Even in the dust, it sparkled.
“So what do you think?” Lester asked repeatedly while giving a tour of the five-level, 228-foot long luxury ship as it sat at the Merrill-Stevens boatyard in Miami.
He sought praise, though he’s had a heap of it since announcing plans to launch his vessel, the Grand Luxe. It will host what he describes as the world’s first traveling fine art fair. He and his wife, Lee Ann, North Naples residents, dreamed up the idea. They call it SeaFair.
“This is really the biggest art project done in the last 20 years,” Lester said.
The Lesters, who have a long history as art dealers, plan to create other themed ships through their company Expoships LLLP, based in Bonita Springs. Among the themes they’re looking at are fashion, real estate, pharmaceuticals and Italian design.
“We just started the preliminary plans on those,” Lester said.
Their first ship debuts in Greenwich, Conn., on Sept. 25. It will dock behind the Delamar Greenwich Harbor Hotel for six days before voyaging to Oyster Bay and the Hamptons in New York.
Annually, the lavish ship will travel to more than 30 affluent coastal communities along the Eastern Seaboard, including Palm Beach, Savannah and Martha’s Vineyard.
Every few weeks, the art will rotate, catering to different tastes and markets.
At each port, the ship remains dockside.
Not just anyone can climb aboard. It’s by invitation only.
After making 11 stops, the floating art fair will come to the Marco Island Yacht Club Jan. 23-27.
“We are working to do dockage in Naples as well. I’m working actively with the mayor,” said Lester, adding that the yacht’s large size makes it tricky.
The Grand Luxe took a year to design and two years to build. It includes a five-star restaurant, a champagne and caviar bar, and an international coffee bar. There are three elevators and three floors of galleries with room for 26 dealers. There’s a sun deck on top, and a galley below with a well-equipped gourmet kitchen for celebrity chefs to cook up their culinary creations.
The inaugural chef is Walter Scheib, who while working as an executive chef at the White House for former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, cooked for such high-profile leaders as Nelson Mandela, Boris Yeltsin and Vicente Fox.
On the lower deck, the ship includes its own sewage treatment plant and its four generators produce enough electricity “to run a whole city,” Lester said.
The yacht sat at the Miami boatyard for several months as the insides were perfected.
As he walked the ship a few weeks before it was completed, Lester looked like a proud father. “Good job guys” was his refrain. At the time, 80 men were on-board, busily working to meet the looming deadline. The elaborate wood flooring was covered to keep it protected. Hand-written signs were posted on the finished walls, urging workers not to touch them.
“We’re just working away, hoping the clock slows down,” said a harried carpenter, as he and half a dozen others worked to finish one of five restaurants on board.
In the U.S., the yacht has been featured in dozens of magazines and newspapers, from Florida to Maine and New York. International media have picked up the story too, including The London Daily Dispatch and Financial Times.
The Grand Luxe is the fourth largest private yacht in America. It’s about a $60 million investment, including operating costs.
Phil Anson Sr., one of the investors in the project, doesn’t question whether the venture will succeed.
“David Lester is an absolute visionary,” he said. “Everything he touches turns to gold,” he said.
The roster for the first leg of the ship’s 44-week tour includes dealers from London, New York and Florida. Among them are A.B. Levy in Palm Beach.; Alexander Gallery in New York; Cohen & Cohen in London and the U.K.; David Morris, London, New York and Palm Beach; Iliad Antik in New York and Prague, and Martin du Louvre, Paris, France.
Prices for the art and jewels will vary greatly.
“In the art world, we don’t really talk about prices, as much as what it is,” said Lee Ann Lester.
In an interview with other media, David Lester once described SeaFair as a place to buy “Monets, Renoirs and 20-karat diamonds.”
Several art galleries and jewelers expect to become exhibitors after the ship reaches the west coast of Florida in January, including Yamron Jewelers and Harmon-Meek Gallery.
Besides docking in Marco, the ship will make stops in St. Petersburg, Tampa and Sarasota in January.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea. Our vision is to bring something very magical into these four marketplaces, three of which we don’t have a presence in,” said Bruce Yamron, president and CEO of Yamron Jewelers, a 35-year-old family owned business with two stores in the Naples area.
He expects to reach many new affluent customers with the exhibit, which he said would include rare and special pieces not found in his stores.
“Yamron Jewelers for years has been the leader in marketing and doing things leading-edge,” he said. “We’ve gone to Monte Carlo to do an exhibition. We have considered going to Russia. So we are always searching for the luxury consumer to show them what Yamron is all about.”
William Meek, owner-director of Harmon-Meek Gallery in Naples, hasn’t signed a contract just yet. But he likes the idea. He has known David Lester for many years.
He said the ship appears to be a “top-notch operation,” though he has yet to see it with his own eyes.
“He’s held back nothing. It looks extremely impressive. I think it’s going to be a huge success for him.”
He said it’s pretty amazing that the ship’s creators are Collier County residents.
Meek is waiting to see how successful the yacht is before signing a contract. He has included on a list of exhibitor applicants on the company’s Web site.
The Lesters will make their money from the booth fees they charge the dealers.
The cost of exhibiting on the ship can be more economical than traveling to an art fair, said Lee Ann Lester. For a weeklong fair, dealers could easily spend $50,000 to $100,000, while on the Grand Luxe they pay an average of $10,000 to $20,000 a week for a booth, she said.
“We give them four shows in four different markets,” Lester said.
The yacht has its own hospitality crew. They will live on a smaller refurbished deck boat that will move from port to port with the mother ship.
The yacht has five captains who will live on board, along with the rest of the marine crew.
The Lesters have organized more than three dozen international fine art events around the world. He’s an attorney and she’s a psychologist, but their shared passion for collecting art drove them to become dealers.
After selling the Palm Beach International Fine Art and Antique Fair and a string of others for $18 million in 2001, the Lesters retired and planned to spend more time on their own yacht.
They lived aboard their yacht for 1 1/2 years. It was then that they found the inspiration for their floating art fair.
“We saw a lot of the clients that used to be our clients before,” David Lester said.
That made them miss the business and they started to think about how difficult it had become to travel because of increased security in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Their idea is to bring art to the doorstep of the millionaires.
If history repeats itself, the Lesters could once again find themselves on top in the art world.
“There has been a tremendous response,” Lester said.
The couple has their share of critics and skeptics, who wonder whether the idea will really take off.
There is still exhibit space to sell for other tours. But Lester doesn’t seem too worried.
“We are signing people up every day,” he said. “People have to be able to see the ship to really understand the concept.”
The Lesters believe their idea will float.
At every turn, the ship dripped opulence, from the gourmet restaurants to the marble bathrooms that looked like they belonged in a five-star luxury hotel like the Ritz-Carlton. Even in the dust, it sparkled.
“So what do you think?” Lester asked repeatedly while giving a tour of the five-level, 228-foot long luxury ship as it sat at the Merrill-Stevens boatyard in Miami.
He sought praise, though he’s had a heap of it since announcing plans to launch his vessel, the Grand Luxe. It will host what he describes as the world’s first traveling fine art fair. He and his wife, Lee Ann, North Naples residents, dreamed up the idea. They call it SeaFair.
“This is really the biggest art project done in the last 20 years,” Lester said.
The Lesters, who have a long history as art dealers, plan to create other themed ships through their company Expoships LLLP, based in Bonita Springs. Among the themes they’re looking at are fashion, real estate, pharmaceuticals and Italian design.
“We just started the preliminary plans on those,” Lester said.
Their first ship debuts in Greenwich, Conn., on Sept. 25. It will dock behind the Delamar Greenwich Harbor Hotel for six days before voyaging to Oyster Bay and the Hamptons in New York.
Annually, the lavish ship will travel to more than 30 affluent coastal communities along the Eastern Seaboard, including Palm Beach, Savannah and Martha’s Vineyard.
Every few weeks, the art will rotate, catering to different tastes and markets.
At each port, the ship remains dockside.
Not just anyone can climb aboard. It’s by invitation only.
After making 11 stops, the floating art fair will come to the Marco Island Yacht Club Jan. 23-27.
“We are working to do dockage in Naples as well. I’m working actively with the mayor,” said Lester, adding that the yacht’s large size makes it tricky.
The Grand Luxe took a year to design and two years to build. It includes a five-star restaurant, a champagne and caviar bar, and an international coffee bar. There are three elevators and three floors of galleries with room for 26 dealers. There’s a sun deck on top, and a galley below with a well-equipped gourmet kitchen for celebrity chefs to cook up their culinary creations.
The inaugural chef is Walter Scheib, who while working as an executive chef at the White House for former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, cooked for such high-profile leaders as Nelson Mandela, Boris Yeltsin and Vicente Fox.
On the lower deck, the ship includes its own sewage treatment plant and its four generators produce enough electricity “to run a whole city,” Lester said.
The yacht sat at the Miami boatyard for several months as the insides were perfected.
As he walked the ship a few weeks before it was completed, Lester looked like a proud father. “Good job guys” was his refrain. At the time, 80 men were on-board, busily working to meet the looming deadline. The elaborate wood flooring was covered to keep it protected. Hand-written signs were posted on the finished walls, urging workers not to touch them.
“We’re just working away, hoping the clock slows down,” said a harried carpenter, as he and half a dozen others worked to finish one of five restaurants on board.
In the U.S., the yacht has been featured in dozens of magazines and newspapers, from Florida to Maine and New York. International media have picked up the story too, including The London Daily Dispatch and Financial Times.
The Grand Luxe is the fourth largest private yacht in America. It’s about a $60 million investment, including operating costs.
Phil Anson Sr., one of the investors in the project, doesn’t question whether the venture will succeed.
“David Lester is an absolute visionary,” he said. “Everything he touches turns to gold,” he said.
The roster for the first leg of the ship’s 44-week tour includes dealers from London, New York and Florida. Among them are A.B. Levy in Palm Beach.; Alexander Gallery in New York; Cohen & Cohen in London and the U.K.; David Morris, London, New York and Palm Beach; Iliad Antik in New York and Prague, and Martin du Louvre, Paris, France.
Prices for the art and jewels will vary greatly.
“In the art world, we don’t really talk about prices, as much as what it is,” said Lee Ann Lester.
In an interview with other media, David Lester once described SeaFair as a place to buy “Monets, Renoirs and 20-karat diamonds.”
Several art galleries and jewelers expect to become exhibitors after the ship reaches the west coast of Florida in January, including Yamron Jewelers and Harmon-Meek Gallery.
Besides docking in Marco, the ship will make stops in St. Petersburg, Tampa and Sarasota in January.
“I think it’s a wonderful idea. Our vision is to bring something very magical into these four marketplaces, three of which we don’t have a presence in,” said Bruce Yamron, president and CEO of Yamron Jewelers, a 35-year-old family owned business with two stores in the Naples area.
He expects to reach many new affluent customers with the exhibit, which he said would include rare and special pieces not found in his stores.
“Yamron Jewelers for years has been the leader in marketing and doing things leading-edge,” he said. “We’ve gone to Monte Carlo to do an exhibition. We have considered going to Russia. So we are always searching for the luxury consumer to show them what Yamron is all about.”
William Meek, owner-director of Harmon-Meek Gallery in Naples, hasn’t signed a contract just yet. But he likes the idea. He has known David Lester for many years.
He said the ship appears to be a “top-notch operation,” though he has yet to see it with his own eyes.
“He’s held back nothing. It looks extremely impressive. I think it’s going to be a huge success for him.”
He said it’s pretty amazing that the ship’s creators are Collier County residents.
Meek is waiting to see how successful the yacht is before signing a contract. He has included on a list of exhibitor applicants on the company’s Web site.
The Lesters will make their money from the booth fees they charge the dealers.
The cost of exhibiting on the ship can be more economical than traveling to an art fair, said Lee Ann Lester. For a weeklong fair, dealers could easily spend $50,000 to $100,000, while on the Grand Luxe they pay an average of $10,000 to $20,000 a week for a booth, she said.
“We give them four shows in four different markets,” Lester said.
The yacht has its own hospitality crew. They will live on a smaller refurbished deck boat that will move from port to port with the mother ship.
The yacht has five captains who will live on board, along with the rest of the marine crew.
The Lesters have organized more than three dozen international fine art events around the world. He’s an attorney and she’s a psychologist, but their shared passion for collecting art drove them to become dealers.
After selling the Palm Beach International Fine Art and Antique Fair and a string of others for $18 million in 2001, the Lesters retired and planned to spend more time on their own yacht.
They lived aboard their yacht for 1 1/2 years. It was then that they found the inspiration for their floating art fair.
“We saw a lot of the clients that used to be our clients before,” David Lester said.
That made them miss the business and they started to think about how difficult it had become to travel because of increased security in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Their idea is to bring art to the doorstep of the millionaires.
If history repeats itself, the Lesters could once again find themselves on top in the art world.
“There has been a tremendous response,” Lester said.
The couple has their share of critics and skeptics, who wonder whether the idea will really take off.
There is still exhibit space to sell for other tours. But Lester doesn’t seem too worried.
“We are signing people up every day,” he said. “People have to be able to see the ship to really understand the concept.”
The Lesters believe their idea will float.