OutlookMagazine 01/2012
Art Christie’s 16 | Non-Profit The International Red Cross 26 | Innovation Stromer e-bikes 32 | Event The Locarno Film Festival 36 | Gourmet Oona Swiss Caviar 42
ThE BMW GrouPFrom the aircraft engines of its early years to the cars and motorcycles of today, BMW has always focused on performance. Now the company is working to make its “sheer driving pleasure” sustainable in a changing world.
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3outlook 01/2012
Editorial
Dear business friends and colleagues,
Welcome to Houston, Texas, where we recently added a new Jet Aviation FBO at Hobby
Airport. With the acquisition of Enterprise Jet Center in February, we now offer services
to passengers, crew and aircraft at 14 FBOs within our global network of VIP handling
facilities, six of which are located in the U.S.
Houston is one of the largest and most modern handling facilities at Hobby Airport.
In the recent published 2012 AIN FBO survey, readers voted the location in the top
10% of top rated FBOs in the Americas. Offering fuel, catering, aircraft cleaning and
maintenance services, I invite you to visit our award-winning FBO and experience our friendly and committed staff first-hand on
your next trip through Houston.
Demand for staffing and benefit services and products through our Jet Professionals company has resulted in domestic and
international expansion too. In addition to increasing its service offerings to include, for example, Employer Benefits Consulting,
Employee Leasing, Outplacement Services and Executive and Senior Management Placements, we also strengthened its leadership
team as you can read in the Inside section of the magazine. Over the past year, the company added a branch office in Abu Dhabi
and began servicing the Asia market where we will soon open an office in Hong Kong.
We are continually upgrading and expanding our facilities to meet customer expectations. Currently, we are refurbishing the lobby
and customer and crew lounges at our two FBOs in Geneva and Zurich, as well as in our maintenance facility in Basel, Switzerland.
Our goal over the next few years is to upgrade all of our facilities to ensure a positive and unique customer experience at Jet Aviation
facilities around the world.
With a constant view to your safety and security, we also continue to invest in our OEM relationships to ensure we receive neces-
sary tooling and information, certifications, approvals and designations. I am pleased to say that we are now able to further reduce
aircraft downtime at two of our key locations in our global MRO network through new spare parts agreements with Bombardier and
Dassault Falcon. And earlier this year, Jet Aviation St. Louis was named a factory-authorized service center by Gulfstream Aerospace.
Elsewhere we continue to add more charter aircraft to our worldwide management fleet. Operated under our own U.S. Air Carrier
certificate and our Swiss AOC, we are always happy to facilitate a comfortable and hassle-free travel experience for our customers.
This first issue of our global client magazine in 2012 offers some very interesting articles. I hope that you will find the time to relax
and enjoy them.
Sincerely yours,
Dan Clare
President
4 outlook 01/2012 5outlook 01/2012
Contents
36 Event The Locarno International Film Festival
42 Gourmet Oona – Caviar from the Swiss Alps
50 Jet Aviation Inside News
58 Masthead and Advertisers
03 Editorial Dan Clare, President
06 The BMW Group A long-term approach to power and design
16 Art Christie’s – The auction is just the tip of the iceberg
26 Non-Profit International Committee of the Red Cross
32 Innovation Stromer e-bikes
Page 06 Page 42
Page 32
Page 16 Page 36Page 26
6 outlook 01/2012 7outlook 01/2012
The BMW GroupA long-term approach to power and design
T he BMW Group is headquartered in a building made of
four cylinders suspended from a central support tower.
Next to it is the BMW museum, which is in the shape
of a silver bowl. Nearby, the buildings in Munich’s Olympiapark
have a Mad-Max desert-tent look. It is a landscape of experi-
mentation.
Across the street from the BMW Group headquarters, on what was
once Munich’s first airfield, is the BMW Welt. The building repre-
sents a whirlwind with a cloud spread out behind it. It is made of
4,000 tons of steel and 1,154 panes of glass, and from the out-
side, there truly is something dynamic and powerful about it.
From the inside, the building is airy and light. And it sparkles.
It is almost a shrine to a lifestyle. Everything is well designed
and of high quality – like BMW cars.
The company describes the BMW Welt as the place to experi-
ence the brand. All of the car series are represented, as are the
motorcycles. Twice a day, a stunt rider takes his BMW G 450 X
motorcycle up and down the stairs to show off the potential of
the bikes.
The company presents its new technology here. There is the
head-up display, for example, which is not only interesting from
a practical standpoint, but also kind of exciting because it looks
so much like the screens we see fighter pilots use in the movies.
The display puts information in the lower part of the driver’s
field of vision. The driver sees his speed and cruise control
settings, as well as a navigation screen. There can also be
warnings from one of BMWs many safety systems. These could
involve night-vision pedestrian recognition, rear-end collision
warning or lane departure warning.
01 BMW G 450 X02 The BMW logo uses
the colors of the German state of Bavaria
03 BMW 1 Series Coupe 04 A BMW 328 from 1936
01
02
0403
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8 outlook 01/2012
More than two million guests come each year to get a look at all that
is new at BMW, and the most enthusiastic visitors are definitely
those who come to pick up their brand-new car. All BMW custom-
ers have the option of picking up their car here. About 80 percent
of the customers do this are German, the other 20 are from around
the world. Some Americans pick up a car, drive it around Europe
and then have it shipped to the US. The no-speed-limit sections of
the German Autobahn are particular favorites for those who have
just gotten behind the wheel of a new BMW.
When customers arrive at the BMW Welt, they take the VIP
elevator to a private lounge. When the time comes to get their
car, a personal attendant escorts them down a staircase,
towards the round platform supporting the car. As they descend,
flood lights go on to illuminate the car, and the platform begins
to rotate. The attendant will then explain various features of the
vehicle before the client drives down a sweeping driveway and
out of the building.
Design for aircraft interiors
DesignworksuSA, a creative con-
sultancy that is wholly owned by the
BMW group, does about half of
its work for its parent company, the
BMW Group, and the other half
for external clients. Sometimes the
company designs aircraft interiors.
Aircraft owners often pilot their own
planes, so the designers create an
environment in the cockpit that is as
luxurious as in the back. The cockpit
is an area where the designers’
experience with the BMW Group
comes in handy – BMW pays a lot of
attention to the optimal positioning of
driver controls.
Niko von Sauma, director of the
company’s Munich studio, is inter-
ested in the design potential of more
thoroughly embracing the essence
of an aircraft. “Most people try to
replicate places that are on earth, that
are fixed,” he says. “I am surprised
that you rarely see interiors that have
a different attitude towards flying –
the romance of our parents.” he is
interested in finding an aesthetic that
represents what it means to be “in
a room that moves at a considerable
speed over the ocean.”
Some of the designers’ recent com-
missions have included interior design
for the Dassault Falcon 7X and 2000S
as well as color scheme development
and materials selection for the Pilatus
PC12 and one of the BMW Group’s
own corporate jets, a Gulfstream 550.
The BMW Group brings this jet,
together with another Gulfstream 550
and a Dassault Falcon, to Jet Avia-
tion’s Basel facility for maintenance.
The BMW Group has been relying on
Jet Aviation for aircraft maintenance
since 1994.
rendering of a Boeing 787 interior The bedroom
01 The BMW Welt as seen from the museum
02 New cars await their owners at the BMW Welt
01 02
10 outlook 01/2012 11outlook 01/2012
On the day they pick up their car, most customers also visit the
BMW Museum and tour the local factory. At the museum, they
see many of the cars that shaped the company’s history. There
is a BMW 3/15 PS, based extremely closely on the Dixi, the
German version of the Austin 7. This was the first car manufac-
tured by BMW, beginning in 1929. Three years later, the com-
pany began to produce its first sports car, the BMW 328 road-
ster. Visitors can see this car and then follow BMW’s long
history of competition in car and motorcycle racing. Guests can
also see how various BMW series have changed over the years
and get a feel for where the company has put its priorities.
“What you see is that the focus has been on the driving experi-
ence,” says Florian Moser, a historian at the BMW Group.
“Comfort and spaciousness have not been the first priority. It
has been about handling and vehicle dynamics.”
BMW was not always an automobile manufacturer, and visitors
can also see the engine that got the company started. The first
product manufactured by Bayerische Motoren Werke, in 1917,
was a 19-liter, 6-cylinder aircraft engine, the BMW IIIA. Two
years later, Franz Zeno Diemer flew to 9,760 meters with a
redeveloped version of this engine, setting a world altitude
record.
Aircraft engines remained a strong part of BMWs business until
the end of World War II. In 1944, the company even began
making jet engines. After the war, BMW was forbidden to build
anything but items necessary for everyday life or the rebuilding
of the country. The company spent three years manufacturing
cooking pots, dough mixers, agricultural machinery and con-
struction fittings, before it returned to motorcycle production
and then later also car manufacturing.
BMW never went back to the production of aircraft engines,
though today, through its subsidiary BMW DesignworksUSA,
the group keeps its history alive with design projects for aviation
interiors. DesignworksUSA is a creative consultancy that is
wholly owned by the BMW Group.
Manufacturing
BMW Group production takes place in 14 locations around the
world. The most important of these facilities are the German
factories in Munich, Dingolfing, Leipzig and Regensburg; the
South African factory in Rosslyn; the US factory in Spartanburg;
and a joint-venture in Shenyang, China.
The BMW Group does not only produce cars under the BMW
brand. The group has owned the Mini brand since 1994 and
the Rolls-Royce brand since 1998. The BMW Group also purchased an additional
motorcycle brand, Husqvarna, in 2007.
The oldest BMW plant is in Munich, just meters away from the museum and the Welt.
When the factory first began production, in 1922, it was surrounded by green fields.
Now the city has grown up around it, and the plant must work within many limitations.
In order to avoid traffic problems, about 70 percent of the cars are transported by train
and forty-seven buses bring workers to the plant each day. There are only two shifts
at the plant, with no production between midnight and 6 a.m., so as not to disturb the
neighbors. The company has also purchased a new metal press that causes signifi-
cantly less vibration than the previous press.
The factory is now producing the new 3-series car. Four-hundred million euros were
invested to get the factory ready to make the new car. Due to limited space in the
urban setting, the manufacturing takes place on five floors.
Along with its 9,000 employees, the Munich plant has 750 robots. One of the most
striking things about these robots is how much their movements can look like
those of human beings – or creatures from Jurassic Park, or maybe giant birds.
They hover over things, seeming to look down at them. They pick things up and
move them. For some reason, one of the things that makes the greatest impression
on visitors is when the robots open and close car doors in the paint shop. The
robots are an interesting combination of power and precision. Sometimes they
pick up part of a car and spin it around so quickly it looks like a carnival ride. Other
Jet Aviation implements BMW
design in Falcon 7X
In late 2008 and early 2009,
Jet Aviation did the completions
work for a Falcon 7X aircraft interior
designed by Designworks uSA, a
subsidiary of the BMW Group.
Vincent rongier, head of Jet Aviation
Basel’s Falcon completions center,
calls the design “a quiet revolution”
with a rich and colorful interior,
which creates a feeling of well-being.
The designers used interesting
combinations of wood, leather and
metal for cabinet inlays, gave seats
increased elegance through
subtle use of stitching and created
an illuminated fake window in the
bathroom.
The completion was a success.
Jet Aviation engineers not only
found technical solutions, but also
stayed in dialog with the designers
to ensure compliance with certifi-
cation requirements.
01 The robots are both powerful and precise
02 Inside the museum
01 Early BMW manufacturing
02 BMW made a few adjust ments to the Dixi and produced it as the BMW 3/15 PS
03 Isetta Standard cabin scooters, 1955
04 BMW IIIA 6-cylinder aircraft engine
01
01
02
04
03
02
12 outlook 01/2012 13outlook 01/2012
times they pick up a piece and hold it in front of a camera that will register various
points as part of quality control.
The BMW Group sold almost 1.67 million vehicles and over 113,000 motorcycles in
2011. It was the group’s strongest year ever. Both the revenue of 68.8 billion euros
and the net profit of 4.9 billion euros were the highest in the group’s history.
Like all companies, BMW has had its ups and downs, and in 1959, BMW was almost
taken over by Daimler-Benz. BMW had been losing money for years and at a share-
holder meeting, management proposed selling to the competing car-maker. There
was an offer on the table, and a sale seemed imminent. Then two shareholder repre-
sentatives who opposed the sale found an error in the books that allowed them to
block the sale until the deadline for the bid had passed.
Soon after, one of the largest shareholders, Herbert Quandt, decided to increase his
stake to over 40 percent. Today, 46.7 percent of the BMW Group remains in the
hands of the Quandt family.
To keep its strong position, the BMW Group invests heavily in research and develop-
ment. The group has a research network of eleven locations in five countries, led by
the Research and Innovation Center (FIZ) in Munich. FIZ is home to 9,000 employees,
including engineers, scientists, designers, managers and technicians. The extensive
infrastructure includes crash-test facilities and a wind tunnel.
The design team at FIZ has 450 people, including designers,
modelers, design engineers and a wide range of other special-
ists. It takes several years and the input of hundreds of people
to create a new BMW car.
One of the most interesting aspects of the design process is
the competition involved. At one stage in this process, the
designers are briefed about the new project. Design charac-
teristics as well as legal and technical requirements are
given to five to ten designers who are asked to do first
sketches of their ideas. About four of the sketches are then
chosen to move on to the next round, which is the modeling
phase.
BMW is one of very few companies that still create full-scale
models from clay. The designers also work with computer 3-D
modeling. They will go back and forth between the clay and the
computer.
“We keep craftsmanship parallel, because a lot of feeling goes
into the way the designer uses his hands,” says Thomas Plath,
head of model and design technique for BMW’s group design
division. “I believe in the power of touch.”
The models are covered with a foil that resembles silver metal-
lic paint. This allows the designers to assess lines and surfaces
in varying light conditions.
Each competing designer who is working on the car’s exterior is
paired with an interior designer. “The interior design is more
complicated in a way,” says Plath. “It is more like industrial
design.” While exterior designers shape large surfaces, consid-
ering not only aesthetics but also aerodynamics and crash per-
formance, the interior designer’s job is very technology driven.
The interior designer must also give weight to ergonomics. The
biggest challenge is placing things in an optimum location in
order to maximize comfort and safety.
In the final stage of the selection process, two designs compete in
a final showdown. The winning design will be chosen about three
years before the scheduled production launch of the new car.
Sustainability
In 2011, for the 7th year in a row, the Dow Jones Sustainability
Index rated the BMW Group as the world’s most sustainable
automaker. For years, the company has received top rankings
in all major sustainability indexes, including the Carbon Disclo-
Motorsports at BMWThe BMW Group has a long
history in motorsports.
The company left Formula 1 in
2009 and is now focused on
production car racing with
its BMW M3. The center of the
company’s racing activities
is the Deutsche Touring Masters,
though the M3 is also being
raced in various GT sport races.
Minis have been a hit in rally
racing, and both BMW Motorrad
motorcycles and husqvarna
motorcycles continue to do well
in international racing.
01 Clay molding02 Sketching is part of
the design process03 Some manufacturing
is done by hand04 other aspects
of production are automated
01 Chassis are rotated 360° in a chemical bath to treat the metal
02 robots paint the chassis
03 Workers often have an average of one minute per car to complete their task
04 The cars gleam when they leave the factory
0302
0401
02
04
01
03
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Europe, Middle East and Africa +44 1252 379 270, China +86 10 6598 9988,
Asia Pacific +65 6734 4321
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14 outlook 01/2012
sure Project’s Global 500 Ranking and the FTSE4Good index.
These organizations usually look for a combination of ecologi-
cal, economic and social sustainability.
The BMW Group is praised for its long-term thinking and its
investment in employees. The group provides more training than
most car manufacturers and has a low employee turnover rate.
To move towards ecological sustainability, the company has
taken many measures to reduce the resource consumption and
emissions that occur both when the car is being manufactured
and when it is in use. Some of the company’s most interesting
current efforts include a system that changes a car’s perfor-
mance in various situations in order to conserve fuel. The next
step in that program has been to create a real-time system to
let drivers know what actions they could be taking to save fuel.
To further reduce the environmental impact of its vehicles, the
BMW Group is looking to electric drive trains. The first time the
company put electric motors into a car was for vehicles to accom-
pany marathon runners in the 1972 Olympic Games. In 1991, the
company developed its first true electric vehicle. At the time, how-
ever, battery technology was not sufficient to make the car practical.
In 2007 the company took a big step and established three
programs to develop technologies for electric drive trains. In
2009, the BMW Group set loose a fleet of about 600 electric-
powered Mini cars to gather information on user behavior. This
past year the company did the same with a fleet of 1000 BMW
Active E electric vehicles based on the BMW 1 Series Coupe.
The big step on the horizon is the production of BMW i cars. For
these vehicles, BMW has created an aluminum chassis and a
passenger cell made from carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic. The
light weight of the car body will help compensate for the heavy
batteries its electric drive train will require. In 2013, series pro-
duction of the electric BMW i3 should begin. BMW has referred
to this car as “the megacity vehicle.”
In 2014 the company plans to begin production of the BMW
i8. This sports car has a plug-in hybrid drive train and also
a fuel engine. It will have the performance of a sports car
with the fuel consumption and emissions levels of a com-
pact car.
The BMW Group is also active in looking for traffic solutions
in urban areas, investigating new ways to optimize parking
and developing systems that will improve the way cars
receive information from their environment. The group
recently launched a car sharing program with premium
vehicles that allows greater flexibility than classic car-shar-
ing programs.
The BMW slogan is “Sheer driving pleasure.” The company has
a business built around making it possible for clients to find
enjoyment through personal mobility. Being able to preserve
this feeling in a world with increasingly crowded cities and lim-
ited resources will require some serious strategic planning. The
BMW Group is on it.
01 The I series vehicles: i3 and i8 02 EfficientDynamics is BMW’s
program to reduce fuel consumption and emissions
03 The i8 sports car
0201
03
16 outlook 01/2012 17outlook 01/2012
Art | Christie’s
On the evening of Christie’s February
Impressionist and Modern Art Evening
Sale, the main auction room was packed.
About five-hundred guests had been
assigned seats, while others crowded
in the doorways or sat in a side room.
Clothing was elegant, though not quite
as fancy as the evening before, when
many of the same guests had attended
Christie’s cocktail party.
The walls of the main room were almost
bare. The works by Picasso, Chagall,
Degas, Van Gogh and other great mas-
ters, which had been exhibited just hours
before, were now in the back room. They
would be brought out one after the other,
by white-gloved attendants, and placed
on the large display easel.
In the front of this room at Christie’s
headquarters on London’s King Street
was a rostrum modeled after the original
made for James Christie by his friend
Christie’s:The auction is just the tip of the iceberg
Thomas Chippendale. Behind this ros-
trum was Jussi Pylkkanen. In his hands
was the sale of art worth hundreds of
millions of dollars.
On either side of Pylkkanen were Chris-
tie’s employees, squeezed shoulder to
shoulder behind long counters. These
employees took telephone bids from cli-
ents. They had been flown in from around
the world to take these calls.
The pace and tone of the auction were
very civilized. Far from the mile-a-minute
chatter of a cattle auction, this was a calm
environment. Pylkkanen addressed the
Christie’s employees by name and fre-
quently waited while their client decided
whether to increase a bid. Sometimes
the representative just raised a paddle
to signify a bid, but more often, he would
call it out, followed by “please, sir.”
Bids also came from the room. This could
be a subtle nod or the movement of a
paddle. Occasionally this was followed by
some shuffling and murmuring, as the oth-
ers in the room tried to figure out who had
just bid. Many people knew each other, and
everyone was interested in who was buying.
Sometimes there was a rapid-fire bidding
war between two people. Other times, sev-
eral parties would be involved in bidding,
and then, just when it seemed the highest
bid had been placed and the sale was
clear, a new bidder would appear.
Occasionally, the highest bid would not
exceed the reserve price set by the seller
and, after the bids were done, Pylkkanen
would say, “That’s a pass.”
The Impressionist and Modern Art
sale was followed immediately by the
Art of the Surreal sale. When the two
auctions were completed, in two hours
and 32 minutes, over $213 million in
art had been sold. The highest price
was paid for the Henry Moore sculpture
Reclining Figure: Festival, 1951. After
an unusually long bidding battle of eight
minutes and five seconds, with eight
phone bidders and one in the room,
the piece sold for over $30 million.
The room had watched in amazement
as the price rose and rose. The high
estimate for the work had been less
than $9 million. The sale set a new
world record for a Moore at auction.
Christie’s February Impressionist and Modern Art Evening Sale
01 During the cocktail party, guests drink champagne near art soon to disappear into private collections
02 Bidding for a client03 Christie’s employees from
around the world, taking telephone bids
01 02
03
TO BREAK THE RULES,YOU MUST FIRST MASTER THEM.
THE WATCH THAT BROKE ALL THE RULES, REBORN FOR
2012. IN 1972, THE ORIGINAL ROYAL OAK SHOCKED THE
WATCHMAKING WORLD AS THE FIRST HAUTE HOROLOGY
SPORTS WATCH TO TREAT STEEL AS A PRECIOUS METAL.
TODAY THE NEW ROYAL OAK COLLECTION STAYS TRUE TO
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EXQUISITE DETAILING LIE INSIDE THIS ICONIC MODERN EXTERIOR;
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ROYAL OAK: CELEBRATING 40 YEARS.
ROYAL OAKIN STAINLESS STEEL. CHRONOGRAPH.
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18 outlook 01/2012 19outlook 01/2012
Art | Christie’s
Juan Gris’ “Le Livre”, on the other hand,
sold for a “mere” $16.35 million. The
piece had been seen as a star of the
show. It had been chosen for the cover
of the sale catalogue. Yet it came in
below the pre-sale estimate of $19 mil-
lion to $28 million. The sale price was
nonetheless the fourth-highest price
ever paid for a Gris.
All in all, the auctions exceeded expec-
tations. Buyers came from at least
twenty-one countries on four continents,
and world auction records were set for
five artists. The art had been fresh – only
one in five pieces had been on the market
in the past ten years.
Success is not a coincidence
After the auction, the Christie’s team was
radiant. Sales for the Impressionist and
Modern Art auction were the fourth high-
est ever in London, and the Art of the
Surreal sale was the highest-earning so
far in the city. The market was vibrant.
The teams had worked for six months
to prepare for the event. Actually, the
build-up went back much further than
that. Christie’s has been cultivating rela-
tionships with clients since 1766. The
company has had a relationship with
some families for generations. Employ-
ees invest time to know their clients and
provide a very customized service. They
also work to stay in tune with what is hap-
pening in the art market.
By private jet to the auction
In February 2009, Christie’s auc-
tioned the private collection of Yves
Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé.
The collection was considered one of
the greatest examples of eclectic,
personalized collecting. The three-
day Paris auction
brought in $490
million dollars, the
most ever received at
auction for a private
collection. During the
auction, Christie’s
employees happened
to hear that there was
no more private-jet parking available
in the area. “We were wondering what
was happening,” says spokeswoman
Alexandra Kindermann. “It wasn’t until
later that we realized the aircraft owners
were sitting in our auction room.”
Employees want to know who owns major
works of art, who is buying, who is sell-
ing, and what might be changing soon.
They take advantage of every opportunity
to gather information and build rela-
tionships. There was a children’s party
two days before the Impressionist and
Modern Evening Sale. It was fun for the
kids and gave them a little exposure to
art. It was also a chance to strike up a
conversation with the parents. Christie’s
recently bought the gallery Haunch of
Venison with showrooms in London and
New York. This provides the opportunity
to chat with collectors who come in to
view exhibits.
01 Juan Gris Le Livre02 The artwork was on display before the auction
01 02
20 outlook 01/2012 21outlook 01/2012
Art | Christie’s
These discussions are not just work for
Christie’s staff. The employees love art.
It is natural for them to encourage others
to enjoy it as well.
The amazing thing about working at
Christie’s is that employees get to see
and even handle art that most people
will never encounter. They know what is
going on in the art world, they research
individual pieces and then, unlike in most
academic situations, the art often actually
comes into the building.
“You see so much art,” says Giovanna
Bertazzoni, head of impressionist and
modern art at Christie’s. “You have a
feast. You talk to collectors. You talk to
buyers. It’s addictive.”
The origins
The first Christie’s auction, in 1766, was
not focused on art. The goods for sale had
been the property of “A Noble Personage,
(Deceas’d),” and they included items
such as a six large breakfast cups, a
feather bed, two flower chamber-pots, an
oval mahogany dining-table and two pair
of imaged china bowls. Founder James
Christie moved to art sales within less
than a year, taking advantage of London’s
emergence as the leader in the interna-
tional art trade following the French revo-
lution. His salesroom became a meeting
place for Georgian society as well as for
collectors and dealers from around the
country. Christie supported the arts and
allowed artists to use his auction house to
show their work.
Christie turned the work of an auctioneer,
which had been considered a dull admini-
strative job, into more of a show. He stood
behind a tall rostrum with a gray wig and a
gavel. He is said to have teased bidders and
charmed ladies into making one more bid.
He began to sell large collections. In
1778 he negotiated the sale of Sir Robert
Walpole’s collection of paintings to Cath-
erine the Great. This collection went on to
form the core of the Hermitage Museum
Collection, in St. Petersburg, Russia.
Christie’s now has 450 sales each year in
over 80 categories. The company has 53
offices in 30 countries and 10 salesrooms in
cities such as London, New York, Geneva,
Paris, Dubai, Hong Kong and Milan.
Valuations
There has been a tradition at Christie’s
that anyone can show up with an item and
have it valued. Today, the King Street office
asks those wanting a valuation to make an
appointment and often requests a photo in
The company sells not only paintings
and sculpture, but also jewelry, watches,
carpets, clocks, porcelain, fossils, pho-
tographs, silver, costumes, books, wine
and much more. There is even an annual
corkscrew sale.
Christie’s has also sold historic aircraft.
In 1981 and 1984 there were sales at the
Imperial War Museum in Duxford, Eng-
land. In November of 2003, Concorde
memorabilia, including a nose cone, was
sold in Paris.
Since 1999, Christie’s has been owned
by PPR, a multinational holding com-
pany founded by the French busi-
nessman François Pinault. The group
also owns the Italian fashion company
Gucci and has a stake in the German
sportswear -maker Puma. Christie’s
had revenue of $5.7 billion in 2011,
just slightly less than its main rival
Sotheby’s.
Easy accessJet Aviation’s Biggin hill business-
jet terminal provides easy access
to London. It is just a
45-minute car ride from
the city center, ideal for
those wanting to attend
a Christie’s auction or
watch an olympic event.
Guests headed for auc-
tions in New York, Singa-
pore, Geneva or Zurich can also
use local Jet Aviation terminals.
advance. Christie’s second London location
in South Kensington, which sells a higher
volume and larger variety of articles, does
still have a walk-up valuations counter.
Some of the most interesting items brought
in to Christie’s are paintings by old mas-
ters, artists active between the 13th and
18th centuries. Sometimes there is only the
need to assign an approximate value to the
piece, but other times it is also necessary
to figure out who created the work.
Every Monday morning, about ten people
from the Old Masters team at Christie’s
King Street headquarters gather for “hill-
ing.” This is the process of determining
the value and attribution of paintings. The
term “hilling” is particular to Christies
01 18th century Chinese porcelain vases
02 An early auction03 Founder James Christie 04 The First Auction Catalogue
01 Christie’s remains headquartered in London
02 The King Street head quarters
01
02 03 04
01 02
22 outlook 01/2012
Art | Christie’s
Christie’s to ask whether the company
knows who owns the pieces.
When the group is evaluating a painting,
one of the things they look at its condi-
tion. Buyers have become increasingly
aware of condition. The team uses vari-
ous techniques, such as ultra-violet light,
which will indicate where a work has been
touched up.
In Northern Europe artists often painted
on three separate panels. These panels
tend to move slightly, causing damage.
The Italians, on the other hand, tended
to use one thick piece of wood. These
paintings are spared the damage caused
by moving panels, but if the wood begins
to warp, there is a real problem. The spe-
cialists repeatedly refer to the paintings
as “alive,” because the wood is moves
and changes.
Sometimes someone comes to Christie’s
with a collection. The auction house likes
this because collections are attractive to
buyers. There is often something per-
sonal and special in the way a collection
has been put together, and often most of
the items have not been on the market
recently.
Sometimes the collections are quite
specialized. Down in the King Street
basement, where Christie’s has endless
treasure, a collection of 230 books was
being stored at the beginning of this
Capturing the essenceThere are five photo studios at
Christie’s headquarters on King
Street, where items are photo-
graphed for catalogues. Getting
the perfect shot can be difficult,
as various media present different
challenges. Silver is difficult
because it is highly reflective.
When photographing paintings,
color is a big issue, and for oil
paintings, there is the additional
challenge of texture that will
reflect light.
Senior photographer Phillip
Brakefield considers abstract art
the biggest challenge. “You
have to decide on the height and
the angle, and all of this will
very much change the feel you
get for the piece.” he often tries
to understand what a seller
most appreciates about a piece
and then works to capture this
essence.
and comes from the fact that in the early
days the works would be placed along a
slight incline, on the ground floor of the
building, and employees would walk up
that “hill” as they examined the works.
Each member of the Old Masters Team has
a specialty, such as Italian art or Flemish
art, though all take part in the assessment
of each piece. Sometimes a work can be
traced back to a certain studio, but it then
becomes difficult to discern whether the
master artist did the work, or whether it
was one of his students. Sometimes, as
was the case with a 17th century Belgian
painting that was recently hilled, the land-
scape is by the master and the figures are
by someone else.
The group will look into any seals, stamps,
or other marks on the back of the paint-
ing. It is not uncommon for there to be a
Christie’s stencil on the back, indicating
that the painting has come through the
auction house before. In such a case,
the team can consult old records in the
company’s archives.
When there is a question about attribu-
tion, the group does due diligence by hav-
ing the painting looked at by a leading
expert on the artist believed most likely to
have created the work. The expert is usu-
ally an academic, sometimes a curator. In
return, when a curator is putting together
a show and would like to borrow pieces
from private collections, he may contact
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24 outlook 01/2012 25outlook 01/2012
Art | Christie’s
year. The books had formerly been in
the possession of Russian emperors and
empresses. Many of the books had been
sent abroad in the 1920s and 1930s,
when the Soviet Union needed foreign
currency. Sven Becker, a specialist in the
book department, describes them as “the
last great collection of Russian books in
private hands.” Before the books came to
Christie’s, Becker had been working with
the collector for about ten years, provid-
ing advice and also buying and selling
for him. This spring, Becker arranged the
sale of the collection to a private buyer.
A growing part of Christie’s business is
linking buyers and sellers in private sales.
It is said that people generally sell works
of art because of the three “D”s: death,
divorce and debt. When the reason for
the sale is a need for money, sellers do
not necessarily want everyone to know
also more potential buyers that could
drive up the price.
Auctions are dynamic, and the auction-
eer can significantly influence sale price.
Auctioneer Andreas Rumbler says the
increase can be a matter of ten percent
to twenty-five percent. “It is always worth
asking one more time,” he says. “You
are often surprised how much more you
can get.”
Rumbler says that when he walks out
after an auction, he cannot even remem-
ber his own name. There is a lot of pres-
sure, and the task demands acute con-
centration. “This is what the whole team
has been working toward for six months,”
he says, “You don’t want to disappoint
them, and you definitely don’t want to
disappoint the sellers.”
The art marketDirk Boll, Christie’s managing
director for continental Europe,
sees returning interest in new
artists. “Younger art is back,” he
says. “I had the feeling that in
2010 people were still very
cautious and went to these sort
of canonized artists. We are not
where we were in 2007, but I
sense that more collectors have
gone back to their old curiosity.”
he says there is still a strong
demand for masterworks,
and that all the new
buyers who arrived in the
2000s are still collec-
ting. he also says he is
seeing an increase in
eclec ticism. People
are collecting in various
areas, such as carpets, fur-
nishings and paintings. They are
also combining things from
various parts of the world and
various periods.
This influences the qualities
buyers seek. “It leaves behind
quieter pieces,” he says. “If you
are only going to have one of
each, you want it to be strong,
self-explanatory.”
about the sale. Christie’s private sales are
usually carried out through its Haunch of
Venison gallery. These sales were up 44
percent in 2011.
While private sales are very discreet, the
mystique of Christie’s is found in its auc-
tions, because they are public and they
carry the element of surprise. There are
The Collection of Elizabeth Taylor
Three of the items in the February
Impressionist and Modern Evening
Sale came from the Collection
of Elizabeth Taylor. Most of her
collection had already been auctioned
in New York, with great success.
01 Christie’s experts do extensive research02 Each piece is carefully examined03 Christie’s sells more than just art – here wine
is being auctioned
01 Most of the Collection of Elizabeth Taylor was auctioned at Christie’s New York from December 3-17, 2011
02 The 1,778 lots auctioned in New York included jewelry, fashion, decorative arts and film memorabilia
01 0102 02
03
26 outlook 01/2012 27outlook 01/2012
In 1859, the Swiss businessman Henry
Dunant wanted water rights for a project
in Algeria. He was having trouble negoti-
ating with local authorities, and the area
was under French rule, so he decided
to take his request straight to Emperor
Napoleon III. The emperor was directing
French armies in Italy, so Dunant headed
south to the village of Solferino. When
he arrived, he saw the aftermath of the
Battle of Solferino, one of the bloodiest of
the 19th century. Almost 40,000 soldiers
lay on the battlefield, dead or wounded.
Little was being done to help those who
were still alive, so Dunant, who had been
active in volunteer work for most of his
life, organized the local civilian popula-
tion to provide as much aid as possible.
When he got back to Switzerland, Dunant
wrote the book A Memory of Solferino.
It described what he had seen and pre-
sented a plan to create national relief soci-
eties to care for soldiers wounded dur-
ing battle. It also called for international
treaties to protect wounded soldiers and
the medical personnel treating them. He
published the book with his own money
and sent it to political and military figures.
In 1863, the Geneva Society for Public
Welfare formed a five-person committee to
look into implementing his ideas. Dunant
was included in the group, which was led
by the president of the society, Gustave
Moynier. The committee called a confer-
ence of representatives from European
states, and Dunant’s ideas were discussed.
The following year the Swiss government
organized an international diplomatic
conference at which the first Geneva
Convention, which protects wounded in
the field and guarantees neutrality for
medical personnel, was formulated. The
convention was signed in August of 1864
by twelve states and was later adopted by
almost all states. This convention laid the
foundation for the development of inter-
national humanitarian law. Soon after
the convention was signed, national Red
Cross societies began to form.
The five-person committee went on to
become the International Committee
of the Red Cross (ICRC), but Dunant’s
time with the organization was limited.
From the beginning, he and Moynier had
disagreed on policy. Then Dunant’s busi-
ness in Algeria failed, partially because he
had spent so much of his time promoting
humanitarian ideals. Many friends and
family members in Geneva had invested
in his business and were affected by the
bankruptcy. There were accusations of
deceptive practices, and he lost face in
the city. Dunant was pushed out of the
ICRC and he left Geneva, never to return.
Though he went on to be active in other
humanitarian causes, he spent most of
his later life in isolation and poverty. His
contributions were honored, however, in
1901, when he received the first Nobel
Peace Prize, together with the French
pacifist Frederic Passy.
The ICRC continued until the First World
War as an organization made up of just
a few individuals who funded their own
efforts. It was with the start of World War
I that the ICRC really became an interna-
tional organization.
The number of employees and volun-
teers increased rapidly as the organiza-
tion opened a Central Prisoners of War
Agency in Geneva to restore contact
between prisoners of war and their fami-
lies. The agency was able to identify two
million POWs and connect them with
family members. Delegates visited over
Non-Profit | ICRC
International Committee of the red CrossA long history of humanitarian aid
The Battle of Solferino
01 henry Dunant02 Founders of the ICrC:
Gustave Moynier, General G. h. Dufour, henry Dunant, Dr. Louis Appia, Dr. Th. Maunoir
03 Signing of the First Geneva Convention
04 ICrC headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland
01
03
02
04
28 outlook 01/2012 29outlook 01/2012
500 POW camps. In 1917, the ICRC
received the Nobel Peace Prize for its
efforts.
Following the war, the organization shrank
back down to about fifty people. Though
its activities outside of Europe increased,
the ICRC’s focus was less on activities
in the field and more on working with
governments and promoting additions
to humanitarian law. In 1929, a further
Geneva convention was passed to provide
protection for prisoners of war. Progress
was made on new laws that would protect
civilians, but these were not yet in place
at the outbreak of the Second World War.
The ICRC grew once again during World
War II as it worked to ship relief supplies,
visit POWs and exchange millions of Red
Cross Messages between prisoners and
their families. There were still relatively
few delegates out in the field, and though
several performed heroic acts that ben-
efited thousands, the ICRC recognizes
World War II as its biggest failure. For
a variety of organizational, political and
societal reasons, the organization did not
step in to take action against the Holo-
caust. Nonetheless, in 1944, the ICRC
received a second Nobel Peace Prize.
Since 1945, the ICRC has continued to
lobby for acceptance of stronger human-
itarian law and for the enforcement of
existing laws. In 1949, the three exist-
ing Geneva Conventions, which protect
wounded on the battlefield, soldiers
wounded or shipwrecked at sea, and
prisoners of war, were revised and a
fourth was added to protect civilians living
under enemy control. This 1949 agree-
ment is commonly referred to as “the
Geneva Convention,” and, together with
additional protocols of 1977 and 2005,
it provides the ICRC with a mandate to
protect victims of both international and
internal armed conflicts.
The organization today
Over the past decades, the ICRC has
grown rapidly and greatly increased its
presence in the field. Many other human-
itarian organizations have been formed,
but the ICRC has remained unique
because of its international mandate and
its dedication to independence, impar-
tiality and neutrality.
In areas of conflict, the ICRC seeks to
protect civilians, reunite families, ensure
economic security, provide medical care,
and supply clean water and shelter.
Non-Profit | ICRC
The organization also visits detainees,
monitors compliance with the Geneva
Convention, seeks to build respect for
international humanitarian law and acts
as a neutral intermediary between war-
ring parties.
Impartiality, neutrality and independence
are absolutely key for the organization.
The ICRC does not express its opinions
about a conflict or go public with humani-
tarian violations that it witnesses. The
organization considers access and dia-
logue vital, and it wants access not only
to victims, but also to those with influence
over the victims. The organization must
be accepted in order to get this access.
For this reason, instead of denouncing
actions, it approaches offenders and their
superiors with its findings and pushes for
change.
“We do this because we are in a world
where plenty of other measures are
taken,” says ICRC Director General Yves
Daccord. “We think there are very few
other people who are able to discuss dif-
ficult things in the territory of the people
who are doing these things.”
The ICRC now has more than 12,500
employees. About 1,000 work from the
organization’s Geneva headquarters, while
the other 11,500 are out in the field. Of
those in the field, approximately 1,500
are international staff who work in various
conflict zones, while the other 10,000 are
hired locally to work in a specific country.
The ICRC works closely with national Red
Cross and Red Crescent organizations.
These national organizations are largely
independent of the ICRC, though they are
The money
Eighty-eight percent of ICrC funding
comes from governments. Four percent
comes from private sources and the
remaining eight percent comes from
national red Cross and red Crescent
societies. Thirty percent of the money
given to the ICrC is not earmarked,
which means that if a need arises in
an area, the ICrC can spend the
money the next day. It also means that
the organization can provide help
in regions that may not have a lot of
public attention or sympathy.
Detainee visits
The ICrC is perhaps best known
for its visits to detainees. ICrC
offers authorities confidentiality,
but the organization has a strict set
of rules. Delegates must be
allowed to tour the whole premises,
have access to all detainees, speak
freely and privately with detainees
of their choice, return as often as
they deem necessary and meet with
the detaining authorities.
01 Children returning to Germany in 1948 after hospitalization in Switzerland
02 Marcel Junod, Swiss doctor and well-known ICrC field delegate
03 Delivering supplies to Angola in 1994
01 Evacuation of hospital patients in Sirte, Libya in october 2011 02 ICrC staff03 The patients from Sirte are taken to hospitals in Tripoli for
further medical treatment
01 0102 02
0303
30 outlook 01/2012 31outlook 01/2012
Non-Profit | ICRC
also part of the International Red Cross
and Red Crescent Movement.
The national societies usually provide medi-
cal personnel and infrastructure and have
valuable connections within communities.
In situations involving conflict, the ICRC is
the lead organization. In the case of a cri-
sis such as a natural disaster, the national
association is in charge, and the ICRC will
help if it is already in the region or if it has
expertise that would be particularly useful.
Everywhere it is active, the ICRC tries to
get close to the people affected by con-
flict. When the ICRC is active in a region,
it will usually establish its main base in a
big city and then also send delegates to
small villages. These delegates assess the
needs of the people and develop contacts.
The international delegates do not usu-
ally spend long periods of time in any
one location. If a posting is not consid-
ered too stressful, the delegate might
remain for about two years. If it is an
extremely stressful posting, the delegate
may only be there for nine months. The
ICRC wants to make sure that its del-
egates not only remain in good mental
and physical health, but also that they
are able to keep an emotional distance
from the conflict.
The years ahead
Many governments have a different
attitude towards foreign humanitarian
aid than they did ten years ago. Govern-
ments now tend to want more control over
humanitarian actions in their countries.
The ICRC must find the place for an inde-
pendent, neutral organization within this
new context.
“For me the biggest challenge is to be
able to still maintain our relevance in the
world of today,” says Daccord. He sees
the organization’s ability to gain access as
central to its relevance and believes that
developing very specific responses will be
key to the ICRC’s continued success.
In Mali and Niger, for example, the ICRC
had recently decided that perhaps the
best way it could help nomadic popula-
tions in a situation of conflict and very
limited resources was to vaccinate their
cattle. For security reasons, no other
group would be granted the access to
travel widely and do this. This was far from
the organization’s standard response,
but in this situation, it was where it saw
the largest potential to add value. In the
past few months, however, bad weather
conditions and violence have worsened
conditions in the region, and the ICRC
has adapted to the new situation by
focusing on the immediate distribution of
food, seeds and tools.
The ICRC has said that the current laws
governing humanitarian conduct during
conflict are largely sufficient, with just a
few gaps that the organization is working
to eliminate. The biggest issue today is
enforcement of those laws.
Complicating this issue of enforcement is
the fact that conflict has changed. Most
conflicts are no longer fought between
states, but rather tend to involve at least
one non-state armed group. Conflicts
are often very asymmetric, especially
in regard to technology. More fight-
ing is taking place in urban areas, and
frequently there is a blurring of lines
between civilians and those involved in a
conflict. The potential for cyber war also
raises new questions about the legality of
this new form of attacks on infrastructure.
As the body of international humanitarian
law has become increasingly complex, so
have the situations that challenge it.
The emblemsThree emblems – the red cross,
the red crescent and the
red crystal – are specified in the
Geneva Conventions and Addito-
nal Protocol III to provide protec-
tion for military medical services
and relief workers in armed
conflicts. The emblems are also
used by National Societies of
the red Cross and red Crescent
Movement for identification.
ICRC in 2011
– Delegates visited around 540,000
detainees in 75 countries and in
five international courts.
– Water, sanitation and construction
projects benefited more than
21 million people
– Almost 5 million people received
aid in the form of food and more
than 3 million received essential
household and hygiene items.
– An estimated 6,800,000 people
benefited from ICrC-supported
health-care facilities
01 Delivering relief supplies is one aspect of ICrC assistance02 The supplies must often reach remote areas03 The means of transportation are varied
01 Supplies are distributed in a displaced persons camp in Pakistan, 200902 Staff calls out an upcoming distribution in a camp03 Assistance is given to displaced persons in the Central African republic
02 0301 02 0301
32 outlook 01/2012 33outlook 01/2012
When a rider pushes down the pedal of
an e-bike, the electric motor kicks in and
creates an extra boost. The bike surges
ahead. There is something very satisfy-
ing about this – it is the combination of
personal effort and outside power. It is a
different feeling than simply sitting on a
motorized bike. Pedaling up a hill with
only slight exertion seems miraculous.
Riders can whiz past traffic and do not
have to search for a parking space. They
are active and outside, yet they can
choose not to break a sweat or become
overly tired. Sales of these bikes are
booming. Most makers of conventional
bicycles are adding e-bikes (also known
as electric bicycles) to their product lines.
Originally, the bikes were simply a bicycle
with an electric motor and a battery pack.
Now they are evolving into much more.
Most e-bikes have a small, simple com-
puter console mounted on the handle-
bars. This allows the rider to control how
much support the motor will provide and
gives him information about the battery.
This computer system, together with the
specially designed software and sensors
within the bike, creates the potential to
integrate a wide range of functions.
“It is a lot like the development that came
about in cars,” says Stefan Tschanz, a
developer at Switzerland’s myStromer
e-bike company. “At first you had the
battery and the electronics to ignite the
engine, and today a car is an electronic
marvel that does a lot with software. This
step is coming up for e-bikes.”
In order to maximize the integration of
all components in this increasingly com-
plex system, myStromer has chosen to
design and engineer almost all aspects
of its e-bikes. Most companies make the
bicycle frames and then buy a motor from
an outside supplier. myStromer wants
control of all system parameters.
The myStromer development team is
made up of electrical engineers and soft-
ware engineers, as well as those experi-
enced with the technical and mechanical
aspects of bicycle-frame construction.
“At first we thought the guy that does the
frame will do the frame, and the electri-
cal engineer will handle the electronics,”
says Tschanz, “but we found it involves
more teamwork than we had thought.”
Competition among e-bike manufactur-
ers is strong. The field is continuously
changing, with one manufacturer in the
forefront for a while, before another takes
the lead. As they approach a future in
which the e-bikes will have a multitude
of advanced functions, individual compa-
nies choose the areas in which they see
the most potential and race to develop
technology.
myStromer is hesitant to say too much
about its current development, but
Tschanz does say that future e-bikes will
take advantage of the satellite naviga-
tion system GPS, as well as GSM cellular
networks. Locating a bike after it has
been stolen is one application of these
technologies. E-bikes will also have
intelligent-machine elements, with bike
performance changing in accordance
with rider characteristics.
The company
myStromer founder Thomas Binggeli
opened his first bike shop, Thömus Velo-
shop, on his parent’s farm when he was
seventeen. He sold his parents’ sheep
and set up a workshop in the barn. Two
years later, in 1993, Thömus Racing
Team started up. In 2005, he started
a line of high-end carbon bikes, and in
2009 the first Stromer e-bike was sold.
Since then, the e-bikes have won several
awards.
Stromer e-bikes: Bicycles are getting smarter
Innovation | Stromer e-bikes
01 Stromer e-bikes02 Founder Thomas Binggeli03 Stromer store in Bern,
Switzerland
01
02
03
01 Beginning in June, 2012, batteries will be available with about 30% more capacity
02 The battery fits into the bike frame 03 The e-bikes are assembled in the canton of Bern 04 Each worker assembles about 3 bikes per day
01 Modular design gives customers various options 02 A display keeps the rider informed about battery
life and motor support03 The bike is designed to be a lifestyle accessory
34 outlook 01/2012 35outlook 01/2012
Innovation | Stromer e-bikes
At the end of last year, Binggeli sold
myStromer to ISH (International Sport
Holding AG) which held the brands BMC
and Bergamont. Binggeli became CEO
of BMC, the maker of the bikes Cadel
Evans rode to victory in the 2011 Tour
de France. He also joined the board of
directors of the parent company (which
has changed its name from ISH to
BMC). When talking to Binggeli, it does
not take long to realize that although he
has handed over operational control of
myStromer, his heart is still very much in
the business.
About 110 people now work for my Stromer.
In 2011 the company sold 7,500 e-bikes
and it expects to sell 10,000 in 2012.
Manufacturing is done abroad, mostly
in Asia. The e-bikes are then assembled
in Thöris haus, Bern, about a 10-minute
Stromer ride from the Binggeli family farm.
Each e-bike is assembled to order. Clients
usually use the online “configurator” to
choose various aspects of frame, com-
ponents, power system, shock absorp-
tion, ergonomic settings and accessories.
Production volume depends on the time
of year and is highest in summer. Each
assembly worker puts together about three
e-bikes per day. Quality control includes
riding the bike across the assembly floor
and through the warehouse to make sure
everything is working properly.
Most workers in the assembly hall are avid
bikers, and when there is less Stromer
work in winter, many take jobs connected
to skiing and snowboarding. There is a
collegial, dynamic atmosphere in the
assembly area. The occasional quirky
picture or odd quote can be found taped
to a wall or cabinet. It is a place where
people seem to enjoy what they are doing.
myStromer has several stores in Switzer-
land, as well as distribution centers in
Germany, Austria and the United States.
It is currently making the transition from a
new company to a more mature business
with larger-scale production and a global
outreach. myStromer sends bikes all over
the world and plans to open 30 more
distribution centers this year, including
some in Asia.
The e-bikes
There are three Stromer models: one
for all-around use, one for climbing hills
and one for speed. The general-use
Mountain 25 has an motor output of
250 watts and can reach a top assisted
speed of 25 kilometers per hour. The
climbing-oriented Mountain 33 has
an output of 500 watts and can reach
assisted speeds of 33 kilometers per
hour, while the faster Power 48 can
reach an assisted speed of 48 kilome-
ters per hour also with a 500-watt motor.
The more power-assistance the rider uses,
the faster the battery is drained. Battery life
remains a major issue for e-bike use. The
average range for a Stromer is between thirty
and ninety kilometers. This large variation is
a result of factors such as the amount of
support selected, the weight of the rider,
the terrain, the wind and the rider’s speed.
If riders want to go out for a longer ride,
they can bring a second battery, but it
weighs approximately three kilograms and
costs about a thousand dollars. The race
to find a longer-lasting alternative to the
lithium-ion batteries is intense, and prog-
ress will no doubt be made. In the mean-
time, myStromer does what it can to make
the most of existing battery technology and
uses regeneration to capture energy cre-
ated when the bike goes downhill.
The e-bikes should not only be practi-
cal transportation, says Binggeli, but also
a fashionable part of a certain lifestyle.
Whereas most e-bikes look like a bike
with a battery pack and motor attached,
the battery on a Stromer is fully inte-
grated into one of the frame’s tubes and
the motor is an inconspicuous part of the
rear-wheel hub.
Binggeli wants his e-bikes to be “new
mobility after the car.” He sees the bikes
as an answer to many of the issues of
the new millennium, including urban
congestion, sustainability and health. He
is targeting 30-to-50-year-olds who grew
up with bikes, moved on to a car, and
now want to go back to cycling. “I want
to bring back the joy they had as kids
riding around,” he says. “I want to create
that spirit.”
Leonardo DiCaprio bought eight
Stromer e-bikes and is said to
ride them around New York City.
This made it into the Swiss press
and has become a central ele-
ment of my Stromer marketing.
While the Swiss Touring Club TCS
reports that about one in seven
bicycles sold in Switzerland last
year was an e-bike, other coun-
tries, such as the uS, are less
receptive to bicycles as a means
of transportation and have been
slower to embrace e-bikes. A little
star power might help highlight
the benefits of these increasingly
sophisticated vehicles.
01 02
01
03
03 0204
01 The 2012 festival poster
02 Film stars Isabelle huppert and Gérard Dépardieu
03 Artistic director olivier Père
04 The Piazza with its 8,000 seats
The Piazza Grande
36 outlook 01/2012 37outlook 01/2012
Event | Locarno International Film Festival
Locarno’s Piazza Grande is the central
gathering area in the old part of town.
Some of the buildings surrounding the
square date back to the 14th century,
but nearby Lake Maggiore has flooded
the square often, so other buildings are
newer. The surface of the large piazza is
paved with small stones, and there are
tram tracks from a long defunct line that
cross through the center.
Like much of Switzerland’s Italian-speak-
ing canton of Ticino, Locarno has a strong
tourism industry. The city is on the south
side of the Alps, where the weather is sun-
nier than in northern, German-speaking
Switzerland. Visitors come to relax out-
side with a cup of coffee or walk along the
lake that stretches south towards Italy.
Every summer, for ten days, the Piazza
Grande sheds its low-key atmosphere
and takes on the magic of cinema. With
seating for an audience of 8,000, and
one of the largest screens in Europe, it
turns into a romantic spectacle that car-
ries people away.
As part of the Locarno International Film
Festival, movies are shown on the piazza
each evening, on the high-definition
screen that is 14 meters high and 26
meters wide. The films are world, interna-
tional or European premiers, and they are
introduced by the director and members
of the cast.
The films at this festival venue range
from summer blockbusters to lesser-
known pieces. All the movies are enter-
taining and designed to fill the thou-
sands of seats.
In 2011, the festival screened the Euro-
pean premier of Hollywood’s Cowboys &
Aliens. Not only did director Jon Favreau
come to Locarno to introduce the film,
but so did stars Harrison Ford, Daniel
Craig and Olivia Wilde. The group flew in
by helicopter from nearby Lugano, and
before the screening, each of the actors
addressed the crowd. Then, Harrison
Ford was honored with a Golden Leopard
for lifetime achievement.
Although this type of star appearance
is unusual for Locarno, evenings on the
piazza have glitz and glamour – on a suit-
ably down-to-earth Swiss scale. The atmo-
sphere is fun and festive, and many people
return year after year. These evenings are
the best-known aspect of a festival that
shows over 200 very diverse films, in ten
venues, all day long and into the night.
The film festival is often called “indie” or
“art house.” From early in the its history,
there has been an emphasis on new cin-
ema. Work by filmmakers such as Stanley
Kubrick, Milos Forman, Raul Ruiz, Alain
Tanner, Mike Leigh, Chen Kaige, Edward
Yang, Aleksander Sokurov, Atom Egoyan,
Jim Jarmusch, Spike Lee, Gus Van Sant,
Fatih Akin and Kim Ki-Duk were shown
here at the very beginning of the direc-
tors’ careers.
Some of the films shown at the festival are
experimental, and many deal with tough,
The Festival del film Locarno – A festival of beauty, depth and diversity
02 0301
04
01 Cowboys & Aliens actors Daniel Craig, harrison Ford and olivia Wilde, with director John Favreau
02 Isabelle huppert speaking to the press
01 Katharine hepburn, 194602 1946 screening outside the Grand hotel 03 Gina Lollobrigida, 1949
38 outlook 01/2012 39outlook 01/2012
gritty topics. Others are beautiful, touch-
ing and inspiring. Marco Müller, the artis-
tic director from 1992 to 2000, called the
festival a preferred place for films that pro-
vide “a way of thinking about the world”.
A city filled with film
Locarno has a population of only about
15,000. During the festival, almost the
whole city becomes a place of film. The
festival organizers are given use of the
electric company building and the Pala-
zzo Marcacci municipal building right on
the piazza. Press conferences take place
in the garden behind the town library.
Lunch events are held at a school, and
there is a cocktail party in the Visconteo
castle. For screenings, the festival takes
over movie theaters, a gym and other
suitable spaces around town. For con-
versations with the public, the organizers
put up a tent.
In big cities such as Berlin, Toronto and
New York, festivalgoers and filmmak-
ers spread out in the city after hours. In
Locarno, the town becomes an extension
of the festival. This allows for chance
encounters. The festival designates
certain bars and restaurants as festival
hangouts in the hope that this will bring
cinephiles together.
Film industry professionals are said to
enjoy the low-key atmosphere in Locarno.
There are scheduled events to bring them
Event | Locarno International Film Festival
in contact with one another and also just
informal opportunities for discussion. The
festival tries to help new filmmakers find
distribution for their work and support for
future projects. The diversity of film at the
festival can be helpful for this. “The big
films bring in the press and the industry,”
says artistic director Olivier Père. “All of
the films benefit from this.”
The festival also wants filmmakers to
have contact with the public. Last year,
there were 93 events at which produc-
ers, directors and actors spoke to the
audience. Not only does the public get
insight into the process and intent of the
filmmakers, but the filmmakers get a feel
for how their work is perceived.
The early years
The first Locarno Film Festival was in
1946, the same summer as the first
festival in Cannes and the relaunch of
the Venice film festival. Giacomo Genti-
luomo’s O sole mio was the first film to be
shown, on the lawn of the Grand Hotel.
Many of the films were in Italian, while
French and American films were also
present from the start. In the 1950s, the
festival began showing Eastern European
films, and in 1955, Locarno was the first
European festival to show a film from
the People’s Republic of China – Che
Houei’s Jumao Xin. In the age of the
Cold War, these screenings were fairly
controversial.
The festival has continued to show a very
international selection of films. At the
same time, it has also been important in
highlighting the work of Swiss directors
such as Michel Soutter, Claude Gore-
tta, Daniel Schmid, Francis Reusser,
Thomas Koerfer, Markus Imhoof and
Fredi Murer.
Throughout its history, the festival has
had to find a balance between film that is
experimental, uncomfortable or challeng-
ing, and screenings that bring in a crowd.
It was in 1971, when the festival was in
need of a bigger budget, that the Piazza
Grande was first used as a venue. This
was a turning point for the festival. It was
bringing films “to the masses.”
Back to Stay
In 2011, the Golden Leopard
went to Milagros Mumenthaler,
for the film Back to Stay.
Mumenthaler was born in
Argentina, but moved to Swit-
zerland as a baby. She then
returned to Argentina to study
film. Back to Stay, her first
feature, tells the story of three
sisters who are left alone to
create a new life for themselves
in an old Buenos Aires mansion
after their grandmother dies.
It is a lingering, atmospheric
piece that explores issues
of transition, mourning, family
dynamics and coming of age.
01
02
01 02
03
Posters throughout the decades
40 outlook 01/2012 41outlook 01/2012
A jury of seven well-known members of
the film world choose the winner from
approximately twenty fiction features.
The films are made by both established
directors and new talents.
There is a second competition which is
only open to new filmmakers. In order to
qualify for Filmmakers of the Present, a
film must be either the first or second fea-
ture by a director. Both fiction films and
documentaries qualify for this category.
For short films there is another competi-
tion: Leopards of Tomorrow. These films
can be no more than forty minutes in
length, and they must be by a director
who has never made a feature-length
film. There are two sections in this com-
petition: one is international and the other
is for Swiss filmmakers.
The festival chooses one region each year
in which film production is still developing
and highlights films and filmmakers from
the area. This Open Doors program is
supported by the Swiss Foreign Ministry’s
Agency for Development and Coopera-
tion. A dozen projects from the region are
chosen, and the directors and producers
are invited to Locarno, where they go to
workshops meant to help them find pro-
duction partners. During the festival, key
films from the chosen region are shown.
In 2010, Open Doors focused on Cen-
tral Asia, and projects were selected
from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan,
Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Last year,
India was featured, with the intention of
giving support to films not funded by
Bollywood. The twelve projects selected
were chosen from among 200 projects
in 18 languages. This year’s focus will
be French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa.
Each year, the festival shows a retrospec-
tive. Père sees this as an important part of
educating the new generation. He orga-
nized retrospectives for several organiza-
tions before becoming artistic director of
Director’s Fortnight independent section
at the Cannes Film Festival in 2004, and
then joining the Locarno festival in 2009.
The retrospective this year will feature
Otto Preminger. The festival will also show
work by those honored with this year’s
achievement awards, as well as films
made by members of the main juries.
New short films, film essays and docu-
mentaries by well-established filmmakers
will be screened during the eleven festival
days, alongside important films from the
history of cinema and Swiss films from
the past year.
The variety continues with exhibitions
and presentations of film in unusual for-
mats. Locarno accepts films in all for-
mats. Changes in technology have made
experiments with moving images more
diverse and more accessible.
“There has been a kind of democratiza-
tion,” says Père. “You see young people
getting together with friends and making
a great film.”
The artistic director says there is an inter-
national community of young filmmakers
who meet at events such as film festivals
and share notes on making films. The
festival encourages this kind of interac-
tion and helps the films find an audience.
The new technologies are leading to an
increased popularity of some styles of
filmmaking. One of these styles, says
Père, is an approach to fiction that is
similar to documentary. “It is very close
to reality,” he says, “but with an artistic
point of view.”
Père likes filmmakers with a strong vision
that comes across in a powerful, personal
way. The films for the 2012 Locarno Inter-
national Film Festival, which will be held
Event | Locarno International Film Festival
from August 1st through August 11th, have
not yet been announced, but there is no
doubt they will be interesting examples of
this auteur style.
“I want works that are smart, brave and
daring,” says Père. “I want to be moved.
I want to be surprised.”
There are two prizes awarded to films
screened on the piazza: one is an audi-
ence prize and the other is determined
by judges from America’s Variety maga-
zine. The main competition, however, is
the International Competition, where the
(hallmark) Golden Leopard is awarded.
Locarno
The city is located at the northern
end of Lake Maggiore, in the canton
of Ticino. The canton makes up about
seven percent of the area of Switzer-
land and has about 350,000 resi-
dents. It is the only canton in which
Italian is the main language.
Though the population of Locarno is
only about 15,000, the urban area,
which includes the ritzier town of
Ascona, has approximately 60,000
inhabitants. The area’s history as a
tourist destination dates back to the
Imperial roman period. In 1925 the
city received international attention
when it hosted negotiations for the
Locarno Treaties, to settle territorial
issues and smooth relations with
Germany following the First World War.
otto Preminger Preminger
is one of
hollywood’s
many Euro-
pean-born
success
stories. he
began life in Austro- hungarian
Wiznitz in 1905 and later moved
to Vienna, where he learned the
art of directing from Max rein-
hardt. In 1934 he moved to the
uS and worked in theater in New
York, before heading to holly-
wood to direct films. his first big
hit was the film noir Laura.
over the course of his career,
Preminger made 38 movies.
he was known for getting out of
the way, for not employing
distracting stylistics but rather
providing realism and creating a
flow that carried viewers through
the story.
42 outlook 01/2012 43outlook 01/2012
Frutigen is a town in the Kandertal, a
valley that leads from the Bernese Alps
towards the flatter expanses of north-
eastern Switzerland. The area has craggy
mountain crests, temperate forests and
rich grass for cows and sheep.
The story of how caviar production came to
Frutigen begins with the construction of a
railway tunnel. The 34.6 kilometer Loetsch-
berg Base Tunnel, which runs beneath the
Alps from Frutigen to the southern canton
of Valais, was built between 1999 and
2007. The tunnel is part of the Swiss Alp
Transit initiative, designed to reduce pol-
lution and boost transit speed by putting
trucks and cars passing through Switzer-
land onto railway wagons.
The tunnel has about 2,000 meters
of rock towering above it. This rock
is warmed by heat radiating from the
earth’s core, and as rain and snow-
melt trickle down through porous lay-
ers within the mountains, the water is
warmed. By the time the water comes
flowing out of the tunnel, it is about 20
degrees Celsius. One hundred liters of
this warm water pour out of the Loetsch-
berg Base Tunnel every second.
If the water were to flow directly into the
valley’s Kander River, it would raise the
temperature of the river and disturb the fish
population. The Swiss government there-
fore requires that any warmed water des-
tined for the river be cooled to within 0.5
degrees Celsius of the river’s natural tem-
perature. Peter Hufschmied, chief engineer
and head of construction management for
the northern part of the Loetschberg Base
Tunnel, was assigned the responsibility of
figuring out how to cool the water.
At first the plan was to use the warm water
to heat local houses. When it became clear
that this would be too expensive, a cooling
tower to release the extra heat into the air
was considered. “I said to myself, ‘This is
ridiculous – to spend money and energy
to destroy energy. There must be a better
idea,’” says Hufschmied. He began to think
it would be good to use the heat energy for
some form of production. “There was not
only heat but also water,” he says, “and this
led to the idea of a warm-water fish farm.”
It just so happened that several years
before, while he was working on a bridge
restoration project in Russia, a Russian
engineer (who was to become his wife)
took him to Moscow’s Bolshoi Theater.
During a break, the couple was served a
snack with smoked sturgeon and caviar.
Hufschmied was impressed by the fish
meat and caviar, and he made a men-
tal note that a sturgeon farm might be
an interesting project. When warm water
appeared and needed to be used, the
sturgeon farm went from a vague notion
to a concrete idea.
Since not all the heat energy would be
consumed raising the fish, Hufschmied
decided to use the remaining heat for
a greenhouse. “We could have grown
tomatoes there, but everyone does
that,” he says. So instead, he got in
contact with a new project in the can-
ton of Lucerne, where waste heat from a
Gourmet | Swiss Caviar
oona – Caviar from the Swiss Alps
The world’s longest tunnels
With a length of 34.6 kilometers, the
Loetschberg Base Tunnel is the
third-longest functioning tunnel in the
world, following Japan’s Seikan Tunnel
and the British-French Eurotunnel. The
Loetschberg Base Tunnel will be moved
back a position when the 57-kilometer
Gotthard Base Tunnel opens in 2016 to
become the world’s longest tunnel.
Like the Loetschberg Base Tunnel, the
Gotthard Base Tunnel is part of the
Swiss Alp Transit initiative.
01 Siberian sturgeon are raised in pools behind the Tropenhaus
02 Water quality affects the taste of caviar
Project initiator Peter hufschmied
0201
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44 outlook 01/2012
Gourmet | Swiss Caviar
gas-compression plant was being used
to grow tropical fruit. He decided these
fruit would be suited for Frutigen as well.
In 2002 Hufschmied and colleagues
began to develop the idea of a Tropen-
haus Frutigen, which would combine fish
farming and a tropical-plant greenhouse.
In 2005 the first fish were purchased,
and in late 2009, the Tropenhaus opened
to an overwhelmingly positive response.
Whereas local residents had originally
thought a project involving caviar and
tropical fruit in their snowy mountain val-
ley was a little crazy, they became proud
of the Tropenhaus as interest developed
throughout Switzerland and abroad. In
November of 2011, the organization was
able to sell the first-ever Swiss caviar.
A new home for an ancient fish
Sturgeon caviar was originally eaten near
the Caspian Sea and the Volga River. It
was considered a food of the poor, usu-
ally of fishermen, since the eggs spoiled
quickly and therefore could not be sold
easily. The fact that caviar was so dif-
ficult to transport also gave it exclusiv-
ity, however, and Czars and aristocrats
began to serve the fish eggs at special
occasions. Over time, caviar’s popularity
spread from Russia to Europe.
The traditional producers of Caviar
have been four countries bordering on
the Caspian Sea: Russia, Iran, Azerbai-
jan and Kazakhstan. The most famous
caviar came from beluga, a huge
sturgeon species that often lives to be
more than 100 years old. The females
take 18 years to mature and their eggs
are prized for their 3 millimeter to 4
millimeter size. Many other species of
sturgeon are also valued for their eggs,
and caviar production spread beyond
Central Asia.
Sturgeon have been around since before
dinosaurs walked the earth. They are
over 200 million years old. The fish are
primarily cartilaginous and are partially
covered with bony plates. They do not
have scales. Just looking at this fish, one
senses something primordial.
There are over twenty species of sturgeon.
Most feed in river deltas and estuaries,
and then travel upriver to spawn. Almost
all sturgeon species are now endangered,
due to overfishing, habitat destruction and
pollution. As wild sturgeon populations
decrease, sturgeon farming has increased.
Hufschmied and his team chose the
Siberian sturgeon for Frutigen. This stur-
geon is very adaptable and can handle a
wide range of climates. In the wild the fish
can live to be sixty, at which point they
can weight up to 200 kilograms and have
a length of two meters. In their natural
01 The Caspian Sea is the traditional source of caviar
02 Tropical plants grow against a mountain backdrop
03 Fruit grown in the Tropenhaus is served in its restaurants
03
01
02
46 outlook 01/2012 47outlook 01/2012
The caviar is sold in packages ranging
from 30 grams all the way up to 1 kilo-
gram. The smaller sizes are packaged in a
1.4 kilogram glass cube from Switzerland’s
renowned glass-makers Glasi Hergiswil.
Guests at the Tropenhaus
Visitors can watch the sturgeon in viewing
pools behind the main buildings. They
can also visit the Tropenhaus museum,
walk through the greenhouse and eat in
one of the two Tropenhaus restaurants.
The museum has a display showing
the characteristics of various sturgeon
species. It also presents the benefits
and challenges of world fisheries and
fish farming. Other displays cover the
Loetschberg Base Tunnel, sustainable
energy and the workings of the Tropen-
haus. In order to keep things interesting
for returning visitors, the Tropenhaus also
presents temporary exhibits.
Visitors can walk through the greenhouse,
where it is warm and balmy. Through the
glass panels, they can see surrounding
mountains, which is particularly striking
when those mountains are covered with
snow. Inside, there is a strong scent of
plants and soil.
The main products of the greenhouse
are bananas and papayas. Planners had
originally envisioned a kind of monocul-
ture for these fruits, but then realized this
was not practical, because they could
not consistently produce the quantities
a retail store would require. When visitor
interest far exceeded their expectations,
Gourmet | Swiss Caviar
habitat, the females of the type of Sibe-
rian sturgeon raised at the Tropenhaus
bear eggs after about ten to twelve years.
In Frutigen, because the water is kept
at warmer, “summer” temperatures, the
fish mature more quickly, and eggs can
be harvested after six to seven years.
At the Tropenhaus, when the sturgeon
is three years old, ultrasound is used to
determine its gender. At this point, the
males are butchered and their meat is sold
in the Tropenhaus shop and restaurants,
as well as in other Swiss restaurants.
The female fish are kept until just before
they would have laid their eggs. Ultra-
sound is used here again to identify this
stage of development. The fish are then
killed, and the eggs are removed. The
meat is smoked with a mixture of beech
and oak chips, and sold in the shop or to
restaurants.
oona
Caviar from the Tropenhaus is sold under
the Oona brand. The name is derived from
the Celtic word for “the one” or “the extraor-
dinary.” This past caviar season, which ran
from December through February, the Tro-
penhaus produced between 200 kilograms
and 300 kilograms of Oona caviar.
All of the production is done in-house.
When eggs are removed from the stur-
geon, they are immediately salted and
packaged. The Tropenhaus adds about
3 percent salt to most of its caviar, which
makes the caviar “malossol”, from the
Russian for “little salt.” The group also
sells one type, N* 102, which is meant
to be eaten fresh and has less salt. This
caviar must be ordered in advance and
is sent out the same day it is harvested.
Because of its low salt content, it must be
eaten almost immediately.
The malossol caviar, which can be kept
for about three months when left in its
sealed container and cooled to between
–2 degrees Celsius and 2 degrees Celsius,
is divided into three classes. N* 101 is the
highest quality and makes up about 5 per-
cent of the caviar production. These eggs
are hand selected to have a diameter of at
least 2.6 millimeters and to have consistent
coloring. The eggs classified as N* 103 are
smaller, but also have consistent coloring
and a perfectly round shape. Caviar N* 104
is less homogenous in color and shape.
Caviar spoons
Special spoons are made to serve
caviar. Most metals, including silver,
will affect the flavor of caviar,
so these spoons are usually made of
bone, horn or mother of pearl.
the group decided to move away from the
limited-crop idea and plant a wide variety
of other tropical plants. Signs give visitors
information about the background and
uses of the plants.
01 The mature females are taken from the pools
02 They are butchered, and the eggs are removed
03 A female will produce about 10% of her weight in eggs
01 The eggs are salted02 Quality is checked
carefully03 oona caviar comes
in a glass cube from Switzerand’s renowned glass-maker Glasi hergiswil
03 0202
03
0101
48 outlook 01/2012 49outlook 01/2012
Most of the yield from the greenhouse is
used in the two Tropenhaus restaurants.
The gourmet restaurant was recently
remodeled to fit the “Oona” brand,
with a wide variety of caviar and stur-
geon specialties in addition to fruit and
spices from the greenhouse. The sec-
ond restaurant is more family-oriented,
though it also serves several caviar and
sturgeon dishes. In the summer, it has
outdoor seating.
Before they leave, visitors can stop and
buy Tropenhaus products at the shop.
The assortment varies by season and can
include caviar, sturgeon meat, sturgeon
pâté, fruit, jam and spices. The Tropen-
haus sells a range of products, but in
the future, it will clearly be caviar that
provides the group’s primary source of
income.
Developing the business
The project is still working to become
profitable. Since it takes the female Sibe-
rian sturgeon six to seven years to bear
eggs, a project such as this one takes
longer than many other types of busi-
nesses to reach profitability. Hufschmied
emphasizes that the goal of the project is
sustainable production. The Tropenhaus
looks at every decision it makes in the
light of this sustainability.
The project does not to use pesticides in
the greenhouse, and it stays away from
antibiotics and other medicines when
raising the fish. With the aim of discon-
tinuing the use of fish feed that contains
fish meal, the Tropenhaus is in a partner-
ship to develop fish feed made of local
proteins. After butchering the sturgeon,
the Tropenhaus seeks to make use of as
Gourmet | Swiss Caviar
much of the fish as it can. As part of this,
the group is looking for a tanner to make
leather from the sturgeon skin.
The parts of the fish that cannot be used
will be sent to a biogas plant that is currently
under construction in Frutigen. There, the
organic waste will be turned into fuel. The
Tropenhaus also has solar panels on the
roof and uses surplus drinking water to
power a turbine. The project came from the
idea of making good use of the geothermal
energy in warm water, and that spirit has
been preserved throughout the endeavor.
Demand for the first Swiss caviar has
come from all over the world, and the
Tropenhaus has grounds to be optimis-
tic. It hopes to expand caviar production
to 3 metric tons by 2015. The project
currently has 35,000 sturgeon and it will
Defining “caviar”Though “caviar” usually refers
to unfertilized sturgeon eggs, it
is sometimes also used to
describe the eggs of other fish,
such as salmon, trout, white-
fish, steelhead or lumpfish.
Sturgeon caviar is sometimes
called “black caviar.”
increase that number to 60,000. The
amount of sturgeon meat being produced
would then rise to about 18 tonnes.
While sturgeon is well-known as a delicacy
in Eastern Europe, it is not as prevalent in
Western Europe, because the sturgeon
of this region died out many years ago.
In order to reintroduce the fish and boost
its popularity, Peter Hufschmied’s wife
Elena worked with six renowned Swiss
chefs to create a sturgeon cookbook.
For those involved in the project, it is
now the most in the natural thing in the
world to have these prehistoric fish in a
Swiss mountain town. They have brought
together pure alpine water, classic Swiss
quality and an emphasis on the many
details necessary to create overall sus-
tainability. They are betting that this is a
winning combination.
Serving the delicacyCaviar is frequently served with
blini (very small flat pancakes). It
is also sometimes served with
buttered toast, baked potatoes or
small potato pancakes with crème
fraiche. These sides are meant
to be subtle in flavor, so as not to
interfere with the caviar. Beve-
rages said to enhance the flavor
of caviar include champagne, dry
white wine and vodka.
Cute chickens with bountiful fuzzy tufts
walk among these plants. The chickens
are Silkies, originally from Asia. They are
known for their particularly amiable tem-
peraments, and they help keep the soil
loose. An enclosure with tortoises and a
basin with a few sturgeon are also on
hand, much to the delight of the many
children who visit the Tropenhaus.
01 In the museum, a display presents the various species of sturgeon
02 The Siberian sturgeon
01 Both Tropenhaus restaurants serve fish and caviar
02 The Terrasserie restaurant has a relaxed, tropical atmosphere
02 0201 01
50 outlook 01/2012 51outlook 01/2012
Jet Aviation | Inside
Jet Aviation adds houston to its growing list of FBo locations Jeppesen handler of the Year award
Contact:
Jet Aviation Dubai FBO
Tel. +971 4 207 3411
Fax +971 4 299 0701
Contact:
Jet Aviation London Biggin Hill
Tel. +44 1959 579 600
Fax +44 1959 579 601
Jet Aviation Singapore
Tel. +65 6481 5311
Fax +65 6482 0602
In recognition of its outstanding customer
service, Jet Aviation Dubai received the
Jeppesen Handler of the Year award for ser-
vices provided throughout 2011 in Africa,
the Middle East and India. The award honors
the FBO for fully meeting the service expec-
tations of its discerning customers.
The process of naming Jet Aviation Dubai
handler of choice in the region involved
Jeppesen trip planners located at offices
worldwide voting on several criteria,
including response time, problem solving
skills, facility, safety and customer service.
Jet Aviation acquired the Enterprise Jet
Center FBO at Hobby Airport in Houston,
Texas, adding the 14th FBO to its global
network of premium aircraft service and
support facilities.
The facility is one of the largest and most
modern FBOs providing fuel, catering,
aircraft cleaning, maintenance, repair
and overhaul (MRO) services to private
aircraft. It becomes the sixth Jet Aviation
FBO in the U.S., including Boston/Bed-
ford, Mass.; Dallas, Texas; Palm Beach,
Fla.; St. Louis, Mo.; and Teterboro, N.J.
The FBO features include a 10,000-square
foot drive-through canopy for aircraft, an
85,000-square foot clear-span hangar,
a 30,000-square foot maintenance-only
facility that is open 24 hours per day,
and a 28,500-square foot terminal/office
building.
The onsite professionals in this certified
FAA Repair Station (J89R218Y) specialize
in Falcons, Citations, King Airs, Hawkers,
Learjets and Beechjets. Certified techni-
cians perform routine aircraft servicing
and major inspections and repairs.
Contact:
Jet Aviation Houston
Tel. +1 713 358 9100
Fax +1 713 358 9090
Jet Aviation is pleased to announce the
appointments of Judtih Moreton and
Gary Dolski, who will each serve as vice
president and general manager of Jet
Aviation London Biggin Hill and Jet Avia-
tion Singapore, respectively.
Dolski launched his career at Bristol
Aerospace in 1981 managing projects in
support of commercial and military pro-
grams. A 30-year veteran of the aerospace
industry, he joins Jet Aviation from Mesa,
Arizona-based MD Helicopters where he
served as vice president of customer
support. Previously, Dolski spent nearly
20 years with Bombardier Aerospace in
various senior management roles includ-
ing business development and strategy,
aftermarket sales and customer support,
supply chain and contract management,
and finance.Moreton most recently served as found-
ing director of business consultancy firm
Little Blue Private Jets Ltd. Prior to that
she was managing director of Bombar-
dier Skyjet International, expanding the
company into the Middle East and Asia
Pacific, and leading the business until it
was sold in 2008. She was honored with
the European Business Aviation (EBACE)
award for her outstanding contribution to
business aviation in May 2007.
New GMs at Jet Aviation London Biggin hill and Singapore
01 Wynand Meyer (left), vendor relations manager, Africa, Middle East & India, Jeppesen Trip Planning Services, and Philippe Gerard (right), director FBo, Jet Aviation Dubai
02 Customer lounge
01 02
52 outlook 01/2012 53outlook 01/2012
Jet Aviation | Inside
Jet Aviation Basel recently installed a Tail
and Wing Dock platform in its wide-body
maintenance hangar to help reduce air-
craft downtime during major inspections.
Fitted with air and electricity, the docking
station is certified for BBJ and Airbus 320
series aircraft and enables ready access
to all four levels of the tail, as well as full
structural inspection of the wings.
The imposing four-level Tail and Wing
Dock is equipped with hoist equipment,
fuel-fume evacuation hoses, special
explosion-proof floor lights and an addi-
tional platform to permit maintenance on
the auxiliary power unit (APU).
Jet Aviation Hong Kong has opened a
new 5,200 sq. ft. interior shop, adding
comprehensive interior refurbishment
capabilities to the company’s mainte-
nance facility.
With state-of-the-art equipment for four
different work bays, the respective work
bays support upholstery, carpeting, wood
and veneer finishing and eco-friendly
spray-painting and buffing.
Featuring a cyclone dust collection sys-
tem, a rotary screw air compressor, a
clean room and a brightly lit buffing area,
Basel adds Tail & Wing Dock
hong Kong expands service offerings with new interior shop
Contact:
Jet Aviation Basel
Tel. +41 58 158 4111
Fax: +41 58 158 4004
Contact:
Jet Aviation Hong Kong
Tel. +852 2492 7334
Fax +852 2492 0334
Jet Aviation Dusseldorf recently refur-
bished its third hangar to convert the
former tenant-only hangar to a 2,450 sq.
m. (26,372 sq. ft.) maintenance and ten-
ant hangar. The hangar has been outfit-
ted with state-of-the-art equipment and
now supports maintenance activities on
Dusseldorf expands its maintenance capabilities
Contact:
Jet Aviation Dusseldorf
Tel. +49 211 454 970
Fax +49 211 454 3423
up to 9 mid-sized aircraft, such as the
Cessna Citation Sovereign. Designed to
speed up the maintenance cycle for a
faster return to service, the refurbishment
included installation of heating, lighting
and electrical systems, along with a new
electrostatic dissipative flooring system.
With a view to ensuring that parts are
readily available for mutual custom-
ers when needed, Jet Aviation recently
received support from Bombardier and
Dassault Falcon through two separate
spare parts agreements.
Jet Aviation Moscow Vnukovo has signed
an agreement with Bombardier to store a
continuous varied selection of 300 critical
spare parts. Similarly, Jet Aviation Hong
Kong recently received a vast assortment
of aircraft spares on consignment from
Dassault Falcon.
Jet Aviation gains support from oEMs in Moscow and hong Kong
Contacts:
Jet Aviation Moscow Vnukovo
Tel. +7 495 662 1350
Tel. +7 963 644 8969 (AOG)
Fax +7 495 662 1351
Jet Aviation Hong Kong
Tel. +852 2215 3533
Fax +852 2215 3733
The agreements help reduce aircraft
downtime, particularly in AOG circum-
stances, and thereby serve to improve
customer maintenance support for
respective aircraft owners and operators
flying in the regions.
Ian Ludlow (left), general director of Jet Aviation Moscow Vnukovo, and Eric Martel (right), president, customer services & specialized amphibious aircraft at Bombardier
the shop further offers a wide range of
interior support offerings.
54 outlook 01/2012 55outlook 01/2012
Jet Aviation | Inside
Growing global charter and aircraft management fleet
Contact:
Jet Aviation Business Jets
Aircraft Management & Charter
EMEA & Asia
Tel. +41 58 158 8787
Fax +41 58 158 8785
Jet Aviation Flight Services
Aircraft Management & Charter
The Americas
Tel. +1 201 462 4100
Tel. +1 800 736 8538
Fax +1 201 462 4033
Jet Aviation has added six new aircraft to
its global charter fleet: a Falcon 900C and
2000, a Challenger 601, a Global Express,
a Gulfstream V and a Legacy 600. All six
aircraft are luxuriously appointed and
have new or recently refurbished interiors
and exterior paint.
Based in Hartford, Conn., the Falcon
900C seats 12 passengers, has a 10-hour
range and features a full galley, Inmarsat
system and a complete cabin entertain-
ment suite.
The Challenger 601 is based in Boston/
Bedford, Mass., seats eight passengers
and sleeps three comfortably. Cabin
amenities include a Flitephone, an Air-
show system and cabin entertainment
equipment including a DVD player.
The Philadelphia, Pa.-based Global
Express can carry 14 passengers and
is perfect for ultra long-range trips. Five
monitors are placed throughout the cabin
to support the entertainment system. The
cabin seating berths to sleep four to five
in comfort.
With its 13-hour range, the Van Nuys,
California-based Gulfstream V seats 16
and is perfect for a productive and com-
fortable long-range flight. The aircraft
has domestic WiFi capability, in-flight
communications systems and a fully
equipped galley. The aircraft sleeps
seven.
Also based in Van Nuys, the Legacy 600
has an endurance of more than seven
hours and can accommodate 13 passen-
gers and is suitable for sleeping seven.
This aircraft also has domestic WiFi
capability plus a complete cabin enter-
tainment system.
From Geneva, Switzerland, Jet Aviation
now operates a Dassault Falcon 2000
under its Air Operator’s Certificate (AOC).
Known for its large cabin, high speed and
transcontinental range, the aircraft has a
non-stop range of 6.5 hours.
Gary Dempsey elected to NATA board of directors
Contact:
Jet Aviation
U.S. Aircraft Services
Tel. +1 201 288 8400
Fax +1 201 462 4136
At its annual membership meeting in
March, the National Air Transportation
Association (NATA) named Jet Aviation’s
Gary Dempsey to its board of direc-
tors. Based in Teterboro, New Jersey,
Dempsey joined Jet Aviation in 2003 and
was appointed president of Jet Aviation
U.S. Aircraft Services in July 2006.
Dempsey has led some of the top-rated
FBOs and service centers in the U.S. and
is dedicated to serving the general aviation
transportation industry. As the voice of busi-
ness aviation industry in the United States,
NATA is the public policy group represent-
ing the interests of aviation businesses
before Congress and the federal agencies.
Global Expansion at Jet Professionals
Contacts
Jet Professionals, The Americas
Teterboro l NJ, USA
Tel. +1 201 393 6900
Tel. +1 800 441 6016
Jet Professionals, EMEA & Asia
Basel-Airport l Switzerland
Tel. +41 58 158 8877
Al Bateen Executive Airport
Abu Dhabi l United Arab Emirates
Tel. + 971 2 491 7100
In light of its expanding portfolio of
services and steady business growth,
Jet Professionals has restructured its
management worldwide, making three
new appointments to ensure dedicated
regional leadership.
George Kythreotis has been promoted to
vice president and general manager of
Jet Professionals in the Americas. Based
in Teterboro, Kythreotis has managed Jet
Professionals for the past three years in
addition to his duties as vice president of
human resources for Jet Aviation.
Based in Abu Dhabi, Hani Farag joined
Jet Aviation in March 2008 as a senior
human resources advisor and was
recently appointed managing director of
Jet Professionals EMEA & Asia.
Joanne Goodall began working for Jet
Professionals in 2008 as a senior account
manager in Zurich and was appointed
head of operations in Basel effective
January 9 this year.
(left to right): George Kythreotis, vice president, Jet Professionals, The Americas; hani Farag, managing director, Jet Professionals, EMEA & Asia; Joanne Goodall, head of operations, Jet Professionals, EMEA & Asia
Legacy 600 Global ExpressFalcon 2000
56 outlook 01/2012 57outlook 01/2012
Jet Aviation | Inside
WEF attendees prefer Jet Aviation Zurich FBo
Ideally situated to provide premium VIP
ground handling services for fast, safe
and easy transit, the FBO at Jet Aviation
Zurich proved to be a clear favorite of
those attending the annual World Eco-
nomic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in
January this year.
In the 6 days leading up to, including and
following WEF 2012, the FBO managed
over 3,500 email requests and sched-
ule changes, while handling 1,600 pas-
sengers and 335 aircraft, including 91
large business jets, 17 narrow-body and
3 wide-body aircraft.
Contact:
Jet Aviation Zurich FBO
Tel. +41 58 158 8466
Fax +41 58 158 8475
[email protected] Aviation St. Louis adds and enhances manu-facturer approvals; Jet Aviation Teterboro appointed as an authorized rockwell Collins Dealership
General Electric has renewed the Jet
Aviation St. Louis service center authori-
zation for the CF34 engine which powers
the Bombardier Challenger series. Jet
Aviation St. Louis serviced more than 110
Bombardier Challenger aircraft in 2011.
Already a factory-authorized service
for the Embraer Legacy 600, Embraer
recently extended the St. Louis approv-
als to include the Legacy 650.
Similarly, Jet Aviation Teterboro has been
named an official Rockwell Collins dealer,
ensuring better pricing for customers and
enabling the operation to provide war-
ranty support.
Contact:
Jet Aviation St. Louis
Tel. +1 618 646 8000
Tel. +1 800 222 0422
Fax +1 618 646 8877
Jet Aviation Teterboro
Tel. +1 201 462 4000
Tel. +1 800 538 0832
Fax +1 201 462 4005
Jet Aviation Palm Beach hosts its 12th annual La Bella Macchina
Jet Aviation’s Palm Beach facility was
transformed into a showcase for high-
performance products and charitable
giving in January when it hosted the 12th
Annual La Bella Macchina (“The Beauti-
ful Machine”).
Contact:
Jet Aviation Palm Beach
Tel. +1 561 233 7200
Tel. +1 800 538 0724
Fax +1 561 233 7240
More than 1,200 invited guests strolled
among stunning displays of business air-
craft and Ferrari automobiles to mingle
and participate in a silent auction which
raised $20,000 for the Boys and Girls
Club of Palm Beach County.
Held each year in conjunction with the
Cavallino Classic, a fanfare of Ferrari
automobiles and their owners, La Bella
Macchina featured displays of business
aircraft from many of the world’s leading
manufacturers, yachts and close to 100
late-model and classic Ferraris.
Jet Aviation St. Louis appointed as Gulfstream Factory- Authorized Service Center
Jet Aviation St. Louis recently added Gulf-
stream to its cadre of factory-authorized
service center designations and now has
OEM authorization to perform scheduled
and unscheduled maintenance on Gulf-
stream G350, G400, G450, G500, G550,
GIV/GIV-SP and GV aircraft.
This designation permits the company to
provide warranty support for Gulfstream
aircraft and facilitates access to parts and
Gulfstream technical support. In addition
to Gulfstream, the St. Louis operation
currently has OEM approvals from Bom-
bardier and Embraer plus a large number
of engine and avionics manufacturers.
The company maintains OEM-dedicated
maintenance teams and hangars for
Bombardier, Dassault Falcon, Embraer,
Hawker and Gulfstream aircraft.
Contact:
Jet Aviation St. Louis
Tel. +1 618 646 8000
Tel. +1 800 222 0422
Fax +1 618 646 8877
To locate your regional Sales Representative, visit gulfSTReam.com/contacts
Intercontinental range, record-setting speed, unrivaled
utility and top-rated worldwide support. The World Standard®
isn’t just a company tag line, it’s a benchmark by which all
others must be measured.
He WORlD STaNDaRDT
Masthead and advertisers
outlook Magazine 01/2012
Published by: Jet Aviation Management AG Daniel G. Clare, President P.O. Box 229 CH-8058 Zurich Airport I Switzerland Tel. +41 58 158 8888 I Fax +41 58 158 8885 [email protected]
Project management: Heinz R. Aebi, Caroline Kooijmans-Schwarz
Editor-in-chief: Heinz R. Aebi
Authors: Stephanie Schwartz, Mary-Lou Murphy, Ann Hein
Photography: ICRC Phototèque/Dr Dorothée Baumann/Thierry Gassmanny/Dibeh Fakhr/s.n./ Robin Waudo/Jeroen Oerlemans/Christoph Von Toggenburg/HEGER, Boris, wikipedia, wikimedia, Canadian Red Cross, German Red Cross, Christie’s images LTD 2012, google images, antiquesandartireland, John Bluck,The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, hktdc.com, Tropenhaus Frutigen AG, OONA Schweiz, flickr chrchr_75, NEAT BLS AG 2007, Stephanie Schwartz, Thomson Reuters / Michael Buholzer, Stromer Media, Thoemus Media, Festival del film Locarno/Tipress - Samuel Golay/ Pedrazzini/Tipress – Golay/Ti-Press – Reguzzi, MaggiorepiX, archivio Ticino Turismo, BMW Group Press Club Global, Press Club France, BMW AG
Concept and design: Publicis Werbeagentur AG Zurich I Switzerland
Printed by: Elanders GmbH & Co. KG Waiblingen I Germany
Print run: 30,000 copies
orders: [email protected]
Copyright: Outlook is published semi-annually. The contents may be reproduced with credit to Outlook, the magazine of Jet Aviation.
Advertising inquiries: For all advertising inquiries please call Heinz R. Aebi in EMEA at +41 58 158 88 90 or e-mail: [email protected]
© Copyright 2012 Jet Aviation All rights reserved
Founded in 1875 by Jules-Louis Audemars and Edward-Auguste Piguet in the Swiss village of Le Brassus, Audemars Piguet is the oldest manufacture of Haute Horlogerie never to have left the hands of the founding families.
Today, its range encompasses complex mechanical watches, Haute Joaillerie creations as well as a line of jewelry. At each stage in its history, the manufacturer has daringly adopted avant-garde techniques in order to place them in the service of traditional craftsmanship. Worldwide, Audemars Piguet currently employs over 1,000 people.
Instruments for Professionals. More than a slogan, it's a vocation. Or obsession is quality. Our goal is performance. Day after day, we consistently enhance the sturdiness and functionality of our chronographs. And we submit all our movements to the merciless scrutiny of the Swiss Official
Chronometer Testing Institute. One simply does not become an aviation supplier by chance.
Founded in 1955 in La-Chaux-de-Fonds, CORUM is positioned as an exclusive watchmaking brand and offers high-quality watch collections featuring an innovative and distinctive design. Its 150 current references, equipped with sophisticated mechanical movements, enjoy
a legitimacy rooted in the brand’s history. The core collection is spread between two key pillars – Admiral’s Cup and Corum Bridges – completed by two satellite collections – Romvlvs and Artisans. www.corum.ch
Dassault Falcon is part of Dassault Aviation, a leading global aerospace company. Since the rollout of the first Falcon 20 in 1963, over 2000 Falcon jets have been delivered to more than 65 countries worldwide. The family of Falcon jets currently in production includes the tri-jets – Falcon 900DX,
900LX and the 7X – as well as the twin-engine Falcon 2000LX. The company has assembly and production plants in both France and the US and service facilities in Europe and North America. It employs a total workforce of over 12,000.
Embraer Executive Jets is the fastest growing executive jet manufacturer in the world delivering nearly one in every five jets in 2010. Embraer offers a wide range of seven revolutionary aircraft designed with luxury, performance,
high dispatch reliability and cabin sizes capable of fulfilling virtually any mission need. Our award winning aircraft portfolio includes the Phenom 100 entry level jet, the Phenom 300 light jet, the Legacy 450 midlight jet, the Legacy 500 midlight jet, the Legacy 600 super midsize jet, the Legacy 650 large jet and the Lineage 1000 ultra large cabin jet.
Gulfstream Aerospace Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD), designs, develops, manufactures, markets, services and supports the world’s most technologically advanced business-jet
aircraft. Gulfstream has produced aircraft for customers around the world since 1958. To meet the diverse transportation needs of the future, Gulfstream offers a comprehensive fleet of aircraft, comprising the wide-cabin, high-speed Gulfstream G150®; the large-cabin, mid-range Gulfstream G200®; the new large-cabin, mid-range Gulfstream G280®; the large-cabin, long-range G450®; the large-cabin, ultra-long-range Gulfstream G550® and the ultra-large-cabin, ultra-long-range G650®. Gulfstream also offers aircraft ownership services via Gulfstream Financial Services Division and Gulfstream Pre-Owned Aircraft Sales®.
Julius Baer is the leading Swiss private banking group, with an exclusive focus on servicing and advising private clients. Its total client assets amounted to CHF 258 billion at the end of 2011, with assets under
management accounting for CHF 170 billion. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd., the renowned Swiss private bank with origins dating back to 1890, is the principal operating company of Julius Baer Group Ltd., whose shares are listed on the SIX Swiss Exchange (ticker symbol: BAER) and form part of the Swiss Market Index (SMI) of the 20 largest and most liquid Swiss stocks. Julius Baer employs a staff of over 3,600 in more than 20 countries and over 40 locations, including Zurich (head office), Dubai, Frankfurt, Geneva, Hong Kong, London, Lugano, Milan, Monaco, Montevideo, Moscow and Singapore. For more information visit our website at www.juliusbaer.com
UBS Leasing AG, a UBS AG subsidiary headquartered in Zurich and with branches in Lausanne and Lugano, specializes in finance leasing, refinancing capital goods and financing and leasing of corporate aircraft. Clients of UBS Leasing include SMEs and group companies,
public-sector entities, joint authorities, licensed transport companies and HNWIs. UBS Leasing AG is one of the leading financing companies in Switzerland; its constant growth is a good indication of the company’s proximity to the market and its competitiveness. www.ubs.com
58 outlook 01/2012
W E K N O W W H Y Y O U F L Y
Aerospace
Multifunction titanium chronograph
Exclusive SuperQuartzTM movement
Officially chronometer-certified
Water-resistant to 100 m / 330 ft
CA103734_Aerospace_210x280_OutlookJetAvia.indd 1 18.04.12 11:11