Aman at sea. Why branded yachts might be the future of ownership.

Would you rather build your yacht from scratch, or buy a Heesen designed by Four Seasons?

Over the few years I have been fascinated with the unprecedented rise in branded residences across a plethora of cosmopolitan cities worldwide. From Aman residences in Tokyo offering 91 exclusive apartments (check them out, they are insane), to Aston Martin Residences in Miami – a 66-story skyscraper offering 391 residences launched last year, and including a project closer to home for myself, the One Nine Elms development in London – a mixed-use development including a 203 room Park Hyatt hotel and 103 Park Hyatt-branded apartments.

DAMAC have even partnered with Chelsea FC to bring football inspired residences to Dubai – I’m unsure what a ‘football inspired residence’ even looks like but I’m excited to find out!

This got me thinking - surely the next step in luxury consumption would be branded superyachts. But what would that look like? How would the commercialisation work from the shipyards and ultimately, would anyone be interested in owning one?

Why branded residences work

Branded residences have been around for some time now, with the first project credited as being the Residences at the Four Seasons in Boston, launched in 1985. Now, there are estimated to be over 100 brands within the space and over 240 new projects added across 100 markets in 2024 alone.

With over 100,000 branded residence units globally, and expectations to grow by another 86% by 2027 (The Times) – the concept is known, thriving and rife for expansion. Interestingly, in markets such as Dubai, branded residences have on average 102% higher prices than similar, non-branded alternatives.

With such high-end purchases, buyers often have little-to-no experience of the builders, locations, quality, logistics and implications of the property and market in general. So, by putting an Aman or Armani stamp on the project they can instinctively know the development will reflect the ethos of a brand they already have a pre-existing history, relationship and most importantly, trust.

Buyers can now purchase the design consistency, service and lifestyle assurance they have come to love. They do not need the rigmarole of hiring an interior designer and spending months making decisions on land purchase, fabrics and lampshades - they can pay a premium, move in, and enjoy the familiarity.

And not only can the design aspects be more reliable, but so can the quality staff associated with the brands. The access to networks can be more fruitful. The security of their investment much more reliable. The experience more predictable. The resale value more premium. There are countless advantages.

Could this translate to yachting?

Superyachts already offer many of the elements branded real estate buyers value: exclusivity, privacy, service and high design pedigree. There is a huge overlap.

The demographic of client is the same. The desire for a seamless experience and banking the brand (or ownership) cache – the same.

Of course, there are the glaring differences in operational complexity and regulatory red tape that comes with yachting, but that is an easy fix with the geniuses in yacht management.

Having worked in the superyacht industry for a decade now, I know that the average person with an interest in getting on the water, whether to buy or charter, has very rudimentary knowledge of the market – let alone the differences in hull design, engine choices, hybrid technology and sometimes even shipyard differentiation.

The homework involved in purchasing a superyacht can effectively be endless - why not have a distinguished brand already esteemed in luxury, service and design make those decisions for you.

So, what would this look like?

Fully-custom builds

I see a few key avenues for brand and shipyard collaboration: some have already been explored, and some are new opportunities.

Firstly, and perhaps the simplest, is for brands to build one-off, fully custom yachts with some of the world’s elite shipyards.

This would be on a partnership basis and can be built to sell or built for the charter market for further commercial revenue generation – imagine a Feadship yacht designed by, and named, ‘Aman’, for example. The holding co would have crew undertake additional training to align with the company’s values and a concierge / after-sales customer service for life from the brand. 

Many shipyards within yachting have truly cutting-edge, era-defining products, but lack in terms of their branding, marketing and public relations.

I believe that a fully custom Four Seasons yacht built at Turquoise, for example, would be mutually beneficial for both companies. All of Turquoise’s clients know Four Seasons, but I doubt that statement holds true the other-way-round.

What better way for DAMAC to showcase their quality and interior design choices than by inviting potential buyers onto their yacht at various open days across the globe. Want to attract investment from Singapore? Sail M/Y DAMAC there, inviting clients onboard for dinner and presentations.

Exclusive club access models

Membership models, that utilise and upsell an already built community, are completely untapped right now. For instance, if Rolls-Royce owned a yacht listed on the charter market and charged a regular client $200,000 per week for charter, but a Rolls-Royce owner or collector $100,000.

One&Only’s concierge can usually find you a boat for charter during your stay, but what about offering you a free overnight trip with your significant other if you’ve booked in the hotel for a fifth time?

Rory Sutherland, VC at Ogilvy, recently said that higher rate taxpayers should get to drive in bus lanes and then everyone would have no qualms about paying their 45%: people don’t mind paying a premium if the consequent reward is tangible and also importantly, visible.

My theory is that One&Only clients would be happy to pay for an additional couple of nights if it means being seen in Mykonos on the One&Only Azimut.

Own an Aman residence? Have a discount on the Aman Feadship for life. This pairs prestige for the end-user with the added benefit for the brand of making the client stickier - for future upsell within the ecosystem.

Co-ownership & fractional models

Co-ownership does exist within the yachting space right now, with SeaNet being one of the leading providers of this concept and selling partial shares on numerous Italian built yachts.

However, what no one has yet to do is fully leverage a branded name to offer like-minded people, already perched within a brands ecosystem, the chance to own part of a yacht.

This happens extensively within other luxury industries including art (think of the artist as the brand) – but it is yet to really take hold in yachting, maybe due to operational complexities, however a brand would have such increased benefits of offering something like this, I believe it would outweigh any headaches in logistics.

Production yacht partnership

Perhaps one of the more exciting commercial avenues is a partnership between brand and shipyard to produce a production hull that can be sold in a larger quantity, as we have recently seen with the partnership of Technomar and Lamborghini to produce the head-turning Miami staple, ‘63’.

This is a huge design and engineering challenge combining two sets of in-house teams. But the reward is mammoth. Opening a new demographic of client to each company while creating something lasting.

The multi-production nature of this channel offers both less risk (products are sold before starting production) and a good upside in revenue potential – I believe at the time of writing Technomar have sold around 34 of these beasts in only a couple of years; opening up a 9 figure revenue stream not previously possible with their previous speed boat offering.

The opportunities within this space are endless and it’s exciting to think which brands could partner. Four Seasons and Feadship? Ferrari and Riva? Belmond and Tankoa?

Interior / exterior design partnerships

And now for the lowest risk. Interior or exterior design partnerships on one-off yachts have forever been established, and been especially rife since designers like Armani built his own yacht, MARIU in 2003 (available for charter) and Dolce and Gabbana designed the interiors for their own vessel REGINA D’ITALIA.

What started as designers trying their hand at some nautical interior projects has now progressed into full partnerships, with a recent 74m Admiral coming out of the shed with full Armani interior and exterior design – crazy!

Stumbling blocks?

Sure, there are some barriers to overcome for fully seamless commercial opportunities between hospitality and manufacturing behemoths – but when isn’t there?!

I would envision some design conflicts between yacht, designers and brand. As well as some crew standardisation issues as they would need two layers of training. Certainly not anything which would make you pump the brakes.

But what about demand? I discussed the idea with friends who claimed that they cannot foresee owners being keen on a branded yacht, instead preferring something a little more tailored.

But I beg to differ.

Busy UHNW’s don’t want 3 years of decision fatigue. They want trust, speed and consistency.

Plus, when reviewing the largest branded residential sales across the globe, there is little difference in the prices of these properties with fully custom yachts from the world’s leading yards:

Aston Martin Residences, Miami Penthouse – listed at $59m and sold

Porsche Design Tower, Miami - $25-32m penthouses and all sold

COMO Residences, Dubai - $136m list price. Sold.

Aman New York Crown Penthouse – listed at $180m and sold!

Conclusion – is it likely??

We do already have some smart owners utilising their brand to encourage increased charter demand; the owner of LA DATCHA, the 77m Damen has a slew of global rental properties all under the same name and branding.

The owners of RH THREE, a 39m Custom Explorer are the Restoration Hardware owners, with all interior design and branding done by their team and preference given to charter clients who know, like and have experience with the company.

But we are scratching the surface of what is possible in our new and frankly, slow-moving industry.

I think this model isn’t just likely, but inevitable. We have already seen shipyards partner with celebrities (Riva has David Beckham as an ambassador, Sunreef have Rafael Nadal) and designers. The next step must be more macro focused, with bolder choices and higher value opportunities.

The commercial opportunity here outweighs any potential operational complexity. The first luxury brand to take this seriously will own a category no one else even sees yet.

If you are a shipyard, builder, fund or brand owner – let’s talk.

To check out the commercial viability of charter yachts, see my post on making a profit with your yachts here: https://www.charterandchase.com/post/can-a-yacht-pay-for-itself-a-broker-s-honest-guide-to-charter-income