Chapter 483: Made by a Master
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Daniel Marshall was a legendary designer in the cigar box industry. He was born in poverty, and his father had been a farmer as well as a logger. When he was a child they lived in a fitting room trailer.
Fitting room trailers were commonly seen in the West. People sold clothes on the move without a store. The fitting room trailer empowered sellers to take their fashion lines directly to their clients.
“You have to know: the space inside a fitting room trailer is very small,” said Sayder. “It might be able to accommodate a fat person to turn around and try on clothes. But, converted into a room, it would be rather small.”
“There’s a Chinese saying that goes like this,” Li Du, said. “‘Only by experiencing the toughest hardships can one rise above the ordinary.’ Apparently, Mr. Marshall belonged to this category of person.”
“Yes, when Marshall reached his teenage years, he dreamed about building his own sailing boat and touring the world. He was still living in his fitting room trailer then.
“Later on, his girlfriend’s grandfather offered him a loan of 50,000 dollars so he could realize this dream.
“Marshall wanted to give his thanks to the old man, so he used teak to create a cigar box and gave it to the old man. The old man was surprised to see that he possessed such good craftsmanship and encouraged him to sell his cigar box design and rights to Dunhill.
“Spurred by the encouragement, Marshall brought his design and sample cigar boxes and went to Dunhill’s headquarters in New York. He was 19 years old then.
“After many unsuccessful phone calls to arrange a meeting, the young man went straight to the company to request a meeting.
“Regrettably, Dunhill was not initially impressed with his work. However, Marshall was a very stubborn fellow. After numerous exchanges, Dunhill placed an order worth 250,000 dollars with him.”
Sayder smiled at the two of them. “Look, this is a very inspiring story, right?”
Li Du shrugged his shoulders and secretly thought to himself, This fella is so naggy, no wonder he’s an auctioneer. What’s the use in saying all this? Can’t he just tell us the value and identity of the cigar boxes?
Sayder didn’t notice how Li Du felt. He continued telling the story eagerly. “In actual fact, the order was just an act. Dunhill canceled it after Marshall left.”
Hans said in an annoyed tone, “Oh, d*mn those capitalists. They have no credibility at all.”
Sayder glanced at him. “Actually, I can understand why Dunhill did that. I’ve heard that Marshall set up a tent in front of the entrance of Dunhill’s warehouse and slept there in order to secure a deal. When the negotiations failed, he rolled around on the ground in a fit!”
Li Du was dumbstruck.
Marshall was indeed a resilient man. As soon as he realized he would not get anything with Dunhill, he adopted another tactic: facing the consumers directly.
He took his cigar box with him and went up to the wealthy men of New York, asking them for their opinion and advice and showing them his cigar box.
Needless to say, Marshall did have talent in this area, but he was too young and inexperienced. His cigar box was also not yet perfect; there were areas that needed improvement. Why would the wealthy men who were accustomed to luxury goods want to take a look at his cigar box?
Fortunately for Marshall, someone from the Dunhill management team noticed the energetic and motivated young man, and decided to hire him as a designer.
It was said that Dunhill had employed him out of goodwill. However, Marshall learned quickly after entering Dunhill, and over the next two years with them, that he could take charge of matters independently.
Ultimately, he became Dunhill’s leading cigar box designer, and had his own studio: DM studio.
The letters “DM” on the two cigar boxes were his initials. In fact, all ten of the boxes were his masterpieces. Eight of them had been designed for Dunhill, and the other two had probably been designed for a famous celebrity.
Now, as a renowned cigar box designer, the boxes that he designed were the hottest luxury item with the upper class.
Designing a custom-made cigar box for a Hollywood star was a glorifying experience for the average designer. However, Marshall had an impressive track record. He had even designed cigar boxes for the President of the United States and the British royal family.
“Do you know that not just any Hollywood star can ask him to make a custom-made cigar box? He’ll actually consider how famous they are before accepting the job.”
“Wow!” Hans exclaimed in awe as Sayder made this claim. “He’s that good?”
Sayder wagged his index finger. “I’m not an exaggerating,” he said. “Marlon Brando was his client. He owned an island in Tahiti, but the island was too humid and the cigar could not be preserved. Marshall custom-made a cigar box for him and guess what?”
“What happened?” Li Du asked.
“Well, the humidity level on the island was so high that even his script became damaged due to the moisture. But after Marlon Brando got hold of the custom-made humidor, he placed his script together with the cigars and the moisture problem did not come back again.”
“Mr. Marshall is really good,” said Li Du. “So what’s the story behind these two cigar boxes?” Li couldn’t take it anymore. He had to ask about the two cigar boxes—Sayder simply wouldn’t get to the point.
Even so, what he’d already said was useful. Li Du now knew the potential value of these boxes—if it were made by a master, it must be a masterpiece!
“Speaking of these two cigar boxes, we have to talk about him working with Hollywood. Besides accepting requests from top stars, he also accepts requests from some film and television companies.
“Take, for instance, earlier this year: Universal Pictures requested 30 limited edition and exquisite cigar boxes with serial numbers on them. This was to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the film ‘Scarface.’
“These two cigar boxes here are also related to a very famous movie and a prominent Hollywood superstar. Wanna make a guess?”
Hans looked at the skull on the box and said firmly, “D*mn, it must be the Terminator and Arnold Schwarzenegger!”
“Bingo! You got it!” Sayder snapped his fingers joyously.
“These cigar boxes are the real stars. Look at the edge of the box. The metal used is a very unique type of sterling silver, and each box contains 100 grams of such sterling silver!
“Furthermore, the outermost material of the box is made using crocodile skin, and the inner core is made from polished walnut wood. A total of 12 such boxes were produced, each of them had a serial number and all 12 of them were limited edition models!”
By now, Hans had the euphoric belief that the boxes must be worth a lot. “So how much is it? How much is the worth for one box?”
Sayder replied, “It would be an insult to the master if the price were less than 100,000 dollars!”
Hans turned to look at Li Du enthusiastically, “If a new one is worth 100,000 dollars, a second-hand one must be worth at least 50,000 dollars!”
“The price I said is for old goods,” clarified Sayder. “One hundred thousand dollars for a second-hand box! A new one? Ha! Not only would you need the money, you’d also need status in order to get one!”
“Yes!” exclaimed Hans. “Big money!”
