En Route Ralf Becker En Route Ralf Becker

smart forjeremy: Haters Gonna Hate

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The smart forjeremy rises

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Jeremy Scott: "Few can afford"

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Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam aka M.I.A. aka "Missing in Action" aka "Missing in Acton"

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Dr. Annette Winkler (smart), Jeremy Scott

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Landed: smart forjeremy

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Winged smart fortwo electric drive

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White

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smart electric drive forjeremy

I have to admit I didn't know who Jeremy Scott was when Mercedes-Benz/smart invited me to join their exclusive "smart forjeremy" event in front of the LA Auto Show 2012. A quick search later I learned that he is a fashion designer who has built a reputation for outrageous designs favored by pop stars and celebrities: Madonna, Lady Gaga and Britney Spears — just to name a few.

Shame on me, but I am no fashionista. I may know some things about Winged Warriors, but neither I had heared about "The Wing(ed) High Tops", nor about the "Teddy Bear Shoes". As well I am really awful at things like pop music. After some of my diehard old school petrol heads heared that I would fly over to Los Angeles to watch the presentation, I saw a lot of scrunched up noses. "A guy who is into gaudy fashion is doing a car? And he is doing what — a winged plastic car? Are you kidding me?"

Well, I think the smart forjeremy is cool. And let me explain, why. The fact, that a car manufacturer — in this case: smart — cooperates with an artist — in this case: Jeremy Scott —, impresses me. It is sovereign and courageous, because it creates something new. And for smart it is long overdue to get such a remix, if you ask me.

And regarding those who dislike this project: You know how it is — haters gonna hate. It is always the same. But if you've got haters, you'll probably have done some things right …

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CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker

Where The Wild Things Are: Our Latest Stockists

Previous articles like "In The Wild" and our Facebook-Page (make sure you follow it!) are already listing some of our stockists: Rider's Room Hamburg, Prototyp Museum Hamburg, Oldtimer Tankstelle Hamburg.

Red Wing Store (Hamburg)

Red Wing Store (Hamburg)

Red Wing Store (Hamburg)

Oettinger Sportwagen (Hamburg)

Burg & Schild (Berlin)

Burg & Schild (Berlin)

Oldtimer-Tankstelle (Hamburg)

Oldtimer-Tankstelle (Hamburg)

FUNC. functional furniture etc (Feldafing)

FUNC. functional furniture etc (Feldafing)

Previous articles like "In The Wild" and our Facebook-Page (make sure you follow it!) are already listing some of our stockists: Rider's Room Hamburg, Prototyp Museum Hamburg, Oldtimer Tankstelle Hamburg. In the meantime we teamed up with some more specialists, as shown above. We are very proud to introduce:

In this regard we would like to thank one person: Tobias "To" Pflug – as not only for showcasing our Chromjuwelen Motor Öl in the Red Wing Store Hamburg and consulting us, but also for providing us with his very valuable contacts.

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Chromjuwelen Ralf Becker Chromjuwelen Ralf Becker

Hemi Ride

5 friends, 5 selfbuild motorcycles and a mission to accomplish in Klitmøller, Denmark. This is a true story about friendship and freedom, and where it is to be found.

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5 friends, 5 selfbuild motorcycles and a mission to accomplish in Klitmøller, Denmark. This is a true story about friendship and freedom, and where it is to be found.

Drivestyle.

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CHROMJUWELEN, CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker CHROMJUWELEN, CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker

In The Wild: Chromjuwelen Motor Öl

The other day we made our debut with our Chromjuwelen Motor Öl. In the wild, at the Oldtimer Park Hamburg. We are still thrilled, to be honest. It is a huge difference to see a ton of your products at one place, after you played around for a long time with a handful of home-made dummies. Wow.

The other day we made our debut with our Chromjuwelen Motor Öl. In the wild, at the Oldtimer Park Hamburg. We are still thrilled, to be honest. It is a huge difference to see a ton of your products at one place, after you played around for a long time with a handful of home-made dummies. Wow.

As well we were priviledged to shoot some campaign images at the Prototyp Museum Hamburg, where the "Fetzenflieger" lives — Otto Mathé's famous racecar we are showing on our label. As I wrote before – if you will ever be in Hamburg, make sure to pay the museum a visit. It is gorgeous. And — btw —the Prototyp Museum sells Chromjuwelen Motor Öl ...

I would like to thank some people: 

At the moment we are working hard on shipping the Chromjuwelen Motor Öl to our stockists and finishing our "Online Store". Tragically one thing turned out to be more tricky than we thought: shipping the oil to the States. The freight charges kill us. So — if somebody reads this who wants to act as an distributor — please shoot us an email!

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CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker

Chromjuwelen Motor Öl: Ready To Ship

Finally. We just launched an online store – which means Chromjuwelen Motor Öl is ready to ship.

Finally. We just launched an online store – which means Chromjuwelen Motor Öl is ready to ship.

At chromjuwelen-oel.com you will be able to order our products via a fulfillment partner next to you. At the moment we are looking for a partner in the US – as we are getting overwhelmed with inquiries. If you have got an idea who might be a perfect partner for our Chromjuwelen Motor Öl – don't hesitate to shoot us an email!

@ the rest – what'cha waiting for!

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Chromjuwelen Électrique: Full Version & Bonus Videos

Not all that long ago we made a self-attempt: we eBay-ed a 1964 Imperial Crown and drove it from Los Angeles to Las Vegas – and back to Los Angeles. As you can imagine, we had a blast. You will find the video here. This time we switched to the other extreme: We travelled in a smart fortwo electric drive from Paris to Le Mans (Classic). Yup. Battery-driven. Of course – we know this electrified fellow isn't made for long distances. Even worse – we knew it will not be easy to find enough charging stations. But hey, that exactly was the challenge. If anybody of us speaks fluent French? Er ... no.

My favorite scene? Arthur's tribute to Stephen Brooks and all the dubstep video jockeys at 09:38.

Chromjuwelen Électrique features:

Music:

  • Edvard Grieg

  • "Peer Gynt Suite No. 1, Op. 46 - I. Morning" (performed by Musopen Symphony Orchestra)

  • musopen.org

All filming & editing: Faust & Heisler. For a full (German) Travelogue visit chromjuwelen.com.

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CHROMJUWELEN, CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker CHROMJUWELEN, CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker

Chromjuwelen Motor Öl: THANK YOU!

It seems we did something properly – as we are getting such a tremendous feedback. We are turning as red as a beet and would like to say THANK YOU to everybody who is supporting us!

It seems we did something properly – as we are getting such a tremendous feedback. We are turning as red as a beet and would like to say THANK YOU to everybody who is supporting us!

I am sure there is more on it's way — I will update this article regularly.

A special THANK YOU goes to Oliver Schmidt and Thomas König, as they are not only supporting us with Otto Mathé's "Fetzenflieger" for our packaging, but also opening their awesome Prototyp Museum Hamburg for our shootings. If you ever come to Germany — make sure you will visit their beautiful museum!

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CHROMJUWELEN Ralf Becker CHROMJUWELEN Ralf Becker

X-RAY MAGAZINE: Hamburg – City Of The Classics

The other day x-ray magazine ("fashion business intelligence") asked me if I would like to write an article about "Motorkultur in Hamburg". What a question — of course! This is not only a perfect opportunity to present Hamburg amongst the other featured cities Los Angeles and London, but a good way to thank all those people and places who inspire me every day.

The other day x-ray magazine ("fashion business intelligence") asked me if I would like to write an article about "Motorkultur in Hamburg". What a question — of course! This is not only a perfect opportunity to present Hamburg amongst the other featured cities Los Angeles and London, but a good way to thank all those people and places who inspire me every day.

If you ever were looking for a perfect Motorkultur travel guide regarding Hamburg, here it is: Hamburg – City of Classics (English; page 64-67), Hamburg – Die Stadt der Klassiker (German; page 64-67).

Featuring (in alpahbetical order): 

 In this regard I would especially like to thank two persons: Oliver Breitwieser for taking all photos, Sven Wiesner for slamming his Rostkäfer. And yeah, needless to say: I <3 Hamburg.

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CHROMJUWELEN, CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker CHROMJUWELEN, CHROMJUWELEN MOTOR ÖL Ralf Becker

Chromjuwelen Motor Öl: About The Background

Due to the tremendous feedback for the package design of our Chromjuwelen Motor Öl, I would like to get one thing straight: It was neither me nor my Chromjuwelen partner Chris who did the design. Ok, I am responsible for squeezing and advancing the idea, but all props regarding the package design go to Donkey. In person: Boris Frommen, Daniel Dondorp and Christian Kandel.

Due to the tremendous feedback for the package design of our Chromjuwelen Motor Öl, I would like to get one thing straight: It was neither me nor my Chromjuwelen partner Chris who did the design. Ok, I am responsible for squeezing and advancing the idea, but all props regarding the package design go to Donkey. In person: Boris Frommen, Daniel Dondorp and Christian Kandel.

I know Boris for years now and he is doing an amazing job with his agency. But if you visit Donkey's website, you will soon figure out that Donkey's core competence is not exactly … er ... automotive based. It is much more the fashion- and fragrancies-business they are in. But it has been a ongoing complaining from Boris (who is racing Porsche and Ferrari, btw) on a high level that he would love to do something auto-related one day.

When I told Boris about our cooperation with Mathy he was immediately hooked and brought Daniel Dondorp and Christian Kandel into play. Daniel and Christian are both into classic cars as well, and they turned out to be the dream team we were looking for. I take my hat off to both of you, Daniel and Christian — you've created something sheer incredible!

Granted. It took us over a year to bring our first first product, Chromjuwelen Motor Öl (yes, written with "Ö"!), to shape. Of course, we know the needs of the market and our audience – but at the end of the day Chris and I are just two buffoons who are bringing on some geeky automotive interwebs pollution. But in this regard we see ourselves to be our prototype clients: not savvy in engineering — but in search of products who fit to our passion: classic and modified cars. To keep it short: our intention was to create a product which we would buy.

When we thought for the first time about "Chromjuwelen Products" (yeop, there are some more on their way — stay tuned!) it was indisputable for us we can't do that on our own. But with Mathy and Donkey we feel like we hit the jackpot. On the one hand Mathy, who is gutsy enough to realize our neurotic ideas, on the other hand Donkey, who is highly skilled to bring 'em to shape.

As well I would like to thank at this point all media representatives (AUTO BILD KLASSIK, and several journalists), garages, museums and technicians we had the honor to learn from. Guys, without your affirmation we wouldn't feel that secure, as we do today. 

Right now we are working on our Chromjuwelen Online Store (which we will launch end of August) that our products can be ordered worldwide. Btw — this was one of our biggest tasks: to get them shippable. Please don't hesitate to talk to us, if you would like to offer Chromjuwelen Motor Öl in your Vintage Furniture Store, in your Garage our in your Heritage Fashion Shop!

Oh, btw, just one last thing: We will debut September 1./2. at the Oldtimer Park Hamburg and the Hamburger Stadtpark Revival. Safe the date!

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