All 10 of Saint Laurent's $31k Turntables Look as Good as They Sound (EXCLUSIVE)
Saint Laurent and Bang & Olufsen are a perfect pair. Their third collaboration is wildly ambitious but it's also the epitome of what makes them gel so well, as the luxury label and masters of sound revive 50-year-old turntables as works of sound art.
Here, Saint Laurent has revived 10 Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4000C turntable, a classic B&O design born in the '70s.
To be clear, these are not new systems.
Saint Laurent hand-picked and restored a handful of original Beogram 4000 series turntables, "modernizing" them into contemporary masterpieces. B&O itself has occasionally reintroduced the Beogram 4000C through refurbished editions, but this is something else entirely.
Here, under the guidance of YSL creative director Anthony Vaccarello, the B&O Beogram 4000C is reborn as a statement piece that also just happens to be a peerless record player.
Its form is shaped from a solid slab of zericote wood, a rare (and pricey) hardwood typically sourced from South America. Notably, zericote is a tonewood often utilized for fine musical instruments, like classical guitars. Of course, the Beogram 4000C itself doesn't produce sound — you need speakers for that — but it's an extra addition of thoughtfulness.
Individually numbered, each YSL x B&O Beogram 4000C also wears silver-plated metal, aluminum façade, and a classy etched logo. Its timeless shape, that of a slim retro record player, remains intact.
YSL's approach here recalls its take on B&O's Beosound standing speaker and Beoplay portable speaker, just amped up to 11. Rather than repainting an existing object in its signature shade of black, the French maison has given new life to 10 vintage turntables, transforming them from high-end record player to, well, a tremendously beautiful high-end record player.
This project is as relevant for audiophiles as much as it is for folks with a natty sense of interior design because the Beogram 4000C's value isn't merely derived from its scarcity.
These things are made to be used!
"The Beogram 4000c turntable is an excellent demonstration of what can be achieved with careful basic research but also with a precise implementation of the technology," audio magazine Inner wrote in 2022, when B&O previously reissued the turntable. "After 45 years, the player looks as gorgeous and stylish as ever. Timeless."
As in that instance, however, only true vinyl obsessives need apply: Saint Laurent's Bang & Olufsen Beogram 4000C is available for €30,000 (about $31k) from Saint Laurent's Rive Droite website and dedicated stores in Paris and Los Angeles.
