Sur la Terre Arabia 30 - Winter 2014

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SUR LA TERRE > DOHA > ISSUE 12 > JANUARY 2011

SUR LA TERRE MAGAZINE > DOHA SUR LA TERRE > ISSUE 9 > SUMMER 2010

ARABIA

Celebrating

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SUR LA TERRE > DOHA > ISSUE 14 > MAY 2011

Resplendent Issues

QR 45 / US $12 / €9

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Agent Orange

Family Affair

Bonfire

SLT drives the Aston Martin Virage in Spain

Read our exclusive interview with the Carolinas Herrera

Yasmin Le Bon sizzles in next season's haute couture

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ARABIA

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SUR LA TERRE ARABIA > ISSUE 30 > LATE WINTER 2014

Sur la Terre stamps its mark on the luxury landscape of

ARABIA Cover REGIONAL FINALToPrint.indd 1

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Editorial The new year, and this issue in particular, heralds my fifth anniversary at the helm of this venerable organ...

...and when I look back at all of the experiences the role has afforded me and how far the magazine has evolved under my tenure, I cannot help but feel both very lucky and extremely proud.

This, the landmark 30th issue of Sur la Terre, which eagle-eyed regular Doha readers will note now bears the moniker “Arabia” under the masthead, partially reflects (albeit, tenously) my personal journey with the magazine. In our "In Motion" feature we say goodbye to the Lamborghini Gallardo, the first supercar I ever had the pleasure of driving, thus fulfilling a boyhood dream. This issue, too, will be the first since 2008 to officially find its way back to the UAE; the country I left to join the team here in Doha. It will also be distributed once again in Bahrain, and for the first time in Kuwait and Oman, as we finally become a truly pan-Arab publication. So, to those seeing Sur la Terre for the first time, welcome. We hope you enjoy the fruits of our luxuriant labours.

Also, as we have done so for the last five years, we will be supporting the Doha Jewellery & Watches Exhibition. Again, one of my very first experiences here was shuffling through the shimmering show that has become a regional luxury flagship event. As such, our main feature reflects that glamour with a sparkling look through the history and style of Cartier, a brand that is very close to the hearts of this region's sybaritic residents. There are also interviews with the CEO of Hublot and Co-President of Chopard for your bejewelled delectation.

Then again, you might also be reading this at the Dubai International Boat Show, in which case, you should skip straight to page 101, where my ever-present compatriot, Steven Paugh, discovers the company that's making a splash in the citadel-sized, hyper-vessel segment of the leisure marine market: Yacht Island Designs. “Majestically ridiculux” doesn't even come close to summing up its floating island concepts.

As I mentioned previously, regular readers will see a few tweaks and changes over the coming issues as we enter a new era for Sur la Terre.

However, all of our usual fare is still where it should be, from events, hotels, travel, gadgets, products and, of course, the best of fashion and style. It's all just a page turn away.

With that, I will finish my ramblings by thanking everyone who I have had the pleasure to work alongside while producing this fine publication over the past five years, while at the same time toasting the promise of an exciting and eventful sixth year ahead. Cheers everyone!

James McCarthy

regional managing Editor

. sur la terre . editor’s letter .

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CONTENTS

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arabia

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32

the list

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the scene

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f o r y o u r e y e s o n ly

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rev ue

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st y le con fidenti a l

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gl obe tro t ter

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up close

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tr en ds con fidenti a l

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look book

Art, culture, lifestyle

Were you seen on the scene?

The things you need to own

Putting on the Ritz in Bahrain

The style gap

Your guide to global luxury

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per son a l

Passionate and talented people

Shape shifter

The best looks for guys & girls

. sur la terre . contents .

CONTENTS

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arabia

28

91

jetset

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fe atu r e

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lifestyle

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i n mo tion

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fa s h i o n

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o u t o f t h e b ox

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or igi ns

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m a r k e t p l ac e

Paradise found: Napasai Orient Express, Koh Samui

Cartier: A history of style

Yacht Island Design: The fleet of the future

Winds of change: Goodbye Gallardo, hello Hurucรกn

To The Manor Born

The Hamilton Grand

The art of noise: Bowers & Wilkins

Products available regionally

. sur la terre . contents .

" T H E WAT ER U N DER S TA N D S C I V I LI S AT IO N W ELL ; I T W E T S M Y F O O T, BU T PR E T T I LY, I T C H I LL S M Y LI FE , BU T W I T T I LY." R a l p h Wa l d o E m e r s o n

the list arts and culture

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28-29 mar

April

Middle East Film & Comic Con: Year 3

Chi of Shaolin: Tale of the Dragon

2014 Gulf Film Festival

WHEN: April 3 - 5 WHERE: Dubai WHAT: Pop Culture Convention To paraphrase the oath of Sur la Terre Arabia’s favourite superhero, Green Lantern (he does have an all-powerful priceless ring, after all): In brightest day. In Dubai nights. No comic shall escape our sight. Let those who love nerd culture’s might, beware its power: MEFCC’s RIGHT... around the corner! (Nailed it!)

That’s right, Gulf-based geeks, the Middle East Film & Comic Con is back for its third and unquestionably biggest year! Movin’ on up to the decidedly more upmarket digs of the Dubai World Trade Center, MEFCC 2014 is set to host a cacophony of cosplayers and celebrities from television, film and the comic book industry, including (so far) Robot Chicken’s Seth Green and for all the “Whovians” out there, The seventh Doctor, Sylvester Mccoy! Still a pleasantly intimate yet jam-packed gathering filled with great events, competitions and geeky goings-on, MEFCC has never let us down before and we can’t wait to attend for the third year running in 2014! www.mefcc.com

WHEN: March 28 - 29 WHERE: Muscat WHAT: Performance Theatre Muscat’s resplendent Royal Opera House has, since its foundation, regularly showcased some of the finest performance theatre not just in the Gulf, but on the planet. Quite possibly Sur la Terre’s most anticipated event amidst the premier Omani culture capital’s packed 2014 calendar is the incomparable show, Chi of Shaolin: Tale of the Dragon. Marrying together a unique collision of kung fu, wushu, acrobatics, stage magic and incredible world music, Chi of Shaolin tells the story of a thief’s figurative and literal transformation at the hands of a kindly monk. Performed by the peerless Imperial Acrobats of China and created by the team of renowned Chinese acrobat Yan Yan Zhao and Cirque du Soleil’s Guy Caron, this is a show that will dazzle all of its onlookers with not only incredible feats of human strength and endurance, but also our limitless capacity to spin a fantastic story rich in culture and traditions. Do not miss it! www.rohmuscat.org

WHEN: April 9 - 15 WHERE: Dubai WHAT: Film Festival Unlike some other film festivals that have come and gone throughout the Gulf region, the aptly-titled Gulf Film Festival exists, in its own words, to fulfill two very specific objectives: 1.) to develop the local and regional film culture in the Gulf, creating greater opportunities for filmmakers from the region to screen their films and develop future film projects, and 2.) to celebrate excellence in Gulf cinema and be a destination festival for the international film community to discover state-of-the-art Gulf Cinema. Perhaps it’s a giveaway in our name, but we here at Sur la Terre Arabia believe that the Gulf region has a worthy voice to add to the international cinematic dialectic, and we applaud GFF’s dedication in doing so. Just like it has for the past five years, this year’s Gulf Film Festival is bound to both entertain and enlighten local audiences by celebrating the creativity of the home grown. www.gulffilmfest.com

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. sur la terre . the list .

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the list ENTERTAINMENT

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Mar

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Herbie Hancock in Abu Dhabi

Bahrain F1 Grand Prix 2014

Justin Timberlake in Istanbul

WHEN: March 21 WHERE: Abu Dhabi WHAT: Concert One of the highlights of this year’s Abu Dhabi Festival, as organised by the emirate’s dynamic Music & Arts Foundation, is the inclusion of one of modern music history’s greatest maestros, keyboard and piano extraordinaire, Mr. Herbie Hancock.

Winner of an Academy Award for his work on 1986’s Round Midnight and a staggering total of fourteen different Grammy Awards for his unrivaled work in Jazz, to say that Hancock helped fundamentally change the face of music would be a vast and terrible understatement. His career may have spanned multitudinous decades, but Hancock’s progressive approach to music is one of his most enduring traits, and what makes him the timeless icon he is today. If you count yourself amongst those for whom musical taste is an essential trait, do not miss this infinitely prolific living legend’s Arab World Premiere in Abu Dhabi! www.abudhabifestival.ae

WHEN: April 4 - 6 WHERE: Bahrain WHAT: Motorsport As one of the most highly-anticipated sporting spectacles throughout the entire Gulf region, the Bahrain Grand Prix has transcended being seen as just another spot on the F1 calendar, and has solidified its standing as one of the top races the world over. Now in its landmark 10th year and once again held at the Bahrain International Circuit (BIC), the so-called “Home of Motorsport in the Middle East,” the 2014 Formula 1 Gulf Air-sponsored veteran event is pulling out some new tricks, including reinventing itself as a night race.

The race has been plagued with its own set of controversies throughout recent years, but with a measure of stability being once again established around the event, the 2014 iteration is sure to prove why this famed race is so richly beloved by its regularly-returning throng of motoring fans. www.bahraingp.com

WHEN: May 26 WHERE: Istanbul WHAT: Concert Unlike that other (in)famous Justin - who shall not otherwise be named unless joined by suitable mockery - Justin Timberlake is one of those rare celebrity performers who has eclipsed his former station as simple eye-candy for the fairer sex and become, quite simply, an unquestionable star. Ever since his truly breakout album in FutureSex/ LoveSounds, and his subsequent hiatus from music, Timberlake has become a pretty much universal pop culture darling, proving that his talents also lie outside the realm of music.

However, his current tour will be playing up to that which put him in the limelight in the first place, and on top of singing and dancing through his greatest solo hits - as well as a few nostalgic ones from his ‘N Sync days, no doubt - he will also be pumping out his latest tracks from last year’s hit record, The 20/20 Experience – 2 of 2, like “Take Back the Night,” “TKO” and “Drink You Away.” www.justintimberlake.com

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. sur la terre . the list .

the list Lifestyle

21-26 feb

Qatar Motor Show

WHEN: Feb 21 - 26 WHERE: Doha WHAT: Auto Show Under the Patronage of His Excellency, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabor Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, and organised by the Qatar Tourism Authority, the Qatar Motor Show is back once again for its fourth year, and all signs point to it running hotter than ever.

Now setting up shop at the Qatar National Convention Centre, Qatar’s foray into the automotive showcase is proving to be “the little show that could,” and is already establishing itself as an intimate alternative to the ostentatious affairs held within other neighbouring countries. Even still, the expo in the past has drawn in hundreds of thousands of guests with Arab world firsts and a bevy of exciting outdoor activities and automotive experiences, and we’re sure it will crank your respective engines more than ever in 2014! www.qatarmotorshow.gov.qa

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27-29 mar

18-29 mar

Fashion @ Middle East Kuwait Gifts Exhibition (F@ME) WHEN: March 27 - 29 WHERE: Dubai WHAT: Fashion Trade Show According to its website, the cleverlyshortened F@ME (Fashion At Middle East) is where “the Fashion industry will come together to conduct business; create networking opportunities, launch and showcase new products such as abayas, hijabs, handbags, jewellery and watches, Arabic oud and perfumes, shoes, hosiery and other accessories.” Taking place at the International Convention and Exhibition Centre in Dubai this March, F@ME appears to be an exciting new resource for those that do business within and throughout the multi-faceted fashion and beauty industries. As with all like-minded trade fairs such as this, it remains to be seen how much exposure this will allow or foster for attendees, but this project has some great energy around it and we are very excited to check it out! www.famexhibition.com

. sur la terre . the list .

WHEN: March 18 - 29 WHERE: Kuwait WHAT: Product Trade Exhibition Look, we understand that the gift-giving holiday season has only just recently ended, and that you may want a reprieve from the prospect of providing your loved ones with even more lavish presents, but what can we say? We’re gift-givers, and there’s an upcoming regional fair we simply can hardly Kuwait to be apart of: the Kuwait Gifts Exhibition! It is already one of the leading consumer goods trade fairs in the region, featuring gifts of every description, from home accessories to handicrafts to toys and games, perfumes, cosmetics and jewelry.

We know it may sound cliché, but there will literally be something for everyone at this enticing exhibition. And besides, do we really need to convince you to shop harder? Yeah, we didn’t think so. www.kif.net

th e scen e

FC Bayern Munich Visit Qatar & Kuwait —

In association with Volkswagen Middle East, Qatar and Kuwait played host — to European "super club" FC Bayern Munich

FC Bayern Munich used the Bundesliga’s winter break to get a couple of weeks’ warm weather training in the GCC. On their trip, organised

by Volkswagen Middle East and the local dealerships, Q-Auto in Doha and Behbehani Motors in Kuwait, they spent time with orphans and disadvantaged children at Qatar Foundation - who got to take penalty shots at, arguably, the world’s best goalkeeper at the moment, Manuel Neuer - and met fans at the respective dealers’ showrooms.

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. sur la terre . the scene .

th e scen e

FC Bayern Munich Visit Qatar & Kuwait, cont.

In Kuwait, the squad enjoyed an audience with HH the Crown Prince Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Last season the club won five trophies, including the UEFA Champions League, the German Bundesliga and the World Club Cup.

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. sur la terre . the scene .

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The Ritz-Carlton Doha Customer Appreciation Night —

The Ritz-Carlton Doha hosted a night of flamenco dancing, delicious food and generous prizes to celebrate the continued support of its customers. A lavish buffet occupied Al Wosail Ballroom, where revellers partied all night.

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1. General Manager, Hoss Vetry, with PR Manager, Amina Tina.

2. The guests were entertained by flamenco dancers.

3. Emily, Andrew, Kyle and Kerry.

5. Latino band.

4. Oxana, Alexander and Bakhit.

6. SLT's Laura Hamilton and Katie Schwartz.

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. sur la terre . the scene .

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2014 Dubai World Cup Carnival —

The 2014 Dubai World Cup Carnival opened on 9 January 2014 at the Meydan Racecourse. Jockey, Silvestre de Sousa, won the big prize of the first meeting on Shuruq, a thoroughbred filly trained by Saeed bin Suroor.

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5 1. Anaerobio, ridden by Christophe Soumillon, wins the Longines Conquest Classic race.

2. Anaerobio is led onto the racetrack.

3. Shuruq, the throughbred ridden by Silvestre De Sousa, charges to the finish line.

4. Silvestre De Sousa receives his trophy after winning the Al Maktoum Challenge.

5. The runners and riders gallop to the finish on Day 1 of the 2014 Dubai World Cup Carnival.

6. Jockey Adrie De Vries speaks to trainer Charlie Appleby before the start of a race.

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“Passion of the Eyes” Photography Exhibition in Jeddah Key female figures in Arab politics, sport, fashion and art were the focus of the exhibition, including such luminaries as Razan Al Azzouni, — internationally-renowned artist, Manal Aldowayian, and Raha Moharrak, the first Saudi and youngest Arab to conquer Mount Everest.

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WELCOME To a world where money is no object and Cool comes at a price. FYEO is A millionaire’s shopping list that gives you an iNSIDE track to the things you need to own.

A Higher Key

>>>

Like superheroes, famous actors, various peace activists and small children with big hearts, we here at Sur la Terre Arabia are no strangers to receiving keys to cities, mostly for our continued work in philanthropic luxury support. However, never before have our heads been so magnificently turned than by what German firm, Selected Jewels, calls its Golden Key. Hand-crafted to a painstaking degree, this jewel-encrusted Mercedes Benz car key’s solid gold inset comes fullyfestooned with 300 cut diamonds, all of which, combined, weigh-in at a whopping 3.14 carats. Staying true to the bespoke nature of modern-

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day automotive luxury, the design of the keys knows no bounds, with a bevy of brilliance - from rose, white or yellow gold to platinum or any number of quality woods and/or high-end gemstones - allowing each to be a testament to the spirit of its owner in whatever way he or she sees fit. We, of course, are partial to the gorgeously ornate key inspired by the flag of our home headquarters of Qatar, which we think encapsulates the ethos of Selected Jewels: “Exclusivity and design in its most noble form.” A new level of luxury has most definitely just been unlocked. www.selected-jewels.com

. sur la terre . for your eyes only .

watch this >>> Almost immediately after the Harry Winston brand first burst on the luxury scene way back in 1932, its name became synonymous with a certain sort of sybaritic standing. In the words of the eponymous watchmaker Harry Winston, whose passion and spirit continue to sum up the company as much as his name, “People will stare.

Make it worth their while,” and it is with that ethos that the brand approaches all of its haute horology. Case in point is the rare and remarkable timepiece known as La Marquise, a fitting name for something that will undoubtedly accumulate throngs of onlookers. Set with a host of baguette, round and marquise cut diamonds (all of VVS and E-G colour), and weighing 58.69 carats, this gorgeous ladies watch has a quartz movement, a wrist size of 17cm and a 32mm hidden case, held fast like a crown jewel between the elegant caress of its one-of-a-kind bracelet, evoking as it does the bright flair of Hollywood and the baroque, icy swirl of nature. We regularly enjoy many a fine and delicious example of desirous timepieces in our offices, but La Marquise is perhaps the most delicious icing we’ve sampled. Its cool price of US $2.1 million at The Luxury Closet includes an original box and Gems Card. www.theluxurycloset.com

up in smoke >>> In many ways, the once humble cigar is the ideal emblem of modern-day Hip-Hop. Both are robust forms first hewn in, for and by the working class, but are now more often produced in and for the high-rise. Both also enjoy a shared development with contemporary Hip Hop’s most highly-praised practitioner, Shawn “Jay Z” Carter. It’s no surprise then that all of these elements should combine into the most exciting tobacconist venture to date: The Comador. Developed by Jay Z and Cohiba over a period of two years to, in Carter’s words, “get the blend to exactly where I wanted it to be,” the 6” x 52, toro-size cigar comes handcrafted from the Dominican Republic, and

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features a rare Connecticut Havana wrapper, prized for its exquisite flavour and appearance, altogether promising a nuanced and unforgettable smoking experience. Making that encounter all the more extraordinary is The Comador Humidor collection, the various styles and sizes of which come hand-lain in an astonishing array of quality materials, such as mahogany and Spanish cedar.

The entirety of the Comador Collection is exclusive to the United States and indeed commands the luxurious price you might imagine, but so too, in its purchase, will you command the respect of like-minded connoisseurs. www.comadorcigar.com

. sur la terre . for your eyes only .

Jewel York

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As world travellers of a particular calibre, the Sur la Terre Arabia team have collectively traversed this planet’s finest houses of haute hospitality, but we can honestly and with a somewhat heavy heart say that we have never experienced accommodation quite like that which ruminates throughout the New York Palace’s luxurious Jewel Suite. Designed by renowned jewelsmith, Martin Katz, the suite itself is resplendent in colourful yet comfortable sumptuousness, from its Port Laurent stone floors, up through its jewel-inspired wall coverings and decanting down its mesmerising 20-foot “diamond waterfall” chandelier. The foyer boasts a permanent installation of Katz’s “floating” crystal jewel boxes, each replete with its own distinctive jewellery creation, while the luxuriating Grand Parlour is encased in its own shimmer thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing its grand piano

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centrepiece particular spotlight. This bejewelled verve continues through its second and third floors, which respectively showcase a gorgeously-appointed master bedroom, a private outdoor terrace with its own spa and one of the few remaining wood-burning fireplaces in New York City. However, even with all this, what truly sets this suite apart (and justifies its eye-popping nightly rate) is the original Martin Katz Diamond Microband Ring gifted to each guest, as well as access to the designer for private showings, design consultation and custom jewellery creations. Whether you choose to take part in the suite’s custom-tailored, $50,000 Ultimate Proposal Package or simply wish to experience The Big Apple’s most extravagant stay, there is no denying that the New York Palace’s Jewel Suite is a real gem. www.newyorkpalace.com

. sur la terre . for your eyes only .

Un-Reel Cinema >>> Being the lovers of retro outfitting and vintage cinema that we are, your Sur la Terre Arabia team just couldn’t produce another "For Your Eyes Only" recommendation without mentioning the Digital Bolex D16 cinematic camera!

Echoing the look and feel of a traditional 16mm film camera, the D16 has one tripod leg planted in the hallowed halls of photographic history, but the other two enjoying firm positioning in its cuttingedge future. Boasting a Kodak 1” CCD: 12.85 mm (H) x 9.64 mm (V) sensor, this camera rivals most others on the market today, but employs a look that positively simmers in timelessly iconic cool. Utilising standard CF cards as a storage medium (which will be familiar to DSLR users), it also comes equipped with an Enterprise Class SSD drive to ensure integrity and filming flexibility. With its default lens mount, the D16 is able to host a variety of vintage 16mm and Super 16mm glass, which, along with its most recognisable feature - the removable moldedaluminum pistol grip (with standard tripod mount) - gives it at once an air of versatility and indefatigable style. Starting out at just under $3,500, the Digital Bolex D16 is no cheap venture, but for a sturdy, creative and gorgeously-appointed cinematic-rendering experience, accept no substitutes. www.digitalbolex.com

The Biz

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Craftsmanship skills at their finest and a passion for cabinet-making tradition: these are the twin concepts that 40 years ago shaped the Bizzotto trademark; today a symbol of quality Italian-crafted furniture. For almost half a century now, the company’s craftsmen in Bassano del Grappa (near Venice) have been plying their vocation with unwavering enthusiasm, creating sound, solid projects in which beauty and functionality are inextricably wed. Perhaps nowhere is the company’s instantly-recognisable “contemporary classic” approach to design and production more apparent than in the limited edition cabinets DAME and HOMME. Veritable masterpieces of the cabinet-maker's art, each individual piece is numbered and certified, making this limited series a crystal clear expression of exclusive luxury.

Gorgeously ambulating across jewellery drawers, a secret safe and adjustable mirrors with lights, the floral decorations that permeate the DAME vanity outer mantle celebrate Bizzotto's 40th Anniversary, offering a fresh interpretation of the trademark flower that symbolises the brand. The HOMME gentleman's version, on the other hand, was conceived as a treasure chest, developed with a variety of spaces for playing cards, cigars and even a mini bar. Both showcase elegantly what has made the Bizzotto name so singularly special and respected in the high-end furnishing world. www.bizzottomobili.it

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. sur la terre . for your eyes only .

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. sur la terre . revue .

putting on the ritz Four Pearls Deputy Editor, Laura Hamilton checks in to one of Bahrain's swankiest abodes.

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s I look back on my trip to Bahrain, my memory is an Instagram feed, complete with hazy pictures exposed with suspiciously flattering lighting, mere glimpses into my stay on the island, mentally labelled with hashtags to sum up the moment; monosyllabic memories (#Hammam #Bahrain #Manama). We have become a generation of ADHD social media whizzes, fluent in the slang of the internet, but insouciant to the focus required for a long prosaic composition; the paradigm has shifted, our attention spans have shortened as we have become less eloquent and more visual.

We compete in perpetual one-upmanship, as our social media status becomes irretrievably entwined with real life status anxiety, boring others with holiday snapshots has been replaced with real-time posed selfies, with semi-ironic pretentiousness, blind ambition and a shocking lack of self-awareness, hoping to trick people into believing their lives are lived in the lap of luxury. With an iPhone, a flash filter and a purloined bottle of champagne, anyone can give the impression that they live an exciting life, cropping out the dull moments that string together the few exciting ones. I know this because I spent the short flight from Doha to Manama arranging my Mont Blanc passport holder, my plane ticket stub (#cattleclass) and a copy of The Economist into an aesthetically pleasing shot in the hopes that someone would see it on Instagram and think me some sort of serious financial journalist jet-setter. I should know better - I do know better, but I have fallen prey to this disease of the mind.

I wonder if writing a long-read article about the merits of the Ritz Carlton Bahrain has become an effort in futility, when we have reduced ourselves to gifs and internet lists - when our shorthand for any emotion conceivable

. sur la terre . revue .

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is a cat meme? I patiently constructed sentences, like an old woman knitting, weaving words together, checking synonyms, changing tenses when new thoughts occurred and rearranging sentence structure; as the architect of this article I was happily lost in syntax, but perhaps it would be more appealing, more easily digested for you if I presented picture after picture of dishes I ate (#nomnomnom). A picture tells a thousand words. Well, so does a thousand word article.

♥ 1064 likes

I will console myself with the thought that brevity is the soul of wit. #Shakespeare

#Jetset The grandiose architecture of the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain is typical vintage Arabian chic, all rich colours and gold, an entire quarry full of marble meets me in the dramatic lobby, as well as the familiar face of Claudia, the PR Director, who took me round the hotel on a quick tour. She told me it would be possible to stay the whole trip inside the hotel, which I dismissed as PR talk, until I actually saw the hotel. It’s a TARDIS; a myriad restaurants and bars, an indoor pool, hammam pools, a gym, squash courts, a spa and various salons, and that’s without mentioning the swimming pools and beach outside. Plenty of photo opportunities.

Claudia had booked me into a massage - a great idea for those suffering from jet lag, but as the Doha - Manama flight is less than half an hour, it was more an exercise in untangling the knots in my shoulders that hunching over a

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. sur la terre . revue .

computer creates and putting me in a blissful and relaxed mood; very clever of them. (While I like looking at images of people enjoying massages, I can’t help but wonder who is taking those shots? Doesn’t it spoil the massage?)

Later, on the club lounge floor, I had a soy latte and contemplated my bad luck at visiting the Ritz-Carlton Bahrain the week the heavens opened. As I looked out to sea, holding my iPhone in one hand and coffee in another, the resort opened up before me, pools and palm trees stretched out onto the beach, swaying in the mild storm. The light was awful, and no filter could fix the dour weather. Bahrain isn’t blessed with beaches, a trait curious in an island, but the Ritz boasts the best of the private ones. There were a few merrymakers hanging out in the jacuzzi in the rain, but rather them than me.

Photo opportunities wrecked.

On the last day, I discovered the hammam in the hotel. With only a few hours until my departure, I grabbed my bikini and sprinted downstairs, where I was met by dark pools of water. Luckily, I chose the hottest pool quite by chance and proceeded to glare at the men in the centre pool, who were presumably holding some sort of business meeting until they left and I could have it all to myself. Dark and shadowy, I felt I was in Morocco somewhere. Alas, taking photos of yourself in a hammam is borderline narcissistic and bikinis don’t have pockets.

The rooms were ornate and lovely, but if hotel life isn’t your style and you still want to be waited on hand and foot, then the villas dotted around the

beach would suit you and your deep pockets. Catering to VIPs, politicians and royalty, the villas promise privacy and exclusivity in a chic setting. With a private infinity pool and direct access to the beach, you won’t want to leave.

Even as we breakfasted in the living room as the rain poured down the glass, the villas seemed like the perfect place to get away from it all. #luxury www.ritzcarlton.com

#Discovery Before visiting the Ritz-Carlton, I had never been to the Kingdom of Bahrain. Despite living in Qatar for several years, it hadn’t seemed worth a visit; surely it was just the same as Doha? Turns out, ignorance isn’t bliss, just ignorance. On my second day in Bahrain, happily driving along the motorway, avoiding big pools of water, Claudia pointed out mounds of sand at the side of the road. “When I first came here,” she said, “I thought that was just sand from construction, but actually they’re burial mounds.”

Bahrain has been populated for around five thousand years, and various cultures and people have made their mark on the island. The most extraordinary were the Dilmun, who left large burial mounds in their wake, some of the largest cemeteries of the ancient world, leading some experts to believe that Bahrain was the burial site for a large portion of Arabia, an interesting notion that has recently been disproved. In some villages, the houses are dotted around the huge burial sites, some of which are several stories high, a curious mix of the past and the present living side by side. The Bahrainis are proud of their long history; for more insight the Bahrain National Museum is the place to go. #culture It is the Bahrain Fort, or Qa’lat al Bahrain, that really captures my imagination.

A UNESCO World Heritage Site discovered in the 1950s by Danish archaeologists, it is the island’s most important historical site. Six kilometres away from the capital, the fort sits on the edge of the sea, a peaceful place where you can hear the ocean as well as echoes of the past. Used by all the civilisations that resided in Bahrain, from the Dilmun to the Portuguese, the fort is a patchwork of different architectural styles, making it truly unique from an aesthetic point of view, but also stunning.

"Bahrain isn’t blessed with beaches, a trait curious in an island, but the Ritz boasts the best of the private ones."

#IsaHouse

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#IsaHouse Slightly disappointing, if only because it remains unfurnished, Isa bin Ali’s house in Muharraq is an interesting portal into the lives of the Hakim of Bahrain. The ruler of Bahrain from the late 19th century until his forced abdication by the British, he was a much-beloved Sheikh. The sprawling house is notable for its wind shaft (an early AC), and original pieces, such as the magnificent teak doors. Standing on the rooftop, you get a great view of the city as the old town blends into the new.

#Fun Bahrain is not a sleepy country, lost in nostalgia for the past. For the thrill-loving adventurer, the island has a few things up its sleeves. One of these is the largest racetrack in the Middle East. The revs of the engine, the whining sound as the two cars shot round the racetrack were enough to get us excited, so the Grand Prix in April must be pure adrenaline. Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) is a mere 30 km from Manama, and the home of motorsport in the Middle East, where drag racing, circuit training and endurance racing is held, as well as

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the Grand Prix. This year, for the first time, the Bahrain Grand Prix will be a night race, held under floodlights on the 6th of April, adding a little extra drama.

For those who like their pleasures to be more leisurely, look no further than the Royal Golf Club. The only grass golf course in Bahrain and therefore the best, with a few rogue ducks roaming around, you would not believe you were in a desert. It boasts a Royal Golf Academy, where you can hone your skills and a Night Course, in case the temperature puts you off, and there is also a pool area and events room.

#Flight I flew Gulf Air, which is not only the Gulf’s oldest airline, but easily employs the best dressed hosts and hostesses. While the flight was too short to mention, waiting in the lounge at Bahrain airport was very relaxing. The Sky Nanny, who is available to look after children from 6:30pm - 2am bodes well for everyone, as well as the x-box game centre, as no one enjoys a bored child.

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style confidential

The Style Gap As winter flurries away and spring waits patiently round the corner, we help you take a stylish leap from one season to the next.

Snow patrol Swap the sand dunes for snowy slopes and hit the ski scene for a super stylish and luxe adventure.

For her…

It goes without saying that anything Chanel and a pair of Chanel skis are pure, unadulterated decadence on the slopes. But for something a little off-piste, try Moncler - chic fashion meets function - or Stella McCartney, who’s teamed with Adidas, Bogner for the best statement jackets, Longlanier for sleek sweaters and M Miller the ultimate in super sleek ski style.

For him…

Peak Performance and Kjus are both style-driven and hi-spec; just what dapper gents want from their ski gear. We love these Kjus gloves that feature a speaker, microphone and vibrating alarm so you can keep in touch while bombing downhill.

Ski pants Stella McCartney, cashmere sweater Banjo & Matilda, Gilet Pyrenex, Boots Isabel Marant, Snood Eugenia Kim, Beanie Eugenia Kim, Sunglasses Victoria Beckham available at Net-A-Porter.com

Where to go…

Gstaad, Switzerland is the playground for the rich and famous, and a favourite ski and party destination for the fashion pack. Valentino, the Cavallis and the Delevignes have all enjoyed alpine adventures here, as well as A-listers Prince Harry, Madonna and Sean Connery. For an even cooler après ski vibe, head to Are in Sweden, or party central Verbier in Switzerland, and its new W Hotel and ice bar (Place Blanche) at the bottom of the main piste.

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Ski jacket and pants Peak Performance, sweater Kjus,, gloves Kjus, sunglasses Thom Browne available from MrPorter.com

Wardrobe reinvention Combat the mid-season style dilemma and breathe new life into your existing wardrobe with our pick of some of the most influential new season styles that you can wear not only now, but all summer long.

WHITE ON WHITE Colour is always a good place to start with a new season wardrobe, as you are likely to own something of the “it” colour already, and who doesn’t have white in their wardrobe? A little white dress is a great way to get ahead; add a skinny tan belt to bring your dress into 2014, or layer your whites. A tunic dress over trousers, or a white blouse, skirt and blazer make for a truly contemporary white-on-white ensemble.

Designer inspiration: Carolina Herrera, Michael Kors, Chloé

HEAVY METAL Don’t ditch the glitz and glam of the festive season just yet, as this spring, metallics are a must, and not just for after-dark partying.

Bring out the shine while the sun is still up.

Think ornamentation, silky chain mail, radiant finishes, glossy silk lamé and maximum embellishment and adopt a rock chic spirit, warrior princess attitude or luxe vixen persona.

Designer inspiration: Versace, Lanvin, Marc by Marc Jacobs

Versace

FLORAL FEAST Isn’t it great when spring trends return for another outing? Yes, florals are still as fragrant as they were in 2013 and for the new season come in many guises, which makes wearing them even easier. Go for bold art-inspired florals, dainty and ditzy blossoms or a more abstract take on the humble flower. Cover dresses, both long and short, and match tops and bottoms to your chosen bouquet.

Designer inspiration: Etro, Alberta Ferretti, Dior

Carolina Herrera

SAFARI CITY

Dior

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Salvatore Ferragamo

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As well as a plentitude of tribal and ethnic influences for spring, classic safari style in the form of khakis and utilitarian tailoring is a huge influence on daywear. It is not so much about wearing a camouflage jacket or combat pants, but rather choosing everyday separates with a hint of the organic clean-cut design and natural textures and shades of classic safari gear.

Designer inspiration: Salvatore Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta, Hermès

New direction Be inspired by art, all things equestrian and the hottest names on the fashion frontier.

Call of the canter

According to the Chinese calendar, 2014 is the Year of the Horse, so let your wardrobe be inspired by the wonder of equestrian elegance. While a horse motif sweater, jodhpurs and a riding crop may be taking the idea too far for some, why not don a subtle horse-inspired pendant or bracelet.

Bracelet by Gucci, coach & Horses necklace by Coldlilies, necklace by Renaissance Life at Bottica.com

Art-shion Whether you label it the art of fashion or fashion as art, the message is clear – this season art and fashion go hand-in-hand. For spring, style looks set to celebrate an art explosion. The SS 14 catwalks were awash with wild brush strokes, bold contemporary art prints and graffiti lettering. Céline interpreted photographer Brassai’s work of Paris with splatterings of bold colour and black and white, Prada explored political wall paintings of Mexican muralists, while Christopher Kane chose floral motifs and Zac Posen explored the pure and subtle pastel hues of Impressionism. As for Chanel, well, Karl Lagerfeld topped them all. From paint palette dresses to graffiti bags, not to mention the 75 works of art that filled the art fair sorry Grand Palais catwalk - Karl Lagerfeld went all-out art. So if you want to follow the leader, don’t be afraid to add more than the odd splash of paint to your palette. shoes Christian Louboutin, dress Etro, top Cedric Charlier all at Net-A-Porter.com

Céline SS14

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A new Stella

Citizen Kane

Stella McCartney may be London’s fashion darling right now, but Stella Jean is the latest style starlet to emerge from Milan. After being invited by none other than Giorgio Armani to show her SS 14 in his own show space, the Armani Teatro in Milan, Stella’s latest collection has been received with unbelievable praise and her bold ethnic inspired designs are flying off the shelves. She follows what she calls a “wax and stripes” philosophy, which combines her mother’s Haitian roots (wax) and her father’s Turin heritage (stripes), and has been warned by Mr Armani to keep hold of her brand DNA and not to follow the mainstream. We simply love her statement prints and voluminous silhouettes.

Stella Jean is available at Matchesfashion.com

January saw another round of London Collections Men, with established names and feisty newcomers showcasing their AW 14 wares. One gent who continues to shine is Scottish designer Christopher Kane.

Not only has he cemented his place in the womenswear designer gang since the launch of his eponymous label back in 2006, but he has now conquered menswear too. “Menswear is booming in London right now,” says Christopher. His brightly coloured pants, cool jackets and contemporary knitwear have gained American A-list interest too, with Jay Z and Rihanna decking themselves out in his joggers and tees. “For spring, we have tailored shorts and sharp shirts and macs,” he adds. This summer also sees Christopher opening the doors on his first store on London’s Mount Street, where his neighbours will include fashion heavyweights Lanvin, Marc Jacobs and Balenciaga, and where he will also be joined by fellow newcomers to the street, Roksanda Illincic and Céline. Mount Street, here we come.

New tricks

Rejuvenate your wardrobe by investing in some key spring pieces that will transform your style for 2014.

4. Neutral Tote

2. Nude Flats Flats stand tall above heels for the new season and a pair of nude flats will give existing work and weekend wear a new lease of life. These Jimmy Choo pointed paten flats will go with everything – smart or casual.

For a versatile bag that goes happily to work or play, go for neutral and subtle tan tones. This Michael Kors tote will work with everything from safari prints to chic monochrome and splashes of colour to sporty separates.

1. The Bomber Jacket If there is one layer to update your off-duty style, it has to be the bomber jacket, coming in all styles and fabrics from rogue and boyish to slick and sophisticated. This bomber, by T by Alexander Wang, will add a distinct rock chic vibe to your ensemble – great over skinny jeans and a tank.

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3. Colour Block Dress A statement dress is a surefire way to look spring-ready and this fuss-free colour block dress from Joseph is a simple yet striking way to embrace some new season colour and effortless panache.

Add some ankle boots and a clashing clutch to finish the look.

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5. Cropped White Shirt A white shirt is an all-time wardrobe staple, but for an instant update go for a crisp cropped version, like this from Proenza Schouler.

There is no need to bare flesh, simply wear with high-waisted trousers or a waist-cinching full skirt.

GLOBETROTTER

Where: London, UK What: Tate Modern The Ey exhibition : Paul Klee When: From 16 October to 9 March www.tate.org.uk

Where: VENICE What: Carnival of Venice When: From 22 February to 4 March www.venice-carnival-italy.com

Where: NEW YORK What: MOMA Gauguin: Métamorphoses When: From 8 March to 8 June www.moma.org

Global Gatherings Global Gatherings is your at-a-glance

map of magnificence, directing you to all of the culturally essential, entertaining and luxurious events and happenings that will be taking place across the world (or

Where: RIO DE JANEIRO What: The Rio Carnival When: From 28 February to 8 March www.rio-carnival.net

perhaps, we should say, “sur la terre”) over the coming months.

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Where: BERLIN What: Berlinale : International Film Festival When: From 6 to 16 February www.berlinale.de

Where: Paris, Grand Palais What: Cartier : The style of history When: From 4 December to 16 February www.grandpalais.fr

Where: SOCHI What: 2014 Winter Olympics When: From 7 to 23 February www.sochi2014.com

Where: DUBAI What: World Cup 2014 When: 29 March www.dubaicalendar.ae

Where: MELBOURNE What: Australian Grand Prix 2014 When: From 13 to 16 March www.grandprix.com.au

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GLOBETROTTER

nightlife

SHOPPING

Senator Saloon

Viktor&Rolf

Where: Shanghai, China GPS: 31˚ 12' 44.44" N, 121˚ 26' 41.40" E

Where: Paris, France GPS: 48˚ 52' 33.01.96" N, 2˚ 19' 37.63" E

It may be hard to believe that a mere century ago, the US was stricken by a malady known as the Prohibition, but it seems to be an era that Shanghai is not so keen to forget. Nostalgic for the old-time glamour of the speakeasy, Senator Saloon evokes the atmosphere and style of the 1920s, serving over 50 American whiskeys, including bourbons and rye (although it's unlikely they were bootlegged), and encouraging its patrons to style themselves as Al Capone. Just don’t bring your gun to the bar; Senator is a civilised saloon, so no reenactments of Scarface, please. www.senatorsaloon.com

A somewhat acquired taste, Viktor&Rolf is the fashion world’s edgiest component, heralded by art and fashion institutions alike, but not yet a household name. This luxury fashion label from The Netherlands is too avant garde to have housewives lusting over its leather handbags, but to the true fashionista, wearing Viktor&Rolf proves you have serious fashion credentials. Too cool for school, Viktor&Rolf’s subtle and subversive designs have proved hugely popular in Asia, but the two eponymous designers have always considered Paris their fashion home, and were pleased to open the two-story store at the prestigious address of 370 Rue Saint-Honoré, the interior of which they covered entirely with grey felt. www.viktor-rolf.com

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HOTEL

restaurant

Pompano Beach Club

La Serre

Where: Bermuda, USA GPS: 32˚ 18' 46.96" N, 64˚ 46' 42.72" W

Where: Dubai, UAE GPS: 25˚ 11' 26.77" N, 55˚ 16' 28.27" E

Bermuda, where the water is clear, the sun always shines, and the much maligned Bermuda shorts came from, which at least one person will be wearing (possibly while playing golf). Pompano Beach Club is a secret hideaway that is very close to the island’s best and most popular beaches, as well as being a swing away from the Port Royal Golf Course. An idyllic coral hue, the resort offers jet skiing and scuba diving, so you can explore the shipwrecks in the crystal clear waters, or simply repose in a jacuzzi with a glass of bubbly, gazing out at the horizon, before enjoying the locally caught seafood at one of the restaurants, or further de-stress at The Three Graces Day Spa. www.pompanobeachclub.com

This bright yet intimate restaurant in the newly opened Vida boutique hotel is like stepping into a Parisian bistro, sophisticated yet relaxed, authentic but modern, and with the enticing aroma of fresh bread emanating from the boulangerie. Serving delicious FrenchMediterranean cuisine, it has proved immensely popular amongst the trendy Dubai crowd, and has become the perfect place to order half the menu and share dishes, while dissecting the latest gossip over a glass or two of crisp wine. Whether you like green beans and foie gras, quinoa salad with duck leg, or are partial to some juicy steak, La Serre’s light but mouth-watering meals will sate your appetite and keep you coming back for more. www.laserre.ae

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" WAT ER OF J ELLY FI S H , M I LK Y, S NA K I NG WAT ER OF EV ER- C H A NGI NG S H A PE S ; GL O S S Y WAT ER- FLE S H ; M ELT I NG I N T O I T S L OV ELY S U R ROU N DI NG S ."

- Coral Brac ho

u p close a n d per so n a l

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Dream Weaver Caroline Scheufele

Laura Hamilton travels to meet the glamorous first lady of Swiss luxury house, Chopard - Artistic Director and Co-President, Caroline Scheufele - at the opening of the Brand's new regional flagship Boutique in Kuwait.

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hat is Chopard’s relationship with Kuwait and why open the largest Chopard store in the world here rather than Dubai?

This shopping mall is standing up to its name Prestige; very luxurious. It has been a long time coming, we have been waiting for the right opportunity to open a flagship store here. This time Kuwait is first!

Chopard has been in the Middle Eastern market for 40 years; we were one of the first brands to be represented. We have a lot of faithful Kuwaiti clients, who always come back for another Chopard piece. Women are very fashion-orientated here, you see fashion houses are opening around - they wouldn’t open if they didn’t sell anything here. I think in terms of make-up and hair, the Middle East is far ahead of many other countries in the world, notably Europe. I also like the fusion of oriental fashion flowing into international fashion.

How did your partnership with Cannes Film Festival come about?

We’ve been the exclusive watches and jewellery partner for Cannes Film Festival for 16 years now, and the whole story started when we opened

a new boutique in Cannes. I love the cinema and I wanted to open the boutique at the same time as the festival, but I also wanted to do something official with the festival. I went to go see the director, and the festival had just celebrated its 50th anniversary the year before. Long story short, behind him on the shelf was the Palme d’Or and I asked if it was the real Golden Palm. I have to say, it was a little ugly! It was made from flexi-glass and the palm tree was squashed. I told him that my real job is designing and asked if I could propose a way to make it more glamorous, more befitting a film festival. And he said, “Of course! Take it to Geneva, young lady, and change it!” Sixteen years later, we still produce it every year. It’s the heart of the festival.

Every Palme is unique; it’s set on rock crystal, which has very different shapes and is hand-made in our ateliers every year. It used to be goldplated, but now that Chopard makes it, it’s 18k gold. The little Chopard touch is a heart at the stem.

As a creative director, how hands-on are you?

I design when I’m flying. Phones don’t run and email doesn’t work, so my mind can roam. It’s where I’m most creative. Honestly speaking,

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"My major passion is creation, so I want to come up with things that haven’t been done before."

behind a desk in Geneva, creativity doesn’t happen. I’m very handson; it’s what I love the most. My influences can be architecture, music, fashion, colours, nature, stones. For the red carpet collection, there are a lot of stones. In some collections, it starts with a symbol or an idea, and then you collect the stones; the smaller diamonds are not unique. In the important collections, with the high jewellery, it starts with the stones.

You are Co-President of Chopard, a title you share with your brother. What is it like working in a family business?

There are much more pros than cons in working in a family business. In an anonymous company where they change the CEO every two years and answer to the stock market, you lose the philosophy, the vision, the heart and the soul of the brand. It’s less like a job, I don’t wake up thinking, oh I have to go to work.

Honestly, in a family business, it doesn’t matter what’s written on your business card. I always say, if people need titles, it’s a bad sign. When I interview people and they ask about their title, I think that it’s not the most important part of a job, which is what you’re going to do.

Many of the Creative Directors in big European luxury brands are men.

What do you think women can bring to the mix?

There is one thing women can naturally bring into the business world, which is intuition and emotion. Of course, if you are a lawyer you have to know the law, but there are moments where a woman can be very intuitive and rely on their gut. Most things I do are not because someone consulted me, or advised me what to do; it’s something I have thought about.

Being a woman is certainly not a handicap for me, but an advantage.

Since I design jewellery and watches, I can try things on and see if the clasps work. Maybe I have a more practical eye for jewellery, and can tell whether the earrings are too heavy, that they’re beautiful but unwearable.

Aesthetically, it’s difficult for me to design things I don’t like myself. I

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do sometimes, for special orders for clients. In general, when you cook at home, you’re not going to cook something you don’t like to eat! Design and creation is so personal, a reflection of the person.

What are your ambitions for the future?

More flagships store like this - I think we have set the benchmark for boutiques in the Middle East. My major passion is creation, so I want to come up with things that haven’t been done before. There is always something new to do, which is what I have been doing for the past 30 years.

What is your day-to-day working life like?

There isn’t one day like another. Even in Geneva, there is a short list of the things I must do; three things I really must finish that day. Often when I look at the clock at seven or eight in the evening and I realise I haven’t done any of what I was supposed to do - that’s a normal Chopard day for me! Unless I’m travelling, of course.

In a way, we’re selling dreams, so things are often spontaneous. A client in the Geneva boutique will tell me it’s his wife’s birthday and he needs something urgently - things come up. We’re not producing bread or toothpaste, which isn’t very glamorous or personal. We are making products that are luxurious that satisfies someone’s wish or dream. You don’t plan these things!

How would you describe your personal style?

I travel a lot, so I need comfortable things in my suitcase. I used to pack a lot more than I do now, but it’s just a headache to pack and unpack. I try to choose things I can play with and change. I’m not a brand from top to toe, except for Chopard of course! I like to have a pair of nice jeans with a designer jacket. I love Ralph Lauren, it’s very simple and good quality.

I love Dolce & Gabbana for parties and Elie Saab for the red carpet. But then, you know, I buy things with no name, no logo and I mix it. Less is more. Sometimes if you have nice pieces, you don’t need to wear them all at once. Wear the sapphire ring one day and the matching necklace the next. Don’t look like a Christmas tree! Keep it simple and chic.

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Big bang Theory Ricardo Guadalupe Interview: Gaëlle Hennet

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hat pushed you into a career in the watchmaking industry?

I was born in one of the birthplaces of luxury watchmaking, Neuchâtel! Seriously though, this universe has fascinated me since I was a child, thanks, without a doubt, to my father, who was head of manufacturing for automatic watches. I later made this passion a reality when Bulgari, which was a small enterprise at the time, employed me as product manager. As for the rest of my career, I owe this largely to meeting Jean-Claude Biver in 1994, at Baselworld. I was very impressed. He was already the managing director for Blancpain, and he said to me that one day I should join his team. That was how I joined the company in 1997, before following Jean-Claude Biver in the Hublot adventure from

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Photographs: all rights reserved

His appearance is relaxed and he has a smile on his face. Ricardo Guadalupe should be proud of what he has achieved. His career path has been focused on watchmaking, punctuated by periods spent working at Bulgari and Blancpain, with the crowning glory being his appointment as CEO for Hublot. For Slt international , he relives his journey, the encounters that have shaped his life and the astounding destiny of a factory, which is now playing in the big leagues.

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2004, motivated by the desire to shake up the conditions of traditional watchmaking, working alongside him.

What have you undertaken since your appointment?

My appointment as CEO at the start of 2012 follows on from, and aims to corroborate with, the excellent results Hublot has achieved since 2005. I aim to support this dynamic growth, as much for the production as for sales. Furthermore, Jean-Claude and I complement each other. He has become the president of the administrative committee and as such, manages its strategy, as well as the creative side of things. I am more pragmatic and can transform his ideas into reality.

This autumn, you got together with Laurent Picciotto, founder of the Chronopassion boutique in Paris, to launch the limited edition Classic Fusion Jeans, a watch with a face made of denim and a bracelet in black denim. Why did you focus on this material, which has been forgotten in the watchmaking industry since the 1980s?

This model is an extension of the limited edition collection we launched in February last year, which is made up of a masculine diving design, the Oceanographic 4000 Jeans and of 3 feminine Big Bang designs. At the start, this collection was born from my meeting with Tina Zegg, who had the great idea of creating watches with faces made from real denim. Our partnership led to these designs, offered exclusively in the Zegg & Cerlati boutiques. Like the first collection, the Classic Fusion Jeans is a result of the research we have done, in order to work with this timeless material, used for the first time in luxury watchmaking. At the moment, we are continuing our research in the adaptability of other materials for watchmaking, such as linen.

These collections also illustrate a key concept for the company: fusion. Could you say a few words about this philosophy?

The art of fusion comes into its own in these two collections. Fusion is the reinterpretation of tradition with technological materials; a unique method to produce watches, which was initiated with the Big Bang.

For example, carbon fibre, zirconium, tantalum, tungsten, ceramic and titanium are mixed with more traditional materials such as gold, platinum, steel or diamonds. Sometimes, fusion concerns the material itself, like hublonium, an aluminium and magnesium alloy, or Magic Gold, which was a product of our collaboration with EPFL. It’s the first 18-carat gold that is scratchproof! Even though its ingredients are a secret, I can say that ceramic plays its part.

Fusion also seems to be a part of the series of limited edition design objects that you offer.

Exactly! After having launched the All Black skis in carbon fibre with Zai, a bicycle with BMC, a sledge, which merges carbon, leather and wood in collaboration with ECAL, we are widening our range this year with Inspiration, a set of headphones created in partnership with Monster, a leading Californian company in the field. With these objects, we are widening the Hublot world by diversifying the mediums to which we attach our name, all the while retaining a consistency with our choice of partners, who are all reputed for producing high-quality products.

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Your partnerships are always so innovative. After sport, you are now working with Jay-Z. Why? It is true that Hublot was the first luxury brand to enter into the world of football, as the official timekeeper for the Euro and the World Cup from 2010 to 2022. We are now also partners of some of the biggest clubs, like Bayern Munich and Paris Saint-Germain. We were also the first luxury brand to invest in the NBA in the USA with the Lakers and Miami Heat. And we were chosen by Ferrari for a 360° collaboration: we will accompany them in all of their activities right up to what they do for Formula 1. This makes sense; we share the same clients, we have the same DNA: sport, performance, technology.

Motivated by a desire to innovate, we turned to music, firstly with the group Depeche Mode, working in collaboration with and for the benefit of the charity, Water. For this we created the Big Bang Depeche Mode with them. As for our collaboration with Jay-Z, we owe this partly thanks to Jean-Claude Biver’s youngest son, who told him that Jay-Z had worn a Hublot in one of his videos. Therefore, a meeting was inevitable! Together we created two Classic Fusion watches to fit in with his collection, Shawn Carter, on sale at Barneys, in New York, as well as the Hublot retail outlets. This collection marks a new step in Jay-Z’s career, less of a display of bling, and more of a show of classic designs with these two timepieces.

Hublot’s presence across the world has increased in response to the incredible development of watch designs. What kind of international development strategy are you following?

At this moment, Hublot has 800 retail outlets across the world, and 65 exclusive boutiques. In 2013, we opened two boutiques a month! Of course, we hope to continue with this development in 2014, particularly in China. Our growth potential there is significant. Currently, we achieve just six percent of our turnover there. From now until 2018, we hope to reach 30 percent.

On a more general note, what are your objectives for 2014?

Amongst our numerous objectives is the opening of a second factory in Nyon by the end of 2014, opposite the current building. Five years from now, this new factory will allow us to produce all of our timepieces, to develop new materials and to grow from approximately 400 colleagues to more than 600. On a larger scale, we hope to increase our sales, which are approximately 40,000 watches per year, from 4,900 CHF to more than 350,000 CHF for the more complex pieces.

Apart from watchmaking, what do you enjoy?

I am passionate about gastronomy. Cooking requires precision and creativity, particularly in the choice of products, just like watchmaking!

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tr en ds confidential

Mulberry

Mulberry

Move over curvaceous hourglass and make way for the new voluminous silhouettes heading our way for spring.

Words: Sophie Jones-Cooper

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O

ver the festive period, I must have consumed my own body weight in mince pies, mulled wine and my all-time weakness, cheese. Not just any cheese, mind you, but my favourite stinky blue cheese – the most fat-ridden of them all; but as Stilton aficionados will know, worth every bite. So it comes as no surprise that my silhouette has taken a distinctly downward (and sideways) spiral. Now, as the New Year is upon us and the last of the festive food goodies firmly sit on my hips, I find myself trying to claw back my silhouette of pre-December 2013. However, looking at what is in store for my wardrobe for spring, I wonder whether I should be so concerned about finding my waistline from under the cheese melt?

When it comes to the silhouette this season, volume is the buzzword. It is goodbye skinny, hello supersize. It’s out with cinched waists and the hourglass, and all hail the new volume – the T silhouette, long full skirts, baggy trousers, boxy tops and oversized jackets. Body con is so passé. Baggy-con is the way forward this season.

Yes, we can adorn our dresses (worth noting that the dress is taking over from winter’s staple separates) with florals, bold works of art and adornment galore, and step out in fabulous flats, but this spring style starts with the new silhouette.

Céline

I have to admit; this new, wider proportion is a welcome break, though not a surprising one, following the success of winter’s voluminous shapes – none more so than those must-have cocoon coats. However, much to my dismay, just because our spring wardrobe is not figurehugging doesn’t mean it is time to hide behind tent dresses and mannish blazers, and succumb to the muffin tops we baked back in December. A supersized wardrobe does not mean a supersized you. Just think how you will feel when you fancy a break from all things voluminous and opt for a more figure-flaunting spring statement dress or need to fit into your new Brazilian bikini for a pre-summer pool party? Victoria Beckham and the Olsen twins are great examples of how good thin people look in baggy-con.

On the other hand, you shouldn’t fret if you are not a size zero! You can still work this new looser silhouette without looking like a dustbin bag. You too can walk out without the fear of being asked how many months gone you are. Be aware of the pitfalls with this look; know your body and you can make big work for you. There is one silhouette in particular that works for everyone and that is the T silhouette. It is by far the easiest shape to embrace; instead of being baggy all over, it offers structure and a flattering well-proportioned silhouette from head to toe.

Marc Jacobs

So what is this T silhouette that has the fashion set buzzing? It is quite literally what it says on the tin – creating a T-shaped silhouette - basically wide sleeves and a straight body.

The SS 14 catwalks were awash with T-shaped tunics, dresses, coats and tops. Put a T before anything this season and you are onto a winner.

The best part of this silhouette is its versatility.

With – let’s call it the T - you can work a number of spring trends: ladylike and

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best asset. For the ultimate in volume, pair with a full skirt.

Valentino also opted for a crisp, white T-shaped shirt, but paired it with some baggy pajamastyle trousers in a sophisticated print. You might think that volume-on-volume is not going to do anyone any favours, but this season it’s time to think again. Choose a stiffer fabric for your T so it really holds the T-shape, hence why the crisp shirt works so well. Also, keep trousers loose, light and billowing. The different materials add a subtle contrast and definition. Another option is a silky T top and silky trousers, for a sublime and somewhat luxe sporty appeal. Sportsmax got this look spot-on with a silky champagnecoloured pairing. Choose a subtle shade, such as champagne or a pale pastel, for a head to toe billowing nod to the rather more structured other T offerings.

Victoria Beckham

elegant, slick and boyish or tribal and adorned.

By emphasizing your shoulders and upper half, your lower half will automatically look slimmer.

Wear with a straight skirt or trousers and you will also elongate your silhouette without the use of Photoshop or a “stretch yourself” app.

For a relaxed, easy, chic option and a subtle approach to the T, be inspired by Mulberry or Calvin Klein, whose T-shaped tops, belowknee skirts in silky fabrics and barely-there nude shades combine for an effortlessly elegant look. Dolce & Gabbana upped the elegance to a whole new level with a pristine and ladylike collection of T delights, including a gorgeous matching gold lace skirt and top, and super sophisticated black lace top and straight print skirt. This latter print was the signature of the collection, inspired by old photographs of ancient Greece.

Other designers used art as their inspiration for SS 14, which works so perfectly with the T as it is a blank canvas for brush strokes aplenty.

Marc Jacobs, Prabal Gurung and Céline splashed bold and colourful art-inspired prints on their T-shaped pairings. In fact, Phoebe Philo’s signature minimalism was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she translated the boldness of photographer Brassaï's work into graffiti style prints on oversized skirts, tops, dresses and jackets. Mr Jacobs opted for a black and white matchy bold floral print complete with tassels and a high adorned neck, while Mr Gurung kept his top crisp and clean-cut, a collared shirt in fact, and teamed it with a colour-blocking, floralblazoned straight skirt.

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Victoria Beckham

Such bold prints are a great way to take emphasis away from any part of your body you are not so comfortable with, adding a crisp, white collared shirt for those with a heavier top half or hourglass shape. The squareness of the cut helps minimize any excess lumps and bumps up top and you can cinch the waist in with a belt to show off your

Osman

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Worry not, skinny jean junkies – you can also wear T-shaped tops, coats and tunics with skinny trousers. The stick-leg look works well with roomy top halves, hence why the tunic dress is perhaps the epitome of the T silhouette. When it comes to tunic dresses, the world is pretty much your oyster. Go wild with tribal-inspired prints and patterns, glam it up with glistening metallics, add a feminine charm with pretty pastels or add a pop of colour to your new season wardrobe with a bold red or electric blue shade.

The T needn’t mean a full-body cover up either.

If you’ve got pins worth showing off, keep your tunic dress mini (above the knee works best) or team a T shirt (not to be mistaken for tee shirt) with a pair of knee-length city shorts and flats. For girly-girls with perfect stems, Victoria Beckham teamed her bold shoulders with flirty skater girl mini skirts. For a more masculine approach, she offered loose and louche top and trouser combos.

If a pair of baggy trousers is on your supersize wish list, follow in her footsteps and go for a pair that sit low on the hips and are slightly cropped. Donatella Versace also opted for low slung, but for her SS 14 collection, chose hip slung circle skirts, which create a new and more voluminous silhouette than we are used to with Versace.

While all these new voluminous silhouettes make their way into wardrobes around the world, are they set to make their way into style history?

One designer hits the nail on the head saying, “The hardest thing in fashion is not to be known for a logo, but to be known for a silhouette.”

Well said, Giambattista Valli. If we look back in fashion history, while silhouettes might not mark a designer, they certainly mark an era: the straight up-and-down cut of the 20s, the 50s hourglass, the bell-bottomed 70s and even the corseted Victorian waistlines. Maybe in decades to come, people will look back at the 2010s as the era of the oversized silhouette. Then again, it could all change next season, so let’s enjoy this new volume while we can.

LOOK BOOK

Image courtesy of Marks & Spencer

matchy matchy

There’s power and panache in pairs this season. Don’t be afraid to order a double when it comes to all things print and pattern.

TOP TIP:

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Marc Jacobs

TOP AND SHORTS Stella McCartney at Net-a-Porter.com, BLOUSE AND TROUSERS Clements Ribiero, JACKET AND SKIRT House of Fraser, TOP AND TROUSERS Marks & Spencer, SHIRT AND SKIRT Clements Ribiero, JACKET AND TROUSERS Hobbs, TOP AND SKIRT Brunos Bazaar at House of Fraser.

Burberry

Head-to-toe florals are out in full bloom for the new season. Choose bold, wild and wondrous designs.

CATWALK MOMENT: Burberry paired up pretty pastels while Marc Jacobs matched muted florals.

IN THE NAVY For a classic yet contemporary take on the new season, go for a refined palette of navy blue.

SHIRT House of Fraser, BLAZER Etro at MrPorter.com, SWEATER Crew Clothing, SHIRT NN.07 at MrPorter.com, SWEATER Brioni at MrPorter.com, COAT Boss Hugo Boss at House of Fraser, COAT Superdry, TROUSERS Band of Outsiders at MrPorter.com, SHOES O’Keefe at MrPorter.com, SHOES Bertie at Dune, BAG Balenciaga at MrPorter.com, SUNGLASSES Polo Ralph Lauren.

TOP TIP: For a simple, no-hassle approach, start with a pair of indigo jeans and simply add some navy shoes and a navy shirt.

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j etset

Paradise found

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Regional Managing Editor, James McCarthy, on his recent tropical expedition to Thailand’s Koh Samui, discovers that the sound of the sweet-scented breeze blowing through groves and palm leaves of the island is whispering the last word in secluded luxury: “Napasai.”

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ike the jagged teeth of some ancient Kraken rearing its head from the glassy epidermis of the Gulf of Thailand, the rocky buttresses of the Ang Thong National Marine park recede into the distant haze. The late August sun beats down as we scythe effortlessly through the water, onwards to our tropical island getaway at the prow of a luxury power cruiser.

Before the boat is even clear of the bay, we are already walking up to the door of our private beach villa suite, one of the finest accommodations at the beautiful and exclusive Orient Express property, Napasai.

Miles of golden sand speeds past; beaches attached to the myriad opulent resorts offering a sumptuous slice of this tropical paradise. Eventually, in the shadow of a lush tree-lined hill, dotted with picturesque domiciles, the boat finally slows to a halt.

Nestled in several acres of prime real estate along Baan Tai beach on the small island of Koh Samui, Napasai resort and spa blends seamlessly into its unspoiled surroundings, with its rich dark wood construction and communal areas that are open to the elements, it invokes a wonderful Swiss Family Robinson feel. The main building, comprising a reception and bar, a library and the main restaurant, is built on three levels descending a steep hill, joined by timber bridges and staircases.

Like a scene from an Ian Fleming novel, or more precisely, one of the movies derivative of his work, featuring a jet-setting super spy, I alight from the tail of the cruiser, jumping into crystal clear water that reaches my knees. I offer a helping hand to my beautiful companion as she follows suit and we stride toward the sand as the sound of our transportation fades behind us.

A mile-long driveway from the main road and the surrounding natural environment of dense cashew and palm trees, coupled with green open spaces, offer a sense of privacy and adds perfectly to the impression of seclusion. Al the while, a palpable air of relaxation is all-consuming in the fragrant smell of the native flora mingling with the verbena being infused throughout the portals of this unique hotel.

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As the sun slips languidly below the horizon, flaming lamps light up the resort and the coziness of the villa suite embraces us. There is a main room with a dining area and twin "deng"-style sofas and a master bedroom replete with king-sized bed and panoramic views of the beach and the rippling ocean beyond. Attached is a palatial en-suite, fitted with a frankly immense tarazzo bathtub that’s bigger than some private pools.

While it is possible to swim in our bath, we can also float on a cloud of gazillion-thread count cotton in the vast bed; a vessel so comfortable, the effort expended extracting oneself from it at the crack of noon each day is the hardest work a guest is expected to do at the resort.

While our well-appointed billet is nothing short of sumptuous - every surface is covered in either fine marble, polished hardwood or exquisite silks - the hotel’s private pool residences are the last word in luxury, tucked away in a secluded natural setting right at the water’s edge, each one has a fabulous private swimming pool shimmering just outside the generous living quarters, which are all individually-designed with between one and four bedrooms.

Outside our villa, just beyond the front door and set in our private garden, a bamboo massage sala stands sentinel, secluded from prying eyes by tall hedgerows that enclose the villa on three sides and an ideal spot for some in-room pampering.

That, ultimately, is Napasai's raison d'être. The whole property is designed to make you feel pampered. Whether it is simply enjoying the lulling sound of waves lapping against the shore while you lay sunbathing under the shade of tall palm trees on untouched white sand, or sipping coloured drinks by the stunning, expansive infinity pool that looks out over the azure bay.

extracting oneself from the vast, comfortable bed each day is the most energy a guest is expected to expend at the resort...

Napasai's raison d'être is to make you feel pampered.

Of course, one of the major draws of a resort like Napasai is its spa.

Napasai is a sanctuary for those seeking to relax and restore body and mind. While my companion and I didn't need much more to relax than the beach and a comfy hammock, the spa offers a wide range of rejuvenating treatments, including many based on, as one would expect in a land famed for its massages, Thai traditional techniques and Oriental philosophies.

The hotel also offers its guests a wide range of complimentary activities, with a different itinerary each day ranging from yoga classes in the fresh tropical breeze on the outdoor deck, to kayaking lessons and even traditional Thai flower art.

We could choose to be as active or torpid as we liked at Napasai. For those of a more energetic persuasion, there is plenty to occupy your time. The resort, thanks to its ample size and location, is able to offer a plethora of sporting activities both in and around its environs, with full-sized, floodlit tennis courts nestled amongst the cashew trees, to golf on a hilltop course offering sensational vistas of the coast and surrounding area.

For water babies like myself, there is kayaking, windsurfing and sailing, allowing adventurous travellers to explore nearby islands and discover their own hidden coves and secluded vacation memories.

That said, the most active my companion and I got outside of the villa was

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to explore the resort's verdant interior; strolling through shaded copses, visiting the on-site farm and enjoying the curiosity of Napasai's resident water buffalo, before retiring to the pool to wallow in the cool water while enjoying some of the wonderful signature cocktails on offer.

As the sun goes down, thoughts turn to dinner, and the Napasai proffers some memorable dining experiences, particularly al-fresco delights in atmospheric, softly-lit settings that make the most of the resort’s seaside location. We enjoyed freshly grilled seafood and meat dishes by the beach under the light of the tiki torches lining the shore. For a more formal experience, the Lai Thai restaurant offers a choice of both traditional and innovative regional dishes, as mild or as daringly spicy as the palette will allow, prepared by the resort's army of traditional Thai chefs or a Mediterranean-style menu, with a focus on seafood caught straight out of the bay, which is lovingly prepared by the restaurant's resident French chef.

Whether we dressed for dinner or enjoyed casual, private dining in one of the beachside salas, the one constant was the produce. Every day, we were told, the chefs meet with local fishermen to select only the freshest and choicest of the day's catch straight from the boat, while herbs and vegetables are sourced either from the resort's fecund landscape itself, or from selected producers on Koh Samui.

As is my experience, though, a unique location alone does not a great hotel make. With many of the truly fine hotels in which I have been fortunate to reside, the luxury - as I have noted on many of these occasions - is in the details. Little things, like remembering a name, a regular order or going out of the way to cater to a guest's whim; a personal touch that makes one feel truly welcome. Napasai provides these qualities in spades. A "good morning, Mr McCarthy," from the pith helmet-clad bus

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boy each time I passed the reception, the spelling out of "welcome to Napasai" and other personalised greetings in exquisite flower buds on the bed, to knowing exactly how I like I my iced coffee in the mornings and predicting my companion's cocktail choice at the pool bar, all make for an experience that feels uniquely tailored to me.

That it is an experience in one of the most peaceful and beautiful places in Asia and I am sharing it with the woman I am hopelessly in love with, just makes it all the more special.

Perhaps, though, the most compelling argument in favour of the resort is that not once during our three days at Napasai has she or I yearned to find excitement or entertainment beyond the tree-lined borders of our island paradise. Sadly, the only time we will have to leave our romantic desert island haven is when our getaway reaches its inevitable denouement, and reality comes to collect its dues.

Thankfully, though, that will not be tonight. As is normal for the island at this time of year, we are to be treated to a natural light show that puts Dubai's or New Year's fireworks to shame. While I don't think the Napasai can take credit for the tempestuous romanticism of this particular attraction, they have anticipated our needs beautifully, nonetheless.

Swaying languorously together in a hammock tethered between two lofty palm trees, a stone's throw from our door and mere feet from the lapping waves, we drink in the sweet-smelling night air as the ink-black South Asian sky is lit up by snapping fingers of superheated static electricity, snaking across the edges of soon-to-be precipitous clouds.

As reality rides towards us on the rainfall of tomorrow, we use the time we have left in the light of flickering torches to craft a few more memories to sustain us until the next time we wash up on the shores of Napasai.

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" T R EE S N EED NO T WA LK T H E E A RT H FOR BE AU T Y OR FOR BR E A D ; BE AU T Y W I LL C O M E T O T H EM W H ER E T H EY S TA N D." - David Rosenthal

fe at u r e

Cartier: A History of Style The Réunion des musées nationaux and the Grand Palais in Paris explore the haute joaillerie and horologie of France’s most celebrated maison in Cartier: Style and History, an exhibition that builds upon the jeweller of kings’ entire reputation. SLT takes a look at the glamorous art history exhibition.

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he Grand Palais on the Champs-Élysées traces back one hundred and fifty years of Cartier’s history in the newly restored Salon d’Honneur with its latest exhibition Cartier: Style and History. The exhibition delves deep into the world of Cartier, a world that is at the same time opulent, colourful, elegant and glamorous. Synonymous with luxury and known as the Jeweller of Kings and the King of Jewellers, Cartier has carved out a reputation as the leading light in the fashion world, catering to Hollywood movie stars, heiresses and socialites, maharajahs and most importantly, royalty.

In the largest exhibition the Grand Palais has seen in years, Laurent Salomé, chief heritage curator and head of exhibitions at the Rmn-Grand Palais, and Laure Dalon, heritage curator, have put together a majestic exhibition, exploring the impact that Cartier has had on the art and fashion world, as well as displaying some of the luxury maison’s most fabulous pieces.

Protected by the secret police station in the basement, there are 600 pieces of jewellery, watches and clocks, as well as dresses, coats and accessories, furniture, paintings, advertisements, engravings and fashion magazines to immerse visitors in nostalgia for the glamour of the past. From its foundation in 1847 to the 1970s, the exhibition guides visitors along Cartier’s artistic journey to becoming the most well-known jeweller in the world. Not merely the purveyors of jewellery and timepieces, Cartier’s pieces are works of art, influencing all aspects of fashion, and were important not only for their intrinsic beauty but also their social function. Owning a Cartier necklace, timepiece or diadem marked you as not only a fashionable figure, but also a person of great means and taste.

Cartier was Grace Kelly's personal jeweller

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As of 1983, the company has cannily bought back some of its more outstanding and unique pieces in order to preserve its legacy. Cartier’s own collection is complemented by loans from some of France’s most

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CHARM Oiseau libere FB 1944

bracelet Rigide panthère 1958 Sac 1961

TIARA Diademe 1914

POCKET WATCH Montre broche 1880

Most of the pieces come from the Cartier collection, but Cartier: Style and History also borrows many pieces of jewellery from private collectors, including the most glamorous of royal families, the House of Grimaldi. The Monaco Royal family loaned the exhibition 20 of Princess Grace and her daughter’s personal Cartier jewellery, while Prince Albert II of Monaco himself attended the private opening of the exhibition. The family has long had a personal connection to Cartier; his father, Prince Rainier III, proposed to his mother Grace Kelly with a Cartier eternity band of rubies and diamonds and became their official jeweller.

There are several pieces that used to belong to the great heiresses and socialites of the 20th century, such as Barbara Hutton, heiress to the Woolworth fortune and at one point, the richest woman in the world.

Bling belonging to iconic Hollywood stars like Elizabeth Taylor, who had a lust for jewellery that rivals Smaug’s, and Marlene Dietrich are also on display, as well as the “Halo” tiara that Kate Middleton wore when she married Prince William.

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Image: Mirco Magliocca / Réunion des musées nationaux Grand Palais

prestigious institutions, like Musée des Arts décoratifs, Musée Galliera, Bibliothèque nationale de France, Bibliothèque-musée de l’Opéra, and Bibliothèque des Arts décoratifs, affording the visitors an extensive look into the world of haute joaillerie.

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Pendulette sur encrier 1908 vue du haut

Colier Patiala

Complementing the objects are over 300 documents, preparatory drawings, books of ideas, photographs and plaster casts, that illuminate the other side to the story; the craftsmanship and artistry that goes into making a highlysophisticated timepiece or a precious piece of jewellery. Rather than evoking the atmosphere of one of Cartier’s admittedly stunning flagship stores, the exhibition unfolds its magical narrative by balancing the iconic jewellery and timepieces with the keys to understanding their historical purposes. Cartier: Style and History is the most important and extensive haute joaillerie and horologie exhibition for some time, as well as an illuminating look into the luxury brand’s workings. www.grandpalais.fr

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li fe s t yle

Yacht Island Design: The Fleet of the Future

ImageS courtesy of Yacht Island Design

Sur la Terre Arabia casts off with Britain’s Yacht Island Design, a company dedicated to the luxury yachting of Tomorrow.

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o the untrained eye, the word Magrathea may appear to be the traditional and since-unused name of some old Scottish fishwife or another. Its name, however, has much more significance than that (no offence to old Scottish fishwives). Dutiful fans and firm readers of Douglas Adams’ series of novels that encapsulate The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy will recall that Magrathea is, in actual fact, the ancient, mindbogglingly enormous and quite fictional universal headquarters of a company that designs and produces bespoke luxury planets for its discerning, wealthy and alien clientele.

Of course, Magrathea doesn’t actually exist; it’s just some invented place in a (hilarious) science fiction series, right? Wrong! Thanks to a company called Yacht Island Design, which specialises in conceptualising the largest, most luxurious and infinitely-creative themed yachts this (or any other) world has ever seen, Earth finally has its own version of Magrathea, and a galaxy of possibility now awaits anyone with enough vision - and income - to build his or her own floating island!

Being that it is being courted by an untold amount of interested clients at the moment, Yacht Island Design currently deals within the realm of the conceptual in its approach to unique yacht creation. However, judging by its compact yet powerful portfolio of designs, we here at SLT believe that its arresting designs will soon see existential fruition very soon.

Designed to highlight Monaco’s most well-known landmarks, such as the Prince’s Palace and the Rascasse, it also includes that which makes it “the yacht of yachts” - a miniature Port Hercules, the lifesized version of which of course plays annual host to the unmissable and historic Monaco Yacht Show.

What takes point in terms of design in The Streets of Monaco is the faithful, fully-integrated re-imagining of the principality’s renowned grand prix track, the Circuit de Monaco as a functional kart track. Wide enough to accommodate three lanes of karting traffic (for those more harried races with regular overtaking), this is for the obsessed F1 enthusiast and stands as quite possibly the most dynamic and entertaining feature we have ever seen proposed on the high end of the high-seas.

Of course, even this impressive feature stands only as the facade of the Streets of Monaco, with other surface features that include tennis courts and a helipad. But make no mistake, this is a floating city, with an elegant and seemingly endless infrastructure to match! The interior “Oasis,” as it is referred to by its designers, is inspired by the gardens just outside the Monaco Casino, and comes replete with its own waterfall feature that directly feeds the ship’s main pool and jacuzzi. Just next door is The Streets of Monaco’s Spa (because, of COURSE it has its own spa), which joins a hair salon, a cafe bar and even its own cinema as the ship’s most arresting interior features.

Streets of Monaco

A short elevator jaunt or canter down its marble staircase later, and you will find yourself in The Grand Atrium, which houses what the designers call the “central hub” of the yacht, incorporating as it does the expansive, 1,460 square metre, three-story owners’ quarters, accessible through a private lift and enjoying royal features such as a double-height ceiling, its own fireplace, a private courtyard, a “listening room,” a dedicated pool/ jacuzzi and a multitude of private balconies.

Transcending the limitations of current terminology like “mega yacht,” Yacht Island Designs prefers to refer to its flagship vessel, The Streets of Monaco, as a “hyper yacht,” but given what is at the heart of its design, we would rather call it a “meta yacht.”

Joined by its retinue of guest suites, which range in size from 135 square metres to the VIP 356 square metre affairs amongst its other features and aforementioned amenities, it’s really no surprise why the entirety of

Here is a sample of what Yacht Island Design, in all of its wondrous adherence to the SLT “ridiculux” lifestyle, will soon have to offer a luxury yachting community thirsty for something different.

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(Opposite Page) The Streets of Monaco in all its conceptual glory; (RIght) The volcanic wonder of Tropical Island Paradise; (Page 101 & Below) Proposed interiors for The Streets of Monaco

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The Streets of Monaco’s 155 metres will cost the interested upwards of $400 million to own, and probably a few more million to operate.

This is a self-contained flotilla of dreams, an idea armada of one, and Yacht Island Design’s avant-garde as it sets sail to conquer its very alluring and nigh-impossibly exclusive niche of the yachting world. It is by no means, however, its only design.

Tropical Island Paradise Why go island-hopping on your luxury liner when you can just bring the island along for the ride? The undulating hull design of this most volcanic of vessels gives its admirers the illusion of swiftly-lapping waves, incorporating it into the very oceanic atmosphere which it so richly mirrors.

However, the volcano, which acts as the Tropical Island Paradise’s thematic fulcrum, is not simply for the aesthetic. Not only does it feed with its “lava” flow the open-faced swimming pool, which offers unfettered and unparalleled views of the seas, it also acts as the foundation which houses the positively palatial owners’ quarters, which themselves overlook the impressive cluster of guest cabanas at midships.

Much like The Streets of Monaco, this futuristic and floral-fantastic frigate enjoys its own deployable beach deck, which unleashes any number of ships in your own floating armada of water sports. Also inclusive within this movable island retreat’s lush environs are its own cinema, library, games room and gym, with a reportedly impressive collection of lounges, each one of which ruminates with its own particular unique ambiance, and a fully-equipped spa.

A unique collaborative effort with BMT Nigel Gee, Project Utopia will reportedly stretch to 100m x 100m in size, with “the equivalent deck space of today's cruise liners,” and from what we can tell, is the company’s most commercial option. Hidden within its landed flying saucer design will be an apparently “bewildering” amount of options for its visitors, including a retail district, cinema, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, a casino and an observatory deck with 360 degree views at a height of 65 metres above sea level, so you can see and remember what life used to be like outside.

Stretching across 11 decks and establishing an otherworldly presence the likes of which our seas have never seen, “Utopia,” is, in the words of its designers, “not an object to travel in, it is a place to be, an island established for anyone who has the vision to create such a place.”

On the Horizon...

Other designs currently in-process from Yacht Island Design are the ornate, clearly traditional Chinese Junk-style “Oriental Chuan,” and “Eastern Promise,” which appears to be inspired by the ovals, angles and spires most often seen in the architecture employed here in the Middle East.

Of course, the studio’s aspirations - like those of its future clients - are bigger than simply what it has in store at the moment, as it will also offer custom-built, bespoke yachts for its partners, thus further ensuring that, like Magrathea, your sea-faring fantasies will one day soon become science-fact.

Project Utopia In what appears to be a cross between the cloning facility in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones and the futuristic seafaring lair of James Bond baddie and “Shipping Tycoon Scientist,” Karl Stromberg, in The Spy Who Loved Me, Project Utopia (pictured) is quite possibly our most eagerlyanticipated venture from Yacht Island Design.

Architect Of Dreams Yacht Island Design Director, Scott Poxon, discusses with SLT what makes his nautical idea factory so buoyant.

Yacht Island Design’s approach to design is keenly thematic (and even bespoke), but where do you get the ideas for concepts such as Tropical Island Paradise or our personal favourite, Project Utopia?

The inspiration for Tropical Island Paradise was relatively simple, the idea of a tranquil getaway conjures up images of turquoise seas and empty beaches. We took that as the basis and developed it to create an interesting architectural and natural story. Project Utopia was a joint venture with Naval Architects BMT Nigel Gee; they had the idea to create an innovative new platform, so we developed a highly modern style that suited the platform constraints.

Do you believe Yacht Island Design is truly the future of yachting, or an infinitely-imaginative creative niche for those looking to expand their boating horizons?

I would love to say this was the future of yachting; however, I think your statement of an imaginative creative niche is more likely the

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case, which is fine! We want to produce highly interesting unique projects. That said, there has been interest from a number of commercial avenues.

What will it take to practically make these designs into a reality? By your estimation, when could we see them on the seas?

With the exception of Project Utopia, which is a complete concept, the rest of the vessels have been based on SWATH hull forms. This is an existing technology that has been produced for a number of years. The technology is well understood, so time from a client approaching us to commission of a vessel to the point it floats out would be very similar to an equivalent size "traditional" yacht. There may be a little longer time in construction, depending on the type of theming, which may require subtly different finishing techniques, but this would be minimal.

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Wind of Change

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For many, November 25th 2013 passed like any normal Monday.

Among the motoring fraternity and in the Italian region of Sant'Agata Bolgnese, however, it heralded the end of an era.

Words: James McCarthy

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fter ten glorious years, production of arguably the most significant Lamborghini since Ferruccio stopped making tractors and decided instead that the V12, two-seat Muira was the way to go, finally reached its end. At sometime around 8pm, the last Gallardo, an LP 570-4 Spyder Performante in a Rosso Mars colour scheme, rolled off the production line and straight into an anonymous collector's garage.

Some may look upon this revelation with a sense of melancholy. I, however, do not. The Gallardo name, a moniker that only ever sounded audibly nice when pronounced by CEO Stephan Winkelmann, will now live on in motoring legend; an exemplar of Italian automotive fortitude and the shoulders upon which all modern Lamborghinis will forever stand.

I confess, there have been moments in recent years, with the unveiling of every new "limited edition," that I was fearful this would not be the case; that the Gallardo would become that charismatic but over-the-hill footballer that doesn't realise it's time to hang up his boots until it's too late. Worse still, an automotive equivalent of errant Italian politician and ageing lothario, Silvio Burlusconi: photographed outside seedy Bunga Bunga parties being made to look ridiculous by much younger models. With bright young things like Ferrari's 458 and McLaren's pneumatic P1 flaunting their wares, it was always going to start getting harder to keep up in the performance stakes. „

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The author enjoying a spot of al fresco fun in the Gallardo Spyder Performante at Yas Island; (Below) The stunning "Concept S;" (Opposite) The end of an era as the final Gallardo rolls off the production line.

"The Gallardo has provided the footprint for some of Lamborghini's most audacious designs, including the Thunderbirds-esque Concept S."

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Fortunately, though, the Gallardo will always be remembered for being the car that breathed new life into Lamborghini of old; the car that helped the marque put the dark days of Chrysler's ownership behind it and enabled the Raging Bull to once again become a major innovator in the super sports car market.

It could have been a very different story. In 1988, when Chrysler decided to put the V8 Lamborghini Jalpa to the sword; it looked like the death knell for little Lambos. By the time the ailing Bull was shipped off to Indonesian company Megatech in 1994, there were plans afoot for a mid-mounted V10 sports car to once again bear the bovine crest.

Thankfully, though, the Calà never made it past a working prototype before Megatech sold Lamborghini to the Volkswagen Group in 1998, where it has remained part of the Audi stable ever since. Then, in 2003, with a little help from a Cosworth-developed and Audi-built V10 powerplant, the first Luc

Donckerwolke-designed Gallardo, screamed off the production line in Italy and never stopped to look back in its rear view mirror.

Since then, and through several refreshes, updates and multiple derivatives (the Spyder, the Superleggera, the Performante, the Balboni, the Super Trofeo Stradale and the Squadra Corse, among many others) it has provided the footprint for some of Lamborghini's most audacious designs, including the Thunderbirds-esque Concept S, and more recently the frightening Sesto Elemento and über-exclusive Veneno. Its flared-nostril design language can be seen writ large in the DNA of the company’s hugely successful V12 flagship Aventador and soon-to-be-produced Urus SUV and with 14,022 brothers and sisters, the Gallardo is the closest to a mass-production car that Lamborghini has, thus far, come.

In popular culture, the Gallardo has almost single-handedly propped up the “Swag” index of a million indistinguishable R&B music video protagonists, as well as being the star of several highgrossing video games. The car has even extended the speed threshold at which the long arm of the law in Italy, London and the UAE is able to nab nefarious ne’er-do-wells, thanks to a fear-inducing blue paint job, Alcantara gun-holders and some flashing blue lights.

I am fortunate, and consider myself privileged, to have experienced, first hand, numerous iterations of this feisty and iconic "Baby Bull" throughout its latter years. You always remember your first Lamborghini and mine was a Gallardo. However, as previously mentioned, I do not look upon the passing of the Gallardo as an end, but as a beginning. Its legacy will live on through its equally fierce progeny. Spring is traditionally a time when nature starts again and life begins anew; What better time to conceive a new diavolo cornuto.

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Rock Me Like A Huracán Yes, set to whip the automotive media into a whirlwind of hyperbole and superlatives is the Huracán LP 610-4, the next in line to the Gallardo’s legacy and set to accede to the throne in front of a global audience at the Geneva Motor Show in March.

While the Huracán has been designed and engineered from scratch, the DNA of its predecessor is still plain to see. It’s definitely its father’s son. What is different, however, is the systematic lightweight design, borne of Lamborghini’s extensive expertise in carbon fibre. The Huracán boasts an all-new hybrid chassis with an integrated structure of carbon and aluminium elements, giving the car a kerb weight of just 1,422kg and race-car precision and rigidity.

Lamborghini's Huracán LP 610-4 is set to take its global bow at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

When you strap the all-new 5.2 litre V10 to it, which delivers 610 horsepower and pushes a maximum torque of 560Nm, the Huracán has a staggering power-to-weight ratio of just 2.33kg per horse. It all results in a top speed of over 325 km/h and the frothing-at-the-mouthinsanity of hitting 100km/h from a standing start in 3.2 seconds. If that doesn’t hammer home the point, consider this: the Huracán will reach 200km/h in less time than Usain Bolt can run the 100m.

This immense power is brought to bear via a brand new 7-speed, dual-clutch transmission, the tongue-twisting ‘‘Lamborghini Doppia Frizione’’ (LDF) and fully electronically controlled four-wheel drive system. The ever-present Strada, Sport and Corsa modes remain untouched, as does, I imagine, the awkwardly placed reverse button, to add an air of familiarity to the insanity.

Characteristically mentalist it may be, but it is also kind to the polar bears, too. Lamborghini introduces the ‘‘Iniezione Diretta Stratificata’’ (IDS), direct and indirect fuel injection to smartly deliver more power and torque with lower fuel consumption and emissions compared with the Gallardo V10 engine. The combined consumption has been further reduced to 12.5 litres per 100 km (290g/km CO2 emissions), making it probably the most ice-cap friendly Bull to ever leave the pen and a more than worthy successor to the most successful Lambo ever.

What’s in the name?

Like the Gallardo, and most other Lamborghini models, the Huracán derives its name from the world of bullfighting. The fighting bull Huracán of the Spanish Conte de la Patilla breed was known for his outstanding courage and strong sense of attack. He fought in Alicante in August 1879, showing his unrelenting character and remaining defiant and invincible, thus entering into the legend of fighting bulls’ history.

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fa s h i o n

She : Black silk top by Chloé (Bongénie Grieder Geneva) Mustard cardigan Labo by Eric Bompard Black and gold leather belt by Jo No Fui (Apollinaire) White scottish cashmere pants by Hermès Amber and pink gold Trottola necklace by Vhernier Amber and pink gold Trottola earrings by Vhernier Bronze and citrine ring by Isabelle Fa (Bijouterie Kunz) Pink gold and diamonds Androgyne watch by Manufacture Royale He : Scottish blazer by Brunello Cucinelli Grey down vest by Brunello Cucinelli Navy blue velvet pants by Ermenegildo Zegna Brown with fur rangers by Ermenegildo Zegna Brown leather gloves by John Lobb

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Photographed by Ian Abela (www.ianabela.com) Styled by Mélanie Hearnden Hair by Jonathan Lanfrit – Le Bal des Créateurs Make-up by Audrey Bodilis – Le Bal des Créateurs www.lebaldescreateurs.wordpress.com Models : A manda K. (Elan Management) & Francesco Imundi

Wrap up in luxurious furs, velevets and knits for a look that's

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Platinum fox vest by Daniel Benjamin Plumeti and lace dress by Red Valentino (Globus) Burgundy leather gloves by Mulberry Multishape diamond Alice Band by Graff Diamonds "Sunflower" earrings by Harry Winston "Sunflower" necklace by Harry Winston Diamond and titanium fiber ring by Bogh-Art

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Marine pull by J. Lindeberg (Globus), white cotton shirt by Boggi, navy blue chevron pants by Fendi, Terra Luna watch by Cabestan

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Navy blue corduroy dress by Chanel, navy blue fur stole by Vicedomini, black leather shoes by Free Lance (Picibi), black diamonds and ruby "Twilight" earrings by Van Der Bauwede Geneva, rose gold and diamonds "Juste un Clou" necklace by Cartier, "Big Bang Caviar Gold" watch by Hublot, black diamonds "Pirouette" ring by Vhernier, onyx bracelet by Luisance Bijoux (www.luisancebijoux.com) Interior design : Black and white carpet by Fereo (Domiciles) - White candle by Baobab (Domiciles)

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Rose leather dress by Vicedomini, grey wool shale by Amy Hall (La Muse), grey flanelle top hat by Brunello Cucinelli, Ebony and diamonds "Egeo" necklace by Vhernier, white and rose diamonds earrings by de Grisogono, black and white diamonds and ruby ring by Ponti Joaillier

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Purple wool pull by Brunello Cucinelli Beige velvet pants by Ermenegildo Zegna Printed scarf by Boggi Brown suede Chambord by John Lobb Moka felt harper hat by Hermès "Duoface Blue Reverso" by Jaeger-LeCoultre

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Black leather pants by Drome (Apollinaire), light rose silk blouse by Zucca (Apollinaire), emerald Swakara with raccoon collar coat by Daniel Benjamin, emerald cut sapphire and diamond bracelet by Graff Diamonds

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o u t o f th e box

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The grand

Hamilton Laura Hamilton rediscovers her long lost birthright.

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he light in St Andrews is a curious chiaroscuro; grey but bright, incapsulated by the stately Georgian architecture.

The one exception is the Hamilton Grand, a bold, red, 19th-century building that dominates the landscape. After sitting idly for years on the edge of the internationallyrenowned Old Course, it has finally opened. Its previous incarnations have been a luxurious hotel (catering to such luminaries as Rudyard Kipling, Bing Crosby and King Edward VIII), the Royal Air Service’s training Headquarters in World War II and a hall of residence for the university. Hamilton Hall, as it was once known, was named after the then Chancellor of the University, the Duke of Hamilton, and when Kohler Co bought it less than a decade ago, it kept the name and christened the 26 newly-unveiled luxury apartments The Hamilton Grand.

The myriad golf courses are the main tourist attraction in St Andrews, although the picturesque town, boasting a ruined medieval cathedral, miles of beautiful and bleak coastline and a relaxed seaside atmosphere are a draw for the jet-setting urbanite, as well as the romanticism wrought by Kate Middleton and her royal beau. St Andrews is the uncontested birthplace of golf, whose origins are otherwise lost to history, and the gentleman’s sport culminates in the Dunhill Links, the yearly championship where high society and celebrity enthusiasts descend on the wee town.

Having attended the University of St Andrews for four years, I am in a unique position to pontificate upon the town’s qualities, but unfortunately I am overwhelmed by bitterness at not being placed to live at Hamilton Hall, which closed down a year before I alighted the train at Leuchars and charged into St Andrews, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. I can only imagine spending my student years with a view of the beautiful yet icy North Sea, over the grassy expanse of the golf course, revelling in the Victorian architecture, floating down the staircase like a debutante and generally pretending to be Lady Hamilton, Nelson’s mistress. I consoled myself by drunkenly stealing flags from the golf course at night.

Despite numerous attempts to align myself with the peerage of Hamilton, who reside at Lennoxlove House, a historic mansion in East Lothian (I grew up in Lennox Street, a street in West Lothian, which is either cruel irony or a sign), I remain a commoner, or at best, a distant relative, probably the product of a liaison between one of the previous dukes and a chambermaid, the connection lost in the mists of time.

However, my regret must pale in comparison to that of the fools at the University who sold this gem for mere pennies less than a decade ago.

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renovated by interior designer jack jj reese the apartments have preserved the original victorian characteristics, like stainedglass windows, creating a very unique atmosphere.

For years, we students walked past the building, wondering what was to become of it - and now we know.

Renovated by interior designer Jack JJ Reese, who describes his style as “Theatrical Renaissance,” the apartments have preserved the original Victorian characteristics, like stained-glass windows, creating a very unique atmosphere. Sumptuously decorated, although you may choose to buy your apartment unfurnished, the Scottish charm is out in full force.

The pièce de résistance is the penthouse, which has a private balcony that boasts a panoramic view of the town, the golf course and the sea.

Other amenities include the Grill Restaurant and Bar, which offers Scottish cuisine (no Mars bar jokes please), like smoked salmon, cullen skink and haggis, while the Members’ Library stocks local interest books, a complimentary butler service and the Italian Garden in the central courtyard; a peaceful haven to relax in with a glass of bubbly, weather permitting.

I predict that international gentlemen golfers will snatch up all the apartments like hot cakes; wealthy students in their twin sets, pearls, Barbour jackets or pipes and tweed, will take to the bar like ducks to water, puffing at cigars and talking about the stock market while minor members of European royal families dine in the restaurant on oysters and champagne. St Andrews is that sort of place; an eccentric microcosm, old fashioned, quaint but luxurious. www.hamiltongrand.co.uk

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origins

Self-confessed Audiophile, Kevin Hackett, discovers that true aural pleasure and aesthetic beauty can be one and the same, thanks to HiFiconoclasts, Bowers & Wilkins.

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Company founder, John Bowers with a B&W 801 speaker.

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hen it comes to a great many things in life, to find the best that exists you need only look at the purchasing habits of people who really know their stuff. If a Michelin-starred chef is known to frequent a restaurant that is not his or her own, chances are, it will be beyond exceptional in every respect. If Giorgio Armani’s wardrobe was found to contain a label other than his, wouldn’t that be a vote of confidence? The same can be said of high-end hi-fi equipment. If Abbey Road and other world-famous recording studios used a particular brand of speakers as a reference point for the most perfect sound possible, that surely would be the ultimate stamp of approval.

For British company, Bowers & Wilkins, supplying the best has been a way of doing business since the mid-1960s. And when you look at, never mind listen to, the company’s stunningly designed current products, like the iconic Nautilus loudspeaker and the deeply impressive Zeppelin iPod dock system, it’s difficult to imagine the humble beginnings of such a pivotal player in the audio industry. But humble they were.

Founder, John Bowers, was born in 1922 and, during World War II, he joined a specialist branch of the Royal Corps of Signals. After active service, he studied at Brighton Technical College and qualified in Telecommunications Engineering. In 1965, with a wartime colleague, Roy Wilkins, he opened a retail shop in Worthing, Sussex, under the name of Bowers & Wilkins Ltd, the business specialising in radios, televisions and hi-fi equipment.

Bowers was passionately interested in classical music and he started experimenting with improvements to the performance of then-current loudspeakers, hand-assembling bespoke speaker systems for local clients in the workshop area at the back of the store. One of these clients, known only as Miss Knight, was so impressed with Bowers’ musical knowledge, and so pleased with the system he built for her, that she left him £10,000 – a significant sum of money back then – in her will to develop a business.

With that money, and being convinced enough of his talents, Bowers was able to retire from the retail side of the business just a year after opening the store, and Peter Hayward joined him to start B & W Electronics Ltd. Fortunately, at the rear of the shop were several garages that were able to be modified to become the design, assembly, measurement and dispatch areas of the new company.

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Bowers & Wilkins managed to turn the loudspeaker into a socially acceptable part of home furnishings.

Bowers & Wilkins’ first loudspeaker was named the P1, and consisted of a four- foot (1.2-metre) high wooden cabinet with a 12-inch square cross section, one face carrying an EMI elliptical base and midrange unit and, near the top, two Celestion HF1300 high-frequency units. It was a success and, with the profits made from the P1, Bowers expanded his staff to five and invested in his first audio test equipment: a Radiometer oscillator and a pen recorder for £250. This enabled every B&W loudspeaker sold to include its own calibration certificate.

John Bowers' ambition, however, was to design a loudspeaker completely built in-house, so he expanded the team, recruiting Dennis Ward, a former technical manager at EMI, where he had specialised in loudspeaker units, and Ray Greenwood, from the technical side of entertainment company Rank.

The following decade saw the company going from strength to strength, always maintaining the founders’ original wish: to live modestly and

(Above) Speaker cone manaufacture through the years; B&W's award-winning P5 Headphones;; (Opposite Top) Lacquering the Nautilus speakers; (Opposite Bottom) The Zepplin MP3 speaker.

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plough any profits back into the business. The quest for the perfect loudspeaker, they knew, was one that would take time, perseverance and crucially, plenty of research and development funding.

In 1973, the company received the Queen’s Award for export and supplied monitors to the BBC. The year 1974 saw B&W experimenting with Kevlar in its manufacturing process. This fabric, known for its use in bulletproof vests, was discovered to break up standing waves as efficiently as it stopped bullets, delivering a completely natural sound, and the ochre yellow midrange cones made from the stuff were patented by the company, eventually becoming an intrinsic part of its cutting-edge designs.

A year later, Kenneth Grange, by then a world-renowned industrial designer and founding partner of Pentagram (the company that designs this very publication), was brought into the fold, to advise on the appearance and finishes of the company’s future products. It is that importance attached to external design that has separated B&W from its peers over the decades since. Not flashy like Bang & Olufsen, it nevertheless sets itself apart from a sea of ordinariness. Apple made the computer sexy, Bowers & Wilkins managed to turn the loudspeaker into a socially acceptable part of home furnishings for those who wanted the best but didn’t want to be hamstrung by industrial, functional-looking listening apparatus.

Grange designed the legendary DM6 loudspeaker, which was launched in 1976, and came to be affectionately known as the "pregnant penguin" – quite unlike anything else available at the time and a truly iconic piece of 70s style. The DM6 was also the first unit to incorporate Kevlar cones. In ’77, the DM7 changed everything once again, with its tweeter separated from the main cabinet, boldly sitting on top, where it could liberate high frequencies. This design cue continues to this day.

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By the end of the 1970s, Bowers & Wilkins had won a second Queen’s Award for Export (1978), thanks to its tenfold increase in overseas business in just five years, and had managed to set a new standard in sound reproduction in 1979, with the 801. This model had been in development for three years and was quickly adopted by Sony Music Studios and Skywalker Sound. With those two on the company’s customer list, Bowers & Wilkins could quite rightly have sat back and watched the money pour in, but a new decade was to bring new and exciting challenges, particularly as the compact disc was soon to bring perfect sound quality to the attention of practically everyone.

The changing face of speaker design: a B&W DM6, P2 and Nautilus speaker; (Below) The B&W factory as looks today.

During the 1980s, the company continued to build on its enviable reputation for excellence, founding the Steyning Research Establishment, where a team of specialist acoustic and electronics engineers was (and still is) free to develop incredible new technologies. It has been dubbed the “University of Sound” by many of those who have visited.

In the pursuit of flawless sound, the designs brought more and more rigid cabinet construction into play, but in December 1987, John Bowers died at the age of 65 after a short illness. Without the vision of such an inspirational leader, many companies might have lost their way, but Bowers and Wilkins simply carried on in the way Bowers would have wanted it to, even starting its own record label in 1988. That year also saw the aforementioned Abbey Road Studios adopt the 801 reference system and the facility still enjoys a fulfilling relationship with B&W, currently using the 800D reference monitor.

As the 1980s drew to a close, Morten Warren took over at the helm. Warren went on to found one of the UK’s most successful design agencies and is responsible for Bowers & Wilkins’ current product design, including the Zeppelin and the brilliant P5 headphones.

It was 1993, however, that brought the introduction of a loudspeaker that completely tore up the rulebook and changed design forever. The Nautilus, after no less than five years of development by the geniuses at the Steyning Research Establishment, still shocks today. It’s still in production, supplied to the world’s wealthiest and most discerning listeners, still blowing away everyone with a look that imitates nature and a sound that’s so real you feel like you could reach out and touch it, because with no flat surfaces came zero cabinet distortion. No longer did speakers need to look like speakers.

Almost a poisoned chalice, the Nautilus meant Bowers & Wilkins had an enormous task on its hands when it came to future product design.

Instead of diluting the unique appeal of that loudspeaker, however, by manufacturing cheaper versions for a wider market, the company turned its attention to the craftsmanship of its more normal cabinets, utilising incredibly beautiful, polished hardwoods. And, in 2006, Kenneth Grange returned to give the world his astounding Signature Diamond – a limited edition unit that was every bit as wonderful to look at as it is to listen to.

the XF. Jaguar knew it was onto something with the XF and decided there was only one company that could deliver a fitting audio system to its cars. The resulting relationship brought groundbreaking car audio to the fore and the quality of sound from an automobile’s sound system has since become a major selling point. Today, Bowers and Wilkins systems car also be found inside new Maseratis.

As with many innovations we think cannot be improved upon, the best simply went on to become even better. Bowers & Wilkins has since launched standard-setting headphones, computer speakers and given its Zeppelin even greater desirability by enabling contactless play with the Air model. As for the future, who knows? One thing is for sure, though: the continued pioneering of sonic excellence by this unassuming yet unspeakably talented electronics company. Form and function have rarely combined to produce such appealing results.

It was a year later, though, that Bowers & Wilkins hammered its way into the minds of buyers the world over, with the launch of the Zeppelin. The Apple iPod had changed forever the way the masses listened to music but compressing sound files to MP3 format did nothing for audio quality. The multi-award-winning Zeppelin proved that you needn’t compromise when it came to listening pleasure, enabling users to plug in their miniature sound libraries and access thousands of tracks while enjoying the kind of sound quality that other MP3 players couldn’t dream of replicating.

The fact that the Zeppelin looks utterly cool has done it no harm, either, making it an inspirational choice for countless music fans, many of whom see no need for a separate system once they have one of these.

This coolness didn’t go unnoticed by car manufacturers, desperate to appeal to younger buyers. Jaguar was undergoing a radical design overhaul, spearheaded by the CX-F concept car, which in turn became

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M ARKETPLACE

WelcomE

to the SLT Marketplace.

a go-to guide

Patrimony Traditionelle haute joiallerie small model, available upon request at Vacheron Constantin dealers region-wide.

of the hot products you should be buying, available in the regional market now.

Calatrava cufflinks, available in Doha through Al Majed Jewellery and through Patek Philippe dealers and boutiques region-wide.

Digital Set by Karl Lagerfeld, available through S.T.Dupont dealerships throught the region.

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Guy Laroche ring in gold, diamonds and black ceramic, available in Qatar at Fifty One East, Lagoona Mall.

Van Cleef & Arpels’ Ballerine Enchantee watch, available from March/April at Ali Bin Ali Watches & Jewellery in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, and through VC&A boutiques region-wide.

Robert Wan Tresors Rainbow Rings Available in Doha through Alfardan Jewellery.

Baker Furniture St. Honore Chest by Thomas Pheasant Available at Living In Interiors showrooms in Qatar and Egypt.

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Jeanne Lanvin Couture Birdie Eau De Parfum available at all good fragrance stores.

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ALT1-C Rose Gold Classic Chronograph from Bremont Watches available in Qatar at Fifty One East and in the UAE through Rivoli Group.

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Mulberry Kensal shoulder bag in fiery red velvet, available at Mulberry boutiques across the GCC.

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Victoria Beckham SS14 accessories and eyewear now available from Al Othman, Moda mall, Bahrain world trade centre.

image needs path adding thanks

SS14 Men’s collection now available at Salvatore Ferragamo boutiques region-wide.

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DETAILS Director of Publications Mohamed Jaidah m.jaidah@firefly-me.com General Manager Joe Marritt j.marritt@firefly-me.com - Editorial Regional Managing Editor James McCarthy j.mccarthy@firefly-me.com Senior Editor Steven Paugh s.paugh@firefly-me.com Fashion & Style Sophie Jones-Cooper s.jones-cooper@firefly-me.com Deputy Editor Laura Hamilton l.hamilton@firefly-me.com Contributors Kevin Hackett Gaëlle Hennet - Art & Design Art Direction Helen Louise Carter Production Coordinators Ron Baron Niveen Saeed Photography Herbert Villadelrey June Delgado Andrew McCarthy - Sales & Marketing International Sales Director Julia Toon j.toon@firefly-me.com Area Manager Chirine Halabi c.halabi@firefly-me.com Sales Coordinator Masha Ivanova m.ivanova@firefly-me.com - Printing & Distribution Distribution Manager Azqa Haroon a.haroon@firefly-me.com Logistics Manager Joseph Isaac j.issac@firefly-me.com - Printer Raidy Printing Group, UAE www.raidy.com

- Publisher Firefly Communications PO Box 11596, Doha, Qatar.

Tel: +974 4434 0360 Fax: +974 4434 0359 info@firefly-me.com www.firefly-me.com

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