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A LEGAC Y O F A RC H ITEC TU R A L BRI LLI A N C E N ES T LE D I N TO RO N TO, C A N A DA An obsession with quality has been the hallmark of The Watford since its inception. A new classic in bespoke luxury living in the prestigious neighbourhood of Richmond Hill. A private gated community of elegantly appointed residences, featuring “The Penthouse Collection” exclusively styled and furnished in Ralph Lauren Home.

Encompassing inimitable walled gardens, serene rooftop green space, and grand private terraces. These homes, offer exceptional living experiences with state-of-the-art luxuries and traditional touches, including large-scale windows that bathe the finely curated interiors in an abundance of natural light. A live-in porter, twenty-four hour on-site concierge, personal valet service and gold-standard security.

Discover the heritage, innovation and pioneering craftsmanship that make The Watford the landmark it is today.

Welcome to your legacy.

INTERIORS DESIGNED BY

PENTHOUSE COLLECTION FURNISHED EXCLUSIVELY IN

ENVISIONED BY

ELIZABETH BOLOGNINO

R ALPH LAUREN HOME

RICHARD WENGLE

R E S E RV E AT T H E WAT F O R D.C A

llustrations are artist’s concept. Brokers Protected. Exclusive listing of Forest Hill Real Estate Watford.

All rights reserved. The Watford™ 2021 E. & O.E

Polestar 1 — A collector’s item

polestar.com

Committed to our community.

Past, present and future.

NE WPORT BE ACH | ASPEN | PALM BE ACH | OCAL A AT WEC | 949.720.1258 | 866. 584.2666 | LUGANODIAMONDS.COM © LUGANO DIAMONDS

THE WORLD’S FINEST HIGH RESOLUTION PLAYER PIANO E njoy p er for man ce s c a p ture d by g reat p ia n is ts — playe d w ith such nu ance, p ower and pas s ion t ha t t h e y a re ut ter ly indis t i nguis ha bl e from a live p er for mance.

T h ou sands of p er for mances by stei nway art ists as we l l a s s p i r io syn c v ide o s a re av a ila ble a t th e to uch of a but ton on t he i nclude d iPa d. T h e li br ar y expa nds month ly, u pdate d a utomat i ca l ly from the Clo ud . In a ddit i on to to day ’s g reates t mus ic ians , s pi r i o de l ivers histor ic p er for ma nces by steinway immortal s, includi ng D uke El lin gton , Glenn Gould, Ar t Tatum, a nd many more .

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LE ARN MORE AT STEINWAY.COM/RR-SPIRIO

Access to and use of the golf course and other private amenities at Kohanaiki Club is available only to members of the Kohanaiki Club and are subject to the payment of additional fees. Membership to the Kohanaiki Club is by invitation only and is not included with a purchase of a property. No representation or warranty is made regarding whether a purchaser will qualify for such membership. Obtain the Property Report or its equivalent required by Federal and State law and read it before signing anything. No federal or state agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of the property shown in this advertisement. WARNING THE CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF REAL ESTATE HAS NOT lNSPECTED, EXAMINED, OR QUALIFIED THIS OFFERING. Kohanaiki Realty LLC 73-2055 Ala Kohanaiki, Kailua Kona, Hawaii 96740.

THE GET AWAY FROM EVERYTHING CLUB There are clubs, and there is Kohanaiki—a private 450-acre oceanfront playground that welcomes a new generation of Kona-lovers. Five minutes south of the Kona International Airport, and uniquely positioned to offer a sense of escape, Kohanaiki embraces island life in ways both new and familiar.

Whether at the 67,000-square-foot Clubhouse, on the Rees Jones-designed golf course, aboard the 39-foot Kaikea, or in the cabanas opening out to views of ancient lava flows and anchialine ponds, you’re surrounded by history, culture and adventure. Refreshingly private yet remarkably social, Kohanaiki is a new living experience unlike anywhere else in the islands.

HOMES FROM $3 MILLION +1 808-725-2218 • KOHANAIKI.COM/ESCAPE

luna rossa ac75 america’s cup class foiling monohull

J U N E / J U LY 2 0 2 1 , V O L U M E 4 5 , N U M B E R 5

The McLaren 765LT P. 55

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Wheels We honor the industry’s most powerful new autos, from Bugatti’s 1,500 hp Chiron Pur Sport to McLaren’s latest Super Series model.

83

Style Storied houses such as Loro Piana and Brioni go back to basics and create exquisite pieces for this year and more to come.

109 Watches Watchmakers finally inch their way toward a more sustainable production; the most extraordinary men’s and women’s timepieces of the year.

127 Water Demand for bigger, more interesting beach clubs reshapes superyacht design; ships from Benetti and Lürssen make a big splash.

Discover the full lineup of Best of the Best winners, including online extras, at robbreport.com/bob2021

147 Travel The new hotels to celebrate our return to roaming, from a safari lodge on an island in Botswana to a restored estate in the Umbrian hills.

R O B B R E P O R T. C O M

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ASTON MARTIN RESIDENCES MIAMI, SIGNATURE COLLECTION The Aston Martin Residences Penthouses are the source of artistic inspiration for the Signature Collection. Here, art and design unite, creating unique architectural masterpieces.

Riverwalk East Developments, LLC, a Florida limited liability company, is the owner of the property on which the Condominium is being constructed and the seller of the units in the Condominium and is for purposes of the Florida Condominium Act the “developer” of the Condominium (“Developer”). Developer has engaged G & G Business Developments, LLC. (“G & G”) to assist with the development and marketing of the Condominium and its units and Developer has a limited right to use the trademarked names and logos of G & G pursuant to a license and marketing agreement with G&G. Any and all statements, disclosures and/or representations relating to the Condominium shall be deemed made by Developer and not by G & G and you agree to look solely to Developer (and not to G & G and/or any of its affiliates) with respect to any and all matters relating to the development and/or marketing of the Condominium and with respect to the sales of units in the Condominium. All images and designs depicted herein are artist’s conceptual renderings, which are based upon preliminary development plans, and are subject to change without notice in the manner provided in the offering documents. All such materials are not to scale and are shown solely for illustrative purposes.

ORAL REPRESENTATIONS CANNOT BE RELIED AS CORRECTLY STATING THE REPRESENTATIONS OF THE DEVELOPER, FOR CORRECT REPRESENTATIONS, MAKE REFERENCE TO THIS BROCHURE AND TO THE DOCUMENTS REQUIRED BY SECTION 718.503, FLORIDA STATUTES, TO BE FURNISHED BY A DEVELOPER TO A BUYER OR LESSEE.

The first in the Aston Martin Residences Art series, artist Aaron Schwartz presents his creative vision. aaronschwartzart.com

www.astonmartinresidences.com AMResidencesMiami

Developed by G&G Business Developments LLC SALES CENTRE 300 BISCAYNE BOULEVARD WAY, MIAMI, FL

MISTY COPELAND Principal Dancer American Ballet Theatre

THE ART OF AWE THE TECHNOLOGY OF ELEVATION Introducing a remarkable expression of form and function - the world’s first rollable TV. The LG SIGNATURE OLED R rolls up to captivate you with self-lit pixels for realism and richness.

Then it rolls down to disappear. Welcome to the bold new world of LG SIGNATURE.

THE ART OF ESSENCE Find yours at www.LGSIGNATURE.com

175 Dining In lieu of our usual toprestaurants list, this year Robb Report honors the philanthropic efforts of the people and organizations that gave back during a time when nearly 2.5 million restaurant workers lost their jobs.

187 Spirits The bars and restaurants that got inventive with to-go cocktails, plus the gin, Cognac, tequilas and whiskeys that took top honors this year.

201 Art An NFT artwork shakes the auction landscape, outdoor art venues like Storm King Art Center become all-important during a pandemic year and museums diversify staff as well as their collections.

217 Real Estate City dwellers ditch metropolises in favor of more picturesque, far-flung retreats, like a resort community on the Virgin Islands or an amenity-rich mountain home in Park City, Utah.

233 Wine Women take the lead at top wineries, and the most noteworthy Champagne, Pinot Noir and Burgundy that we tasted this year.

249 Jewelry Designers take advantage of new technology and materials to create incredible, one-of-akind pieces—like a Boucheron necklace made using a computer algorithm.

261 Wings

DAVID URBANKE

The aviation industry cuts back on its hefty carbon footprint with more sustainable fuel solutions, plus the most ambitious new offerings from Cirrus, Magellan and others.

Hermès cotton coat, $3,925, T-shirt, $430, and trousers, $1,050 P. 83

R O B B R E P O R T. C O M

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L Where freedom meets desire. Dare to be different.

Uncover the Black Badge digital experience.

www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com/uncover-black-badge

© Copyright Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC 2021. The Rolls-Royce name and logo are registered trademarks.

275 Design Rethinking home offices and kitchens after a year of sheltering in place; outdoor furniture from the likes of Janus et Cie takes center stage.

285 Cigars Upgrade your cigar stash with the year’s finest full- and medium-full-strength smokes.

297 Gear Good-looking gear and tech can be at home anywhere in your home, whether that’s a streamlined rowing machine or a hidden TV that can fold into the floor.

44 CONTRIBUTORS 46 EDITOR’S LETTER 304 THE DUEL Bloomberg by Bloomberg vs. Losing My Virginity ON THE COVER

PHILIP VILE

Artwork by Vasava

A suite at Castello di Reschio, in Italy P. 147

R O B B R E P O R T. C O M

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XPLORE

W E A R E U L Y S S E

N 40° 45’ 31’’ W 73° 58’ 43’’

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ALPINE EAGLE XL CHRONO The pure yet bold Alpine Eagle XL Chrono is a column-wheel chronograph equipped with a flyback function. Its 44 mm case houses the Chopard 03.05-C chronometer-certified automatic movement, for which three patents have been registered. This exceptional timepiece is made of Lucent Steel A223, an exclusive ultra-resistant metal based on four years of research and development. Proudly handcrafted by our artisans, it represents the expertise and innovation cultivated in our Manufacture.

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Contributors

Cheriss May A portrait photographer, May is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and an adjunct professor at Howard University, her alma mater.

She shot chef Erik Bruner-Yang for the dining section of Best of the Best at his restaurant Maketto, in Washington, D.C. (p. 182). “Maketto feels like a haven for the community, a unique meeting place for creatives,” she says. “A beautiful mix of restaurant, café and retail, and the chai tea was on point!” Her work is featured in In Conversation: Visual Meditations on Black Masculinity, a permanent exhibit at the African American Museum in Philadelphia.

44

Jason O’Bryan

Paola Wiciak

Clay Williams

Michael Verdon

O’Bryan has been managing cocktail bars for 12 years, first in Boston and now in San Diego, and has contributed a weekly cocktail column for Robb Report’s website since 2020.

He wrote the “Big Idea” essay for the spirits section of Best of the Best, charting the rise of the delivery cocktail (p. 187). “There were too many great examples to list in the article,” he says.

“The to-go bottle art at Estereo in Chicago or the Hawksmorr in London is just incredible, as are the little fun notes at LA’s Hippo. It’s been inspiring to see what people are capable of.”

Wiciak is a Costa Rican illustrator living in the Czech Republic. She has drawn portraits for a long list of brands, including Adidas, IBM and Siemens. For Best of the Best, she sketched the Lifetime Achievement and One to Watch award winners for all 15 categories. “The illustrations created for this issue are a collection of powerful portraits,” she says. “I wanted to make use of vibrant colors to make these individuals stand out in the way they genuinely do in their own fields.”

Williams has been photographing food and drink for newspapers, magazines and blogs since 2006. The shoot for the dining section of Best of the Best took him to one of chef JJ Johnson’s restaurants in New York (p. 178). “I first photographed chef JJ back in 2014, when he was cooking groundbreaking cuisine at the Cecil,” he says. “It’s always great working with him, and I was so glad to see his newly opened Fieldtrip location in Rockefeller Center.” Williams is the cofounder of Black Food Folks, a platform for Black professionals working in food, food service and food media.

Verdon is Robb Report’s marine and aviation editor. He penned large portions of these two categories for Best of the Best.

This year, the boating world in particular was rife with smart design decisions (p. 127).

“Small yachts are using modular layouts for multiple functions in the same footprint, while superyachts are dedicating every inch on the sterns and even bows to owner usage,” he says. “It’s a revolution in design.”

J U N E /J U LY 2 0 2 1

isaia.it Baku, Capri, Chicago, Cyprus, Dnepropetrovsk, Ekaterinburg, Hong Kong, Kazan, Kiev, Limassol, London, Los Angeles, Milan, Moscow, New Delhi, New York, Nizhny Novgorod, Rome, San Francisco, St Moritz, Tokyo, Ulaan Baatar

Editor’s Letter

It’s a pretty grandiose statement, Best of the Best. Almost tautological, it’s praise heaped on praise, acclaim layered on acclaim. Who or whatever wears that crown must be beyond extraordinary. Can such a title be warranted? Isn’t being simply the best sufficient—was Tina Turner just not aiming high enough? Is it just journalistic hyperbole?

46

J U N E /J U LY 2 0 2 1

Paul Croughton Editor in Chief @paulcroughton

directory of the elite specialists who shone even brighter these past months. They worked endlessly for their clients to provide safety, security and, where appropriate, the opportunity to see the world again, meet its people and revel in what we once took far too much for granted: the chance to experience new destinations, embrace old favorites and marvel at it all.

Whatever the category, this year’s winners deserve their “Best of the Best” titles. They’re the result of years and years—and, in some cases, decades and even centuries— of an unflinching pursuit of perfection married, it’s probably fair to say, with a little good fortune. The fortune to have survived, and even thrived, in this last year should not be underestimated. Congratulations to all of them.

Enjoy the issue.

JOSHUA SCOT T

That’s something I pondered while we were compiling the list of winners for this, the 33rd annual Best of the Best issue.

But then another thought occurred: Within the luxury world, so many products, experiences and people are world-class. At the finest end of the spectrum, exceptional quality is a given.

Many luxury brands have a right to call themselves “the best.”

What makes something stand out are often the smallest details, executed perfectly. It might be how the light catches the razorsharp finishing on the hands of a watch, or the beautifully engineered yet subtle thunk of a car door closing. It could be the way flavors reveal themselves on the palate as the wine leaves your tongue, or how jewels can seemingly float on a finger, their casing almost invisible.

It’s that level of precision and thought that elevates the few from the rest, even at the top of the tree. Because some really are—if I may again reference Ms. Turner—better than all the rest. The Best of the Best.

So who or what have we gathered together on these pages, and how have we come to these conclusions? In 15 categories— cars, boats, planes, travel, style, watches, jewelry, food, wine, spirits, art, design, cigars, gear and, new this year, real estate— the editors and I have discussed and debated, occasionally quite heatedly, the brands and leaders that have truly excelled over the last 12 months. And as the past year was unlike any other in living memory, this presented significant challenges in a number of sectors.

Take dining, for instance: How do you judge restaurants when the lucky ones were closed for much of the year; the less fortunate closing permanently? The answer is, you don’t.

And so culinary editor Jeremy Repanich and I decided to do things differently, honoring the people within the industry who made bold decisions based purely on the desire to help the chefs, waitstaff, and front-of-house and delivery people who found themselves furloughed for long stretches or, worse, unemployed. Their stories are examples that out of darkness can come great light. They are genuinely inspiring, and I felt humbled to read them.

Travel, of course, was also hugely affected. There were hotel openings, just far fewer than in previous years.

Fortunately, some were of exceptional quality, which we’re happy to recognize. Others treated the forced shutdown as an opportunity, renovating or revamping their offerings. We’re cheering the finest among them, too. But our editor at large and travel expert, Mark Ellwood, and I agreed that, again, it was the people who led from the front who deserved the spotlight this year. So for the first time we have compiled a

HERE, E VERY DAY

feels like an escape.

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to experience our friendly community for yourself as part of our lifestyle visit. Starting at $299* per night, it includes up to three nights at The Ritz-Carlton®, two rounds of golf, a two-hour boat rental and more.

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*Excludes holidays and subject to availability; club credit for promotional purposes only. Real estate and other amenities are owned by Oconee Land Development Company LLC and/or other subsidiaries and affiliates of MetLife, Inc. (collectively, "OLDC" or “Sponsor”) and by unrelated third parties. Reynolds Lake Oconee Pro an offer to sell nor a solicitation of offers to buy OLDC-owned real estate in Reynolds Lake Oconee by residents of HI, ID, OR, or any other jurisdiction where prohibited by law. As to such states, any offer to sell or solicitation of offers to buy applies only to Resale Properties. Access and rights to recreational amenities may be s

ForOLDCproperties,obtainthePropertyReportrequiredbyFederallawandreaditbeforesigninganything.NoFederalagencyhasjudgedthemeritsorvalue,ifany,ofthisproperty.Voidwhereprohibitedbylaw.WARNING:THECALIFORNIADEPARTMENTOFREALESTATEHASNOTINSPECTED,EXAMINED,OR at 1000 Washington Street, Suite 710, Boston, Massachusetts 02118-6100 and the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection at 1700 G Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20552. Certain OLDC properties are registered with the Department of Law of the State of New York. THE COMPLETE OFFERING to any person or entity in the state of New York or to New York residents by or on behalf of the developer/offeror or anyone acting with the developer/offeror’s knowledge. No such offering, or purchase or sale of real estate by or to residents of the state of New York, shall take place until all registratio

operties, LLC ("RLOP") is the exclusive listing agent for OLDC-owned properties in Reynolds Lake Oconee. RLOP also represents buyers and sellers of properties in Reynolds Lake Oconee which OLDC does not own ("Resale Properties"). OLDC is not involved in the marketing or sale of Resale Properties. This is not intended to be subject to fees, membership dues, or other limitations. Information provided is believed accurate as of the date printed but may be subject to change from time to time. The Ritz-Carlton Reynolds, Lake Oconee is a private commercial enterprise and use of the facilities is subject to the applicable fees and policies of the operator.

RDISQUALIFIEDTHISOFFERING.AnofferingstatementhasbeenfiledwiththeIowaRealEstateCommissionandacopyofsuchstatementisavailablefromOLDCuponrequest.OLDCpropertieshavebeenregisteredwiththeMassachusettsBoardofRegistrationofRealEstateBrokersandSalesmen G TERMS ARE IN AN OFFERING PLAN AVAILABLE FROM SPONSOR. FILE NO. H14-0001. Notice to New York Residents: The developer of Reynolds Lake Oconee and its principals are not incorporated in, located in, or resident in the state of New York. No offering is being made in or directed on and filing requirements under the Martin Act and the Attorney General’s regulations are complied with, a written exemption is obtained pursuant to an application is granted pursuant to and in accordance with Cooperative Policy Statements #1 or #7, or a “No-Action” request is granted.

Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter Two - Piece Unique Featuring Uniqueness at its Best Unique Dial that changes color depending on the temperature of the light!

bovet.com CELLINI JEWELERS, New York City, NY · STEPHEN SILVER, Menlo Park, CA · WATCHES OF SWITZERLAND, Las Vegas, NV

In a typical year, no sooner does Robb Report put one Best of the Best issue to bed than we begin to drive, sip, fly, observe and taste our way to the next. These past 12 months, of course,

BEST OF THE BEST were anything but typical. Even so, our editorial team managed to scour the luxury universe for the truly exceptional in 2021. Here, the superlatives we have identified in 15 essential categories.

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The Makai Pools

The Makai Pools

There is a place for discerning families who seek to balance luxury with the laid-back lifestyle and awe-inspiring beauty of our island home. Welcome to Kukui‘ula on the South Shore of Kaua‘i. Steps from the Clubhouse, the lagoon-style Makai Pools provide countless idyllic spots for sunbathing with a tropical drink in hand. Our infinity-edge pool is equipped with loungers for basking, while adjacent

Homes and Homesites in a Breathtaking Setting from $600,000 to $12,000,000

saltwater pools flow together, connected by a water slide and cascading waterfalls that lead to a sand-bottom pool, lapping the shores of a man-made beach. And, the Makai Pools are just one of an abundance of experiences available in the Ultimate Family Retreat.

R e q u e s t y o u r E x p e r i e n c e G u i d e b o o k at k u k u i u l a . c o m / g u i d e b o o k o r c a l l 8 0 8 . 7 4 0 . 0 7 1 6

Obtain a property report or its equivalent as required by Federal or State Law and read it before signing anything. No Federal or State Agency has judged the merits or value, if any, of the property. This is not an offer or solicitation in CT, NJ or NY or in any state in which the legal requirements for such offering have not been met. Warning: The CA Dept. of Real Estate has not inspected, examined, or qualified this offering. Fees, memberships and restrictions may apply for certain amenities. Details available. Price and availability subject to change. ©January, 2021. Kukui‘ula Development Company (Hawaii), LLC. All rights reserved.

WHEELS

By Viju Mathew, Robert Ross and Peter Jackson

Ancient king Solomon wrote, “What has

THE BIG IDEA

A Call for Coachbuilders

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” Granted, coachbuilding probably wasn’t top of mind when he wrote it, but it applies.

The art of custom bodywork on wheels, dating back to the chariot and nearly lost by the end of the 20th century, appears to be on a comeback. “The auto industry has failed the consumer for many years,” says Scott Wallace, cofounder of Florida-based E.C.D. Automotive Design, which builds reimagined and individually tailored Land Rovers.

“Personalization of almost everything in life is part of expectations now, but I had more custom choices for my iPhone cover. The surge in coachbuilding is because of a consumer who’s bored.”

In response, a number of storied

ateliers have been resurrected— Touring Superleggera, Bertone and Radford, to name a few—though most share ties to their predecessors in name alone. And while technological and material advancements have facilitated their return, the primary factor is the vacuum left by automotive-industry consolidation.

“We have occupied the super-niche abandoned by luxury automotive companies the moment they became part of major OEM groups,” says Andrea Zagato, CEO of 102-year-old coachbuilder turned design studio Zagato. Since Volkswagen acquired Bentley, he notes, the production of Continental GTs alone rivals the marque’s entire output in the nearly 80 years prior. Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin have also pumped up the volume to historic levels. In other words, luxury cars are becoming less rare, not more, and some of the biggest players in the space no longer offer the ultimate differentiator: bespoke, handbuilt bodywork.

“Projections for the future of transportation suggest we are going towards mobility as a service, meaning that people, especially in big cities, will tend to rent rather than buy,” says Giorgio Gamberini, director of business development for Italdesign, cofounded by famed designer Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1968. “We have the skills, tools and experience to run ultra-limited-series productions from A to Z.” In the future, he adds, premium automobiles will likely be viewed the same as commissioned art.

Zagato, soon to introduce his 19-example, 650 hp Iso Rivolta GTZ to the US, says his goal, like other elite coachbuilders, is “to be consistent with our past. None of us are working on mass-production models. A collectible should last longer than a consumable.”

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The McLaren 765LT makes no pretense of its hard-edged perfor-

McLaren 765LT SUPERCAR

mance intent, as evidenced by the aerodynamic longtail bodywork that clothes the latest model in the British marque’s Super Series.

Stab the start button and the 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine growls to life through a lightweight titanium exhaust, which amplifies the McLaren’s raspy bark.

It’s a percussive soundtrack befitting a car making 755 hp and 590 ft lbs of torque, impressive specs that still don’t quite convey the onslaught of power, which hurtles the 765LT to 205 mph, with a zero-to-60-mph sprint time of just 2.7 seconds. McLaren’s seven-speed Sequential Shift Gearbox delivers smooth, immediate response to match the car’s laser-sharp handling and telepathic steering feedback.

The active suspension helps drivers tackle corners fast, flat and with a reassuring sense of control, bolstered by the presence of the same massive brake calipers found on the McLaren Senna.

Simplicity prevails in the cockpit, which offers elbow room, excellent forward visibility and a center-tunnel touchscreen that handles infotainment, climate control and onboard telemetry. Wide, low and happier kissing rumble strips than speed bumps, the 765LT—of which only 765 examples will be made—rewards drivers seeking a precision tool for road or, even better, track. $358,000

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Ever since Porsche’s 911 GT3 came on the scene in 1999,

the high-revving, naturally aspirated variant has been a wish-list vehicle. A quick glance shows the newest GT3 to be slightly longer, taller and wider than its most recent predecessor, though at 3,164 pounds it weighs the same.

That particular trick is thanks to lighter components— including glass, exhaust and wheels—plus greater use of composites.

Enhanced aerodynamics are noticeable in the heavily revised front and rear, but the most significant change is the double-wishbone front suspension, which replaces the tried-and-true MacPherson-strut setup. The result is even greater agility, which is further bolstered by rearaxle steering that functionally shortens or lengthens the wheelbase, as needed. The interior is updated with the latest 992 details, including the flat digital dash, but the bucket seats from the previous GT3 are a welcome option for extended runs.

It’s all motivated by a 502 hp, 4.0-liter flat-six with 346 ft lbs of torque and the distinction of being the only naturally aspirated engine in the 911 line, as well as having a lovely howl as it wails its way up to an 8,400 rpm redline.

Both a seven-speed PDK and a six-speed manual transmission are available, and while Stuttgart’s double-clutch auto shifter is legendarily fast and durable—and comes with a whomping Launch Control feature to boot—it’s hard to argue against the light, precise engagement of a Porsche stick shift. What would Andreas Preuninger, director of the GT model line, choose? “People like manual transmissions for a reason,” he says. “I would take a manual, maybe.” Yeah, us too. $161,100

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Porsche 992 GT3 SPORTS CAR

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBB RICE

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Ferrari Roma D A I LY DRIVER

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Ferrari’s latest 2+2 coupe was built as an expression of

La Nuova Dolce Vita, the New Sweet Life, a recollection of Italy’s creative and artistic vitality throughout the 1950s and ’60s. Fittingly, it’s the perfect daily driver, combining exquisite design and exceptional comfort with effortless performance—a dashing recipe for a place like Southern California, where plodding stopand-go traffic is offset by free-spirited blasts up the coast or through the mountains.

The car’s heart and soul is a 3.9-liter twin-turbo V-8 engine delivering 611 hp and 561 ft lbs of torque. An avalanche of power comes on strong from 3,000 rpm, with no turbo lag, as the Roma flashes from standstill

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBB RICE

to 62 mph in 3.4 seconds, its top speed touching 199 mph. In automatic, the eight-speed dual-clutch gearbox is smooth and seamless, while in manual mode the car has perfected the neat trick of seeming to shift a nanosecond before you pull the lever.

The interior creates the illusion of dual cockpits, with comfortable sport seats divided by a narrow center console topped by an 8.4-inch display. And for the first time in a Ferrari grand tourer, the steering-wheelmounted Manettino offers a Race mode along with Wet, Sport, Comfort and ESC-Off settings. The Roma’s versatility is certainly a strength, but most impressively, it’s just one among many. $218,670

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Bentley Flying Spur INTERIOR

Bentley’s Flying Spur has become so refined

that it now replaces the Mulsanne as the automaker’s top four-door model. Along with effortless W-12 or V-8 power, the new model offers the smoothest ride this side of a maglev train and a cabin so baronial it’s difficult to believe you’re inside a car and not, say, a tony members’ club.

Sumptuous seats front and rear are divided by a “floating” center console. The Mulliner Driving Specification further elevates the experience, with Bentley’s distinctive stitching and a new leather pattern that creates a field of varyingly sized diamonds that follow the contours of the seats and door panels.

Leather, available in a vast array of colors, is complemented by one of nine wood veneers.

The quality of craftsmanship at Bentley’s HQ in Crewe rivals that of some of the more rar-

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBB RICE

efied luxury houses; some woodworkers have perfected their craft at the marque over several decades, as did their parents before them.

The Bentley Rotating Display remains a delightful option. A smooth fascia in the center of the dash flips to reveal two distinct presentations: a 12.3-inch touchscreen with a digital infotainment display or, with another turn, three classic analog instruments showing outside air temperature, a compass and a chronometer. Diamond knurling embellishes the rotary switches and stalks, and can be specified for the clock and vents. The panoramic sunroof adds an even greater sense of space to the airy interior, while the Naim for Bentley sound system, available as an extra, transforms the Flying Spur’s cabin into a rolling concert hall. $198,100 (V-8 model) or $224,300 (W-12)

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Bugatti Chiron Pur Sport HYPERCAR

The boy approaches with the type of reverence usually saved for places of worship. “Is that the Chiron?” he finally asks. Well, it is and it isn’t: This is the 1,500 hp, nearly $4 million Chiron Pur Sport, an even rarer version of Bugatti’s latest spec-exploding hypercar.

In a model line known for ballistic straight-line acceleration, the Pur Sport variant is not so much a bullet as a guided missile engineered for better tracking through the turns. Its cornering prowess benefits from a 110-pound weight reduction plus a 110-pound increase in downforce compared to the original Chiron (you’ll notice a new front splitter, though it’s not quite as prominent as the fixed rear wing, which suggests that an airplane somewhere is

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missing an appendage) aided by select 3-D-printed titanium components and optional magnesium wheels. The chassis and suspension have been optimized for agility, including improved springs and carbon-fiber stabilizers.

Thanks to a 15 percent decrease in the gear ratio, handling is more precise even at slower speeds, but make no mistake: This Chiron still fires off the line. The quadturbo 16-cylinder engine, with 1,180 ft lbs of torque and mated to a seven-speed transmission, hurls the car from zero to 62 mph in just 2.3 seconds on its way to a top speed of 217 mph. It’s more speed than most will ever see fit to use, delivered in newly nimble—and, at just 60 examples, extremely scarce—packaging. $3.96 million

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBB RICE

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Lamborghini has long endured a reputation for

power at the expense of sophistication—the very ethos of its Raging Bull logo. But that perception has become as outdated as a Diablo poster. Take the all-wheel-drive Huracán Evo, introduced two years ago, featuring a super-processor brain enabling predictive vehicle response: It was the automotive equivalent of an MIT grad with finishing-school refinement and Olympic-level athletics.

Now the 602 hp Evo RWD Spyder offers that same bleeding-edge control and performance, but gives drivers room to open up—literally. In the rear-wheel-drive configuration, torque-vectoring is replaced by the new Performance Traction Control System (P-TCS), which enables drifting in Sport mode. The feature will use a dose of torque to boost grip when transitioning from a drift or turn. We had the chance to test the feature in the coupe version by momentarily losing the back end during a run around Willow Springs International Raceway, at which point the system intervened and smoothly corrected the mistake.

With a 5.2-liter naturally aspirated V-10, it can lunge from zero to 62 mph in 3.5 seconds and to a top speed of 201 mph. If that sounds familiar, it’s because the Evo RWD Spyder was named 2021 Robb Report Sports Car of the Year. Not surprising for a supercar convertible you can slide around without slipping up. $229,428

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Lamborghini Huracán Evo RWD Spyder CONVERTIBLE

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBB RICE

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Shelby Mustang GT350 dominated SCCA Class B racing, fueling a pony-car stampede that swept up GM, Chrysler and AMC. Of the 562 examples produced, only 36 were a competition-focused variant now called the GT350R. During development of the R-spec models at Shelby’s shop in Venice, Calif., a 17-year-old mechanic named Jim Marietta fitted one car with an experimental independent rear suspension, for potential handling improvements.

It never went into production.

In 2014, three members of the original Shelby Racing team—designer Pete Brock, crew mechanic and master fabricator Ted Sutton and one Jim Marietta—founded the aptly named Original Venice Crew (OVC), building 36 authorized continuation GT350R models, each with the option for that same independent rear suspension. OVC begins with an original 1965 Mustang body powered by a standard 289 cubic-inch V-8 engine (the 331 ci and 364 ci are optional) from Carroll Shelby Engine Company.

Each car is fabricated by original team members and their assistants working out of Shelby American headquarters in Gardena, Calif.

With a sticker that can climb to $350,000, the vehicles incorporate some of Brock’s initial design details, never implemented due to time and budget constraints. “This is truly the last, second run of authentic cars,” Marietta says. “Once these 36 are done, I can virtually guarantee there’ll never be another Ford Shelby–licensed GT350 made by the people who made the originals.” From $250,000

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ORIGINAL VENICE CREW FORD GT 3 5 0 C M C O N T I N U AT I O N CAR

MUSTANG: ROBB RICE; ROLLS-ROYCE: JAMES LIPMAN

In its first year on the market, Carroll Shelby’s 1965

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBB RICE

Rolls-Royce Ghost SEDAN

Henry Royce’s decree to “take the best that exists and make it better” remains the fundamental marching order for the 117-year-old marque he cofounded with Charles Rolls. And nothing embodies that spirit more than the latest iteration of the automaker’s most successful model, the Rolls-Royce Ghost, newly redesigned and reengineered for this year.

The 2021 Ghost was developed with a pareddown approach the brand refers to as “post-opulence,” which translates to an exterior devoid of

shut lines and a streamlined cabin. But despite the minimalist approach, the Ghost is still visually striking inside and out. One look at the stellar presentation on the passenger-side fascia, comprising six layers of illuminated paneling, as well as the headliner’s shooting-star display, and it’s obvious that extravagance remains a hallmark.

And so is the magic-carpet ride. With a 6.75liter twin-turbo V-12, this 563 hp model is the first Ghost to be built on Rolls-Royce’s aluminum-spaceframe platform. While that architec-

ture provides greater rigidity, the 220 pounds of sound proofing, increased shock absorption (from the new Planar Suspension System’s Upper Wishbone damper, a production-car first) and all-wheel steering, plus an eight-speed automatic transmission that uses satellite data to inform gear selection, leaves you with the quietest and most responsive Roller yet. Understandably, it’s already our 2021 Robb Report Luxury Car of the Year, laurels on which perhaps even Mr. Royce would have been tempted to rest. $332,500

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For Enzo Ferrari, road trips had little to do with the destination. “I don’t just drive to get from A to B,” he’s attributed as saying. “I enjoy feeling the car’s reactions, becoming part of it.” From behind the wheel of his namesake marque’s 812 GTS, with the top down and its naturally aspirated 6.5-liter V-12 singing at the top of its pipes, you feel like Enzo himself is telling you to forget where you’re going.

Ferrari fans will recognize that this drop-top version of the 812 Superfast is Ferrari’s first production-series mid-front-engined V-12 convertible since Maranello’s 1969 “Daytona Spider” rocketed to market. After more than a half-century, the Prancing Horse delivered a 789

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hp model that benefits from such tech advancements as steering-wheel-torque monitoring and traction-enhancing Side Slip Control. Extra grip is mission-critical when the power plant, making 530 ft lbs of torque and mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, launches the roadster from zero to 60 mph in under three seconds on its way to 211 mph.

This was the most powerful production convertible available when it debuted, but our choice for grand tourer equally impresses with its surprisingly roomy cockpit and its sporting, yet still pampering, suspension.

With the 812 GTS, point B may still be the objective, but it has never been less important. $397,544

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBB RICE

Ferrari 812 GTS GRAND TOURER

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

Edward Welburn Even as a boy, Edward Welburn knew what his career would be—and where he would spend it. It was a prescience born from a single, formative encounter: “It was the Philadelphia Auto Show at age eight,” says Welburn, now 70. “I saw the Cadillac Cyclone and told my parents, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a car designer for that company.’ ” At age 11 he wrote to Cadillac’s parent corporation, General Motors, explaining his goal. Surprisingly, GM wrote back; they even outlined the necessary steps for him.

It was a journey that led to Welburn becoming GM’s first Black car designer, before rising to the rank of vice president of global design. During his 44-year tenure, he spearheaded the development of numerous notable models, including the innovative Oldsmobile Aerotech prototype, piloted to a then record 257 mph by racer A. J. Foyt.

And, of course, there were the Corvettes.

For the seventh generation of the iconic American sports car, Welburn gathered input and sketches from “all 11 studios around the world, over 200 designers,” he says. “It really energized the organization, as this was during the auto bankruptcy.” Of the latest version, the long-rumored mid-engine ’Vette, he says: “My very last day at GM, I was blessing the design of the C8. I hadn’t really thought about it being the car I would go out on, but I couldn’t have written the story any better.”

Welburn’s next chapter will take a cinematic turn. Having formed his own media group, he plans to spotlight racer Charlie Wiggins and a nearly forgotten Black motorsport league during the 1920s. “We’ve put together a team of very experienced writers and producers,” Welburn says. “The script is done, and we’re off to the races.”

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MCINTOSH FOR JEEP G R A N D WA G O N E E R AUTOMOTIVE AUDIO

The debut of the McIntosh MX1375

Reference Entertainment System is one more reason to welcome the return of Jeep’s flagship SUV, the Grand Wagoneer, produced in various iterations from 1963 through 1991. To make the 2022 model even more celebratory, Jeep engineers teamed with McIntosh Laboratory to design the audio system, available as an option, on the first Grand Wagoneer in 30 years.

The audio presentation uses 23 specially tuned speakers, including a high-performance 12-inch subwoofer, powered by a 24-channel, 1,375 w amplifier. Adaptive 3-D surround processing tailors the acoustics within the cabin to create an immersive sonic landscape with the type of superior

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imaging and spatial detail that are hallmarks of McIntosh, founded in 1949 and famous for powering the sound system at Woodstock and the Grateful Dead’s 28,800 w “Wall of Sound” driven by 48 amps. The brand’s iconic blue meters also find their way into the vehicle’s infotainment display, adding visual excitement to the music.

For McIntosh’s president, Charlie Randall, the project struck a personal cord, having grown up around Grand Wagoneers in his youth, and he was meticulous about its development.

“We set up a McIntosh Reference room next to the Jeep team’s facility,” he says, “to ensure the best parts of the home-system experience made it into the Grand Wagoneer.”

Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 4Matic SUV

The SUV’s rise to American motoring prominence

is a character arc out of a Horatio Alger tale: from battlefield grunt to farmhand to, now, the new millennium’s A-list eye candy. And perhaps no SUV better represents that journey than the MercedesBenz GLS, which refines the truckish G-Wagen’s pedigree, and its new and most rarefied expression, the Mercedes-Maybach GLS 600 4Matic.

Though lacking the G-Wagen’s imposing stature, the Mercedes-Maybach SUV exudes gravitas with its elongated silhouette, ample muscle and

PHOTOGRAPH BY ROBB RICE

country-club interior. The mild-hybrid power train pairs a 4-liter twin-turbo V-8 with a 48-volt electrical system for 550 hp and 538 ft lbs of torque.

Power delivery is refined via a nine-speed automatic transmission.

At 17 feet long it’s certainly no canyon-carver, but the torque-on-demand 4Matic all-wheel drive and trick air suspension—a sensor scans the road ahead to make intricate spring and damper adjustments at each wheel—levels out rougher mountain roads. Even in the rear, passengers won’t drop a

smidge of caviar while enjoying seat massages. And thanks to one of the best head-up displays we’ve encountered in the next-gen MBUX infotainment system, finding our way through the city was a breeze. The cabin’s 64-color ambient lighting and on-demand fragrance systems set a relaxing mood.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the first series-production Maybach, the 22/70 HP W3. That the Maybach name is still taking top honors a century later, well, that’s a success story in itself. $160,500

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DUCATI: MARCO CAMPELLI

There was only ever one model in the running for our

D U C AT I M U LT I S T R A D A V4 S MOTORCYCLE

motorcycle of the year: the Ducati Multistrada V4 S. It was apparent after 15 minutes in the saddle during a test-ride in the Borrego Springs desert, where the adventure-travel bike ticked all the expected boxes, plus a few we had never considered.

This is the first production bike with radar, which means it comes standard with Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) and Blind Spot Detection (BSD) functionality, two forms of rider assistance and protection previously unknown in the production-motorcycle space. The ACC’s performance was startlingly good, its distance management inch-perfect. And a blind-spot-detection alert is

Becker Automotive’s offerings have been long-running Best of

winners because they continue to set, and raise, the bar for afte conversions. The new Cadillac Escalade is the latest model to the Becker upgrade, transforming the SUV into a truly C-le veyance. Offered in standard or stretched wheelbase (options an additional 20, 26 or 30 inches), Becker up-fits the Escala platform with a stamped-steel roof raised by five inches, inc headroom and turning the rear passenger compartment into spacious environment for work or relaxation. Airline-style r are complemented by two rear-facing seats that automatic away for an unobstructed view of the 43-inch 4K LCD disp divides the front and rear passenger compartments.

Extended versions use lengthened B pillars behind the driv rear doors extended by 10 inches but designed for a facto appearance, while Cadillac’s new multi-link independent r pension and available air-ride adaptive suspension help el road-induced turbulence. But it’s the rarefied interior, with it lative craftsmanship, materials and electronics, that gives the reason to land. From $325,000

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something every motorcycle model, period, should offer from now on. These two landmark features are even more welcome considering they complement one of the fastest V-4 motors created for the public, making this machine a technical tour de force.

Access to ride modes and the control algorithms managing traction, wheelies and engine braking is surprisingly intuitive, while the V-4 motor, aluminum monocoque frame and electronics integrate so seamlessly it makes for a benchmark riding experience. Members of the Ducati team have called the 2021 Multistrada V4 S the best motorcycle they’ve ever created, and we see no reason to argue. $24,095

XP S TA R R Y S K Y CONTEMPORARY EXPRESSION OF WATCHMAKING TITANIUM BALANCE WHEEL WITH WHITE GOLD INSERT FLOATING LUGS TITANIUM DIAL WITH “MICROLIGHT” DECORATION

P

H O RC H 8 5 3 A S P O RT CABRIOLET CONCOURS CAR

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As divisive as any politician, pundit or showman today, innovative engineer and entrepreneur Elon Musk is a Renaissance man trying to advance his version of enlightenment regardless of who wants it. “I think you should always bear in mind that entropy is not on your side,” the self-made billionaire has said, and he seems to have made battling the status quo his life’s mission. Viewed as a visionary by some, charlatan by others, he’s a cultural disrupter who not only made Tesla the first commercially successful EV company but single-handedly proved an EV could be a mainstream status symbol.

As with any agitator worth his salt, Musk has generated a good share of criticism and blowback, including from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which levied a $40 million fine after finding that his Twitter posts were “misleading” and fueled Tesla’s increased stock value. That, of course, is pocket change to a man worth roughly $156 billion and who is simultaneously bankrolling an effort to colonize other planets via SpaceX, another of his numerous enterprises. Despite all of this, Musk found time to host Saturday Night Live in May, where he put it all in perspective. “I reinvented electric cars and I’m sending people to Mars in a rocket ship,” he quipped. “Did you think I was also going to be a chill, normal dude?”

Concours lawns have been empty since last March, but

in August, the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles hosted the next-best thing with its Petersen Car Week. After considering photos, videos, history and provenance, judges awarded the Best of Show honors to a Horch 853 A Sport Cabriolet owned by Valerie and Aaron Weiss of San Marino, Calif.

Aaron Weiss, who is chairman of the San Marino Motor Classic, an annual car show held just after Monterey Car Week, has 19 prewar classics in his collection. While most are household names, Horch is largely unknown, the luxury German marque having been absorbed by Auto Union—what we know today as Audi—back in 1932. About 342 examples of the 853 A chassis were built from 1937 to 1940, and of the few

Sport Cabriolets wearing coachwork by Gläser-Karosserie, as little as two dozen may have survived. Advanced for the period, the 853 is powered by a 120 hp, 4.9-liter straight-eight engine mated to a synchronized four-speed transmission. The model also features independent rear suspension and vacuum-assisted brakes. After acquiring the Horch in 2016, Weiss commissioned a 100-point restoration supported by a complete ownership history, plus comprehensive research that included reference to an unrestored original example.

The years have been kind to this winner, which retains its original chassis, engine, body and identification tags. “It has a lot of charisma,” says Weiss, still clearly enamored. “The car’s a real mensch. It has presence. I’ve never owned anything that gives me as much pleasure.”

MUSK: JOHN RAOUX /AP

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SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTION

Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet is the Perfect Embodiment of assic-Meets-Contemporary Watchmaking The collection’s new two-tone selfwinding chronographs combine black ceramic with 18-carat white or pink gold.

In luxury watchmaking circles, gold is considered a classic material, and ceramic its contemporary equivalent.

When the materials are combined, as they are in the new, two-tone 41 mm selfwinding chronographs that belong to the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet collection, it’s a clear sign that the watches offer something for fans of both classic and contemporary watchmaking.

And, indeed, these watches do. To truly understand how the past and present coexist in the Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet timepieces, however, you must appreciate the context from which they sprung. Audemars Piguet was founded in 1875. Practically from the start, the brand preferred to challenge conventional watchmaking wisdom by experimenting with form and design, often combining traditional geometries like rounds, squares and rectangles with unconventional shapes like trapezoids and octagons.

his youth: the preparation of deep-sea diver equipment, with its visible nuts and joints.

Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet builds on that history of progressive design with its octagonal black ceramic middle case sandwiched between an 18-carat white or pink gold bezel, lugs and caseback (all hand-finished with alternating satinbrushed and polished surfaces).

The ceramic case was created for the brand by Bangerter, a Swiss familyowned company that specializes in the manufacture of precision components made of advanced ceramics and other super-hard materials.

In 1972, the watchmaker took that experimental legacy to a new level with the introduction of its groundbreaking Royal Oak model, the first high-end watch to be encased in steel and placed on an integrated bracelet.

That Audemars Piguet chose high-tech ceramic for the distinctly shaped middle case—a signature of the 2-yearold Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet collection—speaks to the meaning built into the collection’s unusual, and unusually philosophical, name: At a minute before midnight, a new day is about to break. And thanks to its unique genetic code, the brand is prepared to greet it. Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet is the watchmaker’s ode to what’s new and next.

Designed by the legendary Gérald Genta, the model featured an octagonal bezel secured with screws and was said to be inspired by a memory from

The new chronographs’ smoked dark gray satin-brushed dials contrasted with black chronograph counters and inner bezels, as well as the model’s

double-curved sapphire crystal, are equally forward-looking. (Though not without concessions to tradition such as the 18-carat pink or white gold hour markers and hands that brighten up the dials.)

The mechanism that powers each model, Calibre 4401, is the manufacturer’s latest in-house integrated chronograph with column wheel and flyback functionality that allows the wearer to restart the chronograph without stopping or resetting it first. Water-resistant to 30 meters and boasting up to 70 hours of power reserve, the watches are by turns sporty and sophisticated.

Watch lovers will appreciate the glimpse of the collection’s dedicated 22-carat pink gold oscillating weight and the other decorative elements— such as “Côtes de Genève,” “traits tirés” and circular graining—all visible through the sapphire caseback.

Last but not least, the chronographs come on black rubber-coated straps that feature a lining of calfskin leather and a textured motif for a contemporary look. The straps are integrated with the openworked lugs, which have been welded to the extrathin bezel.

All the elements of the new, two-tone Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet Selfwinding Chronographs have been meticulously crafted, a hallmark of the brand’s enduring devotion to timehonored techniques that, together with its forward-looking ethos, ensures the timepieces will be remembered as future classics. audemarspiguet.com

“At a minute before midnight, a new day is about to break…

Code 11.59 by Audemars Piguet is the watchmaker’s ode to what’s new and next.”

STYLE

By Paul Croughton and Kareem Rashed Photography by David Urbanke, Styling by Alex Badia

THE BIG IDEA

Back to Basics

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

The events of the past 12 months have made us all reappraise our definition of “essential.” In the earliest days of lockdown, we were pressed to consider what we truly needed and what we could live without.

Cocktail hour? Hard yes. Double-breasted suit? Not so much. In times of crisis, fashion often seems, understandably, inconsequential. But then again, getting dressed is essential. It may not have been the time for daring sartorial statements, but style is still fundamental.

Despite the shifts in how we shop and dress, the appeal of beautifully made classics is stronger than ever. Rather than answering with austerity, this year’s best menswear homed in on items that are as essential to one’s wardrobe as salt and flour to a well-stocked pantry. That’s not to say that getting back to basics

has meant sacrificing indulgence or innovation; these are clothing staples elevated to their finest form.

Comfort took precedence across the style spectrum, and for many, that meant suiting up in sweats (when the occasion calls for it, we suggest Loro Piana’s leisurewear). But some makers took the anything-goes dress code as an opportunity to stray from the formality for which they’re known and embrace a more relaxed breed of refinement; see the swaddling luxury of Brioni’s washed-silk suits and Cleverley’s unlined suede loafers. It’s not stripping back the decadence so much as doubling down on it, with quality, style and comfort in equal measure. Call it the Marie Kondo 2.0 effect: endlessly wearable clothes designed to objectively spark joy.

Fashion typically thrives on novelty—what’s hot and what’s not— but this year exposed the flaws in that insatiable attitude. There were industry-wide calls to slow down and get back in sync with what shoppers really want: thoughtfully made, lustworthy items to wear till death do they part. Yes, you heard the phrase “less but better” ad nauseam over the last 12 months, but some designers took it to heart, producing more sustainable and more desirable wares. Of course, this is a mantra to which some, such as Brunello Cucinelli and Hermès, have long subscribed. But others better known for catering to the zeitgeist, like Fear of God and Dior, also turned their attention to designs that endure.

Now that life is approaching something close to normalcy, the urge to get dressed again is palpable.

Fashion’s vicissitudes may well return, but with an arsenal of exceptional basics in your wardrobe, you’ll re-emerge prepared to elegantly weather whatever the future holds.

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Brioni wool-silk suit, $6,750, and cotton T-shirt, $575; Valstar wool-silk sweater, $700; Gucci leather belt, $350; the Reference Library Eddie sunglasses, $475; Officina Slowear suede sneakers, $500.

For decades now, when many of the world’s most powerful

BRIONI TA I LO R I N G

men—be they heads of state or captains of industry—want to look their sharpest, they reach for Brioni. Its suits have been a staple in the international uniform of success ever since the brand first brought slick Italian tailoring to the global stage in the 1950s. But times change, and since Norbert Stumpfl took the reins as executive design director in 2018, so has Brioni.

Stumpfl has loosened things up, and this new mood reached its apogee as the emphasis shifted from boardroom

propriety to WFH sophistication. Brioni’s suits still confer power but, rendered in washed silks, double-splittable wools and cashmeres, are now the lightest, softest tailoring the brand has produced in living memory (not to mention some of the most sumptuous). The materials’ ease is tempered with slightly roped shoulders and wider lapels for a look that’s strong but not stiff. As Stumpfl points out, the comfort of these suits allows for the ultimate sartorial power move: “You see the wearer more than the garment.”

G E O RG E CLEVERLEY SHOES

A U D É PA R T BAGS

Back at the dawn of travel’s first golden age—1847, to be exact—Parisian brand Au Départ opened up shop across from the recently completed Gare du Nord. The oldest of France’s big four of luxury trunk-makers, including Louis Vuitton, Goyard and Moynat, Au Départ was the pedigreed choice for the proto–jet set. But the brand shuttered in 1976 and was all but forgotten until 2019, when it awoke from its decadeslong slumber.

Taking cues from archival Au Départ luggage, the new collection revives the brand’s geometric monogram in an assortment of streamlined bags. The standout is an elegant riff on old-world steamer bags, available in hardy coated canvas or buffed calfskin.

The brand has also brought back trunks equipped for storing everything from watches and wine to sub-woofers and PlayStations. These are merely the tip of the iceberg: Au Départ’s bespoke service will gladly create any baggage to suit the needs of today’s high-fliers. Bag in coated canvas and calfskin, $3,580

Pebble-grain loafers, $750

George Cleverley is known for its bespoke oxfords—the epitome of British formality—but

has recently broadened its casual ready-to-wear offering. This year, it put its elegantly shod foot firmly on the gas. The robust new range includes everything from unlined loafers in a proprietary grained suede to chukka boots with the brand’s signature chiseled toe, all Goodyear-welted and finished by hand. Smart enough to wear with a suit yet perfectly at ease with jeans, the designs are well-synced to today’s dress codes. These leaps in ready-to-wear haven’t meant a scaling back of Cleverley’s bespoke bread and butter, though. As one of the few foreign shoemakers able to service American clients over the past year (thanks to CEO George Glasgow Jr.’s dual citizenship), Cleverley has had a boom in custom commissions, keeping tradition alive while staying in step with the times.

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Ralph Lauren silk dinner jacket, $5,995, cotton tuxedo shirt, $695, wool trousers, $695, silk bow tie, $175, and linen pocket square, $135; Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Chronor watch in rose gold and alligator, $145,200.

RALPH L AU R E N EVENINGWEAR

Even in a year with no formal functions to speak of, Ralph Lauren has continued carrying the torch for eveningwear at its most debonair. For his spring collection, Lauren proposed that the most elegant black tie might actually be brown. His shawl-collared DBs and single-breasted dinner jackets cut with swaggering peaked lapels come in an earthy palette of tan silk shantung, chocolate linen and ivory tropical wool. But it’s Lauren’s forthcoming fall lineup that may best capture what dressing up looks like now. Ranging from lustrous velvet separates to classic tuxedo jackets paired with jeans—even an urban-cowboy ensemble with a whipstitched suede dinner jacket and silk-scarf-cum-bolo-tie—it’s an assortment that speaks to the fun of spiffing up. Adhering to the rules while playfully breaking them, it’s just the stuff for post-pandemic bashes and the roaring 2020s ahead.

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CO LLECTI ON

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100Hands bespoke chambray shirt, from $380; Tod’s cotton trousers, $595; the Reference Library Eddie sunglasses, $475; Maximum Henry leather-andbrass belt, $105.

G L O B E -T R O T T E R LU G G AG E

One would think that a year without

international travel wouldn’t yield much excitement in the luggage department, but Globe-Trotter took it as an opportunity to develop its most significant innovation to date. Since its founding in 1897, the brand has been known for distinctive, hard-cased trunks that are one of the most stylish ways to ferry your precious cargo, but in the modern era, they haven’t been the most practical. Globe-Trotter’s new four-wheel trolley, however, offers utility and good looks in equal measure.

The classic riveted, leather-strapped design has been fortified with a quartet of wheels and an adjustable, reengineered handle for effortless gliding. The vulcanized fiberboard shell remains as impressively durable as ever. Available in carry-on or checked size, it’s an ideal companion for taking to the skies once again. Large check-in four-wheel suitcase, $2,512

100HANDS SHIRTS

Despite the business shirt’s recent hibernation, a brand that elevates shirtmaking to an excep-

tional level can still flourish in a pandemic. 100Hands, so named because some 50 people within the company work on one handmade shirt, is in some ways an unlikely success story, certainly if you still believe the best shirts can only be supplied by Jermyn Street or Milan. The company is run by Akshat and Varvara Jain, who met while working at an investment-banking firm. But Akshat comes from many generations of textile workers in India, and the pair began a quest to make the best shirts possible. While they and the company they founded are based in Amsterdam, their factory is in Amritsar, where 170 craftspeople hand-sew bespoke and ready-to-wear shirts, jackets and polos with extraordinary levels of finishing: It takes 34 hours to create one of its premium offerings.

Proudly made in India (with all workers well paid, with benefits) and dispatched to clients all over the world, 100Hands shirts have rightly gained a cult following for their level, and quality, of hand-stitching, as well as the range of fabrics and color washes available. Hand-sewing buttonholes takes about 45 minutes each, while its best shirt hems are hand-rolled and -stitched. But it’s worth it: A 100Hands button-down worn under a traveler’s jacket (a safari/field jacket crossbreed with plenty of pockets) is the perfect smart-casual combination to ride out this summer in style.

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HERMÈS C O AT S

Coats have always played an important role as the most visible announcement of one’s style, but after so much time spent inside four walls, outerwear has renewed significance. This was top of mind for Véronique Nichanian, Hermès’s menswear artistic director, who thought long and hard about what makes a great coat—comfort, functionality, versatility—and created a range of pieces that tick all those boxes while being greater than the sum of their parts.

The silhouettes are as timeless as can be. It’s how Nichanian subtly played within such a classic framework, mashing up luxury and utility, that makes these toppers so desirable.

Three-quarter-length overcoats in hard-wearing cotton serge or downy double-faced wool are accented with generous, face-framing lapels and angled patch pockets—a jaunty design detail that also offers easy access, constructed with a saddle stitch typically used in Hermès’s equine wares. Roomy macs come in a proprietary water-repellent toile, printed with Prince of Wales checks and trimmed with the brand’s famed leather. Buttery lambskin is spliced with shearling and technical canvas for cheekily decadent riffs on Patagonia-style fleeces. Whatever the destination, Hermès’s outerwear assortment will get you there in top form.

Hermès cotton coat, $3,925, T-shirt, $430, and trousers, $1,050; Tag Heuer Carrera 160 Years Anniversary steeland-alligator watch, $6,450.

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VA L S TA R L E AT H E R OUTERWEAR

Every brand dreams of an icon, of one item to

carry its name around the world. Italian outerwear purveyor Valstar has exactly that in its Valstarino, a buttoned blouson with a stand-up collar inspired by the A1 flight jacket issued to American fighter pilots between the wars.

Since 1935 it has been a staple of well-dressed men from Rome to the Riviera—and further afield. Far from a one-note label, however, Valstar was originally, in 1911, a raincoat maker from Milan and has since become so entwined in Italian culture that it sponsored the national soccer team at the 1978 World Cup. Its secret is a combination of high quality and value: It uses exceptionally fine leathers (the suede is cashmere-soft) that rival the grandest names in fashion yet prices remain remarkably reasonable. A Valstarino will easily become a sporty go-to piece that can work in lieu of a sports coat in a smart-casual ensemble as well as over jeans and a T-shirt. Essential.

T MASK

This year’s hottest accessory, without a

doubt, was the face mask. Given that these newly essential appurtenances punctuate every outfit, it’s worth upgrading from the standard surgical blue polypropylene.

Turnbull & Asser’s masks are crafted by the same skilled tailors that produce its royal-warranted shirts, using the same refined cotton poplins. In terms of practicality, the design comes equipped with tie closures, which afford adjustability, and removable cotton filters, developed by Italian textile powerhouse Albini to kill bacteria in just a few minutes. Moreover, the selection of ginghams, tattersalls and other classic shirting patterns makes masking up more like sporting a pocket square—an elegant finishing touch. $80

T H E A R M O U RY T V R E S P O N S E TO T H E PA N D E M I C

Cofounder of classic menswear store the

Valstar Valstarino suede jacket, $1,300; Stefano Ricci cashmere turtleneck, $1,000; Caruso cotton trousers, $350; Bovet Récital 26 Brainstorm Chapter Two watch in red gold and alligator, $409,000; Officina Slowear suede sneakers, $500.

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Armoury, Mark Cho is the definition of peripatetic. In a normal year he splits his time between New York, London and Hong Kong, with regular detours to Italy and elsewhere to visit suppliers or trade fairs. But last year, all that came to a halt. In Hong Kong and missing the daily interaction with his customers, Cho began recording informal styling videos, hoping to talk to his 50,000-plus Instagram followers as if they had popped into the store. He was a natural, and the videos—informative, smart and beguiling—proved popular, whether a quick discussion of what he’s wearing and why, or more detailed master classes on how to pair a sports coat with jeans, the history of solaro cloth or incorporating black into a smart-casual outfit. The videos are mostly recorded in a single take, and the tone is informal, relaxed and genial, just like chatting to the team in one of the Armoury’s brick-andmortar stores (in addition to Hong Kong, there are two in New York). For Cho, the videos allowed him to feel connected to his clients; for the viewer, they offer an education in how to style classic menswear in contemporary fashion. Win-win, then.

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Just as New York clothier Stòffa has grown in size

over the seven years it’s been in business, so too has it grown in relevance. It was always interesting—the tightly edited collections of outerwear, shirts and trousers in subdued, elegant palettes were designed to offer a simple combination wardrobe with numerous possibilities—but in recent years founders Agyesh Madan and Nicholas Ragosta have continued to innovate. All items are available made to measure, which reduces waste. And they have introduced seasonal limited editions which can be responsibly made but offer something a little different: The spring capsule included a slouchy double-breasted shirt-jacket in soft peached cotton, which came about through conversations with an artist friend, for example, while a line of indigo-dyed threads was made in conjunction with 11.11, which uses craftspeople and indigenous techniques from across India. Stòffa’s style of dressing—casual but elegant—feels increasingly right for our times, as of course does its model of less is more. While you might not want an entire wardrobe from just one brand (where’s the fun in that?), you could certainly turn to Stòffa and its shades of taupe, brown, blue and gray to fill any gaps. Theirs is a level of consistency and style many brands aspire to but few achieve.

Stòffa suede jacket, $2,000, cotton-piqué shirt, $300, and linen trousers, $325

S T E FA N O R I C C I BRAND EXTENSION

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In the world of high luxury, simply being exceptional is

not enough to stand out. So what can a brand offer the client who has everything? The answer is exclusivity. So it was that storied Florentine tailors and lifestyle outfitters Stefano Ricci quietly introduced a members’ club for the top tier of its top-tier clientele. Launched in Shanghai at its flagship mansion, the collective began as a way of offering exceptional service, in terms of food, wine and experiences, but it quickly caught on and is now offered, by invitation only, to the brand’s 250 best customers around the world.

Membership is based on annual spend; those invited within receive numerous benefits, such as an exclusive tie (in a nod to why the company was founded by the titular paterfamilias), a bottle of the Stefano Ricci Champagne, complimentary tailoring experiences, dinners, access to unique products and events and, not least, an invitation to visit the Ricci HQ in Florence and the Antico Setificio Fiorentino, the historic mill established in 1786. Now owned by the Ricci family, it produces many of the best silk fabrics in the world. The exceptional just got a little better.

O N E T O WAT C H

Aldo Maria Camillo

SNEAKER

Minds were blown when Dior debuted a collaboration with

Nike Air Jordan on its pre-fall 2020 runway. Combining the shoe that first set off the craze for kicks with one of Paris fashion’s toniest houses was catnip for sneakerheads and luxury collectors alike. Five million people signed up to nab them, so when the shoes finally dropped last summer, all 13,000 pairs sold out instantly. Now they’re going for upwards of $8,000 on the secondary market.

It was just the start of what has been a remarkable year for Air Jordans While homebound fans binged The Last el featured in the docu-series nearly pair of Jordan’s game-worn shoes ing $560,000 at Sotheby’s, only to Air Jordans that scored $615,000 at hs later. This year, an autographed ay for $1 million (as of press time, sold). Regardless of your taste in otwear, the past 12 months have roven that Air Jordan is a slam dunk of an investment.

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

AIR DIOR

After more than a decade of working at Zegna, Valentino, Cerruti and Berluti, Aldo Maria Camillo got an unexpected phone call in 2018. It was Pitti Uomo, menswear’s most important trade show, with a proposition for the Paris-based designer: Would he present his own collection at Pitti’s next edition?

“At that moment, I didn’t have a collection.

In fact, I didn’t have a brand,” Camillo recalls.

What he did have was a vision and a Rolodex.

Camillo cherry-picked a dream team of makers he’d worked with previously, and within six months his brand debuted. Coming at it with maturity, both professionally and personally, Camillo knew he wanted to make a wardrobe for real life rather than statements for the runway. “There is a man that is a bit lost today,” he says, referring to those who appreciate style but have been left behind as most brands court millennials and hype.

“In a landscape where things are moving really fast, I can propose something that is wearable, masculine and—why not?—maybe even a bit sexy.” His range of rakishly cut suits, motorcycle jackets and peacoats left an impression on Caruso, the esteemed tailoring house that produced his suiting. A few months after his debut, he also took on the role of Caruso’s creative director.

Both collections champion timeless classics, but where Camillo’s own brand has an undercurrent of rocker rebellion, Caruso is rooted in “Italian tradition and respect for the rules.” Decorous as his work for Caruso is, he deftly toys with convention by mixing formal tailoring with casual separates. Whether it’s a double-breasted suit or chinos, everything is crafted with the same exacting quality. The aim, he says, is to provide a sartorial tool kit “in which every man can play for himself.”

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B RU N E L L O CUCINELLI PHILANTHROPY

Brunello Cucinelli linen-silk suit, $5,145; Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello chambray shirt, $590; Maximum Henry leather-and-brass belt, $105.

In menswear circles, Brunello Cucinelli is affectionately known as the industry’s resident philosopher. While the designer often peppers his presentations with references to Socrates and Marcus Aurelius, the pandemic inspired him to put those principles into altruistic action.

When lockdown-related closures left retailers with a surfeit of unsold inventory, most resorted to slashing prices in the hopes of breaking even.

But Cucinelli looked beyond the bottom line and at the state of the world. He decided to give away the $35 million worth of goods he was sitting on.

Launched last July, Brunello Cucinelli for Humanity is an initiative that distributes packages of new, in-season garments (along with handwritten notes

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from the designer) to organizations that serve people in need, beginning with local parishes and retirement facilities in Italy and expanding internationally this summer. As Cucinelli told WWD at the time, “This is a new kind of capitalism. There is a harmony between profit and giving back.”

The project also addresses fashion’s larger problem with waste. As luxury has tried to keep pace with fast fashion, brands have made more and more, producing at a rate that’s out of sync with shoppers. All of this has meant that the excesses wind up on clearance racks, if not in landfills. Cucinelli is presenting an alternative: Turn whatever doesn’t sell into a charitable gift. One man’s losses are Cucinelli’s currency for paying it forward.

S I M P L E , yet I N T R I C A T E .

B R O K E N , yet P E R F E C T .

TM

The Kintsu Bath Collection honors the rich heritage of wabisabi design with an exquisite motif of broken geometries.

E X PLO RE T H E F ULL C OLLECTIO N AT B R I Z O.C O M

L O RO P I A NA S W E AT S

Sweat suits may not have factored into many of our pre-pandemic

wardrobes, but this year revealed the ensemble’s virtues. When the occasion calls for comfort, there are few options as dignified as Loro Piana’s lounge set. The same exacting quality that defines the brand’s sumptuous cashmere and vicuña goes into its version of cotton fleece, brushed to a softness that could easily be mistaken for Mongolia’s finest. Moreover, this suit is set apart by its cut: a single-button, spread-collared polo shirt and trim, drawstring-waisted trousers, free from the dreaded elasticated cuff. $945 each

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JOHN LOBB SLIPPERS

As anyone who has conducted a Zoom meeting

in bare feet can attest, a well-chosen slipper makes most any at-home outfit feel a good deal smarter. And when it comes to domestic footwear, it doesn’t get much smarter than John Lobb’s. Its Knighton mule is built on a form-fitting last and constructed with almost no stitching to have plenty of give. Cashmere-suede uppers, smooth calfskin lining and padded soles push them into deeply decadent territory. Even with such abject coziness, Lobb’s slippers don’t sacrifice finesse. Consider them the executive’s answer to Uggs. $665

T H E M E RC H A N T F OX × B U D D ROBE

Given that Fox Brothers’ textiles have been a

The Reference Library Stevie sunglasses, $475; Gucci cotton-silk polo shirt, $1,700.

T H E R E F E R E N C E L I B R A RY EYEWEAR

After successfully transforming Kirk Originals into an indie eyewear favorite, Gor-

don Ritchie worked with Mr Porter to launch a collection of his own. Poring through the many reference images he’d collected over the years, Ritchie was struck that no one was making the classic midcentury glasses he loved in a way that made them look authentic. So he decided to make his retro inspirations into a wearable reality.

The Reference Library launched last spring with a tightly edited range distilling several of the most timeless eyewear silhouettes to their truest form. Everything is made in England with a tailor’s eye for detail, including concealed pins for an especially clean look and proportions that ensure the frames sit perfectly on a variety of face shapes. This summer, the brand is upping the ante with a range of entirely handmade shades that, true to its purist ethos, feature authentic vintage acetates.

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Savile Row favorite since the 19th century and bespoke shirtmaker Budd has been plying its craft for almost as long, when the two brands teamed up to create a dressing gown, they came at it with a studied eye for tailored sophistication.

The resulting robe is made of the same super-fine merino-wool flannels, in glen plaids, windowpane checks and classic solid gray, that may already feature in some of your favorite suits. “Flannel works best when it is tailored into a soft-shouldered jacket,” says Douglas Cordeaux, Fox Brothers’ creative director, noting that’s precisely how these robes are constructed.

And like custom suiting, the design can also be rendered in any other Fox textile and personalized with hand embroidery.

As Cordeaux rightly observes, “The gown is the new work-at-home suit.” Lebowski’s loungewear this is not. $1,050

SPE CI A L A D V ER T ISIN G SE C T I O N

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Fear of God high-twist wool jacket, $1,950, cashmere sweater, $1,795, and viscose crepe trousers, $850; Tag Heuer Carrera 160 Years Anniversary steel-and-alligator watch, $6,450.

FEAR OF GOD’S J E R RY L O R E N Z O DESIGNER

When Fear of God’s collaboration with Ermenegildo

Zegna bowed early last March, it was celebrated as a sign of menswear’s return to elegance after years headlined by streetwear. Little did Jerry Lorenzo know that the look he’d put forth—combining luxury from both ends of the spectrum, like cashmere hoodies and camel topcoats—was a pitch-perfect wardrobe template for the year to come. The founder of the LA-based brand may have put his name on the map with T-shirts for Kanye, but this year he showed that there are sophisticated depths beneath the hype.

Much like Ralph Lauren, whom he cites as an inspiration, Lorenzo deals in quintessentially American classics. But unlike Lauren’s preppy–Western–

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Old Hollywood milieu, Lorenzo’s designs are rooted in his America. Fear of God’s SoCal stylings may skew casual, but Lorenzo considers the construction of a T-shirt as thoroughly as he does a Donegal tweed suit.

Fear of God’s spring collection was its most refined yet. In addition to the sportswear, jeans and sneakers that have won the brand a cult following (and, as of last year, earned Lorenzo a role heading up Adidas Basketball), there was a new focus on Italian-made knitwear and tailoring. From cavalry twill blazers and super 120’s wool trousers to selvedge-denim trucker jackets and Frenchy terry sweats, the brand is a source for thoughtfully crafted pieces that nail the relaxed yet polished mood of the moment.

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in common—namely, both offer a rare opportunity for bold statements of color and print in a man’s wardrobe. That was the conversation that came up when Thorsun founder George Sotelo was on one of his shopping trips to Charvet. What began as musings on menswear became manifest in a new collaborative collection of swim trunks bearing patterns from Charvet’s vast archive of silk ties, pocket squares and other accessories.

The French haberdasher’s dandyish designs have been rendered in a quick-drying performance fabric and fashioned into trunks with seven-inch inseams. As with Charvet’s beloved shirts, every detail was considered, from particularly deep pockets to drawstrings tipped with copper knots that mimic the brand’s classic cuff links.

C H A RV E T × THORSUN SWIMWEAR

Charvet × Thorsun swim trunks, $395; Gucci cotton-silk polo shirt, $1,700; the Reference Library Stevie sunglasses, $475.

MODEL: Tommy Dunn GROOMERS: Daniel Pazos, Gianluca Mandelli STYLE EDITOR: Kareem Rashed SENIOR MARKET EDITOR AND CASTING: Luis Campuzano PHOTO ASSISTANT: Patrick Michael Chin

Photographed at 94 Palm Avenue on Palm Island in Miami Beach, exclusively listed with Liz Hogan at Compass; additional information at 94palmisland.com.

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The 208-foot Benetti Moca was photographed off Miami Beach/Key Biscayne. Contact fgiyachtgroup.com.

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WATCHES

By Paige Reddinger

THE BIG IDEA

Sustainability The Swiss watch industry has,

traditionally, not been quick to adopt modern ideas. Even e-commerce is a relatively new development for some brands. It’s been even slower to embrace sustainability efforts. In fairness, this is an industry that prides itself on building a product that can (often) last, with servicing or restoration, for many decades—in some cases even centuries. But with younger generations demanding the brands they patronize place increasing focus, and

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

resources, on environmental efforts, watchmakers are finally tuning in to the cause.

In the last three years, early tangible efforts were mostly relegated to straps.

In 2018, Breitling partnered with surfer Kelly Slater on a line of Superocean dive watches outfitted with straps made from Econyl, constructed from discarded fishing nets and other repurposed nylons. They’re now available for all Breitling models. In 2020, it introduced watch boxes made from upcycled PET plastic bottles and got rid

of authenticity papers in favor of digital records. The company predicts its foldable box will also reduce transport-related CO₂ emissions by over 60 percent.

Companies are also looking to expand the life span of their products. For its new Tank Must, which goes on sale this September, Cartier introduced vegan straps, which are composed of around 40 percent plant matter and produced using waste from apples grown for the food industry in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. The timepiece also comes equipped with the brand’s first solar-powered watch movement. “We wanted to work on something that would be an interesting innovation, but also increase the durability of the product and reduce its carbon footprint,” says CEO Cyrille Vigneron. The light is absorbed through openings in the Roman numerals, and it can run for up to 16 years without additional maintenance.

But making the watch itself from recycled materials has proven to be much more challenging. In the luxury sector, only Ulysse Nardin and Panerai have proposed watches with recycled elements beyond the strap. Last November, Ulysse Nardin debuted the Diver Net, which includes an inverted uni-directional bezel and parts of the case constructed from discarded plastic fishing-net material.

It won’t go into production but is being used as a blueprint for future sustainable practices. Panerai’s new Ecologico Submersible eLab-ID has gone a step further, producing a watch made from 98.6 percent recycled material. Unveiled this year, it will go into production in 2022.

Better yet, the almost entirely recycled watch won’t be a one-hit wonder. Panerai has opened the doors on the process to reveal each one of its suppliers. It has developed a supply chain dedicated to the production of the components in the hopes that the whole industry will come calling. It’s a bear of an endeavor and, one hopes, a game changer.

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JaegerLeCoultre M E N ’ S WAT C H OF THE YEAR

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After 90 years and countless iterations both straight-

forward and complicated, it hardly seems possible that Jaeger-LeCoultre could conceive yet another compelling chapter in the history of the Reverso. Yet it has flipped the script again to deliver its magnum opus. This swivel-dial watch now comes with not two, not three but four dials in the new 18-karat white-gold Reverso Hybris Mechanica Caliber 185. The world first involves 12 patents and 11 complications.

The mechanical wizardry whips up a flying tourbillon, a minute repeater, an instantaneous perpetual calendar, jumping hours and several indications of the lunar cycle into just 800 parts in a case measuring 51.2 mm by 31 mm with a thickness of 15.15 mm. Dial one features the first three functions of that list, along with a day/night

indicator, while dial two plays host to the jumping digital hours display, a minutes indicator and a minute repeater.

The interior cradle, or third dial, indicates the Northern Hemisphere moon phase, month and year. It also reads the draconic lunar cycle, or the position of the moon relative to the ecliptic plane, and the anomalistic lunar cycle, indicating the apogee (when the moon is furthest from the Earth on its elliptical cycle) and the perigee (when the moon is nearest to the Earth). Finally, the back of the cradle, or dial four, displays the moon-phase indicator for the Southern Hemisphere. Rather than end up in vaults around the world, at least one of the 10 pieces available worldwide should, someday, be destined for a museum. What will you do with yours? Approximately $1.64 million, limited to 10

DE BETHUNE FUNCTION

Watches with dual dials are nothing new. Jaeger-LeCoultre, of course, is the most widely

known, and Patek Philippe’s $31 million Grandmaster Chime famously had pivoting displays. You would, however, be hard-pressed to find one as futuristic-looking as De Bethune’s DB Kind of Two Tourbillon. Followers of the brand will instantly recognize the spaceship-style dial with the symmetrical deltoid-shaped bridge. Crafted with the use of heat-blued titanium and hand-polished titanium surfaces, the first dial of this lightweight piece features a 30-second tourbillon beating at five hertz for a bit of gravity-defying showmanship for the wrist.

It seemingly floats in between the exterior case and lugs as it turns over to reveal its more conservative side. The traditional take comes with a hand-guilloche finishing at the center of a silvered dial, along with classic Breguet-style blued hands and Arabic numerals.

There are no bells and whistles on this end—just pure, straightforward time-only beauty.

No matter which way you prefer it, the piece swivels with just a touch of the finger, so you can flip-flop to suit your alter egos with ease. $250,000, limited to 10

BUL GARI U LT R A - T H I N M O V E M E N T

Mechanical watchmaking, by its nature, is built around turning extraordinarily complex and tiny parts into functional works of art. Reducing that know-how to its thinnest possible form is a technological achievement in mere millimeters that is practically a field unto its own. Despite its broader recognition as a jeweler, Bulgari has carved out a niche in ultra-thin watchmaking in the last seven years that has defied all of the odds. With six world records in the category already, Bulgari brings the seventh this year with the slimmest perpetual-calendar caliber in the world, at just 2.75 mm thick.

That’s thinner than two quarters stacked together.

Incredibly, 408 components are packed into a case measuring 40 mm by just 5.8 mm.

To achieve this level of micro mechanics, Bulgari integrated the perpetual calendar into the initial Octo Finissimo caliber,

which added 150 components in a mere 0.4 mm of additional thickness. It also required eliminating the moon-phase function of traditional perpetual calendars. But even traditionalists should be able to appreciate the space-saving sacrifice, as it allows for a minimalist appeal in keeping with the Octo Finissimo’s aesthetic. Likewise, the date and leap year are indicated through a retrograde display, a nod to the forward-thinking design of Gérald Genta, a brand the company acquired in 2000.

And it feels as sleek as it looks. The platinum version, on a blue alligator-leather strap, weighs just 95 grams, while the titanium-bracelet model is only 74 grams. It would hardly seem believable, if it hadn’t already been proven year after year, that conquering the impossible is this horological Houdini’s specialty. $89,000 in platinum; $59,000 in titanium

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FROM TOP: Archival boxes

of old new-condition Vacheron Constantin components used for the remake of the historical American 1921 original; a re-creation of the grand feu enamel dial.

Vacheron Constantin H E R I TA G E TRIBUTE

u celebrate the centennial of your most legmodel? In Vacheron Constantin’s case, no update s necessary. Although the 266-year-old watchmaker did release versions of its coveted American 1921 model in new sizing and case materials this year, the pièce de résistance is its literal one-of-a-kind re-creation of the Roaring Twenties original. Not only the method of craftsmanship but also every single component, save for the strap, bridges and plates, has been made exactly the way it would have been a century ago.

It took in-house specialists from the heritage and restoration department 15 months to re-create the timepiece from scratch. Of the 118 caliber components, including everything from the hands, gear train, wheels and hairspring to the balance and pinions, all were old new-condition 1920s stock parts stored away in the archive since the dawn of the American 1921’s creation. “Some of them were already in finished condition and some of them were raw. We had to finish them by hand,” says Christian Selmoni, Vacheron Constantin’s heritage and style director.

The 16 original ruby jewel bearings proved an extra challenge. “Setting jewels in the ’20s was an entirely different process than today. They were set like diamonds, and we had no record of how to do it, so it required a lot of trials,” says Selmoni. For the practice runs, five watch-

making kits comprised of plates and bridges (the only parts manufactured on modern CNC machines) were created to learn the process. Four out of five were used before the antique method was mastered.

From the single Côtes de Genève finishing (not done at the house since the ’30s) to the 31.5 mm 18-karat yellow-gold case and grand feu enamel dial and hour markers, everything (save for the strap, bridges and plates) required the use of era-appropriate machines and, in some instances, tools that had to be re-created by hand.

You can see the extraordinary handmade piece in person this month through October in Vacheron Constantin’s new Fifth Avenue flagship. As of press time, the company says it hasn’t yet decided if it will offer the watch for sale, but it wouldn’t hurt to inquire. It will be the only one of its kind. Of the 12 first-series pieces from 1919 and the 24 second-series pieces from 1921, Selmoni estimates, there may be only 10 early models still in existence (three of which belong to the company’s private collection), so it would be a crown jewel in any vault.

“The last time I saw an original American 1921 at auction was in 2005, and I still remember the estimate, which was around $10,000,” says Selmoni. “Quite a bargain these days!” This one, should it be sold, will likely come at an astronomical price.

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PAT E K P H I L I P P E PERPETUAL CALENDAR

Those caught up in the never-ending hype surround-

ing Patek Philippe’s sporty Nautilus would be remiss to overlook the company’s new 41.3 mm by 11.5 mm platinum In-Line Perpetual Calendar Ref. 5236P001. The linear display of the day, date and month is, surprisingly, a first for a wristwatch by the company.

And while it may seem incredibly logical, especially for a manfacturer that specializes in the complication (Patek Philippe produced one of the first perpetual-calendar wristwatches in 1925), its realization was more challenging than it appears.

Based on the 1975 No. P-1450 pocket watch, which now resides in the brand’s museum and features a similar display, the new wristwatch was a challenge in size, space and energy. The linear alignment requires 118 additional parts for an already hefty complication.

As a result, the extremely slender caliber 31-260 REG QA, introduced in the Ref. 5235 Annual Calendar Regulator, was used as a base. Secondly, moving the simultaneously changing discs onto one plane causes a drain on energy, so among other improvements the torque of the spring barrel was increased by 20 percent and the winding power was boosted by a platinum mini-rotor in lieu of a 22-karat yellow-gold one. Finally, keeping the display legible while maintaining an elegant size was another hurdle, requiring four discs rather than the traditional three.

In case you need further proof of its horological prowess, it also took three patents (for the display, the shock absorber and the date switch from 31 to 01) to create the perpetual-calendar mechanism. This is

AU D E M A R S P I G U E T MÉTIERS D’ART

As one of the most in-demand dial

artisans in the Swiss watch industry, Anita Porchet is always busy. So when the artisan was enlisted by Audemars Piguet, her work was reserved for one of the watchmaker’s most elite creations, the Grande Sonnerie Carillon Supersonnerie. The new caliber 2956 combines a traditional grande sonnerie—striking the hour, quarter-hour and minutes on demand, as well as the hours and every quarter-hour by default—with the company’s Supersonnerie technology, which equips a wristwatch with the high-volume acoustics of a pocket watch.

While its interior hosts all of the auditory fireworks of watchmaking’s most complex function and then some, its striking greenish-blue grand feu enamel dial, created by Porchet,

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is accented with century-old antiqu gold spangles. “I found the spangl from the old stocks of enamel ateliers says Porchet. “There are many, fro centuries past, that have closed litt by little over time.” After carefully co lecting as many as she could find, th artisan says, it took her two years acquire the ancient tools and learn th skills required to revive the art of spa gling, which dates to the 18th centur A veritable audible and visual sym phony, each of the five pieces is uniqu Three of the dials come with roun or linear hand-applied 18-karat-go spangles arranged in varying form tions, while two even more exclusiv versions are reserved for clients wh wish to have a personalized design b Porchet. Approximately $784,000, lim ited to five

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PA N E R A I S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

Panerai took its deepest plunge to date with its new Panerai Ecologico

concept. Created from components made of 98.6 percent recycled material, its new watch is diving into uncharted territory. Unlike other consumer categories, the watch industry has been slow to embrace sustainability. For one, it is counterintuitive to a mechanical timekeeper built to last generations. Secondly, creating the infrastructure that’s required to build one almost entirely from non-virgin material has been a challenge. It took Panerai three years of R&D, plus the creation of an entirely new supply chain, to be able to give birth to the Ecologico Submersible eLab-ID. Its case, sandwich dial and movement bridges are made from EcoTitanium, a recycled aerospace-grade version of the alloy. Its Super-LumiNova, silicon escapement, gold hands and sapphire crystal are also recycled. The 30 pieces won’t go into production until 2022, but Panerai has a more far-reaching goal.

No other company has made a fully sustainable high-end luxury watch, so in an effort to encourage others to join its cause Panerai has made its list of suppliers public. If more watchmakers join the movement, the effect could be seismic. $61,700, limited to 30

A. LANGE & SÖHN DESIGN

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

At this German house, the aesthetic

DNA has always been about ultra-refined sophistication with serious watchmaking expertise under the hood. So it may come as a surprise to Lange fans that the new Lange 1 Perpetual Calendar is the first new model in which the complication comes without other high-end functions since the Lang matik Perpetual Calendar, released in 20 Although additions to models in the two decades were minute in appearance— a small retrograde power reserve in a cir aperture at six o’clock in the hours and m subdial or tourbillons that were not even on the dial side—the latest edition return even more sober approach by eliminatin flourishes. The moon-phase aperture displays its 18-karat-gold sphere on the top rather than the bottom of the subdial, similar to the Lange 1 Moon Phase, except this time the function has been flipped to appear on the left-hand side of the dial.

These are incredibly Teutonic subtleties, but when combined with a striking 18-karat pink-gold dial set in an 18-karat white-gold case accented by the pop of azure blue on the moon phase, it allows for maximum impact while delivering minimum fuss. Consider it a purist’s paradise. $116,000, limited to 150

O N E T O WAT C H

Petermann Bédat Just four years into launching their company, watchmakers Gaël Petermann and Florian Bédat have enjoyed significant success. While both men are under 30 years old and the Petermann Bédat brand has only one watch under its loupe, its 1967 Dead Beat Second took home the Horological Revelation prize at the biggest watch awards of last year, the 2020 Grand Prix de la Haute Horlogerie.

True success, of course, is measured in dollars: After releasing the watch in June of last year, in a limited run of just 10 pieces in 18-karat white gold and 10 in 18-karat rose gold (both priced around $66,000), they sold out in two weeks.

Petermann’s and Bédat’s pedigrees include stints at A. Lange & Söhne and restoration work for Christie’s Geneva. When they set up their own restoration and servicing business in 2017, they found themselves next door to Dominique Renaud, the famed watchmaker behind Renaud & Papi (now owned by Audemars Piguet and called Audemars Piguet Le Locle).

He generous collaborated the duo on th design of the Caliber 171, based on the mechanism o a 1940s pock watch. The well-execute movement p through the d between one four o’clock.

The piece garnered attention in the right circles, and soon master watchmaker Philippe Dufour dropped by for a visit. “We were under a lot of pressure, but at the end we were very grateful that he told us it was a very nice watch with nice finishing,” says Petermann. His visit was at the behest of a potential client who wanted him to vet the newcomers’ work. In the end, the collector made the purchase: As far as stamps of approval go, it doesn’t get any better. The current waiting list for future editions? Three years and counting, if they deliver a watch to everyone currently in line.

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F. P. J O U R N E RÉSONANCE CHRONOMETRY

F. P. Journe’s Chronomètre à Résonance was the first

wristwatch to incorporate the phenomenon of resonance, in which two balances in motion effectively beat in opposition to counterbalance each other’s timekeeping discrepancies, resulting in greater accuracy.

The solution was first developed in a pocket watch by 18th-century master Abraham-Louis Breguet. To date, Journe is the only watchmaker who creates wristwatches using Breguet’s exact principle for the method.

A unique version of his first model, created in 2000, sold at Phillips in June of last year for a record-breaking $1.09 million. That headline news also happened to coincide with the model’s 20th anniversary and followed the release of Journe’s latest improvement

to his masterpiece to produce an even more accurate Résonance, with the new rose-gold caliber Ref. 1520.

It contains the same double-balance design, but the movement now comes with a single mainspring barrel and a differential directing energy to each of the separate going trains, both of which have a one-second remontoir d’egalité (a function which provides constant force to the escapement). And you can view a peek of the differential through an aperture between the two dials. So what does that mean, exactly? It’s no longer compulsory to wind it at 24 hours thanks to the remontoirs d’egalités, which allow for a rate of stability around 30 hours. Effectively, in its final state of production at the manufacture, it would have zero discrepancy in its timekeeping during a 30-hour window.

This exacting precision is the ultimate slam dunk in chronometry and intellectual watchmaking. But you may have to wait years till one appears at auction or exchanges hands privately. The Résonance aside, every single F. P. Journe men’s model is sold out through 2022. $112,700 in red gold; $116,700 in platinum

BREGUET T O U R B I LLO N

Often, the complexity of a watch is seen through a

sapphire-crystal caseback, but in Breguet’s Classique Double Tourbillon 5345, exhibitionism is flaunted on both sides. Here, the complex 588N movement, introduced in 2006, is now visible on the dial side.

Two tourbillon cages are mounted on the movement plate, twirling as they rotate around a fixed differential over a 12-hour period. Part of the two tourbillons’ bridge is blued along half its length to indicate the hour, while an independent blue hand moves separately to indicate the minutes. The tourbillons, along with two mainspring barrels, which are each topped off with a monogram letter “B,” collectively turn clockwise so you can see the entire caliber move as it tells the time. Would you expect anything less from the brand whose founder, Abraham-Louis Breguet, created the tourbillon 220 years ago?

In a further tribute to Monsieur Breguet, the caseback features a next-level hand-engraved rendering of his original manufacture on Paris’s Quai de L’Horloge. The detail is so intricate that you need a loupe to make out the figure of a woman peeping out of a window at the center, just next to a ruby jewel bearing, as the movement’s golden gear-train wheels spin through windows like the glow of candlelight.

Here, history comes full circle to remind the wearer that the blindingly minute and groundbreaking inventions that, today, take center stage on the wrist, rather than inside the pocket, were once conceived by hands with nothing more than the flicker of flames to guide their way. Price upon request

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Heritage Collection

In Florence, since 1970.

il b i s on te.com

Cartier delivered a juicy new twist on its

signature Panthère motif with a timepiece set with two large octagonal aquamarines totaling 12.71 carats, flanked by two octagonal blue tourmalines totaling 20.58 carats. All four come sandwiched between ribbed coral on one side and brilliant-cut diamonds with flecks of onyx on the other. Despite what looks like a watermelon motif, the design inspiration is actually rooted in the history of coral. Traded widely between the Mediterranean and India for centuries, the material was not only prized for its beauty but also thought to ward off harm. Thus, this piece’s coral is conrasted with exquisite aquamarines and ourmalines to evoke the striking color of the sea connecting East and West.

The unusual contrast in materials first bore fruit at Cartier in the 1920s

VA N C L E E F & A R P E L S ENAMELING AND GEM SETTING

Though Van Cleef & Arpels stayed true to its favorite fairy theme

(pictured here at nine o’clock), the mythical creature is just a supporting act to the magnificent dial of the Lady Arpels Soleil Féerique.

Set in an 18-karat white-gold case accented with round diamonds, it features an off-set sunset with round-yellow sapphires in an unusual honeycomb pattern, with a dusting of round-white diamonds, making the star pop. Emanating from this focal point are 18-karat whiteand yellow-gold sunbeams, in a polished or hammered design, alternating with multicolored plique-à-jour enameling trimmed in 18-karat white gold to create subtle transparency and add depth.

Diamond rays set in 18-karat white gold are partially obscured by the enamel, but the gems can still be seen gleaming beneath.

All of this comes set on a lapis lazuli, onyx and white motherof-pearl tableau sprinkled with pink and blue opaque enamel beads evoking the planets. Pieces like this require multiple métiers d’art experts and plenty of time to create. Magic, after all, hardly happens with just the wave of a wand. As a result, only three people in the world will have one on their wrist. $365,000

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under the direction of Louis Cartier, who introduced the spotted-diamond-and-onyx feline Panthère motif in 1914. Among the coral-, onyx- and diamond-set jewels to appear at the French house was a series unveiled at the 1925 Paris Exposition. And when the Great Depression brought new challenges, Cartier began to use semiprecious gemstones, like aquamarine, for the first time. They were a more economical alternative to, say, emeralds, but they also offered a larger variety in geometric cuts, which sized up perfectly with the architectural Art Deco style of the era.

Introduced last year, this [Sur] Naturel High Jewelry Panthère Tropicale watch is a stunning reinterpretation of the house’s greatest decades of design. Price upon request

First developed as party tricks in the ’20s for women to discreetly check the time

without being impolite, secret watches typically came with a hunter-style or a sliding covering to conceal the dial. But in Bulgari’s Serpenti Misteriosi Cleopatra, the hands are hidden beneath a faceted transparent hexagonal rubellite of over five carats. They are just barely visible to the wearer. To an observer’s eye, they blend in with the cuff, which is encrusted with 4,000 snow-set diamonds, two citrines and two amethysts, as well as a single aquamarine, tourmaline, tanzanite and peridot set in 18-karat rose gold.

The jeweler’s unique vision for blending time into the gem itself is a brilliant new take on the genre. And while there is nothing discreet at all about this extravagant piece, it does offer a genteel way of checking on the hours and minutes left before implementing your exit strategy. With all of these gems, however, you would hardly go unnoticed. Approximately $804,000, one of a kind

Bulgari SECRET WAT C H

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From extraordinary gem setting, enameling

and miniature painting to guilloche engraving to skeletonizing to the use of unusual materials, like aventurine, Bovet has done every kind of dial work imaginable over the course of its almost 200-year history. And indeed so, too, have other watchmakers over the last few centuries. Bovet, however, is the first to introduce a sugarcoated treatment.

It may sound simple, but it’s no small feat to apply the substance without liquifying the crystals. The watchmaker uses a patented process to prepare their structure so that it doesn’t change when exposed to light or heat. But the next step is the most challenging. Each tiny crystal is chosen for size and then combined with special paints to be hand-applied to the dial by artists specializing in miniature painting. If even one small mistake is made, the entire process must begin again from scratch. Once finished, each unique hard-candy dial has a sparkly textured effect.

The heavy dose of sweetness doesn’t end there. When the hands meet, for instance at 12 o’clock, they form a heart. In a counterbalance to its saccharine overdose, the Miss Audrey Sweet Art houses a serious automatic movement beating at four hertz for high-level chronometry. And for an extra treat, its diamond-accented stainless-steel case can transform from a wristwatch to a table clock to a pendant. Delicious. $28,000 to $35,000

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Bovet DIAL I N N O VAT I O N

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WATER

By Michael Verdon, Howard Walker and Julia Zaltzman

THE BIG IDEA

Transom Demand

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

The beach club became mainstream on yachts around 20 years ago, when designers realized that the lowly tender garage would make a nice oceanside cabana instead. Beach clubs have since evolved into far more sophisticated spaces, thanks to open-hull sides and deeper enclaves, with gyms, spas, bars and, on larger yachts, even dive centers.

That desire for more private ocean access has moved beyond supersizing beach clubs to actually reshaping the stern. “There’s been a slow burn of bringing the inside out,” says J. David Weiss, an American designer who has created superyachts for Heesen, CRN and other builders. “The desire for access at the stern is important to owners, who want both openness and privacy.”

Weiss recalls designing what was initially a small pool inside the beach club of the 240-foot Yalla, from CRN. Then, he says, “the owner wanted it as a significant destination, so it kept growing. It eventually lengthened the boat by more than 30 feet.”

Rebeca, the first of Benetti’s Oasis 40M series, actually reduced interior space in order to apportion more real estate to the stern; its 900-square-foot open transom includes an infinity pool and rear “transformer” steps that lower into the water, with the opening sides adding at least another 10 feet to the 28-foot beam. Owner Tim Ciasulli discovered other benefits as well. “On most boats, you can’t sit at the stern because of spray or engine exhaust,” he says, but on Rebeca “you sit at water level but facing backward.

The speeds are slow enough to let you really see the ocean—it’s like riding a big surfboard.”

Weiss believes the trend will only accelerate. “I’m working on a 223-foot project, and one of the most significant things the owners want is to expand the beach club,” he says. “There’s a huge appetite now for origamilike structures folding out of the superstructure.”

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TOM VAN OOSSANEN

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The most compelling—and closely guarded—launch this

Nord G I G AYA C H T

year was Nord, delivered to its owner after completing sea trials in the North Sea. It’s impossible to hide a 465-foot, eight-deck yacht equipped with two helipads, but builder Lürssen remained tight-lipped about the details. Dan Lenard, of Venice studio Nuvolari Lenard, which was responsible for the yacht’s interior and exterior, describes Nord as a “warship wearing a tuxedo” but likewise declined to elaborate.

Nord’s swimming pool, helipads and fleet of tenders are well-documented, and project manager Moran Yacht & Ship says the boat can accommodate 36 guests across 13 staterooms, plus 58 crew. Visually, the gigayacht is beautifully balanced, from its tiered decks to the rectangular bow to the blue-and-black superstructure counterbalancing the white hull. “Whether you like the design or not, it must strike you,” Lenard says. “Nord is a serious ship, first and foremost, but she also transcends the traditional language of yacht design. We have entered a new direction.”

Lenard’s words go beyond self-promotion. Whether interior images ever appear or not, if Nord is as well conceived inside as out, it surely lives up to the designer’s final description: “An explorer with the elegance of a gentleman’s yacht.”

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Geco S U P E R YA C H T

Any owner who prioritizes socializing

and water sports in his or her design brief jumps onto our radar, but Geco’s exceptional outdoor spaces were what carried it into the winner’s circle. Built

by Admiral, part of the Italian Sea Group, the bespoke 180-footer is all about elevating la dolce vita to its highest level.

At the stern, a grand open transom creates an extravagant aft-deck beach club, complete with sea steps, for authentic

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on-water living, including dining at the water’s edge. At the bow, the circular touch-and-go helipad hanging over the hull doubles as an entertainment or sunbathing area, while a large retractable TV delivers movies under the stars and a boho-themed lounge with firepit invites revelry from dusk to dawn. For a swim with a view, head to the sundeck pool.

Gian Marco Campanino’s interior mingles hardwood floors and crystal

chandeliers with contemporary décor.

Admiral’s in-house designer also penned a one-of-a-kind Buddha bar-lounge for both formal and informal dining. And since the owner is all about living large, he ensured Geco had a flotilla of water toys. The silver-hulled yacht reaches 18 knots, a respectable top end for a semi-displacement design, but in keeping with the spirited nature of the mother ship, its Evo 43 tender blasts to 40 knots.

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A serious contender for several Best of the Best awards,

La Datcha E X P LO R E R

including best charter yacht, La Datcha is the second hull in Damen Yachting’s SeaXplorer range. But the six-deck, 252-footer is a breakthrough bespoke design, with serious explorer features and the ability to navigate autonomously for up to 40 days. The first superyacht certified to carry two helicopters in one garage, La Datcha is a heli-skier’s dream boat, but it also comes equipped with a three-passenger submersible, WaveRunners and snowmobiles, as well as a scuba center with a decompression chamber. (For all that action, there’s also a fully certified emergency room.) More than a warhorse, La Datcha has a highly social glass observation lounge that delivers exceptional views of rugged terrain, even in bad weather, and there’s also a gym, Jacuzzis, a sauna, a massage area and a steam room, as well as a stylish main salon and professional galley. The backlit rubber walls on one staircase even change color, just for fun.

Since taking delivery, its owner has avoided the Med and Caribbean—where many hard-core expedition yachts end up, despite their capabilities—favoring Russia, Turkey, Egypt, the Red Sea, Seychelles, the Maldives, Singapore and Japan instead. More off-the-grid stops are planned later this year.

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Pairing smart design with a timeless look, the Hoek-designed Halekai— Hawaiian for “home on the sea”—is the fourth Truly Classic 128-foot sailing yacht delivered by the UK’s Pendennis shipyard. But this yacht is quite different from its sisters. The owner, an experienced yachtsman who has previously owned several Hoek designs, wanted to sail around the world on a traditional-looking vessel, but he also wanted new innovations for long-distance remote cruising as well as superyacht and bucket racing. The designers reengineered areas belowdecks to make changing sails faster for crew, while also creating an easy transition from cruise to race mode when competing in regattas or outrunning weather. The yacht’s long, lithe lines are enduringly beautiful yet benefit from a proven hull.

New York designer Ken Fulk collaborated with Hoek on the interior, taking inspiration from Hawaiian history and culture. Quarter-sawn teak finished in matte lacquer (to show the grain) is paired with white-painted panels to give the cabin a traditional warm look. On the exterior, the spinnaker sports a large gold Hawaiian motif. Halekai offers the best of modern sailing: a classic shape that dresses up any anchorage, but with practical designs that make it a joy to sail.

Halekai SAILING YA C H T

CLUB M INTERIOR

BAGLIET TO: PETRIGNANI

When Achille Salvagni learned that

his next client was one of America’s most influential luxury real-estate developers, he leaned into the pressure that came with that knowledge. The Rome-based architect has a string of winning superyacht designs, but the 130-foot Club M is arguably his most successful.

Taking inspiration from the halcyon days of air travel, where plane cabins practically doubled as artists’ canvases, Salvagni used high-contrast materials, including textured wood and polished

brass, to create what he calls a “soft, serene envelope.” Club M’s walls and ceilings are clad in light leather, for effects both visual and tactile, while light-colored limedoak walls, dark eucalyptus details and oak floors provide a natural feel. High-design touches come in the form of bespoke door handles, hand-knitted silk carpets, a floating staircase and sculpted Italian marble sinks, with the yacht’s materials and shapes brought into harmony by the soft curves of its walls and the ceilings’ gentle slopes.

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Lana

O N E T O WAT C H

Valerio Rivellini

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Beyond its impressive size, this 351-

foot, hybrid-powered Benetti has so many details that it would require a two-week charter, minimum, to appreciate all its intricacies. Somehow, the designers entirely avoided cliché concepts: See how the 26-foot-long pool is positioned on the sundeck for unrivaled water views. Or how the nearly 1,100-square-foot main suite takes the term to a new level, with two terraces, his-and-hers walk-in closets and a fullbeam bathroom with shower and tub.

Both elegance and opulence are found in the details. The master breakfast table features a crystal base and craquelé surface; the bedside tabletops are made from mother-of-pearl; and the

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK; LANA: JEFF BROWN

“Renaissance man” is a much-hyped label in the world of superyacht design, despite the fact that most rock-star studios have big teams behind the creative work. Among the top tier, Valerio Rivellini is a rarity: The Naples-based designer works in an inspired cocoon, and in polymath fashion his designs flow across categories, from a 23-foot reinterpretation of the classic Italian “gozzo” style, with rounded stern and modern cockpit, to a trio of superyachts to an electric bike built from repurposed wood.

“I love the mixture of styles and materials,” Rivellini says. “The ideal is a fusion of classic and modern, with a minimalistic exterior and technological heart beating inside.”

His simplified aesthetic and his training as a naval engineer helps create boats like the Evo R4, with its clean, sharp lines and 43-mph hull. But more than anything it was the R4’s technical feats—foldout rear sides and a transformer transom that can double as either a stairway to a high dock or an underwater dive platform—which had so many builders rushing to copy the 2014 creation. His soon-to-be-launched, 79-foot V8 design for Evo Yachts has the same sense of minimalism, with an open stern, a pair of large sailing-yacht steering wheels (Rivellini has competed in several round-the-world races) and a glassencased interior.

His minimalist trademark of straight lines and open decks applies even to his 184-foot Extended Explorer and the yet larger, 230foot Vita concept. For Rivellini, no matter the size of the boat, all designs follow a cardinal rule: “Even yachts this large must never lose contact with the sea.”

C H A R T E R YA C H T

bespoke table, with seating for 16, in Lana’s 1,076-square-foot sundeck dining room, has a backlit honey-onyx base.

Each of the seven VIP staterooms has its own color scheme, while the large spa on the lower deck includes a mosaic-tiled hammam, a gym and a massage room, adjacent to the beach club, which opens to the water on three sides. The teak foredeck is designed for yoga sessions, cocktails or practicing your swing (using biodegradable golf balls). When the coffee table on the yacht’s upper deck isn’t in use, it transforms into a firepit. Lana is the third—and probably last—of Benetti’s gigayacht series, but in terms of inspired design, it’s the crown jewel.

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Great White P O W E R C AT

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Multihull builder Sunreef couldn’t have asked for a

better spokesman than tennis superstar Rafael Nadal, who took delivery of his 80-foot cat, Great White, last summer. While the niche for large power cats tends to be filled with boxy, vanilla-white multihulls, Nadal’s new boat is one of Sunreef’s most stylish ever.

With its azure-colored hull and custom features such as the foldout balcony in the main suite and sports-center televisions in the main salon, Great White is a showcase of contemporary yet understated styling. The salon’s open plan highlights the multihull’s main asset: significantly more interior space

than a monohull of equal length. The area includes an eight-person dining table, oversize lounges and the large-screen TVs, a pair at 77 inches each. The main suite, located in the starboard hull, has a walk-in dressing room, sofa, queen bed and the foldout balcony.

(There are three guest cabins plus two for crew.) The 80-footer has a pair of 1,200 hp engines, which deliver a cruising speed of 16 knots on the way to a top end of 23 knots. Berthed on Nadal’s home island of Mallorca, Great White cruised the other Balearic Islands last summer, and it’s anyone’s guess where the tennis star will end up this year as the Med reopens.

WA J E R 3 8 / 2 D AY B O AT

Few day-boat builders can compete with Wajer for

timeless elegance, and this year especially, the firm stands alone, with its 38/2. The second generation of its popular 38-footer offers significant add-ons: At the stern, the new swim platform provides not only water access but a graceful tail that completes the profile’s flowing lines. To keep its clean look, the builders engineered a hidden hatch for the ladder, with a Seabob housed in a lower compartment. Other upgrades include carbon details on the windshield and carbon-fiber suspension seats; reshaped, powder-coated black air vents; composite decks in Wajer’s signature pattern; and new upholstery with lovely, intricate stitching. This 38/2 is an exceptional family boat, but given its ability to accommodate up to 16 passengers, it would also make the world’s most graceful tender.

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Azimut Magellano 25M COMEBACK

an intrepid, almost ship-like look. At the time, the 74-footer was a breakthrough, a long-distance cruiser that provided an alternative to the conventional trawler. Launched last September, the new Magellano 25M is a more stylish (and faster) reinterpretation of its 12-year-old sibling, with fluid exterior lines from naval architect Ken Freivokh and an interior designed by Vincenzo De Cotiis. “The 25M had to keep the line’s essential qualities,” says Freivokh, who also did the exterior of the original 74. “But it also needed the right proportions and timeless look.”

The 25M has trick features, like an active air-sanitizing system based on a NASA patent, while the “hotel mode” allows use of lights, appliances and air-conditioning with zero emissions.

The 25-knot top end is also noteworthy, though the real differentiator is surely the modern interior by De Cotiis. It’s the first yachting project for the Italian architect, who created a balanced, light-filled salon by combining Verde Alpi marble, dark walnut and ribbed wood with décor that emphasizes soft, flowing shapes. He also brought an avant-garde touch to the salon, mixing resin with bronze to resemble precious stones. More good news: The 25M will soon be joined by a 30M with an even more modern look.

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VINCENZO DE COTIIS

When the Magellano 74 launched in 2009 it had

LEL B E AC H C LU B

A spacious beach club has become a prerequi-

site for many owners, but you’ve probably never seen anything like the 163-foot Rossinavi LEL’s ingenious use of opening terraces, fold-down bulwarks and an extending swim platform to create a pseudo floating island aft. At anchor, the side and stern doors open outboard to create a wider-thanfull-beam enclave directly at ocean level. Luca Dini describes his design as a “terrace overlooking the sea,” but it’s much more than that. Thanks to the sofas, cocktail bars, shaded space and water access, what’s typically an underachieving space on most yachts this size is transformed into a prized destination. With LEL’s terraced design, the main deck is also connected to the beach club via floating stairs, a two-floor layout that offers equal opportunities for privacy and camaraderie.

The lower deck also features a garage where, on water-sports day, the yacht’s toys—Seabobs, paddleboards, diving gear, towables, water skis and wakeboards—come out to play. LEL’s other social areas, including a glass-encased veranda on the upper deck as well as a spa pool, seal its reputation as a yacht for outdoor-lovers.

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TIARA 48 LS MODULAR YA C H T

TIARA: MARC MONTOCCHIO

In the last decade, foldout and side-deck transoms, along with other modular designs, have become all the rage for boats over 40 feet. But US builder Tiara decided to approach the trend from an entirely different angle: For its new 48 LS, which has a fold-down side that opens up the rear quarter, the designers also created a less-is-more seating arrangement that pivots 180 degrees, while also sliding fore and aft, to offer multiple layouts.

The highly engineered design is more than a gee-whiz feature on Tiara’s biggest-ever outboard model. “It can alter the boat’s layout dramatically within the same footprint,” says Andrew Bartlett, design director for Tiara Yachts. Facing aft, the seating has a direct through line to the open stern, which Tiara’s designers call a “teak beach.” Facing forward, the seats are connected by a center table to the forward lounge, offering an ideal dining arrangement and an even larger rear area, which means non-diners have more space to enjoy the water.

At anchor, with the side panel down and starboard-side door open, the teak beach continues to expand. And with triple 600 hp Mercury Verados pushing the 48 LS to a top end of 60 mph, the modular design is not only smart but lightning-fast.

PRINCESS X95 YA C H T

Princess Yachts’ towering new X95 mini-

superyacht achieves its class-leading interior space—as much as 40 percent more room than other 95-footers—by going up in the world. Designed with the help of Italy’s Pininfarina studio, the X95 features triple decks (on a recent tour, every inch of space felt utilized) and, the pièce de résistance, a stunning top-deck Sky Lounge. With the wheelhouse far forward, there’s room for comfortable lounges and a big-screen TV in the protected, light-filled space. Sliding doors open onto a rear deck the size of a dance floor. Perched on the bow at the same level is the yacht’s Jacuzzi, with multiple sunpads; while underway, this area offers the best view in the house.

The main suite on the yacht we toured was forward on the main deck, an optional layout that delivers an exceptional 270-degree view along with privacy.

(There’s also a second main suite belowdecks.) As for performance, the 29-mph top speed comes courtesy of 1,900 hp V-12 MAN diesels, with tanks big enough for 2,000 miles of cruising at 10 knots. The X95 shows what a yacht’s upper limits can be when designers are willing to smash, not bend, the rules.

Foils are all the rage. They’re on Amer-

ica’s Cup yachts, round-the-world racers and even production sailboats for weekend warriors. Enata’s new 31-foot Royale Cabin Foiler arrives at the top end of the market thanks to its bow stateroom, hardtop and more intuitive helm for owners who want to pilot the boat themselves. Seating is strong across the cockpit, but the coolest features, of course, are the foils, which deploy at just 12 knots. Flying five feet above the water, the Royale Cabin can hit 40 knots without feeling waves. Enata has tweaked the foils to enhance performance, and the boat’s 132 sensors measure everything from foil height and rudder angle to the output of its custom-built 370 hp V-8 diesels. Perhaps most exciting is that the Enata started life as a sci-fi concept, and yet, in only three years, we’re looking at a bona fide, high-tech, IRL weekend cruiser.

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E N ATA R OYA L E C A B I N F O I L I N G YA C H T

Your Invitation to a Rare Opportunity.

In addition to its unique Thermochromic features, this highly collectible diamond is the only one in the world in its category.

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TRAVEL

By Mark Ellwood, Mary Holland, Sandra Ramani, Eric Rosen, Andrew Sessa and Jemima Sissons

THE BIG IDEA

Time to Roam Travel is emerging, reshaped and

reimagined, with a newfound focus around one idea: time. Today, travel is about taking time, with longer trips and fewer breakneck pit stops, lingering and exploring with greater leeway. Plenty may have vacationed in 2020 but often to easier, closer destinations: St. Barts, perhaps, or Mexico. The chance to explore again has inspired travelers to prioritize extra time they just never considered before. In 2019, 21 percent of trips booked

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

by Asia specialist operator Remote Lands were longer than two weeks; now two-thirds are 15 days or more. Greaves Tours, which focuses on India, has seen the number of stops on itineraries halved, to just two or three compared with six or more two years ago; trips now lean longer, with far fewer one-week requests.

Travel allows time together. Families are reconnecting this way after separation, voluntarily or otherwise, during the pandemic. It’s not uncommon for groups

to span three or four generations, 20 or more people exploring together where 8 might once have been the maximum. Adventurous, vaccinated eighty- and ninetysomethings whisk their grandchildren on safaris and to the Seychelles, each family grouping chartering a jet for their trip. Many of the older travelers drive these bookings, the pandemic’s memento mori giving them an extra jolt of carpe diem. New smaller hotels have emerged tailor-made to this booming market, ideal for full buyouts: see Lopud 1483, a five-suite 15th-century monastery in Croatia owned and run by art-world doyenne Francesca ThyssenBornemisza, or Xigera, in Botswana, a safari camp with just 12 suites.

The way we book has changed, too: either long ahead or with just weeks to spare. Silversea’s 139-day, 34-country world cruise, sailing from Sydney in January 2023, sold out within hours of cabins going on sale in March, almost two years in advance. A chance to savor anticipation for longer, sure, but also a sign of a practical problem: Many top hotels and destinations are booked solid through the start of 2022, often by rolled-over bookings; there’s barely a room free at the top lodges in Chile for the rest of the year, for example.

But cancellations always occur, so ultra-last-minute high-end trips are also on the rise, per Houston-based travel adviser Sarah Groen, of Bell & Bly. Every week, 70 percent of her time is now spent on requests for complex trips with less than two months before departure, compared with about 30 percent before.

It’s a reflection, too, of the flexibility that the changing landscape of the pandemic taught all travelers. The ultimate embodiment of that? The new Magical Mystery Tour from Wonderlust and Travel Sommelier: an $11,999-per-person journey where the destination isn’t revealed until the day of travel.

T R AV E L R O B B R E P O R T. C O M

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NEW OPENINGS

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and heat cave, or “tepidarium.” Much of the furniture throughout is from Benedikt’s own line, B.B. for Reschio, alongside antiques and curios foraged from local markets.

A truffle-hunting expert comes to the estate to take guests on seasonal trips through the local countryside—on foot or, if they prefer, on horseback via the Equestrian Centre. Horse-mad visitors, whether beginners or lifetime riders, should plan on several days of dressage, with mounts trained under the tutelage of Antonello Radicchi, who has run the center for the family for almost two decades. Doubles from around $915 per night, including breakfast

Castello di Reschio I T A LY PHILIP VILE

It was Count Benedikt Bolza’s father, Antonio, who bought this rundown, 3,700-acre estate in the Umbrian hills. That was in 1994, and the family has lived there ever since, painstakingly restoring the historic structures dotted around the property. Handily, Bolza junior is an architect as well as an aristocrat and so could personally supervise every aspect.

This spring, the family finally opened up its passion project, a 36-suite hotel, in addition to the farmhouses it already rents to guests. There are several restaurants on-site—the casual Il Torrino is charmingly carved from the estate’s onetime watchtower—as well as a full spa. Best to book the private suite for treatments there, with its own fireplace

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It’s only 45 miles up the coast from Cabo San Lucas,

PA R A D E R O TODOS SANTO S MEXICO

but this corner of Baja California Sur couldn’t be more different from Mexico’s party capital.

Close to the Tropic of Cancer, it has earned a biosphere-reserve designation from UNESCO for the diversity of flora and fauna ranged around five distinct microclimates clustered together: desert, mountains, beach, oasis and farmland.

The five-acre Paradero resort is sensitively designed by Mexican-Swiss firm Yektajo & Valdez.

Minimalist and low-slung, the 35-room beige concrete hotel blends into the countryside. Book one of the Sky Suites, and you can drift off to sleep in

a suspended “star net” that looks both up and out.

The property is centered on a 100,000-squarefoot botanical garden, filled with more than 20,000 plants, a prime source of raw ingredients for the restaurant. The owners intend for this to be the first in a small chain of luxury properties focused on the outdoors—“paradero” loosely means “stop on the road”—so rates here include activities, allowing guests to explore the surroundings in depth. Try guided hikes or farming and gardening tutorials in a greenhouse. Look for the hordes of hummingbirds, which use the region as one of their breeding grounds. Doubles from $550 per night

H E N RY ’ S T O W N H O U S E M A RY L E B O N E , LO N D O N

site as an exclusive boutique hotel, creating instead what they call a “hidden home” offered solely on a buyout basis.

The entire experience here is conceived as staying with friends, albeit tony British ones.

Breakfast and afternoon tea are served in the pantry, in front of a cozy Aga cooking range, and there’s an honesty bar stocked with British tipples, such as Chase vodka. Paint everywhere is Farrow & Ball, of course. The interiors were overseen by Russell Sage Studio, the firm behind the Goring Hotel, where the British royal family has often billeted guests.

The townhouse’s location is unlikely, if appealing: in Marylebone, an artsy, Village-y northwest corner of central London. The hotel’s name underscores the listed building’s artistic heritage: Henry Austen once lived here, and his sister Jane was a visitor, even referencing the address in some of her novels. If you haven’t brought your own copy of Persuasion et al., there’s a snug here stocked with first editions of her works. Curl up with one in the pelmetted reading seat in the downstairs lounge. Nightly buyouts from $6,800

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HENRY ’S TOWNHOUSE: PAUL RAESIDE

Owners Steven and Jane Collins pivoted from their initial plan to operate this seven-room

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©2021 Brewer-Clifton, Lompoc, CA

Photography: Jeremy Ball, bottlebranding.com

o n th e sa me st re t c h o f r o ad H er e i t i s n o t a b o u t wh a t we d o i t i s a b o u t wh a t w e d o n' t d o ”

GREG BREWER founder & winemaker

BREWERCLIFTON.COM

2020 WINE ENTHUSIAST WINEMAKER OF THE YEAR

O N E T O WAT C H

Fred Swaniker Business and conservation don’t seem like natural partners, but Ghanaian-born Swaniker believes he can integrate them successfully in Africa. Swaniker worked for McKinsey after earning a scholarship to school in America, and his consultant training underpins the idea for his African Leadership University (ALU). The continent will have a larger workforce than China or India by 2035. Swaniker wants to teach its young people to work in areas like conservation. In doing so,

he’s helping them to leverage the economic opportunities of the continent’s wildlife riches and to redress the problem that much of the money spent on luxury travel in Africa doesn’t directly uplift local communities.

The first of the ALU campuses opened in 2015.

Swaniker approaches education unconventionally: Lessons include studentled workshops and online classes from topflight professors worldwide (he has an MBA from Stanford). Swaniker

initially aimed to create a network of universities across the continent, but learned quickly that, even with scholarships and a repayment program, costs for travel, tuition, room and board were often a barrier.

Cannily, he has now pivoted to smaller sites, dubbed ALX, offering cheaper certifications aimed at directly prepping students for careers rather than conventional degrees. First up: Nairobi, Johannesburg, Addis Ababa, Dakar and Lagos.

ALILA MAREA B E AC H R E S O RT E N C I N I TA S , C A L I F.

glorious beaches or dedicated surfers. It’s one reason Hyatt’s ultra-luxury offshoot Alila named its latest resort Marea, or “tide” in Spanish. This is Alila’s first new build Stateside, sitting in the hamlet of Encinitas, just north of San Diego.

The water dominates the design of the 130 rooms and suites here, with driftwood-toned paneling and polished-concrete floors pebbled like nearby South Ponto Beach. Almost every room has a balcony, or patio, for panoramas of the Pacific.

Book a first-floor room with a private fire pit, too.

It’s no surprise that the restaurants emphasize seafood under the auspices of James Beard Award semifinalist Claudette Zepeda, who grew up nearby. Vaga will be eclectic, corralling influences from the Middle East to the Philippines, from a chef who relishes in her childhood nickname of “vagabond.”

Head to the ocean-inspired Spa Alila for treatments that incorporate handmade products, such as the Pacific salt body scrub with wild sage and dwarf-pine essential oils, or hit the water with private surfing lessons. Better still, book a flight in an open-air biplane—the hotel can easily arrange it—and cruise up the coast. Doubles from $639 per night

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ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK. ALILA MAREA: MARG ARET HENEGHAN

San Diego is synonymous with the water, whether

K R U G E R S H A L AT I SOUTH AFRICA

Kruger National Park is named after an early South African president, who crusaded

ONE&ONLY MANDARINA: RUPERT PEACE

to set aside land there as a game reserve. Its first warden was an eccentric expat Irishman, James Stevenson-Hamilton. He instituted measures to foil poaching, protecting the animals within the reserve, and brought wealthy colonials out to see the site for themselves—and so, hopefully, encourage their patronage.

Stevenson-Hamilton certainly had a flair for making an impression, often whisking visitors into the veldt by train both to see the wildlife and to party, wildly. This brandnew hotel, a glass-walled 13-carriage train with 24 rooms and a lounge, is a nod to his expeditions, although it’s permanently parked on a bridge on the Sabie River rather than commuting along a railway line.

Guests should expect to see animals from their rooms, as designer Andrea Kleinloog explains. “We’ve seen leopards walking under our feet while we were building,” she says, “and the red-billed quelea, the largest herd birds, swirling around our heads in spring and summer.” Indeed, the Basotho-inspired blankets on the beds, in dusky pink, nod to that particular resident and are designed, like many of the interior elements, by local talent—in this case, 29-year-old Rustenburg-based Bonolo Helen Chepape. Doubles from around $556 per person per night, all-inclusive

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O N E & O N LY M A N DA R I NA P U E R T O VA L L A R TA , MEXICO

This 82-acre property forms part of a 640-acre develop-

ment overseen by the same Mexico City team behind the ultra-luxe hotel hub Mayakoba, on the east coast. The concept here is similar, bringing a five-star, low-density vision of hospitality to the coast north of Puerto Vallarta, about an hour from Punta Mita.

Pacific Ocean beaches, lush flatlands and Sierra Madre Occidental foothills provide the backdrop for a polo and equestrian center, beach clubs, food by celebrity chef Enrique Olvera, adventure courses and even a residential complex, the first by O&O. The crown jewel, though, is

the resort, an all-villa hideaway dedicated to reflecting the soul of its ancient rain forest setting. After a smoke-ceremony welcome performed by their butler, guests settle into one of the 105 treehouses and villas, many of which have plunge pools and ocean views. Opt for a grand villa: You’ll get complimentary activities like wine and cacao tastings.

A Rosewood property will soon join this development, with the goal of creating an ultra-luxe Mayakoba-style tourism hub on Mexico’s west coast.

Pioneers, though, should book a trip right now. Doubles from $1,210 per night

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Greece For summer 2021 in Greece, party like it’s 1976. The country is celebrating its own independence bicentennial, a mood-improver only boosted by the infusion of excited international tourists from nations that include the USA, welcomed in April with Covid protocols in place. Greece has been prepping for this moment for the last year: Hotels like the storied Grande Bretagne in Athens have reopened with significant overhauls; the new alfresco lounge in the inner garden there will be a buzzy spot. New hotels have popped up all over the islands, too, with three notable standouts.

KALESMA

SANTORINI SKY

CRETAN MALIA PARK

Mykonos

Santorini

Crete

It might look like an old Mykonian village, on the top of a hill on the southwest of the island above Ornos Bay, but the whitewashed stone buildings here are an ultra-luxury retreat owned and operated by a group that runs several of the hottest restaurants in Athens. The brick oven is a throwback touch (expect the daylong smell of freshbaked horiatiko psomi, or village-style bread), while there’s a canny, onlyin-Mykonos concierge, dedicated to directing guests to the best beaches depending on how the island’s notorious winds are blowing on any given day.

Doubles from about $1,450

Architect Vassilis Zorzos grew up on Santorini and so drew inspiration for these aeries from deep below the earth: i.e., the yposkafa, the cave houses hewn out of the rocky cliffs here. This six-villa hotel is perched on the highest point of the island—hence the name— 2,000 feet above the water.

The 1,345-square-foot, raw-concrete rooms are engineered to maximize the astonishing views with almost floor-to-ceiling windows and private, plunge-pool-equipped terraces that jut up to the edge of the mountain.

Doubles from about $350

This Bauhaus-inflected property on Crete’s northeast coast, originally designed by an acolyte of Walter Gropius in the 1980s, is a charming surprise among Crete’s often uninspired hotel assortment. It has just been reimagined by Greek architect Vana Pernari as a boho-chic, family-friendly resort: Think oversize macramé chandeliers, chestnut-wood daybeds and ceramics by LRNCE. The hotel’s huge garden houses two pools as well as its own Cat Café, a nod to the felines that roam the island; here, guests can feed the resort’s own domesticated pack. Bungalows from about $195

H I G A S H I YA M A N I S E K O VILL AGE, A RITZC A R LT O N R E S E RV E JA PA N

Kalesma

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terrain total, including an extensive backcountry network, across the four linked ski areas in Niseko, Japan. It’s not unusual to see a foot of extra snow per day here, too—deep, light and powdery. No wonder this mountainous area of the northern island of Hokkaido has emerged as a must-try for any ski obsessive or has lured Ritz-Carlton to debut just the fifth in its ultra-luxury Reserve properties nearby.

The entire 50-key hotel is predicated on the Japanese concept of kachou fuugetsu, or discovering yourself through nature. The ski-in, ski-out resort sits at the base of Mount Niseko Annupuri, surrounded by the extraordinary countryside. The hotel has its own staff of mountain and nature reservists on tap to help guests explore as they wish, whether finding the best fresh powder or going offpiste to roam the backcountry. The lure in green season goes beyond hiking and adventures, with access to two golf courses in the complex, including one designed by Arnold Palmer. Whatever the time of year, make sure not to leave this area without ordering some miso ramen noodles—this is the region where they originated. Doubles from around $870 per night

HIG ASHIYAMA NISEKO (SOAKING TUB): A ARON JAMIESON

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XIGERA S A FA R I L O D G E B OT SWA N A

Xigera is a magnificent new lodge spread across

a thicketed island on the channels of Botswana’s Moremi Game Reserve. It’s the most lavish hotel to open so far in the Okavango Delta and the most ambitious project yet from the Tollman family, who earned their expertise in hospitality running Red Carnation hotels, known for luxury properties such as Ireland’s Ashford Castle.

Xigera has a dozen 1,980-square-foot luxury suites, each of them decorated with one-of-a-

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kind timber sculptures, hand-thrown ceramics and textiles, all created by over 80 artisans from across Africa. The standout spot for overnighting, though, is the private treehouse, about a half-mile from the lodge proper, where you’ll be surrounded by animals. Four of Africa’s big five (lions, leopards, buffalo and elephants, but not rhinos) live in this region. Look out in particular for Alice, the resident lioness, who’s known to roam the area, her cubs in tow.

Xigera draws guests not just for the wildlife

but for the artwork, too: The treehouse itself is striking and sculpture-like, a nod to the colossal custom collection of African art throughout the property.

Make no mistake: This is a safari camp aimed for indulgence as much as exploring.

There’s a spa (with a deck) supplied with Tata Harper goodies and a glimmering pool, as well as a wine cellar stacked with bottles of Bouchard Finlayson, another Tollman enterprise.

Doubles from $2,320 per person per night

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SPE CI A L A D V ER T ISIN G SE C T I O N

Benetti Propels Itself

Into the Future V

isionary Italian superyacht maker Benetti extends its heritage of excellence and innovation to the next generation with the launch of Luminosity (FB272), on the cutting edge of nautical hybrid technology. In 2005, the 214-foot (65-meter) Ambrosia yacht was the first step on this ambitious and complex path. It was the first vessel in the world to be equipped with ABB’s Azipod advanced diesel-electric propulsion system, ensuring optimum fuel consumption efficiency and a considerable improvement in terms of silent running. With a distinct style that appeals to the most discerning owners, Benetti has set records for elite awards, including 15 prestigious Best of the Best honors from Robb Report over the past two decades,

recognizing its extraordinary achievements in design and performance.

Luminosity promises to live up to that legacy, vying once more for Best of the Best. At a staggering 351 feet (107 meters) in length, this is the largest hybrid yacht to date, a testament to the brand’s century-long penchant for seeking out only the finest suppliers and systems. Benetti’s engineers have identified the most experienced companies in each sector and assembled their expertise into a single pioneering propulsion system: ABB, the manufacturer of Azipod, for power generation; SEASTEMA for automated integration of electronic systems with military-grade standards; SAFT, run by Total, for latest-generation

Past Best of the Best Honors: 2020, 2019, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014,

2013, 2012, 2011, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2004, 2002

batteries; CATERPILLAR, the thermal engine colossus; and EEI, the outstanding producer of frequency converters.

The result is both luxurious, sustainable and technically astonishing: Luminosity can navigate more than 8,000 nautical miles at 10 knots—more than enough for a round-trip Atlantic passage. Its large helipad is also certified for day and night mounting and refueling. The Generation/Propulsion Package contains six generators of 1,000 kilowatts each, producing electricity governed by a sophisticated, fully integrated power management system that sustains onboard utilities and electric motor and charges 36 tons of batteries, sufficient to run the vessel for 12 hours without generator power—a pronounced convenience when at anchor with no shore power.

The quietest boat ever built by Benetti, Luminosity’s vibration-free navigation is so stable and soundless—imagine the stillness of a library— that guests hardly realize they are underway.

Moreover, respecting the latest environmental standards, the yacht is equipped with a waste heat recovery system that conserves electrical power.

While in zero-emission navigation, the vessel can access SECAs (SOx Emission Control Areas) for its guests’ (27 passengers max) exclusive enjoyment of undisturbed, natural beauty, adhering to the highest safety standards in the world.

Luminosity is the future of megayachts, pointing the way to an oceangoing lifestyle, a superb addition to Benetti’s tradition of Italian craftsmanship and inimitable design, and a worthy successor to the gems that have been proclaimed Best of the Best.

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107 Meters long and with a bea m of 17 meters, FB272 “LU MINOSITY” is a truly hybrid world cruiser of cutting-edge technologies and a tribute to the greatest mankind’s art and craftsmanship.

ADVE RT IS EM ENT

AT LAST

The maiden voyage is on the horizon.

ON JULY 28, EVERYTHING CHANGES. WORLD NAVIGATOR IS TAKING YOU TO OFF-THE-BEATEN-PATH DESTINATIONS NOT ACCESSIBLE BY BIGGER SHIPS.

Atlas Ocean Voyages has been charting its own course from the beginning. And they’re looking forward to taking you on luxe-adventure journeys beyond the port and the imagination.

Their premiere voyages will set sail this summer. Meanwhile, Atlas is already designing tempting 2022 journeys that include cultural immersions, gritty adventures, and transcendent wanderings adding to the list of ports they visit all around the world.

IT’S TIME TO COME BACK TO TRAVEL Atlas Ocean Voyages is ready to

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EXPERIENCE A BRAND NEW SHIP PERFECTLY DESIGNED FOR THE MODERN EXPLORER Featuring only balcony and suite accommodations, World Navigator will deliver a less crowded, more intimate experience. Watch the video now.

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SPECIALISTS

Cari Gray

Travel specialists have never been more essential than they are right now, with their invaluable ability to pivot, re-book and offer advice. We picked 10 standouts in the luxury field from across the world, a directory of those who embody that above-and-beyond spirit essential in the past year.

CHRISTOPHER WILMOT-SITWELL Cazenove + Loyd Wilmot-Sitwell has been working in travel for more than three decades. The co-owner of a 16-person London-based agency specializes in long-haul luxury, often to far-flung sites in rural Africa and Asia. The team there spent much of 2020 canceling or postponing trips—most recently, unpicking rescheduled itineraries to the Tokyo Olympics when a ban on foreign spectators was announced.

The firm anticipated today’s conscious-travel concerns from the outset, always focusing on owner-run and locally staffed independent operations, such as preservation outfit Campfire in Zimbabwe.

Cazenove + Loyd also offsets the entire carbon cost of its research recces via a partnership with CommuniTree, a 12-squaremile tropical reforestation project in Nicaragua. Clients can easily opt into this, too; anyone whose itinerary swoops through the country can visit the project and personally plant the trees.

TANYA DALTON Managing director UK, Greaves Dalton leads the UK office of this India specialist outfitter, which was founded by her Mumbai-born grandfather in 1978 and later run by her mother. With generations’ worth of in-depth experience and exclusive connections at her fingertips, she arranges

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custom trips as luxe as they are immersive. Depending on their interests, travelers may find themselves granted entrée to private palaces, sacred religious sites and landmarked government buildings; meeting with celebrated curators, authors, artisans, jewelers, chefs or astrologers; or exploring desert wilds while staying at plush mobile camps.

Dalton’s team—45 in Delhi and Mumbai, and 15 in the UK—helped extract some 40 clients from India at the start of the pandemic, as borders closed. Now she’s helping guests plan their return. On her radar currently are safaris to spot India’s rising tiger population, top-end hotel openings in Rajasthan and a new single-suite wooden boat that’s perfect for privately cruising the Ganges, Bhagirathi and Hooghly Rivers.

JULES MAURY

Beks Ndlovu

encourages clients to follow suit, including the Pack for a Purpose program, in which visitors pack requested supplies in their luggage for distribution at the destination.

It’s laser-focused on ethical practices, too. Animal welfare is a priority, so providers that offer bullfighting or elephant riding are not used, and there’s a pledge that 90 percent of all operators will not provide single-use plastics to guests by the end of 2023.

Scott Dunn Private Maury runs this offshoot of the UK-based travel firm, focused entirely on bespoke itineraries. Much of her work during the pandemic involved extended stays for homeschooling families who were looking to live and work in a new locale, whether spending two and a half months at Gili Lankanfushi in the Maldives or a month in residence at Antigua’s Jumby Bay. Another guest commandeered the five-room Sheldon Chalet in Denali National Park, an ultra-secluded property accessible only by a 45-minute helicopter ride.

The SDP team follows multiple pro-social protocols when it travels and

DEBORAH CALMEYER Roar Africa The Zimbabwe-born Calmeyer has carved out a discrete niche as the ultimate elite safari planner, with the ability to pull off near-impossible requests, even during the pandemic. Rwanda’s government requires a negative PCR Covid-19 test for visitors, but offers only the throat-swab version at Kigali airport—a problem for one Roar Africa client, desperate to go gorilla-trekking but phobic about anything touching his throat. Calmeyer set up a protocol change, arranging for a nose swab to be administered instead.

She has offices in Nairobi, Johannesburg and Cape Town, with the HQ in New York, and Roar Africa continued to pay drivers, freelance guides and its staff even during lockdown, as governmental support in situ was scant. Roar Africa supports several social programs, including an all-women anti-poaching academy in Kenya, which has so far graduated almost 30 fully trained rangers, and underwrites a scholarship at a college of tourism in South Africa that trains women to work at local hotels and lodges.

CATHERINE HEALD Remote Lands Remote Lands’ expertise centers entirely on planning ultra-luxury trips for Americans to Asia, with offices in New York and Bangkok, plus country managers in every locale.

Heald and business partner Jay Tindall try to ensure a positive impression both for their guests and by them, encouraging clients, for example, to fund the digging of a water well for a local family

Deborah Calmeyer

whenever Siem Reap in Cambodia forms part of the itinerary. Conscious of the higher carbon footprint of itineraries that span the continent, the pair deliberately minimize the number of flights, private or commercial.

Last year, a Texas couple who were planning to go solo to Asia to celebrate both his 70th birthday and their 40th wedding anniversary had to postpone, and instead Heald helped them turn their three-week, four-country trip into a reunion with their grandchildren, whom they plan to take along this November.

James Jayasundera

estate in Ibiza they’d wrangled on her behalf as lockdowns loomed; she then took trips around Spain, including lunching with a retired rejoneador from whom she bought two horses to ride at her country estate.

Tanya Dalton

BEKS NDLOVU Founder of African Bush Camps Ndlovu has maintained momentum, despite the safari industry’s devastating year. The operator and hotelier kept his entire 600-person staff employed while also unveiling Khwai Leadwood, a new highdesign lodge in Botswana’s Okavango Delta. It’s the latest in his eco-conscious properties; he has rolled out 16 of them in 15 years across three countries, a remarkable achievement. Each has a light footprint, via solar farms and water recycling, while also offering direct support to surrounding communities via the company’s ABC Foundation.

Even amid the logistical and medical constraints of the past year, Ndlovu seamlessly pulled off a recent journey for 14 people to Zimbabwe via private plane. “There was a lot of juggling, but it was well worth it,” says Ndlovu, who advocates for guests to spend their tourism dollars with brands that preserve wilderness areas and empower minorities and

locals. “We continue to make the effort in identifying key talent that we can support and help rise to the surface.”

CÉDRIC REVERSADE & PAUL-MAXIME KOSKAS Unique Properties & Events Luxury travel was already tilting toward villa rentals before the pandemic made the idea of privacy, and selfcontainment, even more appealing. The London- and Paris-based Reversade and business partner Koskas offer discreet access to the world’s best rental homes in hot spots like Saint-Tropez, Ibiza and Capri while also acting as a travel concierge.

Take the California client who had bought a piano nobile on the Grand Canal in Venice, just before the first lockdown—and for whom they managed to secure a visa even when borders were shut. They also arranged excursions in the city, like a day on Burano with the glassblowers and a night visit to San Marco. Or the polo-loving English client who ditched her Chelsea townhouse for a seafront

CARI GRAY Gray & Co. Based in Santa Monica, Calif., Canadian expat Gray runs a lean team of about 10 with a particular expertise in active luxury. Take the trip to Argentina and Uruguay which shuttled her guests between cycling spots by private jet. It was due to start just as Argentina shuttered its borders last March, so Gray’s team pivoted, re-booking the group on a similar itinerary in California within 24 hours.

She’s determined that the lavish sums spent by clients truly uplift every destination, especially in developing areas.

One pair of travelers sponsored GPS collars on a research project for rescued elephants at a local animal reserve in Namibia and witnessed the process firsthand. And an always recommended pit stop in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco is one of the late Eve Branson’s projects, which employs local women making crafts. It isn’t all do-gooding, though: Gray is renowned for arranging Michelin-caliber chefs to cater alfresco at the end of a day’s hiking.

Cédric Reversade, left, and PaulMaxime Koskas

JAMES JAYASUNDERA

MARK DUGUID

Ampersand Travel

Carrier

Sri Lanka is one of the rare destinations in Asia that have managed to create a program that allows visitors to experience the country during the pandemic, and no one is a better expert to help navigate an itinerary in that new normal than Rome-raised Jayasundera and his five-person, almost two-decade-old firm.

Visitors can stay in designated hotels, he explains, and even go sightseeing, as long as they remain in “bio bubbles” to protect the local populace from imported infection.

Jayasundera started early, noting the preferences of each of his 12-strong family as they traveled constantly in his childhood, and has made such attention to detail a hallmark of his commercial operation.

Inclusivity is a longtime passion, with a strong presence in the LGBTQ community among both staff and clients, and efforts to use female guides where possible to offset challenges around equality.

The 60-person, Manchesterbased Carrier plans less than 5,000 trips per year, allowing it to retain a reputation for flexibility. It’s willing to change itineraries within hours of departure and never charging amending fees.

Duguid and his team were well placed, then, for the challenges of last year: See the couple from the UK who seized the chance to travel when permitted during a break in lockdowns, heading impromptu to the Maldives as an add-on to a last-minute visit to Dubai. Carrier recognized the appeal of the outdoors for travelers in the last year, too, and created an exclusive trip to Octola in Finland’s Arctic Circle, a five-star private wilderness reserve where local guides hosted open-fire lunches and ran excursions on husky sleds and snowmobiles.

Duguid reports a surge in so-called revenge spending, noting that the average booking value for 2021 has risen 90 percent year over year, with clients indulging in once-in-a-lifetime trips after lockdown restrictions loosen.

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REBOOTS, REOPENINGS & RENOVATIONS

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MARRAKECH

of its public spaces last year, just in time for its centenary in two years’ time. Parisian designers Patrick Jouin and Sanjit Manku were unleashed on the interiors, carving out a brand-new cinema for the 209-key hotel, as well as reimagining the Churchill bar as a 20-seat caviar-championing tasting room. Doubtless gourmand Winston would approve: He came here regularly to paint in the winters before and after World War II. The main changes, though, revolved around the restaurants, where two superstar French chefs now tag team. Pâtissier Pierre Hermé will offer macarons and more at Le Salon de Thé, as well as throughout the property; check out the tiny satellite patisserie in a kiosk in the leafy gardens. And Jean-Georges Vongerichten will operate two spaces here: a new Asian restaurant and a reconceived Italian one, both with terraces near the pool.

The best new spot, though, is tucked away: The VIP dining salon L’Oenothèque is a 12-person tasting table hidden in the wine caves underground, where guests can eat surrounded by thousands of bottles of the world’s best vintages. Doubles from around $775 per night

AYOUB SEKNAJI

La Mamounia

The sprawling, palatial La Mamounia underwent a major upgrade

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Three City Hotels Hospitality’s focus this year has, understandably, been on rugged, rural or decidedly outdoorsy locations. This means the reopening of some of the world’s best city-center hotels went largely under the radar, much like this trio of standouts.

Mandarin Oriental Ritz MADRID, SPAIN

Mandarin Oriental snapped up this site (100 rooms and 53 suites) when longtime operator Belmond off-loaded the erstwhile Hotel Ritz six years ago. It invested in a three-year renovation by architecture firm Rafael de la-Hoz and design duo Gilles & Boissier to restore the Belle Époque building’s somewhat faded glory, while also adding a little contemporary flair.

Gone are the thick carpets and gilt drapes, replaced with pared-down, neutral-toned textiles, exposed oak floors and minimalist four-poster beds.

The glass ceiling above the afternoon-tea-serving Palm Court has been reconstructed, and the public areas of the hotel are now festooned with artworks, a nod to the hotel’s

location at the apex of Madrid’s Golden Triangle of Art, between the Prado and the ThyssenBornemisza. Doubles from around $785

Le Bristol PARIS, FRANCE

The 190-key hotel, operated by the Oetker Collection, has finally completed its long renovation, the most exhaustive since it opened in 1925. Fittingly, as the world embraces everything alfresco, the focus of the final phase was the 13,000-square-foot garden, a rare green sanctuary in the 8th Arrondissement.

Landscape designer Lady Arabella Lennox-Boyd sought to bring a sense of countryside to the urban hideaway, with much of the flora native to the Paris region. Roses wreath bespoke trellises, and the gentle tinkle from black slate fountains

fills the space, an almost meditative hum. Stay the night in another of the final additions: the Lumière Suite, with its contemporary but grand design, all polished rosewood tables and brushed-brass reading lights. Doubles from around $1,810

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek

Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek DALLAS, TEX.

In 2020, Rosewood Hotels & Resorts went back to where it all started by paying tribute to its first hotel—and the city in which the brand was born 40 years ago. Set in a

former private estate built in 1925, this property has long been an anchor in Dallas, and known as much for its ornate décor and setting in a leafy residential neighborhood as for its nationally lauded restaurant.

As this grande dame hit middle age, Rosewood undertook a four-year renovation, which concluded last year with the reimagining of the 142 rooms and suites as well as the entry rotunda and lobby.

Signature (and fan-favorite) suite elements like French doors and elegant balconies now live alongside specially commissioned works that tie in elements of Texas and the original mansion. Fancy a pair of custom Miron Crosby boots? You can co-design them in a private appointment, one of the hotel’s new signature partnerships celebrating other Dallas luxury icons. Doubles from $455

T H E S AXO N JOHANNESBURG

glorious 10-acre gardens, a legacy of its former life as a private residence for insurance tycoon Douw Steyn. So when tourism was halted last year, the hotel’s owners expedited a radical renovation of the common areas to better connect with the outdoors: See how the Qunu restaurant now opens onto the terrace there. The walls were covered with a mural, based on a photo by Justin Badenhorst of a wild Syringa tree at sunset at the hotel’s sister property, Shambala Private Game Reserve.

The renovation also emphasized another aspect of the Saxon’s history. It was here that late president Nelson Mandela lived after his release from prison, and he edited his autobiography on-site. So now the artwork behind reception calls out that connection: pencil drawings of Mandela, depicting the stages of his life, by Dean Simon. Book a stay at the largest suite here, a 4,300-square-foot room, named in his honor. Doubles from about $660 per night

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ROSEWOOD MANSION: DON RIDDLE

The luxury hotel in leafy Sandhurst is known for its

French Polynesia was one of the first long-haul destina-

tions to reopen after the border closures across the world last spring, relaxing entry controls on July 15. The sparsely populated tropical archipelago was already ideally suited to socially distanced travel, but it enacted an impressive series of protocols that became a gold standard for others to follow.

These included stringent PCR testing before arrival and contact tracing in-country, plus a follow-up test that was handed to all visitors at passport control to be returned four days

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later. The authorities also built rapid-testing stations at the main airport and even extended an offer to cover quarantine expenses for travelers who tested positive prior to departure.

The impact on luxury travel was palpable, per charter specialist Justin Crabbe, CEO of Jettly. He booked 192 flights in the whole of 2019, and is on track to top 260 in 2021.

Tahiti’s progress was paused by a shutter order from Paris in early February, but the destination is primed to rebound after it reopened once more on May 1.

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Michel Reybier and Jacques Garcia are an inseparable duo, at least

when it comes to hotels. Reybier, a tycoon who built his fortune in meat processing before pivoting to vineyards and hotels, has hired the opulence-obsessed interior designer for two other properties in his La Réserve group of hotels, as well as his own mansion in Bordeaux.

Last year he tasked Garcia with another project: renovating the decade-old La Réserve Ramatuelle, six miles outside Saint-Tropez. With 27 rooms and suites, and 14 hillside villas, the sleekly futuristic property is a wellness-focused hotel, with an almost 9,000-square-foot spa.

Garcia was an unlikely choice to reimagine the site, as he’s best known for city-center hotels such as La Réserve’s Paris location. Nonetheless, the results are captivating: Garcia’s whimsy is well suited to the place, retaining the hotel’s signature neutral palette but adding splashes of green and blue. He overhauled the common areas, including the lobby, the patio bar and the Michelin two-star restaurant La Voile, captained by chef Eric Canino, with an aesthetic that’s a deliberate nod to the 1960s, when Cocteau, Picasso and Co. brought a jolt of artistic glamour to the area. Note the hand-sculpted lights by Julien Capron, grandson of local ceramic artist Roger, who was part of that wider creative cabal. Doubles from around $1,085 per night

What Becomes a Legend Most New ownership and management, and historically sensitive redesigns, have turned three iconic, nearly century-old American hotels into contemporary masterpieces. Plus one landmark mansion that just debuted as a hotel.

The Southern Classic COMMODORE PERRY ESTATE, AUSTIN, TEX.

Auberge Resorts picked this historic, 10-acre estate for its urban debut, which was originally built for showman-like cotton broker and real-estate developer Edgar “Commodore” Perry in 1928. He sold it 16 years later, saying the house was too big for a home but perfect for a party. Be among the first to fête him here as the complex is rebooted as a hotel, its interiors masterminded by the suitably theatrical Ken Fulk, who picked up many of the fixtures trawling the local Round Top antiques fair. The hotel includes 42 rooms and seven suites in a newly built inn, a three-story courtyardstyle complex, but the best option is one of the five oversize suites in the Perry family’s original Italianate mansion. In a nod to their determined good-lifing, every room features a vintagestyle bar cart stocked with

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cocktail fixings customized to each guest’s whims. Doubles from $600

The Hollywood Retreat THE COLONY PALMS, PALM SPRINGS, CALIF.

Longtime Palm Springs tastemaker Steve Hermann recently remastered this storied property: a 1936 Monterrey Spanish–style pile that played

White Elephant Palm Beach

host to the likes of Frank Sinatra and Ronald Reagan in its midcentury heyday. Hermann replaced the Moroccan-tinged reds and purples of the hotel’s most recent incarnation with green and white, adding treillage latticework and modernist accents to the bar and lobby plus green glass mosaic tiles to the original 65-foot saltwater pool. Included in the mix of 57 rooms, bungalows and suites is Hermann’s own home when

he’s on the property, available as a 3,500-square-foot onebedroom or 4,000-squarefoot two-bedroom with butler service. Doubles from $300

The Urban Oasis THE NEWBURY BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS

This new hotel occupies what was one of the first American properties for the Ritz-Carlton chain, built in high-neoclassical style in 1927 with knockout views of the Public Garden from its privileged perch on the corner of Newbury and Arlington Streets. Thanks to a two-year top-to-bottom refurbishment and renovation by an interior-design dream team, the newly christened Newbury Boston makes a 21st-century statement: almost 300 rooms and 90 suites by Alexandra Champalimaud (all plush and muted-hued) plus public spaces remastered

by Jeffrey Beers, including a book-filled lounge with volumes selected by the Boston Public Library. The

rooftop restaurant? Contessa, a sibling to New York’s buzzy Carbone. Doubles from $600

The Seaside Getaway WHITE ELEPHANT PALM BEACH, FLORIDA

For this sister of Nantucket’s beloved White Elephant, the hotel’s owners headed to Palm Beach’s Sunset Avenue and a 1924 landmark built as the Bradley Park Hotel.

Elkus Manfredi Architects painstakingly preserved the façade of the Mediterranean Revival building—just two blocks from the Atlantic— then crafted contemporary, neutrally hued interiors reflecting historic style. The ground floor holds a branch of Nantucket’s Lola 41 restaurant, and the three levels above comprise 32 rooms and suites, with the multi-bedroom Park and Palm rooftop suites each opening onto terraces. Insider tip: Guests have access to a fleet of Hinckley picnic boats for private excursions. Doubles from $650

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DINING

By Jeremy Repanich

THE BIG IDEA

Light at the End of a Dark Year A year into the pandemic, the butcher’s bill

for restaurants in the US was grim. In 2020 alone, an estimated $240 billion in revenue vanished, nearly 2.5 million restaurant workers lost their jobs and over 100,000 dining establishments closed temporarily or permanently. Perhaps the bleakest stat of all is that, according to a study by the University of California, San Francisco, the most dangerous jobs during the pandemic,

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

outside of health care, have been in the food and agriculture industries, with the risk of dying increasing 39 percent.

Since March 2020, the only “hot new trend” in dining was finding a way to survive. By their nature as businesses built around gathering people in one place, restaurants were caught in an impossible position: City and state authorities had to shut them down to avert a public-health

disaster, but then did little to ameliorate the resulting financial pain.

Yet there’s now rightful reason for optimism as vaccination rates climb and the government help restaurants pleaded for finally came through in the form of a $28.6 billion grant package called the Restaurant Revitalization Fund, part of the American Rescue Plan Act passed by Congress and signed by President Biden.

And once it’s safe for indoor service to resume at full capacity, surely people will want to fill those tables as they cast off the shackles of pandemic lockdowns.

In a normal year, we’d use this space to tell you about the best new restaurants around—the kind so filled with creativity and conviviality that you’d gladly hop a plane to dine there if you managed to snag a reservation. But those openings were few and far between in the past year. Just as the industry had to pause, we’re also taking a moment to reflect. Instead of celebrating fine dining and inventive cuisine, we’re acknowledging the people and organizations that, when their industry faced its darkest days, remained beacons.

Some of our honorees are existing groups that pivoted in the face of crisis; others rose up organically to meet the moment. They brought advocacy as well as aid to catch those falling through the massive holes in our social safety net: fundraising to help unemployed restaurant workers, feeding hospital staff, providing free lunch to kids not in school and offering support to working mothers, a group disproportionately burdened by the pandemic. At a time when they would have been forgiven for turning inward and focusing on saving themselves, our honorees instead helped others. What’s even more encouraging is that there are signs their efforts will endure after the pandemic ends, as they push to make the world a better place while hopefully still creating the restaurants that will fill our “Best of” list when it returns next year.

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Bakers Against Racism WAS H I N G TO N , D.C.

REY LOPEZ

FROM FAR LEFT:

Rob Rubba, Paola Velez and Willa Pelini at Rubba’s 2-Hour Parking.

As a wave of protests swept across the country in the wake of police officer Derek Chauvin’s killing of George Floyd, Washington, D.C., pastry chef Willa Pelini wanted to channel her emotions into something productive. She remembered how fellow pastry chef Paola Velez had recently made and sold donuts to raise money for Ayuda, an organization that provides aid to vulnerable immigrant communities. Could she do the same to support a racial-justice initiative? Pelini joined forces with Velez, and together they decided to rely on that classic school fundraiser: a bake sale—with a twist.

Taking advantage of both the speed of of social media and the stuck-at-homeness of countless bakers, they targeted a virtual community rather than a geographic one.

Aided by chef Rob Rubba, they opened up the sale to anyone anywhere who wanted to participate, professionals and home bakers alike. The trio coordinated hubs where participants could pick up donated chocolate ingredients and provided advice on baking in large quantities. A project they thought would attract about 80 volunteer bakers drew thousands and raised $2.5 million for anti-racism groups of the bakers’ choosing, such as Common Good City Farm, which grows and distributes produce in D.C. Since that original sale, they organized Bake the Vote in November and other drives around the holiday season and throughout April to fund organizations fighting against Asian American Pacific Islander hate.

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JJ Johnson NEW YORK CITY

JJ Johnson at his new Fieldtrip location in Rockefeller Center

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It was approaching 1:30 a.m. when chef JJ Johnson’s wife returned home from her nursing shift. She’d left at 5:30 a.m. to work on the front lines at a Manhattan hospital in the early days of the pandemic and now had a request for her husband: Her team was so busy they didn’t even have time to get food during their shift, so could he cook something for them for the next day? He obliged and went to his Harlem restaurant, Fieldtrip, which serves globally inspired grain bowls that show how cultures around the world are connected through rice, and prepared a meal for the grateful healthcare workers.

That got him thinking. Johnson was sure other hospital staffs in his immediate community were facing the same predicament.

He went to Twitter to see if any of his followers had a contact at Harlem Hospital. He then brought 40 bowls to the ER, and afterward some of his followers said they’d match his donation, paying him to make more meals for more frontline medical workers.

Realizing he was onto something, he asked his business partner to help him erect an infrastructure that would enable him to take in donations, connect to hospitals in need of food, keep paying his employees and provide business to his suppliers, who were taking a hit because the restaurant industry had cratered. Out of his small storefront, he made 40,000 meals for frontline workers from March through June 2020.

Then his wife had another request: Stop.

As more and more restaurants cooked for hospitals, they were inundated with food they couldn’t finish. So with their system in place, Johnson and his team pivoted to donating to churches, the Boys & Girls Club and more, producing an additional 60,000 meals during the first year of the pandemic.

Even as he expands Fieldtrip, having opened locations in Long Island City and inside Rockefeller Center since late 2020, the charitable effort remains (in partnership with the nonprofit Rethink Food NYC), each day preparing 250 reheatable meals that go to people in need in Johnson’s community.

P H O T O G R A P H B Y C L AY W I L L I A M S

MEET EXTRAORDINARY

Chris Shepherd at his restaurant Georgia James

Southern Smoke Foundation HOUSTON

When Hurricane Harvey smashed into Houston

in 2017, chef Chris Shepherd’s Southern Smoke Foundation shifted its focus from fundraising for the Multiple Sclerosis Society to providing immediate relief from the disaster. People in the food-and-beverage industry—whether they were working directly in bars or restaurants or supplying them as farmers or beer brewers—could apply directly for grants to help in the storm’s aftermath.

Funds could make up for lost wages so a rent payment wouldn’t be missed, for example, or to help with a medical bill or go toward repairing damage. After Harvey passed, Shepherd and team saw

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another storm hit North Carolina and wildfires engulf California wine country, so they decided to keep their new aid-based model of giving and expand their relief efforts nationwide.

Southern Smoke’s star-studded annual barbecue helps fund its program, but with Covid-19 the need and fundraising efforts greatly increased as industry-wide layoffs put workers in economic peril. On a single day in March 2020, the foundation received more than double the number of applications for relief as in all the months after Hurricane Harvey. The following day it logged close to triple.

On average, each grantee received $2,000 in direct

aid. The organization also worked to secure free mental-health counseling for food-industry workers in Texas and their families.

The ramp-up in need afforded an opportunity to hire 40 furloughed restaurant employees as caseworkers who evaluated the flood of applications. Southern Smoke intensified its fundraising efforts and had a quite fortuitous windfall when David Chang became the first celebrity to win Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and donated all of his prize money to the organization. During the Covid19 crisis, the foundation has distributed more than $6 million to some 2,700 people nationwide.

PHOTOGRAPH BY ZACH CHAMBERS

The Me Too movement sent shock waves

LEE Initiative LO U I SV I LL E

z

through the restaurant industry, as prominent chefs were called out for years of abuse and harassment. Looking to make a positive change to restaurant culture, Edward Lee and Lindsey Ofcacek—the chef and former general manager, respectively, of 610 Magnolia in Louisville—started the LEE Initiative in 2018 to promote diversity and equality.

LEE (short for Let’s Empower Employment) focused on training a new generation of leaders in the industry through mentorship programs for women in food and spirits.

When the pandemic hit, Lee and Ofcacek changed their focus to support restaurants and their staffs through the crisis. The effort began modestly, by cooking 400 meals for laid-off restaurant workers in Kentucky one night last March, and eventually spread to a nationwide network of restaurants serving more than a million meals by the end of the year. LEE Initiative provided food and

household basics to restaurant staff, frontline workers and touring professionals, like musicians, who lost their livelihoods after they had to get off the road. The nonprofit got a boost from corporate sponsors, including Maker’s Mark, which collaborated on a bourbon that helped raise $2.5 million, and Audi, which loaned LEE a fleet of vehicles for its programs.

Then as lockdowns eased, the initiative pivoted again, this time to rebooting the ailing industry by preserving supply chains under threat from the drastic drop in demand from restaurants, which still weren’t running at full capacity. LEE purchased over $1 million worth of products from small farms so they could continue to operate.

Reopened restaurants, in turn, received credits to acquire those ingredients. The duo are continuing revival efforts in 2021, while also pushing forward once more with their Women Culinary & Spirits Program.

NEON BITES

Edward Lee and Lindsey Ofcacek at 610 Magnolia

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Power of 10 Initiative WAS H I N G TO N , D.C.

In the early days of the pandemic shutdowns, restau-

rants turned to their regular customers, asking them to contribute to GoFundMe accounts for laid-off staff.

But D.C. chef and restaurateur Erik Bruner-Yang sought a strategy with a long-term impact rather than a onetime cash grant. He also wanted to reach beyond his own restaurants to help keep other independent businesses afloat, people employed and those on the margins from going hungry. His solution: the Power of 10 Initiative, which he created with the simple conceit that for $10,000 a week a restaurant could retain 10 full-time employees and cook 1,000 meals to donate.

For funding, he treated the nonprofit like a new restaurant in need of investors, calling everyone he knew, especially his loyal clientele, to elicit donations. Soon, the Power of 10 caught the attention of larger foundations, and eventually Capital One came aboard with a cash infusion that enabled it to expand to restaurants around the country. To date, the initiative has supported 65 restaurants with $1.4 million distributed and more than 300,000 meals served. If he can keep donations flowing, Bruner-Yang wants to continue the Power of 10 even after the pandemic passes, because, he laments, food insecurity was a problem before Covid-19 and is sure to persist after.

Erik Bruner-Yang at Maketto, which he bills as a communal marketplace

P H O T O G R A P H B Y C H E R I S S M AY

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

ILLUSTRAION BY PAOLA WICIAK

José Andrés For more than a decade, when a catastrophe has hit somewhere around the globe, José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen (WCK) have sprung into action.

The chef at the helm of the expanding restaurant empire ThinkFoodGroup (which includes Michelin two-star Minibar in Washington, D.C.) launched the WCK nonprofit to feed people after the Haitian earthquake in 2010. Since then, he has kept going, arriving on the scene of numerous humanitarian crises, from hurricanes and wildfires to the Beirut port explosion last August, tapping into existing infrastructure to produce and deliver meals in a more effective way than most governments can manage. And many times you’ll see him there personally, on the front lines, advocating for those in peril and cooking some of the 50 million meals the organization has served since its founding.

Beyond immediate relief, he’s also determined to leave a lasting impact in the wake of the devastation. In Haiti, WCK’s École des Chefs has provided a culinary school for career

development on the island. The organization’s Food Producer Network strengthens local supply chains to make them more resilient in times of crisis.

And soon WCK will offer a curriculum to culinary schools to train other chefs to respond to disasters. The organization has worked to secure funding from individuals, foundations (Twitter founder Jack Dorsey gave $5.4 million from his #startsmall philanthropy) and businesses (Grubhub donated $100,000 last holiday season).

As Covid-19 spread across the US, WCK worked with community groups and local governments around the country to pinpoint those facing economic distress, then paid struggling restaurants to prepare the food. WCK has served more than 36 million meals during the pandemic and injected $150 million into the ailing restaurant industry. But Andrés’s impact has been even bigger than those substantial figures let on: His model of aid has become a template for other nonprofits around the world.

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Beverly Kim CHICAGO

The coronavirus was merely the first

Beverly Kim at Wherewithall

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domino. Next came a whole array of problems, from food insecurity to racebased hate crimes to a lack of child care that disproportionately pushes women out of the labor market. In each instance, chef Beverly Kim, the co-owner of Michelin-starred Parachute and Wherewithall in Chicago, sought solutions.

To provide immediate aid, Kim, along with her husband and co-chef, Johnny Clark, turned Wherewithall into a community kitchen, where people could pay as much or as little as they were able for food; they’ve served a total of some 16,000 meals this year and last. As a wave of hate flared up against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, she started Dough Something, which has enlisted chefs around the country to sell dough-based dishes to raise money for the organization Asian Americans Advancing Justice; the effort has raised over $19,000 since April 1, when it began fundraising.

Her plan to help working mothers in the industry dates to her experience raising a family while trying to run a restaurant. While she and Clark built Parachute as they parented a small child, their joint annual income was less than $31,000 working full-time. They qualified for subsidized day care and preschool, but once they earned even a little more, those resources became scarce. That hardship stuck with her. When she saw women leaving the workforce over a lack of child care during the pandemic, the problem’s new urgency pushed her to start Abundance Setting to provide more resources to chefs raising kids. The nonprofit connects young female chefs to mentors who provide guidance. The mentees also receive three ready-to-heat meals a week for three months, taking the burden off cooking every night and allowing them more free time with their families. It’s a program started during the pandemic that will have a lasting impact after.

P H O T O G R A P H B Y K R I S TA N L I E B

Eric Rivera S E AT T L E

Eric Rivera is not shy about sharing his endless stream of ideas

and opinions, as his Twitter feed, which alternates between showing off new recipes, posting pictures of dogs and opining on the state of the restaurant industry, attests. But he also puts ideas into practice. Before the pandemic, the Alinea Group alum experimented with disparate dining experiences inside his Seattle restaurant, Addo, which he opened in 2018. One day he might have presented a tasting menu for brunch at his chef’s counter, and later that same day he’d cook a whole hog for Seahawks fans gathering to watch a game.

As shutdowns rolled across the country at the beginning of Covid-19, restaurants furloughed staff and scrambled to figure out the logistics of converting to a takeout-only model.

Rivera’s constant experimentation served him well. He started crafting take-and-bake meal options as well as selling pantry supplies such as his original spice blends and his house-fermented line of hot sauces to supplement his ever-rotating

menu. To get around delivery apps charging high fees, he created his own fleet for local deliveries on top of introducing nationwide shipping. And he deployed marketing dollars to increase business through targeted Facebook and Instagram ad buys. Yet he didn’t keep these ideas to himself.

Seeing how most smaller restaurateurs didn’t have the capital to remake their businesses on the fly like big restaurant groups, Rivera made his innovations open source. He hosted six digital seminars free of charge, where he revealed the back end of his business, explaining both his digital and his physical logistics for things like delivery and building e-commerce functionality into restaurant websites. He also shared how he creates new takeout offerings that resonate with customers and keep driving sales. And as restaurants begin to reopen fully, he wants to keep mentoring. He’s planning an incubator space so he can work with young chefs to develop their restaurant concepts and food products.

Eric Rivera at Addo

P H O T O G R A P H B Y M E R O N M E N G H I S TA B

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The wave of lockdowns last March

THE BIG IDEA

The Rise of the Takeout Cocktail

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

left even the most successful bars and restaurants seeing vultures circling overhead. Takeout, once a small fraction of the average restaurant’s income, was suddenly expected to keep the ship afloat, and with to-go cocktails prohibited in many municipalities, bars were facing an even more dire fate. Half of all restaurants fail within three years even under ideal circumstances.

So it was with no small relief that states such as California and New York quickly loosened restrictions on alcohol sales, allowing bars and restaurants to sell beer, wine and cocktails to go.

Eventually, more than 30 states would allow takeaway alcohol sales.

Necessity being the mother of invention, the result has been an

extraordinary showcase of ingenuity by the creatives behind our nation’s bars. Many places simply sold us the cocktails we know and love to enjoy at home—a treat in and of itself—but many more strived to shape their customers’ experience, infusing what could be a simple transaction with fun and wit.

Thunderbolt, in Los Angeles, used its vacuum sealer to create what are essentially frozen cocktail Otter Pops, sold in four-packs for maximum fun.

At San Diego’s Fernside, the team has applied its talents to a rotating set of boozy slushies, from Irish Coffees to Singapore Slings to Trinidad Sours, selling more than 40,000 in the last year. Chicago’s tiki haven, Lost Lake, created a subscription service for monthly cocktail and rum boxes, like a pirate Amazon Prime, including exclusive access to classes, events, tastings and members-only pricing.

On the East Coast, NYC’s Dante offers gorgeously illustrated bespoke labels for its to-go cocktail packs, which are garnished with a custom Spotify playlist so you can vibe out as if you’re hanging at the bar.

California state senator Bill Dodd recently proposed Bill SB-389, which would make this change permanent.

Many other states are considering the same. To-go cocktails have been a silver lining in a year desperately in need of silver linings, and with any luck, they’re here to stay. Covid gave bars a puzzle to solve. They responded, as they always do, with hospitality, creativity and a double shot of joy and delight.

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F O U R RO S E S 2020 Limited Edition Small Batch BOURBON

Bourbon fans love Four Roses as one of the best inexpensive bot-

tles around. But the Kentucky distillery also has some high-end tricks up its sleeve, like its annual Limited Edition Small Batch.

For the 2020 offering, master distiller Brent Elliott chose four of the distillery’s 10 unique recipes to blend, with bourbons in the bottle ranging in age from 12 to 19 years, a maturity that’s present on the palate with strong oak notes but without venturing into the overly tannic. This is a rich, deep bourbon with prominent flavors of ripe stone fruit, vanilla and caramel, plus a bit of spice from the mash bill’s high rye content. With just over 14,000 bottles available, Limited Edition Small Batch might be hard to track down, but it will be well worth the effort. $150

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BENRIACH The Twenty Five S I N G L E - M A LT S C O T C H

Over the past few years, Speyside dis-

tillery Benriach has been gaining more recognition in the US for its impressive array of single malts, both peated and unpeated and matured in an array of cask types; a visit to the warehouses reveals a rainbow of barrels with different-colored tops. This year, coming on the heels of relaunching its core lineup in 2020, the distillery released three top-shelf whiskies aged for 21, 25 and 30 years, respectively. The 25, aged in bourbon, sherry, virgin-oak and Madeira casks, is the best of the bunch, a softly smoky single malt with delicate notes of tropical fruit, dark chocolate and baking spice dancing across the palate. $360

HENNESSY Master Blender's Selection No. 4 COGNAC

The fourth edition in a limited series

from renowned Cognac house Hennessy is also the second created by eighth-generation master blender Renaud Fillioux de Gironde, who says the special release was inspired by the sights, sounds and smells encountered during a winter walk in the mountains.

The bottle contains eaux-de-vie aged for at least five years in French red-oak barrels, with apricot, candied orange and fruity spice on the palate, but with a lightness one might not expect from such a rich Cognac. The Master Blender’s Selection is truly a series of one-offs, a world away from the core V.S and V.S.O.P. expressions and never to be re-created, so each one—and especially this one—is worth a trophy position on your bar cart. $90

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PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY. ©2021 BRUICHLADDICH DISTILLERY CO. LIMITED., BRUICHLADDICH® SCOTCH WHISKY 50-64.7% ALC./VOL., IMPORTED BY RÉMY COINTREAU USA, INC., NEW YORK, NY. PLEASE RECYCLE.

O N E S T O WAT C H

In 2016, Fawn Weaver ventured to Tennessee with the plan of researching a book about Nathan “Nearest” Green, the former slave who taught Jack Daniel how to make whiskey. Her ambition, after she arrived, grew exponentially.

Weaver, a real-estate investor, bought the land where Nearest had passed down his distilling lessons in the 19th century; later in 2016, she founded Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey to celebrate this important but overlooked figure in the spirit’s history.

Ever since, it has been a meteoric rise for the brand, which creates its Tennessee whiskey using what’s known as the Lincoln County Process, a maple-charcoal filtration method which Green helped perfect.

Part of Weaver’s mission with Uncle Nearest was to get Green’s descendants involved with the brand.

Victoria Eady Butler, Green’s great-great-

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granddaughter, retired from the Department of Justice before joining the company as director of administration in early 2019. That same year, Weaver asked if she wanted to be the first family member to blend a special-edition whiskey.

The resulting 1884 edition racked up both sales and awards, so Weaver asked her to do it again.

Butler continued crafting hits, to the point that she eventually became master blender across the whole portfolio—the first known African American to hold that job in the industry.

Thanks to Weaver’s business acumen and Butler’s blending skills, as of this year Uncle Nearest has become the best-selling Black-owned and -founded spirit brand in history, with almost 2 million bottles sold.

Weaver is now eyeing further expansion, with the company’s $50 million distillery reopening in June and more editions in the works.

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

Fawn Weaver & Victoria Eady Butler

EL TEQUILEÑO Añejo Gran Reserva AGED TEQUILA

This new expression from the venerable El Tequileño ups the ante on aged agave spirits by focusing on the maturation process, using different barrel types to create a wonderfully deep añejo tequila.

It’s a limited-edition release made with liquid that was aged for two years in American- and French-oak barrels and then blended with tequila matured for six years in American oak. The resulting nose is full of caramel and roasted agave followed by tropical fruits, brown sugar and a bit of caramel candy, all tied together with a bright, grassy undercurrent. It’s a lesson in how considered barrel selection, precise aging and meticulous blending can result in an aged tequila that retains its core agave character while reaching new levels of flavor and complexity. $90

M I J E N TA Blanco UNAGED TEQUILA

The market over the last year has been

flooded with new tequila brands, with the trend tilting toward premium releases. Mijenta stood out from the pack thanks to its vibrant flavor, attractive label design and focus on environmental sustainability (among other initiatives, the paper in the packaging is made from agave waste during the tequila-making process). Maestra tequilera Ana Maria Romero oversaw the spirit’s production, with a bright blanco kicking off the brand’s launch (a reposado is now available as well) with notes of pepper, citrus and earthy grass on the palate. It’s great in a cocktail, but the more time you spend sipping it neat, the more you’ll unravel the layers of flavor. $50

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Louisville blender and bottler Barrell Craft Spirits has created one of

the most unusual and flavorful rye whiskeys of the past year. Seagrass, a blend of Canadian and American rye sourced from different distilleries, was finished by Barrell Craft in three cask types—Martinique rhum agricole, apricot brandy and Madeira wine—selected by company founder Joe Beatrice. The cask-strength whiskey (at 118.4 proof ) has layers of apricot jam, fresh garden herbs and a touch of candied orange and brown sugar on the palate. But despite the various cask finishes, the rye whiskey’s identity is not lost, with core notes of spice and vanilla also shining through. $90

Seagrass RYE

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BARD STOWN BOURBON C O M PA N Y Phifer Pavitt Cabernet Finish II C A S K- F I N I S H E D WHISKEY

S TA G G J R .

B A R R E L- P R O O F WHISKEY

This past winter, Bardstown Bourbon Company released the second whis-

key in its Collaborative Series with California winery Phifer Pavitt. It’s a 10-year-old Tennessee bourbon (sourced from an undisclosed distillery) finished in the winery’s Cabernet Sauvignon barrels for an additional 18 months, then bottled at 100 proof. The lengthy secondary maturation allowed the bourbon to soak up additional flavors from the freshly emptied casks, imbuing it with decadent notes of grape, cherry and both milk and dark chocolates. The result is a perfect after-dinner bourbon, each sip bringing a new burst of flavor. $125

The younger (and arguably better) sibling to George T. Stagg is released annu-

ally as part of Buffalo Trace’s Antique Collection. Stagg Jr. is released in two batches per year, each with a different ABV depending on the barrels. It’s made with Buffalo Trace’s medium-rye mash bill No. 1, and the bourbon is uncut, unfiltered and aged for around seven to eight years. The 15th batch arrived last winter, clocking in at an impressive 131.1 proof, intense and delicious, with sweet notes along with butterscotch, candied cherry and a bit of char. Despite its hefty proof, Stagg Jr. has impressive complexity and flavor, especially mellowed out with some water or a large ice cube. $50

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BL ACK TOT 50th Anniversary RUM

MONKEY 47 Distiller’s Cut 2020 GIN

Last year, German gin brand Monkey 47 celebrated its 10th anniversary with

the release of its limited-edition Distiller’s Cut. The base gin is already a fragrant and intricate spirit, with a recipe of 47 botanicals (hence the name) that include angelica, acacia flower, chamomile and sage. This edition of Distiller’s Cut gets a further flavor boost thanks to time spent in expensive, highly sought-after Japanese mizunara-oak barrels. The maturation period infused the gin with notes of incense, sandalwood and vanilla. It makes for a fascinating martini, but it’s also a wonderful spirit to sip neat. $80

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The inspiration for this anniversary bottle from Black Tot dates to when the

British Royal Navy gave a small daily ration of rum, known as a “tot,” to its sailors. It celebrates the half-century that has elapsed since the empire handed out its last consignment of the spirit. Just 5,000 bottles were produced, using a blend of rums from Jamaica, Barbados, Guyana and Trinidad—plus some of Britain’s original, un-rationed maritime stock—bottled at a hefty 109 proof to match the strength of what the navy once issued. Notes of brown sugar, vanilla and banana abound, making this a go-to sipper that competes with any other aged brown spirit for complex drinkability. $150

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ART

By Julie Belcove

THE BIG IDEA

A Racial Reckoning It was a rocky year for the art world. The pandemic forced museums and galleries to close for months on end. Long-planned exhibitions were delayed. Revenues from ticket sales, galas and membership dues were lost. When museums did reopen, they operated with reduced attendance.

But the novel coronavirus was only one culprit in the institutions’ illness. As the death of George Floyd ushered in Black Lives Matter protests in cities large and small, night after night, pent-up frustrations over racial inequality in virtually every

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

facet of American life erupted. And the great art museums, which fancy themselves bastions of progressive values, were no exception.

Many museums have recently made strides in diversifying their exhibition programs and collections. (In this space last year, we applauded those efforts.) But paradoxically, staff members charged that institutional racism kept their leadership ranks disproportionately white and frequently poisoned the workplace.

This time, outrage began to have an

impact, as prominent figures fell from grace. At the Guggenheim Museum, a guest curator accused chief curator Nancy Spector of treating her in a racist manner.

Current and former staff complained of systemic racism at the museum, which did not hire a full-time Black curator until 2019, 60 years after its founding. Though a law firm hired by the Guggenheim cleared Spector, she resigned, and was replaced with the first Black person to hold the position, rising star Naomi Beckwith.

At a San Francisco Museum of Modern Art staff meeting, longtime senior curator Gary Garrels was defending the continued consideration of white male artists when he cited the need to avoid “reverse discrimination.” Ironically, Garrels championed making the collection more inclusive and had acquired pieces by Sam Gilliam and Alma Thomas, among other artists of color, with the proceeds from the sale of a Rothko. But an uproar ensued over his use of the loaded term, which is associated with foes of the civil-rights movement, and Garrels, too, resigned.

Virtually no institution was unscathed.

Directors at museums in Cleveland and Detroit left under clouds, though a powerful curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art held on to his job after deriding those in favor of removing whitesupremacist monuments as “revolutionary zealots”—on Juneteenth, no less.

The gaffe that perhaps best illustrated museums’ often lackluster attempts at progress occurred at the Whitney Museum of American Art, which planned an exhibition about protest art. But its method of collecting examples—from charity sales meant for the Black community, rather than with customary fees—infuriated the artists as a tone-deaf continuation of institutional degradation of Black artists.

At least the museum was consistent: It asked neither for artists’ permission to display their works nor for their input before promptly canceling the show.

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Three oil paintings

by Alice Neel: Jackie Curtis and Ritta Redd, 1970; View From the Artist’s Window, 1978; Self‑Portrait, 1980.

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Alice Neel: People Come First MUSEUM RETROSPECTIVE

Just when we could use a strong jolt of humanism, the Metro-

THE ESTATE OF ALICE NEEL

politan Museum of Art comes along with this spot-on retrospective of Alice Neel, an artist who spent much of her career making extraordinary portraits of ordinary people. The Met has assembled about 100 of her expressionistic paintings, drawings and watercolors, which also include streetscapes and still lifes, for the long-overdue examination (up until August 1) of a woman whom Met director Max Hollein calls “one of the [20th] century’s most radical painters.”

Well before it was fashionable, Neel, who died in 1984 at the age of 84, was deeply committed to social justice. Through decades when pure abstraction was the name of the game and figuration was out, she stuck to what moved her: New York City and the countless strands of humanity she encountered there, confronting forces both societal (the Great Depression, the Holocaust, the civil-rights movement) and personal (motherhood, sexual desire). Atypical for a white artist, she frequently chose people of color as her subjects, many of them neighbors in Spanish Harlem, where she lived and worked for more than 20 years. With a skilled hand, she authentically and unsentimentally depicted those more accustomed to being overlooked: immigrants and children, women who were pregnant or breastfeeding, LGBTQ individuals, political activists and others. The renderings are psychologically penetrating and often subversive, such as the nude self-portrait she made when she was 80.

Though she toiled in obscurity too long, Neel has become an influential force, touching such contemporary artists as 2020 Best of the Best “One to Watch” Jordan Casteel.

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GRIEF AND G R I E VA N C E : A RT A N D MOURNING IN AMERICA GROUP SHOW

(Solo), 2017, performance and installation; Kerry James Marshall, Untitled (policeman), 2015, acrylic on PVC panel with plexiglass frame; Julie Mehretu, Rubber Gloves (O.C.), 2018, ink and acrylic on canvas; Arthur Jafa, Love Is the Message, The Message Is Death, 2016, video still.

Years before the world heard of George Floyd, Breonna

Taylor and Daunte Wright, the late curator Okwui Enwezor conceived this exhibition at the New Museum examining Black Americans’ grief over racist violence “in the face of a politically orchestrated white grievance,” as he writes in the accompanying catalog. He had hoped it would open last October, before the presidential election. The pandemic delayed that plan, but nothing could blunt the impact of this show, which traces the perennial state of mourning in the Black community from slavery through the rise of lynchings and the Ku Klux Klan and into the current era, in which police brutality and mass incarceration remain burning issues.

The show features an all-star cast of 37 Black artists, including Mark Bradford, Kara Walker, Theaster Gates, Arthur Jafa, Julie Mehretu and Carrie Mae Weems, who make use of just about every medium, from painting to video, installation to sound. The art is nothing less than haunting, whether Kevin Beasley’s Strange Fruit (Pair 1), which borrows the title of Billie Holiday’s anti-lynching ballad for a dangling sculpture in which Air Jordans serve as stand-ins for a Black body, or images from LaToya Ruby Frazier’s “The Notion of Family,” a stark series of photographs capturing the economic and emotional fallout of perpetual racism in black and white.

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OKPOKWASILI: COURTESY THE ARTIST, PHOTO CAITLIN MCCARTHY; MARSHALL: COURTESY THE ARTIST AND JACK SHAINMAN G ALLERY, NEW YORK; MEHRETU: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST, WHITE CUBE, LONDON AND MARIAN GOODMAN G ALLERY, NEW YORK, PHOTO: TOM POWEL IMAGING;JAFA: COURTESY THE ARTIST AND GLADSTONE G ALLERY, NEW YORK AND BRUSSELS

FROM TOP: Okwui Okpokwasili, Poor People’s TV Room

Outdoor Art S AV I N G G R A C E

In this past strange loop of a year, when we’d exhausted every episode

of every series on every streaming service and baked enough bread to keep insulin manufacturers running overtime but were wary of stepping inside any enclosed structure that wasn’t our own home, there remained places of soul-renewing respite.

Outdoor art, whether in city plazas or rural sculpture parks, offered those who yearned for afternoons at museums or galleries a chance to contemplate something other than the pandemic. Visiting such beloved spots gave viewers a literal breath of fresh air, whether it was Anish Kapoor’s giant, mirrorlike “Bean” in Chicago’s Millennium Park or Martha Tuttle’s installation of 200 diminutive handcrafted glass and carved marble stones placed atop boulders across eight acres of field at the Storm King Art Center in upstate New York. Tuttle’s piece, on view through November 8, is titled A stone that thinks of Enceladus in a nod to the Saturn moon, the most reflective object in our solar system and a more than apt metaphor for the impulses the work inspires.

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MARK DI SUVERO: COURTESY THE ARTIST AND SPACETIME C.C., NY. PHOTO BY ANGELA PHAM / BFA. COM; MARTHA TUT TLE: COURTESY OF THE ARTIST AND TILTON G ALLERY. PHOTO BY MARTHA TUT TLE.

At Storm King Art Center, Mark di Suvero’s Mother Peace, 1969-70, painted steel. BELOW: A detail of Martha Tuttle’s A stone that thinks of Enceladus, 2020, stone, glass and marble.

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S TAT U E D E - I N S TA L L AT I O N S PUBLIC ART

Sometimes an empty plinth or even a hole in

the ground is preferable to a piece of public art. In the wake of Black Lives Matter protests and renewed conversations about what and whom we choose to honor in stone, scores of public statues—chief among them Confederate figures such as Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis—were carted off last year. Most were erected decades after the Civil War in an unsavory effort to recast white supremacists in a noble light.

In many instances, local governments or universities removed the tributes. In others, fed-up activists did the toppling, with ropes or chains. The trend caught on in Europe as well: In Belgium, statues glorifying the brutal Leopold II, who turned much of central Africa into his personal piggy bank at the expense of countless Black lives, were vandalized and dismantled, and in the UK, dozens of memorials to slave traders, colonialists and promulgators of racism came down.

“Finally” was the typical, but not universal, reaction among progressive-minded folk. Sir David Adjaye, the Ghanaian-British architect, told Robb Report last year that he is opposed to removing controversial memorials. He sees them as material reminders of painful episodes in history—reminders that should help us prevent repeating the same mistakes.

The Confederate Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Monument in Richmond, Va., being dismantled last July

D AV I D Z W I R N E R G A L L E RY When the pandemic struck, most galleries were caught flat-footed. Everyone had

a website, of course, and art dealers had grown accustomed to sending collectors JPEGs of artworks years ago. But a scant few actually had any sort of online exhibition program or strategy for selling without brick-and-mortar spaces or international art fairs.

David Zwirner, who presciently had commissioned McKinsey & Co. to help the gallery with a digital push in 2019, was well poised to pivot. “I realized that our industry is literally 10 years behind,” he told Robb Report last year, adding, “I wanted to start an internal digital revolution.” Shortly after New York and other cities shut down, his gallery unfurled an online program that ticked all the boxes: It was smart and visually compelling, with contributions from the likes of Jeff Koons, Lisa Yuskavage, Suzan Frecon and Kerry James Marshall; drew in new collectors; and managed to create a sense of urgency among heavy hitters who may have been hesitant to buy in uncertain times. It even put a spotlight on small, struggling galleries in the US and Europe that lacked the resources to develop a strong online presence of their own, giving them a selling platform, free of charge.

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Suzan Frecon, war, big, 2020, watercolor on Indian hemp paper

8 FRECON: COURTESY OF DAVID ZWIRNER; MONUMENT: STEVE HELBER

D I G I TA L P R O G R A M

R A F FA E L L O 1 5 2 0 – 1 4 8 3 B LO C K B U ST E R

This celebration of the Renaissance wunderkind on the 500th anniversary of his death at the age of 37 was meant to be a must-see historical exhibition that would bring even bigger hordes of tourists than usual to Rome. But when Covid hit, public-health measures forced the Scuderie del Quirinale to shut down the once-in-a-lifetime show just three days after it opened in March 2020. The curators regrouped and reopened in June, making the case that Raphael (as the English language styles him) was the period’s greatest painter.

The pandemic still precluded foreign visitors from making the pilgrimage, so the organizers decided to bring Raphael to them. A series of videos, available at scuderiequirinale.it (with English translations on YouTube), illuminate the exhibition of 120 works by the master as well as an additional 80 objects and artifacts assembled by curators. Like his archrival Michelangelo and the elder statesman Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael did not confine his ambitions to painting; he also made important contributions to architecture, classical archaeology and printmaking. But few would deny that his spectacular brushwork—capturing human emotion, fluidity of movement and exquisite detail, all in a brilliant palette—was the star of this show, whether in the pathos of his portrait of the walleyed Tommaso Inghirami or the radiant femininity of his women (Michelangelo could have stood a lesson from him on that count). Little wonder his patron Pope Leo X was said to have wept upon hearing news of Raphael’s untimely death.

Raffaello, Madonna and Child With Saint John the Baptist (Alba Madonna), circa 1510, oil on panel transferred to canvas

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

RAFFAELLO: NATIONAL G ALLERY OF ART, WASHINGTON; ILLUSTRATION: PAOLA WICIAK

Janelle Reiring and Helene Winer When Janelle Reiring and Helene Winer opened Metro Pictures in New York’s SoHo in 1980, Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo were among the artists in the inaugural exhibition. More than 40 years later, when the partners jolted the art world with their decision to close the gallery, now in Chelsea, at year’s end, Sherman and Longo were still on the roster, along with other stalwarts, including Louise Lawler, Isaac Julien and Olaf Breuning. To say such mutual loyalty is a rarity in the art world is a severe understatement. But Winer and Reiring are old-school dealers who hold that “a gallery is only as good as the artists it shows,” Reiring tells Robb Report.

And Metro Pictures’ artists were more than good;

they were exceptional.

Before teaming up, Winer had worked at the nonprofit Artists Space and Reiring for the eminent Leo Castelli. The women, friends since high school, were both fluent

in the difficult, esoteric art of the 1970s but were drawn to a more accessible style they saw emerging.

“Suddenly, there were these young artists who had really interesting ideas

and were also making these attractive images,” Reiring says. Sherman, with her iconic photographs exploring female identity, was at the forefront of this “Pictures Generation,” and Metro

Pictures quickly became the place to see and buy the game-changing art—and a bigger, broader scope of collectors did indeed buy.

In recent years, as prices skyrocketed and a handful of mega-galleries swallowed up ever larger chunks of the market, respected establishments that were not expansionminded, like Metro Pictures, found it tougher to compete, and the partners sensed the pandemic would usher in a markedly changed art world. The days when, as Reiring recalls, artists’ definition of success was “to sell a piece now and then, and have an article in Artforum,” may be long gone, but Reiring and Winer’s contributions to contemporary art are indelible.

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Frick Madison REIMAGINED COLLECTION

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Old masters haven’t looked this young and fresh for

centuries. In March the Frick Collection, which has been housed in founder Henry Clay Frick’s Fifth Avenue mansion since its opening in 1935, temporarily decamped a few blocks away to the Whitney Museum’s Marcel Breuer building (which most recently served as the Met Breuer) while its Gilded Age home undergoes an expansion.

Titians, Gainsboroughs and Veroneses in midcentury Brutalist architecture may sound like a recipe for indigestion, but in a case of opposites attracting, it actually works. Perhaps the Frick’s ornate mansion was a

distraction, a kind of fantasy of how robber barons lived with their masterpieces a century ago, whereas here in the Breuer it’s all about the exceptionally well-lit art, now organized chronologically and geographically in intimate galleries. If Rembrandt’s 1658 self-portrait, his face marked by age, doesn’t give you goose bumps, then perhaps Vermeer’s Mistress and Maid, the last work Frick acquired before his death in 1919, will. Fine examples of European and Asian porcelain, Indian carpets and French furniture also made the trip, and yes, Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert, one of the museum’s most popular works, has pride of place.

THE FRICK COLLECTION: FRICK ART REFERENCE LIBRARY, PHOTO: JOE COSCIA

Installation view of Bellini’s St. Francis in the Desert, circa 1476–78, oil on panel, at the Frick Madison

BEEPLE AUCTION GAME CHANGER

heard of a “non-fungible token,” or NFT, let alone the pseudonymous Beeple, who created one titled Everydays: The First 5000 Days, a montage of digitally rendered images that—surely, you did hear—sold for $69 million in cryptocurrency at Christie’s on that date.

Art critics were aghast (Beeple?), as were environmentalists: Creating an NFT, which is a unit of data stamped with a unique, verifiable code and stored on a blockchain, eats up an astounding amount of electricity.

But NFTs quickly claimed their place in pop culture, albeit with a strong undercurrent of snarky skepticism: A New York Times journalist raised money for charity by selling an NFT of his column about NFTs; an artist called Fridge put up a billboard in SoHo featuring a scannable QR code and titled Nothing Fucking There; a man auctioned an NFT of his famous 2017 tweet of a sad cheese-sandwich “dinner” in take-out Styrofoam served at the fraudulent Fyre Festival. Even so, the establishment signaled it wasn’t laughing off the sensation as a gimmick when the blue-chip Pace Gallery teamed with the legit artist Urs Fischer to release an NFT series. Only naïfs would be foolish enough to think we won’t be seeing more of the phenomenon.

Beeple, Everydays: The First 5000 Days, 2021

J AC O B L AW R E N C E : T H E A M E R I C A N S T RU G G L E (LITERAL) REDISCOVERY

A Jacob Lawrence exhibition is always a treat. Last year, the Peabody

Essex Museum in Salem, Massachusetts, mounted a show of his series “Struggle: From the History of the American People,” which recounts our democracy’s development with a focus on women, people of color and laborers in a cubist-inflected style and saturated colors.

The revered Black artist painted 30 panels for the project from 1954 to 1956, and though a single collector purchased the lot, he later dispersed the individual pieces. Curators were able to track down 25.

But when the show traveled to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, a sharp-eyed visitor became convinced that one of the lost panels was hanging in her neighbors’ apartment on the Upper West Side. The museum authenticated the painting as Panel 16, and its owners, who’d bought the depiction of Shays’ Rebellion for about $100 at a local charity auction in 1960, allowed it to join the exhibition. The celebratory publicity about the find inspired a nurse just a few blocks away to take a closer look at a painting of immigrants her mother-in-law had given her 20 years ago. It turned out to be Panel 28. With three missing works to go, the exhibition still has one more destination: the Phillips Collection in Washington, D.C., where it’s scheduled to open June 26.

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Jacob Lawrence’s Panel 16, “There are combustibles in every State, which a spark might set fire to.” — Washington, 26 December 1786, 1956, egg tempera on hardboard

BEEPLE: COURTESY OF CHRISTIE’S; LAWRENCE: THE JACOB AND GWENDOLYN KNIGHT LAWRENCE FOUNDATION, SEAT TLE / ARTISTS RIGHTS SOCIET Y (ARS), NEW YORK

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SPE C I A L A D V ER T ISIN G SE C T I O N

Caring, Compassion, Commitment The Fuente Family’s Focus Goes Beyond Their Success

Even though Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. heads the largest family-owned premium cigar company in the world, he has always said, “It’s not about cigars, it’s about the people.” This is evident in everything the family does, from its numerous charities to its very own, Cigar Family Charitable Foundation.

Another notable example of Carlito’s creed of combining cigars with compassion is the Don Carlos, a 5¼ x 50 robusto that was the personal cigar for Carlito’s father, Don Carlos Fuente Sr., with its Cameroon wrapper and Don Carlos’ addition of two extra half-leaves of ligero in the filler. As a tribute to his late father, Carlito created an even more personalized version, The Man, which incorporates the rarest OpusX wrapper from the family’s Château de la Fuente farms along with a vintage binder and 10-yearold filler tobaccos from that same fabled growing area.

Additionally, new Don Carlos sizes are coming.

Not only have the many innovative Fuente cigars won numerous accolades from Robb Report, including multiple Best of the Best awards, the family’s philosophy of “giving back” culminated in Carlito receiving Robb Report’s coveted Humanitarian Award last year.

“Robb Report brought a smile to my heart,” said Carlito.

“This is a huge honor, which I don’t take lightly. We continue to accomplish so much for these children’s lives now and for the future. The Humanitarian recognition brightened me up during the difficult days in which we are living.”

Past Best of the Best Honors: 2020, 2014, 2011, 2010, 2007,

2006, 2005, 2003, 2001, 2000, 1999, 1998

The family’s tradition of dedicating not only their products but themselves to the causes they believe in is evident with the recent creation of Rare Pink, a limited-edition cigar created and inspired by the innovative and resilient personality of Carlito’s daughter, Liana Fuente, the company’s vice president of brand development, who has long been a crusader in the fight against breast cancer.

In lieu of gifts for her 40th birthday, Liana raised funds for breast cancer research to honor her grandmother, Lidia Diaz, who lost her battle to the disease.

Rare Pink cigars use Nicaraguan tobaccos from their farm in Estelí and a special Ecuadorian wrapper grown by the famous Oliva family. With its bright pink box and pink-accented bands, these Dominican figurados come in four sizes: Short Story, Signature, Work of Art and Happy Ending (an exclusive Rare Pink shape).

Liana declared that if they raised $40,000, her father could cut off her long, wavy hair and donate it to those in need. Carlito was so moved by his daughter that he shaved off his signature moustache—after she more than doubled her goal. Thanks to the generosity of their family, friends and close-knit cigar community, the Fuentes have contributed over $100,000 through their philanthropic efforts. With more Rare Pink sizes coming, the Fuente family will continue to donate a portion of the proceeds to breast cancer research.

“Nothing will discourage me in my fight to make a difference and to find a cure for this terrible disease,” says Liana, reflecting on her family’s motto that “the most important thing in life is giving back.”

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REAL ESTATE

By Lucy Alexander

City dwellers experienced a once-

THE BIG IDEA

The Urban Exodus

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

in-a-generation collective primal urge last year: escape. Like Roman aristocrats and wealthy Londoners during plague pandemics of yore, many of us chose to head for the healthful air of the countryside.

Those who lacked a well-appointed bolt-hole urged their brokers to acquire one pronto, sparking bidding wars in spacious suburbs and resort towns such as the Hamptons. Sales of South Fork homes priced at more than $2 million rose 156 percent in the last quarter of 2020 compared to the previous year, while one village, Quogue, saw an increase of 388 percent, according to Corcoran. Some ex-urbanites have enrolled children in local schools and plan to stay put indefinitely. Snowbirds who used to migrate annually to Florida

hot spots such as Boca Raton are now feathering permanent nests there.

As with the switch to digital working, Covid-19 accelerated a pre-existing trend. Coldwell Banker reported inventory in Los Angeles has outpaced sales for several years now, thanks to the desire for lower tax burdens offered by states such as Texas, Nevada, Arizona, Washington and Colorado. Sales in Aspen duly jumped 103 percent in 2020.

The same held true in San Francisco, where one realtor says, “The exodus is unlike anything I’ve seen in my 28 years of selling San Francisco real estate . . . with affluent residents just feeling it was time for a new life outside the city.” Bay Area fugitives left for low-tax states or holed up in Napa and Lake Tahoe.

And what did we buy? Compounds: sprawling estates that can house the extended family, with room for a full complement of staff, a suite of home offices, on-site learning pods and extensive leisure amenities. While a Peloton bike and a firepit might have cut it in 2019, this last year contractors installed wellness complexes, meditation chambers and infinity pools.

Extreme versions of the same impulse for sumptuous seclusion drove a spike in demand for private islands and second passports. Real-estate investment is a path to citizenship in Caribbean countries such as Dominica and Grenada and EU member states such as Malta. One immigration lawyer noted there had even been a rush on third and fourth passports, saying, “In the face of risk, families are diversifying their . . . nationalities, not unlike how investors diversify their portfolios.”

This new primacy of the rural retreat may reflect permanent priority shifts.

According to one broker, “I don’t think anyone from this generation will want to risk finding themselves without an escape.”

R E A L E S TAT E R O B B R E P O R T. C O M

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Oil Nut Bay British Virgin Islands NEW ISLAND COMMUNITY

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Caribbean second-home resorts have seen their occupancy patterns shift

in the past year from short vacation stays to long-term residency, thanks to the WFH boom. David Johnson, the man behind Oil Nut Bay, a 400acre development on the northeastern tip of Virgin Gorda in the British Virgin Islands, has said that the island’s eight-month lockdown allowed construction to accelerate to meet pent-up demand.

Oil Nut Bay is a low-density resort accessible only by boat, seaplane or helicopter, and will eventually comprise 117 homes. Homeowners drawn to Virgin Gorda’s 10-month season and calm waters have so far invested more than $400 million, with five splashing out $35 million or more each.

The resort focuses on sailing and yachting, but amenities run the gamut: a 93-slip marina, a private beach club with three pools and a swim-up bar, a fitness center, tennis courts, a kids’ club, three fine-dining options and two helipads.

Lots range from $1.65 million to $25 million, while pre-constructed villas go for $2.95 million to $39.5 million. A 5,807-square-foot house with direct beach access listed in December for $19.5 million, with six bedrooms and an infinity pool. The most expensive home was designed by Johnson himself, a modern five-bedroom hilltop mansion stretching across 8,000 square feet, with a zero-edge pool and a separate one-bedroom guesthouse, for $39.5 million.

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1 1 5 F R A N C I S C O WAY Telluride, Colo.

M O U N TA I N R E T R E AT

As you ascend the winding 10-minute drive

from Telluride airport, the firelit windows of this 11,512-square-foot ski lodge wink through silvery aspen groves beneath the white peaks of the San Juan Mountains. Basically everyone’s fantasy mountain retreat, the home was designed in the 1990s by Tom Cruise, who gradually snapped up parcels of land until he acquired the current 320 acres, which include snowmobile trails and a separate three-bedroom guest cottage.

The house is tucked beneath 13,213-foot Campbell Peak and offers panoramic views of Telluride and its encircling mountains. Inside are cedar walls, stone fireplaces, snug dens, large living spaces, four en suite bedrooms, a gym, a home office and a billiards room that once held Cruise’s movie scripts.

The latter were shown to Oprah Winfrey as part of a tour of the house during Cruise’s 2008 televised interview. But the woodsy seven-bedroom compound, which sold in May for $39.5 million with LIV Sotheby’s International Realty, is impressive regardless of celebrity sparkle.

In any ordinary year, a faded, century-old complex

decorated in the style of yesteryear, with 19 structures in need of an upgrade and 74 acres of gardens to maintain, might be a hard sell. Not this year.

Family compounds have been in hot demand, and Green Gables in Woodside, Silicon Valley’s costliest enclave, is a rare offering.

For a start, it’s the Bay Area’s most expensive listing, at $135 million, according to Christie’s International Real Estate. And despite its age—it was built in 1911—the same principles underlie its design and purpose as motivate the Covid-era compound dweller, namely privacy, immersion in nature and keeping family close but not too close. The estate, designed by the Arts and Crafts architect Charles Sumner Greene, contains seven homes (32 bedrooms in all), including the main 10,000-square-foot residence, none of which are visible from the others.

The property is being sold by the descendants of Mortimer Fleishhacker, a San Francisco banking and hydroelectric-power magnate who commissioned it as a summer retreat for his family.

Greene even hand-carved some of the furniture and wood paneling.

But the chief beauty of the estate is its spectacular gardens and woodlands, including a 300-foot stone swimming pool set within classical arcades, and the views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. On the grounds are two other pools, a teahouse, a tennis court, an artist’s studio and a private reservoir.

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L’ Î L E D ’A N G E S The Exumas, Bahamas BEACH HOUSE

The pandemic sparked a rush of interest in private islands, which morphed from fantasy

getaway to realistic WFH isolation investment overnight. Island brokers describe 2020 as a market like no other in terms of inquiries. Actual purchases have remained somewhat more elusive, as the infrastructure and maintenance workload can be off-putting.

Buyers wanted “turnkey” islands, and few are as hassle-free and idyllic as L’île d’Anges, a four-bedroom, 20-acre escape in the Exumas developed by the country musicians Faith Hill and Tim McGraw.

The island, also known as Goat Cay, is for sale via Knight Frank for $35 million. Hill and McGraw purchased it in 2003 as a “raw, uninhabited island, full of potential,” according to the agent, and built the current sprawling residence. The 6,517-square-foot main house and bell tower stand in the center of the island, commanding 360-degree ocean views. A central open-plan living area with retractable glass walls connects to four large bedroom suites via a nearly 5,000-square-foot network of covered walkways and verandas. The whitewashed beachside residence is ready to move into, as are two large yurts on the white-sand beach, which can withstand hurricanes and extra guests.

The undulating island, an 80-minute flight from Miami, has almost 1.3 miles of palmfringed waterfront and a private dock, as well as 6,000 square feet of outbuildings, including three two-bedroom villas, engineering facilities and mechanical storage. Installing these necessities is the unglamorous side of island life, but here you can relax on the beach knowing that work has already been done for you.

Chicago Tribune Tower Residences N E W U R B A N D E V E LO P M E N T

If you’ve ever dreamt of living among the

pinnacles and decorative tracery of Notre Dame, except with a jaw-dropping pool, spa and private dog park, the new residences at the Chicago Tribune Tower are the answer to your rather specific prayers. Built to great fanfare in 1925 after a global competition won by John Mead Howells and Raymond Hood, the neo-Gothic tower modeled on Rouen Cathedral was home to the eponymous newspaper until 2018.

During the building’s construction in the 1920s, foreign correspondents were dispatched to collect chunks of historic monuments and send them home to be embedded in the new tower, so residents will sleep close to entombed off-cuts of the Taj Mahal, Edinburgh Castle and the Great Wall of China.

The tower, with its 1964 “Chicago Tribune” sign—which will stay suspended and visible from the glass-walled pool—is adorned with flourishes such as flying buttresses and gargoyles.

Developers CIM Group (famed for New York’s supertall at 432 Park Ave.) and Golub & Co. began sales in 2019, and residents will begin to move in this year. Pricing for the 162 Art Deco units ranges from $900,000 to north of $7 million. The loveliest apartments feature quirky window shapes and skyline views filtered through ornate stone carvings.

The grand Michigan Avenue lobby, with its solemn quotes carved into marble, has been preserved, and owners will have access to a 25th-floor roof deck inside the octagonal “crown” of the tower—complete with herb garden, a firepit and views, through the flying buttresses, of Lake Michigan.

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Chilham Castle Kent, England CASTLE

This estate may be a grand manor house masquer-

ading as a castle, ornamental crenellations and all, but in every other way it’s the real deal. Built in 1612 on the site of a keep dating from 709, it has all the essential components of an English country house: mullioned windows, linenfold wood paneling, massive stone fireplaces, molded plaster ceilings, wine cellars, a library, several pantries, a room just for storing cutlery, staff quarters and a liberal distribution of antlers. The coral-colored

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brick house stands in 300 acres of terraced lawns, herbaceous borders and parkland, enclosing a kitchen garden, a lake with boathouse, two tennis courts, a vineyard, two gate lodges and extensive stables and paddocks.

With 11 reception rooms, 14 bedrooms in the main house (plus five in the gate lodges) and 12 bathrooms, the estate has 33,734 square feet of historic living space to get lost in. It wouldn’t be an English manor house without a few eccentrici-

ties, and here these come in the form of the layout, which is a hexagon missing one side, and a 1920s indoor marble pool.

The current owners, who open the gardens to the public, have completed a full restoration. Previous proprietors include several kings of England, not least Henry VIII. The castle sits on the edge of the picture-perfect village of Chilham, 57 miles from Central London. What more could you want for your $21 million?

5 5 5 W E S T E N D AV E N U E New York City PENTHOUSE

In 1907, the New York Protestant Episcopal School Corporation

O N E T O WAT C H

Paul Scialla

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Paul Scialla has quietly been developing Delos, his real-estate wellness company, for eight years, but it’s only now that we are beginning to pay attention. His creed, that our health can be ameliorated by improving building design, has been powered by the pandemic, going from, in his words, “a nice-to-have to a musthave” in just one year.

Pre-Covid, Scialla tells Robb Report, “one out of 100 people in the world had an awareness of indoorair-quality issues.” Now that we’re all suddenly fluent in the patois of particulate matter, HEPA filters and respiratory aerosols, “that number is

99 out of 100 people.”

Scialla, 47, left Goldman Sachs in 2013 to set up Delos, convinced sustainable building could apply as much to the wellbeing of its occupants as to the green credentials of its construction. The company now offers high-tech, smarthealth features that are increasingly incorporated into new builds, such as a $20 million home in Corona del Mar, Calif., and luxury Florida condo developments such as Villa Valencia in Coral Gables.

In the past year, demand has shot “through the roof,” he says.

Delos’s Darwin system monitors a range of

metrics, including indoor and outdoor air quality, indoor temperature and the weather, via a network of sensors and third-party data, recalibrating as needed. It also remediates water quality and adjusts the lighting and acoustics.

The system automatically mitigates toxins from your hair spray or burning toast and wakes you gently by impersonating the sunrise.

Scialla plans to level up the healthy home by integrating its technology with wearables, to allow, for example, lighting systems to synchronize with sleeping patterns. The aim, he says, is to merge “the quantified space and the quantified self.”

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

opened a school on the corner of West End Avenue and West 87th St. Designed by William Alciphron Boring, the ornate brickand-limestone “Collegiate Gothic” edifice, as described by New York’s Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC), is anything but boring. Today, the building, most recently St. Agnes Boys High School, houses luxury condos, the work of developer Cary Tamarkin, who bought the building from the Archdiocese of New York in 2014.

Tamarkin persuaded the LPC to let him build a new penthouse layer (hidden from the street) above the existing top floor, creating a sun-filled, 8,429-square-foot duplex. In March, it listed for $42 million with Sotheby’s International Realty and Compass.

Boring, who also co-designed the Ellis Island Immigration Station, was a founder of the Society of Beaux-Arts Architects, and 555 West End Ave. is commensurably grand. From the openplan dining area, the view is of the Manhattan skyline framed by crenellated parapets, which flank one of several terraces.

Downstairs are six en suite bedrooms with arched windows, alongside a living room, converted from the former school gymnasium, with a 22-foot, barrel-vaulted ceiling crowned by a skylight and a dramatic glass wall that opens to a patio. The modern millwork by Christopher Peacock is muted and chic. This is a rare conversion that preserves and heightens the beauty of the original building.

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M O N I TO R’ S R E ST Park City, Utah AMENITIES

“Amenities” became a significant buzzword when

our worlds shrank to the perimeter of our homes.

If you had a pool, garden, study and room for the nanny, you could comfortably hunker in your bunker. But there is no bunker quite like Monitor’s Rest, a 17,567-square-foot ski retreat being completed in Park City, Utah.

In the Amenity Wars of 2021, it is not enough to have a humidor and a porte cochere. To live out the end times in true comfort, you’ll need a dog door, dog walk and dog wash station, a prep kitchen with a gift-wrap area, a fitness studio filled with TechnoGym equipment and then a separate stretching room, hammam, infrared sauna, plunge pool, ice fountain and Himalayan salt room.

Perhaps also a bowling lane, shuffleboard, pinball, golf simulator and sunken lounge with climate-controlled wine storage? Definitely a sports court for pickleball, volleyball, basketball and racquetball, with a spectator lounge and 27-foot rock-climbing wall. Not to mention a ski-tuning room with hydration bar and—go on, then—an “adventure garage” for your bikes and ATVs. Monitor’s Rest—a $38 million ski-in, ski-out compound in the Colony, a gated community in White Pine Canyon—will have all of these, along with a living room that converts to a theater via motorized partition panels and a drop-down 200inch 4K screen. Plus more: a Darwin home wellness system (see One to Watch, page 226), a library, a heated driveway, a guesthouse, parking for 20 cars, a hot tub and a 60-foot pool. Oh, and a few mundane necessities such as a nice kitchen and seven bedrooms.

C H E R RY H I L L Surrey, England HISTORIC HOME

The Wentworth Estate, a collection of multimillion-dollar homes surrounding a

clutch of golf courses in Surrey, is known for its famous residents, including sports stars, Russian businessmen and, briefly, Augusto Pinochet. Amid the neo-Georgian mansions stands a jewel of modernist design and historical significance, Cherry Hill, the former home of John Hay Whitney during his time as President Eisenhower’s ambassador to the UK. Just off the fourth fairway lie four immaculately landscaped acres surrounding 14,500 square feet of 1930s modernism—all white curved walls and geometric chrome, marble and glass. Designed by Oliver Hill for coal heiress Katherine Hannah Newton, it was bought by Whitney in 1958 and used as his summer home annually until his death in 1982.

As ambassador, Whitney used his vast personal wealth to dazzle the English establishment, who, in the austere post-war period, were very receptive to being dazzled.

He became close friends with the royal family through his love of Thoroughbred racing and displayed part of his famous art collection at Cherry Hill.

After his death, the house fell into decline but has been painstakingly restored using materials favored by Hill’s contemporary Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, such as Macassar-ebony veneers and Verde Tinos marble. A new wing contains a double-height reception room, two bedrooms (there are six in total) and an underground pool. This is Cherry Hill’s second recent foray on the market, having been listed for just over $40 million in 2017. Savills has coyly listed it as “price on application.”

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WINE

By Janice O’Leary and Sara L. Schneider Photography by Jessica Miller, Styling by Francesca Gabrielle

THE BIG IDEA

Women at the Helm A fresh generation of brilliant women are

steering the wine industry, from small houses to the world’s most respected estates. This past year especially has seen exciting young, new executives and winemakers taking the lead.

In Bordeaux, Saskia de Rothschild has become the first female chair of Domaines Barons de Rothschild (Lafite), with eight industry-leading properties on three continents. At 34, she’s the youngest person now heading up a Grand Cru

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

Bordeaux estate (you might have heard of it: Château Lafite Rothschild). She’s already making changes, such as farming completely organically this year for the first time. She’s also dusting off age-old practices for the Bordeaux region, shifting the 2019 en primeur tasting to a virtual one for select critics and buyers, but also using her background as a journalist to bring the region to life via social media and broaden the audience for the region’s wines.

When she first arrived at DBR, no

women sat on the board or led any of the domaines. Now two do: the winemaker at Château l’Évangile and a head of R&D. Rothschild says, “This hasn’t been done consciously as positive discrimination. It happened because these women had the best profiles for these positions. It’s a sign of general change in the industry that we now have equal talent in both genders.”

Also in France, Vitalie Taittinger has taken over as president of the venerable Champagne Taittinger. Like Rothschild, she has been pushing for greater sustainability and organic farming, to great success. In California, Remi Cohen has been named CEO of Domaine Carneros, Taittinger’s West Coast sparkling-wine powerhouse.

That over half of the Domaine Carneros management team are women might make it seem like an incubator for a unique “female management style.”

But Cohen pushes back on that question.

“Some believe that women may be more empathetic. But that isn’t something I think about. Plenty of men have those characteristics, and many women don’t.

What’s most important is a diverse leadership and team. Studies have shown that companies with people of diverse backgrounds tend to perform better and attract a broader customer base.”

In Sonoma, Hélène Seillan is now the leading hand on the ground for Vérité, having worked with her father, Pierre Seillan, who oversees Vérité as well as Château Lassègue in Saint-Émilion and Arcanum in Tuscany. At smaller estates around Napa and Sonoma, assistant winemakers are filling the pipelines for the future, and others are coming into their own, such as Laura Díaz Muñoz, at Ehlers Estate, who has forged a beautiful bottle of a varietal rarely experienced on its own, Petit Verdot. A certain willingness toward adaptation characterizes this new generation, and already the wines are better for it.

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H A R L A N E S TAT E 2017 Napa Valley WINNER

When Bill Harlan acquired his first acres of raw

land in the western hills of Oakville, with the vision of producing a wine that in time would be recognized among the first growths of the world, he didn’t rush. Along the way, Harlan (the wine and the vintner) might have inspired competition among Napa Valley reds that at its peak pushed past nuance for the sake of lushness and power. But for this vintner, it was never about explosive style. It was about the land, about slowly learning its requirements and expressions. “Much of the character of the wine comes from the fact that the vineyards are next to these wild lands, this forest,” says Harlan.

The Harlan Estate 2017 seems a vivid reflection of place, benefiting from those years of study and the age of the vines. Floral notes mingle with forest, tobacco, mint, spice and crushed rock, while mountain herbs season rich layers of cassis and dark mocha through an endless, elegant finish. It’s bold and structured (in fine-tannin style), but also seamless, fresh and graceful.

Winemaker Cory Empting describes the challenges of the 2017 season in three words: heat and fire. During the final, brutal heat of the summer, the vines shut down, and when the fog returned, sugars actually retreated as tannins ripened. He was given a second chance, harvesting most of the fruit at pinpoint ripeness before the devastating fires of October. His luck has become ours. $1,620

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TA I T T I N G E R 2 0 0 8 COMTES DE C H A M PA G N E Blanc de Blancs C H A M PAG N E

It’s no real surprise that the effervescent win-

ner this year hails from the 2008 harvest.

That vintage continues to be one of the most outstanding of the millennium for Champagne. Taittinger extended the aging process for an extra two years for this bottle, with the result being that, much as we wanted to move on to the early issues of 2012s and the slew of non-vintage Champagnes that came this year, it was a 2008 that captured our palates once again.

Comtes de Champagne is Taittinger’s superlative expression: made exclusively from Chardonnay grapes from the coveted Côtes de Blancs and only in the best years, freeing it from overly tart influences of apple and lemon sometimes seen in Champagnes.

It has just the right notes of toasty brioche, without veering into buttery tones, cut by the perfect degree of saline minerality. Its fine bubble is almost imperceptible. The wine’s delicate nature balances beautifully with powerful aromas of pear and orange blossom, while the hint of honey on the finish calls you to chase it with yet another sip. $240

RU I NA RT C H A M PA G N E S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y

For any brand mulling its carbon footprint,

shipping eventually raises its polluting head.

In wine, the problem is especially fraught: Protection can’t be compromised in the name of sustainability. Ruinart toiled for two years, creating seven prototypes before devising a solution with an innovative “second skin.”

The molded paper shell serves as both a layer against the elements and an elegant dinner jacket. Made of cellulose fibers from eco-managed European forests, the skin is nine times lighter than previous gift boxes the wines were shipped in, which results in a 60 percent reduction in carbon emissions.

It’s recyclable, obviously, while also enhancing the bottle’s elegant sensibility.

Its preservation chops impress as much as the eco stats. Wine needs safeguarding against light as well as bumps in the road. A new technique infused the cellulose with a natural metal oxide that reinforced opacity.

The matte textured skin also resists water, maintaining its integrity in refrigerated shipping and even, for several hours, in a bucket of ice. As befits a Champagne maison, a discreet monogrammed “button” releases it into your grateful hands.

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PENFOLDS T H E H AT T R I C K

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

When Rolando Herrera starting working in the wine biz, he didn’t like the taste of vinified grapes. But that changed once he tasted from a barrel at Stag’s Leap, the vineyard where he learned so many of the lessons he carried forward to Mi Sueño, the winery he and his wife, Lorena, started 24 years ago.

“Suddenly I understood this is what people are talking about,” he says.

Rolando moved to Napa Valley from Mexico with his family at age eight. A few years later they moved back, but he returned as a teen, enrolling in high school and finding work.

He and Lorena met in church and dated for a decade, before marrying in 1997. That same year, they purchased some grapes and decided to crush them on their own.

Now, with Mi Sueño, they produce around 15 wines annually. They started with a Chardonnay, making just 200 cases that first year, and quickly reached acclaim. Their third vintage, the 1999, was poured at the White House.

Gradually they acquired eight vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Valleys.

The wines are known

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for their consistency, a trait Rolando chalks up to “having 100 percent control of the land, as farmer, grower and winemaker.

When you farm your own land, you can make changes necessary to ripen your fruit,” he says.

While Rolando and Lorena have reached a kind of pinnacle and their newly released 2017 Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon may just be the best they’ve made, they’re far from done. A quarter of their Petaluma Gap land will go to white Bordeaux varietals, and some to other grapes rarely seen in the region, such as Albariño, Riesling and Viognier.

But the Herreras’ success isn’t easy to emulate. “As beautiful as this industry is, it’s still very competitive. The amount of capital you need is enormous.” Rolando believes that’s the biggest barrier for other immigrants and people of color. “I got into the industry so young. I didn’t have to hire people, I already knew so much about it,” he says.

“I just needed the money to get started, and back then, that was $60,000.

Now you need hundreds of thousands.”

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

Rolando and Lorena Herrera

In a year of many lows, Australia’s Penfolds managed a remarkable high: a trio of fine wines. To begin, in August of 2020, the producer issued g4, the second edition in its planned triumvirate of cuvées of its most collected Shiraz: Grange. Then it followed up with the 2016 Grange, which fast became a critical darling.

Finally, in early spring, it launched four groundbreaking new bottles of its California Collection.

Each of the 2,500 bottles of g4 is numbered and has an elegantly simple label that’s a departure from a typical example of Grange. But this bottle is far from typical. Its tagline, “Greater than the sum of its parts,” is something that could be said of nearly any Penfolds wine, but it resonates as especially true of this mix of

vintage years: 2002, 2004, 2008 and 2016. Chief winemaker Peter Gago says, “These four Grange vintages are among our favorites of the last two decades.” And we’d say their sum, in the shape of this g4, is among our favorite wines of the last two decades.

The California Collection debuted in early 2021, introducing two special bottles, designated as “wines of the world” for their inclusion of fermented juice made on two continents. The premium Quantum Bin 98 is made with Shiraz from Australia and Cabernet Sauvignon from Napa Valley, and the delicious all-Cab Bin 149 is named for the 14.9 percent of Aussie Cabernet in its blend. The two other bottles include fruit from multiple California AVAs—a rare practice Stateside— and Penfolds’ Shiraz cuttings planted in the US more than 20 years ago. Few producers could pull off such a hat trick in sequential years, let alone in a matter of eight months. 2016 Grange, $850; g4, $2,500; Quantum, $700; Bin 149, $149; Bin 704, $70; Bin 600, $50.

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B E AU M A RC H A I S 2019 Clos Pepe Vineyard Est Sta. Rita Hills, Santa Barbara County PINOT NOIR

When French winemakers set their sights on

West Coast Pinot Noir, they usually land in Oregon, which aligns on many fronts with Burgundy. But Philippe Cambi, a multi­100­ point winemaker—a.k.a. the Grenache whis­ perer of Châteauneuf­du­Pape—had never made a Pinot, so he had no Burgundian ref­ erence points when he partnered with his friend Adam Lee to apply his whispering skills to California Pinot.

Together, he and Lee—widely known for Pinots under the Siduri and Clarice Wine Company brands—deliver opulently styled California Pinot Noir from three sites: one in Monterey’s Santa Lucia Highlands, the other two from Clos Pepe Vineyard in Santa Barbara’s Santa Rita Hills. This winner leads with lovely minerality, savory tobacco and licorice, but then exudes sweet fruit over fine tannins. It’s a long, lush, textural wine.

Under the direction of one of France’s most respected winemakers, the inaugural Beau Marchais Pinots carry more new­world character than most of Lee’s other versions.

But they’re beautiful, a new voice among the West Coast’s world­class Pinot Noirs. $95

K O S TA B R O W N E 2018 El Diablo Vineyard Chardonnay, Russian River Valley C H A R D O N N AY

As great California Chardonnay continues

to distance itself from the stereotypical style built around oak and butter, Julien How­ sepian, winemaker at Kosta Browne, creates a considerable distance between that cliché and this rich but intensely vibrant white.

Savory, wet­stone minerality opens on the nose, intriguingly layered with exotic cit­ rus, orchard blossoms, hints of tropical fruit and crème brûlée. Contradictions abound on the palate: The Chardonnay is mouth­filling and textural to the extreme, but it’s also del­ icate. Bright apple toggles with stone fruit and lemon zest. Distinctive mouthfeel is the goal, according to Howsepian; he has even introduced some foot­treading to create more solids in the cause of richness.

Would he compare it to France’s great Chardonnays? Not so fast. “We strive to one day evoke California Chardonnay across the globe in a similar vein as Burgundy, in terms of quality and distinction,” he says. “But it’s important for us to remain unique and sty­ listically at arm’s length.” $160

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OLIVIER BERNSTEIN 2018 Mazis-Chambertin Grand Cru, Burgundy

APERTURE: JOE FLETCHER

BURGUNDY

A P E RT U R E E S TAT E TA S T I N G R O O M

If a wine can be a lens on the terroir of a vineyard, then this new tasting

center certainly qualifies as a lens on the specific winery it’s now joined to and on its proprietors. Sonoma Valley’s Aperture Estate was founded by the father-son team of Andy and Jesse Katz, with son Jesse taking the lead in winemaking. Andy is a professional photographer, and his work in that realm helped inspire this stunning hospitality space, from the gallery-like white interior to the building’s octagonal shape (like the shutter on a camera’s lens) to the center oculus in the ceiling that lets light stream in from above.

The bold, modern space ditches the old tasting-room model of shellacked wood and dark interiors in favor of light and bright, with industrial materials, such as the custom-made concrete tables on the patio. The project was a collaboration between the Katzes and Signum Architecture and H. Palmer Design for the interiors. Massive windows open to the patio, showcasing the vines and encouraging an indoor-outdoor flow for guests.

The sleek tasting bar looks like something you’d find in a Michelin-starred restaurant, providing plenty of space for guests to experience Jesse’s Bordeaux-style wines. And, of course, Andy’s work lines the walls. The space officially opened in July 2020, with in-person tastings. Several private lounges can host small groups for special sips of bottles available only on-site. Expect catered wine-pairing dinners and events to begin this fall.

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Bernstein is likely almost unknown to most American Pinot Noir fans, but his wines are well worth discovering. Affable and approachable, he has none of the sniffiness you’ll sometimes find from top châteaux.

Maybe that’s because Bernstein doesn’t have his own domaine. Yet. Having made some scratch in the transportation world first, in 2000 he turned toward winemaking and, later, the niche he had always loved as a consumer and collector: Burgundy’s Grand Cru estates. But buying such vineyards was like trying to score the Hamptons house that’s near the water and a short walk to town: everyone’s dream, but rarely attainable. If the owner quits, the plot is deeded to the kids.

But Bernstein persisted, leasing older-vine parcels that some growers wanted to rip out for their low yields. Those were exactly the vines he was looking for. Over time he became a trusted steward and eventually came to own a few of his favorites, such as one in Mazis-Chambertin, the soil that informs this special 2018 bottle. The vintage is a pure expression of a Pinot Noir: mouthwatering cherry fruit with layers of spice and herbs. Fine tannins give just the right level of structure to make the wine a perfect match for food but eminently sippable on its own. On the nose it explodes with a stunning fresh, floral quality that’s unusual in a Burgundy and complements its savory flavor. $1,350

SGC 2018 Médoc, Bordeaux BORDEAUX

While this brand, whose acronym stands for Le Secret des Grand Crus, got its start in 2006, it remains under the radar for most American oenophiles. Largely because it plays hard-to-get: An average of 1,100 cases are produced annually, and to get your hands on the wine, you need to be invited to the allocation list (called “Le Cercle”), which will run you a yearly $28,500. For that, you get 16 bottles each of SGC’s three wines: Médoc, Saint-Émilion and Pomerol. The gold-etched bottles certainly speak to exclusivity, but it’s what’s inside that matters.

To that end, founder Arnaud Christiaens began with science, which was surprisingly hard to come by in Bordeaux in 2006. Rather than purchase one estate, he leased individual parcels of land owned by small producers who had just the right soil composition.

From there, he built his small treasury of premium wines, which have achieved scores that outrank or match those of significant houses. The SGC 2018 Médoc shows a beautiful inky opulence with a lively perfume and strong tannins—but, happily, not so much that they stop it from drinking well now.

ORNELLAIA 2018 La Grazia, Bolgheri, Italy I TA L I A N

Napa isn’t the only winemaking region where

2018 is proving an excellent vintage. Tuscany also benefited from a return to more normal climatic conditions, producing a strong yield and some very healthy grapes, as evidenced by this beautiful new edition from Ornellaia, which estate director Axel Heinz has called “La Grazia,” or grace.

The wine is a blend of Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc and a splash of Petit Verdot, a classic Bordeaux mix that has the vivid freshness lately seen in the best years from Bolgheri, near Tuscany’s coast.

The estate handpicked and sorted the grapes, with each varietal and vineyard block vinified separately, aging in oak for about 12 months. Only then was the balance between each varietal conceived and married, and once again returned to barriques for another six months before aging for a further year once bottled, producing silky smooth tannins and a long finish. The wine tastes more of red fruit than black, but it’s still rich, dense and savory with herbal notes and a whiff of wild fennel. Winemaker Olga Fusari points to its “intense aromatic expression” as a hallmark of the vintage. $250

TOR 2018 Black Magic, Napa Valley 100-POINTER

When a top critic gives a wine 100 points,

most agree it’s a subjective opinion of perfection. But when four award the same wine 100 points (something that, to our knowledge, has never happened—until now), that approaches objective perfection.

The blend of uniquely co-fermented Cabernet Sauvignon and Petit Verdot with a little Cabernet Franc in this Tor 2018 Black Magic (made only in great years) is dense and dark.

Beautiful high-toned aromas of florals, forest, graphite, tobacco, exotic spices (anise stars) and black and blue fruit give nuance to the wine’s power. And the dark-plum and blueberry flavors fill the mouth, layered with dark cacao, and persist endlessly, lending finesse to a magnificent structure.

This wine brand, founded 20 years ago by Tor Kenward, a much-respected former vice president at Beringer, has made a reputation on showstopping Bordeaux reds. According to Kenward, though, a wine like Black Magic is made only from barrels that capture his attention and that of winemaker Jeff Ames in the cellar. “Drinking this,” he says, “is akin to drinking a wine with another wine jammed into the same space so that it tastes richer than it possibly can be.” Indeed. $450

Q U I L C E DA CREEK 2018 Cabernet Sauvignon, Columbia Valley EMERGING REGION

When it comes to Washington, the “emerging wine region” label might be fraying a little, with more than 1,000 wineries in the northwest region now (and growing). And it has been a few years since the state’s winemakers, taking it on the road, have been asked which side of the Potomac their winery is on. Still, California must be chased.

The Golitzin family founded Quilceda Creek back in 1978, and it would go on to earn six perfect 100-point scores from Wine Advocate. (Curious fact: The Golitzin family are descendants of Prince Lev Sergeyevich Galitzine, a winemaker for Czar Nicholas II and dubbed the creator of Russian Champagne.) The Quilceda Creek 2018 Cabernet proves the wisdom of the Golitzin family’s choice of Washington. (It was only the 12th bonded winery, post-Prohibition, in the state.) Aromatic forest floor, mint, warm spice and crushed tobacco leaf unfold around classic cassis on the nose. A cherry-cordial character joins velvety tannins and savory minerality to create an incredibly elegant wine. $200

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JEWELRY

By Kareem Rashed and Paige Reddinger

THE BIG IDEA

A Breath of Fresh Air While centuries-old inspirations, serious

stones and classic settings have a perennial place in the high-jewelry landscape, this past year has seen establishment houses experimenting with new techniques and bleeding-edge designs, pushing the industry in fresh directions.

The boldest foray into untouched territory came courtesy of Boucheron.

The 163-year-old French maison delivered a high-jewelry collection that included a

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

necklace created via a computer algorithm and sprinkled with thousands of diamonds that appear to float in the air around the neck. The “stone” pendant of another was molded from aerogel, a material that’s comprised of 99.8 percent air and 0.2 percent silica and was previously used by NASA to capture stardust and insulate the Mars Exploration Rover.

Similar themes of weightlessness and of diamonds that appear to levitate took center stage at both Messika and Hemmerle.

Valérie Messika set a new tempo at her eponymous French house with a massive 17-carat pear-shaped diamond hovering in the center of a collar with a crisscross pattern of baguette and round-cut diamonds, while using the same contrasting motif for a pair of earrings that dangle in a cascading zigzag.

The reference? The rising and falling visual display of an equalizer’s musical audio frequencies in a recording studio.

Striking a different chord, German jeweler Hemmerle pushed the boundaries of tension-setting: a technique that forgoes the use of prongs and instead secures stones solely within the structure of the design. Twists of 18-karat gold hold a diamond of more than 15 carats, one of the largest gems to be set this way.

But it doesn’t always take a reinvention of jewelry to move it forward. In Tiffany & Co.’s case, the innovation was simply reconsidering a classic category in a new light. As a symbol of love, wedding rings have long encircled the fingers of both men and women, though the engagement variety has generally been reserved exclusively for future brides.

Tiffany is now proposing more masculine solitaires for anyone planning on popping the question to a man (although the new designs are equally wearable for all genders).

This new wave, homing in on technical innovation, edgy themes and changing attitudes, echoes the ethos that gave birth to the last great design renaissance: Art Deco. A century later, we find ourselves emerging from a very different kind of war, with some predicting that, when the world opens up again, there will be a second coming of the Roaring Twenties.

If that prediction proves true, we’ll have plenty of reasons to get dressed up, go out and celebrate in real style.

J E W E L RY R O B B R E P O R T. C O M

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Leave it to the oldest jewelry house on Paris’s Place Vendôme to put the freshest spin on high-end gems this past year. Creative director Claire Choisne stepped so far outside the confines of the craft that she was in uncharted territory: Imagine thousands of diamonds hovering around the neck, as if suspended in air. That gravity-defying effect is delivered by the maison’s Nuage en Apesanteur (Weightless Cloud) necklace, which takes its cue from the millions of minute liquid droplets that form a cloud. Two years in the making, the statement piece began with an in-house technician using cotton to create the shape on a bust. An algorithm was then devised to enable jewelry engineers to arrange 4,108 diamonds, interspersed with glass beads and set in 18-karat white gold, on the tips of 10,000 tiny threads of ultra-light titanium.

The structure, however, delivers a hefty dose of avant-garde splendor. Few things more pointedly express the unbridled excess of luxury than having your head in a cloud of diamonds. Choisne told Robb Report that the free rein granted by CEO Hélène Poulit-Duquesne was “magical” but also pressure-inducing: “When somebody says, ‘OK, do whatever you want and we will support you,’ it can be supercool, but it can also be frightening, because you have no excuse.” She doesn’t need one. $679,000, one of a kind

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Boucheron JEWELRY PIECE OF THE YEAR

PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNA GREENE

J E W E L RY R O B B R E P O R T. C O M

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LOUIS VUITTON TRANSFORMABLE JEWELRY

Why settle for one when you

can have three? High jewelry that can transform into multiple pieces became increasingly en vogue in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as changing lifestyles demanded versatility. Recently, there has been a resurgence, with nearly every major jewelry house offering oneof-a-kind creations that can be taken apart and worn in all sorts of clever ways. One showstopper of an example is Louis Vuitton’s blindingly beautiful Soleils necklace.

The highlight of the house’s Stellar

Times high-jewelry collection, the Soleils has an upper portion that can go it alone as a simple choker, while the lower triple-strand bib, with a 35.38carat emerald-cut yellow Sri Lankan sapphire centerpiece, can be added with or without a 14.52-carat gem of the same type. A stationary 8.48-carat yellow sapphire holds court on the choker.

Soleils’ lofty inspiration was the sun, a long-serving symbol of the divine. In ancient Egyptian culture, the star was considered a deity, and French king

Louis XIV famously used the image to suggest he was a god himself. Fittingly, a different Louis is now taking ownership of it. Louis Vuitton accented Soleils with a grid of white diamonds, yellow sapphires and spessartite garnets, which serve as a backdrop for the three massive sapphires. Each of the major stones is punctuated with baguettecut diamonds. The vision was to filter the idea of the sun, using the effect of pointed sunrays dotting a surface, through the brand’s distinct lens: its unmistakable signature checkerboard pattern. Price upon request, one of a kind

H A R RY W I N S T O N C O C K TA I L R I N G S

The house may have built its name delivering jaw-dropping white diamonds for

couples planning well-cushioned futures together, but this year Harry Winston put a new spin on sentiment. The Winston With Love collection is about all kinds of celebratory moments, with bright pops of colored stones configured in bursting shapes. Three festive cocktail rings set the tone in 18-karat yellow gold and platinum, with radiating lines meant to evoke sparks. But the real fireworks come from the various arrangements of pink sapphires, spessartite garnets, rubies, and white and yellow diamonds that surround either a 0.94-carat rubellite, a 1.38-carat spessartite garnet or a 0.94-carat tanzanite. Slip one on your finger and you can practically taste Champagne bubbles. Price upon request Harry Winston Sparks yellow-gold and platinum ring with a 1.38-carat spessartite garnet center stone and pink and blue sapphires, aquamarines, rubies and diamonds

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Chopard STONES

Blue diamonds are famously rare. In fact, fancy-colored natural dia-

monds account for just 0.4 percent of all graded diamonds mined in the last 20 years, and less than a tenth of a percent of that cache are blue diamonds, according to Grant Mobley, a diamond expert at the Natural Diamond Council. And a matched set of blue diamonds over one carat?

Don’t even bother googling, they’re so scarce. These Exceptional Precious Lace earrings live up to their name with a duet of fancy blue and a couple of fancy light-blue diamonds, ranging from 1.02 to 1.57 carats each. Highlighting the treasured stones are 2.42 carats of round and 4.94 carats of pear-shaped white diamonds, set in 18-karat white Fairmined gold in a delicate lace-inspired design.

The singular blue centerpieces within are so prized that they could potentially be the crowning achievement of a collection. “Most blue diamonds found are less than one carat, and their rarity increases the larger they are,” says Mobley. “In fact, most jewelers have never seen a natural blue diamond in person. Taking this all into account, you can imagine that finding even two matching blue diamonds over one carat would be a once-in-a-lifetime sight.” Price upon request

PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNA GREENE

L O R R A I N E S C H WA R T Z PHILANTHROPY

Known for dressing everyone from Jennifer Lopez to Blake Lively in

outrageously rare and statement-making jewels for both red carpets and private affairs, Lorraine Schwartz has become a go-to for celebrities and serious collectors alike. Her contact lists alone are worth their own security guard. Now she’s mining her resources for a greater cause.

Pharrell Williams, Tina Knowles and Kelly Rowland serve as advisers for her new Emerging Designers Diamond Initiative, a program formed in partnership with the Natural Diamond Council (NDC) that is offering $1 million in diamond credit to burgeoning BIPOC jewelry designers.

“I really wanted to do something for the Black community, because of everything that was going on,” says Schwartz. She realized there was a need to help designers of color break into the industry because it was difficult even for her, a descendant of two generations of heavyweight diamond dealers. “I had a hard time being taken seriously as a woman wanting to deal with high-end gems. The hardest thing is to have somebody who doesn’t know you give you merchandise on credit.”

Each approved applicant will receive $20,000 of credit in their own name, with the program acting as a guarantor to diamond suppliers. Both Schwartz and NDC staff will mentor the recipients, offering guidance and their insider knowledge of the industry to help them succeed.

And for any protégé, Schwartz’s expertise and access would be invaluable. Just consider what’s currently in her stock, such as this necklace of rare round diamonds and fancy-cut diamond beads, totaling 305 carats. “This is for very sophisticated clients,” she says. “It’s for those with real knowledge of gems. The ones that have everything, like the Ron Perelmans of the world.” Price upon request

CHANEL HISTORICAL REFERENCE

Venice’s spectacular ambience has inspired

Lorraine Schwartz necklace with 305 carats of round diamonds and fancycut diamond beads

creators for generations. Coco Chanel was no exception. She made the first of many voyages to the floating city in 1920, so it’s fitting that the company’s Escale à Venise collection not only pays tribute to that era around its centennial but also takes cues from her treasured Italian escape. The best example is the Eblouissante necklace in 18-karat pink gold and platinum adorned with baguette and round-cut diamonds in a hard-edged, graphic Art Deco pattern. The piece also plays into Chanel’s signature quilting style while simultaneously evoking the symmetrical patterns of Venetian palace façades and mosaic floors.

But a masterpiece can’t rest its laurels on design alone. A dazzling asscher-cut 10.41carat D FL type IIa diamond nestles in the V-shaped collar, while two asscher-cut D IF diamonds (totaling 10.52 carats) dangle beneath. The latter two can be detached and worn on a matching pair of earrings.

The piece can also be shortened by dropping the lower diamond-shaped pink-gold structure and the string of diamonds. Versatility and ease with a serious wow factor are, ultimately, the greatest tribute to the French house’s founder. $5.54 million, one of a kind

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GRAFF

FAWA Z G R U O S I

DESIGN PIVOT

COMEBACK

rs ago, Fawaz Gru-

De Grisogono and f the most colorful igh jewelry’s highest bashedly glamorous worn by blue bloods Doha, and his adorould gather annually s star-studded fêtes t in 2018, the party ruosi left De Grisow owners couldn’t and the company ood in January 2020.

Gruosi was back with d a flagship on LonSquare. on the door is now

for collectors on the hunt for out-of-this-world pieces.

Little wonder, then, that his design director, Anne-Eva Geffroy, looked to the heavens for inspiration. This Night Moon necklace is a slightly edgier concept than her previous, more traditional designs. With 466 diamonds (totaling 52.37 carats) and set in 18-karat white gold and platinum, the piece has a 4-carat oval diamond at its center surrounded by a cluster of diamonds in mixed cuts, blending elements of a half-moon shape and sunray patterns. Just beneath, a two-carat round diamond is highlighted in a diamond-shaped frame of 12 baguettes. And a two-carat pear-shaped diamond elegantly elongates the composition while providing a touch of softness. Where else can you get the sun, the moon and the stars in a single go? $1.6 million

T I F FA N Y & C O .

ENGAGEMENT RINGS

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Gruosi’s own, but his penchant for vivid color and sinuous silhouettes remains unchanged. Not one for understatement, he centered his new collection on opulent, oneof-a-kind pieces with exceptional gemstones, such as a necklace strung with some 735.85 carats of un-oiled Zambian emeralds. Even at his most demure, Gruosi stuns: A relatively simple pair of drop earrings features six octagonal-cut, unheated, royal-blue Ceylon sapphires weighing about 12.55 carats.

When asked what’s different this time around, Gruosi admits he isn’t trying to reinvent himself: “It’s basically still De Grisogono—it’s me.”

Fawaz Gruosi rose-gold bracelet with over 145 carats of rubies, price upon request

Six years ago, Tiffany & Co. made headlines when it intro-

duced its first same-sex couple in an ad campaign, featuring two men along with two wedding bands. But while jewelers have widely embraced marriage equality, the solitaire engagement ring has remained a concept predominately targeted to future brides. Now Tiffany is touting diamonds to anyone looking to pop the question, regardless of the partner’s gender. Dubbed the Charles Tiffany Setting, in honor of company founder Charles Lewis Tiffany, the look features round brilliant or emerald-cut diamonds, up to 4.3 carats each, set in platinum or titanium bands cut with sharp architectural beveled or knife edges. The design echoes the messaging by marrying the classic stone with a contemporary, more masculine style.

But the jeweler isn’t just unlocking a door to a broader clientele. It’s also opening a window to its sourcing. In addition to the stone’s grading and quality assurance, information on each diamond’s country of origin, along with where it was cut and polished, will be available to the client on a printed Tiffany Diamond Certificate. From $15,600 to $278,500

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HEMMERLE TECHNICAL I N N O VAT I O N

O N E T O WAT C H

Nicholas Lieou

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ing, of trying, of not being afraid” defines this family-owned business, according to Christian Hemmerle. The 128-year-old Munich-based jeweler has made a habit of pushing boundaries, such as carving ancient slabs of jade into trompe l’oeil saltines or suspending a 47.29-carat aquamarine in a precisely configured pile of pickup sticks. The latter engineering feat, using a technique known as tension-setting to secure a stone without prongs, is one area in which Hemmerle has recently defied both convention and gravity.

Tension-setting is typically seen with smaller gems as a design accent, not the main feature.

Last year, Hemmerle tested the method’s limits in a ring that gives the illusion that a 15-carat diamond is floating on one’s hand. It took two years to perfect: After several failed attempts, Christian devised a solution while playing with the loose stone and a rubber band. The resulting ring trades rubber for bands of matte white gold, meticulously sculpted to ensure the rock stays wrapped around your finger. Making it look so easy may be the biggest feat of all.

S OT H E BY ’ S R E TA I L P I V O T

David Michael yellow-gold earrings in tsavorite garnets and diamonds, $10,300

Early on in lockdown, Sotheby’s proved that shoppers were still willing to splurge, even without sizing up loot firsthand, when it sold an Art Deco Cartier Tutti Frutti bracelet in April 2020 for $1.34 million, which broke records at the time for a piece of jewelry auctioned online. Still, clicking through digital catalogs can’t quite replicate being dazzled by gems in person.

So if social distancing meant Muhammad couldn’t come to the mountain, Sotheby’s decided to bring the goods to him.

In June of last year, the auction house opened a retail gallery in East Hampton, where many regular clients had decamped. As the seasons changed, Sotheby’s followed the snowbirds south, establishing another gallery in Palm Beach’s Royal Poinciana Plaza. In addition to collectible jewels from the

likes of Van Cleef & Arpels and David Webb and trunk shows with contemporary makers, including 2019 Best of the Best winner David Michael, both galleries stock a blue-chip mix from Sotheby’s various departments (Ruscha, Prouvé, Audemars Piguet, oh my!).

Everything on offer is subject to the same rigorous vetting that goes into Sotheby’s curated sales. But unlike auctions, this inventory is all see-now, buynow—no bidding wars and no waiting.

In that sense, it’s a regular store, just filled with uncommon finds. While the East Hampton and Palm Beach galleries were conceived as seasonal pop-ups, Sotheby’s has decided to make them permanent. Moreover, in May it opened a third permanent retail space at its New York headquarters. Brimming with exceptional pieces, it’s a reminder of why brick and mortar can’t be beat.

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

When Nicholas Lieou debuted his brand, Mr. Lieou, in 2019, his designs spoke with such confidence and clarity that Sotheby’s Diamonds promptly tapped him to create a collection, a prestigious role originated

by James de Givenchy. Lieou came out swinging, and since then, the Hong Kong–based designer has articulated his own distinct vocabulary: clean lines and graphic silhouettes primarily rendered in a muted palette of black, white and gray. While that may sound rather stark, Lieou’s ability to make simplicity sing is what makes him so impressive.

It helps that he honed his skills at some of luxury’s biggest names, including Louis Vuitton and Tiffany & Co., where he was responsible for the vaunted Blue Book collection and custom commissions.

“I loved what I did for Blue Book, but even when we were designing the pieces, we were like, ‘Where are you going to wear this necklace?’ ” Lieou recalls.

His understanding of what women (and, given his androgynous aesthetic, quite a few men) want is central to Lieou’s eponymous collection. Gray spinels and gobstopping pearls are framed simply with matte platinum or gray gold for jewels that can be worn as easily as blue jeans.

While he’s a self-professed minimalist, Lieou doesn’t shy away from glamour. His Sotheby’s collection, which bowed last September, included some dramatic Mr. Lieou sparklers. “People think that I use rhodium-plated ‘interesting’ materials, but actually my white-gold materials are quite basic,” he says of earrings with his preference for classic diamonds pearls and and platinum. “It’s just the way I put it diamonds, together that makes it modern.” $7,800

More than any stylistic signature, a spirit “of dar-

Messika DESIGN

Valérie Messika, the creative force behind her

16-year-old eponymous high-jewelry house, is known for her cool and elegant personal style and energetic exuberance, so it’s no surprise that her jewelry is infused with that same joie de vivre. The latest example is a collection of diamonds arranged by scale in striking zigzag and crisscross patterns that evoke the up-anddown movement of audio frequencies on equalizers used in recording studios. A choker with a 17-carat pear-shaped diamond is the magnum opus of the collection, and appropriately enough, it was snapped up by Beyoncé.

But if you want a piece of Messika’s music, a pair of Voltige Diamond Equalizer earrings dance to the same beat. Designed in 18-karat white gold with tilting lines of alternating baguette-cut and brilliant round diamonds, the set is asymmetrical, with the XXL size acting as both an earring and a climber to cover the entire side of the ear. Each comes with a single pear-shaped diamond—a 4-carat and a 1.5-carat stone, respectively—swaying at the tip. Consider the earrings reason enough to put your dancing shoes on again. Price upon request

MODEL: Aleya Ali

@ Wilhelmina STYLIST: Alex Badia MAKEUP: Amanda Wilson HAIR: Avery Golson PHOTOGRAPH BY JENNA GREENE

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WINGS

By Michael Verdon, Daniel Bachmann and Rohit Jaggi

THE BIG IDEA

Sustainable Jet Juice A jet fuel derived from old cooking oil may

not sound all that sexy, but it doesn’t have to. It’s already the most effective way to make business aviation greener. Winglets, aerodynamic shapes, space-age composites and avionics all contribute to reducing the carbon footprint of private jets, but they’re lightweights next to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Compared to fossil jet fuel, SAF in its pure, unblended form cuts CO₂ emissions by up to 80 percent, reducing polluting particulate matter by

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

90 percent and eliminating sulfur oxide.

“We are turning trash into treasure,” says Chris Cooper, vice president for renewable aviation at Neste, one of a number of providers focused on the fledgling biofuel market for planes. Cooper notes that private jets burn 1.8 billion gallons of fossil fuel each year. “That’s a deep, dark footprint,” he says.

The real beauty of SAF? It works with any aircraft engine that burns Jet A fuel, skipping the need for modification.

“The plane doesn’t notice the difference,

but the environment does,” says Ed Bolen, president and CEO of the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA).

The trade association has thrown its considerable weight behind industrywide adoption of SAF. “After years of solutions that provide small percentage gains in sustainability, we’ve found the big thing,” he says.

The last year has been a turning point.

NetJets has committed to at least 100 million gallons over the next decade, while San Francisco’s Signature Flight Support is the world’s first fixed-based operator to convert its entire supply for business aviation. It uses existing oil pipelines to move the biofuel into San Francisco, says Cooper.

Corporations as diverse as Nike, Deloitte and Amazon have pledged to come on board. Microsoft’s Bill Gates, the country’s largest buyer of SAF, points out its cost—three times that of fossil fuel— remains an inhibitor. “It’ll be interesting to see how we can scale that up and can you get that green premium down from 300 percent,” he said at a recent conference.

One way, argue proponents, is through financial incentives. The NBAA, Neste and dozens of other aviation firms support a blender’s tax credit. The credit aims to support SAF producers as they build biorefineries, and with increases in supply, biofuel prices will come down. Neste expects to produce 515 million gallons of SAF in 2023, nearly 15 times current levels.

The NBAA says biofuel production could top 1 billion gallons by 2025.

How quickly prices come down and infrastructure goes up are the big unknowns. Cooper believes SAF adoption is inevitable because it’s propelled by the clients in the cabin. Firms like VistaJet report 80 percent of its clients have paid to offset the carbon output of their flights.

“We’re seeing the biggest movement in business aviation in a long time,” Cooper says, “and the consumer is driving it.”

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AeroMobil AM4 F LY I N G C A R

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AeroMobil’s AM4 has the sleekest design and highest price tag of

the top “roadable flying machines.” A two-seater that transforms from car to plane in under three minutes, the AM4 is heading for the first deliveries in 2023. The company says the fourth-gen vehicle is the result of over 300,000 hours of engineering and design and has recently completed 10,000-plus hours of flight testing. Its main rival, the Dutch PAL-V Liberty, is a tilting three-wheeler in ground mode, which has already won certification for road use.

As a gyroplane, the PAL-V will require an additional flying license and a driver’s license.

The Slovakian AeroMobil, by contrast, has four wheels and is pitting the AM4’s style against sports cars from makers such as Aston Martin and Ferrari, with features like upward-hinging doors that reflect automotive’s racier end. But no Ferrari carries a ballistic parachute or has wings that swing forward for flight.

The hybrid engine clocks stats that include a cruising speed of 160 mph in the air and 100 mph on the road and, with one pilot, a range of 460 miles in the sky and 320 on land. From $1.7 million

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NetJets S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y I N I T I AT I V E S

Many aviation firms talk about sustainability, but

none has made a more robust effort than NetJets.

Enrollment in its Blue Skies program more than doubled in the last six months, with NetJets owners purchasing carbon credits to ensure their flight hours are carbon-neutral. Companywide, NetJets says that 38,543 metric tons have been offset in the last six months, and its fleet has flown about

750,000 nautical miles on sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), with substantially lower emissions than traditional jet fuel. Its European operations have offset about 1.9 million metric tons since going carbon-neutral in 2012.

In February, NetJets committed to purchasing at least 100 million gallons of SAF over the next decade. Even more significantly, it’s investing in

building a new biorefinery with its supplier, WasteFuel, and has plans to support four more in the near future. At full capacity, its biorefinery will convert 1 million tons of solid waste into 30 million gallons of SAF annually. The fuel reduces the impact on local landfills, lowers methanol in the atmosphere and, for business-aviation firms, shifts their reputation from polluters to responsible corporate citizens.

BELL 525 EXECUTIVE HELICOPTER

The clean-sheet design on Bell’s 525 promises to set new standards in the executive

helicopter segment. Expected to be certified by the FAA this year, the chopper has impressive stats: It’s 29 percent quieter, with windows that are up to 40 percent larger than one competitor’s, and its baggage hold is 50 percent larger than another’s. Ninety-five percent of the main rotor vibrations are isolated from the airframe. More perks, like a best-in-class speed of 160 knots (with an upper limit of 175 knots), a range of 580 nautical miles at 145 knots, fly-by-wire flight controls and the first helicopter application of Garmin’s G5000H avionics suite (with a touchscreen system that’s incredibly intuitive and comprehensive), translate to a new level of flight experience.

The 525’s VIP versions, which range from 4 to 10 cabin seats, will have bespoke interiors by Mecaer Aviation. The completions center outside Milan has earned a well-deserved reputation for the meticulous, intricate work of its helicopter interiors. The 525 will also have premium options such as a telescopic table with pop-up monitor or a central cabinet with an extractable table. That 580-nautical-mile range makes it a serious but comfortable long-distance commuter, while the fly-bywire controls, avionics and side-stick placement give pilots the kind of 21st-century flight experience more typically found in private jets. Price upon request

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ACJ TwoTwenty BIZLINER

The new TwoTwenty promises to disrupt the top end of

the business-jet realm by outsizing its competitors. It’s so big, in fact, that Airbus Corporate Jets (ACJ) is calling it the Xtra Large Bizjet, a category that didn’t really exist until now. The jet has 785 square feet of interior space divided across six living zones, including a bedroom with a king-size bed and a full shower. The TwoTwenty, based on Airbus’s A220-100 commercial airliner, which has a possible 135 seats, will limit seats to 18 max. Twenty-five percent more fuel efficient and 50 percent quieter than previous-generation aircraft, it has a more aerodynamic frame, a lighter composite structure and Pratt & Whitney’s PW1500G engines.

ACJ hasn’t been shy about claiming the aircraft has 30 percent more floor space and 30 percent lower operating costs than competitors. While Comlux will be the exclusive completions partner for the first 15 aircraft, Sylvain Mariat, ACJ’s head of creative design, will assist in customizing TwoTwenty interiors for each buyer, helping clients choose between a lounge area and business center, the tones of woods, cabin colors and credenzas, just as a traditional interior designer would.

The jet has a range of 5,650 nautical miles, with the ability to fly more than 12 hours nonstop, connecting London and Los Angeles or Tokyo and Dubai. ACJ already has six orders in the bag. Price upon request

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Dassault Falcon 6X U LT R A - W I D E - B O D Y J E T

The Falcon 6X is Dassault’s latest affirmation that

comfort begins with space. Introduced as the first “ultra-wide-body” business jet, the 6X will be four inches taller (with 6 feet 6 inches of headroom) and 10 inches wider, at 8 feet 6 inches, than both the 7X and the 8X. With a max range of 5,500 nautical miles and a cruise speed of Mach 0.85, the 6X can fly nonstop from Los Angeles to London. And that’s not even its top speed, which can climb to Mach 0.90, or 690.5 mph.

Bespoke cabin designs for each client, which

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Dassault will oversee, can accommodate 12 to 16 passengers across different zones, including a relaxation area and a business center. Thirty windows, plus a skylight, bathe the interior in natural light. The 6X’s filtration system is the same found in many hospital ICUs, refreshing air up to 10 times faster than systems used in office buildings, a plus in Covid times.

The 6X’s fly-by-wire technology makes flights more precise while reducing pilot workload. The plane requires less than 3,000 feet of runway for

landing, and its low-speed, steep-approach capability allows access to more challenging airports, such as Aspen or Yellowstone. We also admire its FalconEye technology, an industry-first vision system that combines terrain mapping with real-time night-vision thermal images, improving safety, especially during lousy weather or low-visibility conditions. More than the sum of its parts, Dassault’s newest aircraft pairs size with technology to create an award-worthy new class of business jet. $47 million

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MAS SARI DESIGN INTERIORS CONCEPT

O N E T O WAT C H

JoeBen Bevirt

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All the signs were there. As a child growing up on the California coast, JoeBen Bevirt built model vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft powered by tiny gas engines. He went on to study robotics and mechanical engineering at the University of California, Davis, working with VTOL pioneer Paul Moller, who developed the first electric quadcopter. Deciding he didn’t want to wait 20 years for battery technology to mature, Bevirt founded tech businesses (including one with DNA-sequencing robots and another using giant kites to harness electricity from the atmosphere) but came back to what might be called his first love, launching Joby Aviation in 2009. He said at a recent conference that if society could “move to electric, we could make a really, really big difference” in emissions and, ultimately, climate change.

Joby is the new king of what could be a metamorphosis in aviation. In 2019, the company announced funding by a group of

investors, including Toyota, that made it eVTOL’s first unicorn. In December 2020, it announced its intention to acquire Uber Elevate, and two months later came the announcement that it was merging with Reinvent Technology Partners, giving it a valuation of $6.6 billion.

Behind the financials, Bevirt’s goal is simple: “To save a billion people an hour a day.”

His vision, more Henry Ford than Wright brothers, sees the eVTOL as everyman transport, the way Ford viewed the Model T. Joby will break ground on a production facility this year and is working with several metropolitan areas on airtaxi networks. Its five-passenger model, with a 200 mph top speed and 150-mile range, should make its first commercial flights in 2024.

It’s just the start. “We are still in the early stages of a long undertaking,” Bevirt said recently.

“And it’s going to take a massive ecosystem.” Clearly that electricflight future he envisioned is no longer in a holding pattern.

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

Having a yacht designer create a private-jet interior sounds like a risky proposition. But the two disciplines have more in common than shared luxury, namely a lack of affinity for sharp corners and weighty finishes.

Designer Alessandro Massari lent his hand to a Boeing interior for the first time, fusing the upper echelons of the air and water worlds with a delicate design that shows his maritime heritage. Boeing Business Jets’ brief was for “something that isn’t out there but would stand out,” says Massari, whose studio is in the yacht-building city of Fano, Italy.

The design team opted for a cozy but clean look, employing light colors and simple curves. The 737 MAX 7’s cabin volume allowed for a large common area, an owner’s office, sleeping quarters and an en suite with full-height shower. Massari wanted to create a “floating interior in a floating object.” That was accomplished by not attaching the side cabinets to the floor and by using indirect lighting on the bed for a suspended look. Also included is a pop-up rolling monitor for entertainment and business, to free up space. Glass edges on armrests allow cabin control at a touch. “We relied on our long-term yachting experience to face the challenges that come with working in limited space and with many technical and ergonomic requirements,” says Massari, adding, pun intended, “Our team was excited to let our creativity fly.”

C I R RU S 8 0 0 0 LIMITED EDITION SR22T LIMITED EDITION

This has serious style. It’s no surprise that all eight sporty-hued models have already been bought. The limited-edition SR combines “its iconic shape with an unapologetic color scheme,” says Ivy McIver, director of Cirrus’s SR line. A luminescent green on the underside of the fuselage and wings complements black and silver on the upper fuselage and tail. “We gave customers the option to choose other colors, but seven of the eight chose to stick with that brave, bold scheme,” says McIver.

Cirrus flew its first SR20 single-engine airplane in 1995. At the time, the no-frills, less expensive and pilot-friendly aircraft, with a parachute and industry-first glass cockpit, was

a game changer. It was also the first production aircraft with all-composite construction and flat-panel avionics. The SR20 gave rise to a whole series that included the SR22 and turbocharged SR22T. With the 8,000th member of the SR series expected to be completed this year, Cirrus is celebrating the milestone with this luxe, instantly recognizable limited edition.

The design team found inspiration in airstrips, including markers and hashes, adding diagonal patterns inside and out. They also used intricate green stitching in the leather seats and along the edges of the controls. The result: a brave but beautiful look for one of private aviation’s best-selling series. About $1.2 million

P S AT L AX P R I VAT E A I R TERMINAL

PS’s redesigned private terminal at LAX, scheduled to

be completed by summer, offers a sanctuary with 12 suites for commercial air travelers. The private terminal—set in a separate structure from the rest of the airport—minimizes the person-to-person touchpoints of the public terminal by offering a private check-in area with TSA personnel, while a chauffeured BMW sweeps clients from suite to airplane door for boarding ahead of other passengers. PS at LAX says its members will encounter no more than five people, including TSA and PS staff, while typical travelers could see hundreds, if not thousands, of people in LAX’s main terminals.

The suites have an entirely new look, thanks to

Los Angeles designer Cliff Fong. Each is a pre-flight relaxation chamber with a tasteful, residential feel that includes plentiful seating, a bathroom, a bed, an entertainment center and a pantry. Members can order complimentary meals or have food delivered from leading LA restaurants, plus book in-suite massages, manicures and haircuts and access the building’s private shower spa. Other bonuses: the ability to drive up to the private terminal for valet parking and, upon return, have your car be fueled, washed and detailed. $4,500 annual membership. Member suite-rental rate: $3,250 for up to four people on a one-way trip. Non-member rate: $4,350 for up to four travelers, with $800 for each additional guest.

F XA I R CHARTER

itization of that segment. Instead of competing only on price, its parent company, Directional Aviation, has a business model that includes carving out a new niche of service that straddles the charter and fractional realms. With its preferred-access fleet, it combines the more non-committal and less expensive traits of chartering along with the superior customer service and greater focus on safety found with fractional ownership.

The internal fleet consists of more than 30 jets that have just moved out of fractional service from sister company Flexjet. Owning the planes provides transparency of their history while giving FXAir control over the selection of flight crew and pilots. For outside operators not part of the fleet, the company’s chief safety officer reviews aircraft, pilots and each flight. The company jets, ranging from Challenger 300s to transoceanic Global Express models, extend charter from just regional flights to coast-to-coast and international, a rare offering in that industry.

Like other operators, FXAir offers dynamic pricing so members can take advantage of flying on off-peak days and times, but its $100,000 Aviator Account has standard perks such as fixed coast-to-coast flat rates, free Wi-Fi and de-icing, and complimentary aircraft upgrades. Its app allows booking within 24 hours of departure time, and e-mail approvals replace contracts for

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each flight. While that Aviator level is admittedly more expensive than many charter operators, the details of the program are well-thought out, designed for fliers who want a high-end fractional experience minus the loftier fees.

PS AT LA X : SEANN M. HOG AN; BOMBARDIER: PAUL BOWEN

FXAir’s approach to charter flights is an admirable response to the commod-

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MAGELL AN EXPLORER MEMBERSHIP

With last year’s exodus from commercial flying, smart private-jet companies adapted their traditional programs to accommodate new clients. Magellan’s payas-you-go membership was one of the first to untangle the confusing knot that first-class exiles faced as they navigated the unrecognizable terms and wildly different prices of charter and jet-card services. Magellan’s entry-level Explorer Membership offered easy-to-understand terms. Explorers could access jets from model year 2000 and forward with a 24-hour callout time, sans blackout days (generous terms considering that holidays are prime travel windows). The 12-month locked-in rate also added peace of mind for fliers seeking to avoid financial surprises. No peak travel or fuel surcharges meant additional transparency. Other positives included guaranteed backup and recovery if your aircraft suddenly went off-line. Magellan also created a Premium Membership with newer-model aircraft and shorter callout times. The target audience—newcomers who questioned how often they intended to fly—responded enthusiastically, realizing the answer was a lot, judging by March 2021, which set a record for the number of private charters booked across the US. The joiner’s fee for the Explorer Membership is $8,500, while the Premium Membership fee is $14,500.

A L B E RT O P I N T O I NTE R I O R DE S IG N JET INTERIOR

Besides having three times the space of

some competitors’ large-body jets, the G-KELT, an ACJ320neo, has an interior filled with rich woodwork, leathers, bespoke lamps, artwork and, perhaps most notably, a bedroom suite with a king-size bed and private en suite bathroom with a real glass mirror—unusual for a jet—a marble sink and a shower, all courtesy of Yves Pickardt at Paris-based Alberto Pinto Interior Design. The first ACJ320neo with a bespoke interior, it reworks the rules of cabin design, pairing the visible details with concealed technical advances such as the sophisticated air-filtration system plus a built-in humidifier to add moisture, making an eight-hour journey much more comfortable. The wafer-thin marble and wood veneers minimize weight while retaining elegance. The plane’s execu-

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tive seats convert into beds for transoceanic travel, and the footrests are a first for this type of aircraft.

Basel-based completions firm AMAC Aerospace executed the design and said the project was its most complicated ever, involving a year of collaboration with the plane’s London-based owner, Acropolis Aviation, and Pickardt to figure out solutions before work began. In its guise as a commercial jet, the ACJ320neo’s 12-by-90-foot cabin has up to 180 seats in rows. This 19-seat bespoke version has open-plan lounges, a dining-andconference area and a full-size kitchen plus original artwork and boardroom materials. With its 6,000-nautical-mile range, the jet will be used by Acropolis to transport heads of state and CEOs from Moscow to LA, or London to Beijing.

When It Comes Time to Focus On Your Family Oxford Financial Group, Ltd.™ has: Over 700 significant families and prodigious institutional clients in 37 states.* A long history of creating value for its clients by investing in the private markets, including partnering with general partners, co-investing and leading direct investments.

Been named the #5 Largest Multi-Family Office in the World by Caproasia in 2020.** Been named the #1 Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) by Financial Planning magazine in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017 and the #5 RIA in 2020 (based on assets under management).** 26.7 billion dollars of assets under advisement (which includes assets under management).*

Oxford Financial Group, Ltd. is an investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. More information about Oxford Financial Group’s investment advisory services and fees can be found in its Form ADV Part 2, which is available upon request. The Caproasia list of top 10 largest multi-family offices in the world is based on assets as reported in the Form ADV as of December 31, 2019. This list excludes multi-family offices that are operated within banking groups or a subsidiary of banking groups. The Financial Planning magazine lists of the 2020 Top 15 Firms and the 2013-2017 Top 150 RIA Firms are based on assets under management as reported in the Form ADV. The lists contain independent fee-only planning firms. Broker-dealers, insurance company affiliations and firms with substantial outside ownership stakes held by private equity firms and some outside investors are excluded. The lists do not include roll-ups, aggregators or turnkey asset management programs. To capture firms that provide true, holistic financial advice to individuals, only firms with more than 50% individual clients, as can be determined through Form ADVs, are included. The rating may not be representative of a client’s experience and is not indicative of future performance. Oxford did not pay a fee for inclusion in the rankings, but may purchase reprints. OFG-2015-21 *As of 10.1.20 **As of 12.31.19

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DESIGN

By Helena Madden

THE BIG IDEA

A More Livable Nest Last year we learned anew how to live in

our homes. We had to: For long periods everywhere else was closed. The extra couch time caused us to rethink our abodes. A residence was no longer just a place to bookend the day, where a sofa was for show rather than sitting, a desk a spot to pay the monthly bills. It became the place, where we worked for hours, spent all our leisure time and took many, many Zoom calls.

The home office took priority. “I did a

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self-survey of how many hours a week I was in different rooms,” says one tech executive.

“I was spending 40 to 60 in the office. So if I’m just looking at where my time is going, it made sense to spend effort on that part of the house.” He tasked Standard Architecture, a Los Angeles firm known for its sunny, open-concept residences, with creating a workspace for his Beverly Hills home that included amenities to mimic those in the corporate setting, such as a conference table, only with more style and personalization.

In lieu of restaurants, some of us fired up the kitchen range for the first time in a while, only to realize the whole room needed a menu of enhancements.

Designers were busier than ever, and custom-kitchen experts such as L’Atelier Paris took on three times as many projects as normal last year, according to CEO Ricardo Moraes. Others moved the whole cheffing-and-dining operation outside. Instead of just a grill and a pizza oven, homeowners invested in sinks, refrigerators, dishwashers and just about every other appliance imaginable, as well as sleeker countertops and cabinetry.

One of the smartest launches came from Swedish manufacturer Dometic, which debuted a thoughtful mobile bar dubbed MoBar. “We have some clients who say they spend their lives outside now,” says Margie Lavender, a principal at architecture and interior-design firm Ike Kligerman Barkley. “Screened porches are in every house, and the outside kitchen has gotten much more of a focus.” Furniture brands took notice. A number of them tried their hand at outdoor-furniture design for the first time, such as Ethnicraft and Mitchell Gold + Bob Williams, capitalizing on newfound demand.

As we enter the post-pandemic world, where mindsets about working from home have shifted, many may be reluctant to leave their newly updated nests, and the impulse to optimize and refresh the home may be a hard one to shake. “People are committed to living well,” says Jamie Drake, cofounder of interior-design firm Drake/Anderson. “It isn’t so much about redoing but more about new beginnings.”

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The furniture world has been obsessed with reissues lately, with

sketches from Arne Jacobsen, Le Corbusier and Gio Ponti all wriggling their way out of various archives and into the new millennium. Few, though, have exploded in popularity like Camaleonda, which was designed by lauded Italian architect Mario Bellini and first produced in 1970. Even then it was one of the most forward-thinking creations available. Instead of the designer telling you how to live—a chair is only a chair, after all—users could decide for themselves, tethering Camaleonda’s tufted seats and ottomans together via hooks and loops to create endless seating options.

These days, modular seating is a dime a dozen. And yet Camaleonda does more than endure: It has become an Instagram darling, gracing the feeds of actress Chrissy Teigen, fashion blogger Aimee Song and interior designer Athena Calderone. The appeal has everything to do with the sofa’s eccentricities. Instead of the clean, angular shapes that are indicative of still-popular midcentury-modern designs, B&B Italia’s couch maintains a squared-off structure but is also a thick, bulbous creation that’s incredibly soft and inviting, an aesthetic note in high demand last year as homeowners transformed their spaces into cozy refuges from the tumult of a world in the grip of an epidemic.

B&B Italia didn’t cut any corners when it came to reviving the famous furnishing, either. While the design remains the same, its materiality addresses contemporary concerns, using Forest Stewardship Council–certified beechwood for the legs and recycled plastics in the upholstery. From $4,350 for a single module

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REISSUE

O N E T O WAT C H

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

Sumayya Vally Designing the Serpentine Pavilion, a temporary, annual art showcase in London, ranks among architecture’s most prestigious commissions.

Zaha Hadid built the first one in 2000; since then, other luminaries have followed in her footsteps, including Bjarke Ingels, Frank Gehry and Rem Koolhaas. This month, Sumayya Vally brings her version of the structure to life. At 30 years old, she’s the youngest architect to do so.

The gig comes on the heels of years of interdisciplinary work at her Johannesburgbased firm, Counterspace, where Vally uses architecture as a catalyst for larger social change. Recent projects include building an arts-and-after-school center with flexible spaces for co-learning and converting a former Dutch church into a mosque with a minaret of light that appears five times a day.

Architecture can seem static, but Vally’s work is anything but. Her dynamic take on the Serpentine, then, emerges as more than just one big, unmoving structure. The open-air circular pavilion hints at a Grecian agora and yet is utterly modern in its layered, blocky seating and interlocking sections, each with a distinct shape and texture. This architectural mosaic represents London’s many migrant communities—such as the Afro-Caribbean population in Brixton and Whitechapel’s Bangladeshis—and the craft techniques practiced there. Since parts of the pavilion are removable, they can later be installed for local celebrations in the respective neighborhoods that inspired them. It’s thoughtful not just in its look and concept but in its materials: The pavilion is comprised of cork as well as bricks made of recycled construction waste.

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Daiki by Minotti CHAIR

At this point, it’s fair to say midcentury-modern design has experienced a renais-

sance far beyond its supposed 1960s-era expiration date. The movement’s unfussy, function-first mantra came back into style in the late ’90s and early 2000s, when brands like Knoll and Herman Miller exploded in popularity; designers and homeowners still clamor for Marcel Breuer and Hans Wegner originals in 2021. There’s not much room, then, to create something midcentury-adjacent that’s both fresh and interesting. And yet Daiki, designed by renowned Brazilian architect Marcio Kogan, manages to bring something new to the table—or, rather, the chair.

The twist to the midcentury formula comes courtesy of Kogan’s many trips to Japan. Daiki is a tribute to the country’s design tradition, marrying subtle elegance with the bold, overt lines of American modernism. Because of its similar-but-different take on a beloved aesthetic, it can be paired with virtually any other piece: doubly so because the cushions come in fabric or leather and the wooden shell in beech plywood with a flamed ash veneer or palisander santos with a matte lacquer finish. Add armrests, if you like, or go for Daiki’s outdoor version (shown here).

But like any good midcentury seat, function comes first, and Kogan’s design has a deep, low-slung base that’s a real pleasure to sit back and relax in. Armchair with armrests, from $7,985; without armrests, from $6,490

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N V L B Y M D F I TA L I A TA B L E

Architects have a long history of designing not just spectacular buildings but intricate, carefully

considered furniture as well. Zaha Hadid made many dynamic, twisting seats during her lifetime, and years ago Rem Koolhaas crafted a futuristic series of chairs, tables and more for Knoll. Jean Nouvel is another Pritzker winner who has worked on both edifices and furnishings. One of his latest, the NVL table, brings the very best elements of his architecture to the living room.

NVL, a moniker derived from the consonants of its designer’s last name, is characterized by clean geometries and a pared-back, almost minimalist sensibility, and yet it also manages to look bold and unconventional. That aesthetic marriage has much to do with its shape, which references a trilithon, a structure with two large stones supporting a third stone, a là Stonehenge. The influence gives the table an almost monolithic look, similar to many of Nouvel’s most famous projects, like the Louvre Abu Dhabi or the Torre Glòries skyscraper in Barcelona. But Nouvel keeps it elegant with a thin top slab. For those who really want to lean into the architectural theme, the piece can be finished in a variety of marbles and reconstructed stone, in addition to colorful lacquers. From $8,775

M I A B Y S C AV O L I N I KITCHEN

There’s nothing like watching a Michelin-starred chef work in easy syn-

chronicity born of convenience and exacting design around a kitchen.

That seamless choreography inspired Italian manufacturer Scavolini to tap Carlo Cracco, former chef at Michelin-starred Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, to help create Mia, a kitchen system that smartly gets maximal use out of all its various cabinets, countertops, nooks and niches.

The hood above the stove, for instance, doubles as a shelf, and you can affix herb gardens, shelving units or wine storage to the backsplash. A cutting board can be tucked away like a drawer when it’s not in use, and a meal-prep station can be easily opened and shut; when closed, it’s just another part of the sleek countertop.

Cracco and Scavolini’s concept was particularly welcome this year, with all the home cheffing happening. Both veteran and newbie cooks can benefit from tools like the food-warming lamp, which keeps one course or meal warm while you’re prepping another, and the mobile counter, which can be wheeled from the kitchen to the dining room for serving. Of course, the culinary feats that Mia can help you accomplish are important, but so is its materiality. Thankfully, the duo thought of that, too: All of its systems and components are available in wood veneers, steel, lacquer, clay and more. Price upon request

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S T YA L B Y BENTLEY HOME DESK

A desk has always been a nice thing to have—as much

power statement as useful furnishing—but this year it was the thing to have. With traditional offices shut down because of the pandemic, suddenly where and how we worked from home mattered. The solution?

A spacious, ambitious desk like Bentley Home’s, which represents the perfect fusion of practicality, status and, as the name suggests, style.

Carlo Colombo, an architect who has worked with renowned Italian manufacturers such as Flexform and Cappellini, designed Styal, which consists of two components: the desk itself and a large sideboard.

The latter provides plentiful storage, but it’s the former that’s a real feat of design. To create the vibrant surface, Colombo employed a lacquering technique called degradé, which involves using an airbrush to color the wood and accentuate its natural grain. It’s incredibly slow, careful work, a process similar to the layering of paints on an artist’s canvas. The final product speaks for itself: Styal’s surface is polished and striking in its racy good looks. From $64,810 for the desk alone; from $39,750 for the sideboard

D R I F T BY D E M U RO DA S S O FA

There’s a welcome simplicity to Drift. It eschews

the oversize-sectional-couch brief, long a designworld favorite, in favor of a more spartan, natural look. The piece’s silhouette, for example, contains no harsh lines: It’s all subtle, rounded curves that are both easy on the eyes and excellent for latenight lounging. That sort of easy, breezy design

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was more popular last year than ever. During a time when many were looking to make their homes feel less stark and more comfortable and approachable, Drift was, and remains, a living-room essential.

The sofa’s inspiration comes from the natural world, in particular the design team’s travels to the Middle East. Its soft, undulating shape takes

cues from the rolling dunes of the Arabian desert. Fossilized sand formations were the basis for the bronze legs, which were cast by hand at DeMuro Das’s manufacture in New Delhi using a technique that has been practiced in India for centuries, imparting exquisite detail worthy of a maharaja. $10,315

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The bathroom often gets overlooked—that is, until you see a really

Cyo

by Dornbracht B AT H

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gorgeous one, and the coveting begins. Perhaps the most glaringly functional space in a home, it can also be a logistical nightmare to renovate. Hardware like the Cyo faucet aims to inspire change, adding a gently arching curve to a room that’s so often made of squares and right angles. The design comes from Dornbracht’s archive—more specifically, from the Series 2000, originally manufactured in 1969. The brand re-imagined those sketches to create Cyo’s utterly modern signature swoop.

Dornbracht made the faucet with Sieger Design, a longtime kitchen and bath collaborator. Together, the pair also created a set of unique circular knobs to go along with the spout, all available in brass, chrome and platinum. The accompanying handles are equally customizable, with inset options running from glossy metal to cool stone. It’s this malleability that makes the hardware stand out, as it encourages individuality in bathroom design (of all places). And, obviously, it doesn’t come at the cost of performance: Water will come out of Cyo’s nozzle just like any other (perhaps even a tad more smoothly), except this one will look much better while doing it. Price upon request

T E R R A CO L L E C T I O N BY C A L I C O WA L L PA P E R WA LL PA P E R

At first glance, this wall looks like textured, solid rock.

But, no, the artful backdrop is paper, one of the design world’s most explosive categories of late. Long associated with chintz, wallpaper is back in vogue. Designers are producing gorgeous, creative wall coverings that are effectively top-to-bottom art for an otherwise bare canvas. That idea works best, of course, if a painter, sculptor or photographer worked on said paper. Calico’s choice to tap multimedia artist Matthew Day Jackson for a collection, then, made it easily the smartest—and best-looking—of last year’s bunch.

Jackson’s work runs the gamut from mixed-media paintings to bronze sculptures, primarily addressing, at least in some capacity, the myth of the American Dream.

He has experimented with lead in a few artworks, a material that has layers of meaning for Jackson, as it’s beautiful to look at but dangerous to consume. Terra’s inspiration came from this substance, which, don’t worry, isn’t on the ingredients list of the wallpaper itself.

When Jackson poured lead into a large, shallow vessel, it cooled, hardened and looked like a distorted landscape. Calico deftly translated the resulting murals into Terra’s seven different wallpapers, which resemble topdown views of otherworldly vistas. $28 per square foot

S E N JA BY JANUS ET CIE OUTDOOR COLLECTION

Finally, the custom-configuration sofa has planted its weatherized feet out-

doors. Janus et Cie’s take on the trend is a comprehensive one. Senja presents nearly 100 modules to mix and pair up, including poufs, side tables, chairs and recamiers. Like all great patio furniture, it’s equal parts beautiful and durable. Individual tabletops are made of resilient teak or lava stone, which is covered in a glaze that can withstand rain, high temperatures and frost.

All-weather longevity is excellent, but it’s Senja’s design that really puts it head and shoulders above the rest. While most outdoor furnishings of the last decade have bulky profiles, Senja’s slender legs and slight frame add an elegance to its surroundings while still offering plenty of cushioning. As with any modular-seating system worth its salt, the only real limit to what it can look like and how it can function is your imagination (and your deck’s square footage). Individual modules from $5,500

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P R O M O T I O N

in focus

PXG pxg.com Founded by entrepreneur and self-proclaimed golf nut Bob Parsons, PXG embodies his belief that every new product – from golf clubs to apparel – should be markedly better.

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CIGARS

By Richard Carleton Hacker Photography by Will Anderson

THE BIG IDEA

A Stronger Smoke

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

The cigars we’re smoking are becoming more buff. Just look at this year’s Best of the Best winners: Full- and mediumfull-strength smokes dominate, with the Montecristo 1935 Anniversary Nicaragua the lone representative on the podium for the medium-strength category. Absent entirely are any cigars from the mild or even mediummild segments. Meanwhile, a number of popular smokes, such as the J. C. Newman Diamond Crown Maximus and the CAO Vision, have debuted intense new versions that not only grabbed our attention but made our list for the year’s best cigars.

That means so long candela cigars, with their ultra-mild yellow-green wrappers, and hello to the flavors of Jalapa and Estelí, two of Nicaragua’s

most popular regions for producing the dark, muscular tobaccos used in many of today’s premium stogies.

In fact, 6 of this year’s 10 Best of the Best winners come from Nicaragua and feature its characteristically rich, earthy tobaccos. And the trend holds outside of our curated selection: Over the past several years, for the first time Nicaragua has outpaced the Dominican Republic as the leading exporter of premium cigars to the US. The gravitation to stronger smokes is the result of a growing appreciation for the many flavor nuances to be found in fuller premium cigars, as with the current penchant for cask-strength whiskeys. We’re also firing up more stogies overall, with January 2021 exports to the US up by 55 percent compared to January 2020, according to the Cigar Association of America. This is unsurprising, perhaps, in the most homebound year in modern memory. With many of us now working from home, lighting up a mid-afternoon stogie is far more feasible than in an office environment.

For smokers, at least, that’s one cloud with a silver lining.

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U LT R A - P R E M I U M

The Royale is the fullest-bodied Cohiba to date and also marks the

first time this celebrated brand has been hand-rolled in Honduras.

To showcase its strength, it’s handsomely packaged in a semi-circular dome-shaped cigar chest (in either 5- or 10-count) in red, silver and black. The holographic bands are no less spectacular, but nothing outshines the cigar itself. Most evident is the roughly textured yet silky-smooth Nicaraguan broadleaf wrapper from the Jalapa Valley, which blankets a Dominican Piloto Cubano binder. The filler consists of leaves from Honduras and Nicaragua, all aged from five to six years. This is a medium-full-bodied cigar, possessing Lamborghini-like power wrapped in the luxury of a Maybach. Three shapes are offered, with the 6 x 50 Toro Royale being our choice for an after-dinner smoke. From $25

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P R O M O T I O N

in focus

MILLESIMA millesima-usa.com Power, depth and an unexpected freshness characterize the 2020 Bordeaux Wine Futures, recently released and available now. With Millesima, you will enjoy unprecedented access, with ideal storage conditions and provenance guaranteed. Best time of the year to invest in wine! TOP LEFT

SANLORENZO sanlorenzoyacht.com 62Steel’s design is capable of exceptional volumes, with her sumptuous owner’s apartment with a 180° panoramic view, combined with a private owner’s deck. The majestic beach club ensures the most exclusive “au fil de l’eau” experience. TOP RIGHT

ARTURO FUENTE arturofuente.com Be ready and on the lookout for The Rare Pinks, the latest cigar from Arturo Fuente. After years of creative and passionate blending, this unique cigar will soon be released into the world. Created by the one and only Toymaker, Carlito Fuente, and inspired by his daughter, Liana Fuente, this exceptional cigar truly captures the strength and spirit of the next generation of Fuente. BOTTOM LEFT

BELLAGIO RESORT & CASINO bellagio.com Bellagio unveils refreshing new guest room designs and upgraded in-room amenities that speak to trends in sophisticated, contemporary travel. The new designs take inspiration from the movement of water, the beauty of nature and the vibrant reflections of light seen at sunrise and set. BOTTOM RIGHT

REINVENTION

From its Cuban inception in 1892 to its run

as a Dominican cigar (as manufactured by Manuel Quesada) starting in 1974, a Fonseca has always been a medium-mild smoke. But in 2019, the brand was sold to My Father Cigars, headquartered in Estelí, Nicaragua—in terms of cigar-making philosophy, a move akin to swapping a classic BMW straight-six for a Detroit V-8. Yet the new Fonseca as rolled by My Father Cigars remains smooth yet is noticeably more powerful, featuring a shade-grown Corojo 99 Rosado wrapper coupled with Nicaraguan tobaccos for the binder and filler. Although the first few puffs retain some of a traditional Fonseca’s characteristic mildness, the medium-full Nicaraguan earthiness kicks in quickly, with a well-tuned smoothness. Six sizes are offered, with Cosacos (a 5⅜ x 42) still wrapped in white tissue, preserving an old Cuban tradition for the brand. $7 to $11

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D AV I D O F F R O B U S T O INTENSO ENCORE

It’s hard to keep a good cigar down. When the

original limited edition of this medium-rich 5⅛ x 52 robusto sold out shortly after it was introduced, in 2005, it kicked off a mission by the Davidoff master blenders to duplicate it.

Tobaccos are like wines—certain vintages simply can’t be replicated—but with Davidoff’s vast warehouses of aging tobaccos, the near-impossible was achieved.

This reincarnation features the same Cubanseed filler tobaccos as the original, from four regions of the Dominican Republic, all aged for up to seven years. In addition, an exclusive Habano Ecuadoran wrapper and a spicy binder from San Vicente bring back a rich, creamy smoke which Thomas Keller, Michelin-starred chef and Robusto Intenso fan, likens to his mother’s French onion dip, but with an added touch of truffles. $32

RE-BLEND

This extremely limited luxury brand was

created by Akhil Kapacee, a London entrepreneur turned cigar maker, in collaboration with Mitchell Orchant, one of the UK’s most prominent cigar retailers and Cuban-cigar auctioneers. Each year, the Regius cigar offers a new blend of vintages of its Nicaraguan tobaccos, hand-rolled by the Plasencia factory in Estelí.

This year’s offering is one of the most richly sophisticated yet: With an oily wrapper, the flavor is designed to appeal to those who might normally smoke a Cuban Partagás Serie D No. 4; though we found it slightly milder than that Cuban robusto, it’s still full of spicy flavor and a creamy nuttiness, like smoking in a rain forest just after a storm. Distribution is limited to the US and the UK, with only 200 boxes each of three sizes—a 4½ x 52 robusto, a 5 x 48 hermoso and a 5½ x 52 campana—allotted per region.

All pair well with the sweet Islay smokiness of either a 2020 Lagavulin Distillers Edition or a Laphroaig 10-Year-Old Sherry Oak Finish. $16

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Sixto I Hexagon SHAPE

While Cuba’s early concept of a four-sided,

box-pressed cigar has become extremely popular today, in 2016 family-owned Plasencia Cigars broke new ground with a six-sided cigar, the 6 x 60 gordo first seen in its Alma Fuerte line. The brand recently upped the ante by altering the original recipe with an aged Colorado Claro wrapper.

“When we created the hexagon-shaped vitola, we did it with the intent to push the boundaries of cigar making,” says Nestor Andrés Plasencia, CEO of Plasencia 1865, the brand’s Miami-based distribution company. This Nicaraguan puro emulates the filler blend of the original Alma Fuerte, and the new wrapper brings an added dose of silkiness and spice to the existing notes of nutmeg and cedar, all of which are subtly intensified by the unique surface area of its six-sided shape. $21

PAC K AG I N G

Other than its spectacularly modern, white-lac-

quered, LED-lit humidor box, this new, Nicaraguan blend of the CAO Vision has nothing in common with past CAO cigars of the same name.

To be sure, the Vision’s signature presentation is worthy of a packaging award—when opened, it bathes the cigars with an eerie blue light—but the cigars inside are equally worthy of a Best of the Best spotlight. They come wrapped in an exquisite Cameroon leaf, complemented by a Nicaraguan filler blend from farms in Estelí and Jalapa and wrapped with an Ecuadoran binder. Just one size is produced, a 7 x 50 Churchill, which is packed with earthy cedar and a touch of sweetness in every puff. $19

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NICARAGUAN CIGAR (MADE IN HONDURAS)

Despite its name, the filler blend of this

cigar also contains Dominican and Honduran tobaccos, which nicely counterbalance the characteristically rich and earthy flavors of the Nicaraguan leaf. But it’s the extra spice of its Honduran binder coupled with a smooth (yet not too oily) Ecuadoran wrapper that brings it into the medium-plus-strength category, with a hint of espresso on the finish. Further contradicting the “Nicaragua” moniker, this cigar, like many others in the Camacho line, is actually rolled in Davidoff’s Diadema Cigars de Honduras factory, in Danlí. There are currently three shapes in production: a robusto, a toro and a Gran Churchill. If you’ve got the time, we recommend the 7 x 56 Gran Churchill, which will give you a good hour’s smoking experience as well as the fullest measure of the Camacho Nicaragua’s sweet, muscular spicy-oak flavors. $9.50

Maximus Robusto LINE EXTENSIONS

When the late Stanford Newman, son of founder J. C. Newman, wanted to create a fuller-

flavored complement to the popular Diamond Crown line, he enlisted help from two sources: the Oliva Tobacco Company, which supplied its very best aged tobaccos, and Carlos Fuente, who loaned out his top master rollers. The result was the Diamond Crown Maximus, introduced in 2005 to celebrate the J. C. Newman Cigar Company’s 110th anniversary. The longleaf filler is a blend of aged Dominican tobaccos topped by an Ecuadoran wrapper grown in the El Bajo region, where minerals and nutrients have washed down from the surrounding mountains and made the soil exceptionally rich. Thanks to the tobacco’s weight, the leaves can be re-bulked and re-fermented, resulting in a darker color and deeper taste. This newest shape, a 5 x 50 robusto, combines all those elements in a mouth-filling smoke, one of the fullest-flavored cigars ever created by the J. C. Newman Cigar Company. $12

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Series No. 2 NEW SERIES

Want the vibes of a sunbaked Brazilian vacation without leaving the US? This cigar screams “Carnival” and “Copacabana Beach” from the first puff. It starts out with a rugged oscuro-hued Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper, then sambas into a Nicaraguan binder (the Nicaraguan filler is accented with additional tobaccos from Brazil). This blend, released almost two years after the milder Trinidad Espiritu Series No. 1, is another successful collaboration between Rafael Nodal, head of product capability for Tabacalera USA (which owns the non-Cuban Trinidad brand), and A. J. Fernandez, who owns the Nicaraguan factory where the cigars are rolled. Five sizes are available, ranging from a 40 x 7½ fundador to a 6 x 60 magnum, the latter of which is the perfect complement to a barrel-aged Novo Fogo cachaça on the rocks. $10 to $11

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

Hendrik “Henke” Kelner Rarely does a single master blender come to embody the personality of an entire range of luxury cigars, but such is the case with Hendrik “Henke” Kelner. With his weathered Panama hat, relaxed smile and ever-present cigar, Kelner is as much a fixture of Davidoff’s fields as the tobaccos he grows there.

Trained as an industrial engineer, Kelner was producing premium cigars by the age of 24, first for others, then for himself as founder of Tabacos Dominicanos. His intimate knowledge of tobacco varieties, the tastes they produce and the variables of terroir ultimately brought him to the attention of Oettinger Davidoff AG; the result was an almost lifelong association with that brand.

Davidoff, known at the time as a Cuban cigar producer, was looking to reestablish itself in the Dominican Republic while maintaining its luxury bona fides. That’s where Kelner came in. He created for Davidoff an updated, refined identity, and in time developed new blends for the company. A pioneer of the creation of disease-resistant hybrid tobaccos, he’s also responsible for opening up new growing areas, including the Dominican Republic’s Yamasá region, a swampy area where tobacco had never been successfully grown until Henke and his team discovered how to raise the soil’s pH level.

For all his accomplishments, Kelner is quick to praise others, including Davidoff’s master blender Eladio Diaz and agronomist Manuel Peralta. Although recently retired, Henke continues to grow tobacco for Oettinger Davidoff. With his lifetime of knowledge, passion, innovation and dedication, Kelner has become a true icon in the industry.

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MONTECRISTO 1 9 3 5 A N N I V E R S A RY N I C A R A G UA ANNIVERSARY EDITION

For a “modern” Havana cigar (meaning one of the few classic Cuban brands

to have been created in the 20th century) Montecristo has become a multinational smoke. After being born in Cuba, it resurfaced in 1990 as a separate Dominican brand—and now, in an even spicier variation, as a Nicaraguan puro produced to celebrate the brand’s 85th anniversary. Rolled by Abdel “A.J.” Fernandez in four vitolas, all are “soft-pressed” in the Cuban boxpressed tradition. Despite its muscular-looking dark-brown wrapper, the flavor is at the upper end of medium, especially in the 6⅛ x 52 No. 2, a size associated with Montecristo no matter where it’s made. Fire one up alongside a glass of Jefferson’s Bourbon Cognac-finished rye whiskey as a fitting tribute to the brand’s namesake, the Count of Monte Cristo, of whom Alexandre Dumas wrote, “I think he is a delightful fellow, who does the honors of his table admirably; who has traveled much . . . and he has excellent cigars.” $10.50 to $17.50

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By Josh Condon, Bryan Hood, Robert Ross and Mark Muench

It’s odd to consider that during the most

THE BIG IDEA

Object Permanence

I L LU S T R AT I O N B Y S H O U T

isolating year in modern history we’ve become more familiar with each other’s personal spaces than ever. With everyone broadcasting from home for a year’s worth of Zoom calls, we were suddenly invited into the living areas of not just acquaintances and coworkers but our doctors, lawyers, architects and personal trainers. It’s now possible to tell the latenight talk shows apart just by the hosts’ basement décor.

At the same time, the figurative walls within those spaces have come down, as so many homes suddenly had to be so many places at once: office, school, restaurant and bar, day care, gym. Not to mention all the actual walls coming down. (As we write this, a sustained renovation boom is still going strong, causing lumber prices to skyrocket and

giving contractors the type of billable hours that would make a white-shoe law firm weep with joy.) The result has been a softening of rigid boundaries, a willingness to rethink basic assumptions about how we use designed space.

And that has introduced a certain fluidity to how we interact with the products that inhabit those spaces.

Consider fitness or hobbyist equipment: Once hidden away behind closed doors or relegated to the garage, it’s now as common a sight in the background of video calls as a bookshelf or sofa.

And why shouldn’t a sleek, beautifully made rowing machine, like our pick of the superb Hydrow ($2,245), or an architecturally curved gaming monitor (see p. 302) take pride of place in a living room? Shouldn’t it simply depend on what, for you, constitutes living? Luxury brands have long understood that anything can be a design object. As it turns out, the strictures about what’s meant to go where, seen versus stored, thisroom-or-that-room, have been largely self-imposed.

The last year has introduced a looser, more creative “make it work” attitude toward the stuff we use, and how we use it, and where. Along with the new normal of allowing frequent virtual peeks into our homes, that means our favorite kit must be subject to a rigorous ouroboros of form following function following form. Everything is on display now. Make sure it’s up to snuff.

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M E RC E D E S - B E N Z E Q F O R M U L A E T E A M E - B I K E BY N + E-BIKE

Typically, any product with an “official team

such and such” designation is more likely to be over-marketed than overengineered. One notable exception: anything to do with Formula 1 racing and cycling, given how fanatically devoted top-tier F1 drivers are to their bikes as the basis of various grueling conditioning regimens.

And while the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team does offer its own high-performance road bike, our pick goes to its stablemate, the EQ Formula E eBike. Whether the German automaker

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can one-up the best from the cycling world’s elite manufacturers is debatable, but there’s no question its veteran Formula E racing team is ahead of the pack when it comes to battery technology. Take the bike’s svelte design, which easily passes for a non-electric city model. That’s because, in a clever twist, the battery and wiring are packaged in the seat tube rather than the down tube.

The 36-volt 7 AH Panasonic battery pack, removable via a quick-release button, can be fully charged in just three and a half hours and gives the

bike a healthy 37-mile range. Connected to a 250 w mid-drive electric motor with torque sensing, the slim battery can propel riders up to 20 mph.

For just over three grand, the five-speed also includes a carbon-fiber fork, Tektro hydraulic disc brakes, puncture-resistant tires and a Gates carbon-belt drive that won’t need maintenance for over 18,500 miles. And because both the battery and the motor are near the center of the frame, the eBike has 50/50 weight distribution, making it one of the most stable rides on the market. $3,200

RO D E N STO C K H R D I GA RO N - SW L E N S PHOTOGRAPHY

The most significant differentiator between Rodenstock’s

new 90 mm F/5.6 and any other lens is its extra-large image circle at extremely high resolutions. For landscape photography, that makes it possible to use with digitalback cameras in all directions with no vignette, allowing for the seamless merging of two images into one without dark corners or soft regions. Typically, that’s possible only with the type of traditional field camera toted by the likes of Ansel Adams.

Clocking in at nearly three pounds, this 90 mm can also replace a telephoto lens in many circumstances, as it approximates 200 mm when images are cropped and is the equivalent to a 56.25 mm on a full-frame sensor; the latter is close to the so-called “nifty fifty” focal length, which produces a fairly distortion-free view similar to our natural perspective.

Of course, the five-figure lens’s true value proposition is its sharpness, not only in the center but at the glass’s edge.

For serious photographers, that quality alone makes this 90 mm Rodenstock a must-have, no matter the price. $12,900

C SEED M1 TV

With C Seed’s M1, turning on your television might be

more compelling than whatever you plan to watch.

The Austrian company’s newest TV is a 4K MicroLED set that rises out of a hidden compartment in the floor like an obelisk before unfolding its screen and locking into place. It’s a showstopper of a trick and even more impressive considering the fully open display measures a massive 165 inches diagonally.

But the M1 isn’t just huge and clever. As noteworthy is its construction—the base is machined from a solid block of aviation-grade aluminum alloy—as well as the vibrant, pin-sharp image quality. The display is coated

with a special treatment that ensures rich and accurate black areas, while the company’s Adaptive Gap Calibration Technology renders the borders between the screen’s folding panels invisible. Adding to the immersive viewing experience are the pair of 250 w broadband speakers and the 700 w subwoofer built into the frame.

Of course, a gargantuan, super-high-resolution TV with a scene-stealing parlor trick (not to mention zero footprint when not in use) doesn’t come cheap. The set, available in four colors—black, gold, silver and titanium—will set you back the cost of a couple Bentley Flying Spurs. $447,000

FOR LO U D S P E A K E R

Founded in Germany in 1999 by Jörn Janczak,

Tidal Audio produces components with a level of refinement that elevates them into the realm of artisanal objects capable of delivering otherworldly sound. Recently, the company collaborated with French hypercar maker Bugatti for the Royale loudspeaker, named for the rare 1926 Type 41 Royale, Ettore Bugatti’s maximalist vision of the ultimate luxury automobile, of which only six were produced.

Despite the historic name, the nearly five-foottall Royale’s seductive curves and brilliant finish, embellished with jewel-like details in a variety of materials, evoke a modern Bugatti, and like those cars it can be heavily customized with carbon fiber, wood veneers, fabric, leather, polished stainless steel, dark aluminum and precious-metal surfaces.

Two themes are available: Monocoque, with a single cabinet color, and Duotone. The front array includes two woofers, topped with a midrange and tweeter which employ diamond diaphragms just like the high-frequency transducers used in Bugatti supercars. Four subwoofers per cabinet plumb the lower octaves. Each loudspeaker houses dedicated amplification for its complement of drivers, allowing the system to be operated using the elegant Tidal controller, which connects to a variety of sources, including streaming via smart devices. From around $316,000 to $489,000 per pair, depending on options

H Y D ROW HOME GYM

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Streamlined and elegantly formed, Hydrow is like a racing

scull transformed into usable sculpture. The system features a solid aluminum-and-steel frame, an electromagnetic, computer-controlled drag mechanism that mimics the feel of rowing through water—the strap, made from industrial-grade webbing, offers a smooth and nearly silent pull—and Bluetooth connectivity, to link up to your heartrate monitor. But the Hydrow’s standout feature may be its 22-inch color touchscreen. With front-facing speakers, the 1920 x 1080 high-definition display provides an immersive experience for a library of on-demand workouts or unguided, solo rows through some of the world’s most scenic waterways; there are even live workouts that follow Hydrow coaches on the water in real time. When you feel like getting off the “boat,” as it were, the content library also includes strength training, yoga and Pilates, with the screen able to rotate up to 25 degrees in both directions to accommodate workouts off the rower. $2,245

TA G H E U E R C O N N E C T E D GOLF EDITION S M A R T WAT C H

After introducing a revamped Golf

ILLUSTRATION BY PAOLA WICIAK

Edition of its Connected smartwatch last year, Tag Heuer continues to add significant functionality via over-the-air updates, including enhanced maps, a club-recommendation tool and a new wellness app, which allows users to monitor daily, non-golf activities.

The updated 2-D maps now feature details such as trees and wooded areas, while the dramatically improved 3-D maps replicate the type of visuals golfers might expect to find at professional tournaments.

In all, some 40,000 courses are included, covering 99 percent of the world’s links. Users can now input preferred distances for each club into

the recommendation tool, which will then offer in-round suggestions. (The feature is easily disabled for tournament play.) And in keeping with the smartwatch’s recent repositioning as a luxury health and wellness tool, it now allows users to track their biometrics, including step count, exercise intensity, calories burned and real-time and continuous heart rates.

The Golf Edition is housed in a handsome 45 mm black titanium case with green-lacquered pushers, to easily record shots and shot distances, and a matte black ceramic bezel. It comes on a white rubber strap with green stitching, as well as a perforated black rubber strap. $2,550

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT

Dr. Ivan Sutherland You can try to picture life without the graphical user interface, but you won’t get far. No tablets, app icons, swiping, double-tapping, pinch-tozoom. Ditto emojis, chat windows, drop-down menus, cursors, widgets and tabs. And forget automotive infotainment systems; your options revert to watching the speedometer while listening to some tunes, just like in the ’80s.

If you want to know whom to thank for the ease and efficiency of graphics-based user interaction, meet Dr. Ivan Sutherland, the Hastings, Nebraska-born computer scientist who’s considered the father of computer graphics. In 1963, for his doctoral thesis at MIT, Sutherland wrote a computer program called Sketchpad. Using geometric data, it was the first program with a complete graphical interface and gave users command over properties of the data-shape: for example, the ability to shorten or lengthen a line. Sketchpad helped win Sutherland the Turing Award and the Kyoto Prize, and paved the way for everything from CAD drawing to object-oriented programming.

It set the groundwork for what’s poised to be the first great technological shift of the new millennium: extended reality, which encompasses all the possible combinations of augmented and virtual realities, and is already influencing industries as disparate as gaming, health care, education and retail. And while extended reality is only now starting to break into the mainstream, the first AR/VR headset actually dates all the way back to 1968 and a team at Harvard headed by—that’s right—Dr. Ivan Sutherland. He’s now a visiting scientist and ACM Fellow at Portland State University, in Oregon.

Anyone interested in what’s soon to be possible should take note of whatever he’s working on.

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SAM SUNG O DY S S E Y G 9 MONITOR

With the lightning speed at which technology

moves, it’s easy to feel like each new device you buy is on the road to immediate obsolescence. Not so with Samsung’s newest gaming monitor, a 49-inch behemoth called the Odyssey G9. The ultra-wide display is so bleeding edge that even the most powerful gaming rig can’t keep up with it.

This is the world’s first 1000R curved screen with a 32:9 aspect ratio, but most impressive is its 240 hertz refresh rate, which means it can play

games at a breathtaking 240 frames per second (fps). That’s so fast you’ll be hard-pressed to find a computer or game that can take full advantage of it; even if your system is powered by one of Intel’s ninth-generation Core i7 or i9 processors and equipped with a top-shelf graphics card, running your favorite games at 240 fps will require turning down the graphics settings. That’s because, at 49 inches and 32:9, the G9 is basically two 27-inch, 16:9 monitors running side by side.

M C I N T O S H M C 9 0 1 D UA L M O N O AMP

Within a decade of the company’s founding in 1949, McIntosh Labs had become

America’s premier electronics manufacturer, just in time for the Golden Age of Hi-Fi to usher in stereo sound and the LP record. Famous for tank-like build quality and superior performance, McIntosh’s classic vacuum-tube amps earned the company a faithful following. And while those same tubes are still made today, vacuum-tube technology has hardly stood still in the intervening years.

The MC901 is a monoblock amplifier built to power a single loudspeaker. What makes this amp unique is that it’s the first in audio history to combine completely separate vacuum-tube and solid-state amplifiers in one chassis. Which sounds impressive, but also raises the question: why? “The purpose of the dual topology is to allow the listener to have the best of both worlds,” says Charlie Randall, president of McIntosh Labs and co-CEO of McIntosh Group. “For mid- and high frequencies, they have the classic sound of vacuum tubes, and for the low frequencies, they have the fast response and power reserve of solid-state.” Making 300 and 600 w, respectively, each is a powerhouse which allows users to bi-amplify even the most power-hungry dynamic, electrostatic and planer speakers, driving them to realistic levels without ever running out of steam. $35,000 per pair

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But there’s more to the G9 than an impossibly silky refresh rate. The display has an ultra-sharp 1440p resolution, a significant bump over the 1080p on most computer monitors, even those used by professional gamers, and the immersive 1000R curvature nearly envelops your field of vision. It also features a 1ms response time and support for both AMD FreeSync Premium Pro and Nvidia’s G-Sync—basically everything a gamer could want from a display today, and tomorrow, too. $1,700

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Michael Bloomberg and Richard Branson are two very different billionaires. One is a straight-up suit, and the other a bon vivant entrepreneur and adventurer who is rarely s in one, unless it’s the space variety. They’ve each published a memoir, however. Brans penned his, Losing My Virginity, more than 20 years ago, but has followed it up with vari sequels, plus a personal blog on Virgin’s website that he still maintains. Bloomberg’s tom named Bloomberg by Bloomberg (how do they think up these titles?), is similarly season but was republished and revised in 2019. So which is worth revisiting?

Bloomberg Losing VS.

B O O K BY I T S C OV E R

A color photo of Michael Bloomberg staring down the reader against a stark white background (plus his scrawled signature).

A black-and-white shot of Branson proudly gazing into the distance like some kind of romance-novel hero.

AU T H O R ’ S C U R R E N T N ET WO RT H

$59B $4.4B WE OPE N ON . . .

Bloomberg getting fired from his first job, at Salomon rothers, with a $10 million severance after a “Last Supper” meeting where executives ate “greasy steaks.”

A flight on the Virgin Global Challenger hot-air b Branson and his friends were attempting to ci world, starting in Morocco. They crashed in t

FIRST PAYDAY

10 shillings from his Auntie Joyce for learning to swim.

AMA ZON R AN KING

#582,909 #106,078 in the Kindle Store

in the Kindle Store

REVIEWS

“Reading it feels like being trapped inside a PowerPoint presentation about why billionaires are interesting.” —Jia Tolentino, The New Yorker

“Surprisingly, Branson comes off as a lovable underdog battling the establishment, instead of a spoiled tycoon.” —Tom Faucett, CNN

WE IR D F L E X

Won a case where the manager of a Virgin Records shop was arrested because the poster for a Sex Pistols’ album used the word “bollocks” (the group was signed to Branson’s record label at the time). A that “bollocks” was an old nickname fo that it was therefore not offensive.

“I was one of the youngest Eagle Scouts in that organization’s history.”

R THE B OOK WAS PUB LISHE D, HE . . .

ous company, left to run for w years later.

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Flew a hot-air balloon from Morocco to Hawaii. He still didn’t make it all the way around the world, though.

SALOMON BROTHERS BUILDING, HOT AIR BALLOON: ALAMY; MICHAE GREGORY BULL /AP; JOHNNY ROT TEN: JOE HOLLOWAY JR./AP

$9,000 starting salary at Salomon Brothers, plus a $2,500 loan.