PRESTIGE Worldwide Digital South Korea 02/2020

SUMMER 2020 VOLUME 6

SOUTH KOREA

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erscheint vierteljährlich MEMBER OF THE BOARD TIBOR MUELLER BORIS JAEGGI

IM PR INT

rundschauMEDIEN AG St. Jakob-Strasse 84 CH-4132 Muttenz T +41 (0)61 335 60 80 F +41 (0)61 335 60 88 info@rundschaumedien.ch rundschaumedien.ch EDITOR-IN-CHIEF SWENJA WILLMS s.willms@rundschaumedien.ch DEPUTY EDITOR-IN-CHIEF NIKE SCHRÖDER n.schroeder@rundschaumedien.ch SALES PATRICK FREY p.frey@rundschaumedien.ch VIRGINIE VINCENT v.vincent@rundschaumedien.ch MICHELE ZITO m.zito@rundschaumedien.ch FRANCO D'ELIA f.delia@rundschaumedien.ch URS HUEBSCHER u.huebscher@rundschaumedien.ch ALBAN MULAJ a.mulaj@rundschaumedien.ch HEAD OF PRODUCTION & ART DIRECTION EMMA R. SCHAUB e.schaub@rundschaumedien.ch PRODUCT PUBLIC RELATION SWENJA WILLMS s.willms@rundschaumedien.ch EDITORS GISBERT L. BRUNNER WILMA FASOLA LONE K. HALVORSEN THOMAS HAUER SIMONE HOFFMANN KEVIN SCHNEEBELI BEATRICE SCHÖNHAUS SPIRIG ANNA KAROLINA STOCK

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CORRECTOR ANDREAS PROBST PHOTOGRAPHS Image databases, Adam Norton at Jak Jaes Ltd., Glenn Spiro, Andy Smart of A. C. Cooper Ltd., A. Lange & Söhne, Carl F. Bucherer, Frédérique Constantin, Hublot, IWC, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Oris, Piaget, TAG Heuer, Harald Gottschalk ADMIN, COORDINATION & SUBSCRIPTIONS SERPIL DURSUN s.dursun@rundschaumedien.ch PRICE Issue CHF 10.–/€ 9.50 Year CHF 39.–/€ 35.– IT SUPPORT DEJAN DJOKIC deki@rundschaumedien.ch WEB SERVICES websiteria GmbH info@websiteria.ch is a registered trademark.

(IGE 596.147) ISSN 1662-1255

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DELIVERING YOUR DREAM

AMAC Aerospace is a world leader in Maintenance and Completion services for both narrowand wide-body VIP aviation. Our bespoke handling of VIP maintenance projects is world-renowned and our “Return to Service� are world class for completions.

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ART & 20

20 REFLECTING ON HIMSELF Interview with Mathias Kiss 26 WITH A CHILD’S CURIOSITY A conversation with Jenya Vyguzov

CULTURE

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32 A VOYAGE INTO ONE’S INNER SELF Kamalaya Resort 38 MORE THAN JUST DREAM BEACHES Sustainable tourism in the Dominican Republic

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O R D E S A LP E S T E AC H I N G YO U R S K I N TO T U R N B AC K T I M E

WE UNLOCK NATURE’S SECRETS FOR YOUR SKIN

ALP E O R.C O M

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WAT CHES & 50 44 JEWELL ERY MO TION 56 44 JEWELLERY WITH MAGIC Glenn Spiro 50 STYLISH Wristwatches in corona times

56 A COSTLY DISCLAIMER McLaren Elva 64 TYPICALLY BRITISH Jaguar E-Type

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68 FASHION EDITORIAL

Hide & Seek 78 FASHION WITH FUTURE

Thom Browne

BEAUTY & 104 WELL BEING

86 BEAUTY EDITORIAL Summer Breeze

96 AN ARTISTIC LEGACY Villa René Lalique 104 ART FOR THE WALLS de Gournay

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P E T E R P Ü T Z J E W E L L E RY C O LO G N E

peterpuetz.com

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CULI NA RIUM

110 110 CULINARY FAIRY TALES The “Moments” restaurant in Barcelona

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118 A FRENCH SOUL Portrait of Jean-Gabriel de Bueil

126 DEVIL-MAY-CARE Corporate succession

31 37 49 63 77 84 122 109 122 124

ART & CULTURE TRAVEL JEWELLERY MOTION FASHION MEN FASHION WOMEN BEAUTY LIVING CULINARIUM FINANCE

LOUIS VUITTON

FINAN TRENDS CE

129 AI Transformation engine

6 IMPRESSUM VAN CLEEF & ARPELS

19 EDITORIAL 130 VORSCHAU

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EDITORIAL

TIME FOR NEW MINDFULNESS

It hit abruptly, this crisis that is keeping the whole world in suspense.

It is a time in which we are forced to question things, to view them with new eyes and to turn to address ourselves. A crisis as an opportunity for self-reflection – an activity that Parisian artist Mathias Kiss has completely committed to. As an interface between painting, sculpture and architecture, Kiss reflects his life, his scepticism and his anger. In the interview, the all-rounder reveals what drives him in the search for new answers.

It helps to simply turn the world upside down and open up new perspectives. The cover of our summer edition should provide you with inspiration and food for thought here.

What emerges from this self-reflection is a longing for genuine values. Satisfying yourself with things that already exist. In this issue, we thus chase after the most valuable treasures whose origins lie in the past: vintage classics – right in line with the motto “less, but more valuable”.

And as soon as the world is open to us again, the most diverse destinations will offer time for a trip into the inner self. Like the “Kamalaya” healing resort on Thailand’s south coast, which relies on nature as a strength-giving element and on an empathetic understanding of the individual. Those who come here want to find themselves and work on themselves. Something that should not actake place over a limited time frame, but which should rather ac company us throughout our entire lives.

EDI TO RIAL

Swenja Willms Editor in Chief

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ART ART & & CULTURE CUL TURE

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Author_Swenja Willms Images_David Zagdoun / ADAGP

THE REFLECTION OF ONESELF

As an interface between painting, sculpture and architecture, the Parisian artist Mathias Kiss reflects his life, his scepticism and his anger. He appears to be both pragmatic and revolutionary in his career. His traditionally learned craft as a furniture designer and decorator allows Kiss to accomplish technically accurate masterpieces. Mathias Kiss is not someone who can be catalogued. In return, his message is all the more clear: let yourself be guided, find new paths, have the courage to be different.

PRESTIGE: Mathias Kiss, your works of art don’t just serve to provide decoration in interior design. They also serve a purpose – they aim to trigger a kind of self-reflection in the observer, which was also the cornerstone of your work as an artist. Why is self-reflection so important to you?

MATHIAS KISS: First of all, I make pieces in response to my past as a restorer of historical monuments and, above all, without any desire for “design”. I only create pieces that contradict the rules and dictates of classicism. It is a challenge that follows a single thought.

One of the materials you often use is mirror glass – presumably no coincidence. What function does the mirror occupy in your art?

I hate function! I started training as a painter and glazier at the age of 14, so I inevitably worked with mirrors and would cut them to size. If I had trained as a decorator, I would probably be tearing curtains and wallpaper today.

After your apprenticeship as a craftsman, you paved your way as a decorator through furniture design into art. You took a path from materialism, from the human-made, to the abstract, almost to the esoteric and the spiritual. How do you perceive the course your career has taken?

It is difficult for me to judge that in retrospect, but let’s say that my work was more technically focussed in the beginning, but made no sense. I am currently working on finding answers, a path outside of function or aesthetics.

One can assume that your works also come into being as a result of your own self-reflection. How much of yourself and your personality and history are in your works?

If you start an apprenticeship at the age of 14, you are not reliant on your own place of residence and do not ask yourself

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existential questions. What I am trying to say here is that my work did not educate me, but rather raised me. How do you raise a child?

Everything I do is a reaction to an experience.

Your style is a mix of craftsmanship and contemporary experimentation. Is it difficult for you to constantly keep reinventing yourself ? Where do you get this wealth of ideas from?

15 years of frustration is the best motivation. If I had gone to art school, my first nauseous sketch would have been titled: “It’s magnificent; listen to the creativity that is in you!” At the end of the sketchbook, I now don’t really see how I have reinvented myself.

PREVIEW “CELEBRATIONS” I 1st June 2020 – 31st August 2020 Gallery Elle Mommsenstr. 18 8044 Zürich “CELEBRATIONS” II 1st September 2020 – 31st January 2021 Suvretta House Via Chasellas 1 7500 St. Moritz

Breaking through conventional “codes” – that’s how you describe your art. What is it about our contemporary lifestyle that makes you so very eager to break through, and why?

I live in Paris, a museum city. Playing the false old man is not enough for me. I had to find other paths.

www.galleryelle.com

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You yourself are quite a “bon vivant” with a wide range of different talents. What else do you want to achieve in your life, or what talent do you still want to acquire?

First of all, thank you! I suffer a lot from not speaking English. Leaving school at 14 brings with it a few sacrifices.

In your latest work “Besoin d’air”, you integrate nature into your art – it is a reflection of the sky. How important is nature in your art?

Nature is extremely important, especially the sky, which symbolises flight and infinity. And, above all, it is an abstract, kinetic painting. It will never return to the way it was. This permanent movement is fascinating.

In June, some of your pieces are being shown in the “Gallery Elle” in Zurich and St. Moritz under the slogan “Celebrations”. What, for you, is a reason to celebrate?

Atossa, the gallery owner, has now become a friend and a great supporter. I love her character and positive resolve. Seeing her makes me happy! Going to Zurich makes me happy! If, on top of that, I get to drink a glass, then I'm in paradise.

Which works are being shown at the exhibition and how do they fit into its concept?

(Laughs) I’m not saying anything. I deliver my part …

What else can we expect from you this year?

More joy, more generosity and humility, and I wish everyone good health. My art is my job – it flows in my veins. It’s simple …

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Auhor_Swenja Willms Images_Jenya Vyguzov

WITH THE CURIOSITY OF A CHILD JENYA VYGUZOV FROM MOSCOW CREATES NEW WORLDS THROUGH HIS DIVERSE WORKS: IN COLLAGES, IN PHOTOS OR AS STREET ART. IN PARTICULAR, HIS BEAUTIFUL, ABSTRACT COLLAGES MADE OF MIXED MEDIA COMBINE PHOTOGRAPHY, NATURE AND FASHION TO CREATE AN IMPRESSIVE VISUAL STATEMENT. IN THIS INTERVIEW, THE YOUNG ARTIST TALKS ABOUT HIS ALMOST INEXHAUSTIBLE URGE TO DISCOVER THE NEW AND TO LEAVE HIS MARK ON THE WORLD.

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PRESTIGE: Jenya Vyguzov, fashion, art and people – everything flows together in your collages. How do you create this connection?

JENYA VYGUZOV: in addition to clothing, the focus in the fashion industry is also on the models, i.e. the people who strongly inspire me. But fashion is also an art form, which is abstract and surreal. I combine all of these elements in my work as an artist and in my collages. I myself got to know the fashion industry as a model. In the meantime, I also work as a fashion photographer. I photograph and create all the people and details in my work.

brought me to the field of video production, where I worked as a second cameraman and editor. A year later I earned money using my own camera and laptop and moved to Moscow, where I developed myself as a fashion photographer and collage artist. My collaboration with the agency “Individuals” started in New York in 2015.

At the same time, I also started working on the street – creating street art. As a result, I believed that I could use my work to decorate some places in the city and inspire people. … and convey messages to them? Because symbols also find their way into your art, often those of a religious nature.

These are references to moments in my life when I was interested in esotericism and spiritual development. I’m also interested in global conspiracies. I have always admired street art with great interest, for example graffiti in geometric shapes – a newly created abstract work of art. For me, street art is a different way to express myself.

How did you find your way from the fashion industry to the art world?

In 2011 a scout noticed me in my hometown Krasnoyarsk in Siberia and offered me work as a model. And once in the fashion world and on another continent, I finally understood that I wanted to combine my career in fashion and art. After half a year I returned to Krasnoyarsk, but as a completely different person. Destiny

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Your work requires an apparently endless amount of creativity.

Isn’t it exhausted at some point?

I live my work and try to convert every moment, every action and every glance into creativity. I can’t help but constantly deal with my work. It’s a kind of curiosity and fantasy, like that of a child. I like to invent and search for visual meanings. Working with collages further widens the field of creativity, as there are more possibilities here than with photography. It is possible for me to modify pictures and thereby create or expand on a new world. Of course, over time, I sometimes reach my limits, so then I attempt to try something new. At the moment I’m experimenting with motion design so that my collage world will come to life.

How is your digital art created?

Digital art is usually a mixture of different techniques: I draw, scan or photograph the individual elements. It is also possible to use and model the individual elements several times, for example, using Photoshop. So I have a seemingly endless scope of possibilities.

I use materials such as paper, spray paint, ink, gouache, glue, photos and textiles. The collages themselves are made on paper, foam and sometimes even tiles. I occasionally print them onto canvas.

How do you manage to incorporate your own style into a digital art form?

We are all guided by certain feelings and emotions, which can arise through music, dance, drawings or photography. If you combine all these elements in art, you create your own style.

Everyone should feel free to express themselves.

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ART & CULTURE

MOMA

Donald Judd (1928–1994), one of the most important sculptors of our time, changed the language of modern sculpture. As part of his exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art, visitors immerse themselves in the artist’s legacy. The exhibition shows the full development of Judd’s remarkable vision.

FÜRSTENBERG

TASCHEN

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TR EN DS

With the “PLISAGO” side table, FÜRSTENBERG has already shown that porcelain can do more than just premium tableware. The porcelain factory – together with Studio Besau-Marguerre again – is now presenting matching wall shelves made entirely of high-quality factory porcelain.

This large-format artist’s book, with 120 iPhone and iPad drawings, follows David Hockney’s view through the window of his house in Yorkshire at the passing seasons: from the glowing red sunrise and the fall of autumnal leaves through snow-covered branches to the arrival of spring – the closely observed, insightful look of the Artist at a world that is changing daily.

KUNSTMUSEUM LUZERN

The subject of imitation and copying is as old as art itself. Because 70 years after the creator’s death, making a copy is legal. These phenomena of imitation, emulation, copying and repetition are to be traced within the context of the presented collection “Alles echt!”.

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Author_Anna Karolina Stock Images_Kamalaya

A HOLIDAY INTO ONE’S INNER SELF IN THE 1970S, KOH SAMUI ON THE GULF OF THAILAND WAS STILL A PARADISE FOR DROPOUTS; TODAY, IT IS WELL KNOWN FOR ITS MASS TOURISM AND FULL-MOON PARTIES. AT THE KAMALAYA RESORT, HOWEVER, A CALM WIND BLOWS. THOSE WHO COME HERE WANT TO FIND THEMSELVES AND WORK ON THEMSELVES.

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WAKE UP

Buddhist monks once secluded themselves to meditate. For the Stewarts, the rock grotto was exactly the place they were looking for to realise their vision of a holistic haven of health that combined Western and Eastern healing methods.

“Wake up … wake up!” whispers a reserved voice with a Thai accent.

Anya’s hand gently strokes my arm. “Wake up,” the Thai woman repeats softly. I find myself wrapped in a cotton towel on a massage table. My sleepy eyes still closed, I feel my heavy, tired body. I hear the rain drumming on the roof of the open treatment room. The protective rain tarpaulins on the windows blow in the wind. I no longer have much of an idea about my 90-minute vital massage – I think it was relaxing. And so calming that I fell asleep in broad daylight. I listen to the raindrops, feel my tired limbs. A feeling that I haven’t had in a long time.

I was a long way from this conscious thinking and feeling when I arrived in “Kamalaya” – meaning “Kingdom of the Lotus” in Sanskrit – on Koh Samui. Far away from myself, always busy shuffling from task to task, from appointment to appointment, without any mindfulness for myself or for life, which is not happening yesterday or tomorrow, but now. I wanted to put an end to this, rethink my lists of priorities, redesign them and make them healthier, consciously perceive my mind and body again. Does it sound esoteric? It feels good though.

The idea for it did not fall far from the tree: John Stewart himself lived as a secluded monk in a small community in the Himalayas for 16 years. Karina is a doctor of traditional Chinese medicine.

His wisdom and her medical expertise were things they incorporated into their resort from the very beginning. It is also no coincidence that the uniform yellow garments are reminiscent of the robes of Buddhist monks. The employees – whether they work in the kitchen, in the service team or in the spa – are part of the “Kamalaya” community, whose aim is to promote a healthy life with a balanced diet as well as mental balance. Not in monastery cells with drab diet foods though, but rather, in such a way that delights people all around the world: in a mixture of ashram and luxury hotel.

A JOURNEY INTO THE SELF True to the motto “Feel life’s potential”, the majority of guests that check in at the “Kamalaya” are those who feel their life has hit a dead end, who are at a loss, but want to do something about it.

They come to reorganise their lives, detox, lose weight, recharge their batteries or simply find inner peace, supported by naturopaths, doctors, life coaches, Indian Ayurveda scholars, Thai masseuses and attentive employees. Instead of heading to the beach, they go from treatment to treatment in sari towels or bathrobes: massages, Reiki, Chi Nei Tsang, acupuncture, as well as meditation, Pilates, yoga and Qi Gong. Always with the aim of establishing a deeper connection to themselves: “reconnecting” is a word that is often seen and heard – be it in conversations, as a lived mantra in meditation and pranayama, or as a title on numerous brochures.

When Leila Abachi gave up her job in England and started as a naturopath in the “Kamalaya”, her goal was to regain awareness and live instead of just functioning. The Brit wanted to leave her stressful everyday life behind, live healthier and find herself. She tells me at our first session that ever since she has been helping the “Kamalaya” guests to focus more on the mind and body, she herself has been happier.

A CONTRAST TO THE OUTSIDE WORLD In the 1970s, Koh Samui was still an insider tip for hippies and dropouts, but with the opening of the airport in 1989, package and mass tourism also spread here. Ever since the island was spared from the tsunami in 2004 – at least – it has been teeming with tourists looking for sun, beach and parties. At the tourist hotspots of Chaweng Beach and Fisherman’s Village, especially, food stalls are lined up with restaurants serving European cuisine, bars and souvenir shops. Shopping streets and entertainment districts are full of happy hour offers and honking scooters.

The “Kamalaya”, situated on the south coast, offers an absolute contrast: a holistic healing resort that focuses on nature as an energising element and on an empathetic understanding of the individual. Indeed, it is a very special place where the Canadian John Stewart and his Mexican wife Karina opened their wellness retreat in 2005. By now, 76 villas, suites and rooms are spread out into the tropical vegetation on the steep slope that runs down to Laem Set Beach with a view over the Gulf of Thailand. The heart of these extensive grounds is a small cave, amidst whose silence

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The initial check-up, involving a bioelectrical impedance analysis and health consultation, is an important part of the “Kamalaya” programmes, which are individually tailored to each person’s own needs based on the results obtained. I don’t have to talk much at my health check. Leila knows what questions to ask in order to uncover my vices and problems. She feels my tension, sees my nervous looks – and has already seen through me. Leila recognises immediately that I am also one of those people plagued by stress, for whom relaxation is a foreign word, whose day always has too few hours, who plays down her own needs, ignores them and imagines that there is no other way.

“FEEL LIFE’S POTENTIAL” do a soul striptease in front of life coach Smitha Jayakumar, you don’t have to. But sometimes it takes a stranger to hold up the unsightly mirror to us and address exactly what we have so successfully pushed into the furthest corner of our consciousness. It helps me, at least, with the self-awareness that something has to change.

Since a holiday in the “Kamalaya” is not only relaxation, but also work on yourself, you hardly meet a soul on the extensive grounds during the daytime. Rarely are two guests in the pool at the same time, or to be encountered in one of the steam rooms, even though the hotel is fully booked. Only at the shared table every evening, at which guests can each take a seat as they please, do things get convivial. This is particularly pleasant for those travelling alone who want to exchange conversation over freshly squeezed detox juices and culinary delights such as mung bean pasta or pumpkin curry. Healthy, delicious meals are an essential part of the “Kamalaya” concept. “Only those who eat well promote vitality and health,” explains Leila. It is not for nothing that all holistic health teachings regard food as medicine.

Whether, beyond that, one leaves the “Kamalaya” as a “new” person remains to be seen. It is difficult to just throw off mental ballast. But you do actually go home with inspiring ideas, insights and plans. And thanks to the balanced diet, the journey home is, at least physically, considerably easier.

DIGITAL DETOX After only 15 minutes, Leila – a complete stranger, mind you – announces what I should work on in the following days: finding some peace, starting the day with a healthy breakfast (instead of two large cups of coffee!), getting to the bottom of my stress problem and finding solutions for everyday life. Easier said than done. Especially if you are not used to being alone with your thoughts – and, all the while, digital detoxification is the order of the day. Because every guest is encouraged to leave his or her mobile phone in the room – calls can only be made there. There is no television at all. Those who can’t go without the Internet get one hour of free WiFi per week. Any data volume beyond that must be paid for.

Amazingly, numerous guests take the withdrawal from digital life seriously. At mealtimes, this leads to an extremely unusual picture: people who are simply eating while silently enjoying the view, going back over their day with the person opposite them, reading a book, or writing down their thoughts. Many keep a kind of diary as part of the “working on themselves”, take notes on therapy sessions and consultations with mentors.

REST AND WORK “Kamalaya” lives by the motto “Everything is possible, but nothing is mandatory”. Everyone decides for him or herself how much to engage with the help offered by the experts. If you don’t want to

WWW.KAMALAYA.COM WWW.INDIGOURLAUB.COM

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TRENDS

by

LOUIS VUITTON

This beach tennis racket is inspired by the historical “Articles de Voyage” collection, and the elegant racket cover bears its iconic signature. A bright LV initial logo on both sides of the racket lends a sporty look to this stylish beach accessory.

HASSELBLAD

Hasselblad is launching onto the market the world’s lightest digital medium format autofocus lens. The XCD 45P provides photographers with the highest lens quality for any adventure, from travel photography, deserts and mountains, through to city exploration and documentation.

TOD’S

A refined leather iPhone case with AirPods holder, card holder, and removable wristband. An elegant 3-in-1 accessory with a metal T monogram.

GUCCI

TRA VEL

The entire “Cruise 2020” collection

by Gucci is adorned with a modern interpretation of the historical GG pattern in psychedelic colours.

In a special collaboration with GlobeTrotter, this case is hand-made in England by highly qualified craftspeople using original manufacturing techniques and machine dating.

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Author_Sophia Rossmanith Images_Tourist Board Dominikanische Republik

MORE THAN JUST

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WHEN COLOMBUS FIRST SET EYES UPON HISPONIOLA, HE DESCRIBED THE CARIBBEAN’S SECOND LARGEST ISLAND AS “THE MOST BEAUTIFUL THING THE HUMAN EYE HAS EVER SEEN”. TODAY, MOST EUROPEANS PICTURE THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC AS THE PERFECT CARRIBBEAN BEACH GETAWAY, WITH ITS DREAMLIKE SHORELINE, PALM TREES, MERENGUE DANCE, COCKTAILS AND INFECTIOUS ZEST FOR LIFE, BUT FEW PEOPLE KNOW THAT THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC OFFERS MUCH MORE. HER 29 NATIONAL PARKS IN DIFFERENT VEGETATION REGIONS, THE HIGHEST MOUNTAIN IN THE CARIBBEAN AND A WHOLE RANGE OF CULTURAL ASSETS FROM THE COLONIAL PERIOD MAKE FOR ACTIVE AND EVENTFUL HOLIDAYS. THE GOVERNMENT OF THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC IS ALSO COMMITTED TO FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE AND ITS EFFFECTS. THE TOURISM INDUSTRY SUPPORTS THIS COMMITMENT AND ALLOWS US TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OUR SUSTAINABLE OFFERING.

THE

The Dominican Republic is the largest and most diverse country in the Caribbean, situated just two hours south of Miami, just four hours from New York and ten hours from most European cities. She is known for her warm and welcoming people, impressive landscapes, exciting history and a rich cultural offering all year round. She is also an advocate of sustainable ecotourism, an increasingly important topic on this island state.

ADRENALINE-INDUCING, AWE-INSPIRING INLAND MOUNTAINS The ideal starting point for day trips and multiday outdoor excursions is Jarabacoa, located 529 meters above sea level, at the foot of the Cordillera Central mountain range. It’s here, in the valleys and at the heights of the virtually untouched igneous mountain range, that the diversity of the Hispaniola island becomes particularly apparent. Jarabacoa is also the starting point for the climb to the highest mountain peak in the Caribbean, Pico Duarte. If that’s not adventurous enough for you, canyoning might be up your street.

The best place for this is Río Jimenoa, a tributary of the Caribbean’s longest river – the Yaque del Norte – with its enticing natural bays with crystal-clear water along the way.

The peninsula of Samaná is another natural paradise, offering picturesque rock and sand bays, scenic beaches, breathtaking reefs and captivating waterfalls. Samaná Bay also sees the seasonal appearance of the humpback whales between January and March.

Los Haitises National Park envelops almost 1000 square metres of many small rivers and mangrove forests, leading into a coral landscape, clear lagoons and stalagtite caves. The largest cave in

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fauna such as American sharp-snout crocodiles, Nashorn iguanas and one of the largest flamingo colonies in the Caribbean. At 43 metres below sea level, it’s also the Dominican Republic’s dryest region and is home to a great number of cacti as well as rare animals and plants in need of a safe haven.

the Caribbean “Fun Fun” features 28 kilometre-long tunnels and subterranean pathways. Lining these pathways, stalagtites and stalagmites grow to impressive sizes deep underground where a river invites you to take a swim and a horde of bats tests your bravery.

COASTAL AND INLAND DESTINATIONS The Punta Cana Marinarium located on the Dominican Republic’s east coast is a unique institution which is both a marine life conservation area and a sustainable ecotourism attraction. Learning about the maritime habitats of the Caribbean is an activity suitable for guests of all ages on any sort of trip. Learn about our underwater ecosystem and the delicate relationship between conservation and tourism through a wide range of activities, including ship-bound snorkeling tours, swimming with manta rays and sharks, relaxing on our large pontoons and reef diving straight from the sand.

To learn all about the sea and its many facettes, you should definitely pay the Cabarete Water Sports Center a visit on the north coast of the island. Its constant yet tamer winds all year round make it one of the world's best windsurfing and kitesurfing resorts.

For those who are interested in more than white beaches, ecotourism is a keyword in the Puerto Plata region. The Altamira Women’s Association offers guided tours based around the topic of cocoa, focusing on the organic agriculture and production of over 25 cocoa delights.

On the southwest coast is Barahona, an aspiring tourist resort with small boutique hotels accommodating to nature lovers.

Also found on the southwest coast, Lake Enriquillo – named after the most famous Taino chief – is a salt lake boasting impressive

PROTECTING OUR NATURAL BACKDROP A quarter of the Dominican Republic is under environmental protection. The country has 29 national parks, including the UNESCO biosphere reserve, Jaragua National Park. Thanks to its particularly diverse topography with varying climate conditions, the country provides the ideal setting for adventure and ecotourism, even away from the around 600 kilometres of shoreline.

To protect this unique natural backdrop, the government supports different state and private-sector projects for developing a type of tourism that is gentle on the environment and resources. So, in the summer of 2019 the “Road for Low Carbon and Resource Efficient Accommodation in the Dominican Republic” was launched. In its plans to make the tourism sector more sustainable, by 2030 the governemnt aims to have decreased greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent, halved the amount of food wasted in the hotel industry, reduced the consumption of renewable energy, found alternatives to non-reusable packaging and plastic containers and created a new sustainability certificate for the hotel industry.

The European Union and the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) recently completed the Global Nature Fund project. Over a continous two-year-long process, they produced a “Catalogue of Biodiverse Tourism Products in

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Central America and the Dominican Republic”. This includes eleven tourist service providers in the Dominican Republic who have committed to working in a manner that is socially and environmentally acceptable. The municipality of Las Galeras on the east coast of the Samaná peninsula, which is home to around 6000 people, also participated in the project. The town is looking to become the first to be certified as a destination that prioritises biodiversity.

Restaurants, hotels and boating, diving and horse riding businesses are involved in this certification process under the direction of the German provider Tourcert.

At the end of January 2020, the TUI Care Foundation and the Reef-World Foundation formed a cooperation to launch a brand new three-year initiative for protecting the coral reefs. The new partnership supports marine and environmental educational courses for local youth. Business that are active on the reefs receive intensive sustainability training courses. Also, tourists are to be comprehensively informed about the sensitive ecosystem. What’s more, new guidelines are being developed in cooperation with the Dominican Republic’s Ministry of Environment for structuring sustainable diving and snorkeling activities.

The “Green Fins” initiative is led by Reef Check Dominican Republic. The Ministry for the Environment and Natural Resources, the navy for humanitarian aid, the “Coastal Biodiversity and Tourism” project and the “Centro para la Conservación y Ecodesarrollo de la Bahía de Samaná y su Entorno” (CEBSE) are cooperating to execute this initiative. As a pioneer of ecotourism in the Dominican Republic, CEBSE is a non-profit organisation founded in 1991 whose employees provide training to businesses and organisations that are active in the tourism industry. The organisation promotes the conservation and sustainable use of natural and cultural resources in the region. For example, independent conservation organisations were launched to protect the Salto El Limón waterfall and Lake Enriquillo and to control whale watching.

All of these initiatives see to it that the beauty and unique nature of the Dominican Republic are around for years to come and reinforce her position as the number 1 travel destination in the Caribbean.

WWW.GODOMINICANREPUBLIC.COM

DOMINIKANISCHE REPUBLIK TOURIST BOARD

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JEWELLERY WITH MAGIC

Author_Beatrice Schรถnhaus

GLENN SPIRO, JEWELLERY DESIGNER: NEVER HEARD OF HIM. WHICH IS JUST FINE FOR THE LIKABLE ENGLISHMAN. HE IS NOT INTERESTED IN BEING FAMOUS, HE IS MORE CONCERNED WITH CREATING MAGICAL PIECES OF JEWELLERY THAT YOU CAN WEAR FOREVER. AN EXQUISITE BOOK FROM A NEW YORK PUBLISHER IS NOW DISPLAYING HIS WORK. WITH UTMOST BEAUTY. 46

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WE’RE

“We’re in no way doing what the people want us to do, we are doing what we love.” Anyone who can make such a bold statement must be a self-confident person. Someone who’s made it in life. And that someone is 57-year-old English jeweller Glenn Spiro. He only sells his exquisite creations at the finest of addresses – in Harrods in London, the luxury department store, and in Bergdorf Goodman in New York. Order by appointment.

It all started in 2014 – with the establishment of his own brand. Glenn Spiro has been involved with the most precious jewels worldwide for over 25 years, including in Christie’s jewellery department. But then he just wanted to know for sure. What would it be like to have his own label, his own vision?

He was recently able to secure an illustrious personality as honorary chairman for his company: Mr Arnaud Bamberger, who worked for Cartier for many years. The idea is to strengthen the heart, the substance and then the brand itself to an even greater extent. Mr Bamberger is obviously very comfortable in his new role: “Glenn is the artist, the big name. It’s okay for me to be in his shadow a little. I was in the spotlight at Cartier. These days I am happy when I can support someone whom I respect so much. Glenn has extremely positive vibes, a great vision and a lot of creativity!”

Sounds like a perfect combination.

According to his philosophy, the basis of Glenn Spiro’s work is the stone, the soul of the jewellery, so to speak. He works with the finest goldsmith’s craftsmanship – in fashion this would be called haute couture. “And so, the production of a piece from Atelier G, as it is also called, can take years until simply everything is perfect.

“His unique, provocative designs always evoke the most intense emotions amongst his delighted customers – thanks to their beauty and exceptional craftsmanship,” says Marco Bizzarri, acting president and CEO of the iconic Gucci brand.

Many celebrities are wearing his pieces these days. The most famous story is probably the one about Beyoncé Knowles’ butterfly ring. An incredible piece made up of 326 tsavorites (similar to tourmaline) and 342 diamonds. Rapper Jay-Z gave it to her as a present. Beyoncé later bequeathed it to the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, where it can now be admired by everyone.

“Our pieces can break the ice at a party. They can be considered conversation pieces. In other words, eye-catchers with entertainment value that give you something to talk about,” says Glenn Spiro.

Many discreet collectors, who shun the limelight, are also interested in the unique designs. It is estimated that there are about 50 of them worldwide, but there are probably a few more. Some examples of the haute couture jeweller’s work include: the romantic cushion cut ring – the centrepiece is a large ruby from Burma in a mesmerising red hue. Cushion-shaped, 757 carats, the ring itself is made of titanium and is set throughout with rubies. A unique piece that will keep its charm forever.

Or the antique coral necklace: combined with white diamonds and 18-carat white gold. A decorative piece that looks stunning with a simple evening gown.

Or the bracelet made of turquoise ceramic combined with 18-carat yellow gold and antique turquoises, moonstones and diamonds. It reminded me of Sofia Loren and Co.’s 1960s

G: Glenn Spiro The Art of a Jewel 208 pages Assouline ISBN 978 1 61428 859 6

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jewellery that was worn at those jet set parties in Capri and elsewhere. A unique wide band bracelet that stands for joie de vivre, glamour and beauty.

And sometimes Glenn Spiro strikes out in completely new directions. That is why he experimented with titanium, a del­ icate material for jewellery processing because it is so brittle and used it to make earrings. Or ear jewellery designed in punk style, with rubies, sapphires and diamonds and estimated to be worth around 144,000 dollars. “We tried to make jewellery from titanium at Cartier, but it turned out to be difficult,” says Mr Bamberger.

“It’s a strong material, very complicated to work with, but Glenn makes it look extremely light and beautiful.”

Glenn Spiro’s latest daring creations are watches. They are studded with gemstones all over and take a whopping four years to develop. The power source: an ETA quartz movement from Switzerland. Released in a limited edition of 25 pieces. This is how the designer is always surprising us with his ideas. “There is always something mysterious in his creations, as opposed to other design­ ers who simply create a certain look,” enthuses London-based Anastasia Marsaglia, a staunch fan of Glenn’s. She already owns some of his pieces.

The designer Glenn Spiro is and has always been discreet and has never made a big deal about who he is. Let the jewellery speak for itself. Glenn Spiro devotes himself to creating exclusive unique pieces. And it is always about one thing: the raw material, the stone. Everything is done in its honour.

«WE DON’T MAKE WHAT PEOPLE WANT – WE MAKE WHAT WE LOVE.» Glenn Spiro

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JEWELL ERY CHAUMET

A Yellow gold Oriane ring set with rock crystals and two cabochon-cut emeralds.

A tribute to the sparkling Paris of the Belle Époque.

DAVID YURMAN

TRENDS

by

The “Novella” collection is an interpretation of David Yurman’s Renaissance collection, and part of this collection is this threestone bracelet in 18-carat yellow gold with emerald and pavé diamonds.

KIMKIM’S

Fashion meets innovation.

This piece of jewellery, from the first KimKim’s collection, can be effortlessly attached to and removed from any of your heels – without leaving any residue.

CHANEL

At the Paris Fashion Week, Chanel presented the new “Tweed de Chanel” collection of haute joaillerie, honouring the handcrafted material that was a cornerstone of Gabrielle Chanel's elegant style.

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NEW WRISTWATCHES IN CORONA TIMES THE NOVEL CORONA VIRUS HAS A FIRM GRIP ON THE WORLD. EVEN THE ONE OF TIMEKEEPINIG.

Author_Gisbert L. Brunner

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A. LANGE & SÖHNE

The fear of the lung disease COVID-19 first of all ensured that the Geneva watch fair Watches & Wonders was postponed until 2021.

Baselworld then followed a short while later. Unfortunate action by the trade fair management prompted top brands such as Patek Philippe, Rolex, Chopard, Chanel, Tudor, Hublot, TAG Heuer and Zenith to turn their backs on the city on the Rhine in future.

Now that Breitling, Bulgari, Seiko and other exhibitors have already announced their farewell, this illustrious meeting point of the international watch scene may be a thing of the past. Due to the pandemic, which also caused factory closures, quite a few manufacturers are holding off from introducing new models until further notice. Premieres should be taking place in autumn 2020, or only in the coming year, when the mood has calmed down again. Despite all the uncertainty caused by the virus, one thing is for sure: the desire for chronometric luxury cannot be permanently suppressed.

In the end, the urge to finally do something good again triumphs over rational thinking and action.

SPORTY IN WHITE GOLD

Steel on the wrist is good. But many contemporary timekeeping enthusiasts would much prefer to wear gold there. That is why A. Lange & Söhne is upgrading its sporty and elegant “Odysseus” line with a version with a white gold case. It has a diameter of 40.7 millimetres and sits 11.1 millimetres tall on the wrist. The housing is water-resistant up to a pressure of twelve bar. Its transparent case back reveals the premium “Daymatic” L155.1 movement with a self-winding mechanism, thanks to a unilateral rotor with an outer platinum segment, a power reserve of around 50 hours, a large date display and indication of the day of the week. The 32.9-millimetrelarge and 6.2-millimetre-high manufacture movement has a stopsecond mechanism, so you can set the time precisely to the second.

There is a choice of wrist strap: alligator leather or rubber, depending on how the mood takes you.

ALL GOOD THINGS COME IN THREES

CARL F. BUCHERER

Carl F. Bucherer is a dyed-in-the-wool watch manufacturer. Its oeuvre of in-house movements is crowned by a tourbillon of a very special kind. In contrast to the usual variety, its small whirlwind turns to compensate for negative gravitational influences with the help of ceramic ball bearings arranged on the periphery. It thus appears to be floating in the T3000 automatic movement. To ensure an unimpaired view, the winding rotor moves around the unique microcosm on the outside, with a power reserve of around 65 hours.

There is a brand-new trilogy, with 43.1-millimetre cases made of rose, yellow and white gold. These chronometer-certified wristwatches can be purchased as a set or individually. In any case, hand-sewn straps made of alligator leather hold the “Manero Tourbillon Double Peripheral” securely and comfortably on the wrist.

OBLIQUE WITH TRADITION

At Cartier, the biography of the “Tank” dates back to 1917. English battle tanks provided the inspiration for its rectangular shape.

In 1936, this legendary wristwatch was given its oblique diamond shape. It has now found its way back onto wrists as the “Tank Asymétrique” in the Privé Collection – in a strictly limited edition of only 100 pieces, with a case made of warm rose gold. Future

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owners will quickly become connoisseurs of exclusive watchmaking mechanics. Thanks to the openwork construction, the functional sequences of the hand-wound 9623 MC manufacture movement can all be traced in detail, from the barrel at “12” right down to the oscillation and escapement system at “6”. As usual with Cartier, the winding and time-setting crown has a cabochon.

BLUE RACING CAR

For reasons that are only too well known, this year’s Mille Miglia classic car rally will only be taking place in the autumn. This does not prevent Chopard, the main sponsor, from honouring the legendary event with the new “Mille Miglia GTS Azzurro Power Control”, limited to 500 pieces. The flanks of the 43-millimetre steel case of this automobile wristwatch are reminiscent of pistons of an engine. The curves of handcrafted body panels are reflected in the gentle sweep of the lugs. And the generously dimensioned winding and time-setting crown is derived from the chrome-plated fuel cap of a racing car. Lastly, motorsport also provided inspiration for the perforated wrist strap, with the inner profile of a Dunlop racing tyre. The automatic 01.08C movement, assembled from 251 components and with a “fuel gauge” and official chronometer certificate, is made in the company’s own movement factory.

housing, women don’t have to fear any ugly scratches. Its bezel carries a total of 42 diamonds with a weight of around one carat, which make the eyes of sophisticated women sparkle at all times of the day. Incidentally, the elegant accoutrements do not take away from the fact that it is waterproof. The protection for the HUB1710 automatic movement, which is assembled from 166 parts, extends up to a pressure of ten bar. Once wound full, it runs for about 50 hours at a time. As is fitting for true works of art, the number of pieces is limited. In this case, to 100 copies.

EBB AND FLOW ON THE WRIST

Yacht owners who do not want to get stranded should pay careful attention to the ebb and flow. Anyone who owns the new IWC “Portuguese Yacht Club Moon & Tide” only has to look online or at a displayed chart to set up its very special additional function.

After doing so, he or she will be supported by the sophisticated tidal display on board this solid gold wristwatch, which has a diameter of almost 45 millimetres. Driven by an automatic movement from the in-house factory, the display moves around its axis with beautiful regularity. Every glance at the dial will let you know when the tide is high and when it is low. And it does so with a deviation of around just 10 minutes in 100 years. Another unmistakeable feature is the double moon phase display at “12”. It depicts the light phases of the earth’s pale satellite over the northern and southern hemisphere.

AFFORDABLE FACTORY TIMEKEEPER

Frédérique Constant’s philosophy is aimed at affordable luxury on the wrist. This also applies to the “Flyback Chronograph Manufacture”, with the self-developed and -produced FC-760 movement.

Here, watchmakers assemble the escapement, intelligently composed of 95 components, on the front of the automatic movement.

The push button at “2” is used to start and stop the timekeeper.

Its counterpart at “4” resets it to zero, even without it being stopped in between. You can therefore call it a flyback. The totaliser at “3” counts up to 30 revolutions of the central chronograph hand. Finally, a helpful pointer date can be found in the “south” of the dial.

The simple, round transparent case back is made of stainless steel.

Its diameter: 42 millimetres.

TRUST IS A GOOD THING, BUT CONTROL IS BETTER

Jaeger-LeCoultre has been offering its “Master Control” watch line since 1992. Before being delivered to customers, each item must undergo 1000 hours on the test bench. For the 2020 watch year, the manufacturer has given the models of this name a thorough overhaul. The steel “Chronograph Calendar” had thus far not yet been available. Its steel case with a diameter of 40 millimetres protects a newly developed automatic movement up to a water pressure of five bar. Once the ball bearing rotor has fully wound the mainspring of the in-house 759 movement, it only comes to rest again after 65 hours. Of course, the integrated timekeeper has ratchet control.

Its clutch works using friction. And the counter hand goes for up to 30 minutes. In months with fewer than 31 days, the simple full calendar requires manual correction.

ART TO TAKE AWAY

Hublot loves art. The factory is, therefore, once again collaborating with Marc Ferrero. One of his most heavily symbolic works is “Lipstick”, immortalised on the dial of the “Big Bang One Click 39 mm”. Thanks to the use of ceramics for the striking black

TIME-RECORDING NOSTALGIA IN BLUE

Designers know the importance of the dial. It contributes up to 80 percent of the overall impression of a wristwatch. It is not least because of this that Montblanc is equipping its new “1858 Split Seconds Chronograph Limited Edition 100”, limited to 100 pieces,

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with a bright blue enamel dial. A total of six hands rotate in front of it. The nostalgic effect is emphasised by scales for the tachymeter and telemeter. Another eye-catcher is the hand-wound MB-M 16.31 movement, thanks to the transparent back of the classic titanium case. Skilled watchmakers need 262 carefully finished components to display the time and keep it precisely, to the fifth of a second. Because the jewel has a complex split-seconds mechanism, two events that start simultaneously can be timed in parallel, and split times recorded.

TICKING JEANS THERAPY

Lovers of fine, indigo blue denims are familiar with Motomaro.

The traditional Swiss brand Oris is now collaborating with the Japanese jeans label. Their joint effort is called “Oris x Motomaro”.

Experts are identifying the 40-millimetre stainless steel case with a glass rim that can be adjusted on just one side as a “Diver’s Sixty-Five”. The origins of this diver’s model can be traced back to 1965. This is where it gets its nostalgic appearance from, which is also underlined by the new Motomaro wrist strap made from denim. Old weaving machines ensure that the indigo blue strap material feels like it is handmade. The typical “battle stripes” can also be found on the wrist. As always, the water resistance extends to a pressure of ten bar. An automatic movement with a power reserve of approximately 38 hours takes care of the display of the hours, minutes, seconds and date.

open, completely redesigned barrel at “6” rotates with the help of a ceramic ball bearing. It stores up power for 40 hours of reserve.

The balance wheel completes 28,800 semi-oscillations per hour.

Three to four copies of this ticking, wafer-thin number, which costs as much as a freehold flat, are created each year.

CHRONOMETRIC MINIMALISM

DESIGN EXCESS

It definitely doesn’t get any thinner than this on the wrist. The Piaget “Altiplano Ultimate Concept” sits a full two millimetres high – including the manual winding movement and housing made of a cobalt-chrome alloy. Because the limits of mechanics cannot be transcended, even in the 21st century, the technicians had to summon up their full creativity for this world record number.

Watchmakers mount the gear chain, from the barrel to the oscillation and escapement system, directly on the 1.2-millimetre-thick case back. The gears are “flying”, that is secured on one side. The

Roger Dubuis is known for an extreme look and skeletonised move­ ments. This unmistakable fact is underscored by the new “Excalibur Twofold”. Its openwork mechanics are highlighted by two “flying” tourbillons. The 45-millimetre case and its bezel made of exclusive mineral compositefibre – never before used for luxury watches – are no less impressive. The brilliant white material consists of 99.95 percent silicon dioxide. It is also the first time that the progressive member of the Richemont Group is using a patented method to allow every corner of the upper plate to glow in the dark for 60 percent longer than usual. The specialist Biwi also contributed to the wrist strap made of special FKM rubber, which is just as luminescent thanks to “LumiSuperBiwiNova”.

RED DIAL FOR MONACO

The Principality of Monaco and the wrist chronograph named after it belong together. No wonder then that TAG Heuer will act as the official timekeeper of the “Grand Prix de Monaco Historique” in the future. Due to the corona virus, the organisers had to cancel this year’s event. Fans of the watch brand and the now 51 years old but chipper as ever timepiece will still get their money’s worth.

A special model honours the race for fast old cars on the winding city circuit. In 2018, drivers from more than 21 nations took part, with over 200 historic Grand Prix vehicles. Ticking in every one of the square, stainless steel watches, of which only 1000 exist, is the in-house Heuer 02 chronograph movement, with traditional ratchet control and a car-like friction clutch. You’ll only need to stop to refuel after 80 hours. However, when worn regularly, the winding rotor ensures that energy is continuously replenished.

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AN EXPENSIVE DISCLAIMER

NO ROOF, NO WINDOWS AND A GENUINE LIGHTWEIGHT. THE NEW MCLAREN ELVA IS DIFFERENT. DIFFERENT, BECAUSE BETTER. DIFFERENT, BECAUSE PURE AND UNADULTERATED. DIFFERENT, BECAUSE IT DISPENSES WITH THE UNIMPORTANT.

Author_Wilma Fasola Images_McLaren Automotive Ltd.

It’s been over four years since I stepped into a McLaren for the first time. But little has changed since then. The things are still able to be grasped intuitively and guarantee absolute pleasure at the wheel. There are no buttons whose function you have to worry about.

There are no complicated systems that require a degree course to understand. It has what it needs, and the frills have been quite deliberately left out. McLaren stands for pureness and – as Head of Design Robert, “Rob”, Melville once told me – they are designed according to a single principle. At McLaren Automotive, every detail of a car has to account for some important fact. At McLaren, the motto of “everything for a reason” applies – form follows function. Everything is possible, but nothing is mandatory.

MORE AND MORE REDUCED Rob Melville and his team of just over 50 people are also responsible for the appearance of the new “Elva”. As always, it took around 18 months to get from the initial idea to the final version. And that’s nothing to sneeze at. The Elva is dedicated to company founder Bruce McLaren, who died exactly 40 years ago as a result of an accident during a test drive in Goodwood. The edition is limited to 249 units. This piece of fun costs just under CHF 1.7 million – and you don’t even get a windscreen or side window for it, and certainly not a roof. This means you need good weather to grant the Elva an outing. And since it will only be delivered at the end of 2020 – that is, during the period of lousy weather – future owners will have to be a bit patient about hitting the gas even after it has arrived.

Until then, you can and should familiarise yourself with the historical background of the new model. The name “Elva” is certainly a familiar term to racing enthusiasts. In the 1950s and 1960s, the “Elva” brand stood for ultra-light racing cars. And after Bruce McLaren had stirred up the CanAm racing series with the “M1A” that he developed

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himself, the demand for a street-legal version of this racing car spiralled. At that time, Elva was the obvious designer, and so 27 units of the McLaren M1A built by Elva were finally produced. Back then, Elva had to outsource production to the outskirts of London.

LIGHTER AND LIGHTER The new edition was also created in the outskirts of the English capital, at the stylish McLaren headquarters in Woking. And the result is the lightest street car McLaren has built in its entire history. But as is the case with divas, they don’t talk about their weight.

Instead, they adorn themselves with pearls and precious stones, or, in this case, with a logo made of gold or platinum – whatever the new owner desires. Otherwise, the Elva is largely made of carbon and has 815 hp under the hood. It thus supports McLaren’s internal efforts to get more and more power into the car while making every model lighter.

“Less is more” has been a supreme discipline at McLaren since the beginning of the street car era. Anything that does not have to be there stays out of it. Getting back to basics, and yet still wanting to surprise. Additional features are great, but you will rarely find them on a McLaren’s list of fittings – unless, of course, the future owner wants it. Because, as with all models, you can also order customised additional features and extra elements for the Elva. Fundamentally, however, it is the fun while driving that is paramount for a McLaren; the driver’s focus should be entirely on the road. And for cars like this, especially, that is elementary. The brakes of the Elva, for example, are made of sintered carbon and ceramics, but, as the driver, you still have to step on them yourself.

FASTER AND FASTER Anyone who dares to step on the accelerator pedal will be pressed hard into the sports seats, which are also produced in a lightweight design. The Elva sprints from zero to one hundred in less than three seconds; it breaks the 200 mark in 6.7 seconds. It is therefore faster than the “Senna”, which the company placed as the last version in its “Ultimate Series” category. And the Elva is the first model for which McLaren forgoes the essential components of a car. Roof, windscreen or side windows – superfluous. And the audio system is also not provided in the standard version. On request, however, this can be installed, and, indeed, with speakers that are otherwise used in the navy for outdoor use.

But where a lot is left out, there’s room for highlights to shine. And the aerodynamics team put in overtime to make that happen. Because airflow should not be underestimated.

Specifically, the air stream does not blow directly around the driver’s ears – the McLaren engineers have created a real piece of magic. This pays heed to the abbreviation “AAMS”.

The Active Air Management System shows the headwind the ideal route past the driver and front-seat passenger. Specially shaped body elements create a kind of bubble in which the occupants sit undisturbed by the wind and wildlife. To achieve this, air streams were calculated during weeks of work and were tested in the wind tunnel, and the perfect front section was developed millimetre by millimetre. In Woking, the team working under the Head of Design, Melville, likens its work to the “eye of a hurricane”. While it rages viciously all around, in the “eye” of the whirlwind there is absolute calm. And those who don’t want to rely on that can don the supplied helmet or order their Elva with a windscreen. But that delivers the blow of death to the look, the pleasure at the wheel and, frankly, the design.

SAFER AND SAFER But further along in terms of casual uniqueness. The shell of the Elva consists largely of carbon fibres. Heavier material has only been used for a few elements. Such as the exhaust pipe, which, like the logo, is another elite affair. It is made of titanium and a special additional alloy and guarantees that true racing sound. And the leather for the seats and parts of the interior trim is also produced in-house. After all, it will be constantly exposed to the weather.

Everything has been thought of, which means, despite all the levity, safety has also not been forgotten. Specially retractable roll bars provide protection in the event of an emergency. They are hidden within the back elements of the seats, which, like two small humps, break up the Elva’s appearance, which otherwise hugs the street and is absolutely streamlined. Furthermore, the relevant safety systems are active even with the puristic design.

And just between ourselves, at the end of the day: there is no glass to shatter anyway.

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MOTION PORSCHE DESIGN

A classic meets the modern era.

The new Heritage Collection pays homage to the legendary roots of Porsche, implemented using the most modern technologies around today. For example, the Porsche P’8678 designer sunglasses are unmistakably the exclusive reinterpretation of the iconic Porsche P’8478 designer sunglasses from 1978 – but made from the high-tech material titanium.

Technology and comfort for every day as the result of an exclusive collaboration. Top performances with the Wave Tenjin 4, the fourth edition of the most technologically innovative running shoe on the market. Distinctive urban style and absolute comfort.

AUTOMOBILI PININFARINA

Automobili Pininfarina presents the ultimate variant of the world’s first all-electric luxury GT super sports car: the Battista Anniversario. It is being launched to celebrate the 90th anniversary and is the most powerful sports car ever designed and built in Italy.

BENTLEY

Bentley Fragrances proudly presents three new fragrances from the exclusive “Bentley Beyond” collection.

“Vibrant Hibiscus” is an exuberant floral fragrance for exciting, selfconfident women who stir up passion wherever they go.

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AS BRITISH AS ONLY THE QUEEN IS JAGUAR E-TYPE

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Like no other car manufacturer, the Jaguar brand conveys style, elegance, sportiness and sovereignty. And with the E-Type model, these values were consolidated many years ago. The elegant and perfectly shaped Jaguar E-Type was unveiled at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show, and the launch took place initially with a reverent calm in the audience when the wooden cover was raised above the long-awaited E-Type. After a long silence, came the flashing lights from the cameras and raging applause full of enthusiasm from everyone present. The photographs circulated around the world, and the successful launch of the E-Type was also the birth of a car icon.

It is rightly considered one of the most beautiful sports cars of all time. With its long snout, curved lines and inimitable rear end, the E-Type still inspires enthusiasm today.

A MYTH ON WHEELS

Described by Enzo Ferrari as “the most beautiful car in the world” (and that, despite him usually having nothing good to say about his competitors), the Jaguar E-Type embodied the glamour and charm of the swinging sixties. The presentation was a sensation at the time, and the car promised the highest level of performance, excellent driving characteristics, disc brakes, and with a powerful heart, the E-Type raced ahead of almost every other sports car. It also offered a high degree of suitability for everyday use at a price far below comparable offers from competitors. The E-Type was available as a coupé and as a roadster and with a price of 26,000 francs – which was a lot of money for a two-seater – it was a bargain compared to its competitors Aston Martin or Ferrari. The first test reports were met with high acclaim, and the ravishingly shaped sports car with muscular curves went on to turn the heads of car enthusiasts all over the world. The car quickly became a commercial success for Jaguar in both Europe and the United States. While the previous model produced around 3,000 vehicles a year, the E-Type reached around 5,000 a year, and until the model fell victim to the oil crisis after 14 years, a total of 72,529 vehicles rolled off the assembly line. Since then, the classic has not only been part of many private collections; it has even found a place in the Museum of Modern Art in New York as one of very few vehicles – an award that has been bestowed on only a small number of cars.

Author_Lone K. Halvorsen Images_Jaguar Cars

FASTER, STRONGER, CHEAPER

The basis for the success story of the E-Type was laid in 1956.

The then Jaguar boss William Lyons asked the designer Malcolm Sayer to develop a new model. The aim of chief designer Sayer was to develop a successor for the ageing predecessor, the D-Type racing car. But more than before, the new model was to become a touring race car for the road – and also in a form that was affordable to produce.

Stylistically, the car was based on the D-Type, and essential technical components of the predecessor, which had been showered with laurels, were also adopted. The engine and front axle were positioned in a tubular trellis frame and bolted to the A-pillar of a steel sheet monocoque construction. The first series was equipped with a 3.8-litre six-cylinder inline engine with 269 hp. With 240 km / h it was twice as fast as the car of Otto Normalverbraucher, and in addition, it raced from 0 to 100 km / h in only seven seconds. There was also a completely redesigned self-supporting body and significantly improved aerodynamics. The chassis was also new, with independent front and rear suspension and standard disc brakes on all four wheels. In 1964, an upgrade from 3.8 litres to 4.2 litres was carried out, and another two years later the model range

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THE PROTAGONIST

Cars are always used as important props in films, and some also form an important backdrop for the cinematic plot – the E-Type was no exception to this. The legendary car not only looked good on the street, but also in literary works and films – and that was certainly due to the seductive design. The internationally celebrated writer Haruki Murakami dedicates an almost erotic dialogue be­ tween the protagonist and his lover about the E-Type in his work “Killing Commendatore”. “Did he show you the garage too?” she asked. “Why the garage?” “Well, the legendary garage with the four English cars”. “No, unfortunately not, the property is so big that I didn’t even notice the garage.” “Oh, then you didn’t ask him if he really had an E-Class Jaguar?” she said. One may wonder whether the woman may have more feelings for the E-Type than for the protagonist … “I would have asked him if I could touch the Jaguar.

A beautiful car. As a child, I once saw a film with Audrey Hepburn and Peter O’Toole, and I’ve been longing for it ever since …” In the 1966 film “How to Steal a Million”, Peter O’Toole drove a yellow Jaguar E-Type Roadster, and for many, the film will be remembered forever thanks to this car. In the seventies cult film “Harold and Maude” the E-Type converted to a hearse also played the role of the protagonist, and in “Austin Powers” from 1997 the E-Type with Union Jack paintwork made a stunning star appearance, which we won’t be quick to forget.

was expanded with the Jaguar E-Type 2 + 2. With a 23-centimetre longer wheelbase and slightly higher roofline, comfort improved significantly. Until now, not only was the car sporty, but its driver also had to be. There was little space for big bellies here. The 2 + 2 was also equipped with two emergency or child seats and a spacious luggage compartment. This did not make the E-Type more beautiful, but its utility increased significantly.

ON THE RACE TRACK

Since the roadworthy version was a great success, the British manufacturer also ventured onto the racetrack in 1963. Twelve copies of the “Lightweight” series from the “Browns Lane” plant in Coventry were delivered for the race track – originally 18 units were planned.

Of the remaining six, only the chassis numbers reserved for them remained – and this for around 50 years. The 920 kg light car reached a speed of 259 km / h and participated in numerous races.

Even if the E-Type was rarely a contender for overall victory, it did achieve numerous successes. Fourth and fifth place at the “24 Hours of Le Mans” were the highlight. The production of the missing six copies was resumed in 2014 and rebuilt according to the original production plans from 1963. It is debatable whether the newly built copies should be called originals or replicas. However, the cars were built by hand, using the old guidelines, but with contemporary materials. Thus the number gap was bridged, once and for all.

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FASHION LEFT Handbag: Miu Miu Gloves: Gucci RIGHT Top, Shorts & Headpiece: Danny Reinke Vest: Miu Miu

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HIDE and LEFT Dress: Kate Spade Blouse & Bow Belt: Marina Hoermanseder Skirt: Ganni Socks: Falke Shoes: Scarosso Scarf: Dolce & Gabbana

SEEK

RIGHT Bermuda Shorts and Shirt: Max Mara Boots: Max Mara Vest: Miu Miu Handbag: Kate Spade

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Top: Danny Reinke Earrings: Miu Miu

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Yellow Shirt: Falke Bodysuit: Ganni White Dress: Ivy & Oak Skirt: Max Mara Socks: Wolford Shoes : Ganni Armcuff: Xenia Bous Handbag: Charles & Keith

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LEFT Blazer & Dress: Brogger Boots: Ganni RIGHT Full Look: Prada

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PHOTOGRAPHER: KATIA WIK

STYLING:

PENINAH AMANDA C/O LIGANORD

HAIR & MAKE UP:

VICTORIA PLEKHANOVA

MODEL:

TASHA MALEK FROM M4 MODELS

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MEN DITA

The “Mach Eight” with its sporty silhouette is dedicated to striving for speed and new heights. The new “Mach” series edition offers elegant enamel details in yellow gold.

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DIOR MEN

The fashion house made its debut at the “Dior Men Autumn / Winter 2020” show in Miami in collaboration with streetwear tycoon Shawn Stussy and the Jordan brand. A symbiosis of the fashion and sports industries.

The Dior logo with colourful embroidery newly interpreted by Stussy appears throughout the collection.

LOEWE

An innovative carrier bag made from precisely cut leather pieces with multicoloured stripes that run in different directions. The bag can be folded completely flat and can be worn cross-body or casually over the shoulder.

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Fashion with a future HE IS A REAL PHENOMENON; THE AMERICAN FASHION DESIGNER THOM BROWNE. HIS LOOK IS DISTINCTIVE, QUIRKY AND SOMEHOW TIMELESS. HIS TRADEMARK: A RED, WHITE AND BLUE BAND AS A LOGO. HIS DESIGNS ARE TIMELESS IN A WAY THAT ONLY EXISTS IN THE FASHION WORLD. BUT I REFUSE TO USE THE WORD “SUSTAINABLE”: THAT WOULD NOT DO JUSTICE TO HIS GLAMOUR AND HIS WORLD.

Author_Beatrice Schönhaus Spirig Images_Thom Browne

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PRESTIGE The witty collection for autumn and winter 2020 was presented in Paris in March.

But it all began quite differently. Little Thom was born into a Catholic family of lawyers in Pennsylvania, USA, in 1965. As the middle child of seven children, he was forced to assert himself against his siblings at an early age. He mentally created his own inner world.

A very rich, imaginative inner world, as we will see. He later studied economics, and aspired to become an actor. That’s why, after graduating, he moved to Los Angeles – because the chances were greatest there. However, this was only moderately successful, and Thom Browne was not satisfied. Because he never got really big feature film roles, but took part in commercial TV adverts and the like. He came to realise that this was not his vision of the future. It was then that he began tailoring men’s clothing from thrift stores while still in Los Angeles. This was great fun for him, and he enjoyed the feedback when he wore them himself. So he quickly created his very own fable and fantasy world with fairytale characters and his very own aesthetic code. In terms of colours, too, he always limited himself to grey, black, blue, white and red. Thanks to his very elaborate, nuanced imagination, the basis of today’s fascinating, dazzling fashion empire was created. But he had always had a thing about clothes. About the charm of the designs and materials. He admired the sparse designs of the Japanese designer Rei Kawakubo, which even became collectors’ items with her label Comme des Garçons. Thom always discovered special things, possibilities for inspiration, simply because he has a keen eye. At that time, there was no difference between what had been worn and what was new.

And a bit of this magic still shines through in some parts today – a little patchwork technique like in the seventies, a little vintage charm here and there. Ever-present high-quality artisanship and refinement. And with the finest couture quality.

In 1997, the designer moved to the busy hub of the fashion world – New York. He first worked as a seller at Armani, whose tailoring he greatly admired. At that time, Armani was extremely hip and at the forefront of the fashion scene. Although Thom Browne had never had any serious artisanal training as a designer, he was hired by the Club Monaco label as a menswear designer – the first big step in his career. In 2001, together with the trained tailor Rocco Ciccarelli, he designed five grey men’s suits in the so-called mid-century style, i.e. the look of the 50s and 60s. Always with slightly-too-short sleeves and trousers that end above the ankle. His striking look, which today is copied worldwide, was thus created.

Thom Browne sold the first suits to friends and acquaintances, but soon rented his own showroom in New York’s hip Meatpacking District. In 2006, Thom Browne designed a small collection for the American label Black Fleece, which was only available at selected sales outlets – real admirers travelled to the store in Milan, for example, to secure a special item. In the same year, the Council of Fashion Designers of America awarded Thom Browne the “Menswear Designer of the Year” award. Later followed awards from renowned fashion magazines such as “GQ” and others as Designer of the Year. In 2008 came the collaboration with Moncler, the “Gamme Bleu” collection for men. It stood out, made a bold statement and appeared in fashion stories all over the world. It also sold very well, even though it was extremely expensive.

Thom Browne wanted more. And subsequently launched his first own fashion show to promote the label and the special look in the trade press. At that time he was met with amazement, criticism – but also worldwide admiration from the competent fashion scene. At that time, as a specialist, you immediately noticed that something very independent and unique was being created.

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the designer. Incidentally, one of the designer’s biggest fans is none other than Michelle Obama, the wife of the ex-president of the United States.

I had the great fortune to be personally present in Paris on the 1st March 2020 at the Autumn / Winter 2020 show as one of only a handful of guests. The location: the atmospheric École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. I witnessed some of the best things that I have experienced as a lifestyle journalist in many women’s magazines over the years: namely a series of ideas, designs, fabrics and interpretations for men and women that as a professional, leave you speechless. Seasoned with a dash of irony and humour – for example, when the house dog Hector appeared in the form of a leather handbag on the hand of a top model. Everything accompanied by poetic, future-proof music.

If there is such a thing as a contemporary designer who is expressive, craftsmanlike and sustainable, it is Thom Browne. You may find the things for women a little strict and suitable for only a certain type of woman – those for men are unbeatable. Unbeatably glamorous, masculine, attractive and durable.

His prêt-à-porter shows not only made a name for themselves with their unique fashion message, but also with their special effects.

They were spectacles of a special kind, shocking, surprising and always telling stories. Real storytelling, so to speak. That was back in New York. “Hopefully, you will never see a show like this in person, otherwise you will no longer be a Thom Browne fan,” warned a fashion editor recently. How wrong he was!

Now everything has changed. Since Thom Browne became 85 percent owned by the Italian Zegna Group, i.e. from 2018, everything has been perfected. Today, the company has sales of 120 to 150 million and is also very popular in Asia. And the exclusive 3-year collaboration with FC Barcelona was established, resulting in world-famous players like Lionel Messi also wearing the tailor-made creations. And thus helping the label to become even more well-known. “An important step for us,” Luis Eduardo Diaz, the person responsible for this collaboration, told us in Milan.

In his private life, Thom Browne has been happily in­volved with Andrew Bolton, curator at the Costume Institute of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, for many years. He also lovingly supports

Thom Browne’s trademark: a red, white and blue band.

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MALONE SOULIERS

Their exquisite pointed toes, stretchy bow strap and a slim but sturdy stiletto heel, make the legendary Maureen mules the star of any outfit. The style elongates the legs and is adored for its curved profile, following the natural arch of the foot, and framing it in the most elegant and flattering way.

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DOLCE & GABBANA

Made in the iconic jacquard ramage rose fabric with python skin trim, the crowning glory of the medium-size bag from the Devotion line is its exclusive bejewelled heart closure.

The cross-body strap is inspired by the art of fine jewellery making.

GIAMBATTISTA VALLI

This season Giambattista Valli combines his passion for creating new designs with his love of flowers and the glorious hues of summer. This structured maxi dress in romantic shades of pink is just waiting to dazzle guests at a glamorous summer wedding outdoors.

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Be First !

Erfahre als Erste/r von Lancierungen deiner Lieblingsbrands und lasse dich von Marken inspirieren, die wirklich zu dir passen.

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SUMMER Author_Swenja Willms Images_STAN.

SUMMER – A TIME WE ARE ALL YEARNING FOR AFTER WEEKS OF ISOLATION. THAT FEELING OF A SEA BREEZE, OF BREATHING IN THE FRESHLY BLOSSOMING FLOWERS IN THE MEADOWS AND OF THE SUN SHINING IN THE CLOUDLESS SKY. THE SUMMER OF 2020 WILL FEEL EVEN MORE VIBRANT AND COLOURFUL TO US BECAUSE WE HAVE NEVER WAITED SO LONGINGLY FOR A SUMMER TO BEGIN WE ARE ALSO CELEBRATING THE COMING SEASON WITH NEW PRODUCTS FOR THE FACE, BODY AND SOUL.

LEFT Hermès Beauty is launching its first collection of products dedicated to creating beautiful lips.

“Rouge Hermès” lipsticks are available in a range of 24 shades in matt and silky gloss.

RIGHT The luxurious textures and sensual aromas of “Darphin master oils” provide a high level of nourishment and comfort for your skin and help it to stay well-balanced.

Clinique’s “Even Better Dark Spot Corrector + Interruptor” is now even more concentrated to visibly correct discoloration and acne scars while preventing new dark spots.

The “Terre de Bali” bronzing powder gives you a lightly tanned complexion, similar to what the Balinese sun can conjure up. The universally applicable colour with a matt finish and delicate vanilla scent belongs in every cosmetics drawer.

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LEFT Dead cells on the skin’s surface are often the result of a lack of water. Lierac’s new “Body-Hydra + Micropeeling” combines four complementary active ingredients that exfoliate and provide the skin with deep hydration.

Soothing liquid and airy-foamy cleansing care by Darphin with soothing chamomile and hawthorn to gently remove makeup and impurities that can contribute to skin aging while supporting the essential natural skin barrier.

For the first time ever, the new “Dior Addict Stellar Gloss” combines the exceptional lustre of a lip gloss with the comfort of a balm. For shiny, fuller lips in sensual colours.

RIGHT A sparkling homage to one of the most beautiful Italian rituals – the aperitivo. Brighten up your home with sun-kissed Italian elegance, immersed in a fragrance of sparkling citrus fruits in a diffuser: “Aperitivo in Terrazza” by Aqua di Parma.

The new “Rouge intense” lipsticks come in two bold colours: fuchsia and rosé brown. The creamy texture guarantees that your lips will feel smooth and moisturised for a long time.

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RIGHT “Dior Addict Stellar Halo Shine” is the iconic Dior high-gloss lipstick with a new, star-shaped centre. The Dior lucky star embedded into the lipstick itself with its pearlescent micropigments in pink and gold enhances the colour with a new, shimmering aura and gives lips a unique shine.

Even though blemishes and stretch marks are the result of everyday life, with specialised care these skin imperfections can be improved and the feeling of comfort after healing can be enhanced. “EPITHELIALE A.H DUO MASSAGE” by A-Derma has been specially developed for massaging into the skin and leaves skin feeling supple thanks to its 98 percent natural ingredients.

Those wishing to soak up the sun should not do so without the correct protection. Clinique’s new “Superdefense” with sun protection factor 40 helps defend against harmful UVA and UVB rays while combating fatigue and the first signs of skin aging.

LEFT The limited summer collection “Été Balinais” by Sothys whisks us away to a tropical paradise: to Bali. Nail polish no. 315 “Fuchsia Jasmine” illuminates nails with its intense fuchsia tone.

“So scandal!” by Jean Paul Gaultier – a fragrance for women who capture everybody’s attention.

Orange blossom, Arabian jasmine and juicy raspberry are guaranteed to trigger an explosion of the senses.

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BEAUTY & WELLBEING WESTMAN

The “Super Loaded Tinted Highlight” highlighter provides vibrant warmth in universally flattering colours.

A soothing, easy to use multi-purpose polish for the eyes, cheeks and face.

TRENDS by

FEUERSTEIN ESSENTIALS

The natural body oil contains extracts of Swiss mountain herbs, which have a vitalising and fragrant effect on both the skin and the soul. A blend of fragrances with extracts of lemongrass and grapefruit stimulates the senses via the autonomic nervous system. 200 ml in a Miron violetglass.

U BEAUTY

U Beauty and ReFa are delighted to announce an exclusive cooperation to promote optimal skin care with the “ReFa I STYLE”, a double quatro three-in-one roller decorated with Swarovski crystals, which firms and renews the skin’s appearance.

FOREO

Foreo launches the “UFO 2” for the next generation of power masking. With full-spectrum LEDs, individually adjustable sequences and advanced hyper-infusion technology, the "UFO 2" is designed to provide you with skin care that is perfectly tailored to your needs.

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RENÉ LALIQUE, A GLASS ARTIST AND PIONEER OF FRENCH ART NOUVEAU, DECIDED TO TAKE UP RESIDENCE IN A SMALL VILLAGE IN ALSACE CALLED WINGEN-SUR-MODER IN 1920. HE DECIDED TO BUILD A STATELY RESIDENCE FOR HIS FAMILY THERE, FOLLOWED BY A GLASS PRODUCTION FACILITY, WHICH WAS CONSTRUCTED A YEAR LATER. ONE HUNDRED YEARS LATER, VILLA RENÉ LALIQUE IS A PLACE WHERE THE SOPHISTICATED FRENCH WAY OF LIFE IS CELEBRATED. IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE HISTORY AND SOUL OF THIS LUXURIOUS RETREAT, YOU HAVE TO REFLECT UPON WHO THE FOUNDER OF THE COMPANY RENÉ LALIQUE WAS AND CONSIDER HOW THE LEGEND OF LALIQUE CONTINUES TODAY AS A TRULY TIMELESS LIFESTYLE BRAND THANKS TO HIS VISIONARY IDEAS.

© Pivoines-lifestyle-visuals

Author_Swenja Willms

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© Lalique S.A.

THE

The “Hirondelles” Suite is decorated in red and black and is dedicated to one of his greatest sources of inspiration: the swallow.

The entree is adorned with the “Bacchantes” potted crystal vase, one of the best-selling pieces, and is the embodiment of its inventor’s love of women. Portrait photographs on the walls remind us that this room was once inhabited by one of the greatest glass masters in the world: René Lalique. In 1920 he became a master of Art Deco glass art. His glass factory was established in 1921. It was located in Wingen-sur-Moder, which is where he had built his villa a year earlier and the place where he stayed during his trips to Alsace. Today, some 100 years later, the spirit and joie de vivre of French crystal processing can still be seen and felt here. This is because Tina Green and Pietro Mingarelli, two prominent interior designers, have managed to successfully combine the authenticity of a family estate with the glamour of an intimate boutique hotel, with the help of their specially created “LaliqueMaison” Collection. The house’s bedrooms and workrooms have been transformed into six individual and magnificent suites, each one is named after one of René Lalique’s emblematic creations and is a tribute to a decade in the life of the famous glass artist. The translucent ancillary building made of glass, which blends in perfectly with the villa, is the work of Swiss star architect Mario Botta and the realm of top chefs Jean-Georges Klein and Paul Stradner. A creative, two-Michelin-star cuisine with a blend of highly sophisticated flavours is on the menu. Incidentally, Mario Botta also created an extraordinary cellar area, which houses one of the most impressive wine collections in Europe.

As such, the Villa René Lalique can also be seen as a homage to the French way of life.

CELEBRATED AS A MASTER OF HIS ART René Lalique was born in Ay, a small village in the French department of Marne, in 1860. Design and art shaped his life from an early age. After studying at the “École des Arts Décoratifs” in Paris, the young man was well placed to start his career as a jewellery manufacturer.

Boucheron, Vever and Cartier were among his first customers. René Lalique was ahead of his time: he worked with unusual materials and defied the rules of jewellery making.

He combined gold and precious stones with simple gemstones, with enamel, glass, leather, horn and mother of pearl. His philosophy was: “it is better to strive for beauty than to flaunt luxury.” René Lalique was inspired by nature and used the female form as a decorative element. He was considered one of the most important jewellery designers of French Art Nouveau in 1890 and belonged to the avant-garde: his works are original and inventive, perfectly put together in terms of their technical implementation and thus very popular with an intellectual elite who pay little

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Six suites, which have retained their original building structure and reflect the artistic genius of RenĂŠ Lalique down to the last detail, have been created.

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attention to conventions. René Lalique reached the pinnacle of his career as a jewellery manufacturer at the 1900 World Fair. From then on, he decided to work with glass, and he began creating flacons, pendulums, boxes, vases and sculptures at his house in Clairefontaine near Rambouillet.

After his death in 1945, his son Marc Lalique took over the management of the company and modernised the factory in Wingen-surModer. From then on, crystal was used instead of glass. The combination of transparent and satin finishes gained international fame, resulting in the name Lalique often being used as a general term for such finishes. The Lalique crystal manufacturer quickly gained a prestigious place as one of the leading crystal producers in France and around the world. At present, the Lalique universe comprises five different areas: decorative objects, interior design, jewellery, perfumes and art.

ARTISANAL EXCELLENCE Lalique’s exclusive works come at a price. However, anyone who has ever set foot in a crystal producer’s manufactory is well aware of its quality and value. The factory, which was built in 1921 and started production in 1922, is still the only LALIQUE production facility in the world and employs around 350 people. The village of Wingen-sur-Moder is situated in a region that is an ideal place to produce glass and crystal. This is attributable to its accessibility to existing railway lines and to the many forests that provide sufficient firewood for the smelting furnaces. The crystal glass consists of quartz sand, lead oxide, potash and other additives and is melted at a temperature of about 1400 degrees Celsius at Lalique in clay pots that are inserted into large furnaces. These melting pots, which must be of perfect quality to obtain a very pure crystal, wear out quickly and are replaced after four months of use. However, during the manufacturing process it is the human hand that shapes each piece and breathes life into it. Therefore, it is not surprising that about two thirds of production time is spent in the labour-intensive area of cold processing, where the Lalique pieces are given their finishing touches. It is meticulous work that requires calm, concentration and a lot of experience. Each object is engraved with the company’s own signature at the end of the production process because without this, a piece is not officially recognised as a Lalique.

It is precisely these details that turn an ordinary crystal into a unique object of prestige and that embody a lifestyle that is not dominated by borders, conventions or rules. René Lalique’s lifestyle and vision.

René Lalique made his mark as a glass artist of his day and arguably became one of the most prominent figures of French Art Nouveau.

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ART

FOR THE WALL Handmade wall coverings embody cultural history and craftsmanship.

Some fabricators, such as the British familyowned de Gournay company, still know how to do this today and are producing luxurious artwork for the walls.

People from all cultures have been covering, embellishing and decorating their “own four walls” for centuries: from impressive rock and cave paintings, mosaics and frescoes to embossed leather, gilded, floral and ornamental Moorish wall coverings. This means that wall design and wall decoration are as old as mankind. Nevertheless, when moving into a new home, most people initially concentrate on the furniture. While in some places this is perfectly coordinated down to the last detail, the walls are usually dominated by bare, smooth plaster or woodchip wallpaper and painted in a uniform colour tone to meet the most stringent of decorative requirements.

Author_Anna Karolina Stock Images_de Gournay

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THE WALL AS THE CENTRE OF ATTENTION In contrast to this “nudist” design, Hannah Cecil Gurney’s London residence resembles a lavish wonderland of colours and patterns, which extends artfully and aesthetically from the walls to the furniture and down to the floors. The “key pieces” of her interior design, to which everything else is matched, are not opulent chandeliers or velvety soft leather armchairs, but elaborately manufactured wall coverings: dazzling shoals of fish, African savannahs, Far Eastern oases and Japanese cherry blossoms – everything flows, sprouts and sends forth tendrils. Only the ceilings are white and free of wall coverings.

The style of this Gurney residence is eclectic and eccentric and bold and dramatic at the same time – a potpourri of colours, shapes and artistic direction. No two rooms really match: a chi-

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noiserie in bright coral orange adorns the bedroom walls and pink flamingo wallpaper, which merges into delicate amber at the top, sets the scene in the bathroom. The living room, however, is dominated by chocolate brown chinoiserie on matt rice paper – a tribute to Coco Chanel’s Coromandel screens that once adorned her private residence at 31 Rue Cambon in Paris. Meanwhile in the kitchen, the strong magenta of the kitchen cabinets contrasts with the Arabescato marble of the worktops and the orange lamps that used to hang over a pool table.

The unusual decor comes as no surprise. Neither does the fact that Gurney designed most of the living spaces using the walls as his starting point. As the daughter of Claud Cecil Gurney, the founder of the de Gournay company, Hannah was surrounded by glamorous hand-painted wall coverings from an early age. The British de Gournay company has been enjoying its outstanding reputation for hand-painted wall coverings and fabrics since 1986.

The company also specialises in creating vibrant chinoiserie designs, exquisite Japanese and Korean motifs and French-inspired 19th century panoramic images, as well as hand-fired and individually painted porcelain.

In doing so, de Gournay complies with a trend that abandons the decades-long edict of the white wall. The desire for elaborately manufactured, high-quality products grew along with the demand for a return to bourgeois comfort: hand-printed, handpainted and sometimes even hand-embroidered wall coverings, fine silk wallpapers and textiles in imaginative chinoiserie and botanical patterns are more popular today than ever before. These exquisite materials have their price, but the luxury sector is booming.

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style and is not called the “Queen of Colours” for nothing. She was able to demonstrate her skills yet again at the beginning of the year in the private quarters of de Gournay’s Paris showroom. The focus was on her new wall covering design “Abbãsi in the Sky” with a scene rendered on baby blue dyed silk – a tribute to Reza Abbãsi, a 16th century Persian miniaturist painter. The interior also incorporated traditional oriental design elements to match the wall covering, including embroidered velvet seat cushions – reminiscent of the Thousand and One Nights fairy tale.

Customers include hotels and high-end shops as well as well-heeled private individuals with residential property. After all, who else is willing to spend several months’ salary on wall decoration that cannot be taken to the next residence?

THE BEAUTY OF IRREGULARITY De Gournay wall coverings are characterised by the use of tradi­ tion­al designs and original 18th century painting techniques as well as by exceptional attention to detail. Their particular beauty lies in their finesse, but above all in their irregularity: each artist leaves a unique trace of him or herself in each of his or her works.

Each blossom and each little leaf looks a little different, each animal has its own individual facial expression. Even a monochrome pattern could not be more diverse: one area is varnished, another is opaque and yet another is slightly mottled.

In order to keep up with the latest trends and to continuously develop new pattern and colour combinations, de Gournay regularly collaborates with renowned fashion designers, interior designers and internationally acclaimed brands. One of them is AngloPersian designer and architect India Mahdavi. The artist, who lives in Paris, has long been known for her expressive and polychrome

CLOTHES AND WALLS MAKE THE MAN! De Gournay’s pioneering role in the design of chinoiserie wallpapers also reaches a new level of splendour with Erdem Moralioglu.

The Canadian fashion designer of British-Turkish descent is known for his playfully romantic dresses, bright floral prints and colourful style. His collections often contain fashionable elements from bygone eras, which Erdem infuses with a modern touch.

The new design, created in collaboration with de Gournay, represents vivacity and nature in full bloom. Little sparrows can be seen twittering among hydrangeas, hollyhocks, irises and chrysan-­ themums, while pheasants and herons poke their heads through the foliage. The lifelike, hand-painted scenes are available both as wallpaper in “Golden Yellow”, “Adam Grey” and “Kelly Green” and as fabric patterns in Erdem’s new women’s collection. In both cases the exquisite pattern comes into its own: expressive and individual – just like the character of the two brands.

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LIVING PIGEON & POODLE

The luxurious “Rhodes” bathroom collection, made of velvety, white-worked black marble with beautiful brass cladding, sets new standards in the bathroom.

FEUERSTEIN ESSENTIALS

The delicate scent of the “Selina” room spray has a mood-lifting and soothing effect. From oranges and lime, bergamot and lavender with a hint of cloves, nutmeg, cedar and vanilla, rounded off with warm patchouli notes. 100 ml in a Miron Violetglass.

OKHA

OKHA’s “BIJOU” captures the raw and refined aspects of the gem.

The table consists of two surfaces with contrasting materials and irregularly positioned legs. The various surface options range from blackened and waxed mild steel to highly polished or antique brass.

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TALSEE

The design of the “artisan Special Edition” is based on the historical craftsmanship of ceramics. The “artisan” bathroom furniture is a special edition, co-designed

by Pura Bagno by Grüter and produced in the Talsee factory in Hochdorf.

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ONCE UPON A TIME CARME RUSCALLEDA Author_Thomas Hauer Images_Mandarin Oriental Barcelona

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IT IS NOT FOR NO REASON THAT CATALONIA’S CAPITAL BARCELONA AND ITS GREEN HINTERLAND FIGURE AMONG THE TOP 10 EUROPEAN FOOD DESTINATIONS FOR GOURMETS. IN FACT, A MORNING STROLL THROUGH THE MERCAT DE LA BOQUERIA NOT FAR FROM THE LIVELY RAMBLAS, A DETOUR TO ONE OF THE COUNTLESS TAPAS AND PINCHOS BARS OR A DELIGHTFUL EVENING IN ONE OF THE CITY’S 24 STAR-AWARDED GOURMET TEMPLES ARE OFTEN UNFORGETTABLE EXPERIENCES. THIS INCLUDES OUR VISIT TO THE “MOMENTS” RESTAURANT, HOLDER OF TWO MICHELIN STARS, UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE EXCEPTIONAL CATALAN CHEF CARME RUSCALLEDA AND HER SON RAÜL BALAM.

Until the closure of her three-star restaurant “Sant Pau” in Sant Pol de Mar in mid-2018, Ruscalleda was the most decorated female chef in the world with a total of seven Michelin stars in three restaurants. She was also the first woman to be awarded the highest culinary order by the “Michelin Guide” in Spain, while cult critic Wolfram Siebeck confirmed that she was the most talented of all the chefs whose food he had eaten. All the more astonishing since Carme never completed classic chef training, but instead taught herself her entire set of kitchen skills. Today, however, Ruscalleda focuses more on other projects, runs a test kitchen with her daughter in Sant Pol and works as an author. However, she still actively supports the local teams at her two remaining restaurants in Barcelona and Tokyo; internationally she is one of the most important ambassadors for Catalan cuisine.

Today, however, it is first and foremost Raül Balam who, as head chef of “Moments”, congenially converts his mother’s philosophy into elaborate concept menus, after having worked for five years at the “Sant Pau de Tòquio” in the Japanese capital, also awarded two stars.

The restaurant, featuring the unmistakable touch of Spain’s interior design icon Patricia Urquiola, is housed in the mezzanine of the stylish “Mandarin Oriental”, opened in 2009 in a former bank building. This, in turn, is located directly on Barcelona’s magnificent boulevard and promenade Passeig de Gràcia and therefore only a few minutes’ walk from the popular Gothic quarter. Guests enjoy a fantastic panoramic view from the numerous rooms and suites, including the modernist facade of Gaudi’s nearby Casa Batlló.

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Back in “Moments”, the atmosphere featuring a palette of warm gold and amber tones gives the dining room an atmosphere that is both elegant and relaxed while a large window framed by curtains turns the kitchen into a culinary stage. Guests can watch the busy brigade’s hustle and bustle while they enjoy their menu. The view is particularly good from the exclusive chef ’s table.

Carme Ruscalleda’s cuisine, like that of her son, has always been determined by the culinary heritage of her home region, the Comarca Maresme, a narrow coastal strip along the Costa Brava northeast of Barcelona, which is considered Catalonia’s vegetable garden. No wonder that there is always plenty of fish, seafood and greens on the plate.

Carme describes her approach as clear and transparent, as enjoyable as it is healthy. In order to meet this requirement, she started combining fresh Maresme products with selected Japanese ingredients early in her career. In Ruscalleda’s understanding, the basic principles of Catalan and Japanese cuisine are closely related, since the authenticity and quality of the products play the main role in the tradition of both cuisines. The arrangement on the plates is also important to Carme and Raül. One of the best-known quotes from the head chef is: “Si (…) han tenido un día gris, noten que sale el sol en su plato.” – “If they have had a really grey day, at least the sun should shine for them on the plate.” That is why modern art was a recurring source of inspiration for Carme. Thus, in her restaurant, she draped the vegetables in the form of a strictly geometric Mondrian painting. But above all, mother and son love to tell stories with their plates, which is why the menus in “Moments” traditionally have a specific heading. The two thus developed culinary interpretations of famous operas or legendary Hollywood classics. Another time, they took their guests on a culinary trip to major cities around the world. And, at the moment, there are fairy tales under the heading “Once upon a time”, which is why numerous heroes from the stories of the Brothers Grimm are running across the plates during the evening: starting with Little Red Riding Hood and the ugly duckling and including Hansel & Gretel, Snow White or the wolf with all seven goats. Finally, a veritable 13-course menu leaves enough scope to ensure the topic fills the evening as well as the stomach. The bread, wonderfully crispy outside and temptingly moist inside, baked exclusively for “Moments” by a small village bakery near Barcelona, is almost worth a visit to the restaurant alone. Especially when it is paired with the almost addictive raspberry butter.

On the menu itself, the respective culinary interpretation of the underlying motif is sometimes quite striking. For example, the airy dessert version of Snow White’s Apple, in which Raül hints at the treacherous poison with a red fruit extract that spreads out in fine red veins on the plate while you are eating. Sometimes a little imagination is required.

For example, when meeting Hansel & Gretel, in our view the highlight of the current menu as far as taste is concerned. Here two raw shrimps of sensational quality represent the two children wandering in the forest, which Raül indicates by a wavy line of green pistachio cream. On the other hand, you can clearly see the bread crumbs seasoned with smoked pimientos, with which the children in the fairy tale try to mark the way home. Finally, we meet the witch in the form of a blob of liquid chocolate, flavoured with gingerbread spice. All of this sounds a bit contrived at first. In fact, the combination of chocolate, raw prawns and strongly seasoned breadcrumbs turns out to be simply brilliant. This also applies to the wine pairing: here a white 2016 Rioja Reserva from Bodega Alonso & Pedrago that is as complex as it is elegant. A wine that gives you goose bumps. Just enjoy. Oh yes, the next menu theme is already set; next time it will be about the venues of the legendary Olympic Games. Greetings from Tokyo.

OPENING HOURS Lunch Friday–Saturday 1.30 pm–3.00 pm Dinner Tuesday–Friday 8.30 pm–10 pm Booking Tel. +34 93 151 87 81 mobcn-info@mohg.com www.mandarinoriental.com/barcelona www.ruscalleda.cat

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A FRENCH Author_Simone Hoffmann Images_ Maria-Pia Castelli

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Restaurateur, Jean-Gabriel de Bueil, fights for the preservation of a historical French tradition: the bistro.

TABLE NUMBER 46 De Bueil quickly realises that he is not really a businessman. When he returned to Paris, he noticed that more and more traditional bistros were closing and being converted into boutiques or neo-bistros. “A part of the culture that just disappears. Because a bistro is much more than just a place to eat. The heart of France beats here.

Here a businessman and a construction worker can sit across from each other and eat a very typical French dish. Bistros are melting pots that no longer exist today.”

True to the motto “rather small, but mine”, the 28-year-old embarks on an adventure in 2002 and buys the “Bistro de Paris” together with a partner. A Parisian institution that has been serving typical French home cooking, such as skate with caper sauce, since 1848, near the Musée d’Orsay. The “Bistrot de Paris” was opened in the 20th Century as the meeting point of literary figures and artists. French legend Serge Gainsbourg was one of the loyal regulars. That was before de Bueil’s time, but he knows the stories as if he had been there himself. “Gainsbourg was always at table 46.

When he came, he first went past the kitchen and said hello. This is special because the people in the background are always forgotten.

He left very generous tips for the entire staff. He still had lunch here, even a few hours before his death.”

“I like Camus’ philosophy. First, you define yourself by what you don’t want. It was clear to me early on that an everyday office life was not for me. I like to have different people around me and I need a lot of freedom.” When you get to know Jean-Gabriel de Bueil, you quickly get involved in a conversation that has nothing to do with food. The restaurateur is unique, just like his bistros. In an era in which new restaurant trends are constantly being celebrated, de Bueil simply declares himself to be the guardian of history.

Because his restaurants correspond to the typical French bistro, as if time had stood still: homely spaces, furnished like decades ago, with solid, uncomplicated home cooking. They offer a family atmosphere; you almost feel as if you are in an old film by Claude Sautet.

“I have absolutely no talent for inventing something new or foreseeing the next restaurant trend,” comments de Bueil, with an apologetic gesture. “Running a historic bistro today is almost an act of resistance. Against the equalisation of restaurants. Ultimately, you can go to establishments in Paris, Tokyo or New York that all look the same and offer the same thing. And we forget what is essential: who we are.”

ROOTS His origin is certainly an explanation for the 46-year-old’s strong historical awareness. As a child of a traditionally Catholic aristocratic family, Jean-Gabriel spent his summer holidays as a child on the family estate in Blandans, Jura, about 80 kilometres from the Swiss border. The best way to escape the narrow framework of family tradition there: “I was allowed to dip my finger in everything and try it: the butter that was home-made there, the sauces, the cream, the bread dough, the wine. I learned to listen to nature there, to respect the earth, to love it.” Years of happiness, in which Jean-Gabriel discovered his love for food. The carefree childhood comes to an end when his father dies. Jean-Gabriel is just ten years old. This is followed by chaotic years, in which the young de Bueil tries to find himself, just like Camus.

His love for culinary delights, stimulating conversations with people who think differently, finally gets him on his way: in gastronomy. In the famous Swiss school for hotel management in Glion, he studied the profession for three years, in Lausanne he studied tourism management for two years. But his mother also dies, and Jean-Gabriel abandons his plans to travel the world, and returns to Paris. “The early death of my parents was of course a great shock, but it also gave me the opportunity to really go my own way. With their loss, I have internalised the importance of preserving history.”

FRANCE'S BEST KEPT SECRET Twenty years ago, 30 percent of all French restaurants were still bistros, today it is only 14 percent. Because he wanted to prevent the death of the bistro, de Bueil bought his second restaurant in 2007: the traditional “Chez René”, very close to the Île SaintLouis. A state secret was kept here for years: President François Mitterrand came for lunch with his daughter Mazarine on Wednesdays, and he could rely on the restaurant’s strict discretion.

Since 1964, Chez René has also been a meeting point for gallery owners and the political left, who met here for “Bœuf Bourguignon” and Swiss Chard Gratin. Hemingway liked to sit in a certain place to write there in peace.

For de Bueil, saving the Bistro tradition means one thing above all: don’t change anything! “In all of my restaurants, I only refreshed the bare essentials. To redecorate, that means to destroy the soul of the restaurant. But our guests want nothing to change. Our cook at ‘Chez René’ has been behind the stove for 40 years and he is still afraid that customers will go home hungry,” laughs de Bueil.

Trustworthy staff who know every guest and ensure a familiar atmosphere are crucial for a typical bistro. No students or temporary waiters serve here. “Anyone who works in such

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In addition to the three bistros, another historic restaurant was added in 2015: “Chez Savy”, which has been offering a wonderfully tender shoulder of lamb on a side street of Avenue Montaigne since 1923. “We maintained the original menus as well as possible for all the bistros. We no longer make some dishes, such as pork ears, which nobody eats anymore. But for us it’s not about culinary creativity; whoever wants three-star cuisine or originality is in the wrong place anyway.“ Since 14 March, the four bistros of Jean-Gabriel de Bueil have been closed by the corona crisis. They are expected to reopen in mid-June: The restaurateur has already thought of sanitary protection measures in order to continue to offer their customers a carefree moment of enjoyment.

Despite the economic burden, de Bueil also has a philosophical stance on the crisis: “The ‘Bistrot de Paris’ survived the Spanish flu, ‘Chez Savy’ and ‘Chez Georges’ survived the First and Second World Wars. They will also survive the corona crisis. My job is to manage the bistros so that they will survive, even if I am no longer there. So that they will continue to tell a story that you would otherwise forget.”

institutions needs a real character, passion, pleasure in what they do.

It is a calling.” The guests are mostly regular customers; some have been coming for several generations and always order the same thing.

A TABLE WITH THE NAME OF PICASSO At “Chez Georges”, the third bistro that de Bueil bought in 2010 to continue with the family spirit, the waiters know the exact prefer­ences of guests. “Here you can, for example, indicate the cooking level of your french fries. There is no such thing in a classic restaurant,” explains de Bueil. “Chez Georges” in the 2nd Parisian Arrondissement has become an insider’s tip for international stars. When Woody Allen comes to Paris, he has lunch here. Georg Baselitz, with a smile, always asks for a table called Picasso over the phone. “David Hockney also likes to come because he loves our hearty food. He always says, ‘Give me more fat and sugar!’” laughs de Bueil. “But whether we are well-known or not, it doesn’t matter to us. We serve all guests with the same attention and the desire to provide them with a really special time.” And the chef lends a hand personally. Sometimes it takes 20 minutes for him to cross the hall because he’s chatting everywhere.

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“RUNNING A HISTORIC BISTRO TODAY IS ALMOST AN ACT OF RESISTANCE.”

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MOËT & CHANDON

“Signature Rosé Impérial Limited Edition”: a homage to the heritage of the house, the generosity and the ‘savoir-fêter’ with a contemporary artistic design.

BLOOMSBURY

A culinary guide: from the best champagnes in France to the lesser-known sparkling wine producers of China. This luxurious fourth edition was fully updated and expanded by Essi Avellan, one of the world's most talented young wine writers.

CULI NARIUM

DAVIDOFF

The French artist, Émilie MoutardMartin, designed the latest edition of the “MASTERPIECE HUMIDOR ROYAL RELEASE”. Each humidor is equipped with 50 “Royal Release Perfecto” cigars.

TAHI

New Zealand’s richest, rarest and most complex manuka honey, “Tahi UMF 23+” has a smooth, shiny consistency and an intense, woody taste.

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# l afrenc hvo d k a

El e v a t i n g t h e o r d inary t o e x t r a o r d i n a ry.

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w w w . l a f r e n c h v o d k a . c o m La Fre nc h Vo d ka e nco u rages res p on s ib l e d r in kin g.

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MONTBLANC

The Montblanc “MB 01 Smart Headphones” combine elegance with functionality.

Made from fine materials such as aluminium, silicone and leather, they only weigh 280 g and offer excellent acoustics for a fascinating audio experience. Active noise cancellation, Google Assistant, comfort and the foldable design make them a great travel companion.

HUBLOT

Unique, delicate and extravagant – the “Classic Fusion Gold Crystal’s” dial is made of gold crystal and decorated with gold flakes. The dial has a black “Classic Fusion Gold Crystal” ceramic case cover like a precious work of art that has to be framed; it is available with a housing diameter of 38 mm or 45 mm.

MARK CROSS

With dark brown leather, crafted flawlessly, this briefcase with a gold-coloured closure is absolutely typical of the Mark Cross brand.

A zip pocket on the back provides space for important documents.

FINANCE

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MONTEGRAPPA

Perfect geometry and precise workmanship indicate a new chapter in the development of a modern style of writing.

Heavy metal components and a ‘thewed’ clip lend the “ZERO’s” charismatic Italian design balance and dominance. The writing instrument for the new decade consists of sapphire glass in a miniature bezel.

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THE DELUGE THAT COMES AFTER ME – THE CORE ISSUE OF CORPORATE SUCCESSION Author_Wilma Fasola

UNFORTUNATELY, MANY COMPANIES FACE BITTER TIMES WHEN AN ENTREPRENEUR RETIRES. OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS, ONE IN FIVE COMPANIES IN SWITZERLAND WILL HAVE TO FACE THIS CHALLENGE – AND, REGRETTABLY, THEY ARE GENERALLY POORLY PREPARED FOR IT. IN THIS REGARD, BRUNO AREGGER AND HIS TEAM FROM APPLETREE PRIMARILY PROVIDE SUPPORT FOR SMALL AND MEDIUM-SIZED COMPANIES, WHICH IN SWITZERLAND ACCOUNT FOR A SHARE OF AROUND 99.8 PERCENT AND WHICH ARE USUALLY THE HARDEST HIT. HERE IS AN INTERVIEW THAT PRESENTS SOME PROBLEMATIC ISSUES, BUT THAT ALSO PROVIDES SOME SURPRISING ANSWERS.

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put up for sale. And then they end up facing the harsh reality when they realise that nobody wants to buy it. And certainly not for millions of francs.

You support many SMEs with succession planning – How often does a family member follow in the entrepreneur’s footsteps these days?

It’s increasingly uncommon. This has to do with the fact that it used to be completely normal for the eldest son or daughter to take over the family business. There was no choice. That was just the way it was. That’s changed, because the youth are unwilling to take responsibility, or they know that they cannot, or do not want, to go the way their father or mother did. They refuse to do so.

Sometimes they don’t want to, but don’t dare to say so at an early stage, and then jump ship shortly before the handover. Or they do step up, but the father or mother has to stay on for four or five years after the official exit.

You didn’t take over the family company yourself – What were your motives for that?

It was always clear to me that I would take over the company.

That is, until I listened to myself and came to the conclusion that it didn’t suit me to go that route. In retrospect, the reason was that it wasn’t the right business for me. I was worried about it, and respected the fact that I couldn’t do it like my father did. He ran the company like a boss, and I am anything but a boss. I am a leader who sees leadership as involving a common ground. As being a cooperation in which the employee is the most important asset. My father was very successful, but if I had done it differently from the way he did, I knew that I would disappoint him. I was afraid that he would step in and tell me what I needed to do when the first crisis or the first negative situation arose.

PRESTIGE: Company succession – Why is this topic particularly relevant in Switzerland?

BRUNO AREGGER: There are differing figures coming out of various institutes and organisations. What is certain, is that tens of thousands of entrepreneurs will be facing a problem with respect to the succession plan in the next two to three years. Very few are prepared for it. Most have the sense that at the age of sixty, they’ll be able to deal with it in a year or two. But that isn’t the case. I would therefore like to encourage entrepreneurs, to provide them with the motivation to deal with it early on, and to treat it as the most important business deal of their lives, so to speak.

What do you think are the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when it comes to succession planning?

Firstly, they underestimate the factor of time. They have the sense that it can be taken care of in a year or two. Secondly, the company is not a corporate brand; it’s a personal brand. The “Hans Meier” from “Hans Meier AG” is the company’s greatest asset. And once that’s no longer there, the company has become hollowed out. And that’s why you have to remove your face from it, and turn the person into a corporate brand. And if you do this well, it will take up to five years. And thirdly, the owner is often the best salesperson, and is proud of that. When that person leaves, the company stops making sales. And the new owner will have to focus on dealing with sales from day one. That’s the wrong way of doing things, since the new owner is actually faced with different tasks. He needs to find new customers and employees. He needs to revise the strategy, create a vision.

What is it that you do with your APPLETREE company?

Many SMEs and family businesses have big problems finding employees, and especially dream customers. Then there is the problem of company succession. Those are the problems that we solve. We often say that we take SMEs from normal madness into the ideal of success. The reason for this is that companies find employees who fit them best, and employ them at the ideal

When is the best time to start with succession planning?

Upon founding the company or joining the company, it is best that you start asking yourself from day one: What can I do to increase my company’s worth? What can I do every day so that I’m generating increased benefits, so that I’m making my company even more attractive? And if that’s how you’re doing it from day one, you will have a highly attractive company in 20 to 30 years. A company that is in demand and successful on the market. Potential buyers will be lining up. Those who fail to do so will end up having a rude awakening. Many entrepreneurs have the sense that their company is worth a lot, that it will fetch millions of francs when

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location. We also help create a magnetising effect that attracts the best customers. We take nature as our example for this, namely the apple tree. We demonstrate that if the roots, in this case the employees, are the right people with the right values for the company, then that will generate an enormous energy. And more energy means more apples, and thus a greater yield. That increases the company’s value. And we’ve managed to do that over three hundred times in recent years.

Basically, you talk about it being important to make a company into a “turnkey” operation from day one What do you mean by that?

The condition of normal madness is where the owner turns on the light in the morning and then turns it off in the evening.

And all the information is coming across the owner’s desk – the owner knows everything and can do everything. Men are especially proud of that. It feeds the ego to be so important and good. However, what they don’t notice is that their health gets put under extreme pressure. If they are away for a day or even on holiday, many problems will arise. That’s a pity. Employees are depending on it. Entire families are depending on an operation being run well. A company that is run in this way is not valuable to society. By contrast, we offer support for making the company into a turnkey operation. That means we define the company’s meaning and purpose. We discover the vision, the values, and a suitable strategy. We write down why employees work in the company and why customers work with the company. This means that all steps and situations in the company will have been documented. Some will be automated. The company must continue to run smoothly, including if an employee is absent or even if the owner is absent. It runs like a Swiss watch at all times.

The ideal entrepreneur doesn’t just work in the company but also on the company. What do you see as the main tasks of an entrepreneur?

In the beginning, starting out, the entrepreneur does everything alone. That’s logical. However, as soon as there are employees, the entrepreneur can no longer just work in the company, but must also work on the company, answering questions like: Why is the company needed? What makes us unique and special? What makes us different and better than the competition? And those are tasks that have to be undertaken again and again. Ideally, an entrepreneur will take the time to deal with these questions once a week.

Is there such a thing as a born entrepreneur?

I don’t think so. But there is a prerequisite. You need to be brave, be able to think differently, and in particular to not act in a money-driven manner, but rather in a way that generates benefits.

Launch something into the world that has a higher meaning, not that primarily makes money, but that generates meaning. I create jobs and I offer added value. I make our customers’ lives easier. You can learn a lot, but there is a prerequisite. And external assistance can be of help, otherwise there can be tunnel vision. You don’t have to repeat mistakes if there is someone else there to tell you about their mistakes, who is preventing you from making them yourself.

Bruno Aregger already has a bestseller under his belt with his book, “Der gute Geist deines Unternehmens”. His latest book has now been published, “Mein Sohn übernimmt meine Firma nicht”, which demonstrates the factors the next generation should be considering with respect to company succession, and what the entrepreneur can do “right” in advance.

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AI AS AN IMPETUS FOR TRANSFORMATION

FINANCE

Author_Kevin Schneebeli

Artificial intelligence has long since found its way into the financial sector, is likely to accelerate digital transformation and will soon become a decisive factor for success.

Hence, asset managers expect a higher investment return and lenders can expect to benefit greatly from better credit analysis. To this end, payment providers are striving for a wider use of their customer information to improve their services.

While it can generally be observed that AI is strengthening the financial sector as a whole, there is still some uncertainty about what future market structures will look like. At this point I personally agree with the view that the introduction of AI will not lead to fundamental changes in terms of competition.

As far as employment development is concerned, AI is expected to lead to job losses due to its automation potential. On the other hand, the use of AI in FinTech creates significantly more jobs.

Innovative technologies are always associated with risks. This also applies to AI, although it is specifically used by financial institutions to reduce uncertainty. AI will be particularly important in the areas of payment transactions, credit business and asset management since it can selectively reduce risks in these areas. However, the contribution of AIs to risk reduction within individual banking institutions should not be generalised to include the sector as a whole. It is to be expected that the introduction of AI will lead to an increase in risks in very different areas. This is the case with issues such as cyber security, dependence on large technology providers or data-related risks such as customer discrimination or violation of privacy.

In short, the success of AI depends on the acceptance and confidence in the added value of the technology. Therefore, both the industry and the authorities in Switzerland need to address these new types of risks. Thus, it is up to the financial institutions to ensure that the potential of AI is actually exploited. The main hurdles for a successful implementation are the availability and quality of data to back up the algorithms. Furthermore, available specialist knowledge and the acceptance and trust of the customers remain central. As with all other products and services, the best way to convince customers is by providing a high level of performance. If this succeeds, the financial industry will also be well positioned when it comes to AI.

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THE CHILD IN US RAW EDGES For the 24th time, the renowned magazine “AW Architektur & Wohnen” presented the “AW Designer of the Year” award. In 2020, the London duo, Raw Edges, was honoured with this award for its furniture and pieces

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with surprising functions. The two young Israelis, Yael Mer and Shay Alkalay, who founded the studio Raw Edges in 2009, are joining a multitude of design luminaries who have received this honourable and significant award in the past.

PANAMA AT ITS BEST From the summit of the 3475 metre high Mount Barú, you can see two oceans at the same time, and you are overwhelmed by the lush green of the dense and endless jungle. Powdered sugar beaches, dreamy small towns, sleepy island paradises and a lively, pulsating capital with a “party old town” that looks like Miami’s little

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sister. Oh, how beautiful Panama is …

THE SCENT OF EXCLUSIVITY Exclusive, individual and sensual – there is great interest in luxurious fragrances. And so more and more perfumers worldwide are taking the risk of creating their own unique and sophisticated fragrance. This is also the case in Switzerland: we met the makers of “Odur”, a Swiss luxury perfume label with Graubünden roots, which gave us an insight into the fascinating world of Haute Parfumerie.

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