International Life Spring 09 by International Life Magazine

Beautiful things. Craftmanship. Quality and values. Trends and innovation. Intelligence, wit and style

YO U. LO N D O N. THE WORLD

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Spring Travel The worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s your destination Travel Psychology / Wedding in Paradise Powerboat Revival / Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Style Whisky Bars / International Trends

Hand-engraving of the butterfly bridge for the Caliber 66

The PanoInverse XL. Delicate filigree details, hand-engraved with artistic precision give this unique timepiece its unmistakable character. Its Caliber 66 manual winding movement boasts the finest mechanics, hand-crafted in Glashütte Original’s time honored watchmaking tradition. Find out more about us at www.glashuette-original.com.

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Glashütte Original. Founder of the German Watch Museum Glashütte.

ilife INTERNATIONAL LIFE

cosmopolitan insight luxury inspiration glamour

cosmopolitan

Issue II

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contents

DO NOTHING THIS SPRING UNTIL YOU’VE…

Global social calendar: Where to be when all over the world

TRAVEL: Authentic Morocco - Pascale Dumas explores the natural treasures of ancient Morocco

Globespotting: Letter from Chennai – Monisha Rajesh returns to the city of her birth to find tight jeans, loose morals and lots of fun

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Globespotting: Letter from Beijing – China is booming and the switched-on population are developing trends all of their own, by Bridget Stott

London FASHION: Belle of Knightsbridge - Short, bright, red and tight – party frocks photographed by Yves de Contades

Interiors: Frozen Music – Once a crumbling ruin, the Violin Factory is now a super-modern home, finds Sarah Harris

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insight

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Travel Trend: Carbon Neutral – Sadie Whitelocks explores UK destinations that offer active extras to keep us closer to home

luxury

AVIATION: Great Expectations – VistaJets CEO Thomas Flohr gets private jets just right for business

Books at the Back: It’s a Kind of Magic – Ben Joseph falls under the alluring spell of magical realism

TRAVEL: Precious Islands – Novelist Kate Morris has been a regular on Mustique since the Seventies and adores exploring the peaceful pleasures of St Vincent and the Grenadines

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PSYCHE IN THE CITY: Travel in Mind - psychologist Dr Cecilia d’Felice takes us on a journey deep into ourselves

BUSINESS TREND: Intelligent Adventures – Josa Young talks to Justin Wateridge of luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent about international philanthropy

PERSONAL STYLING: Dress for Your Body Shape – Claire Ginzler on how to the make the most of your curves

Entrepreneur QA: Totally Divine - Sophi Tranchell, managing director of Divine Chocolate, shares her business insights on Fairtrade, US expansion and the advantages of working for a small company, by Sian Rees

Drinks: Show Me the Way to the Next Whisky Bar – Thoby Young discovers the revival of a trend not seen since Bertolt Brecht wrote the famous lyrics

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THE SUPER RICH SHOPPING LIST: The Best Bespoke - Jessica Fellowes tells the chaps how to be luxuriously individual

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Street Smarts: Glittering Prizes – Lola Manzi returns like a homing pigeon to shop in Knightsbridge

Fragrance: Pure but Never Simple - Scent critic Celia Lyttelton chooses scents generously endowed with natural ingredients

inspiration

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Travel: Too Darn Hot – St Tropez is the place to be seen again, says Charlotte Eder

Sport: Full Throttle – Powerboat racing has everything it needs to succeed once again: speed, danger and glamour, says Laura Aitken

London trends: Buy a Ticket and Win a £1m Home - How to set up a competition to ‘sell’ your house without breaking the rules, by Rachel Newcombe

glamour

Property Abroad: Beyond These Shores – Rachel Newcombe finds something new to say about Spain, gazes in wonder at Dubai and follows the Darwins to Panama

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Watches: Time and Again: It’s notoriously difficult to get the right thing for the rugged sex, but you won’t miss with International Life’s favourites

Fashion Abroad: How to Dress in St Tropez – There’s a very particular style you need to adopt to blend seamlessly with the A List this summer

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Menswear: Living in a Box – Move over girls, International Life gives the boys a sartorial turn around the dance floor

Cars: Wild Cat - Henry Sands rekindles his love affair with the newly hip Jaguar

Beauty: Boot Camp Fabulous – Kate Morris goes yomping in search of gorgeousness

masthead

Spring Travel Issue 2009

You. London. The World

Cosmopolitan Insight Luxury Inspiration Glamour We champion: originality; adventure travel; luxury brands; the bespoke and hand-made; entrepreneurial spirit; unique creativity; beautiful things; trend spotting; philanthropy; quirky and intelligent comment; ethical luxury; good humour; the power of cities; new experiences and psychological insight Publishers Brand Director: Peter Doherty peter@publishingsociety.com Photography and Art Direction: Yves de Contades yves@publishingsociety.com Editorial Editor: Josa Young josa@publishingsociety.com Editorial Assistant: Sadie Whitelocks sadie@publishingsociety.com Editorial Assistant: Emma Dickinson emma@publishingsociety.com Editorial Assistant: Lola Manzi lola@publishingsociety.com Design Designer: John Dickinson Fashion Fashion Director: Claire Ginzler Fashion Assistant: Natalie Driscoll Photographic Assistant: Darren Lynsdale Advertising Telephone: 020 7932 0802 to request a media pack info@internationallife.tv The International Life brand is expressed through multiple media: bi-annual magazine, website and video

Editorial Specialists Boats and Sailing: Laura Aitken Travel: Charlotte Eder Psychology: Dr Cecilia dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;Felice Luxury Shopping: Jessica Fellowes Interiors: Sarah Harris

Scent: Celia Lyttelton The Far East: Bridget Stott India: Monisha Rajesh Beauty: Kate Morris Property: Rachel Newcombe

Entrepreneurs: Sian Rees Transport: Henry Sands Fashion: Rachel Marie Walsh Food and Drink: Thoby Young Books: Ben Joseph

International Life is published bi-annually by International Life Magazine Ltd., 35 Morland House, Marsham St., London SW1P 4JH. Registered Company No: 06532821. Telephone: 020 7932 0802. Nothing in this magazine may be reproduced in whole or in part without the written permission of the publishers. Transparencies and other material submitted for publication are sent at the ownerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s risk and, while every care is taken, neither International Life Magazine Ltd nor the Publishing Society nor their agents accept any liability for loss or damage. Although International Life Magazine Ltd has endeavoured to ensure that all information inside the magazine is correct, prices and details may be subject to change. Opinions expressed are those of the contributors. Always seek independent advice before making any investment which is at your own risk. For subscriptions and back issues: email subscriptions@internationallife.tv for details.

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london life Spritzed yourself generously with Marc Jacobs’ limited edition fragrance Blooms in Spring, a charming new addition to Marc Jacobs’ signature ‘Daisy’ range of scents is available for £43 exclusively at Harvey Nichols. www.harveynichols.com

Marvelled at Mauro Perucchetti’s first major London exhibit at Halcyon Gallery, Mayfair. The exhibition entitled ‘Apocalyptic’ demonstrates Peruchetti’s unique blend of conceptual and pop art, also serving as a social critique addressing issues which directly affect today’s society. The exhibition is taking place from 14th March-25th April Venue: The Halcyon Gallery, 24 Bruton Street, W1 www.mauroperucchetti.com

Asian black cod. This will be followed by two main courses, there are also two mouth watering desserts one being orange crème brulée with Clementine and Grand Marnier. This seminar in banquet catering will take place on Tuesday 21st April at Café Spice Namaste 16 Prescot Street, E1. Tickets are on sale for £125 and include lunch and the demonstration as well as tastings. www.adventuregourmet.com To book: binay@ cafespice.co.uk or call 020 7488 9242

Applauded the return of Tchaikovsky’s ‘Swan Lake’ to the London Royal Opera House. This year’s exquisite

Do nothing this spring Danced the night away at newly opened Mayfair members club Molton House. Shake off those Winter blues to the ecclectic beats in the latest flamboyantly feather-filled venture from Nick Valentine (mastermind behind the thriving London hot-spot the Cuckoo club) Venue: 43 South Molton Street, W1 www.moltonhouse.com.

Tingle your tastebuds with the help of top chef Simon Young. He is the executive chef at the five star hotel, Jumeirah Carlton Tower. Young was selected to provide the cuisine for 200 chefs at the 25th Anniversary Chef’s Conference. He will demonstrate some of his specialities including six canapés and two starters. His signature dishes include Cornish crab assiette of bisque salad, warm crab cake and

production is a revival of Anthony Dowell’s interpretation, first performed in 1987. Appreciate the aesthetics of the world’s most celebrated ballet, the sounds of Tchaikovsky’s virtuosic compositions and a classic heart wrenching love story. www.roh.org.uk

Admired the avant-garde designs of genius milliner Stephen Jones, at the Victoria and Albert Museum. ‘Hats: An Anthology by Stephen Jones’ documents his impact on the fashion world since his graduation from St Martin’s School of Art in 1979. The exhibition’s whimsical offerings provide an entertaining afternoon escape from the April Showers. Until 31 May. www.vam.ac.uk

Treated your mother to a day of flower arranging at Seven Dials in Covent Garden. Designed as a Mother daughter workshop to commemorate Mother’s day. Each session will end with a chance to sip a cup of tea and nibble on some cakes whilst exposing the green-fingered goddess within.

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london life Saturday 21st March - Sunday 22nd March The two-hour workshops start at 10.30am and 2pm on each day. Admission: £50.00 per person.

Immersed yourself in literary greatness at the London Book Fair. Mingle with the leading publishers and network with authors. This annual spring even represents a unique opportunity to hear from literary greats and great exposure to emerging markets. 20-22 April at Earls Court www.londonbookfair.co.uk

Phillips de Pury & Company Howick Place London SW1 General Enquiries: +44 20 7318 4010 www.phillipsdepury.com Recreated the Miami heat on the exotic rooftop of the Kensington Roof Gardens. Entering the 6th floor of the nightclub is like entering a tropical oasis with hanging plants and a view that overlooks London. Celebrate with friends at the Hot City Nights event, where the dress code is 80s Miami Vice kitsch. Venue: 99 High Street Kensington, W8 Friday 20th March Free before 10pm, £15 after To book: 020 7368 3992 club@roofgardens.virgin.co.uk

until you’ve... Browse the galleries as March sees the first of the four annual Saturday@Phillips. This spring sale will feature an eclectic mix of contemporary and urban art, design, photographs, jewellery, watches and toy art. Artists included in the sale held on March 14 at the company’s London galleries include Blek le Rat, Banksy, Paul Insect, Faile, Swoon, KAWS. Many of the pieces have no reserve, which creates a unique opportunity for buyers to acquire highquality works at very reasonable prices.

Top left: Stephen Jones’ hats retrospective at the V&A Opposite bottom left: Top Chef Simon Young’s banqueting seminar Opposite above left: Swan Lake at the Royal Opera House This page and opposite centre: Mauro Perucchetti’s shiny shiny art Right above: The London Book Fair Below: Contemporary and urban art auction at Phillips de Pury & Company

Art: March 14th at 12pm Saturday @ Phillips Enquiries: saturday@phillipsdepury.com London +44 20 7318 4040 New York +1 212 940 1210 Auction: March 14, 12 pm Viewing: March 10-12, 10 am – 6 pm Opening Reception: March 10, 6 – 8 pm

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global social calendar

International Events St Lucia Jazz 2009 In May, little Pigeon Island explodes with the sound of music as the 18th jazz festival kicks off. A wide variety of artists – not all jazzy – from Chaka Khan (far right) to George Benson, make your Caribbean dream even dreamier. Grab that rum punch and sway to the music. 1 – 10 May. www.stluciajazz.org

powered and eco-friendly vehicles which have moved beyond virtuous into highly desirable. There’s serious fun available in the motor-sports area, complete with electric karts and racing simulators. Petrolheads will love the exhibition of 15 Formula 1 cars celebrating the last 20 seasons. 5 – 15 March. www.salon-auto.ch

Dubai Boat Show For 400 of the biggest, blingiest boats from around the world, go to Dubai. In its 17th year the DIBS promises to be the busiest to date. 2009 sees the addition of the luxurious Superyacht Pavilion; an exclusive area that will house companies such as Abeking & Rasmussen, Amels, Burger Boats, Feadship, Heesen, Lurssen Yachts, and Trinity Yachts. 3 – 7 March. www.boatshowdubai.com

Spring Around the World

Rio Carnival, Brazil The words carnal and carnival are closely related, both referring to flesh, and there’s plenty on display at the Rio Carnival every year, along with feathers, glitter, tassels and lamé. As the last hurrah before the austerities of Lent, carnival means ‘good bye to meat’ as devout populations would fast for 40 days up to Easter. An international crowd pours into Rio to witness the Samba Parade, a show, display

and competition of the Rio samba schools and attend the fabulous parties. 20-24 February. www.rio-carnival.net Geneva Motor Show, Switzerland The Green Pavilion will be the most ontrend area this year, dedicated to electric-

When you are travelling, it’s always fun to have an exciting event to attend on the way. Go to www.internationallife.tv/GlobalSocial-Calendar for masses of ideas about where to go when. Search by type of event, month and country for best results, and then click through to book your hotel and flight. See below for colourful ideas of what’s happening internationally this spring Melbourne Food and Wine Festival, Australia Food is ultra-hot in Australia right now, as local talent starts to spread their original and creative message beyond the Antipodes. Those in the know descend on Melbourne to clock the latest trends before they get to Europe and America. Over the 16-day festival there are hundreds of events ranging from starlit alfresco dinners, parties, a riverside wine market and naturally the best of all possible barbies. 7 – 23 March. www.melbournefoodandwine. com.au Semana Santa, Guatemala Immerse yourself in Mayan/ Christian culture at the Semana Santa religious festival in the Guatamalan city of Antigua. Christianity overlays earlier Mayan beliefs in perfect

www.internationallife.tv/Global-Social-Calendar

harmony, as the population celebrates a significant Mayan date with flowers and rituals. 16 – 23 March. www.sunvil.co.uk King’s Cup Elephant Polo, Thailand The pachyderm playoffs constitute one of the most delightful and quirky team sports in the world, as the appealing creatures,

guided by their devoted mahouts, trot down the pitch with the player perched behind. Deploying an enormously long mallet, the game is played at a much slower speed than the horse variant, and is a much more recent development. Taking place at Anantara Golden Triangle Resort, in Northern Thailand the King’s Cup is a weeklong carnival of fun and parties that raises money for an elephant charity. 23 – 30 March. www.anantaraelephantpolo.com Australian Grand Prix This year will be the 25th year of the Australian Grand Prix. This is set to be a high adrenaline event atmosphere. The Who is playing live, and the everpopular V8 Supercars will return in the Sprint Gas V8 Supercars Manufactures Challenge. As ever there will be a magnificent line up of the

world’s top racing drivers and this will be Lewis Hamilton’s first race since his dramatic victory earlier this year. 26 - 29 March. www.grandprix.com.au Basel World, Switzerland Basel World is the main calendar event for the watch and jewellery world. It is the perfect environment to network all the big names. With an exhibition area standing at an impressive 160,000 m2, everything you need is conveniently placed under one roof. 26 March – 2 April. www.baselworld.com

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What? London is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most international city, and International Life brings you an edited selection of the best on the planet. Underpinned by exper t psychology, we recognise the power of the positive in everything we do - at home, abroad, in business and pleasure. Connecting you with the best brands, cutting edge trends, brilliant service and people passionate about what they do, International Life aims to deliver an enter taining and intelligent luxury experience. Where? Online and in the bi-monthly magazine, International Life packs insight, inspiration and glamour into all its multiple media. The website picks up the magazine themes and runs with them, posting constantly updated blogs, video and picture galleries to help you click straight through to what you want on the web. How? Come to our website, interact with brands, blogs, video and more. Comment on any page, and give us your feedback. Subscribe to get our latest updates delivered to your inbox or RSS reader, top right on any of our web pages. And email us at info@internationallife.tv. If you have QR Code software on your mobile phone, simply take a photo and our website will open automatically in your phone browser. If not, come to our website and discover how to use QR Codes and connect with us. INTERNATIONALLIFE.TV QR CODE

q&a

insight

HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH DIVINE CHOCOLATE? I saw a tiny job advertisement in The Guardian saying, ‘Come and work in a chocolate company and change the world’. The owners of CaféDirect had set up Divine with a Ghana farmers’ cooperative and were looking for someone to lead it for them. I’d been running a film distribution company for the previous ten years and worked my way up. The next obvious career move was to go to a bigger film company, where I would have to concentrate on one aspect of the business, but I love multitasking and the general level of involvement you get with a smaller company. WHY DID DIVINE PARTICULARLY APPEAL? After completing my degree at Warwick University I worked on peace and justice issues at the University Chaplaincy. While I was there, I sold Fairtrade products from Traidcraft. In the 1980s Fairtrade products tended to be very poor and you bought them to be supportive rather than for any other reason, but I’d tasted Divine chocolate, which is delicious, and thought it had irresistible potential. HOW IS THE BUSINESS STRUCTURED? The company was set up by the Ghanaian farmers’ cooperative, Kuapa Kokoo, with the help of NGO Twin Trading (who also own Café Direct) in 1991. Twin Trading returned to the UK to find people to invest in the company. Those investors included the Body Shop - which later donated its shares to the cooperative, thereby increasing the farmers’ original stake to 45%. Divine chocolate is made with cocoa bought from Kuapa Kokoo at a guaranteed minimum Fairtrade price, which protects the farmers from the volatility of the market. The cooperative also receives an additional payment, which it invests as it wishes on projects to improve the farmers’ living, health and education standards. Kuapa Kokoo also has two places on the board.

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST MOVE AT THE COMPANY? The re-branding we did in January 2007. I had to be pushed slightly because I didn’t want to alienate customers who were loyal to what we already had. Also, approaching design agencies about a redesign can be very expensive. When you see what you can get for your money in Ghana you are determined to make your money work as hard as it can - so I had to gird my loins slightly! But it’s been such a great success; sales have increased and the branding is a real inspiration.

rates that the banks forecast. But we realised this was a mistake and it was better to take a secure position ourselves. This means buying the money ahead of time. Of course, there are times we might have forecast a slightly worse rate than we might have received, but now if the dollar falls it doesn’t matter because we have a definite idea of how much we need to sell to cover ourselves. HOW IS WORKING AT DIVINE DIFFERENT TO WORKING AT A CONVENTIONAL COMPANY? I feel honoured to be able to help Ghanaian farmers speak for themselves, and I now understand the mechanics of how the chocolate industry works. When we launched in the US, I accompanied Comfort Kumeah, a 59-year-old farmer from the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative, to a briefing at Capitol Hill. We waded through snow up to our knees in Washington to address senators and senators’ researchers, and The Washington Times put Comfort on the front page. It was amazing. WHAT DO YOU ENJOY MOST ABOUT YOUR WORK? The variety. On a typical day, I’ll talk to bankers and commodities brokers; sign off the design for a mug developed for our 10-year anniversary, then work on the website. But I also value the range of engagement that the company has. From the Sanderson Hotel, where it has a Divinitini on its cocktail menu in the Purple Bar, to women baking cakes for charity events using the chocolate, Divine - and what it stands for - appeals to all kinds of people. WHAT ARE YOUR AMBITIONS FOR THE FUTURE? We launched in the US on Valentines’ Day in 2007. Our turnover doubled in the first year to $2 million but I’d like to see our growth there greatly increase. IF YOU WEREN’T DOING THIS WHAT WOULD YOU BE DOING? Running schools. I think there are many ways we could improve the way that education opens doors rather than closes them.

AND YOUR WORST MISTAKE? We sell in dollars and sterling, but pay for manufacturing in Germany in euros, so we are at the mercy of fluctuating currency rates. At first, when we did our budgets, we relied on the currency

Dark, Rich and Good

Divine Chocolate managing director Sophi Tranchell answers Sian Merrylees’ questions about getting into chocolate, the advantages of Fairtrade and loving what you do www.internationallife.tv/business

psychology

t’s time for us to go on a journey into the interior. Get out your compass, for you will need one. Make sure you have reserves of resilience and humour, for this trip will take us into the hinterland of ourselves, deep into our quaintly complex minds to the hot place where we get cross. Travelling in a city is not for the faint hearted. There are many fabulous and furious egos out there and we can all do with a cognitive navigation system to negotiate the inevitable flare-ups when space and time are at a premium. The cog-nav we require is an emotional one that will guide us to a place of self-knowledge and understanding. For without a genuine acknowledgment and acceptance of all our feelings, including the negative ones offered up to our ancient amygdalas deep in our brains, we are all a bit on the lost side of life. It is a myth that we are purely rational creatures, born out of the chauvinism of the Enlightenment, which sought to elevate man from the mire of medieval quackery. Women were considered far too close to nature ever to be considered rational, forever at the mercy of our baser sensual natures. (I, for one, am rather fond of my base sensual nature, so don’t try taking it away from me.) The neurological reality is that rational and emotional mental pathways run inextricably in parallel lines, Debbie Harry style. We couldn’t separate them out if we tried. This tells us something important about cognition: it is informed by emotion and for good reason. The emotional brain, located primarily in the limbic system found in our most ancient reptilian core, existed long before the super-structure of rationally based neo-cortex. Emotions came first for good reason. They are our early warning system, our red alert

when negotiating what can be a confusingly hostile environment. The clue is in the word. Emotion = motion = action. Without our emotions to propel us, we die fast. The reptilian brain makes quick and dirty decisions about what is safe, unsafe and what lies between. This often manifests as our sixth sense, the one that tells us not to walk down spooky alleys, drink in the weird bar or

The cog-nav we require is an emotional one that will guide us to a place of selfknowledge and understanding

Min Psychologist Dr Cecilia d’Felice takes us on a journey deep into ourselves

www.internationallife.tv/psychology

invest with get rich quick Ponzi schemes. Smell a rat? Sadly, not enough ‘rational’ banking and business types managed that. If you did, well those are your intelligent emotions sniffing the air. Emotions, if healthily expressed, guide us into optimising survival. For example, you feel angry that you are cut up on the congested roads of London and you would be right, because being attacked puts you in danger of having an accident, risking your life. Your emotional instinct is to be furious, because anger is spontaneously hot, alerting us that something wrong should be

psychology put right. And the ‘something’ is important here because cognition is post-hoc, the whys and wherefores come later. How we express it healthily will depend on our cog-nav, our rational summation of the context. The experience of fury however is normal. Burying it just makes us internalise what should be externalised, making us feel hopeless and impotent. That doesn’t mean we have to enact our rage, but it is no surprise that when we are bullied off the road, most of us will blurt out an expletive or worse. And this is the key to exploring our feelings. Once we have identified what they are, we can then develop strategies to help us manage them healthily. In the close confines of city life our emotions, if suppressed, become pressure-cooker intense, leading to outrageous outbreaks of unnecessary ill-temper when a more humorous approach would work better. Take a deep breath, count to ten and own your fury, while acknowledging that taking it out on others will just trigger their own tinderbox of suppressed angst. Living, commuting and working in close proximity doesn’t have to be a source of irritation; it gives us the chance to learn that we are all the same but different. When faced with someone else’s projected fury, we can gently hand it back and say something compassionate like, ‘Having a bad day? Anything I can do to help?’ instantly defusing tension. Showing empathy is the first step to engaging in a more fruitful exchange than a slanging match that can quickly turn nasty. A healthy response to anger is to remind ourselves that while our feelings count theirs do too. Until we walk in their shoes, we just don’t know where they’re at; making assumptions isn’t going to help. Taking responsibility for our own reaction gives us strength. Instead of getting mad, we get sorted. We may not have

acres of physical space when we scramble our way into work on a train that might not arrive, or a road that might be completely moribund by the time we hit our junction home, but we can create psychological space that will give us all a chance to sort out what is really going on in our heads. When I get cut up in my gorgeous Figaro, called Fab naturally, (like a retro 1950s Noddy drop head) I remind myself that there are thousands of crazy cars squeezed on to our luddite highways. Many filled with red ragged rudeness with something to prove. If any of them think they can get there quicker by hassling me off the road, well more fool them. What’s the hurry? If they really need to take out their petty frustrations in their over-priced steel boxes, what’s it to me? No one has the power to spoil my fun unless I let them. Cognitive reframes: always the best way to travel.

Women were considered far too close to nature ever To be considered rational, forever at the mercy of our baser sensual nature

Travel IN

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BE WEARING ILL

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Breguet Double Tourbillon 5347 in pink gold POA Stockist: The Breguet Boutique 10A New Bond Street, London W1 www.breguet.com +44 20 7 355 1735

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Jaquet Droz Réserve de Marche Céramique £11,500 Stockist: Avakian, Jumeirah, Carlton Tower 2 Cadogan Place, London SW1 +44 20 7 235 1323

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Jaeger le Coultre Master Grande Tradition Tourbillon à Perpétuel £77,400 Stockist: www.jaeger-lecoultre.com +44 20 7 491 6970

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Douebelli bracelets are uniquely hand-crafted from rare Tibetan buffalo horn, subtly embellished with gold and diamonds. Presented by the Rizit company, which was founded by Ettore Rizzini in 1992, the bracelet is popular with both sexes and worn by some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading politicians, actors, sports stars and royalty.

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Glashutte £10,500 The Glashutte Original Sport Evolution Impact Stockists: Mappin & Webb Fenchurch Street, London EC3 www.glashuette-original.com

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travel

intelligent adventures GIVING SOMETHING BACK TO YOUR DESTINATION IS A MAJOR TRAVEL TREND AND ABERCROMBIE & KENT MAKE IT EASY AND COOL, SAYS JOSA YOUNG

hen Geoffrey Kent kicked off his eponymous upmarket travel company in 1962, sending people off to remote places to have experiences more usually reserved for field anthropologists – but in considerable comfort – was a very new idea. Ever since, the company has recruited people with extraordinary passion and expertise all around the world, who run over 35 DMCs (destination management companies) providing the detailed specialist local knowledge this kind of travel requires. It is a question of respect for the sometimes fragile destinations that clients are encouraged to explore. Wherever you go with A&K, you get the most exquisite attention to detail. You don’t just admire the majesty of the pyramids, you have your very own Egyptologist to enlighten you on the latest

research. The ‘In the Wake of Shackleton’ tour will leave you in no doubt of the heroism of the explorer as you view the penguins, icebergs and wild landscape of Antarctica. You can learn unusual and even edgy new skills, including authentic passionate tango in Argentina, and flying a fighter plane in South Africa. Each experience is an extraordinary combination of adrenaline-charged adventure and intellectual excitement. DMC managers are also at the forefront of the A&K Philanthropy programmes, which seek to ‘give back’ something concrete to the areas where they operate. This is no ‘green wash’ as managing director Justin Wateridge points out. Necessarily A&K choose high-profile local projects that not only spark clients’ imagination, but reflect a major need. ‘We place great importance on enabling guests

to become personally involved in the lives of the people they meet,’ notes A&K vicechairman Jorie Kent. ‘These experiences are usually the first stories our guests share when they return home.’ Programmes include anything from the National Kiwi Trust in New Zealand, that seeks to raise numbers of the charming national bird, to a children’s home outside Nairobi caring for AIDS orphans. ‘We toured orphanages, schools and a Maasai village,’ said one recent A&K guest. ‘This is where I found the real heart and soul of Africa, with its people.’ In Jordan, A&K supports Queen Rania’s schools charity; in Tanzania, beehives are supplied to villagers near the safari camps. Wateridge, like all A&K people a committed traveller currently suffering from a bad dose of wanderlust, says that it is local commitment on the ground that

travel makes all the difference. The managers of the DMCs are nearly always indigenous, but Max Horsley is an exception, in that he is British and runs the Myanmar (Burma) office. In the wake of Hurricane Nargis, he raised over $450,000. Due to considerable local expertise, and sensitive handling, the money was directed into the hands of the people who needed it most and none was ‘mislaid’ in this difficult political situation. And this is another defining feature of the company: there are well-meaning organisations that seek to prevent travellers from visiting countries with oppressive regimes. This is in the belief that tourism equals ‘approval’ for the political situation. A&K has a well-developed philosophy that points out the benefits to the people suffering under those regimes of having visitors from the outside world, as the Dali Llama has pointed out about Tibet. Wateridge regrets for instance that he is getting no enquiries for Zimbabwe. Without tourism, there is no motive to preserve wildlife, and Zimbabwe is teaming with glorious animals put in danger by economic and social conditions. Diane Fossey, of ‘Gorillas in the Mist’ fame disapproved of gorilla tourism, but it is a fact that, due to responsible travel in Rwanda and Uganda, gorillas are now worth exponentially more to the locals

alive than dead and more survive. Wateridge is also keen to create new adventures for his clients in countries such as Ethiopia and Venezuela. Whatever the political situation, the rich, ancient culture and history of these places are comparatively unfamiliar, and A&K is the right company to enlighten us with sensitivity, energy and charm.

WHEN WE TOURED ORPHANAGES, SCHOOLS AND A MAASAI VILLAGE, I FOUND THE REAL HEART AND SOUL OF AFRICA, WITH ITS PEOPLE

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islan PREC

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travel Dining with David Bowie, playing charades with Mick Jagger and getting married on the beach were all part of Kate Morrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s GLORIOUS Grenadines experience

y husband Luke and I were married on the tiny Eastern Caribbean island of Mustique, one of 32 islands and cays known as the Grenadines. Only three miles long and a mile wide, it sits 18 miles south of the island of St. Vincent, and is famous for its rolling hills, pure white beaches and lush terrain. Mustique may be small but it is significant, because it has always been associated with royalty and the very famous; the house-owners and renters are exclusively very rich, or very well-known, or both. My mother moved there with my stepfather Brian Alexander, who was the managing director of Mustique from 1979 until he retired last year; and he was responsible for making it the successful haven that it is now. I first visited soon after they arrived when there were rugged tracks Âť

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travel PRECIOUS ISLANDS « and the power had a habit of failing.

Left: A green turtle Below: The jetty in Bequia

In those days people went barefoot, whereas now the women are more likely to wear Manolo Blahnik sandals. As I write this on a dank, dark day in London, I yearn to be back on one of the nine beautiful sandy beaches that face the Atlantic on the eastern side of the island and the Caribbean sea to the west. The island, like most in the Grenadines, has perfect white sand, and the sun never becomes unbearable because of the constant breeze from the Trade Winds. We have walked dogs on the wild Atlantic beach of Pasture Bay, where only the foolhardy dare to swim; jumped waves and picnicked at the popular Macaroni Beach and snorkelled at the Cotton House Hotel Beach. It is the best place I have ever found to swim and snorkel among the brightly coloured fish and sculptural coral. (It’s also worth taking a day trip for wonderful snorkelling at Tobago Cays). My husband enjoys scuba diving alongside the wrecked cruise ship Antilles that sunk in 1971 on the rugged and wild northern side of the island. He has seen sharks and barracuda and the beautifully named angel fish. Over the years of coming to Mustique I have celebrated the Millennium New Year’s Eve with too many rum punches, played Christmas charades with Mick Jagger and Jerry Hall, and been to a birthday dinner for David Bowie. I have met Iggy Pop and

In the seventies people went barefoot on Mustique, now the women are more likely to wear Manolo Blahnik sandals Right: La Soufriere volcano on St Vincent Below: Produce in the market in Bequia

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Charlie Watts at Basil’s Bar, and Bryan Adams, Elle Macpherson and countless others at dinner. The island attracts the famous because it is beautiful and unspoilt - and kept strictly private with rules which mean the small chic airport has a short runway (perfect for private jets) and no one is allowed to land after dark. Cruise ships are at best unwelcome. It is so peaceful that, walking around the island, you would be likely to see tortoises crossing the road, lizards darting and possibly an iguana. At around six o’clock it is fun to join the yachties who have put their anchors down in the small harbour in front of Basil’s Bar to watch the reddening sun sink abruptly into the sea. Fabulous yachts come from all over the world to sail among these idyllic islands. A few days before our wedding we visited Kingstown in St. Vincent to apply for a marriage licence. St. Vincent is an island of towering mountains and craggy peaks »

Courtesy the “Ins & Outs of St. Vincent & the Grenadines” Visitors Guide

travel

Above left: Mustique Above: Tobago Cays

Above: Anglican Church on St. Vincent Left: The Botanical Gardens on St. Vincent

We have walked dogs on Pasture Bay where only the Foolhardy dare to swim, jumpED waves and picnicKED at the popular Macaroni Beach

PRECIOUS ISLANDS

« covered in parts by dense green forests. The interior of the island is wild. I always visit the Botanical Garden, the oldest in the Western Hemisphere. There are twenty acres of land with an extraordinary collection of plants including breadfruit trees, offshoots of ones bought to the island by Captain Bligh of the Bounty over 200 years ago. It is also fun to visit the big market selling everything from clothes to food. You can buy local root vegetables like

eddoes, yams, sweet potatoes and other produce like christophene, okra and fruit such as mango, pineapple, sugar apple, star fruit, papaya, guava and of course bananas by the thousands. I love callaloo, which is like spinach and delicious when made into soup by the wonderful Donna, my mother’s cook. I like to add some West Indian hot sauce. Inside the Georgian town hall where we went to register our marriage we found Dickensian offices lined with hundreds and

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hundreds of papers and files. Back then in 1999 there was not a computer in sight. On 7 April 1999 we were married. I wanted a simple ceremony on the beach looking out at the Ocean. I imagined perfect blue skies and glorious sunshine, sadly the day we got married was overcast, but still warm and sultry. It was very romantic. Kate Morris is International Life’s beauty specialist; she launches her second novel The Seven Year Itch in May 2009 (Penguin Books, £6.99)

travel Swiss specialist in Gemmology Pascale Dumas can’t wait to share her enthusiasm for Morocco And its fossils with fellow explorers through her new Fusion Tours

et in the north-western tip of Africa’s vast landmass, Morocco’s climate, geography and history lean towards the Mediterranean – at least to the north of the country. As you move further into the interior, driving over the Atlas Mountains and descending into the Sahara beyond, any European impression fades away and you are in Berber territory. Having travelled deep into the landscape and explored its treasures thoroughly for myself, I have now set up tours to share the experience. To understand Morocco, you need to appreciate its 4000-year Berber heritage. Between the 11th and 13th centuries, two great Berber dynasties - the Almoravids and the Almohads - controlled large parts of Spain, as well as north-west Africa. But Morocco’s strategic position attracted powerful invaders, including the Romans, French and Spanish, as well as Arabs who now dominate. All these conquerers have left their cultural traces on the language, cuisine, culture and architecture. Today around 60 per cent of the 30 million population is Berber, with many more claiming Berber ancestry. My tours follow roughly the route I took that first time I visited, to investigate the rich deposits of minerals and fossils out in the desert. I was captivated by the exotic and elegant

AuthenticMorocco atmosphere and the generous open-hearted hospitality of the Berber people. Marrakech was my starting point, but there was no time for contemplation as I had a long journey before me, climbing through the snowy Tizi-n-Tichka Pass in the Grand Atlas Mountains, trying to reach the city of Ouarzazate before night. I paused at the top of the pass to admire beautiful quartz geodes, breathe in the clean mountain air and enjoy the moment. »

Like sea, the desert reflects the colours of the sky: it is at its most golden during a yellow sunset; blushing pink when the sky turns red www.internationallife.tv/Morocco

AuthenticMorocco

From Sleeping out in the sahara ... Exclusive, charming 8 day tours to Morocco An extraordinary experience with fascinating insights into the magnificent desert landscapes and geology of Morocco

The next trip departs 26 April 2009 Includes an Exclusive Offer for travellers to attend a Music & Fossils Festival in the South of Morocco in Arfoud

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AUTHENTIC MOROCCO

» Early the next morning I couldn’t wait to get out into the desert to explore. From Ouarzazate we went through the Drâa Valley. Driving through date palm plantations and alongside rivers, we encountered just a few children with their donkeys. I had the freedom of my own Jeep so could stop wherever I wanted. The Drâa River Valley was part of the lucrative transSaharan trade route for hundreds of years. Thousands of camels made the hazardous 52-day journey across the Sahara to the great market of Timbuktu (Mali) carrying dates, goatskins and salt. After Zagora, the road continues another 100 kilometers through a striking wilderness landscape to M’Hamid, which is the last Moroccan village at the Algerian border. Suddenly I was lost in the sands of

I had the freedom so could stop whe the Sahara. That evening we finally arrived in the camp for the night, sleeping out in the Sahara Desert under a huge star-filled sky - a breathtaking visual explosion. Next morning, we were in Merzouga to climb the highest sand dunes in Morocco. It is a bit touristy, but definitely worth it. From there I rode a camel to an oasis where we slept in Berber tents. After the excitement of our day in Merzouga, the total peace was refreshing. Morocco has huge deposits of Devonian limestone dating back 350 million years, when many varieties of ammonites lived in what were then warm shallow seas. The next two days were taken up with watching fossils being extracted from the marble.

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Local artists were involved in the cleaning and preparation to highlight the delicacy of the different species. We think of a desert as one colour, but in fact it is multicoloured. I had the good fortune to be in the Sahara a couple of days after the first shower of rain in eight years. The sudden moisture causes the desert to turn a uniform green almost overnight. Like the sea, the desert reflects the colours

Above: multicoloured, amazing Atlas Mountains Below left: Kasbah in the Ait Arbi Village, Dades Valley

Pascale Dumas arranges exclusive, charming, quirky eight-day tours to Morocco, sharing not only an extraordinary travel experience but also her deep knowledge of the landscape and geology. The next trip departs 26 April 2009 to include an exclusive offer for travellers to attend a music and fossil festival in the south of Morocco in Arfoud. Prices from: £3100 per person if two people share a Jeep; £2800 per person for a three-person Jeep. 26 April to 2 May 2009 - eight days. To include full board in luxury riads, auberges and Berber tents, feasts, camel rides, English-speaking guide and driver, and all taxes. Flights not included. Go to www.gemmefusion.com/Gemme_Fusion/ Fusion_Aventures.html for all details of this and other tours.

m of my own Jeep erever I wanted of the sky: it is at its most golden during a yellow sunset; blushing pink when the sky turns red. Minerals determine colour as well. Rocky mountain tops show blue and green with copper, or orange with iron, or purple with slate, or white with quartz. Driving further east the tones softened: at noon we encountered a mirage’s unreal silver, which then appears to undulate like the smooth surface of a summer mountain lake. Nature is at its most ravishing in the clarity of the desert. It changes constantly; producing the most delicate green, pink, yellow, lilac, rose colours, sometimes firered. Geology stripped bare.

... To UNEARTHING HIDDEN TREASURES Exclusive, charming 8 day tours to Morocco An extraordinary experience with fascinating insights into the magnificent desert landscapes and geology of Morocco

The next trip departs 26 April 2009 Includes an Exclusive Offer for travellers to attend a Music & Fossils Festival in the South of Morocco in Arfoud

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sport

Full Throttle

Powerboat racing is making a rip-roaring comeback at 100 KNOTS, says Laura Aitken

ugust Bank Holiday last year was a balmy weekend after the storms of the summer, so on the sunny Saturday many a yachtsman took the opportunity of sailing peacefully up the Solent. Imagine their surprise at around 11am to be confronted by a pack of 40 growling, roaring, super-fast powerboats heading straight towards them. This was the rolling start of the Cowes-Torquay-Cowes offshore powerboat race being run for the first time in a decade.

Inspired by the exceptional adrenalin rush, more and more owner/drivers are entering the sport. It’s the proving ground for a huge marine industry, with powerboat builders alone producing upwards of £679 million-worth of craft. There is no doubt about its dangers. This is the sport that killed Princess Caroline of Monaco’s second husband Stephano Casiraghi in 1990. Just before this, Didier

the tenth green. My husband Martin Levi’s worst accident took place on the winners’ rostrum. In full view of the television cameras, his co-driver clinked magnums of champagne with him and Martin’s bottle split, slicing his palm open. Try explaining that to the doctor in A&E. The sport started up in the late 1950s in the US, and my father Sir Max Aitken

Eight miles up the Solent at 40 knots (approximately 34.5mph), then the start flag is dropped and they belt off to the west at speeds of up to 120mph. Offshore powerboat racing you ask? Everyone thought that the sport was dead and buried years ago. It went off to Italy and then to the Gulf states. Huge monsters of raceboats running at over 100 knots, flying over the waves and slamming down into the troughs with gut-wrenching force. But no, it has made a huge comeback in the UK with a whole new generation of drivers and quite a few of the old ones raring to go once again.

Peroni, the ex-Formula 1 driver, was killed in the Poole Race. Not every crash ends in complete disaster. One of the sport’s most glamorous figures is local boy Steve Curtis MBE, tall, blond and Class One World Champion no less than eight times, he is the most successful racer ever. His ‘prangs’ have been legendary. One year, while competing hard for the World title, he disappeared into a fog bank in Torbay, hit the rocks at full throttle, soared over the heads of some astonished sunbathers, and landed on a golf course. He said the golfers were very friendly considering he was blocking

brought it over to Europe after seeing the 1959 Miami-Nassau Race. He staged the first Cowes-Torquay Powerboat Race in 1961 and set the standard for everyone else in Europe to follow. He rightly thought the marine industry could expand on the back of extreme racing and, as he predicted, it became the proving ground for some of the world’s most famous engine manufacturers, builders and designers. Two designers in particular. The first, Sonny Levi is a legend (and my father-inlaw). He won the 1963 Cowes-Torquay race in Speranziella (little hope), a boat still in production today so advanced was

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the hull design. Sonny, now 82 and still working (with his son Martin), is credited with inventing the deep vee hull (a bit like inventing the wheel in marine terms) and the surface propeller - this creates the great rooster tail of water seen behind race boats. When I raced an open cockpit boat, we were adept at starting just behind one of these and being filled up like a bath. Sonny Levi has designed boats for the King of

Spain, the Aga Khan and the late Gianni Agnelli, head of Fiat, who famously told Sonny he wanted a boat from which to watch the racing - but from the front. Fabio Buzzi is slightly younger than Sonny Levi which didn’t prevent him from winning this year’s Cowes-Torquay-Cowes, as well as designing the first four boats home. Incredible stuff, but not surprising from a man who hates to lose. He also loves to give a party and threw an Italian themed dinner for sixty people after the race with his winning partner the late Raphael del Pino, chairman of BAA. The current revival of offshore

powerboat racing is largely due to another extraordinary event in 2008: the Round Britain Race held in June. Nearly 40 boats battled their way around the British Isles, often in atrocious conditions. There were eight different legs of the race which meant a race a day, every day. At the prize giving in Portsmouth on the evening of the last leg, the survivors of the race were like the walking dead. But

a lot of them were hooked on the sport. The Round Britain has only been held three times in the last forty years so they were clamouring for more events. So now Mike Lloyd, the redoubtable organiser of the RB08 has joined our organisation the British Powerboat Racing Club, to run the races for 2009, including one in the Mediterranean over five days. The membership of the BPRC, based here in Cowes, reads like a Who’s Who of the great and good in the sport. From Tommy Sopwith, the Earl of Normanton and Harry Hyams to Steve Curtis and the glamorous Neapolitan Giancarlo Cangiano

They thought Richard Carr, in full racing kit, helmet and three-second fireproof overalls covered in sponsors’ badges, was the strippergram and wouldn’t let him leave who arrives with his enormous rig loaded with his 43ft 135mph Kiton Outerlimits, living quarters for the crew plus full cooking facilities and mozzarella di bufala from Naples. His is one of the fastest boats on the Powerboat P1 circuit, which is a European Formula 1 type series, taking place all around Europe. Another P1 driver is Richard Carr who, with his 140mph Honey Party, led the Cowes race all the way until an engine blew up returning past Weymouth. Back on shore he found a pub where he could meet a taxi to get him back to Southampton. There was a wedding taking place and, seeing Richard in full racing kit, helmet and three-second fireproof overalls covered in sponsors’ badges, they thought he was the strippergram and wouldn’t let him leave. Racing offshore doesn’t have to cost a fortune and is not simply confined to the big boys. Many of the Class 4 entrants are single-engine ‘ribs’, there is an Historic Class (a design of over twenty years old) and one for conventional Motor Cruisers of 30ft plus with a cruising speed of over 40 knots. This is appeal of the sport. In the eight mile rolling start down the Solent at 40 knots, the smaller boats were journeying with the rockstars for half an hour and they all loved it. www.britishpowerboatracingclub.co.uk

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Letter

RETURNING TO THE CITY OF HER CHILDHOOD, MONISHA RAJESH FINDS MADRAS IS NOW CHENNAI, AND THE LOCALS MAKE HER FEEL PRUDISH

nnouncing I’m off to Madras generates the stock response: ‘Is that where the curry comes from?’ For the record, there is no such thing – the Patak family simply used an AngloInidan word for their mish-mash of South Indian spices. Now both dish and place are relics of the British Raj. Nominally, Madras has shed her persona, Chennai has stepped up, and the Madrasis have readily adopted a new identity. Much to my chagrin I don’t even recognise the city anymore. The two years I spent there as a child smacked of evening outings to the corner shop, jaunty pye dog in tow, for a bag of masala popcorn and a bottle of Thums Up cola, which tasted mildly of hair products. Now M&S, funky bars and champagne brunches in boutique hotels, have chewed up my fond memories and spat them out like a spray of paan. Some things never change however. I jump in the back of a friend’s car and yank the seatbelt across myself, fumbling in futility as the beltless driver, clutching a whisky in one hand and texting his girlfriend with the other, watches in amusement. I mutter about drink driving and taxis being an option, while the others snigger and reply that cabbies are probably submerged in a much denser whisky mist. There’s no ideal time to face Chennai’s roads, but dare to venture into traffic between 4pm and 8pm and you’d better have a good book or the patience of a saint. Most of the major roads have now succumbed to one-way traffic to cut congestion, and in true Indian style, it’s only served to worsen the situation. Our first stop is Leather Bar at The Park, a new boutique hotel which is host to what can only be described as a sausage fest, heaving with side partings and thick moustaches.

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Surprised by how few girls there are for a Saturday night, the reason becomes evident – the girls have shifted onto the balcony due to the recently imposed smoking ban – and are submerged in a fusion fog of masala bidis and Marlboro Lights. Naturally, being in the homeland, I’ve wrapped myself in a beaded silk scarf, hooked in collar bone-grazing earrings and am sporting a tan like a terracotta pot. In response, the kohl-rimmed eyes of Chennai’s sun-phobic ladies, glare at me through ironed curtains of hair, sealed up in skinny jeans, tight black tops and huge heels, while sipping remarkably good homegrown red wine. I could be in China White. And like China White, expect to pay silly prices at weekends. However, not all Chennai’s nicer spots are extortionate. Distil, the Taj Connemara hotel bar, has a lengthy, well-priced cocktail menu and, from Wednesday to Sunday, hosts guest DJs who play everything from hip-hop to electro-punk and house, but be warned, the music slurs to a painful halt at 11pm on the dot – the only time anything in India happens on time. Unlike other clubs and bars, the owners don’t oil the policemen’s palms, so there’s no bending the rules. Post-Distil, it’s onto Zara’s, a noisy tapas bar with wonderful fried squid and spicy chicken legs – more of a wind-down spot. Zara’s has a no trainers policy but, unlike the deliberate awkwardness of London clubs, has adopted a bowling alley attitude and offers a range of shoes to slip into outside, so one culprit won’t force your entire group out. For their own amusement, my tour guides beckon me into Pasha, a dark and rather forbidding looking club, that used to be the old generator room for the neighbouring hotel and evidently has retained the temperature. Like Baby with her watermelon in Dirty Dancing, I’m transfixed. Shots are licked off the bar by the dozen, couples are inextricably entwined and the volume tickles my ears. Only one word describes how I feel. Prudish. By day there’s little else to do in Chennai but shop for silks and jewellery. Chennai may not have caught up with the might of Mumbai and the speed of Delhi, but it has its own noisy, cheerful charm. Leave your sanity at home, your inhibitions in a box and you won’t need a seatbelt to enjoy the ride.

Leather Bar in the Park Hotel, Chennai

from Chennai

globespotting

Letter

from Beijing E

Above right: new Beijing Art www. artscenebeijing. com Below : The Opposite House Hotel

asily accessible, Beijing has left its Maoist past behind and replaced it with a thoroughly modernised urban landscape studded with architectural gems such as the ‘Bird’s Nest’ Olympic National Stadium by Herzog & de Meuron, Norman Foster’s Beijing airport and the China Central Television Tower (CCTV) by Rem Koolhaas of OMA. Beijing’s mix of building boom and growing wealth has coincided with a new cultural revolution encompassing contemporary art, global cuisine and a buzzing live music scene. Much of Beijing’s contemporary art scene is based at 798. Dashanzi. The graffiti-covered walls of 798’s Bauhaus-style buildings are home to the most comprehensive collection of galleries and studios in China, although rising rents and tour buses have driven out more experimental artists to the Wangjing Liquor Factory, Songzhuang and Caochangdi. For gifts featuring works by the country’s most celebrated modern painters including Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun and Liu Ye, head to Artopal (www.artopal. in). Chinese artists who have made it big in the West opened their own bars around Lake Houhai, north of the Forbidden City. In the winter, there’s skating on the lake, while in summer everyone strolls on its willowpatterned shores. Graffiti artist Zhang Dali’s No Name Bar is here along with artist Chi Nai’s restaurant Lao Hanzi, specialising in Hakka food, while huge basement restaurant, Chuan Jade, serves classic Beijing roast duck, and has a fantastic collection of quirky miniature anthropomorphised monkey sculptures. Known as Qing-era Hairy Monkeys, these tiny oddities are handmade by old Beijingens using lotus buds and shed cicada skins, and dressed in little Chinese outfits. Buy these must-have souvenirs at Bannerman Tang’s Toys and Handicrafts, a traditional

THE CULTURAL, POLITICAL AND HISTORICAL HEART OF CHINA MAY BE STILL GLOWING FROM THE OLYMPICS, BUT IT’S BEIJING’S PRE-GAMES SPRUCE-UP THAT HAS CHANGED THE FORBIDDEN CITY FOREVER, SAYS BRIDGET STOTT toyshop producing rare folk arts using centuries-old techniques. Wealthy Beijingens, however, demand bling! Everything must be shiny, new, fast and expensive. All the latest Japanese hi-tech gadgets and European designer labels can be found. A hot local trend is nostalgia for a much less free era. Panjiayuan is the city’s best antique and flea market for great finds including Mao memorabilia. But for a real taste of Commie kitsch, book into one of five suites at the Red Capital Club Guest House. Crammed with items from the Cultural Revolution it boasts a Mao-era restaurant featuring chairs from Marshal Lin Biao’s office, and Mao’s favourite dishes served by waitresses wearing Red Army uniforms. Doubles from around £150, including breakfast. The Club also arranges champagne and caviar tours of the city in Madame Mao’s seven-metre-long Red Flag stretch limo (www.redcapitalclub.com.cn). Situated at the heart of the embassy district and close to the UN compound, Sanlitun’s bawdy nightlife attracts a mix of expats and foreign tourists along with monied local kids who drink Chivas Regal mixed with green tea while playing dice games. Big flashy night spots such as Bling, Richy, Babyface, Cargo or the Angel around West Gongti Road, and Beijing-based bands like New Pants and Carsick Cars also have a huge following, as does the local punk scene. At the centre of the new Sanlitun Village development, funky Mesh bar, at newly-opened boutique hotel The Opposite House, is a magnet for the city’s fashion, music and media crowd. Architecturally stunning, the Opposite House has a shining emerald glass exterior with a lobby displaying modern sculpture around black stone pools and pink glass lifts. You see, Beijing takes what it wants from the West now, and leaves the rest, as it rushes ahead into a new world economy.

A HOT TREND IS COMMIE-KITCH NOSTALGIA – YOU CAN TAKE A CHAMPAGNE AND CAVIAR TOUR OF THE CITY IN MADAME MAO’S SEVEN METRELONG RED FLAG STRETCH LIMO www.internationallife.tv/Beijing

super rich shopping list Opposite, right: The Riva Trophy party in Palma de Mallorca, 2008; far right: the new Riva megayacht 92’ Duchessa, from £6,065,400, from www.riva-yacht.com. Centre right: Ozwald Boateng collection on the catwalk, www.ozwaldboateng.co.uk. Opposite below: Private plane, by Jet Republic, www.jetrepublic.com

Sublime Vilebrequin trunks, born in St Tropez in 1971: left: Sunflowers, £115; above, Raspberries, £115; right, Turtle, £98. Stockists: 020 7589 8445, www.vilebrequin.com

thebest

ccording to Karl Lagerfeld, we are ushering in an era of ‘New Modesty’. It’s a bit depressing, but only to be expected from a man who looks like he has the self-retraint to eat his three peas a day with titanium cutlery and wear blackout glasses in the bath. Yes, yes, I know, I’m not deaf (well, actually, I am; I do hope you’re blushing). Robert Peston has been whining on about the recession, and we’re all supposed to be staying in instead of going out, and crying into our Heinz tomato soup. But I’m not writing this column for those people, I’m writing for the bomb-proof rich because they are so much more fun than the BBC’s economic correspondents. So, supposing you did have a bonus, what would you be blowing it on this month? I’ll tell you what the fabulously wealthy are actually doing: they’re buying megayachts, specifically a Riva 92’ Duchessa from a mere £6,065,400. The rich aren’t swayed by celebrity – as George Michael said, ‘The rich don’t think I’m rich’ – but you will probably be impressed if you knew that George Clooney, Liz Taylor and Claudia Schiffer have all strolled the fine wooden decks of the Rivas.

On the boat there’s only one thing to wear apart from your Fake Bake tan and that’s Vilebrequin shorts: they’re bright enough to ensure the paps can find you easily. Maybe that’s why Hugh Grant loves them. Slip on

the largest order for a fleet of Learjet 60 XRs the world has ever seen has no bearing on my affection for him at all. No actual planes as yet, but there’s just time to take the effervescent Mr Breeze out for a long lunch and bid for share ownership. Expect to pay around, well, an awful lot – most of it on lunch. No brightly coloured shorts on the planes – it will clash with the bespoke livery. Far better to wear your colours as silk linings: Ozwald Boateng will do the job. He might be a newish kid on the Savile Row block, but every suit is hand-stitched along every seam and the fabrics are bespoke too. The stuff moves me so much that if Robert Peston was dressed in a 100% cashmere Boateng creation with a scarlet flash, I might even listen to what he was saying. Naturally, if someone is going to get properly suited then they need to be booted too. And if I was going to receive a kick up the proverbial, I’d want the foot shod in a George Boot by Lodger. This would mean

The rich aren’t swayed by celebrity - as George Michael said, ‘The rich don’t think I’m rich’ a pair of Rio Red Fin’s, as designed and made in suede by the sickeningly young, blonde and pretty Alex Finlay, who used to be Anna Wintour’s assistant at Vogue…but that’s another story I’ll tell you when you ply me with Ruinart Rosé champagne over lunch, my darling. Eventually, however, one must get back to dry land if only to check on the gold bars in one’s Swiss vault. There’s only one way to do it and that’s to fly out of port in a Jet Republic plane. Are you a friend of Jonathan Breeze, the CEO of Jet Republic, general whizzkid and former RAF pilot? No? Oh, I’m so sorry. But I am. He’s terribly nice and the fact that he’s placed

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super rich shopping list

bespoke

For men, shopping needs to be quick and efficient. So go for the very best of everything and you won’t waste time, says Jessica Fellowes

that said foot had been clad via Lodger’s unique ‘perfect fit’ laser foot scanning technology. The George is a style of shoe traditionally worn in the British Army, but as interpreted by Italians. It’s a mess boot – which is another way of saying it’s what the officers wore, not the men, and tells you everything you need to know about the leather and even the tensile strength of the shoelaces. From the tips of his well-fitted toes to the top of his head, we’d better not leave out Mr Super Rich’s largest organ. Skin, people. Skin. Howard Hughes might have been happy with a few wet-wipes, but the enormously cashed-up now pop down to see Dr Russo at his Rejuvenation Clinic and MediSpa in London’s Westfield. It’s the largest men’s spa in Europe, which demonstrates just how few real men there are left in Notting Hill, but you knew that already. Botox et al are second-nature – if not exactly natural – to Dr Russo, but perhaps you fancy a bit of medical microdermabrasion and laser stimulation, all as tailored to your needs as your Boateng silk pyjamas. And on that note: good night, sleep well and may all your dreams be handmade and golden.

Well-shod: George boot, £575,by Lodger, 15C Clifford Street, London W1S 4JZ (tel:020 7287 5455) www.lodgerfootwear.com

Summer loving: Rio Red loafer, £80, by Fin’s, www.finsforhim.com

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aviation advertorial

GREAT EXPECTATIONS Thomas Flohr built VistaJet around his own vision of the perfect private jet company to serve business traveLLers with panache

homas Flohr, founder and owner of VistaJet, has always had one life ambition: to build an industry -leading private jet company and design a revolutionary business aviation model that would provide customers with the level of flexibility, service excellence and affordability that he expects for himself. Since its inception

in 2004, VistaJet has grown from a highly efficient yet discreet local charter flight provider to the fastest growing global private jet company with the largest fleet of aircraft outside North America. By the end of the year, the Vistajet fleet will include over 30 state-of-the-art short, mid-range and intercontinental Bombardier jets and, with an order for 60 new aircraft in place, the fleet will reach the 100-mark soon. ‘Our fleet is our jewel and the foundation to our company’s and business model’s success,’ says Flohr. ‘VistaJet do not just offer a private jet service but a full VistaJet experience. Our business aviation and luxury expert teams have worked relentlessly to perfect our offering.’ The VistaJet service is designed to meet the needs and wants of our discerning customers, from the attention to detail of our award-winning, custom design aircraft cabins to the aircraft servicing, avionics and safety technology, not forgetting the suitability of our service and programmes to each individual customer’s flying profile.

The VistaJet business model is unique, innovative and far superior in terms of performance, flexibility and cost effectiveness to any other competitor

aviation advertorial The VistaJet business model is unique, innovative and far superior in terms of performance, flexibility and cost effectiveness to any other competitor product, including those who have seemingly dominated the market in recent years. Efficiency, experience and service allow the delivery of smarter flight solutions and lower costs. The scale of VistaJet’s young, fully managed and fully maintained mobile fleet, and point-to-point travel concept, guarantees the availability of an aircraft, any time, anywhere in the world.

The full optimisation of each aircraft utilisation leads to exceptional rates through economy of scale. Asked about the challenges faced by the business aviation industry in today’s economic climate, Thomas Flohr confirms being confident about the future. ‘We are better equipped than any other private jet company to pull through the difficult times. We have a superb, growing fleet, we have a winning business model, an established reputation for service excellence, an international presence - with offices in Europe, the Middle East and Asia Pacific. We are sure to make our mark in the market. Our customers continue to seek the benefits of flying by private jet. What customers appreciate about Vistajet is our capacity to offer them custom designed solutions and lower cost solutions with no compromise on service and luxury.’

We are better equipped than any other private jet company to pull through the difficult times

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street smarts

LOLA MANZI REVISITS HER CHILDHOOD IN HARRODS AND REVELS IN GROWN-UP GLAMOUR, GLITTERING PRIZES AND THE VERY BEST IN SHOPPING AND DINING POSSIBILITIES

Knightsbridge 40

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street smarts

pmarket London can be found in a variety of hot spots from Hampstead to Barnes. Bang in the middle is Knightsbridge. Redolent with Chanel No. 5, the soft rustle of silk and susurration of pearl on pearl, Knightsbridge is where we go for lavish shopping, dining and pampering. In fact if sauntering along the street is not your (it) bag, you can buy almost anything your heart desires under just a couple of opulent roofs: Harrods (87135 Brompton Road SW1; 0207730 1234; www.harrods. com) and Harvey Nichols (109 - 125 Knightsbridge SW1; 02072355000; www.harveynichols.com). For those serious about international fashion, Knightsbridge is a Mecca. The streets are lined with elegant designer boutiques from quintessentially British Burberry (Scotch House, 2 Brompton Road SW1; 020 7581 2151; www.burberry.com) to chic, continental Hermès (179 Sloane Street SW1; tel:020 7823 1014; www.hermes.com) and Missoni (193 Sloane Street SW1; 0207823906; www.missoni. com) as well as Mediterranean Versace (183-184 Sloane Street SW1; 020 7259 5700; www.versace.com) and Escada (194 Sloane Street SW1; 020 7245 9800; www.escada.com). Knightsbridge is part of my childhood, particularly Harrods, where my passionate desire for penny loafers (as worn by American school friends) was thwarted by sensible lace-ups suitable for my narrow feet. These days I visit Harrods to drool over Louboutin heels and Giuseppe Zanotti flats. Downstairs, the Parisian café Ladurée lures me in with its exquisite macaroons in every flavour and colour. Surprisingly, Harrods remains the single largest tourist attraction in London and reflects the international flavour of Knightsbridge as a whole, being the epicentre of a swirling mass of Londoners, tourists and supercars with Saudi numberplates. It is customary for chauffeurs to sit for hours in Maybachs and Rolls Royces at the side entrance of Harrods. One Rolls Royce Phantom gained a lot of press for waiting on Pont Street with the engine running for the best part of eight hours - horrifying in terms of emissions now. Life in Knightsbridge is traditionally glitzy and extravagant, all Jimmy Choo stilettos, huge sunglasses and 24-carat gold. However, today the trend is for a different kind of spending as top designers create high-quality diffusion lines at more reachable price points. There is Farhi by Nicole Farhi, PS by Paul Smith and the perennially successful Polo Ralph Lauren. Go for a jewel tone cocktail dress at Philosophy, the

diffusion line at Alberta Ferretti (205-206 Sloane Street SW1; 0207 235 2349; www.albertaferretti.it). It is no surprise that Marni (26 Sloane Street SW!; 020 7245 9520; www.marni.com) in Sloane Street is releasing a collection called Capsule which aims to attract teenage buyers with its younger styles and friendlier prices. For men, there’s plenty of focused shopping satisfaction in the area. Pal Zileri (44 Hans Crescent, SW1; 020 7225 2999) is the place for expertly tailored blazers in spring shades of powder blue pin stripe and salmon pink linen, perfect for the Caribbean. Team with this spring’s major menswear revival - the boat shoe, the more colourful the better. Find some great colours at Ralph Lauren and Paul Smith and suede versions at Tod’s. Leather tasselled loafers are also making a comeback at Russell & Bromley, and in a wonderful pistachio colour at Dolce & Gabbana. Go to Hermes for elaborately designed silk ties as worn by our future king, and subtle sexy aftershave. Should his fancy turn to enduring love, then Boodles is just there conveniently at the top of Sloane Street (1 Sloane Street SW1; 020 7235 0111; www.boodles.co.uk) the delightful staff told me about the Ashoka cut of diamond, which is completely exclusive to them and selling well. The term Ashoka means the ‘removal of sorrow’ appropriately healing the public’s current shopping sentiments. Set in an engagement ring, it is bound to be a good omen. When you have shopped, so must you dine, and Beauchamp Place is crammed with superior international eateries. Here you can find the perpetual paparazzi magnet San Lorenzo (22 Beauchamp Place, SW3; 0871 2238072; www.labyrintos.com), Nozomi (15 Beauchamp Place, SW1; 0871 9717457; www.nozomi.co.uk) for minimalist Japanese, Townhouse (31 Beauchamp Place SW3; tel: 020 7589 5080; www.lab-townhouse.com) if you like luxurious décor with your cocktails, and Maroush, (38 Beauchamp Place SW3; 0871 3327910; www.maroush.com) which is open late at night for authentic Lebanese. Not to mention the esteemed and well-established Mr Chow (151 Knightsbridge SW1; 020 7589 7347; www.mrchow.com) for London’s best crispy ‘seaweed’. Members club The Wellington Club (116 Knightsbridge, SW1; 020 7823 8211) provides a visual treat with its exotic furnishings that include Damien Hirst’s personally donated butterfly paintings. Reputedly the ‘new’ Met Bar. And for post-shopping pampering, go for an Oriental Harmony pedicure treatment where four hands work to ease your stiletto-clad feet at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel (66 Knightsbridge SW1; 0207 235 2000; www.mandarinoriental.com) before heading upstairs to rest your weary head on a goose down pillow.

ONE ROLLS ROYCE PHANTOM GAINED A GREAT DEAL OF PRESS FOR WAITING ON PONT STREET WITH THE ENGINE RUNNING FOR THE BEST PART OF EIGHT HOURS

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This Lange watch was made in the traditional way. With lots of ingenuity.

The DATOGRAPH PERPETUAL represents the state of the art in micromechanical engineering. It features a proprietary escapement and a newly designed perpetual calendar. Lange’s masters invested many months researching, testing, rethinking and improving it. After all,

it is a long-standing Lange tradition to enrich horology with useful refinements. So is the painstaking manual decoration of every single part. The outcome is a masterpiece “Made in Germany” that is available only from the world’s finest watch and jewellery dealers.

For an overview of the exclusive retailers of A. Lange & Söhne please visit: www.lange-soehne.com

street smarts

Above: Old and new Knightsbridge Below: The Christian Louboutin store, packed with lipstick soled shoes Below right: Carine Gilson’s lingerie boutique in Lowndes Street

In Knightsbridge, as elsewhere, the pattern in expenditure at the moment is centered around high-quality and the feel-good factor. As a result, smaller items from top fashion houses are doing extremely well, such as classic Hermès belts, silk scarves and enamel bracelets. Fragrance is another success story in the current climate, as it allows customers to invest in the brands they love. At Louis Vuitton, 190 Sloane Street SW1 (020 7399 4050; www.louisvuitton.com) the signature branded products are doing as well as ever. The entire stock of £490 rose-print silk scarves walked out of the shop three hours after they went on sale. Since it launched in 1976, the German leather goods and fashion brand MCM has quietly got on with making high quality bags at reasonable prices. It recently began to colonise Knightsbridge, with a London flag store at 5 Sloane Street, London SW1 (020 7235 3331) and a concession in Harrods; and the brand is popular with Germans stars like Claudia Schiffer. Vintage style signature pieces and classic handbags in tan leather are flying off the shelves - popular perhaps because they transcend fashion. Overall style savvy spenders are pushing the boat out on other items they know will stand the test of time; for example classic tailoring and ontrend brocade jackets at Chanel, 167-170 Sloane Street SW1 (020 7235 6631, www.chanel.com). The jackets are eternally chic and their padded shoulders fit in well with this season’s appreciation for the more structured silhouette. Knightsbridge has never lost its charismatic allure; it is a focal point of fashion culture and a microcosm of London style, enriched by the annual influx of tourists. It is distinct from Bond Street, being home to London’s two greatest department stores, and it has a quirky diverse quality all of its own. You can find the traditional blended with the contemporary, purveyors of both British and international style, and some of the most illustrious restaurants and hotels. There are hints of light at the end of the tunnel. It is cheering to note that every apartment in Candy and Candy’s One Hyde Park sold out long ago, despite being nowhere near completion. In the very heart of Knightsbridge the development promises to be the most exclusive residential block in the whole of London. It is set to overshadow the already luxurious block The Knightsbridge, which is situated directly opposite. I like to think that the completion and launch of One Hyde Park in late 2010 is indicative of the close of this period of economic uncertainty, and will only enhance Knightsbridge’s already prominent profile.

savvy stylistas are spending on looks that last

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With the resurgence of the Riviera destination as a major A-List honeypot, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s just as well to go with the Tropezien fashion flow

St What to wear IN

Tropez

Night shade: Dress, ÂŁPOA to order, by Bernard Chandran (www.bernardchandran.com). Photographed at the Villa Marie (www.villamarie.fr)