BB Publication by terry joul

bbe B BEYOND 2010/2

traditional values, cutting-edge practice

Wealth seems to come in a broader range of forms than it used to. People can become millionaires in a myriad of different ways – building a successful business, realising gains from property investment, transforming a timely idea into a viable commercial venture – and the landed aristocracy are increasingly outnumbered by entrepreneurs, executives and lottery winners. Managing the wealth and interests of such a broad range of clients requires a high level of expertise. For all these different categories of success, the dilemma remains the same: where are assets best placed in a difficult economic climate to provide for the future? For Coutts, a further value informs the work of the bank. ‘Philanthropy isn’t just an optional extra at Coutts; it sets the context of the work for our clients,’ says Maya Prabhu, Head of Philanthropy for Coutts. ‘The idea of thoughtfully giving something back underpins the bank. It’s integral to the culture of the bank and our role with clients. We act as advisers: clients want to invest, to grow their wealth, to preserve it, to have some fun – and also express their sense of gratitude and privilege through philanthropy. So the philanthropy department has a role across the spectrum: in broad terms, it’s about life enrichment.’ Maya continues; ‘Coutts was the first private bank in the UK to have a dedicated philanthropy team and in late 2009, the team launched the proposition internationally, so that the 36,000 clients of RBS Coutts, from a network of 13 offices around the globe also have access to the advisory service.’ Some clients have a clear idea of how they would like to achieve their philanthropic aims; for others, the process is less defined. ‘Clients come at various stages. Some pay their taxes and give a bit to UK charities, but are interested in addressing poverty in other countries, for example. They may have little knowledge of how to make an impact. Coutts helps them to clarify their objectives and find some focus on specific areas or countries. This is important because, even with an eight-figure sum, it can be hard to achieve real change without strong goals. Another type of client may be interested in something like education – but it can be hard to know where a private philanthropist can make a difference in the UK, when the government has such a hold. Under these circumstances, it is helpful to map the territory and identify points where they could make a difference.’ Serving such a broad range of interests is core to the bank’s ethos. ‘At Coutts we have the great pleasure of meeting people from a diverse and fascinating range of backgrounds and each and every one of them will have their own ideas on what they would like to achieve both personally and financially,’ adds Coutts’ Head of Private Banking, Kate Turner. ‘Many clients have a realisation of the responsibilities of wealth, and want to make an impact to give something back. Many are self-made and want to use their wealth well.’ Recent months have seen a rapidly increasing demand for tailored wealth management solutions, as high net worth individuals seek to ensure they are receiving the best advice possible. ‘The true art of wealth management is the ability to understand the types of emotion being felt by clients at different times, and to provide tangible, effective advice on both obvious issues, and those matters that may not have been considered previously. This is not a process that can be fixed

with the use of a flow chart or a series of questionnaires, as all clients have their own individual beliefs, expectations and aspirations,’ continues Kate. Interestingly, the point at which philanthropy explicitly intersects with wealth management solutions is tax – not as a primary reason in itself, but as an unexpected benefit and a route into philanthropy, since clients looking for tax breaks typically realise that the philanthropy team have much more to offer. ‘Tax is often the catalyst, if not the driver,’ explains Maya. An informal survey after a philanthropy forum listed possible motivations for clients’ interest – desire to give something back, devotion a particular cause, a personal link to a charity, providing a role model for children, and so on. Tax was one option, but it came out as one of the lowest. ‘In most cases, tax savings are the icing on the cake. Usually it’s about passion for a cause. The real sense of giving something back is a much stronger reason in their experience.’ Coutts – the ‘Queen’s Bank’ – may have a traditional image and practices, but there is plenty that is cutting-edge, too. The bank has responded to changing markets by introducing access to new products – for example, a service that looks at a broad range of capital-protected investments with a variety of time horizons to suit an individual’s liquidity requirements. They also work, for example, with family business owners on succession planning: things which, says Maya, ‘go to the heart of what keeps people up at night’. They were the first private bank to introduce a new kind of account, intended to facilitate philanthropic work, and have pioneered the collective pooling of resources to enable support and learning around charities. (One particular area is microfinance, about which there is a lot of information but very little guidance.) They also run a course for the younger generation, thinking about how to bring them in and foster their interest in wealth management, as well as looking at growing and developing assets for children.

Photograph by Mick Hutson

b beyond

the bookazine for be beyond individuals

Contents

First published in Great Britain in 2010 by BB Publications London UK © BB Publications 2010 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. ISSN 2041-7667 Editor: Guy Brandon Features Editor: Charles Conway Advertising Director: Caroline de Bref Contributing Editors: Tom Harrow, Louise Bleach, Amber Atherton, Lara Nelson, Nicholas Artsrunik Designed by Bradbury and Williams, London Cover photograph: Jure Kravanja Printed and bound in China B Beyond is the quarterly magazine accompanying the hard cover BB editions and a subsidiary of Linveco Ltd. Contact information: UK Linveco A.G. , suite 774, 28 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3SS Liechtenstein Linveco A.G. 99 Landstrasse, 9494 Schaan, LI Tel: +423 236 19 11 Fax: +423 236 19 15 Hong Kong Linveco Ltd Suites 1601-1603, Kinwick Centre 32 Hollywood Road, Central Hong Kong Tel: +852 2542 1177 Fax: +852 2545 0550 Dubai Linveco Ltd Suite 801 Reef Tower, Jumeirah Lake Towers, P.O. Box 62201

An interview with David Rockefeller

Redefining the perception of time: Dr John C Taylor

Omar Machiavelli Photographic Portfolio

High Tech Spotlight What the future holds – stem cell therapy possibilities

The Green Samba

Tom Kent’s Cell electric car concept

Hong Kong Spotlight by Louise Bleach

Joseph Li: Placing China on the fashion world stage Christian Rhomberg the Kee Clubs’ King Conversation with fine art collector Mary Bloch Agnes Gund: President Emerita of the Museum of Modern Art Philip Volkers Photographic Portfolio Driven: A glimpse into John Caudwell’s private world Jure Kravanja Photographic Portfolio BB’s Wine Chap Tom Harrow talks to Madame Pierette Trichet

36 42 46 50 54 62 70 78

Amber Atherton interviews...

Angus Thirlwell of Hotel Chocolat Frank Marrebach on Running the Oetker Hotel Collection

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Top Lawyer Spotlight

Dr Anthony Julius: A man of many talents Gstaad Palace: Andrea Scherz the last of the grand hoteliers

Not just another ‘luxury’ hotel: Spotlight on Baraka Point

Roger Weiss Photographic Portfolio

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BEAUTY Spotlight

Dr Tomaz Nassif keeps the beautiful crowd young Dr Daniel Sister: Non-invasive beauty treatments

110

Don’t forget to smile: the Welbeck Dental Clinic

116

114

The oldest dance: on love, lust and monogamy

118

Leanne Husler comments

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Beyond all that... In a recent conversation with a renowned and outspoken philanthropist, I asked if she thought sitting on charity committees and attending “society balls” had a lot to do with social validation and less with philanthropy. It was a leading question as I was merely inviting the interviewee to endorse my thinly veiled assertion. She did. The European summer is synonymous with a number of “exclusive, elite and invitation only” events. A few of the yearly charity balls command ticket prices that would elicit an indignant, “Do you think I am a Rockefeller?!” from my grand-mother who was in her time a great, yet quiet, giver to orphanages. Committee member lists read like a Who’s Who of the great and the good. The cause is often lost in the small print but the motivation is irrelevant - or so benefiting charities would argue. The merry-go-round of summer events is not just confined to charitable pursuits, of course. The rich and famous - and those aspiring to be famous - flash their cash from Cannes and Monaco to Portofino and Sardinia.

Knowing at least one Russian oligarch, a prince without a princedom, the odd rock star and a sprinkling of old titles is requisite social currency for a certain type of ‘high living’ lounge lizard, defined by their dress label, the St Barth’s house, the Gstaad/St Moritz skiing, the Cannes to Monaco eventing... In fact, B Beyond came across just such a fine example of a breathless, globe-trotting name-dropper this past winter at the Gstaad Palace.

The truly wealthy and the truly philanthropic are, of course – in Great Gatsby fashion – seldom seen at flash events covered by Hello magazine or its various imitators. They give through their own foundations, they entertain and are entertained privately, and they don’t need to name-drop. They can wear whatever they feel comfortable in because they are never judged by their appearance. They value their time and the company of their friends and family. In short, they are “beyond all that”. In this issue of the magazine, we ask a number of be beyond individuals where and how they relax and what their favourite social events are. The Editor 2010

Editor‘s letter

An Interview with

The name of Rockefeller is one of awe-inspiring legacy. Is the path of a standard bearer a lonely and onerous

one or is it a privilege? What do you consider your own most important legacy to be?

‘As children, my siblings and I recognized that we belonged to an unusual, even exceptional family. For some it was a burden, for others an opportunity. I was always in the latter camp. I have always been proud of my name and the honourable traditions, particularly in supporting philanthropic institutions, that it represents.’

Your name is indelibly linked to supporting the arts.In the face of so many inequities

in the world, why and how is it important to support the arts?

avid

Your grand-father inspired and motivated others by

personal example even long

‘I have been immersed in the world of art since I was a small boy. I owe much to my mother, in particular, for her patient transmission of her love of art. I feel very proud of the family’s involvement with the Museum of Modern Art from the very beginning with my mother. I think great works of art by great artists of the world, in many respects, belong to the world at large. In my own case, I feel very privileged to be a present owner, but I also feel responsible to make art works available to others. For example, I loaned a collection to MoMA years ago and have lent individual paintings to museums around the world.’

before he built a fortune. What would he have thought

of pseudo-philanthropists of today who are motivated by social advancement alone?

‘My grandfather’s belief in philanthropy flowed from his religious training and the experiences of his own life. Grandfather was a strong individualist but he defined the term differently than others. He rejected the idea of individualism as selfishness and selfaggrandizement. Rather, he defined individualism as the freedom to achieve and the obligation to return something of value to the community that had nurtured and sustained him. I believe this was both the source and object of his philanthropy that was passed down to my father and to our family. As to today’s philanthropists, I have worked closely with and am a great supporter of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett and the tremendous philanthropic work they are doing around the world.’

I have always been proud of my name and

the honourable traditions that it represents. You would be aware of the extent to which the Rockefeller name has acquired a near

noun status – synonymous as it is with both wealth and philanthropy, and infused with

quasi legendary potency. Is it difficult to apply a simple ethic of noblesse oblige to the complex dilemmas facing humanity today and how is the next generation of

Rockefeller

Rockefellers being equipped to deal with them in a relevant way?

‘As my children have grown older, each of them has discovered fields of special interest in which they have excelled and through which they have made contributions to the society in which we live. In many ways I think my proudest accomplishment – and one that I attribute in large part to my late wife Peggy – is these six vigorous, intelligent and committed individuals. Although we didn’t always agree on many things in the past, today they have come to embrace their heritage as strongly as I did and have used their resources to improve the world or at least try to change it for the better. I am immensely proud of each one of them.’

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Redefining the perception of time

cTa Dr. John C Taylor: Portrait of a contemporary inventor as an artist

Photograph by Ben Johnson

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‘The perceived duration of each minute varies from person to person and depends on circumstances. As you get older, you become more aware that time isn’t on your side and every minute that passes is gone

forever. The Chronophage shows this quite graphically as it relentlessly devours each and every minute.’ D R . J ohn C Tay lor

It is entirely conceivable that you haven’t heard of John Harrison, the 18th century English carpenter who invented the marine chronometer and revolutionised long distance sea travel by solving the problem of establishing the longitude of a ship at sea. It is equally conceivable that you haven’t heard of Dr John C Taylor who has given us one of the most commonly used household appliances, the cordless electric kettle. These two John’s are united across the centuries by much more than the shared spirit of invention. John Harrison invented bi-metal to temperature compensate his sea clocks to enable seamen to navigate the oceans; John Taylor uses bi-metal to control a billion electric kettle controls made under his patents.

John Taylor is the creator of the Chronophage, a giant ‘time-eating’ clock that compels us to examine our perception of the passage of time, and the owner of the largest collection of rare pendulum clocks in the world. The Chronophage, a 1.5 metres circular construction made of 24 carat gold-plated stainless steel, is John Taylor’s homage to John Harrison. We met with John Taylor to ask how his passion for horology began, how the mind of an inventor moves, and how he personally challenges the ultimate enemy of us all: time. Here is what he told us. I have been interested in clocks for 40 years. The interest in clocks came through my lifetime love of flying. I went solo 57 years ago when I was 16. My father was an inventor as I am. In the late 1940’s he invented a bi-metal control mechanism that I adapted in the 1960’s as a little electric motor protector which went right inside the motor which switched the motor off if it was overloaded and overheating. (Bi-metal strip is a composite material of two different metals bonded together side by side, chosen for their different expansion rates; as opposed to an alloy, a metallic mixture. Bi-metal thus bends into a curve when heated or cooled as the high

expansion side expands or contracts more than the low expansion side.) Japanese cars in the 1970’s were being exported to the US but they hadn’t taken into account the severe weather conditions in America. The amount of snow in the US meant that the wipers were bogged down and the electric motor on them couldn’t handle the extra weight causing overheating, even catching fire and exploding. In 1974 Nissan’s supplier got in touch with my father’s factory in Derbyshire for help to overcome their problems and I started flying to Japan on a regular basis. To comply with traditional Japanese protocol and courtesy I had to fly First Class but even this, after six or so visits, lost its appeal. Whereas I had established a technical relationship, I still had no firm order or commitment for a long term ‘knowhow’ agreement. I conceived the idea of flying to Japan in the company airplane, a little Piper Aztec. The trip took me and my co-pilot from Manchester via the Shetland Isles, Iceland, East Greenland, West Greenland, Baffin Island and across the whole of Arctic Canada over the North Magnetic Pole to get to Anchorage. Our compass was completely useless there! Planning ahead, I had bought a government surplus ex-war sun compass but couldn’t work out its complexities to obtain an accurate direction. I had to navigate by sight from this lake to that lake to island to that river, to that lake to that island to that river, to… We eventually landed in Anchorage. (Couldn’t get permission to fly to Russia, so had to take a commercial flight from there.) My Japanese manufacturers were so impressed they agreed to a long term association which, I understand continues to this day.

Flying then was so different from modern flying - so adventuresome, so enjoyable!... Now I fly a modern TBM850 made in France and a similar route can be made easily and safely as this plane has twice the range at twice the speed at three times the height in pressurized comfort with modern duplicated GPS navigation and long range HF radio. This trip prompted me to study historical

navigation. Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean and sailors continued to sail for another two hundred years around the world having to navigate without the help of navigation equipment to find longitude. With GPS we can now find our longitude and exact position every few seconds. Many of the things that you learn at school are wrong, for example ‘the sun is due south at 12 o’clock noon’. Actually time of Sun noon is not 12:00 GMT – noon varies by up to 15mins at any given time– the sun is south at noon only 4 days a year! At the time, the challenge of calculating longitude was an insurmountable problem for the British Fleet. After two thousand seamen were drowned off the Scilly Isles when the fleet were returning from the Mediterranean, a prize of £25,000 was offered by Queen Anne’s government in to anyone who could come up with a solution.

The first person to invent a clock that can go to sea and accurately measure longitude was John Harrison. Harrison, a carpenter

with no training, invented the first effective marine chronometer and spent 40 years of his life perfecting it, eventually getting the prize money when he was in his eighties. An accurate clock requires long term consistent lubrication. In the 18th century this was a problem as the existing oils, linseed and olive oil, were not adequate to the task, drying out in hot conditions, thickening in cold. Harrison overcame this by using wood for bearings (lignum vitae, which contains natural oils). He overcame the sliding friction in the escapement by creating the grasshopper escapement. This is the mechanism that releases the clock’s gears to move forward one second each swing of the pendulum. The gears impulse the pendulum through the escapement restoring the energy the pendulum has lost through friction and aerodynamic drag. Nowadays clocks are out of fashion: but time is displayed everywhere and people take it completely for granted. Before the mid 17th century the concept of

The Midsummer Chronophage.

Price: £2m

Previous page: Dr John Taylor showing the kettle controls he invented.

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precise time did not exist. Clocks changed that and in terms of social change are one of the greatest inventions of all times. Why did I create the Chronophage? After a successful commercial career, I thought it would be fun to create a clock. I would say only 1% of people have heard of John Harrison and of those, only 1% would know of the grasshopper escapement. 1% of those who do know of the grasshopper escapement would know how that works.

John Harrison is my hero, so I decided to create a clock with a grasshopper escapement as a homage to him - and as most people don’t know how

that works, I decided to make the escapement big and on the outside. After all, I had been using the benefit of Harrison’s creations of bi-metal in all my business life* and his solving of the navigation problem for my fun flying. The Chronophage The face of The Midsummer Chronophage is a 24 carat gold-plated steel disc 1.5 metres in diameter, polished to resemble a pond of liquid metal with ripples that allude to the Big Bang flowing out from the centre of the Universe. It was created by a series of underwater explosions in a secret military centre in Holland. The word Chronophage literally means Time-Eater from the Greek: Chronos [Time] and Phago [I eat]. When I retired from making kettle controls, I had a wish to change the popular perception of time and also, the perception that retirement is an inactive time of one’s life. The prototype half size Chronophage has a 750mm face. Everyone knows a regular analogue or a digital clock but I wanted something new. Another thing I keep in the back of my brain is the idea that

anything you can do in a straight line, you can do in a circle and vice versa. I used the calipers invented in the 17th century by the Frenchman Vernier to measure accurately small objects, twisting his concept round into a circle, Behind each hour, minute and second position are fixed continuously illuminated LED lights and a series of fixed and rotating slits. Only when two slits are in line is that particular hour, minute or second illuminated on the dial. It was conceived as a new way of showing time and is a true mechanical clock Regular clocks are boring. This one stops and starts again which changes it from a dull object into one that demands your attention as it engages with you, makes you think… Surely that’s the definition of art – something that makes you think? Every five minutes the clock ‘corrects’ itself and accurate time is shown through the light slits. Walking atop the 1.5 metre face of The Midsummer Chronophage is a large kinetic sculpture of a mythical beast. The creature, an integral part of the mechanics of the clock, appears to devour each minute as its jaws snap shut every 59th second . The hour is tolled by the sound of a chain clanking into a small wooden coffin concealed in the back of the clock to remind us that our time on earth is limited.

The Chronophage is four things in one: an innovation, a work of art, a philosophical reflection on the elapse of time and a homage to Harrison. I donated my first Chronophage to Corpus Christi College of Cambridge because I was an undergraduate there between 1956 and 1959. It is a wonderful place to study and I hope the clock will have an impact on people applying to the college. Additionally, Cambridge has the oldest court in Britain - anything that is displayed there is going to be there for hundreds of years. I wanted to make the clock of traditional materials that will last hundreds of years, so

Left and above: The Corpus Chronophage.

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we used 24 carat plated stainless steel (the time eating creature on the first Chronophage had a vitreous finish - it was enameled). The materials used in my clock will survive 5000 years, never mind a few hundred. I called my second Chronophage the Midsummer Chronophage because it was unveiled at midsummer. We are discussing with both St Paul’s Cathedral and the Science Museum about displaying it. After that it will be available. I am hoping that the Midsummer (and the other Chronophage in the series) will be bought by a person or organisation for display in a public space, perhaps by a benefactor, or by a corporation with a public space. People enjoy the concept and challenges of the Chronophage so it would be perfect for it to be on public display. The Corpus Chronophage has been extremely popular in Cambridge and the Midsummer Chronophage was regarded as one of the best pieces at the Masterpiece Fair when we unveiled it. The price? Just under £2 million - we’ve had up to 100 people working at various stages of the fabrication over a two year period for the Midsummer Chronophage, and the Corpus took over five years but we learned a lot from that. We intend to make a limited series of 15 in all, but each different in some way. I have many passions and hobbies One of my passions is building houses and I have built five so far: two in England and three on the Isle of Man. I like to sketch the concept, layout and details of what I’m trying to achieve and then give it to the architect to create.

I love Greek and Roman architecture and it is wonderful going to Greece to see houses thousands of years old. Little

atriums are oases of calm in places surrounded by donkeys, carts, children… It provides an escape from the heat and dust of the day. The weather in the Isle of Man is the exact opposite. It would be nice to have an atrium but with a roof over the top rather than open to the sky - an oasis on the inside as a calm from the storm outside. I am building a new Palladian-style house of elliptical shape which is totally energy-efficient. I am very keen on energy efficiency. We do need to heat our houses and domestic hot water and this can be generated by the wind, certainly on the Isle of Man. Wind power can be harnessed and stored in a big tank of water for 2-3 days. For ventilation, I will be using cross-flow radiators working on the same principle as water in the engine being cooled in a car. You extract the stale warm air

in a room into your radiator and transfer this heat into the fresh the air coming in to ventilate your home. You can have a cross-flow radiator where the warm air going out heats the cool air coming in- it provides ventilation without wasting heat. It’s a well known method but not widely used because it’s complicated to implement. When I first went to live on the Isle of Man, I developed an interest in sailing as I found gliding impractical on the small island. I joind the Royal Yachting Association and not only obtained every manner of proficiency certificate, I also taught others to sail as a qualified Yachtmaster Ocean Instructor. Gliding is another big hobby of mine. Not so very long ago I was gliding in Scotland on a wave in the atmosphere of 26,600 ft.

There are 3 main forms of lift. The original gliding was done on a hill in the Dunstable downs. Gliders soared

like birds along the lift. On a bright summer’s day with puffy clouds the warmth of the sun would concentrate in quarry or town where more heat is absorbed. The warm air from these areas of concentration would rise upwards in a bubble of air so you can circle inside it. This thermal of hot air goes up and expands and at condensation level you get clouds. You can circle in it. However this method of gliding is difficult because you can’t see a thermal, you can only estimate where it is by the location of the clouds; you have to concentrate on finding a thermal and not on the pleasure of gliding. The third one is called wave. There is an analogy with a stream of water into which you throw a boulder. The water would go over the boulder but downstream it would ripple as the boulder causes a wave motion. If you throw a second boulder in line with the rippling water, it would amplify the effect. The same thing happens in the atmosphere. In the mountains in Scotland if you get two of them in the right phase for the atmosphere to interact, it starts oscillating. There are no thermals, but if you have an autumn or winter’s day you find these lenticular clouds (stationary, lensshaped clouds). When the atmosphere is stable you can enter a constant stream of lift and go up and up and up and up in the wave; it’s got to be a streamlined flow. You have time to relax and look at the view. Where you get condensation there is an apparently stationary cloud; when you fly next to the cloud, you can see the air condensing and re-evaporating. The seemingly stationary cloud becomes a fluctuating area of forming and reforming vapour that is absorbed into the cloud. My record is about 200 miles or about 8 hours gliding.

I have a passion for early English pendulum clocks and enjoy the challenge of photographing clocks and I have spent many hours making replica clocks. The early pendulum clocks fascinate me because they were inventions. They were made in Holland for domestic use originally. Christiaan Huygens designed the first pendulum clock by adapting the horizontal clock. The accuracy of this new clock was a paradigm shift in terms of timekeeping. Prior to this there were table clocks which would tick away but if you hadn’t set them daily by a sun dial they wouldn’t be accurate. Clocks were novelties, expensive, luxury goods and no one used them or made appointments for a specific time – people would arrange to meet after lunch or between lunch and tea... Huygens patented his invention and contracted Salomon Coster, a clock maker in The Hague, to build it. John Fromanteel, son of the London clockmaker Ahasuerus, was sent to The Hague to make the pendulum clocks for nine months. Fromanteel signed a contract with Coster which stipulated that he would get 20 guilders for each clock he made. However, if he used brass and steel supplied by Coster, he would only get 18.50 guilders.

No one had challenged this contract so I decided to look into it closely. How did

he know what brass and steel he would need to make this clock? If the clock was already developed and Fromanteel was only an apprentice, when he arrived in Holland the gears would already have been cast. All he would learn from Coster is the method of assembling them. But the contract assumes he will supply his own materials - if Fromanteel was there to learn, why would he supply his own brass and steel? The more I thought about it the more it seemed to me that the story was apocryphal and that it did not match what the contract says. The apocryphal scenario has been handed down verbally from Holland, which of course suits them. I contacted Professor Lisa Jardine at Queen Mary, University of London to help me find a student whose research I would sponsor. I believe that Ahasuerus Fromanteel was making pendulum clocks for Cromwell before Coster started making them in Holland. Huygens adapted the design from London, but to make them work John Fromanteel and his father made the prototypes and transported them from London. This theory is supported by the fact that the earliest clocks made by

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Ahasuerus have square pillars. Coster’s have beautiful round pillars, but a few of them have these square pillars. A better explanation is that Ahasuerus was a blacksmith, and square pillars would have been the natural choice for him, as much easier to make. My interest in early clocks led me to Peter Gwinn who had been managing director of Woolworths between the two wars. He managed to build a formidable collection – the best of the best - and had these wonderful 17th century clocks, including the earliest grandfather clock in the world. He was an old man then and I offered to buy his collection, but leave it with him until he died. I now have probably the best collection of clocks in the world including the first domestic clock in history – a world heritage item that came up for auction at Sotheby’s 2 years ago. The British Museum has more clocks but my collection is more specific.

The social change that clocks brought about is equivalent to the invention of the wheel. It is

hard to imagine what life would be like if we had no clocks. Clocks have been the Cinderella of all art forms. How is this for a thought: if every painting that has ever been painted by Rembrandt, Picasso, or any artist you name, didn’t exist, the world would be exactly the same, perhaps a little sadder without these pieces of work. But can you imagine the world without a timekeeping device? The social changes that clocks have brought about are immense. There are only a few of these wonderful old pendulum clocks in the world. They are beautiful - works of art. The only way people can have one and enjoy it is to make some replicas. I have started making replicas – as true to the original as I can make them – and we are just making the third one at the moment. Anybody can make a clock, but a new clock has no history, no interest. A replica has all the history associated with the original that kept accurate time and worked. We will only be making replicas of the finest clocks ( I call them the Masterworks Collection)where it is almost impossible to buy an original, and then a maximum of 100 of each with exquisite quality and craftsmanship. Our first replica (of the first pendulum clock) is £30,000 – less than 10% of the cost of the original even if you could find one. I work on a number of projects at any one time. I enjoy the challenge of finding a solution to a problem, but above all I enjoy the creative journey.

The first pendulum clock replica.

*Dr Taylor reminisces on his electric kettle innovation journey: Metal kettles had a safety control it switch off the element if the kettle was switched on with no water inside. With the advent of plastic bodied kettles and jugs in the 1980s,

the British Standards Institute required an additional safety method to prevent the kettle from overheating and catching fire if the first

mechanisms fail. I designed a new kettle control with a second piece of bi-metal to act as an additional safety control, and in theory it worked. However, I had overlooked that the kettle elements were made out of a copper tube. Even after electrical power to the element was switched off the conduction of heat by the copper tube continued to heat the bi-metal. Unfortunately it also heated up the nylon on which the bi-metal was mounted, softening the plastic. The plastic mount then gave way allowing the safety contact, held open by the bi-metal, to reclose. This was now a runaway situation ending with the plastic vessel catching fire when the element became red hot disaster!

Price: £30,000.

We had an order to supply Phillips and for fledgling company from the Isle of Man, this was massive. I felt crushed by failure, but my motto has always been that you have to turn a disaster into success. Nylon was the best plastic you could buy in those days so I couldn’t replace it with better – instead, I had to turn softening nylon into an advantage. I put a little rod of white nylon against the hottest part of the element. This softens in a double fault test condition of no water in the kettle and a failure of the normal Dry switch on protector. Now if the element dangerously overheats the white plastic softens and a spring behind is released to push the contacts open: the more it melts, the more spring is released to open the contacts; the reverse of the previous design The patent of doing this has stood test of time.

Contact: John C Taylor or John Barber John C Taylor Ltd, Arragon Mooar, Church Road, Santon, Isle of Man, IM4 1HB, British Isles Tel: +44 7624 485 209 or +44 1624 828 880 Email: jbarber@johnctaylor.com

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OMAR MACCHIAVELLI

Omar Macchiavelli was born in Italy in the

80’s.He began his studies at the University of

Cinema and Multimedia Technology in Bologna.

He grew up with Hendrix, the visual arts, pasta and a desire to see the world. By the age of 23, he had already visited more

than 20 countries, mostly poor, but rich

in visual wonders. His eyes were learning. His passion for fashion photography BECAME

keener after having been on the other side of

the lens as a model, and he worked with some of the best photographers in the business. He

has

been

working

professionally

for

about three years and his photographs have been published in Clam, Umno, Obvious, BG,

Dimension, Flamboyant and Vanity. He seeks both beauty and sensibility, and feels lucky by often finding both.

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High Tech Spotlight

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What the future holds – stem cell therapy possibilities Conversation with Dr Paul J Fairchild Co-Director of the Oxford Stem Cell Institute James Martin 21st Century School

University of Oxford

Can you explain what stem cell therapy is?

Stem cell therapy is really about trying to capitalise on the unique properties of stem cells so that we can intervene with diseases. With modern medicine and, in particular, antibiotics, people are living longer, so they are more likely to develop a chronic or degenerative disease at some point in their life. We hope that we can cure these kinds of diseases by rejuvenating the cell types and tissues that have worn out with age. So what, specifically, are you looking at in your research?

My work over the last few years has been concerned with finding a way to ensure that the tissues we grow from stem cells to treat a patient will not be destroyed by their immune system, in much the same way as organ transplants. Even though we can derive these cells in the laboratory, if they are simply rejected by the recipient we’ve achieved nothing.

What is the ultimate goal in stem cell biology?

To gain control of the differentiation of pluripotent (embryonic) stem cells into any one of the 200 cell types that make up the human body, so that ultimately we can cure any degenerative disease. How far away is that?

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I get asked that a lot! The most exciting recent developments in stem cell biology happened about four years ago, when a group in Japan found a way of taking senescent (aged) skin cells and turning them back into this pluripotent state, just by introducing three particular genes into them. This means we can now make any cell type that person may require. There have been successes in treating animal versions of various diseases in this way. Does this approach mean anything for the treatment of cancer? Of course, cancer isn’t a chronic or degenerative disease like Parkinson’s or motor neuron disease, but interestingly it is quite relevant to stem cell research in another way. Stem cells are self-renewing just like cancer cells, so one of the issues in stem cell therapy is that the cells we’re producing and then potentially putting back into the human body, could form a tumour. Although this is a hurdle we think we can get over, it is one of the reasons why, at the moment, we can’t yet try these techniques in humans. Unfortunately, there have been some disasters with such experimentation in other countries where patients have developed aggressive tumours which means that very rigorous ethical and regulatory procedures must be followed. Is it possible that this kind of treatment will only be available to the very wealthy?

Certainly it is likely that these treatments will be extremely costly for the next few decades at least, which means that unfortunately their application will be somewhat limited. As with all technologies, cost will come down as production is scaled up, however, it is unlikely that truly personalised forms of medicine will ever be economically viable. The most realistic model will be to produce a large bank of pluripotent stem cells from which we will select the best match for each patient. What are the most notable success stories in the application of stem cell research to date?

A 30-year old patient, whose left bronchus was occluded due to tuberculosis, was saved when a new section of bronchus was grown using her own stem cells and the trachea from a dead person as a scaffold. Using a similar method, an entire rat heart was constructed, but we are still a long way from replicating the procedure on a human patient. How is your research funded? The British government has been very supportive of stem cell biology in the past but as the economic crisis in the funding of biomedical research intensifies, we are becoming more and more dependent on philanthropic donations to bring these developments to the clinic. Paul Fairchild can be contacted at Paul.Fairchild@path.ox.ac.uk

Photograph: Dr Nathan Robertson

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NEW TECH SPOTLIGHT

r a

Group

The Green Samba

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The Green Samba custom watercraft The Silveira Group, founded by Rodrigo and Kristen Silveira, is a high-end performance designer and builder of personal custom watercrafts. The engines used to power these custom units range from 70Hp to 200hp. : Their dry weight ranges from 220 lbs to 285 lbs, making them extremely easy to lift and move on and off larger crafts. The Silveira Group produces no more than 50 Samba XRS units per year. Silveira’s latest development is the Green Samba, the first emissions-free watercraft designed for a recreational, noise-free riding experience. The Green Samba has the same straight line 65 mph performance of the fastest 260 bhp sit-down PWCs, combined with handling and agility far beyond those of a stand-up PWC. The biggest benefit though is that the Green Samba uses twin direct drive electric propulsion pods so it doesn’t directly deliver any hydrocarbons, CO2 or NO2, into delicate marine environments. Equally as important as the total absence of noxious gases, the Green Samba is completely silent. A working prototype of the carbon fiber construction Green Samba will be on the water for testing purposes late 2010. Contact: Kristen Silveira | SILVEIRAgroup T: 614.270.6628 E: kristen@silveiragroup.com www.silveiragroup.com

NEW TECH SPOTLIGHT

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Designed as an alternative way to commute to work or just drive around the city, the Cell is a concept for an electrically powered threewheeler with a few tricks up its sleeve... At low speeds, the driver can selec t‘Narrow Mode’ which brings the front two wheels into a forward position, reducing the width of the vehicle to that of a large motorcycle, thus allowing it to filter through the traffic on congested city streets. The Cell seats two in an inline position and access is provided by a sliding door which enables the vehicle to park in small spaces and still allows the passengers to exit. Driving the vehicle is also fun as with the wheels in the normal position, the Cell ‘leans’ into corners creating a dynamic driving experience and the novelty factor of such a unique vehicle would appeal to many. Instead of manually plugging into a universal charger, the driver would pull into a Cell-specific charging station where a spring-loaded charging ‘bumper’ would couple with the front of the vehicle, thus allowing the batteries to be charged. The vehicle is also equipped with semi transparent solar panels on the roof and side glass which can trickle charge the batteries using solar energy. The Cell concept will be exhibited at the 2010 West Coast Green Expo in San Francisco in September.

Tom Kent’s ‘Cell’ electric car concept

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Avi Fly

In addition to major corporate clients, the bread and butter of all private jet companies, to regal royalty and showbiz royalty, they have seen and handled it all. From Coldplay to Beyoncé, from the Rockefellers to the Greek and UK royals, from Ricky Martin to Pavarotti,

Aviesa has looked after many a modern day icon.

The staff recall an anecdote involving the late Pavarotti. The great singer was flown to an airport in Mexico that was celebrating an anniversary on that day. In accordance with the local tradition, fire trucks were brought in to supply to “shower” to toast the special occasion. As Pavarotti emerged from the craft, they faced multiple jets of water and retreated. Aviesa weren’t privy to the surprise either. It all ended in laughter, as these things do, but made for one of the great stories in the history of the company.

Profile of a blue-blooded private jet company

Aviesa is one of the

oldest established private jet companies in Latin America, with a pretty interesting

client base that reads like a global Who’s Who.

Owning a private jet doesn’t necessarily mean one can use it for all of one’s travel needs. If you are holidaying in St Barth’s and need to hop over to Mexico for a private party, it might be just easier in terms of logistics (and costs) to use a local private jet company than summon your own craft. The time factor, too, looms huge in all our lives with TIME fast becoming the most sought after commodity. If you can give a person the gift of time – figuratively or quite literally – you have given them a very tangible gift. AVIESA’s fleet offers an interesting flexibility, including as it does from helicopters all the way to Global Express jets (for those in the know, the superclass of craft both in terms of size and comfort). In fact, the company often handles referrals from their European counterparts such a Bluestar Jets, TAG, etc. Aviesa’s fleet consists of long range private jets, which means the company services clients on a global level, not just regionally.

Sovereign

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ies like a star

Aviesa

Global Express

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Gulfstream IV

Gulfstream V

Falcon 900

Clients include City Bank, Coca Cola, Dupont, Grupo Carso, Fritolay Sabritas, Televisa, GMD, Banamex, Basf Mexicana, TAG Aviation (Suiza), Hunt & Plamer (England), Air Partner (England, USA, Spain), Chapman Freeborn, World Bank, Bay View Grand, Blue Star Jets USA, Warner Music, Telefónica de España, Banco Santander (España), Carrefour, CHASE, Jet Aviation, Corporate Charters, Group Metro, Oxygen-4, Mr. D. Rockefeller, UK and Greek royalty, LUIS MIGUEL, ROBBIE WILLIAMS, EROS RAMAZZOTI, COLDPLAY, BEYONCE, the cast of High School Music, Pavarotti, Shakira, Ricky Martin, Paulina Rubio, etc.

Falcon 2000 EX

Falcon 7X

Citation XL

Contact: ISAIAS CHAVEZ G. General Manager AVIESA-México Aeropuerto Internacional de Toluca, México Tel: +52 (722) 273 2222 Fax: +52 (722) 273 1991 Mobile: +52 (55) 5431 7098 Web: www.aviesa.com

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Grand Agusta

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HONG KONG SPOTLIGHT

Photographs by Paul Tsang

joseph

Placing China on the

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It has been a decade since Joseph Li’s demi-couture collection first adorned the racks of renowned retailers including Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and Lane Crawford. His distinctive works have walked Australian and New York fashion week runways and his creative talent scrounged by Lanvin. His calm and composed demeanour hides a torrent of success including a nod as the Asia Designer of the Year at the 2006 China Fashion awards. Renouncing his prestigious position as Chief Designer of Womenswear, Li untied himself from the creative hold of Shanghai Tang in 2007. Since then this intriguing self-taught rising star has moulded, evolved and refined his eclectic style to create his new collection. A merge of clashes and contradictions Li’s pieces are the result of channelled inspiration and immaculate tailoring. Although a strong matador theme flows throughout, each design retains female subtleties teamed with an undeniable edge. With China galloping ahead in the economic and industrial race, the country’s design industry has lagged, stagnant far behind. Li is one of a league of visionary talent to emerge from the East, pushing China from the obsolete onto the fashion world stage. Why did you start your own label?

It just happened. I was thinking of moving to Shanghai and that’s how everything started. All my friends told me to do my own thing - and it’s also important to have a complete vision of a design concept.

Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I draw inspiration from my friends, people around me, and books: I am obsessed with getting my sources from different books. For this collection I looked at Torero. There is this book on bullfighters, whom I find very interesting, and from there it went into flamenco dancers, in particular this artist Cameron Jamie. It is a raw, compassionate and emotional work. I also look at shape and form, and this is a consistent theme in my works. I like contradictions, paradox and juxtapositions. When I do one thing I don’t want it to be literal. I want it to be a composite so that something new can come out of it. You previously designed for Lanvin and Shanghai Tang. Have you found that your designs have evolved since you started your own label?

It evolves everyday; even when I was working elsewhere. You grow and learn things every day, and you never stop evolving, so you constantly improve. How do you define

style?

It’s important to have your own style, not depending on whoever may like it or not, but rather style from within. People should be open rather than merely follow. Some people have an idea of style but it’s truly when you do your own thing and explore rather than conform to the ideal. You shouldn’t be trapped in the thought ‘what is style?’

With China’s increasing financial and industrial influence on the West, why do you think fashion and design have lagged so far behind?

Quite simply people are too busy making money. It might not be a bad thing, hopefully China will invest back into the design and fashion community to enable its growth and development. But it takes time, time for development - perhaps for the next five years. With new talent emerging from China do you think designers will be predominantly influenced by western style or create their own unique aesthetic?

A unique aesthetic would be great but there is always that process of emulating, and then researching to create your own identity. Japanese fashion in the early 70s was imitating the West, but they started to develop their own aesthetic. And I predict that this will happen in China and hopefully produce originality. The Chinese designers I have seen are responsive to new ideas and seem to be very original. How do you perceive the state of fashion design presently?

Raw and in development. People rather drift towards the well-established brands, and only a minute proportion remains loyal to some Chinese designers. Interview by Louise Bleach.

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HONG KONG SPOTLIGHT

How would you describe the KEE concept in a sentence?

KEE was designed to be something of a ‘home away from home’ for our members. It is designed similarly to a grand residence and what we try to do at KEE is to maintain a large team of managers. Their main function is to make people feel at home here, to make introductions, and to encourage an exchange of interesting ideas and conversations.

KEE attracts such an eclectic mix of people; what would you say is the common denominator between them?

They come from all walks of life and we make a special effort to mix people. So it is not a club for the British, or for the French, or for the Chinese; we have a very good balance. They also come from all sorts of different professions, and we try to mix the age groups. Of course KEE is a little bit more mature than a normal night club. Here we might see three generations in one day. For example the grandparents come in for lunch, the parents for dinner and their kids, well those in their 20s, come to party in the evening.

Is this what distinguishes Kee?

Yes, certainly.

You have had a tremendously successful relationship with the Dunhill group, what do you look for in a business partner?

Working with Richemont, Dunhill and Vacheron Constantin was a very good learning process. We have worked for many years with luxury companies, and so we have become close friends with their managers and owners. I had a very close friendship with Pierre Lexy from Hermes and we shared many ideas on what is luxury and what luxury means in today’s world. Working with luxury companies is very interesting because they are always pioneers, creating the new frontiers in the definition of luxury or exclusivity. That is why, in the case of Dunhill, we were invited to include another aspect of bespoke fashion: we brought very interesting, funky living rooms into their shops.

Christian Rhomberg:

the KEE Clubs’ King

Bar (above) and dining room (below) at the Shanghai club.

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Were there ever any creative clashes within this collaboration?

No, during these collaborations they trust me, and they know that I can interpret their guidelines very well. In the case of Alfie’s I had a pretty free hand because I had just done KEE in Shanghai and they were impressed with that. It was fun because it is not supposed to be a men’s bar exclusively - absolutely not. I think it’s quite exciting for a woman to slip into a male environment. It gives it a slightly sexy undertone like Alfie the movie, which is a little bit flirtatious. You have an avid interest in Buddhism, Tibet and ayurvedic medicine. Is this a passion you would ever like to resonate in future KEE franchises?

Actually, we are working on two new projects. One is a country club outside of Shanghai, where we will also have a hotel, amongst other facilities. This hotel will have a focused program on preventive hygiene, detox and upmarket conferences on the topic of sustainability. My partner there, the owner of that project, has set up a foundation to introduce new techniques in production that conforms with sustainability. He has provided the foundation with over twenty million US dollars, so he is very serious about it. What we do is help him to build a platform that brings the right people in China together. Not only in China, but

internationally too. We are also planning a spiritual health retreat in Bhutan which will have fifty rooms or villas. We are collaborating on design with Kengo Kuma, who recently did the Opposite House. This is a nearly complete plan and we hope to start building it this year. We will focus very much on ayuveda and other trans-cultural healing therapies, even some new western healing therapies like kinesiology. It will be very interesting as we are working with one of the world’s best healing clinics, Lanzerhof from Austria, and one of the most respected ayuverda clinics in southern India, based in Kerala, called Sumateram. They have been rated as one of the best clinics for more than thirty years. It seems almost an oxymoron to manage some of the most famous nightclubs in Asia and hopefully a very successful health retreat! We have poisoned people long enough. But our healing places will be fun. They will not be holy, they will not be boring, they will be KEE. There will definitely be some fun to it. Style and sophistication are synonymous with KEE, do you think a flair for style is something you can acquire and cultivate or is it hardwired?

I believe that you do inherit a little bit. I am sure that I inherited a lot from my parents. My mother was an art historian and archaeologist and my grand aunt was a very famous painter in Munich in

Bar (above) and dining room (right) at the Hong Kong club.

the 1920s, so something must have come down to me. Also I grew up around antique collections, and I always lived in beautiful old buildings and houses across Europe. But I also think you can learn a lot. I love to design places and have learnt by working with very talented architects. Was KEE developed by instinct or careful research?

I did some serious thinking about it because I did not want to do just another club in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has a lot of clubs and, with all respect, out of the many clubs I would have to say I prefer the China Club because it was put together intelligently and beautifully and I love their art collection. The only thing that I missed then was a club that was just a club. There was no nightclub aspect to Hong Kong, and I thought that was boring, so we added that on. Generally the types of programs we do we are quite different because we are constantly learning. Through KEE magazine we meet a lot of people, which brings us feedback, and we always have a team of creative people with us so we can explore new ideas. Originally when I set up the club I was studying a little bit, and I was actually fascinated by the sell-on culture. Sell-ons being social places centred on and around an interesting woman. In KEE there is an interesting woman, my wife Maria, so in some ways I built it somewhat for her.

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Staircase (above) and salons (right) at the Hong Kong club.

Did KEE’s success and consequent expansion come as a surprise?

No - I was quite confident we could do that. I had been in the restaurant and club business 20 years earlier. We did hit a very tough time when we opened. We sent out the invitation to join this club a week before 9/11, and we didn’t get one reply. And just after that was over, about 2 or 3 years later we hit SARS, which was a difficult time. But I think because we are very personal, even during SARS, we had more business than anybody else in town because people felt safe here. You felt at home. What other projects are you involved in outside of KEE?

For quite a few years I have supported various charity causes and I’m also a director of a Buddhist charity called Karua Sethian. With Karuna we look after and fund, in Tibet, in Nepal, in Bhutan and India, about 20 to 30 ongoing projects. They range from big schools of up to 800 students to hospitals. We have one hospital in Nepal that has about 100 000 patients a year. This is quite a commitment but it’s really enjoyable; and because it is part managed within a Buddhist environment the monasteries help us, so it is not that difficult to manage. In the monasteries there is such a great amount of respect so you don’t have to have a huge organization. I also support a child wildlife scheme in Nepal because they are close friends of mine and they do very good projects, as well as doing a lot of fundraising here in Hong Kong. But whenever I can I like to support good ideas. I met a wonderful young Chinese lady who became a nun and she has opened her own orphanage in the Hunan

province. She looks after 40 children, and it is amazingly beautiful to see what she does for them and what a happy community she has. I am very happy to help her. I’m actually hoping to go myself. We have adopted a few kids from there because it’s relatively easy to give someone money. I think you have to do a little bit more. I want to pass this feeling onto my children. I am going to take my daughter Mara there soon because I think that is an experience she has never had. What sparked your passion for Buddhism?

When I was a kid, I was sure I was going to end up in heaven and then I was told it’s not so easy. So I started to wonder: what is the meaning of life? Is there God? All these questions and, although I came from a Catholic background, my questions were never really answered. So, I started to read a lot of existential philosophy but I had a feeling that in Asia I would find a lot more answers. I had already started to read books on Buddhism, and I think subconsciously this made me chose to come to Asia. After I had arrived here, I then connected and met my first teachers. The more I learnt about it, the more comfortable I became with Buddhism because it’s not a religion; they don’t postulate Buddha as a God. They say that we all have a Buddha nature inside of us and happiness comes from learning to care for other people. And that makes a lot of sense. How would you define happiness from a personal point of view?

I think happiness has to do with not taking yourself as too important and being open. Then you are not so afraid about things. Being and sharing with

other people is what makes you naturally happy. Most people think I am a good person in my family but this is just an extended part of you. This is not really what I consider opening yourself up. I think you need to do a little bit more. I always enjoy being with people and looking after them, so this is very important to me.

What do you hold sacred?

Beyond family and children it is really the knowledge that if I focus I can reach something like enlightenment. If I can reach this state then I will be freer to help more people. One of my teachers had such a power, merely from his presence, that he really changed my life. Out of personal experience this is what is most sacred for me. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

To be courageous and to learn from my mistakes. Everything in life you learn from, just don’t repeat your mistakes. If humour is culturally specific, which country’s humour do you prefer the most?

There is a humour, which is not national but rather cultural. Jewish humour I find the most intelligent. But after that I would have to rate British humour.

Interview by Louise Bleach

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Bl Conversation with fine art collector

Mary Bloch

Collectors are motivated by different things and are often compulsive. What led you and your late husband to collecting and did you have a structured approach?

No. I would say exactly the opposite: there was nothing structural about our collecting. We just collected as we went along. As a matter of fact, in the beginning we never thought of ourselves as collectors. We just saw things we liked and acquired them providing we could afford it, which wasn’t always the case. We decided and became aware that we were both very interested in art. But, I for one did not know much about modern art due to my lack of exposure to western art, having been brought up in China. At that point I hadn’t travelled a lot. But, while George worked in all these fantastic places London, New York, Geneva I started going to museums. All my time was spent in museums. I knew very little at the start.

Would you say your collection was acquired through instinct?

Totally on instinct, and keeping our eyes open. George was brought up in Vienna and knew a lot about western art, and he had a boarder education. So I started educating myself - while he worked I went to museums and galleries. And the best way to find out about their sculptures and paintings is to talk to the people who work there, those that know and understand what they are selling. Whether it was New York on Madison

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Avenue or a small discrete gallery in London, I was absorbing all of it. I was getting more and more books on art, and would watch the short films that were played in the museums. Do you think a flair for art is something that is hardwired or acquired?

You have to have flair. You have to have your own taste. And in my case we had to both love what we saw before we bought it. And we very rarely conflicted, aside from our incredibly varied tastes. Did you anticipate the sale of your collection of snuff bottles when you first started putting it together?

Never. At that time Sotheby’s was just starting in Hong Kong. We sat next to someone called Robert Kleiner who invited us to an auction of snuff bottles. We went and bought our first white jade snuff bottle. That was in 1983. I had loved them as a child and George thought that they were small and easily transported. We never imagined we would accumulate such a collection. Were you sad to part with such an exquisite collection?

No. It was something George and I did together. And once George was gone it took all the fun out of collecting. It was George’s idea that when he went we would put it back on the market so that young collectors could start all over again. Young

collectors should have the pleasure, the sense of accomplishment, and the thrill that we had for collecting. He felt very strongly that young collectors should have that chance. For me now, the joy is all gone. It was something we talked about during the evenings, we would look at them, discuss them, but without him there is no fun. One of the art collectors we interviewed recently said that most great art is rarely seen by the public. Would you agree with this assessment?

Basically, yes. This I found out to my amazement when we went with the Guggenheim on the advisory board trips. The museum would arrange for us to go visit private homes. We saw things to my great pleasure in one Milanese collection that I had only ever seen in museums: all the great Italians together. Do you believe private collectors should “air” their collections on a regular basis and lend them to museums?

People are very careful about their own collections. They are worried about the publicity, and the possibility of theft and robbery. People, and Italians especially, tend to worry about those things. They have the most wonderful Canalettos and Guardes hidden away. Huge. The kind you see only in Venetian museums. Private collections in LA are also unbelievable:

their homes were built architecturally to support the sculptures and the paintings. It was totally amazing. It was an eye opener and such a pleasure, such a joy; better evan than some museums. Contemporary art has pushed the very boundaries of what we perceive as art. Do you feel there should be limits to what we define as art or artistic expression?

Basically, I would say yes. But, when we first started collecting some of our friends thought that we were mad. Therefore I have no right to be judgmental. I saw that infamous bed by Damien Hirst. I did not care for it, yet some people thought it clever. So yes. I have my boundaries and my instinct told me that it was not for me. To me it seemed mad and totally unappealing. Could you name your favourite contemporary artist?

I could not. George had a theory that if you have a favourite you should get rid of everything else. They should all be loved. Equally. If I had to answer with a sculptor I would choose Henry Moore, Barry Flanagan, and Giacometti. Among painters I would probably choose Picasso and Barbara Hepworth. But I love each and all of them.

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Your whole collection comes from so many different periods and styles, would you say there is a common denominator to all of them?

They were chosen purely by instinct - never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that we would have the kind of collection that we have today. We just started, not being able to afford all the pieces we loved, and it would take years to pay off. But in the end it was worth it, because in the end it was ours. And that was a great feeling of satisfaction. Do you think instinct is something that is acquired or hardwired?

I think there has to be a predisposition but I also think you can acquire it - if you want to. You can teach yourself. You need the time, the love and the money to go to art classes, museums because all this widens your taste. How important a role did your art consultant play in the accumulation of your collection?

We never had any consultant for western art; it was all love at first sight and instinct. Do collectors influence the market - and is this a good thing?

Our collection came about slowly and gently so it would be presumptuous to say we have influenced the market. We did influence others: George would invite schools to come look and admire the art in our home. Your favourite piece?

That gets me right in the heart. When I come to London I dash and look at all the paintings and think of them as best friends, apart of course from my serious true best friends and family. I come and I look at them and it’s like friends smiling from the walls.

Do you feel that your taste has evolved?

I would say it did evolve. In one interesting incident, in fact, I saw the broken plates by Julian Schnabel in the Tate gallery. I looked at them and I thought to myself, what a mad man! And how mad people would have to be to purchase such a piece. A few years later I saw another Schnabel, stopped in my tracks, stepped back and fell in love with his madness. Even though there is such a clash within your collection, somehow they all fit together.

George felt very strongly that good art can live together even though they may have nothing to do with each other. From our Japanese ivories, to our steel rabbit sculptures by Barry Flanagan. Although it may not be love at first sight some pieces do grow on you. Did you ever buy any art purely as an investment?

Never in our lives. As a matter of fact, in Paris we were once offered a certain Picasso. We were informed that they were really going at a superb price and to regard it as an investment. Well, frankly looking back it would have been. But we have investments in stocks and shares. Do we put that on our walls to enjoy? Absolutely not. We just had the love, purely the love. Obviously as the collection grew we realised that some pieces would prove to be a valuable investment, but also that some pieces would not amount to much. This did not matter to us in the slightest. Indulgence and ultimate luxury in life?

Music. I love concerts. I love opera. Not every one of course but I am quite a traditionalist in music: Beethoven, Bach, Chopin and most Italian or Mozart operas. When I hear good music I am blissful and simply elated. Interview by Louise Bleach

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Profix International Profix International Ltd. is a multi-service agency providing top quality residential and corporate/office maintenance, cleaning, re-decorating and associated services. Building/handyman/decoration/electrical and other professional services are charged on a per project basis, but start from as little as £20 per hour. We are happy to offer a free quotation with no call out charge and no obligation. Our subsidiary company, Refer a Cleaner, carries a detailed listing of available services and costs per hour. We employ catering staff for any size events. We train and employ all manner of residential staff from basic cleaners to handymen, clothes valeting/alteration hands, drivers, carers for the elderly, dog walkers, etc. All our staff are insured and professionally accredited when applicable. Profix Contacts www.profixint.com E: info@profixint.com T: +44(0)7969464817

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The best way to teach people about art is by letting them look at it

Agnes

Gund

Agnes Gund, President Emerita of the Museum of Modern Art and a leading philanthropist and collector, comes from a family of considerable philanthropic pedigree.

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Photo: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders

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Agnes Gund Collection

She is by all accounts one of the most colourful, respected and occasionally controversial figures dominating the heady world of contemporary art. Her knowledge is encyclopedic and her views firmly held and robustly articulated. She is an eloquent and passionate supporter of art education and other wide-ranging causes and organizations. Agnes Gund is, above all, one of the most generous art donors in the world and has put into lifelong practice her views that art is there to enrich all our lives, not just those of a privileged few. In the course of this interview she named and praised a multitude of her philanthropy and art collector peers with a generosity of spirit that has justly earned her universal admiration, respect and affection. Does corporate philanthropy have more merit than impulsive acts of altruism?

Neither one is better than the other. It is perhaps easier to ask for money if you are a corporate entity. One can approach friends that way because they would feel honour-bound to give and this works well. Impulsive givers, on the other hand, would always give to a cause they are attached to. It is in any case better to give to something that matters to you. That way, you would inspire others to contribute and make greater impact. The Rockefeller family is the most notable example of this. Charitable foundations give for tax reasons,

something that benefits the country as a whole. I strongly believe that taxes need to be protected because taxation puts people in a position where they want to give. There are some great, privately owned art collections that are never seen by the general public. Should art be shared?

There are people who amassed a great fortune and, either through personal interest or good advice, built great art collections. There are many private collections in Europe and Asia that are never seen by the public. Collecting art can be addictive – people buy because they want to live with their collection. There is a big divide between those who have and those who have not and the rich need to give! I am a believer in estate tax. I also feel that it is important to lend one’s collection to public organisations and museums, so that others can see and enjoy it. Furthermore, museums take better care of art collections, curate and show them. Andrew Mellon, who built the most impressive art collection of his generation, donated it to establish the National Gallery of Art in Washington D.C. yet didn’t even have his name on the building. He wanted to inspire other people to contribute which has happened in many significant ways.

Can only the rich be philanthropic?

True philanthropists care about their cause!

There are many people who are not particularly rich, yet give more than the very wealthy relative to their means – because they believe in what they support. There are, of course, worthier causes than art and there is more merit in helping people with their basic and pressing needs than collecting art. I acquired most of my art collection when the pieces were relatively inexpensive. Isn’t art philanthropy socially motivated to some extent?

Yes, being involved in the arts allows people to go to events and to shine. That said, I feel it is important to work with other people. It is equally important to create organisations that attract wider support and to help countries that don’t have established philanthropic structures. We wouldn’t have been able to accomplish the community gardens project without the participation of a number of generously minded individuals who gathered together with Rose Harvey from the Trust for Public Land. We met at the Rockefeller offices to map out a way to buy and staff the gardens based on the way in

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Agnes Gund Collection

which the Rockefeller family uses consortiums to support and understand different projects. Do art patrons have an influence over artists?

This is a difficult thing to talk about. Perhaps the most notable example that comes to mind is Charles Saatchi whose influence went beyond just projecting artists. He compelled people to contend with new artists that he endorsed, and to collect them. He created a market for many artists and influenced those artists’ status. This only became an issue when he started selling and when artists could no longer protect their own work. Collecting a particular artist can be a great boon to that artist, but glut obviously affects the market. Art has to be protected from market fluctuations and collectors should be sold works on the understanding that they will give some of them to a museum. Patrons cannot influence the creative process. It may have happened years ago, but not now. For example, patrons cannot, as the Medici did, dictate colour or theme or content for most works of art. Sometimes, artists themselves take a courageous decision to move away from their niche, Philip Guston and de Kooning being notable examples. As the market is made by the people who collect them, the dramatic change of style is all the

bolder as it often takes time for the new art to gain recognition.

Collectors can certainly influence the popularity of an artist. There is a combination

of factors at play here: who collects, who shows, what happens to the exposure, the ability to buy… One of the most popular artists today, Richard Tuttle, benefited enormously from Marcia Tucker who gave him recognition in an early show at the Whitney. Collectors collect in different ways. The Meyerhoffs, for example, have extensive collections in private museums—what they have accumulated over time reflects their tastes and the depth of the artists’ work. Kathy Fuld had a huge collection of drawings of vast diversity. Steve Martin sold in order to collect more and greater variety. Sam Wagstaff put on the map different media and became very influential in collecting photography and 19th century American silver. Gene Thaw is a very generous collector who has an incredible eye and built collections that are wonderfully wise and all donated to museums. What is the most important achievement of MoMA in your lifetime?

Without hesitation the education wing of MoMA, designed by Yoshio Taniguchi. Although it has attracted its share of criticism, I

think it has serene and flexible architecture. It is a center for education and research that couldn’t have been built without the generous support of many, including Lewis and Dorothy Cullman, Ronald Lauder, Jerry Speyer and especially David Rockefeller (in fact, the museum itself couldn’t have built without him). It hosts a lot of shows and visitors and is great for curators too as it offers space and flexibility. In spite of its detractors, the building is appreciated by the people who work there and allows for exhibiting painting, sculpture, drawings, prints, films and photography together in a very flexible way, giving each media its own different depth of feeling.

The best way to teach people about art is by letting them look at it

All in all, it is a tremendous accomplishment due to wonderful and flexible curators. Will printed matter survive digitalisation?

The Internet is no substitute for seeing and touching the real thing, so I most definitely feel print is here to stay. One only needs to look at art catalogues that are selling at such rates and are in 3rd and 4th print runs to appreciate that.

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PV PHIL IP VOLKERS

After studying Philosophy and Religion at The School of Oriental and African Studies,

Philip headed off on an extended trip to India, where his love of photography took hold. Upon returning his work was discovered

by Jeff Vickers FRPS, and after a successful solo exhibition he decided to pursue a career

Rob Fairer at US Vogue for three years, and has

been working independently for 2 years since.

Philip’s work includes commercial and high

fashion, celebrity portraits, extreme sports and social reportage. Inspired by nature,

the occult and radical self-expression, his style is playful and fantastical, sometimes shocking,

deconstructing

reveal its true nature.

the

subject

A Midnight Summer’s Dream. Originally commissioned by www.Dare2mag.com May 20, 2010 Photos: Philip Volkers. Art Director and Stylist: Tara Sugar. Props Stylist: Alex Lewis. Makeup: Amanda Harrington @ Inparlour. Hair: Joella Butler and Laura Hulbert @ Inparlour. Models: Samuel Baldwin, Emily TT, both at Storm. Retouching: Remo Knecht.

in photography. Philip was first assistant to

Dress POE: Reem Al Asadi www.reemalasadi.com

Hat: Louis Mariette Bespoke Hat Couture POE www.louismariette.co.uk Vintage Japanese silk kimono POE: Amelia Powers www.concettavintage.com Red hot shorts £355: Stella McCartney 0207 518 3100 www.stellamccartney.com Keys and Charms Necklaces POE: Libelulle 07976931264 Bedspread POI: Peter Adler’s personal collection Ashanti and Ewe textiles www.pebblelondon.com

On Emily: Hat: Pachacuti www.pachacuti.co.uk Orange blouse POE: Reem Al Asadi www.reemalasadi.com Dress: Jewel by Lisa www.myasho.com Leggings: Ivana Helsinki www.ivanahelsinki.com/ Belt POE: Black&Brown www.black-brown.com Silk skirt: Still www.stillethical.com Crinoline £25- www.beyondretro.com Ring: Pebble London www.pebblelondon.com Boots: Terraplana www.terraplana.com

On Sam: Double breasted frock Coat: Article 23 www.article-23.com Hat and Necklace: www.pebblelondon.com Badges: Stylists’ own- from Car Boot Sales

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Driven: a glimpse into John Caudwell's private world

John Caudwell’s home is Broughton Hall, a fifty-four

room Jacobean mansion in the

Staffordshire countryside where he

lives with his partner Claire Johnson and their six-year old son.

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Photo: Can Associates Limited/Dan Kennedy

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Photo: Julian Ruiz

The BB team made the transfer from Stafford station to Broughton Hall in a cab whose driver knows a thing or two about Caudwell (his daughter is the boss’ PA) and speaks of him with quite a bit of admiration mixed with local pride. The Hall is in the midst of beautifully maintained gardens flanked by a modern building that houses a state of the art gym and a swimming pool. To the back are the helipad and the helicopter that John flies himself. The Hall was home to elderly nuns once upon a time and had fallen in disrepair but the present owner has since had it restored and his eldest daughter Rebekah, a Chelsea-based interior designer, decorated it in a classic style. ‘Being my daughter I have trained her to give tremendous value. Rebekah can get great results at a fraction of the cost of another designer. She is a cost-effective interior designer.’ John Caudwell is perhaps best known for founding a wholesale mobile phone empire which he sold in late 2006 for £1.46 bn and more recently, for offering solid, no-nonsense business advice to those hopeful to follow in his footsteps. The 3 hour conversational style interview reveals

an unaffected man of considerable charm and energy, solid Northern, honest-to goodness

business acumen and ethics, a passionate advocate for deprived and sick children and at the same time, someone who has earned a reputation for dare-devil sporting exploits such as cycling the gruelling L’Etape portion of the Tour de France alongside competitors half his age who undergo long, rigorous training. I start by asking him about the difference between philanthropy and charity. In his inimitable style he throws the question straight back at me and then elaborates: There is a huge difference in the ways of providing charity. My concern is always to use money for the

charity foundation as I would use it for myself - not just try to provide a person with short term solution but help others find a permanent one, rather than just give them handouts. And hope that the end results work... This leads us on to his own charity, CAUDWELL CHILDREN, and how and why that was founded. ‘I started it 11 years ago. All I had done up to then was build my business and like most people, I didn’t exactly have this yearning ambition to do something charitable.

The NSPCC had asked me to help with an event for sexually abused children. I had a meeting with Lord

Stafford who was involved with the event and was invited to look at some videos of abused children at one of the NSPCC centers, and the whole thing really got to my heart. I actually ended up taking over the whole event. But then, I realised that it is not just about sexually abused children - that there are lots of children in society that are born into a terribly bad situation - it is purely the luck of birth. There is nothing they can do to change their life. They are just saddled with whatever they are born with. I started thinking, it is really so devastatingly unfair that they are brought into a life of misery. At least rich families have the means to be able to do what they need to help their children. It then became so apparent and appalling to me that some children are born with such terrible challenges in life, yet their parents have got no money whatsoever to provide for the most fundamental basic needs of their child. This is not a world that is acceptable. You have to do something about it. And , Caudwell Children. I’ve still carried on supporting other charities, but Caudwell Children became very

that motivated me to set up my own charity

close to my heart. We just went out to try and help every child that we could find. In some cases we’d cure the problem, but in most cases, we’d just make the life of a child a lot better – a lot more sustainable and enjoyable. We have provided a huge amount of help like this. Sometimes you come across a child whose expected lifespan is perhaps only 20 years no matter what you do, but you can enhance the quality of these 20 years massively. In one case I remember this child who had muscular atrophy (a degenerative muscle disease whose victims’ bones often struggle to realign). The child was sleeping on a mattress with wedges in it to hold the body in line while she was in bed. The cost of a special orthopedic mattress was £1000, but the parents couldn’t afford it, so the child had to have an operation every 2-3 years as a result. Her weak unsupported body deteriorated, – something that could have been reduced or avoided just by having the right equipment and that right equipment being simply a special mattress. I am committed to paying all the administrative costs associated with the running of the Charity, so people who donate to the charity know that

every pound goes directly to a child in need. The trouble with donating to charities in general is that finding an organization that’s using the money properly and effectively is so very time-consuming. That is always the really big worry for donors. Whereas in my charity every pound donated is made to provide two pounds in value. All our people working for Caudwell Children are trained to negotiate with hotels, medics, airlines and other service providers to try and keep the costs down. This sends a very strong message across to potential donors.’

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Photos: Can Associates Limited/Dan Kennedy

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Dinner with Gorbachev was amazing, says John – the former president spoke candidly of his political career and world leaders at the time: Photo: Can Associates Limited/Dan Kennedy

Thatcher, Reagan and others, whilst Hugh Grant was in fine form issuing many searching and witty questions.

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Photo: Julian Ruiz

Do you go to a lot of

Do wealthy people give

Do you think that philanthropy

charity events?

out of sense of guilt,

is integral to human nature or

compelled to do so because

is it a cultural concept?

I go to as many as I can. Of course at this time of year it has been very busy. I always go to the Ark Ball, Elton John’s Ball and the summer ball of the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation. John goes on to describe the memorable auction at the charity’s 2009 annual, even when he climbed to the auctioneer’s podium and challenged the revelers to match his bid of £250 000 for the star lot – dinner for two with Mikhail Gorbachev at his home in Russia. BB Publications was there as we had donated two of the auction prizes and we remembered the electrifying moment well enough. John narrates how, as moments elapsed and no one raised a hand to match his bid, he wondered if he had overplayed his hand. The day was saved by none other than the charity’s committee member Hugh Grant who matched the quarter of million bid and ended up sharing the prize with John. Dinner with Gorbachev was amazing, says John – the former president spoke candidly of his political career and world leaders at the time: Thatcher, Reagan and others, whilst Hugh was in fine form issuing many searching and witty questions. They also visited the main Moscow cancer hospital where the diagnostic ward was so old and the equipment so outdated that in curing the tumour, the treatment was also causing brain damage. The funds injection made a colossal difference, says John who recalls thinking at the time, “Here we are two Englishmen buying much needed equipment for a Russian hospital when there are so many wealthy Russians out there”.

they have such vast wealth?

I am sure with some people out there it would be guilt. There are all sorts of emotions. My personal emotion has nothing to do with guilt. It is just a feeling that I have to do it. It is different from guilt, although, I’d probably feel guilty if I did nothing. I feel great sadness to see people’s lives blighted by illness and I also feel that we, as a society, are required to help in a sustainable way. I can go to a charity event and get as much pleasure as I do from flying a helicopter, for example – because I am doing something meaningful. Doing something enjoyable is limited and of personal value only, whereas helping others is not only enjoyable, but has long-term, measurable results. At a charity event, people go and have a great meal and a fabulous time. But one doesn’t get the same sense of fulfillment as with helping improve life. You see kids who are struggling yet are so grateful for so little, and you think, they should not have been born with so many traumatic challenges in life. Putting in a good word for Russian philanthropy, I mention Lev Tolstoy who gave a large portion of his inherited wealth away yet failed to alleviate poverty in any significant way. It should be pure business, says John. My charity is very business oriented. Your heart may go out to the children when you see them, but behind the scenes it’s just like any other business. It is hard driven and it is about providing the best possible result for that charity.

I think with the majority of people it is probably a cultural concept. But for me it is hard-wired and part of my personality. I recall having this vision when I still very young of being driven in a chauffeured Rolls Royce and handing out £5 notes to poor people. I come from a modest background and was very driven and ambitious, but it is weird how precociously my ambition had a strong element of philanthropy to it even at that early stage. Assuming that you have a lot of different friends, do they have anything in common that you can identify?

I would say they are all good people. 'Good' is such a general concept but I don’t tend to have friends who have serious moral issues. There are people who are perceived as good and great by everyone around them but if I detect a personality flaw – something that is seriously negative – I won’t bother with them. I should point out that that does not apply to somebody who has already become a good friend. What do your friends most like about you?

I don’t know, you’d have to ask them. If I have to guess, they might say probably that I am fundamentally a good person, that I do a lot more good than harm. But I might be way off base…I know they do enjoy being on my yachts…

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Photo: Julian Ruiz

What do you most value in friendship?

Friends are people whose company you enjoy. I like people who are active and fun and share my interests, my love of cycling and skiing, for example. Friends are also people who are supportive when it matters – as I am to them. I might not do the small things for them that other people could, but for things that are seriously important, I would be there for them and expect them to be there for me too. Do curiosity and zest for life abate with age?

I think recklessness abates with age, but I am very lucky in that my zest for life is huge and I still want to do a lot of things – many more than I have time for. I am also adventurous and like a challenge. I am doing the hardest stage of the Tour de France next week, which is a 110 miles ride with 14 000 feet of climb and in temperatures probably over 30 degrees. I have only just started training 4 weeks ago (most people train for months and are quite young). The main thing that scares me is the fleet of coaches and two police officers on motorbikes who ride behind the cyclists and take out the slow ones out of the race. I am 99% certain that I am not fast enough to stay ahead of them, but am doing it for Caudwell Children. People think I am being modest when I say this but they don’t realise the toughness of this challenge. Last year 6000 cyclists failed to do it.

people out there who can cycle faster than me), but I always want to do the best that I am capable of. I am also doing it for charity and that is ultimately the most important reason. So, it will challenge me to the limit and it’s for charity! Is it important in general that people push themselves? Some people live a very happy life without being challenged at all. If it works for them, that’s fine. Does it really matter how much you achieve in life?

Many successful people feel their children have to be equally high achievers - I always tell my children that what really matters to me is that they are happy, whilst of course, I would love them to be “go getters” as well. Is constantly pushing the limits an integral part of the entrepreneurial mindset?

I don’t think it is. Some entrepreneurs are happy to bet. That was never me - once I made a bet I had to make it work. When I realised that some of my businesses weren’t going to work, I shut them down, but made sure everyone was paid. No one has lost money as a result of dealing with me ever. As a customer, supplier or an employee I am a real big believer in that. I don’t like the entrepreneurial group of people who go out and do something until if it fails and call in the creditors. I am of the view that as an entrepreneur it is your responsibility to make sure that an idea is going to work.

Why is it important to break your own record and

What scares you, if anything?

Not much these days, really. I get a little bit frightened of doing karaoke. The most frightening thing I have ever done in life is a bit difficult to convey, but I’ll try and describe it. I went for a drive on a mountain track with one of the top rally drivers in the UK, Guy Wilkes - a track that was washed and eaten away with huge great big trees on both sides. I have done a lot of racing in my life, not rally driving, but I have done motocross. I’ve raced cars. But sitting in that car going round the bends thinking there is no way that that guy could get the car around the next bend was absolutely terrifying - a virtually guaranteed death, or so I thought. When we came to the end and he said “do you want to do it again”, I felt I had to say “yes” but it was no less terrifying than the first time round. At least, the first time I thought I was lucky enough to have lived through it. Nothing else has come close to matching the experience, although I do have a company in Cape Town that flies the fastest civil aircraft in the world. What do you find irritating?

I am a fast moving, fast thinking man so get irritated with things or people that are too slow. I am irritated by incompetence, especially if it is lazy incompetence. Involuntary incompetence due to the person not being able to do something through lack of skills is totally forgivable, but lazy incompetence gets me worked up every time. Do you have a sense of

What do you hold sacred?

mischief?

push yourself beyond the limit in general?

This is part of my nature – I don’t worry about beating other people (there are millions of

Truthfulness. I hate dishonesty and I can’t deal with liars.

Yes, very much so.

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I am a fast moving, fast thinking man so I get irritated when things or people are too slow. I am irritated by incompetence, especially Photo: Julian Ruiz

On that note which nation or culture’s humour do you appreciate the most?

I suppose I have to say the British sense of humour, although you can only really judge other peoples humour if they speak English perfectly, or if you speak their language. Do you have a favorite travel destination?

No, because all my travel is all based on a particular activity: I ski in Vail and I go boating in the Mediterranean, but the destination is not hugely important. Do you have an addictive personality?

I wouldn’t say addictive - passionate and extreme some people might say, but not addictive. When I decided to do something I do it in an extreme way. Cycling for L’Etape is a good case in point – I had no time to train, so am starting cycling at 2 am tomorrow morning. When I decide I am going to do something I am determined to achieve it. Sounds like you are an adrenaline addict

I suppose I am an adrenaline addict, even if I don’t have the time to be, not to mention that I have broken too many bones over the years and the body’s creaking.

if it is lazy incompetence.

flying a helicopter, I am not a better pilot than a professional but it is sometimes quicker to do it myself than to call on someone to fly it for me. You have not one, but two megayachts.

Tell me about

them.

One is 58 meters, the other is 67 meters. Both were designed by Espen Oeino. I bought the first one six months ago, then immediately after I heard that another yacht was being auctioned off. I didn’t particularly want to buy another yacht, but decided to go to the auction just in case it went at a low price. The auction developed as a bidding war between just two people in the room – myself and another buyer. At one stage, I walked away from the bidding and bought a can of coke. The auctioneer, who was also the owner of the yacht, thought I had quit and was panicking. Just then, I walked back and outbid the other buyer. I couldn’t resist a bargain. You told me that you can captain them yourself. When did you do your qualification?

I did my yachtmaster’s 5 years ago. I have another yacht, a Sunseeker, which I sailed from Pool Harbour to Barcelona – that was my maiden voyage. I did the trip three times, in fact, and encountered every mortal hazard known to man – force 8 winds, fog, engine failure, gearbox failure… but this gave me a tremendous experience What is the best advice

What type of activity do

you have ever been given?

you enjoy the most?

Anything exciting! I enjoy doing things myself – it is often faster to do something yourself than find someone to do it for you. Of course you have to delegate in life but you have to know when to do it. For example, when it comes to

I am not totally sure. I am very much my own person. It doesn’t mean I don’t learn from other people, but I learn from seeing what people do rather than what they say. Because what they say is often different from what they do!

What advice would you give to young graduates in these recession-ridden times?

I suppose it is the same old advice. You just have to put massive effort into getting a job. You should chase a job. People are always impressed by effort. Even if the effort is intrusive people always applaud it. That, and dedication… Quality education just shows that one has a measure of intelligence. It doesn’t show a potential employer to what extent you would dedicate yourself to the work. What would you say is the most significant change in society in your lifetime?

It has got to be the internet. Internet and mobile phones have changed the way we communicate. About 30 years you would only go to a shop to buy something. Very few people do that now. Now you go online to make the purchase, or at least check the price. It has made commerce far more competitive and far more aggressive. The two together – the internet and the mobile phone - have transformed society beyond recognition. Define happiness

For me personally, happiness would be a combination between leading an active life - the challenges that keep me alert on a day to day basis - and more importantly, being surrounded by the people who are important to me. There are always problems in life and nothing is as easy it seems from outside. But I am happy because overall my children are well balanced and good people. When your children are decent people, the world is a better place with them in it.

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Jure Kravanja

Jure Kravanja was born in Celje, Slovenia,

in 1960. He graduated in Sociology and Ped-

agogy in 1984. It was only later, in his forties, that he became interested in pho-

tography. The hobby quickly progressed into a passion, a way of life. His work, which

concentrated mainly on abstract/architectural photography, has been seen in publications such as Black & White Magazine and

Foto Video. An established member of Onex-

posure and other leading online galleries, Kravanja has also exhibited at the New York Photo Festival, and garnered several FIAP

awards. Performing research at the Clini-

cal Psychiatric Center Ljubljana, his chief interest now lies in photography as a means of diagnostic and therapeutic treatment.

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LOUIS BB 78

XIII BB’s Wine Chap Tom Harrow talks to Madame Pierette Trichet

For the discerning drinker, Brandy

- specifically Cognac, is the most refined and noble expression of digestif distillates: Whisky has more romance, but is an untamed savage next to Cognac’s urbane sophistication, whilst Grappa remains the preserve of the peasantry. The best of this best of Brandy regions comes from the Coeur de Cognac, Grande and Petite Champagne, named for the Latin ‘campagna’ - chalk, which gives rise to correspondingly mineral terroirs in the chalk-enriched soils of Champagne and Chablis. The pinnacle of achievement from ‘the Coeur’is exemplified in Remy Martin’s most exclusive Grande Champagne Cognac, Louis XIII. As part of Rendevouz Remy Martin’s Louis XIII Experience, WineChap enjoyed a Tasting of Eau de Vie destined for this honour and lunch in Cognac with Madame Pierette Trichet, Maitre de Chai at Remy Martin for the past 10 years and still the region’s only female cellar master. Did you face any difficulties being the region’s first female maitre de chai?

The traditionally masculine culture was not easy to enter into but I have never been concerned that my palate did not compare favourably with any mans’ (chuckles -) even if some initially thought otherwise!

Given that you came in initially to chemically analyse the wines, what do you feel now is the balance between science and the senses for assessing quality?

Before sampling a selection of

different aged Eau de Vie chosen for the Louis XIII, we tried the XO and the rare ‘88 vintage (the first single vintage from Remy Martin since 1965 - in iteself interesting given the proliferation of ‘vintages of the century’ in recent years in Bordeaux and Champagne). Where the XO betrayed the unmistakeable smooth density and oppulent complexity for which the house is known, the 88 was more penetrating, more direct in its assault on the palate: If the XO is an oil painting, multi-layered, a Rembrandt, the ‘88, more monotonal but more visceral, is a Picasso. There have been only four cellarmasters, The Guardians of the Temple, at Remy Martin in the last one hundred years. Pierette, who worked for 20 years with her predecessor before taking over, was not only the first woman to breach Cognac’s solidly masculine inner guard but, almost as controversially, was the first to introduce chemical analysis into the mysterious art of blending.

Its alchemy - the nose and hand of man are the ultimate arbiters but science helps us understand and confirm the analysis of our senses. Although I came to Cognac as a scientist, it is the art of Tasting which prevails.

During the annual tasting of new

Eau de Vie, Pierette’s tasting team of four or five will taste up to 3000 samples over two months, each of the two daily tasting sessions comprising 35 eau de vie. All eau de vie destined for Louis XIII are from 100% Grande Champagne vineyards, and only the very best (less than 2%) of those are considered for inclusion.

What are you looking for in the top eau de vies, destined for Louis XIII? What is the special quality that earns the rare 10% bonus for the grower?

Specifically - fresh pear fruit and those fatty esthers which will develop into fabulous aromas in combination with elements of the oak barrels.

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I ‘Louis XIII is beyond luxury it is iconic... it’s just what it is, forever.’

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XIII 45 litres of wine are required

as the raw material to make a single bottle of Louis XIII. 9 litres are distilled into a single litre of spirit and then, after 40 years ageing, only 20% will be left. This natural evaporation over many years is known as the ‘angel’s share’, and time, the imperative ingredient to ensure the maturation of the best Cognac, demands this substantial payment for its services. It also means Pierette will never try many of the best Eau de Vie she earmarks for inclusion in future blends of Louis XIII.

How do you feel knowing that you will never get to taste some of your most exciting creations?

The important thing is to have made the best selection of Eau de Vie during my time. After all I am working with the choices and creations of the past generations of cellarmasters. The team after me will take up the mantle, so there is no frustration. It’s rather like passing on the Olympic torch or building a Cathedral. This transmission of secret knowledge is one of happiness; in the mission of Remy Martin, you own nothing - like the Philippe Patek commercials. My predecessor bestowed upon me certain knowledge and a library of wonderful brandies which I will add to and pass on in my time.

The secret art and science or

alchemy of Cognac is blending but very occasionally single vintages will be made (‘65, ‘88

and ‘89 have been the most recent examples). Pierette was reticent to be drawn on which recent years are showing promise, suggesting it was too early to tell, but said that every year some Grand Champagne eau de vie from the estate’s own vineyards are put aside and observed annually to see if they will develop sufficiently to merit a single vintage bottling. Otherwise the job of the Maître de Chai is the preservation and continuance of existing house styles - VSOP, XO and of course Louis XIII, through the magic of assemblage.

Have you seen the style of the House change during your time as cellar master and how have you influenced its development to appeal to the modern luxury market?

Climate, harvest and tastes have changed but the style of the house remains. The essence of Cognac is patience. It cannot be created on demand. Louis XIII is beyond luxury - it is iconic; which essentially means that it cannot respond to transient market trends, or engage with the requirements of the marketeers of luxury; it’s just what it is, forever.

Remy Martin recently released

Louis XIII Rare Cask - the world’s most devastatingly exclusive and expensive Brandy. From a single and singular barrel (that had uniquely and inexplicably achieved 43.8 alcohol as opposed to the usual 40), the contents have

been meticulously nurtured and now bottled in a series of 786 Baccarat black crystal decanters. These limited edition releases are, whilst not priceless, unrivalled in expense.

The recent release of the Rare Cask caused quite a stir, when did you first realise there was something special about barrel 43.8?

About ten years ago, during our annual tasting of Louis XIII barrels, I first realised something was special about this particular barrel: The intensity of aromas and unusual concentration of alcohol suggested I mark it out for particular attention. After continuous observation, we finally made the rare decision, rather than blending it with other Louis XIII barrels, to make a unique cuvée.

What are your ambitions now for the House and yourself?

For myself - to transmit my knowledge on to the next generation then to walk to St James of Compostella. I also want to take photographs, to paint and travel more, all things I do not have the time to do now. For Remy I wish continuance and development, but most of all maintenance of the family spirit, for the identity and soul of the house should always remain.

Notes from Louis XIII Eau de Vie Tasting

NB - all eau de vie below are from 100% Grande Champagne vineyards, and only the very best (top 2%) of those are considered for inclusion in Louis XIII.

vanilla tones to add to the apricot and vineyard peach character of the eau de vie, now joined by almond, butter, toffee and butterscotch.

peel, leather and hint of soy, an experience on the palate like smoke curling under the roof of the mouth, you feel each sip in your cheekbones.

1st sample

4th sample

2009 70% ABV. Limpid colour, expressing fruit aromas (particularly peach) already despite high alcohol - a sign of a quality EdV.

15-17 years old 55% ABV. Aromas more concentrated and oxidative - still some apricots but now also dried figs, cloves, hazlenuts and pepper.

Rendevouz Remy Martin offers a number of Cognac Discovery Programmes - the pinnacle being the half or full-day Louis XIII Connoisseur Experience. More details are available from www.visitesremymartin.com

2nd sample

5th sample

Same as above but with water added to clarify the aromas. Now fresh pear joins the peach and despite the addition of water the quality is shown by the fatty esthers that cling to the glass (like glycerol in wine).

35-40yrs old 47% ABV. Very mellow, smooth, rounded, softly dense, nuts, prunes and manuka honey. 6th sample

3rd sample

About 8 years old 66% ABV. Ageing in new Limosin oak has given the wine some

70yrs old 42%. Confit orange, nutmeg, sandalwood, more prunes, moccha, hints of marzipan, treacle, licqorice, dried

There are commercial flights to Angoulême or private charter/helicopter to Cognac airport. Couples are encouraged to take the Grande Champagne room at the charming Les Tilleuls, 98 av Paul Firino Martell, 33 (0)5 45 35 03 12 - ask for Mme Coates. NB - The Petite Champagne room below is more than adequate for driver/valet/pilot etc. Tom Harrow www.winechap.com

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Amber Atherton interviews...

ANGUS THIRLWELL Check in to Chocolate Heaven

If chocolate had a voice, it might well sound like the silky, smooth tones of Angus Thirlwell. Founder of the frankly epicurean chocolatier Hotel Chocolat, Thirlwell speaks so passionately about the allure of cacao that one is practically seduced: ‘Well, chocolate is extremely seductive; once it’s got its tentacles wrapped around you it’s hard to be released,’ he pronounces, quite poetically. He goes on to divulge that it has now been over 12 years since he became fully and professionally infatuated with confectionery’s charm. Thirlwell founded Hotel Chocolat in 1993 with business partner Peter Harris and describes it as ‘somewhere between the tranquillity of a luxurious Cosmetic counter, the pace of a stylish airport, the allure of a timeless beauty like Catherine Deneuve and the hottest and sexiest night at Studio 54.’ With customers that look more Chanel than Cadbury (Hotel Chocolat, in fact, recently collaborated with the fashion house), it is no surprise that chocolate connoisseurs are swapping the seemingly passé Godiva and Leonidas to check in at Hotel Chocolat. Even the most jaded gourmand would swoon over Hotel Chocolat’s lust worthy array of edible treats, from the brand’s notoriously desirable chocolate slabs to the (organic, 100% cocoa) dark chocolate Hacienda Iara bar. Over and above confectionery excellence, however, Hotel Chocolat’s success is based on their policy of matching ‘luxury’ with innovation. It recently started a Chocolate Bond Scheme which alone raised a cool £3.7m.

To reinvent the confectionery as a luxury product all over again, Thirlwell

points to ‘a gradual shift to allow cacao to become the dominant ingredient rather than sugar. If you’re going to invest your calories in chocolate then it has to be good’. This is something of an understatement from Thirlwell – he and his customers demand new and unrivalled gastronomic splendour. Thus Hotel Chocolat’s exclusive Chocolate Tasting Club was born. The Tasting Club, which now boasts over 100,000 members, is an example of how Thirlwell has helped to shape and educate the palette of chocolate enthusiasts worldwide. Every month a selection of chocolate made from rare and vintage beans is sampled and scored by members, creating a valuable customer - client relationship; one which is echoed in Thirlwell’s relationship with co-partner Peter Harris. The two worked together for 10 months in 1987 at a computer firm in Cambridge before they both left to

set up MCC (a mint-based confectioner) as a catalogue business in 1988. The move to selling chocolate came later, and the Choc Express brand was eventually superseded by Hotel Chocolat. The pair opened their first shop under the new name in Watford, England in 2004. Six years on and there are now more than 40 individual shops in the UK as well as concessions nationwide in John Lewis and 2 stores open in the US. This year Hotel Chocolat made the move to the Middle East and now have one store each in Bahrain, Dubai and Kuwait. Despite these expansions of their physical domain,

Thirlwell accepts that there is a balance between ‘brick’ and ‘click’ purchases, and that e-commerce has

evolved essentially to give the customer more choice. ‘Whether they want to ring up and order some chocolates or pop into a shop, it’s up to them’, he says. Thirlwell clearly relishes the diversity of his customer base and realises that ‘the internet has changed quite a lot for us. At first it was just about transaction but now it’s about engagement.’ Thirlwell is keen to remain at the forefront of digital marketing and constantly looks to promote the brand to different audiences through online video content and social media. There is, however, one project on the material

front that is causing a ripple amongst chocolate lovers worldwide. Opening its doors on December 28th on the 140 acre Rabot Estate in St Lucia, ‘The Real Hotel Chocolat’ is set to be more than just another Caribbean luxury retreat. The resort will comprise of six unique lodges set 1000 ft above sea level and the rooms have been meticulously designed to offer balanced and sustainable luxury. ‘There may be no air-conditioning but the beds are positioned at exactly the right angle to allow the cool mountain breeze to wash over you’, Thirwell enthuses. With high thread count sheets, a small ‘concierge cabinet’ stocked with chilled champagne, local rum and freshly made chocolate, it seems the vision of an exotic retreat. ‘In tune with nature, but luxurious’, says Thirwell, ‘with a hedonistic vibe’. For those who truly wish to ensconce themselves within the chocolatemaking experience, guests are invited to join cacao pickers on the plantation. ‘You’ll be able to join in on all parts of the production process, from picking cocoa beans right through to the creation of super premium chocolate’, Thirwell explains whilst elaborating on the overall aim of the enterprise -

to be a unique adventure for the mind and senses. Willy Wonka it certainly is not.

Thirlwell is familiar with this type of adventure. When he is not at home in Cambridge, he can often be found in the Caribbean, where he grew up and his father still lives. ‘It’s just a parallel universe there; and with Hotel Chocolat now such a sizeable project you can become completely absorbed - when you leave it’s a big shock. I realise I’m incredibly at ease there.’ For simpler escapes, Thirlwell loves to visit the foodie havens when in London; Borough Market (favouring lunch at Appleby’s Fish Restaurant) followed by a proper ale at the Market Porter Pub. One might gather from this that Thirwell’s indulgences of choice can be characterised as ‘simple pleasures’, but when asked his thoughts on the famous maxim ‘chocolate: the poor man’s champagne’, he instinctively recoiled from the phrase. ‘Nobody wants their luxury product to be the poor man’s alternative. But we are very much about democratising access to this popular product. Anybody of any income level can buy our products. There is an underlying feeling that we’re not elitist - it’s aspirational luxury, part of anybody’s day.’ As our conversation draws to a close, it becomes clear that a day in the life of a real Mr Wonka is enviously sweet. ‘My own personal interests are so in line with my business that I don’t really feel like I’m working - the whole experience is just extremely fulfilling.’

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HOTEL COLLECTION

Oe OETKER

Running the the

It was in 1891 that Dr. August Oetker, a pharmacist from Bielefeld in Germany, invented baking powder in a room at the back of his shop, an invention that led to the creation of the ‘Dr. Oetker’ brand. It was the beginning of this empire that led to the ‘Oetker signature’, a mark of guaranteed success and quality. During the course of the company’s successes and financial opportunities, the ever-expanding Oetker Group diversified into food products, wines and spirits, maritime transport and luxury hotels. The ‘Dr. August Oetker KG’ company which is managed today by the fourth generation of the Oetker family and whose head office remains to this day in Bielefeld, in 2008 employed 24,685 people and generated a net turnover of more than € 9 billions. The Oetker Group has been writing hotel history for decades and the hotels belonging to Oetker have in 2006 been regrouped under: The Oetker Hotel Collection.

The Collection embraces four luxury hotels > Brenner’s Park-Hotel & Spa in Baden-Baden – the first hotel taken over by the Oetker family, it passed into the hands of Rudolf August Oetker in 1941 > Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc – located on the Mediterranean at the tip of the Cap d’Antibes, the Hôtel du Cap was bought by the Oetker family in 1969 > Hôtel Le Bristol – in the very centre of Paris just across from the Elysée Palace, since 1978 Château Saint-Martin & Spa – located in Vence, the romantic part of Provence and owned by the Oetker family since 1994. Despite each hotel having its own very definite character, the hotels all represent the ultimate in European hospitality sharing a high level of service, beautiful and historic architecture and interiors as well as an attention to detail. Each reflecting their part of Europe’s uniqueness and culture.

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The Oetker family is strongly involved with the hotels, in particular with the interior design at each hotel. The four hotels all boast luxurious materials and fabrics often borrowed from a certain era, objects d’art and rare, antique furniture. Also of note are the hotels’ beautiful gardens, often designed by a renowned landscape gardener, for example Jean Mus, and their sumptuous swimming pools. Yet, perhaps most importantly, the peerless quality of service remains one of the fundamental values of The Oetker Hotel Collection and within each hotel a very professional team is both dedicated to the hotel guests and loyal over the years to the hotels. In the eyes of the Oetker family there is nothing more important in a five star hotel than impeccable and personal service. The Oetker hotels are where the ultimate in European hospitality is celebrated, where elegance is experienced in magnificent settings and where social and cultural exchange is cultivated. The hotels are cultural treasures maintained for future generations to experience as each hotel is rooted in the tradition of European Grand Hotelkeeping and at the same time dedicated to looking towards the future. Contact Oetker Hotel Collection Bärbel I. Göhner Director of Corporate Communication Oetker Hotel Management Company c/o Brenner´s Park-Hotel & Spa Schillerstrasse 4/6, 76530 Baden-Baden, Germany Tel: +49 (0)7221 – 900-0 Direct: +49 (0)7221 – 900-830 Fax: +49 80)7221 – 900-834 Email: baerbel.goehner@oetkerhotels.com www.oetkerhotels.com

Amber Atherton interviews...

FRANK MARRENBACH CEO of the Oetker Hotel Collection

Describe your job in one sentence.

To make people, guests and employees alike happy and to look for opportunities to grow. What is the Oetker Collection philosophy?

The Oetker Hotel Collection is the most inspiring selection of hotel masterpieces in the world. Each property is one-ofa-kind, reflecting the unique European heritage. For us every employee, regardless of age, rank or job position is regarded as a hotelier. Is there a particular hotel in the Oetker collection that you feel most at home in?

This is like asking parents which of your children is your favourite. Our hotels are all different and I am equally passionate about them.

Brenner’s Park-Hotel and Spa

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Château Saint-Martin and Spa

Is High-Touch still more important for you than High-Tech?

In fact this statement is part of our core principals. Even the largest plasma screen cannot reach the guests heart, our hoteliers can. What does the future hold for the hotel industry and more specifically the Oetker Collection?

Although the large brands will continue to dominate the markets, it will be the niches which are going to be of more relevance to an affluent clientele. It is the small, highly individualized collection like ours that will appeal to this market. Do you consider yourself a philanthropist, a humanitarian, an ecologist or none of those?

“You must like people” - this is my guiding principle. If you take this into consideration I am definitely a humanitarian. I care for people and their wellbeing. Yet, I am well aware of the necessity to protect the environment. What do people most like about you?

I guess you better ask those people.

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Hôtel Le Bristol

What is the key to success in the hospitality industry?

You have to have a solid background and the German apprenticeship system provides a great start. I worked in every department, be it stewarding, kitchen, service, housekeeping and so on. Obviously you should embrace strategic thinking and you need a good knowledge in controlling. But first and foremost you should accept that it is a 24/7 business. Hotels just never close, unless they are seasonal or they go bankrupt. Therefore you need a lot of energy to scope with this pace. So you need to work very hard, keep in touch with operations, and come up with meaningful services which delight the guests. Put simply: you must be passionate about hotels. Do curiosity and enthusiasm about life in general abate with age or not?

I know people who are still remarkably inspiring at the age of 80, and I know people who seem to have retired at the age of 25. I strongly believe that this is a state of mind. If you constantly look for new ideas and enjoy discoveries as such, you will age healthy and stay younger than your relevant age group.

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I reckon that voyeurism in society is not a new phenomenon. Most people are simply interested in what the rich and famous do. However, due to the mass media the stars are utmost exposed and the spectators can participate more! Some of the stars are indeed inspiring and make people dream or encourage them to improve their skills. I think there is nothing wrong about this, disease is something else. Obviously, there are limits and some people are too desperate to appear on TV and are prepared to do all kind of exotic things for a ‘15 minutes’ appearance in the media. So my advice is: if you want to be famous, find out your talents, remain humble, work hard and have a genuine personality even behind the camera. Your Secret Escape?

My home is my castle. Define happiness from a personal point of view.

To see my family and children in good health and develop well. And to help other people grow. What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Remain humble in face of success. What’s the best advice you would give?

Once you stop striving to be better, you stop being good.

Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc

au j

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TOP LAWYER SPOTLIGHT

Dr. Anthony Julius: A man

Anthony Julius is one of a

handful of ‘super lawyers’ at the top of their game. He first attracted media attention when he famously represented the late Princess Diana in her divorce from Prince Charles. Other highly publicised cases have included the Paul McCartney/ Heather Mills divorce and, of course, the David Irving libel case against Deborah Lipstadt (Julius acted for Lipstadt with devastating consequences for Irving). Anthony Julius thinks of himself as many things – ‘a mosaic of different aspects - a lawyer, an author, the deputy chairman of Mishcon de Reya, Chairman of the London Consortium, a Jew and a Brit’… but would likely baulk at being labelled a celebrity lawyer. Whether one agrees or not with his robustly expressed and eloquently articulated views on antiSemitism and Zionism, he is undoubtedly one of the great intellects of our times. His replies to our occasionally provocative questions were delivered with both precision and elegance.

What are your views on the Government’s proposed revision of the libel laws?

I welcome them; I also contributed a little to their formulation. I was one of the people consulted by Index on Censorship and other organisations that were endeavouring to rebalance the libel laws somewhat away from claimants’ interests towards the defendants’ interests. I think there is a real risk that decent investigative journalism will not be able to thrive unless the libel laws are reformed –though libel law in itself is not the only thing that’s wrong with the British press

What is wrong with the British press?

With few isolated exceptions, it has no commitment to serious investigative journalism. More fundamentally, it doesn’t quite know whether – given the internet – it has a future at all.

That’s quite an indictment

Well I hope it’s not an indictment, I hope it’s just a reflection of the reality of the situation. After all, if you think about it, how many people get their news from print media? So all the emphasis is now on columnists, and column journalism is not of an investigative nature but of opinion. The problem with opinion is that for it to attract attention it has to be attention-seeking. And attention-seeking opinion is usually extreme in its formulation and rather crass, and that of course is

part of the general degeneration in quality which accompanies the decline in the print medium.

It is controversy that sells newspapers

Well, the controversies are mostly manufactured: somebody takes a position in one paper, and so a columnist in another paper takes another position. It’s unsupported by serious news gathering, and of course it therefore just becomes a tiresome kind of gladiatorial circus

Do you think there is no future for print media?

I don’t own a Kindle, I like holding books. I like moving the pages backwards and forwards. I like the look of the book on the shelf, I like the weight and texture of the printed word and I still think that the book is the most efficient machine for reading. The only thing that could be said for the Kindle is that it’s lighter, but so what? Most people who are serious readers tend not to be the most energetic types so if they have to lift books to read them this could only bean additional benefit. In reality, and sadly, I know plenty of people who have just stopped buying books. As for the future of print media, it’s hard to imagine that it could survive in its present form if it doesn’t reinvent itself. I could see one way of reinventing itself is to assume a position whereby the book itself becomes an object which is to be esteemed. And maybe the future of newspapers is to become magazines of the same type as B Beyond.

We, as book and magazine publishers, tend to do rather better with high quality books. How much merit is there in presenting a publication as a decorative object, do you think?

I’ve been to two or three homes recently, where the books have been arranged almost as installation art, artfully stacked and situated in relation to other objects. Being an author it slightly dismayed me to see this because I have a largely instrumental attitude towards reading: the book is there, it’s a machine to think with rather than an object in itself. But I could see it was quite appealing.

Surely any reason to buy books is a good reason?

No, I don’t think so. There are lots of bad reasons to buy books.

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of many talents

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You don’t believe that buying books, even if for the wrong reason, would ultimately encourage people to read?

No. There was an artist in the 1960s who bought books and made a tower of them and burnt them outside the British Museum. That was a bad reason to buy those books. That’s an extreme case

That’s a misuse of books. You defended Deborah Lipstadt in the libel case brought against her by the historian David Irving. The case clearly resonated with you because you are a well known critic of the new anti-Semitism. Would you as a lawyer have been able to divorce yourself from Anthony Julius the person and act instead for David Irving?

I wouldn’t have acted for David Irving partly because he had an utterly hopeless case which couldn’t be defended and partly because I couldn’t do a proper job for him, because I recoil from him and what he represents - and partly because I don’t feel that I am obliged to distinguish the professional me from the personal me. There are plenty of people for whom I act when I have a conviction that their case may have merit, even though the clients themselves may not be people I would choose to invite into the most intimate circle of my family and friends. Many actually do qualify but some don’t. But to act for an anti-Semite, a Holocaust denier and a Hitler admirer, why would I want to do that? Why would I want to help such a person? I have no professional obligation to do so. I saw a quote by you, ‘Jews can become overwhelmed by the experience of being Jews in the twenty first century’. I know this is a very complex issue but could you elaborate briefly?

I think Jewish identity - the Jewish aspect of a person’s identity - doesn’t have to be, but can be a very demanding, even a compelling aspect. Not particularly because of hatred directed at Jews but because Judaism itself and Jewish practice can become rather overwhelming in the demands they make on people who strive to lead totally Jewish lives. Jewish tradition is vastly rich and complicated, requiring the mastery of at least two foreign languages. Jewish religious observance is also quite time consuming - Jews pray three times a day. Additionally, there is the whole question of Israel and the nature of one’s relationship with a sovereign Jewish state, which is a pressing one for most Jews. You could spend your life being a Jew and yet none of us has a purely confessional idea

of ourselves. We’re all of us children of our parents; we’re also most of us citizens of a state; many of us are married and have other, further relationships, and obligations, through our lives; many of us have our own children; we have our work… There are many aspects of a person. It’s a privilege to have a Jewish aspect: but the Jewish aspect is a very lapel-tugging aspect, constantly soliciting one’s attention. It’s a challenge. Perhaps you want me to answer the question in reference to anti-Semitic threats but I don’t feel that very urgently myself. What of Jewish people who are not necessarily orthodox?

Maybe they don’t feel it quite so insistently. How do you account for so many successful Jewish people if there is an inherent antiSemitism in society?

Are there many successful Jewish people? I know that in some fields Jews have been unusually successful.

Someone once read a statistic to me about the number of Jewish Nobel Laureates, which was extraordinarily high given the number of Jews in the world. I suspect it’s not entirely random. I think it probably has something to do with Jewish cultural values which are specific to a particular time. I’m not sure if those values exist anymore, or at any rate not to the same degree of intensity that they did two or three generations ago. There is something to be said for the effect of the entry of Jews into the Western European world, following their emancipation in the first half of the nineteenth century. Before then Jews were mostly confined to the ghettos and they lived their lives apart from the generality of Western European states-communities. The effect was to insulate Jews, largely but not entirely, from advances in philosophy, science, art and culture. And then suddenly the gates are opened and out comes this tremendous pent up energy and talent. Of course, in addition, Jewish communities have always been highly literate because of the form their worship takes, which is very text-based. Jewish boys study the Talmud, Jews of both genders learn to pray in the language of the script, not of their immediate surroundings, and having to learn two languages is itself mind-expanding. I think those sort of considerations explain Jewish success to the extent that one can talk about Jewish success. I feel that it’s played itself out. Would you ever write about Jewish Humour – a much more positive thing than antiSemitism?

I have. I gave a lecture at UCL, where I taught for a few years, entitled ‘Why do we laugh at jokes about lawyers?’ I contrasted a number of those

jokes, which are rather banal in style, with Jewish jokes which are complicated. I also taught a course on Jewish humour. The course quickly degenerated into the telling of Jewish jokes - mostly by audience members. I think Jewish humour is extremely interesting. But not worthy of a book?

I don’t think every intellectual pursuit has to result in a book. Isn’t humour one of the best weapons against bigotry?

Yes, but the bigot has to share your sense of humour. And mostly bigots who share a sense of humour are people who are, so to speak, at the point at which they are ready to give up their bigotry. Edward Said once said that ‘the exiled intellectual does not respond to the logic of convention but to the audacity of daring, and to representing change, to moving on, not standing still.’ Do you agree? What is your opinion of Said, both generally and as a Palestinian writer who often reflected on Palestinians being ‘exiled by exiles’?

There is a kind of romance of the exiled intellectual. In reality, exile can lead to a kind of speechlessness. Conversely, being an intellectual is often accompanied by so complete an integration into society that one doesn’t take up any kind of critical perspective at all. So I don’t think that the two stick together, I don’t think that the exiled intellectual is the ideal intellectual at all. I slightly recoil from all forms of romanticising reality so I don’t have huge patience for Said’s romanticising of the intellectual. What do I think of Said? I think that Said was unquestionably a major figure. I’m not sure how much of his scholarly work will survive. The major work, Orientalism, has been subject to such devastating attacks that I’m not sure there’s very much of it that’s left standing. I think that he was a good enemy of Israel and Zionism, in the sense that he raised really important and difficult questions that needed to be addressed. I don’t think that in his field, crowded with posturers and anti-Semites, he was either a posturer or an anti-Semite. And I think, given the current climate of opinion, to distance himself from both the posturing and the anti-Semitism took a moral selfdiscipline which is completely admirable.

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Do you think that there is prejudice amongst Jewish people towards Gentiles?

I’ve no reason to suppose that all virtue in the world lives in the Jewish people and all the vice outside. That would be an extraordinary thing. But people tend to ask your question in order to establish a polemical position in relation to anti-Semitism, to normalise it as an example of xenophobia which everyone shares, including Jews. I think that’s quite dangerous. There is of course a kind of ordinary, banal and not terribly admirable, aspect of self-respect which leads to the valuing of oneself competitively with other people; and the conclusion that one’s own group in some sense has an advantage over others. But that has very little to do with the utterly murderous and culturally entrenched hatred of the Jews over thousands of years. So I would want to make a difference between the kind of trivial and inconsequential group hostilities and self-admirations, and the very specific cultural and political hatreds that have served an ideological function.

Judaism’s great offence is not its hostility to other people but its indifference to other people. I mean, Christianity

has the proposition nulla salus extra ecclesiam – ‘there is no salvation outside the church’ – and there are some understandings in Islam that are to a similar effect (not all but some). Judaism is entirely comfortable with the idea of non-Jews, provided they meet certain minimum criteria, having a place in the world to come. Jews are concerned with Judaism and with their own future. The problem for Christianity and Islam is that Jews have rejected them. They were solicited by the early Christians and rejected them, and then by Mohammed, and they rejected him too. The rejection is exceptionally painful and the reaction to that rejection is a kind of hysterical counter-rejection, which can never be adequate to the rejection itself. It’s no good shouting at the person who’s rejected you, as he walks away, ‘I reject you too’ - you know that it’s too late. That psychological mechanism, which is inscribed in relations between Christians and Jews, and Muslims and Jews, is not reciprocated. The Jew turns his back on the Christian and the Muslim. The Christian and the Muslim berate the back. How do you then account for anti-Semitism in people who are not particularly religious, and may even be atheist?

Anti-Semitism doesn’t exist in just a religious version, but also in cultural, and national, versions too. For example, at the beginning of the nineteenth century the radical liberal position, which was in public terms the atheist position as

well, was that all should participate in the life of the state free of any particularist allegiances. Jews were an aggravating exception to that because they insisted on the importance, the priority, in their lives of religion and religious affiliation. Jews were a provocation to such liberals. Further, to the nationalist, to the right wing nationalist, who says ‘yes, everyone is welcome to my state but they have to identify themselves exclusively with the state and all its works’, again the Jews were an aggravating exception because the Jew says ‘actually no, I have other loyalties as well’. The Jews speak for the principle of pluralism in a world where the dominant ideologies tend to insist upon single loyalties. Could envy be a plausible, if totally simplistic, explanation for anti-Semitism? Envy of the success Jewish people have achieved in many fields? And I am defining success very broadly, not just in terms of financial success.

There are people who are Jewish who are successful, and there people who are non-Jewish and who are also successful. You have to be predisposed towards a misconception of Jews to have an anti-Semitic reaction to an instance of “Jewish” success. My mother is a volunteer at a Jewish old people’s home in north London. The home holds summer and winter fetes and you can see ordinary Jews living out the last years of their lives in wheelchairs, with their children blithely chatting around them. If you wanted to talk about normative Jewish life, that would be the reality. If one had no position on the subject of anti-Semitism or Jewishness, would that make them uneducated, politically illiterate or anti-Semitic by virtue of being neutral on a highly sensitive, politicised and charged issue?

No, of course not, I have no problem with that. I think if you have to explain or describe someone as anti-Semitic, it is the explanation of last resort. One of the most powerful lines in the film Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner is when Sidney Poitier’s character, Dr Prentice, remarks to his father ‘You think of yourself as a coloured man. I think of myself as a man’. Do you define yourself as a man first or as a Jewish man?

There is no such thing as an abstract man. We are all of us constituted by our history, by our affiliations, by our loyalties. I think of myself as a parent, I think of myself as a son, I think of myself as a Jew, I think of myself as British, I think of myself

as the deputy chairman of Mishcon de Reya, I think of myself as a lawyer, I think of myself as the author of various books on a range of different topics, I think of myself as being made up of those and many other aspects. We’re all of us a mosaic of different aspects and being a Jew is only one of them. You once said that the London Consortium is ‘cultural London’s best-kept secret’. Do you feel you’ve been able to raise its profile?

I hope so. If you go onto the London Consortium website you will see that they’re doing some really interesting things. Recently we’ve been encouraging our students to engage in a range of creative undertakings, which will help them when they graduate and will also contribute to the richness of London and the work that the London Consortium does. Is it the best kept secret and stronghold of academia?

It shouldn’t be, not least because most of its constituent members are not academic institutions – the Tate, the ICA, the Science Museum and so on. They’re not academic institutions, but I agree, it is perhaps not as well known as it should be. I’d like to help change that.

GSTAAD

P A L A C E

Ski the top slopes

Andrea Scherz:

the last of the grand hoteliers

The Scherz family have owned the Gstaad Palace Hotel for three generations and are one of the last great hotelier families in the world. Tell me a little bit about the Scherz family. Do you have interests outside of running the hotel?

Well, it’s not good to have too many extraneous interests as a hotelier because running a hotel absorbs you so totally. If I have too many other interests, I wouldn’t be doing my job very well. It is a full time job.

Does it ever stop being a job?

Actually, I don’t really view it as a job – it’s a way of life. When I head out in the morning, I don’t so much go to work as I go from one home to another. Do you know many of the guests personally?

Maybe not the guests who come for the first time... We probably have 7000 different guests arriving every year so obviously I don’t know all of them. But once they’ve been here two or three times then you start to know them as you see them and start recognizing them.

Do you travel?

I like to travel, yes. I have a restless nature and always like to see new things and explore new ideas. When the hotel is closed I go away to see the world. Travelling for me is always very stimulating. Do you have a favourite destination?

No, I like to change, to see new things, to explore. For family holidays we go to Mauritius as it is always warm there, unlike in Europe. I do some scuba diving, water skiing, a bit of sailing...

Tell me about the Gstaad Palace hotel’s history.

The hotel has been in our family ownership for three generations. When my grandfather bought it, he believed in it so much, he invested his last penny and created a shareholding company with 21 people who lent him money or became shareholders. He promised to pay them back and eventually did so in person. In time, he bought back 100% of the shares which is how we came to own the hotel fully.

He lived a simple and low key life while he built up the hotel and was for a long time turning every franc in his hands before spending it. It is in the last twenty years that the business has become very strong financially. The Gstaad Palace is synonymous with high octane glamour. The type of visitor here tends to navigate between all the global hot spots and, you are probably aware of this, between Badrutt’s Palace in St Moritz and Gstaad in the winter. Do you have any views on the competition between the two hotels and what do you do to remain relevant?

Badrutts Palace is a great hotel, but still very different in a way. The guests are mostly Italian,

German and Russian. Whereas we have at least 7 nationalities - Swiss, French, Italian, English, Middle Eastern, American... very international. We have to monitor the mix so that we don’t have too many of the same nationality. The atmosphere is different at Badrutts, too. Somebody once said St Moritz is new money, while Gstaad is old money. St Moritz is a bit crowded at night and the afternoon teas are packed with ladies in fur coats, high heels and jewellery. Here, most ladies wear leggings and bare jackets during the day and are generally more understated. Some people may feel, in fact, that we are not glamorous enough by comparison. Yet, what people appreciate, subliminally, is the way we have grown organically over the years,

the comfort of the place and at the same time the sense of age and tradition. People are often surprised to

find the Palace is nearly 100 years old. Restoration and renovations here are an ongoing process. Every wall has a history... it’s like an old dream. There are grand hotels and there are hotels, like yours, that are an institution. What makes a hotel truly great?

To begin with, a hotel has to be located in the right spot, but it is the customers that make the hotel – getting the right people coming... Our grandfather was fantastic at marketing. He

brought Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Marlene Dietrich... He made the reputation of the hotel. And if he entertained royalty, he’d empty his own chalet for several days to let his guests use it instead. The other important thing is consistency and continuity – employing the same and the right staff. For example, we only employ Italian waiters because they are skilled and elegant, whereas the Swiss, for the most part, are useless at service. Do you make an effort to bring the type of clientele you want? How do you remain relevant?

We try to make things right, maintain our tradition, yet be contemporary, modern.

We also try to make guests feel that the staff are happy to serve them. If a guest doesn’t fit in, we try to suggest that they go elsewhere.

Do you have any activities in the winter months?

We organise some events ourselves... The 26th December nightclub party, the New Year Eve’s party and brunch are always a sell out. We have a number of culinary weeks and my brother runs a classical music festival at the end of January/ beginning of February. There are concerts at the church of Saanen and guests can have dinner with the artists.

95 BB A number of companies organise events at the hotel also. In the summer, we have a tennis tournament and a polo event. Our polo team captain is Fabien Pictet, of the Pictet banking family. Gstaad is beautiful in the summer and I sometimes prefer it to the winter. It is more relaxed,

there are many social events and always something going on. We see a trend where people go to St Tropez or Sardinia for a while, then would come to Gstaad. We entertain a lot in the summer. How many hours a day do you work? The hotel seems to run like a well-oiled machine.

It depends. We have no unions, thank God, so 16 hours sometimes. I get very busy on the weekends. This well oiled machine always needs a bit more oil. This is one of the reasons why we have never taken any offers to open or manage other hotels elsewhere.

So you will not franchise the name like Rocco Forte? What do you think of him?

He is a great business man, I guess, I am just a hotelier. What is your mother’s tongue and do your children feel Swiss?

My mother’s tongue is Swiss German. I met my wife while working at the Savoy in London in 1994. On her mother’s side she is part-Greek/ part-Irish and on her father’s side, she is part-English/partJamaican. Our children go to the Canadian school in Gstaad, so they prefer to speak in English, but they definitely feel Swiss. My daughter, who is eight and a half says she will become an actress and live in LA. My son loves the mountains and the snow. Once, when he was just 3 and in the car with me, he said, ‘Daddy, don’t worry, when you are old and tired, I will look after the hotel for you’. I nearly missed the road!

About Gstaad Palace Hotel One of the last privately-owned, truly grand hotels in the world, the Palace has been and remains a magnet for the great and the good and hardly needs an introduction. Even though many Gstaad regulars have their own chalets, the hotel is the hub of village life. In daytime, and outside of skiing hours, the spa and the heavenly outdoor pool are the place to be. At night, the large and comfortable lobby bar packs in everyone who is anyone to the sound of a full band playing popular classical tunes. The hotel is a byword for supreme comfort, service and is frequented by regular patrons who mostly know each other.

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Not just another ‘luxury’ hotel: spotlight on

POINT

BARAKA Baraka Point is a breathtakingly

positioned private estate in the British Virgin Islands, owned by a true visionary, Jennifer Bogdany, and her husband, Tim Johnston. The couple bought the two acre oceanfront plot in 1999 and built a unique retreat which can accommodate up to just 16 people, offering absolute privacy, discretion and a totally personalised service. Best of all, guests are promised exclusive use of the entire property: Baraka Point is only rented to one group at a time. There are seven full time staff on the property, led by a New Zealand born chef, Aaron Seddon and his wife, Kim Takeuchi, with whom Jennifer and Tim are developing the newest restaurant on the island. It is often hard to define the appeal of a place if you always visit the exceptional as a matter of course. With Baraka Point, it is a mixture of location, views (you can see the spectacular beaches from every building), style of property and above all, the experience. The staff sit with every guest, says Jennifer, and discuss meals, activities (including all water sports, Yoga, Pilates and a fully equipped spa) or just let people unwind in private. Jennifer’s new venture is a tree house-style restaurant, built on different levels, that leads dramatically into the famous Virgin Gorda boulders. Her New Zealander restaurant partner has been with Baraka Point since the inception and has a passion for food and wine, she says. Nor is she stopping there… The next project of this inspired hotelier is a quirky boathouse retreat in the English Lake District. Watch this space!

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It is often hard to define the appeal of a place if you always visit the

exceptional as a matter of course. With Baraka Point, it is a mixture of location, views (you can see the spectacular beaches from every building), style of property and above all, the experience.

Additional Information

A corner of paradise Baraka Point Estate is positioned against the backdrop of the verdant green of Gorda Peak which rises majestically behind the resort. Ahead lies one of Virgin Gorda’s most spectacular snorkelling beaches. Suites Baraka Point’s pavilions are built with natural materials such as hard woods, copper and native stone and decorated with silks and exotic furnishings from India, Morocco and Indonesia. Three 900-square-foot master suites are located separately in the gardens with their own entrances. All suites have king size beds, ocean views and air-conditioned sleeping areas, as well as en-suite bathrooms and a private deck or sun terrace offering panoramic views of the Caribbean Sea. Two suites have alfresco as well as indoor showers, and one of the two luxury master suites has its own plunge pool. Two family suites – the Madura and Rajasthan suites – also have a central sleeping area with adjoining twin bedded rooms so that parents can maintain their own privacy in the knowledge that their children are still close by. While they are all individually decorated, the five

suites at Baraka Point all feature Frette sheets and high quality linens, flat screen Sony Bravia TV/DVD players, iDocks, stereos, mini-fridges and thatched ceiling fans. Aside from the accommodation, a main pavilion houses living, lounging and dining areas where guests can meet to enjoy time together, and an additional pavilion includes an air-conditioned games room with full size pool table, home movie theatre and an honesty bar. The games room leads out on to a spectacular seaside terrace with steps down to Baraka Point’s private Beach Lounge complete with sun chairs, umbrellas and a BBQ and firepit for dining and entertaining on the beach. Meals Baraka Point’s team of staff includes a private chef to offer visitors freshly-prepared gourmet food throughout their stay. The resort also has a woodburning pizza oven from Italy and a well-stocked wine cellar. There is no fixed meal plan; the chef can either cook to order, suggest a daily menu, or simply surprise guests with his creativity.

Activities The resort has a full-time spa therapist, offering a wide range of spa therapies and body treatments, as well as Yoga and Pilates classes in the Spa & Wellness Pavilion and on the beach. Alternatively, guests may prefer to unwind in the resort’s infinity pool with views over the Sir Francis drake Channel and the Caribbean Sea. For the more active visitor, personal training sessions are available in Baraka Point’s sea-view gym. Adventure Programs can be designed to take in the many beautiful views and beaches around the island. Guests can swim and snorkel, or opt for water sports off the beach in the resort’s ski boat. A visit to the Baths is a must: exploring the maze of giant granite boulders that are the result of volcanic activity millions of years ago is a wonderful way to spend a morning, followed by a picnic lunch on the beach. Contact: Tel/Fax: +44 1376 322826 (UK/Europe) Voicemail: 1-800-969-9713 (USA/Canada) Email: info@barakapoint.com www.barakapoint.com

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Baraka Point Estate is positioned against the backdrop of the verdent green of Gorda Peak which rises majestically behind the resort. Ahead lies one of Virgin Gorda’s most spectacular snorkelling beaches.

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ROGER WEISS Swiss

photographer

Roger

Weiss

has

been

working professionally for about three years. HE started experimenting with photography at an early age and Graduated with excellence from Accademia di Belle Arti di Brera, Milan.

since then his work has been published in Posh, Twill and Kult. His curiosity of the

human form led him to an artistic approach.

Today, he continues as an artist and fashion photographer.‘I was bound up in photography during my first year at the Accademia di Belle

Arti, when I had the idea of being able to use photography as a mask

to strengthen and to

hide my idea of limit. When we meet someone

with a passion, our senses are sharpened. And just at the moment we approach each other, eyes wide, that’s when I make my photographs’

Photographed by ROGER WEISS. Styled by EDOARDO WEDEMEYER @fiorenzasoave.com Makeup: LUIS MARURI @fiorenzasoave.com Hair: SIMONA CALLIGARIS @fiorenzasoave.com Photographer’s assistant: VALENTINA DE’ MATHÀ, SIMON BRAZZOLA Post-production: FRANCO FIORITI and ROGER WEISS Casting and Production: FIORENZA SOAVE Location: MONTANSTAHL AG @montanstahl.com Models: VASILE TARASOV @joimodels.com, JERRETH LUDWIG @fashionmodel.it, KRISTYNA SKALOVA @whynotmodels.com

publications such as WWD, Clam, Vogue, Zink,

Left: PIANEGONDA necklace, LOUIS VUITTON belt, TOM REBL pants, ALBERTO FASCIANO shoes. Centre: LA PERLA body, JOHN GALLIANO fur racket, SHARRA PAGANO collar, BORBONESE fur shoes. Right: PIANEGONDA chain and bracelet, TOM REBL belt, GF by GIANFRANCO FERRÈ pants, CARLO PIGNATELLI sneakers.

Left: JOHN RICHMOND men suit, ERMANNO SCERVINO shirt, GUCCI black tie, POLLINI Shoes. Centre: HAUTE dress, PIANEGONDA earrings, WOLFORD tights, GF by GIANFRANCO FERRÈ shoes. Right: TOM REBL men suit, ETON shirt, GUCCI black tie, ALBERTO FASCIANI shoes.

Left: VALENTINO pullover black cashmere, JUST CAVALLI pants, TOM REBL belt, CARLO PIGNALELLI leather sneakers.Right: NAORY body/velvet, GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI belt with swarovski, SEBASTIAN cruissard, ORNELLA BIJOUX earrings.

Left: JOHN RICHMOND jacket, ERMANNO SCERVINO shirt, GUCCI black tie, NOVERO bluetooth. Right: GF by GIANFRANCO FERRÈ jacket, ETON shirt, GUCCI black tie, NOVERO bluetooth.

Left: GALLIANO leather pants, PIANEGONDA silver chain, LOIS VUITTON bracelet, ALBERTO FASCIANI shoes. Centre: PINKO dress, LOUIS VUITTON bracelet in plexi, SHARRA PAGANO bracelet Silver/swarovski, RENÈ CAOVILLA shoes, WOLFORD tights. Right: CARLO PIGNATELLI men suit, ENRICO COVERI black shirt, POLLINI shoes.

Left: VALENTINO pullover/cashemire, TOM REBL belt, JUST CAVALLI pants, CARLO PIGNATELLI Sneakers. Right: KRYZIA Mongolia jacket, LA PERLA underwear, SEBASTIAN cruissard, PUMA gloves.

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BEAUTY SPOTLIGHT

Keep Y0ung and Beautiful...

Dr. Tomaz Nassif keeps the beautiful crowd young

Photograher: Gabriel Hundiashvili Make-up and hair: Maira Ortiz

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B Beyond discovers the best kept secret in plastic surgery

Rio de Janeiro, multi-faceted and exotic, and a symbol of irrepressible vitality, means different things to different people, whether residents or visitors. Spread out over several hills and lagoons, its landscape and atmosphere change every few blocks, but the overwhelming sensation of life bursting out in joyous celebration is ever present. We decided to look at Rio’s often challenged, yet resilient position as a leading capital of plastic surgery. Its reputation as such was, of course, established by the man who is widely regarded as the father of contemporary plastic surgery – Professor Ivo Pitanguy. The Pitanguy Institute is still a quasi-mythical establishment where the unsurpassed master meets the world’s good and great in need of the odd update. Our core mission, however, is to follow the progress of a single European patient who has resolved to tackle early signs of middle-age facial laxity around the neck and chin areas.

She has selected for the task micro-surgeon Tomaz Nassif, today’s best-kept secret in cosmetic plastic surgery. Below is a day-by-day narrative of this in-pursuitof-youth journey, documented with pictures, impressions and tips for those who are tempted to take the plunge or simply visiting Rio de Janeiro.

The patient arrives Landing at Rio’s airport in the middle of the European winter is akin to plunging into a steam bath. This is Rio’s summer and temperatures can and often do rise to 40 C. The prospective patient has rented a small apartment in ultra-chic Leblon, a few steps from the Russian Consulate. Leblon is home to some of Rio’s wealthiest residents and boasts an impressive arrays or superfashionable bars and restaurants where celebrities can eat and drink without anyone making a fuss. We count no fewer than four domestic uniform shops, a pet paradise boutique selling exclusive canine and cat furniture, two piano repair shops and a perpetually mobbed sushi restaurant (Sushi Leblon) within a square block, all of which is an indication of demand and supply. The patient makes her first visit to Dr Nassif’s cabinet with a very specific shopping list: neck lift and cantopexy (lifting the corner of the eyes). Dr Nassif suggests an endoscopic brow lift instead, as well as a neck lift and tightening of the jaw line.

The patient is put on a strict pre-surgery diet of no tea and coffee, no meat and cheese, but a blitz of fresh fruit juices, salads and vegetables and boiled eggs for protein.

There is, in fact, no place in the world that can compete with Rio when it comes to maintaining such a diet.

The supermarket stands are positively heaving with every fruit imaginable and a few varieties we do not recognise. Fresh fruit juice bars are at every corner and yogurt drinks similarly contain fresh fruit pulp. It’s a health freak paradise… Surgery Day The patient arrives to the aptly named Hospital da Plástica. This is a medium size private facility, stylishly furnished with cream leather. Each bedroom suite, the size of a reception room, is similarly fitted out with cream leather and contains a guest bed, sofa, large TV, refrigerator and medical equipment. On each floor, there is a broadband area and a head washing room for post-op patients. After a brief consultation with the anaesthetist, the patient is given a slow dissolving sedative which knocks her out and she is led to the operating theatre. While we cannot watch, a TV camera is in place to record the proceedings. Post-op Patient is wheeled in back to her bedroom wearing a helmet- like bandage. After an over-night stay, she has her hair washed, bandage removed and leaves the hospital A full time maid is arranged via Dr Nassif’s secretary to shop, cook, clean and generally maintain a presence in the event anything at all is required The patient has to brave the worst 48 hours of postoperative swelling, pain and general discomfort associated with invasive surgery, stitching and trauma. She is placed on a liquid food diet of clear soup, yougurt, and fruit juice, all of it washed down with lots of water to help bring down the swelling. On day 3 she can eat soft foods such as mashed potato, fruit and some bread. The bruising is extensive and the face still swollen, although the eyes are a bit more open than on day 2. From day 4 lymphatic drainage massage therapist, Karla Nunes, visits daily and this becomes a turning point for the swelling and general appearance. Karla has magic hands and knows exactly what

pressure is required where. The massage takes approximately an hour and treats not only the swelling, but also the internal knots that can develop after surgery. Karla visits every day for the next 10 days and the transformation is amazing. On day 5 the first lot of stitches around the ears are removed. On day 7 after surgery the patient, wearing a wide brimmed hat and make-up, is able to enjoy a cold beer at the Esch Cigar Bar in Leblon. Her eyes are unnaturally drawn and make her look like a China doll but, with the help of heavy concealer and lipstick, she passes her first social engagement with flying colours. On day 10 all remaining stitches are taken out and she is allowed to explore Rio – within reason and wearing total sun block. On Day 12 the patient flies back to Europe. Her face has traces of minor swelling but is virtually back to normal. One month after surgery, she is able to return to fully active life. There are no tell tale signs, eyes are back to normal (with corners lifted to give a more youthful appearance) and jaw line tighter.

Lymphatic drainage massage therapist, Dra Karla Nunes.

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Six weeks after surgery, the patient goes on holiday. The hardest thing at this point is to readjust to being noticed once again by men in general.

For women of a certain age, becoming invisible is perhaps the hardest thing to come to terms with.

High quality surgery can and does rectify this very effectively within a relatively short period of time. Poor quality surgery draws attention of the wrong kind as both sexes reserve some of their most scathing remarks for ‘plastic looking’ women. Dr Nassif is a micro-surgeon of considerable pedigree. He was chosen by the patient for his precision, attention to detail and consistently excellent results. His clientele is international and well-informed and, above all, impervious to hype. Dr Nassif is opening his own plastic surgery hospital in Rio de Janeiro. Contact: Thomaz Nassif Email: tomaznassif@uol.com.br Tel: +55 (21)2512-7497 Karla Nunes Email: brancanunes76@hotmail.com Tips If visiting Rio for plastic surgery, try to learn a little Portuguese or take a laptop with a free online translator bookmarked Stock up on liquids before going to hospital. Buy drinks that you have tried before and know you will enjoy. Have a lot of water delivered in advance. Tap water is not drinkable, but you need a lot of fluids to get rid of the swelling. You will only want comfort food after surgery. Stock up on potatoes for mash and on vegetables for fresh soup. If you have a preference for a particular type of cooked meal/soup, have it translated, typed and printed in advance for the maid or you will end up eating what she likes cooking. If alone, book a nurse for your first night at home. Book a maid for the duration of your stay. Domestic staff is inexpensive, experienced and obliging in Brazil. Arrange for the local supermarket to deliver. Never venture out without a 100% sun block. Buy a heavy concealing foundation. Invest in a HairMax LaserComb.

The Hospital da Plástica in Rio de Janeiro.

HairMax LaserComb The patient started using the HairMax LaserComb four weeks before surgery. Her hair had been consistently bleached and in weak condition. Her fear was that surgery would intensify hair loss which was considerable already due to overprocessing. The laser brush is remarkable in that it delivers exactly what it says: vastly diminished hair loss and improved condition of the hair in general. After a 3 month continual use new hair growth is noticeable, including in the areas of the surgical stitches. An amazing hair product delivering very tangible results! The HairMax Lux 9 features a cordless sleekergonomic design with a rechargeable lithium ion battery to give the freedom of movement as you treat your hair. The Lux 9 can be charged either with a power supply or a charging cradle. The HairMax is retailed at $495 and can be purchased at www.internationalhairmax.com

HairMax LaserComb

Contact: Hairmax Lexington International, LLC, 777 Yamato Rd, Ste 105, Boca Raton, FL 33431 Tel: +1 561.314.2430 Fax: +1 561.892.0747 Email: sc@hairmax.com www.hairmax.com

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BEAUTY SPOTLIGHT

Non-invasive Dr. Daniel Sister beauty treatments

Ageing of the human face is a given

On carboxytherapy and DHEA

and something we have to live with. The process is gradual, starting at the age of 25 and accelerating after 60. Many people of both genders choose to age gracefully. However, in the presence of widely available anti-ageing procedures, the tendency is to turn back the clock and undergo some form of rejuvenation. For decades rejuvenation of the face by surgical face-lift has been the most popular, while non-invasive facial rejuvenation consisted of massage, facials and cosmeceuticals including moisturisers, sunscreens, micro-dermabrasion, serums and foundation cosmetics. More recently Botulinum and fillers have also become popular. Today, more non-invasive treatments are available to improve the skin complexion of the ageing face. Their popularity stems from the fact that people want to look better with as little as possible down time and morbidity. There are newer treatment options available to ameliorate ageing aspects that affect the face, neck, décolleté and the back of the hands. Currently, popular methods to rejuvenate, tighten and resurface the skin include radiofrequency, non-ablative photo-thermolysis, IPL’s and light-emitting diode (LED) phototherapy. Also popular is a combination therapy consisting of IPL, laser and cosmeceuticals, including vitamin A derivatives. A new approach, appealing to patients seeking a more natural approach to facial rejuvenation, is rejuvenation with your own cells and more specifically, autologous platelet-rich plasma (S3). This is a safe procedure which also helps with thinning hair or at the outset of hair loss (male and female).

How is carboxytherapy different from Botox?

AUTOLOGOUS ‘S3’

Can DHEA be obtained over the counter or through a website retailing it?

How Autologous ‘S3’ (Autologous platelet rich plasma) helps facial rejuvenation

> Quantifiable improvement of skin complexion with visible changes noticeable in 3-4 weeks-especially forehead, cheeks, neck and back of hands. > Facial soft tissue augmentation without synthetic filler or animal products: augments the dermis and epidermis by enhancing the growth of keratinocytes, fibroblasts and deposition of collagen.This improves skin tone, texture and colour. > One-off treatment, negligible down time, can ameliorate mild to moderate skin changes but needs redoing 6-12 monthly because of the ongoing chronological aging process and senescence of fibroblasts that eventually stall forming collagen and elastin due to age-exhaustion. > Individuals injected with ‘S3-MESOTHERAPY’ respond subjectively with positive improvement of skin complexion. PRP does not improve pigmentation but acne scarring is responsive.

Botox acts to prevent muscle contracting; the administration of CO2 gas for therapeutic purposes acts to open capillaries, increase collagen supply to the skin and improve drainage

How long has carboxytherapy been around?

Carboxytherapy has been used since the 1930s when its benefits were first discovered in spas in France. The procedure was adopted by South American and Asian aesthetic practitioners, but in Europe it was mainly used for treating vascular problems – until recently.

What are the applications of carboxytherapy?

This is an excellent treatment for dark under eye circles, skin revitalisation, scars and stretch marks and small deposits of fat. It is not suitable for treating large areas of fat on the face or body.

Is it safe?

There are no adverse effects to the procedure (we are not talking Carbon Monoxide gas here!), but as with all cosmetic procedures, the most important thing is the skill of the medical practitioner administering them.

What is DHEA?

DHEA is a steroid hormone that is produced naturally, mainly by the adrenal glands. Little amounts are also produced by the brain for its own personal usage, as well as sexual glands (ovaries and testicles) as intermediary substance for sexual hormones. As we age, DHEA decreases in our bodies and can be supplemented in the form of tablets.

DHEA is not considered to be a medicinal drug in the USA, so it is freely available over the counter, whereas in the UK, it is only available with a prescription. It is not advisable to buy it over the counter or online because you don’t know what you are buying.

How do you test the DHEA levels?

Through a blood test based on which a doctor can write a prescription with the correct dosage.

What are the benefits of DHEA and are there any counterindications associated with it?

DHEA has been proven to alleviate the signs of ageing – both internally and outwardly. It is widely used to treat obesity, menopause and post menopauserelated symptoms, diabetes, heart and cardio-vascular irregularities and depression. It is a safe alternative to HRT and has no adverse effects, so long as intake is carefully monitored by a medical practitioner.

Photographer: Marko Tardito

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BEAUTY SPOTLIGHT

The Welbeck Dental Clinic

Don’t

One of the easiest non-invasive

ways to improve your appearance dramatically is a simple teeth whitening treatment. We have become so conditioned by TV and the perfect smiles of Hollywood actors and actresses that we have come to associate bad teeth with a lack of personal grooming. There is an added subtlety to this: people with badly stained teeth are subconsciously perceived as unsuccessful - because they either lack the motivation or means to look their absolute best. There are, on the market, several whitening toothpastes and home kits. Whitening toothpastes may be good for maintaining already whitened teeth but do nothing for chronically stained ones. One of our staff visited the Welbeck dental practice for some badly needed advice. Her top teeth are crowned, while the bottom ones are natural and stained through smoking and wine/coffee drinking. Dr. Joe Oliver took images and then manipulated them digitally to demonstrate what veneers would do. The patient came to the conclusion that a perfectly even row of bottom teeth, matching the colour of her upper crowns, was not the best solution for two reasons: 1. When the time comes for the crowns to be replaced, she would be stuck with the same colour – because the veneers would have to be made to match the existing crowns now 2. A perfectly even row of teeth look dangerously like dentures, betraying or suggesting advanced age. This,

forget to smile

of course, was a personal decision based on nothing else than her own sense of aesthetics and a long conversation with the dentist. The tooth whitening process consisted of two visits: one to have the teeth cleaned by a hygienist, who made some much needed recommendations, and another to carry out the actual procedure. The treatment included the making and supplying of fitted ‘trays’– teeth covers that allow whitening gel to supplement the effects of the clinical visit. The result was instantly rejuvenating in a subtle way, which is what the patient was looking for. Contact: Dr. Joe Oliver The Welbeck Clinic Tel: 020 7486 8100 www.thewelbeckclinic.co.uk

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The Oldest Dance

On love, lust and why monogamy is alive and well – but only in Hollywood.

Women fall more deeply in love but

recover faster; Men fall firstly in lust, but pine for longer. Or so agree our panel of interviewees, to whom we have guaranteed anonymity in exchange for complete candour.

We asked an equal number of highly successful men and women of different ages a variety of questions on the perennially topical, occasionally controversial and always polemical subject of relationships:

> What do you most appreciate in women/men? > What makes a woman seductive to a man and vice versa? > Can a woman/man remain seductive and attractive to the same man/woman for a number of years? How many? > Do you subscribe to the school of thought that girls tend to like bad boys? > Do curiosity and enthusiasm about life, romance and sex abate with age or not? > Is monogamy unnatural? > Do you believe in the concept of romantic love as espoused by Hollywood? > Do men fall in love or in lust? > Is passion to be feared or celebrated? > What is the best advice you’ve ever been given? This feature represents the mixed views of our panel. So girls, what you’ve always and secretly suspected is really true: men fall in lust, not in love at first sight and they do so on a basic, sensual level. You could be the smartest, best-educated, wittiest girl on the block, yet not have a chance next to a well-turned out, youthful charmer who stands out from the crowd - and not for her intellectual attributes. In the 19th Century, Oscar Wilde satirised his own intense aestheticism in The Picture of Dorian Gray through Lord Henry Wotten -

‘Youth! Youth! There is absolutely nothing in the world but youth!’ In the 21st century, the ‘be young and

beautiful’ adage holds as strong as ever in the love and sex stakes. Hence the immense popularity of plastic surgery, the cosmetic industry and anti-ageing clinics and institutes – contemporary society’s heroic attempts at eternal youth. The slightly better news – for the ladies, at least

- is that men fall in love too but it takes them longer to do so, just as it takes them longer to recover from a break-up. The last charm for monogamy perhaps lies in our panel’s general consensus that smart women can make men fall in love with them and keep them in thrall for a good long time - if not forever. For all their masculine, sensory drive, most (if not all) worldly men concede that

while great lookers can capture the attention, brainless good lookers cannot hold it for long. Successful men will always expect

the woman on their arm and at their side to validate their status in a variety of ways. The bar is high and the more successful the man, the higher the bar. Looks, intelligence, polished manners and a sense of humour are all indispensable. The more discerning players consider an all-round education, varied and eclectic interests and well-informed, multidimensional conversation to be just as important. Truly accomplished and sophisticated men seek women with the ability to dazzle. Successful women, on the other hand, are happy with a sense of humour in a man and – let’s be frank - a good deal of testosterone, in and out of bed.

Girls really do prefer bad boys. Virtuous and dependable men are the meal tickets of girls on the make. Independent, world-savvy women prefer their men to be slightly dangerous, predatory and adventurous; true veterans of the seduction game. Fast talkers, provocateurs, riotously funny one line deliverers, rakes who have sinned and are partial to overstepping the mark; these are the men that have an unfair advantage. Whilst a domineering woman is a definitive turn-off, power in a man is compelling and sexy. The accepted Hollywood model of man meets woman almost always ends in the happily ever after scenario. Although we are culturally conditioned to accept this as the norm and thus constantly strive towards this ‘ideal’, we are not naturally programmed to exist in a totally exclusive relationship over a long period of time. Thus the seduction game is only the first stage of brinkmanship between two partners. As a relationship evolves we are forced into a position of concealing and cheating, even if only in the spirit. All but the truly naive know that deceit, one-upmanship and coy gamesmanship are the hallmarks of any long-term liaison. In light of that fact, one is compelled to ask: is

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monogamy viable today? Has it ever been? Truthfully, no – for either sex. This is for the simple reason that

we all have the capacity to be unfaithful either in the spirit or in the flesh, or both – and many of us choose to exercise this

capacity. We none of us want to hurt our partners and opt for having a secret life of sorts – in the long term most of us have an affair. Instinctively, men stray in spirit all the time. Skilful men are just better at concealing that fact and, when necessary, at outright deception. Women are believed to sublimate more than men but in truth are no more faithful in the flesh than their male counterparts.

Success breeds a common ground

for men and women: they both face temptation a lot more than the rest and they need more stimulation – emotionally, intellectually, sexually… Traditional monogamy thus debunked, for how long can a woman or a man remain attractive to their partner? Can passion be kept alive through artificial means once the first flush of it is spent?

The ‘seven year itch’ may be a cliché but only because there is a lot of truth in it. Fast-living, successful individuals tire of a partner more easily. They remain in the relationship long beyond passion has gone for a variety of other reasons: friendship - partnership even; the sense of having built or continuing to build something together; kinship and a certain reluctance to go outside of their peer or comfort zone. And then, of course, there’s always money…

Passion, though, is what keeps the fire burning and it is what makes us feel alive. Surely, then, it should be celebrated, even at the expense of compromising a relationship. True or false? Although opinions seem to vary, most long-term relationships go through the vicissitudes of emotional or sexual betrayal. Those that survive evolve and have flexibility. One of the men interviewed said he is no different from his peers in that he keeps several girlfriends in different countries, none of whom are aware of the existence of the others. He has maintained a relationship with some of them for decades, he claims. His secret? Don’t get found out. In fact, this appears to be the best all-round advice anyone has been given. Knowledge equals heartache and clever

men and women protect themselves – and their partners - from it. What if (or when) the relationship collapses? Men, we are told, go into an overdrive of sexual activity to compensate for the emotional bereavement. Women crash and burn but once they are over it, they are healed.

It is a purely masculine characteristic never to deal with the emotional outfall of a break-up. When men come across a former lover, from however long ago, they often feel a pang – particularly when the woman in question seems to have utterly dispensed with the emotions of their affair.

The Hollywood ‘happily ever after’

story of romantic togetherness and marriage is just that - a product of cinema’s Golden Age bullishly brought on by the Disney Corporation. Worldly men and women know, or at least suspect, that romance doesn’t fit in with marriage. The waiting by the phone, the breathless emails, the pining, the pent-up desire, the chase and the excitement (often excitement that accompanies deceit) are all gone. Once we get over the joy of being able to spend every night together, the repetitiveness of it all kills Hollywood-style romance. The more conservative among us might vouch for honesty and truth as a viable substitute for passion. It is not. It certainly doesn’t hold a candle to the excitement of the chase. Having said that, we come to one of the more surprising responses to one of our questions. Both men and women across the board believe in ‘happily ever after’. Not only that, but many search for it all their lives. Even the most hardcore Lothario of them all can (and did) begin a sentence with ‘When I am in love’. Meaning, of course, ‘when I am intoxicated with the chase of a new conquest’… Cynical? Perhaps. Realistic? Without a doubt.

It seems fitting to close the subject with what might have caused Oscar Wilde a wry smile or two - do curiosity and enthusiasm for life, romance and sex abate with age or not? The response is resounding and overwhelming - they never do. Men, however old, never cease to hope for one last arousal. Women, however aged, never stop hoping to inspire one last passion.

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Leanne Husler:

a matchmaker at womanofyourdreams.com, a super exclusive personal matchmaking introductions service comments...

What do I most appreciate in women/men?

Life is full of choices. You can either act in wisdom or act in foolishness. People who operate from the heart in everything they do are easy to see, if you value this quality. The quality I hold dear is being genuine and allowing others to see your true nature. How you portray yourself and follow through, all the while being truthful to yourself and to the world at large, is entirely in your hands. Love is the basis of everything in life. What makes a man seductive to a woman and vice versa is all about energy. Energy never dies. You can remain attractive to a partner forever – in this life and in the next one too – because the physical self can be adorned in many different ways. In any case, if you are only looking for physical beauty, you miss the whole point of life with its constantly evolving purpose and meaning. Trust can be broken of course - but that is why we have the capacity to think before doing and take responsibility for the choices we make which in turn predicate the outcome we wish to achieve.

Do girls tend to like bad boys?

People go through stages - it is a learning process – and it depends what you want to experience in life. Self-worth, value systems, what opinion you hold of yourself all kick into play. The kind of man you would take pride in introducing as your partner is a reflection on you as a person. They do say that opposites attract, though… If you lose curiosity and enthusiasm about life, romance and sex, you are probably not in the right relationship, situation or in the right mindset. Your happiness should not depend on someone else - your inner happiness should always be present but enhanced by others. Love, communication,

passion and intimacy are beautiful. For some, love is for a short time; for others it is for a lifetime. If you want to be happy, healthy and thriving, you will be. Each moment is new and you create the world you live in.

Is monogamy viable?

When you make a commitment, you put your life, energy, heart and time in the process. If you step outside of the relationship, you take the risk of losing what is important to you. That is the same for most things in life. If you are willing to take the risk then you should be prepared for the consequences. No one likes to be lied to. Some people have entrenched patterns of lies and deceit and will not change. Power playing and lies for some are just a game. I do believe in romantic love - the perfect person at the perfect moment, everything you ever visualised and dreamed of… you would know and feel it instantly.

Do men fall in love or lust?

Both of course… There are romantics and there are those who have never known what love really is. It’s all subject to a man’s mentality and what he wishes to experience at that particular moment.

Is passion to be feared or celebrated?

Life is a celebration! What is life without passion?!

What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?

Be happy right at this moment.

leanne@womanofyourdreams.com

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