Brummell by Show Media Ltd

MAY 2010

World of adventures

THE LITTLE BLACK BOOK FROM FINANCIAL NEWS

Hiking in AfricA / weekends witH sHArks And beArs / cArs for big expeditions style for tHe gentlemAn explorer / diving wAtcHes / owning A vineyArd

BRUMMELL 09

CONTENTS

S Contents Beau monde

10 Foreword With the media still gunning for the financial world, David charters says keep your head down, keep calm and carry on 13 Money no object Montblanc’s Meisterstück Diamond pen brings new value to the written word 15 News Latest luxury hotels, horological happenings, high-tech gadgets and the essential blazer 20 Motoring one day you’ll veer off the school run and head for the hills in that 4x4. one day… 22 Watches Don’t just opt for the diving watch equivalent of snorkelling in a paddling pool. go deep with one approved by Jacques cousteau or the Navy SeALs 24 Drink owning a vineyard has become possible for wine lovers who don’t have time to tend their grapes year-round 26 Sunglasses This summer, aviator shades once again come at us out of the sun and emerge as top guns 29 Weekends Short breaks that will produce longlasting memories: meeting gorillas in Rwanda, polar bears in the Arctic and other wild encounters 32 After the City The man who swapped cDos for Doc wines, real ales and seasonal foods at his islington gastropub

Doug McKiNLAY, KiA NADDeRMieR, BeATe SoNNeNBeRg Cover illustration ADAM SiMpSoN AT HeART AgeNcY, LoNDoN

FeaTuReS

40 Namibia trek A four-day slog in the sun, through the world’s second-biggest canyon, to a luxury lodge 44 Whisky business Turning a wee dram into a large profit makes this liquid asset one to savour 46 By George Aston Martin is go for launch, with a limited edition 220mph model; a new four-door; and a supermini

eSSenTIaLS

35 Style Some key looks for your inner gentleman adventurer – all you need to be ready for action this season

show Media BruMMell editorial 020 3222 0101 editorial director Joanne glasbey Art Director Jonathan Bailey Fashion Director Tamara Fulton Chief Sub Editor chris Madigan Sub Editors Sarah evans, Tanya Jackson Managing Editor Lucy Teasdale Senior Art Director ciara Walshe Creative Director ian pendleton Managing Director peter Howarth showmedia.net / info@showmedia.net For FinanCial news 020 7426 3333 Editor Ben Wright Deputy Editor Yasmine chinwala Production Michael Scorer Associate Publisher Duncan McRae efinancialnews.com/brummell

colour reproduction by Fresh Media group, wearefmg.com printed by The Manson group, manson-grp.co.uk

Brummell is designed and produced on behalf of Financial News by Show Media Ltd. All material © Show Media Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is strictly prohibited. While every effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this publication, no responsibility can be accepted for any errors or omissions. The information contained in this publication is correct at the time of going to press. £5 (where sold).

S WELCOME When the unpronounceable icelandic volcano eruption closed european airspace last month, it brought the stark realisation that the world (without planes) is actually a much bigger place than any of us could have imagined. Breakfast meeting in Frankfurt? Sure, only set off straight after breakfast the previous day to get the train from London via Brussels and cologne. Quick hop to New York? certainly, just factor in a couple of days to get train/ferry/bus/taxi down to a Spanish airport (and pray the ash cloud hasn’t moved that far south). The disruption of ﬂight paths undoubtedly caused chaos, but it also sparked a sense of adventure. When you have to get from A to B, but A is not accessible by air, there’s no choice but to take a deep breath, get out a map and work out a lesser trodden route via land and sea. This issue of Brummell is dedicated to that spirit of adventure, the desire to explore, discover and rise to the challenge of the unknown. We ﬁnd out where to view europe and Africa’s biggest game; celebrate the true purpose of the four-wheel drive; round up the ultimate in diving watches and aviation-inspired sunglasses; and showcase fashions for the modern gentleman explorer. The collective nose may have returned to the grindstone since the ash cloud subsided, but that doesn’t mean we should wait for another volcano to reawaken our inner phileas Fogg.

S YASMiNe cHiNWALA

MAY 2010 BRUMMELL

Still in the frame We in the City remain everyone’s villains. So how do we react? Brazen deﬁance? Principled self-sacriﬁce? Or just keep our heads down? WORDS dAvid ChArterS illuStRatiOn ANdY MArtiN

BRUMMELL 11

FOREWORD

o, the bonus has been banked (what little you got in cash); you’ve planned your reward purchases (more modest than in the past, but certainly better than last year); and you have another number in your sights (it’s big but achievable). So why aren’t you feeling good about yourself? try as you might, it’s difficult to block out the incessant chatter emanating from the press, the politicians and the proletariat, that you are the root of all evil – or at the very least, of the recession. Beyond the City of London, people blame us for the $14 trillion the Bank of england estimates has been spent by the authorities in the US and europe supporting the global financial system. When they see investment banks frolicking in this pool of taxpayer-funded liquidity, they feel understandably angry. it is as if, after years of hard partying, we finally keeled over only to wake up the morning after feeling refreshed and ready to crack open another magnum of dom Pérignon. everyone else, meanwhile, is suffering from the mother of all hangovers. So how should you mollify them? Given just how bad things are, and given that $14 trillion is real money, it is easier to work out what not to say. definitely don’t try saying, as a friend of mine did a little facetiously: ‘think of it as rich Aid.’ People are not ready to joke about the financial crisis yet. A similarly ill-advised line is: ‘if governments hadn’t spent it on us, they would

We are all subject to the whims of a fickle, green-eyed commentariat. My fear is that the baying criticism will continue for several years yet only have wasted it elsewhere.’ everyone accepts that governments waste money, but in a democracy they get their chance to hold them to account, however imperfectly. Nobody voted for Bob diamond or the prop desk at Goldman. Worse still is: ‘But think of all the taxes we pay.’ the not unreasonable response is that we only pay large amounts of tax because we make large amounts of money. there is zero sympathy to be had down that line. Most desperate of all is: ‘But look at our contribution to the economy. We make a lot of money, but we certainly spend it.’ it is true that we buy ﬁne houses in Chelsea or holland Park and have them refurbished; that we like holiday homes, expensive cars, jewellery and art; and that we eat out a lot at expensive restaurants and buy tickets to the opera and the theatre. But thinking of us doing all those things does not give the wider populace any comfort. in fact, they can become very hostile. then there is the presentational aspect of all this. When i heard that Goldman Sachs was paying out $16 billion in employee compensation i was proud. Go, Goldman, go! For those beyond the City of London, the more natural

response was resentment and envy. they don’t know how hard people work at Goldman or how bright you have to be just to get past security. Of course, the word ‘compensation’ is unfortunate. What are the poor bankers being compensated for? the sheer imposition of having to turn up at the office each day? having to fly around the world in luxury, dining with clients in fine restaurants or taking them to Wimbledon or Wembley? investment banking might be difficult, demanding, stressful work compared to the average job, but we should not need compensating for doing it. Perhaps the only thing to do is nothing at all, given that any action is likely to generate a nasty reaction. Cut the bonus pool and make a large donation to charity and the general view will not be positive. instead it will be along these lines: ‘Well, you’re finally waking up and giving something back. About time. But it’s only a token amount and it’s our money you’re giving away anyway.’ And senior managers waiving their bonuses represent tokenism of the highest order. Was i the only person who felt embarrassed for Stephen hester when he passed on a £1.6 million payout for his work at rBS? it reminded me that hester had taken on one of the most challenging jobs in banking for what many would see as woefully inadequate reward, but then waiving it added insult to injury. his total package may be worth as much as £10 million, but even that seems low if he turns the bank around. then there is diamond at Barclays, who waived real money after managing one home run after another at the bank. Why should high achievers such as him get nailed to satisfy the baying mob? the unfortunate answer is that we are all subject to the whims of the fickle, green-eyed commentariat. Media pressure dictates what politicians do, and for now politicians call the shots. My fear is that this will continue for several years yet. the sheer range and horror of the financial crisis may not be apparent even now. it has been described as the system having a heart attack, and i wonder if things can ever be the same again – indeed i hope they won’t. A friend in the insurance industry told me once that the average male heart attack victim who survives goes on to lose a stone and a half in weight and actually becomes a better life insurance risk – although the insurers still charge him higher premiums simply because they can. i suspect it will take a while to show the world that the banking industry has become a better risk. And even then we will have a price to pay. in the meantime all we can do is keep our heads down, wear our Patek Philippes tucked discreetly under shirt sleeves, drive a G-Wiz to the office and leave the Bentley in the country, and spend Christmas at home instead of at Sandy Lane. For a lot of old dogs the next few years will mean learning new tricks. But we are nothing if not adaptable, and our day will come again. S

S Stealth wealth the watch Although better recognised than it used to be, Patek Philippe remains a relatively under-the-radar expression of horological savvy. The Reference 5950 single button chronograph should go relatively unnoticed by the uninitiated thanks to its simple, steel case, leather strap and ‘blingless’ appearance. Those in the know will be agog. £298,300; patek.com the car Have it de-badged and the souped-up, Brabus-tuned SMART Fortwo Xclusive is hard to tell apart from a standard model – but its hot, 98 horsepower engine whisks it from zero to 60 mph in 9.9 seconds and the luxe interior incorporates leather, stainless steel and brushed aluminium. £14,300, or £16,250 for the cabriolet; smart.com the tie Most business types wear a tie, but yours doesn’t have to be run-of-themill. A bespoke tie from Drakes can be made in a variety of lengths and widths and in the material of your choice – the only stipulation is that the minimum order must be for three that are identical. £120 each; drakes-london.com

Where Egos Dare by David Charters, is published by Elliott and Thompson, price £6.99. MAY 2010 BRUMMELL

BEAUMONDE 13 MONEY NO OBJECT

Writing style WORDS JOANNE GLASBEY PHOTOGRAPHy ANDY BARTER

When Montblanc first named its Meisterstück pen, the company was stating a fact. In the fountain pen world it’s not only a masterpiece, it’s a legend. For over 85 years it’s been a favourite writing implement of world leaders, used to sign important historic documents by aficionados such as John F Kennedy, the King of Thailand, Mikhail Gorbachev and our own monarch. As a coveted cult object, the hand-crafted Meisterstück pen has even gained the accolade of a permanent place in the New York Museum of Modern Art. Now there’s a luxurious enhancement to the original with the launch of the Montblanc Meisterstück Diamond. The Montblanc emblem – the distinctive white resin star, representing western Europe’s highest mountain, Mont Blanc, with its snow-covered peak and six glacier tongues, inspiration to the company’s founders – is replaced with a 43-facet diamond carved in the shape of the star, and suspended as if in mid-air in the dome of the pen cap. A stylishly functional accessory with which to reclaim the art of penmanship, guaranteed to write itself into history as a collector’s item. S

£645; montblanc.com

OCTOBER 2008 BRUMMELL

A great story is expertly sold Canon EOS Professional Centres – the professional way to buy or rent your EOS-1D Mark IV kit www.canon.co.uk/eospro-network

Discover why Canon EOS Professional Centres are the professionals’ choice for everything they need to make sure they never miss a shot. The following stores have been awarded EOS Professional Centre status and have the new EOS-1D Mark IV in stock…

Beneﬁts include: • The full range of Canon workﬂow professional products available to try and buy • Professional studio to put the EOS-1D Mark IV through its paces in a working environment • Dedicated Canon trained staff to answer your technical questions • Canon Professional Service (CPS) drop-off point in store. Giving CPS members fast track priority

London ASK 248 Tottenham Court Road, W1T 7QZ 020 7637 0353 sales@askdirect.co.uk Calumet 93-103 Drummond Street, NW1 2HJ 020 7380 1144 drummond@calumetphoto.co.uk Fixation UK Unit C, 250 Kennington Lane, SE11 5RD 020 7582 3294 info@ﬁxationuk.com Jacobs Digital Photo & Video 74 New Oxford Street, WC1A 1EU 020 7436 6996 prosales@jacobs-photo.co.uk The Flash Centre 68 Brunswick Centre, Marchmont Street, WC1N 1AE 020 7837 5649 sales@theﬂashcentre.co.uk South London Camera Exchange 11 Civic Centre Road, Southampton, SO14 7FJ 023 8033 1720 southampton.civic@lcegroup.co.uk Park Cameras York Road, Victoria Business Park, Burgess Hill, RH15 9TT 08450 50 22 66 sales@parkcameras.com T4 Cameras 50 High Street, Witney Oxfordshire OX28 6HQ 01993 702687 witney@t4cameras.co.uk

Wales Jacobs Digital Photo & Video 18-19 High Street, Cardiff, CF10 1AX 0292 023 2005 cardiff@jacobs-photo.co.uk Walters Photo Video 29 Castle Court, Caerphilly, CF83 1NU 0292 085 2393 sales@waltersphotovideo.co.uk Walters Photo Video 6 Morlais Buildings, Merthyr Tydﬁl, CF47 8UL 01685 723 419 sales@waltersphotovideo.co.uk Midlands Calumet 23 Aston Cross Business Centre, Wainwright Street, Aston, Birmingham B6 5TH 0121 326 7636 birmingham@calumetphoto.com Calumet Nelson Street, Nottingham, NG1 1DR 0115 958 6888 nottingham@calumetphoto.com Jacobs Digital Photo & Video 60 London Road, Leicester, LE2 0QH 0116 255 0111 leicester@jacobs-photo.co.uk North Calumet 7 Century Building, Summers Road, Brunswick Business Park, Liverpool, L3 4BL 0151 709 1665 liverpool@calumetphoto.com Calumet Unit 4, Downing Street, Industrial Estate, Charlton Place, Manchester M12 6HH 0161 274 4455 manchester@calumetphoto.com London Camera Exchange 6 Silver Street, Lincoln Lincolnshire LN2 1DY 01522 514131 lincoln@lcegroup.co.uk

The Flash Centre Unit 7 Scala Court, Leathley Road, Leeds, LS10 1JD 0113 247 0937 sales@theﬂashcentre.co.uk Wilkinson Cameras 38 Eastbank Street, Southport, Merseyside, PR8 1ET 01704 534534 southport@wilkinson.co.uk Scotland Calumet 3 Bonnington Business Centre, Tennant Street, Leith, Edinburgh, EH6 5HG 0131 553 9979 edinburgh@calumetphoto.co.uk Calumet Block 4 Unit 1, Garscube Rd, Oakbank Industrial Estate, Glasgow, G20 7LU 0141 353 0875 glasgow@calumetphoto.co.uk Jacobs Digital Photo & Video 41 - 43 Shandwick Place Edinburgh, EH2 4RG 0131 221 0765 edinburgh@jacobs-photo.co.uk Northern Ireland Calumet Boucher Plaza Unit 2, 4-6 Boucher Road, Belfast, BT12 6HR Northern Ireland 028 9077 7770 belfast@calumetphoto.co.uk Ireland Conns Cameras 54 Clarendon Street , Dublin 2, Ireland +353 1 677 7179 info@connscameras.ie Image Supply Systems 6A Liberty Lane, Camden Row, Dublin 8 Ireland +353 1 478 2520 sales@imagesupplysystems.com

You will also be able to beneﬁt from a selected number of these services from our EOS Professional Stockist. For more details please visit www.canon.co.uk/eospro-network

you can

15 BEAUMONDE NEWS

BLAZER OF GLORY

Divine commerce Grand hotels, tough tailoring, timepieces with historical resonance and a vintage Bugatti for sale

The pivotal link between formal and casual, day and night, the blazer is the versatile and essential wardrobe staple. Now Dunhill believes it has created the ultimate version. The classic Dunhill blazer is a navy, single-breasted affair featuring two AD vintage logo-embossed buttons and the styling can be personalised with a choice of lapel and buttoning options. It’s made from the ﬁnest Camdeboo mohair, exclusive to Dunhill. It offers up to 30 per cent capacity for stretching, springs back into shape when wet and resists sagging. This strong yet soft garment is ideal for rolling up and throwing into a travel bag. dunhill.com

SHANGHAI NIGHTS Just how imaginatively the old can be mixed with the new can be seen in the recently opened Peninsula Shanghai, the first new structure in the riverfront Bund district since the Bank of China in 1927. It’s an elaborate tribute, down to the last piece of cutlery, to the extravagant modernist glories of Art Deco Shanghai, a return of classic luxury to the old ‘Paris of the East’. A vast celadon green mural adorns the vast lobby, where you can take tea and eat breakfast. In the rooms, elegance meets modern convenience with astonishing detail: light systems that do anything you require, iPod docks and Nespresso machines. Sir Elly’s Restaurant, Bar and Terrace is the place for drinks and modern European cuisine with views across the Bund skyline, while the Compass Bar is a favourite city rendezvous. One floor of the hotel houses the re-creation of a Twenties nobleman’s house, in which you can enjoy Cantonese cuisine. Round out your evening with cocktails and dancing in the atmospheric Salon de Ning. It goes without saying that service throughout is impeccable. peninsula.com

TAKING TABLETS

Sharp intel Victorinox, maker of the Swiss Army Knife, has launched a data storage device worthy of MI5. The Victorinox Secure Pro features all the iconic Swiss Army tools – scissors, screwdriver, nail file – plus a USB flash drive with up to 32GB memory. Crucially, fingerprint recognition technology means the memory chip burns if tampering is detected. victorinox.com BRUMMELL MAY 2010

Should you yield to the hype of the imminent UK launch of the iPad, or hold ﬁre until a ﬁtter, leaner model comes your way? The answer depends on what you want it for: internet addicts will soon tire of the iPad’s lack of Flash support and would be better off waiting for the summer launch of the ExoPC Slate – a sleek, Windows-based tablet that copes with anything the web slings its way. If, however, you want a slimline entertainment device with a huge screen and intuitive menus, order an iPad now. apple.com/uk/ipad; exopc.com

16 BEAUMONDE NEWS

MASTER CLASS A £3m 1932 Bugatti, once raced by Grand Prix legend Jean-Pierre Wimille, is one of the star exhibits for sale at this year’s inaugural Masterpiece London Fair. Showcasing a fusion of traditional and modern, old and new, the fair will bring together some of the finest luxury pieces on the world market, including wines, decorative arts, antique jewellery, contemporary design and classic automobiles. Visitors will also be treated to an exceptional culinary experience, with food from The Caprice and satellites of Scott’s, The Ivy and Harry’s Bar available. Masterpiece London will be held at the former Chelsea Barracks, 24–29 June. masterpiecefair.com

POCKETED One of the most remarkable watches to be unveiled at this year’s Baselworld show was Chopard’s Tribute – a wristwatch that converts into a pocket watch. Measuring 49.6mm, the Tribute is made from white gold and attaches to its custom-made base plate and strap using an improved version of a system originally patented by Chopard owner Karl Scheufele in 1912. chopard.com

WELL TRAVELLED

MONACO MODERN Glamorous and monied Monaco has been going through something of a renaissance of late, with a raft of hip and stylish new restaurants, bars and clubs rejuvenating its nightlife. These days the playground principality has a refreshingly cool and casual air. Nowhere does old and new Monaco meet so successfully than at the Hotel Metropole. A grand palace hotel that dates from 1886, the Metropole was comprehensively refurbished and redesigned a few years back by Jacques Garcia, famed for his work on hotels such as the Costes in Paris and La Réserve in Geneva. The result is an elegant and refined contemporary retreat that makes Monaco’s other landmark hotels look just that little bit stuffy and old-fashioned. Add attractions such as the hotel’s two exemplary Joël Robuchon restaurants – a two Michelin-starred main dining room and a one Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant, Yoshi; a luxurious spa, gym and heated seawater pool; and service that is informal yet meticulous, and you have the only place to stay, play and (it must be said) seriously pay in this fun, social and often impossibly opulent place. 4 Avenue de la Madone, Monte Carlo (+377 93 15 15 15; metropole.com); doubles from €420 BRUMMELL MAY 2010

Zenith’s new president Jean-Frédéric Dufour has revealed that he has discovered a long-lost safe containing a large amount of important historical information about the brand, including the fact that one of its watches accompanied Roald Amundsen on his trip to the South Pole in 1911 – and that a Zenith watch was strapped to the undercarriage for the inaugural Boeing 707 flight from New York to Paris in 1958! Zenith’s first major new product since Dufour took over – the El Primero Striking 10th chronograph – has, incidentally, been declared a soaraway success. It costs £6,995. zenith-watches.com

CHRONOMAT B01

Breitling has built the chronograph par excellence A perfect fuselage, an exceptional engine: Breitling has launched a highly exclusive instrument set to establish itself as the benchmark among mechanical chronographs. A strong, unique and quintessential design. A stunning presence on the wrist through a blend of power and elegance. An authentic luxury gem crafted with extreme care for detail and finishing. Built to provide maximum sturdiness, functionality and efficiency, the Chronomat B01 is tailor-made for devotees of fine mechanisms born to accomplish great feats.

For your nearest stockist in Great Britain and Ireland telephone 020 7637 5167

WW W. BR E I T L I N G .C O M

This top-notch model is powered by Caliber B01, a selfwinding chronograph movement entirely developed in the Breitling workshops. A reliable, accurate, high-performance motor endowed with an original and innovative architecture – and chronometer-certified like all the brand’s movements. Refined aesthetics and raw performance: with the Chronomat B01, Breitling has redefined the mechanical chronograph.

BRUMMELL PROMOTION

Climb every mountain As this season’s menswear trends – with their stylish cream and white linen, khaki and brown leather – are focusing in on the theme of the Modern Gentleman Adventurer, we celebrate the spirit of adventure and the romance of exploration, and salute those extraordinary and inspirational men who push themselves to be the best of the best. That description can be applied to Harrods Menswear department, which will ensure you will always be appropriately dressed for the most challenging of situations. Harrods Menswear is the ultimate international destination to buy from an unrivalled collection of luxury menswear brands and accessories, with the benefit of personal shoppers who know the brands inside out. The exceptional quality of product on offer is matched by the environment, offering the sumptuous decor and comfortable surroundings of a gentleman’s club – the universe of the stylish, elegant, refined, fashionable and worldly man about town. BRUMMELL READERS’ EVENT AT HARRODS Experience all this at a special Brummell readers’ event, to be held in Men’s Tailoring on Tuesday 15 June, 6-8pm. With 30% off men’s tailoring on the night, you can enjoy Champagne and canapes while listening to guest speaker Tom Avery, an inspirational all-round Modern Gentleman Adventurer. There will be a coveted goodie bag, and the chance to win a mini-break in Sicily, with luxury travel company Abercrombie & Kent. They are offering a three-night stay at the luxurious Verdura Golf & Spa Resort. Included is a complimentary spa treatment at the Verdura Spa, or a round of golf on the course. The hotel is part of the Rocco Forte Collection. To reserve tickets, write to enquiries@efinancialnews.com

From left to right, Mark wears: black jacket, £450; grey grandad T-shirt, £115; white jeans, £145; cashmere and silk scarf, £115; black crocodile holdall, £17,500, all Dunhill. Jordan wears: ivory techno jacket, £799; brown linen trousers, £199; pink pique button shirt, £129; beige linen scarf, £89.95; all Corneliani. Ben wears: grey escape jacket, £755; grey cardigan, £630; white slim-fit jeans, £295; white poplin shirt, £195; sunglasses, £169, leather bag, £15,820, all Ralph Lauren. Mohammed wears: beige blazer, £1,350; beige jeans, £249; linen check scarf, £229; pale pink shirt, £249; beige holdall, £1,300, all Brunello Cucinelli

20 BEAUMONDE MOTORING

Making tracks

The modern spec of the four-wheel drive has made that open road more appealing than ever. So what’s stopping us?

OFF-rOad Original The oldest off-road vehicle brand in existence is the Chrysler-owned Jeep, which dates back to the Bantam BRC (the basis of the military Jeep), first built in 1941. british standard Land Rover is the world’s second oldest producer of four-wheel drive vehicles, the original Land Rover having been launched in 1948. lOst classic During the early Fifties, the British Army commissioned a specialised four-wheel-drive vehicle called the Austin Champ with a Rolls-Royce engine and a gearbox with the same number of reverse speeds as forward ones. It proved too complex and too expensive, however, and all military Champs were auctioned during the late Sixties. turning japanese Toyota’s Land Cruiser, which went into production in 1954 as Japan’s answer to the Land Rover, has become one of the world’s most successful four-wheel-drive vehicles. The utilitarian, early models have achieved classic status – a restored Seventies example recently fetched £12,000.

The original 1941 Bantam BRC Jeep, commissioned to equip the US army BRUMMELL MAY 2010

orty years ago – on June 17, 1970, to be precise – a new motoring phenomenon was born in the form of the Range Rover. Unveiled in the rugged surroundings of a disused Cornish tin mine, this remarkable vehicle met with rave reviews because it achieved the seemingly impossible – combining impressive off-road performance with the ability to travel at 90mph on the motorway, all the while cocooning its passengers in the utmost comfort. Designed by Charles Spencer King, the Range Rover’s brilliance was all down to smart engineering: it had mainly aluminium bodywork for lightness, a lazy V8 engine that produced plenty of low-down power, mighty underpinnings and, perhaps best of all, coil-spring suspension. Up until then, four-wheel drives were regarded as purely utilitarian vehicles and were generally fitted with so-called ‘cart springs’ that, while good for bearing heavy loads, were jarringly unforgiving to passengers. But the Range Rover’s coil set-up made for a compliant ride on both rough terrain and smooth asphalt which, together with a well-appointed interior, helped make it the original high-end, go-anywhere vehicle for everyone from farmers to bankers. Admittedly its handling became more boat-like than car-like when pressed on a twisty road, but drivers soon learned to live with that and adapt accordingly. The alternative was an unplanned barrel-roll. Four decades later and luxury four-wheel drives (aka SUVs/sports utility vehicles) are ubiquitous: Porsche has its Cayenne; Mercedes-Benz, the ML and more businesslike G-Wagen; and BMW its X5 and X3. Lexus offers the RX300; Nissan has its X-Trail and Pathfinder and the Toyota Land Cruiser is almost as legendary as the Range Rover. Jeep, meanwhile, boasts the Wrangler, Patriot and Cherokee models; and, of course, Land Rover offers its Defender, Discovery, Range Rover and Freelander models. There’s no doubt Freud would have something to say about our current enthusiasm for vehicles with all-terrain capability, especially as, according to the industry standard, just 15 per cent ever set a tyre off Tarmac. Most people ostensibly buy an SUV for its practicality: you can fill it with children, dogs and clobber and drive for miles in comfort at a level of safety that is perceived as being greater than that of a normal car, simply because you’re in something bigger than most other vehicles on the road (apart from other four-wheel drives, of course). But there’s often another, more romantic reason for wanting one, particularly for males. Deep down, we imagine a day when we’ll jack it all in, load up the motor with maps, water bottles, Jerry cans and mosquito nets and head off on our own voyage of discovery. And, as unlikely as that is, it won’t stop the particularly deluded from adding overlanding essentials such as high-lift suspension, full-length roof racks, mud-plugging tyres and auxiliary lighting despite the fact that most of their journeys could be made perfectly well in the most mundane and ill-equipped hatchback. Yet perhaps the strangest aspect of our voracious appetite for buying off-roaders and not using them for true

adventure is that modern ones are so prodigiously capable, meaning we really do have the equipment at our disposal to make that trip of a lifetime. There are usually plenty of reasons for putting it off – such as work and family commitments, lack of time, general disorganisation and so on. But there is a way to experience the thrill of ‘overlanding’ without having to purchase a four-wheel-drive and without having to make all the essential preparations yourself – and that is to get someone else to organise it all for you. Many

Deep down, we imagine a day when we’ll jack it all in, load up the motor and head off on our own voyage of discovery firms now offer overlanding holidays, but some of the best are undoubtedly put together by Land Rover itself in the form of Land Rover Expeditions. Now the company is running a self-drive programme in Morocco, getting to grips with some of the world’s toughest terrain. The trip will start from Marrakech and finish with a crossing of the spine of the High Atlas Mountains at heights of up to 2,000 metres. Small groups of up to 12 people (two per vehicle) will take part and enjoy the benefits of off-road tuition from Land Rover instructors and the assistance of a local guide. S Full details at landroverexpeditions.com WORDS SIMON DE BURTON

GEORGE STROCK/TIME LIFE PICTURES/GETTY IMAGES

MUd and gLoRy

22 BEAUMONDE WATCHES

Time and tide From an IWC that measures your underwater depth to a Jaeger-LeCoultre that sounds the alarm when it’s time to head for the surface, our selection of diving watches poses the simple question: ‘How low can you go?’ WORDS SIMON DE BURTON PHOTOGRAPHy PAUL ZAK

Panerai Luminor Marina 1950 In the Forties Giuseppe Panerai came up with a small lever that would lock tight against the winding crown to make it watertight, a system still in use today. This latest, 44mm version of a watch originally designed for Italian Decima Flottiglia MAS commandos also features Panerai’s P9000 in-house movement with three-day power reserve. £4,500; panerai.com

IWC Deep Two IWC’s Deep Two incorporates a nifty mechanical depth gauge. As a diver descends, water pressure acts on a membrane inside the secondary crown on the side of the case. This membrane activates a lever mechanism connected to measurement hands that record both current depth and the maximum depth reached, as far down as 50m. £9,950; iwc.com

Jaeger-LeCoultre Diving Alarm Navy Seals Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 1959 Memovox Deep Sea was the ﬁrst dive watch to feature a built-in mechanical alarm, audible through water. Now the brand has joined forces with the US Navy SEALs, the military dive unit, to create the Master Compressor Diving Alarm Navy SEALs with a 44mm titanium case and a choice of leather, rubber, cordura or titanium straps. £9,250; jaeger-lecoultre.com

Bremont Supermarine Descent Young British aviation watch brand Bremont’s new Supermarine Descent is named after the Spitﬁre manufacturer’s S6B Schneider Trophy seaplane (and is a limited edition of 407 – the plane’s mph top speed in 1931). But with its helium escape valve, crown protector, ultra-shockproof movement and 300m water resistance, it is aimed at serious divers. £3,195; bremont.com

Blancpain 50 Fathoms Tourbillon Blancpain introduced the 50 Fathoms in 1952 for military use, but it became popular among sport divers after Jacques Cousteau wore one in his award-winning 1956 ﬁlm The Silent World. The 50 Fathoms is available in various guises, the most extreme of which is this tourbillon. But at this price, do you really want to get it wet? £75,100; blancpain.com

Girard-Perregaux Sea Hawk Pro 1,000 Metres Few divers will ever exploit the full potential of the Sea Hawk Pro – it is guaranteed water-resistant to a lung-crushing 1,000m thanks to its ultra-thick crystal, screw-down back and crown and automatic helium valve, which protects it from damage during decompression. The 44mm watch features a small seconds and power reserve indicator. £6,800; girard-perregaux.com

Breitling Avenger Seawolf Blacksteel Breitling’s beefy 45mm Avenger Seawolf Blacksteel uses the brand’s Caliber 73 ‘superquartz’ chronometer-certiﬁed movement. The Seawolf is the only chronograph which remains ‘fully operational’ beneath the waves. It has magnetic pushpieces that can be used without any danger of water penetrating the case. £3,560; breitling.com MAY 2010 BRUMMELL

24 BEAUMONDE WINE

VinE RoMancEs

At La Melonera in Spain, you can buy a haçienda situated among your own vines

A selection of the best vanity vineyard schemes around the world, where you can own vines and make your own wine with the help of professionals. Some also offer luxury accommodation. ANdALusiA, spAiN The 490-acre estate at La Melonera, near Ronda, offers luxury haçiendas with adjacent vineyards on an estate planted and implemented by a team led by José Luis Pérez Verdún. lamelonera.com ALeNtejo, portugAL L’And Vineyards has built over 100 villas and apartments, clustered around their own resort and winery. l-andvineyards.com tuscANY, itALY Castello di Casole offers villas and vineyard plots in its exclusive Vintners Club set in a historic 4,200-acre estate. The winemaking expertise comes from Hans Vinding-Diers and Piero Incisa della Rocchetta of Sassicaia fame. So far 14 villas have been sold, leaving 15 available. castellodicasole.com ArgeNtiNA The exclusive La Estancia de Cafayate includes a golf course, spa, restaurants and equestrian centre. There are 65 properties still available, of 210. Vineyards are optional, but all owners receive an annual allowance of 100 bottles of estate wine. laestanciadecafayate.com NApA/BordeAux If you don’t want to buy a property or vineyard, why not try Crushpad in Napa or Bordeaux? Choose your grapes from high class vineyards and create your own wine with professionals. crushpadwine.com

BRUMMELL MAY 2010

Your wine, sir

A new breed of vineyard allows those wine-lovers who can’t spare the whole year and a few million to have their name on the label

ike many passionate oenophiles, Michael Evans had always wanted to own a vineyard, ideally in California’s Napa Valley. But a dual career in technology and Democratic politics got in the way. As did the cost: ‘I’d have needed several million dollars to do it the way I wanted,’ says Evans. Then, in 2004, he took a holiday to Mendoza in Argentina. He was blown away by the wine, weather, lifestyle and the heroic Andean backdrop. But what changed everything was an encounter with Argentine winemaker and entrepreneur, Pablo Giménez Riili. The pair spent three days brainstorming ideas. Six years on, Vines of Mendoza has come to fruition. It began with a tasting room in Mendoza and was followed by organised vineyard tours, Vinoteca wine bar and online wine club. And not far behind are a luxury resort and hotel. But for those who want more than a taste of Argentine wine, Evans and Riili created something much more intoxicating with their Private Vineyard Estates. Their brilliantly simple idea was to create bite-sized vineyards so that people could make their very own boutique wine. The pair bought and planted nearly 1,000 acres in Mendoza’s sought-after Uco Valley. Then, in 2006, they began to sell them off in three- to 10-acre parcels to oenophiles around the world at the modest starting price of around $165,000. You don’t just buy the vineyard, you also get the added value of access to a team of professional viticulturalists, agronomists and oenologists headed by Argentina’s top winemaker, Santiago Achával. The package also includes use of Vines of Mendoza’s state-of-the-art micro-viniﬁcation bodega. ‘What we do is cut out the hassle and let people get on with the more rewarding and enjoyable aspects of crafting great wine,’ says Evans. ‘The most important thing is all our Private Vineyard Estates are sold on a proprietary turnkey

basis, with owners determining their respective levels of input and involvement.’ In other words, you can do as little or as much as you like and still have all the bragging rights about creating and crafting your own wine. ‘Invariably, every client has a slightly different reason for doing this,’ adds Evans. ‘Most are hobbyists – international bankers, lawyers and entrepreneurs – who will come and stay here two or three weeks in the year. But what all of them want to do is have some fun by getting involved in making their own wine and, of course, drinking it.’ However, some clients, such as investment dealer Michelle Paris, are also looking at it as an investment opportunity and revenue stream as well as a lifestyle purchase. Having bought ﬁve acres planted with Syrah and Malbec, she also plans to buy in grapes to make 10,000 bottles per vintage: ‘That’s a lot more than I can drink, so I am looking to sell the surplus to get a return on my liquid assets.’ Just like Evans, Paris never thought she’d fulﬁll the dream of creating her own wine, not least because she had no winemaking experience whatsoever. ‘That’s the beauty of a scheme like this because I don’t need a degree in oenology to make the best possible wine,’ she says. ‘Everything has been done to a very high spec and the opportunity to work with Santiago Achával has been unbelievable. I can come down here a few times a year and get involved in the harvest and blending – and I can still continue the day job. For me, it’s been absolutely perfect.’ There are due to be 100 Private Vineyard Estates in total, of which around 70 have been sold. Of the 18 plots being made available in 2010, seven had been snapped up by the beginning of March. S vinesofmendoza.com WORDS JOHN STIMPFIG

26 STYLE

SUNGLASSES

squadron leaders Once again this summer, a perfect formation ﬂight of the aviators wins the battle of Britain’s eyewear

Clockwise from top: aviators with cream leather, £199, Ray-Ban at David Clulow. marko tF144 28P, £213, tom Ford at Harvey Nichols. acetate aviators, £189, Persol at David Clulow. gold sunglasses, £529, Dolce & gabbana at David Clulow. Victory frames, £280, Oliver Peoples at adam simmons BRUMMELL MAY 2010

getty images

PHOTOGRAPHy BEATE SONNENBERG STyLING JESSicA FiRTh-MORAiS

Innovation and uncompromising quality are the hallmarks of Frédérique Constant. Driven by an unparalleled passion for precision and craftsmanship, our watchmakers manufacture Geneva timepieces of contemporary, classic design and exceptional value.

Maxime Manufacture Automatic

For information and to order a catalogue, please contact us: Argento Fine Products Tel: 020 7722 24 38 info@agﬁneproducts.com www.frederique-constant.com

BEAUMONDE 29 SHORT BREAKS

A beast of a weekend

If working in the City seems too much like an urban safari, a wildlife encounter will soon put it in perspective

eople in finance love to talk about the big beasts of business, bear markets and how ‘it’s a jungle out there’. But most of that is bluster. Using the services of a tailor-made holiday firm, you can take just a couple of days out of the office in the world’s real wild places and come face to face with some creatures who really could destroy you in a moment. It puts things in perspective. When you spent Saturday staring down a polar bear or great white shark, it makes a monkey out of that client who pulls his silverback routine on Monday. Polar Bear Svalbard The archipelago of Svalbard lies over 700 miles north of the Norwegian coast, closer to the North Pole than it is to Oslo. And it has a polar bear population that some measurements suggest outnumbers the 2,750 people who live there. You can ﬂy to the main island of Spitsbergen and its largest settlement, Longyearbyen, with its wooden houses painted in primary colours. The Spitsbergen Hotel was once a club for the top brass of the coal mining company that occupied the archipelago after World War II, and retains that elegant feel of gentlemen explorers discussing their adventures

over a glass of linje akvavit by the fire in the map-lined library. This provides a base for exploration, either driving a team of sled dogs – Greenland huskies with their wolf pack mentality – or using snowmobiles. The latter are generally better for exploring the eastern shores of glaciated Spitsbergen in search of polar bear prints to follow (not least because a speedy getaway is easier). With luck, you’ll be able to watch these animals as they hunt seal (try to find out if the story about them covering their black noses with a paw, to remain camouflaged is true) and not be required to use the rifle you are required to have with your group for self-preservation.

trip you can spend two days tracking the great apes, fighting your way up steep climbs and through dense, wet jungle, to find their latest camp, often hearing the cries of another rare primate – the golden monkey – in the distance. The gorillas themselves are awe-inspiring, at the same time warm and gentle, and possessed of immense power. Tours also take in the steep, fertile terraced fields farmed by the northwest Rwandan people, and Lakes Bulera and Ruhondo. There are a number of luxury eco lodges to stay in, with spectacular views across the mountains.

Original Travel offers a four-night package (three in Svalbard), including ﬂights, from £1,550; originaltravel.co.uk

Steppes Discovery offers a four-day safari from £1,995; Baobab Expeditions from £1,722; steppesdiscovery.co.uk; baobabexpeditions.com. Flights not included – ﬂy to Kigali via Addis Ababa with Ethiopian Airlines

Gorilla Rwanda Long before people in Europe had heard of Tutsi and Hutu, Rwanda was famous as the place where gorillas lived in the mist. The late Dian Fossey insisted that ‘I won’t let them turn this mountain into a goddam zoo’. That hasn’t happened but it is now possible for small groups to observe mountain gorillas in their natural habitat on the volcanic slopes of the Virunga national park. On a four-day

WildeBeest Kenya The migration of wildebeest across the Masai Mara in the summer months is one of the most dramatic sights in the world. Over one-and-a-half million gnu trek across the plains from dry Tanzania north into Kenya, kicking up dust as far as the eye can see. Little Governors’ Camp, one of the best known safari lodges in Africa, has had its tents recently refurbished (with wooden verandahs), but retains MAY 2010 BRUMMELL

30 BEAUMONDE SHORT BREAKS

its intimate atmosphere. And it’s just half an hour from the major crossing point of the Mara river, a sort of wildebeest wandsworth Bridge, except with a heavily increased danger of drowning and an almost inﬁnitely greater chance of being eaten by crocodiles or lions. These bovine wanderers are no pushover though – they work as a team and can give a predator a right kicking, literally. Guests can take a balloon ride to ﬁnd a peaceful overview of the drama below, which can also be played out with a cast of zebra, gazelle, cheetahs, hyena and disinterested elephants.

a number which is almost too many – allowing the repopulation of Italy, France and Austria too. You can head to the densely forested karst plateau of the Dinaric Alps and stay in a Slovenian farmhouse where the farmer specialises in medicinal herbs (often ‘preserved’ with alcohol) and honey, as well as serving traditional food. At dusk, you head in a small, private group deep into the forest in a 4x4 and go to an observation point where the bears search for food – either foraging for berries, going ﬁshing, or – if you’re very lucky – trying to intimidate a wolf away from its own kill.

Imagine Africa offers a three-night game-viewing trip to Little Governors’ Camp, including ﬂights, meals and balloon ride from £2,273pp; imagineafrica.co.uk

Just Slovenia offers a three-night break, including ﬂights and guided bear-watching, from £470pp; justslovenia.co.uk

BroWn Bear Slovenia The most impressive land mammal you can observe in the wild in the heart of europe is not your Ceo, whatever he might think, but the eurasian brown bear. Slovenia has an estimated 600 of the animals,

Great White Shark South Africa There are only two places in the world you can legally go cage-diving to come face to face with a great white shark – one is Australia (a little too far for a weekend trip); the other is South Africa. Anywhere else you’re in the water with a great

white, there’ll be no cage to protect you. Almost as exciting as the diving is watching the sharks breach. They leap dramatically clear of the water as they patrol ‘Shark Alley’ between two islands in Gansbaai, hunting the 60,000 or so Cape seals who live there. You don’t need diving experience to climb into the cage, as the breathing equipment is attached to the boat, and the experience is perfectly safe since the sharks usually drift past you in curiosity more than frenzy, despite the scent trail that’s been left. You are likely to get your ‘Smile, you sunovabi–’ moment though, as judicious use of lures and bait tends to get the sharks baring their several rows of teeth at the boat. Thomson Tailormade offers three nights at the ﬁve-star One & Only Resort in Cape Town (with a spa and restaurants by Gordon Ramsay and Nobuyuki Mutsuhisa), including ﬂights and a day’s shark diving, from £1,500pp; thomsontailormade.com

elephant and hippo Zambia It’s perhaps a little presumptuous to experience the Zambezi Doctor Livingstone roamed for 12 years in a four-day trip, but then you’re probably better organised than the missionary explorer. For example, you could probably be trusted to reach Chiawa Camp, on the banks of the great river, without losing too many of your party to malaria. There, under a canopy of mahogany trees, you can sit on wooden verandahs as elephants casually stroll through the camp to the water. You can follow them on safari into the Lower Zambezi National Park, where you’ll also possibly see the endangered black rhino and leopards in trees. You could probably muster the resources to relocate to the exclusive Sindabezi Island, near Victoria Falls, a unique base for safari in the middle of the river, from which you can take canoe trips to get close to hippos (but not too close, since these beasts kill more humans than lions or crocodiles). Bailey Robinson offers an Adventure Long Weekend to Zambia from £2,975 per person, staying for two nights at Chiawa Camp and two nights at Sindabezi Island, on a full board basis, including ﬂights and activities; baileyrobinson.com S

Clockwise from top left: baby gorilla, Rwanda; bedside elephant at Chiawa Camp, Zambia; brown bear, Slovenia BRUMMELL MAY 2010

VoLCANo SAFArIS; ChIAwA CAMP; juST SLoVeNIA

WORDS ChrIS MADIGAN

Abercrombie & Kent has been perfecting the art of tailor-made travel for nearly 50 years. For the ultimate in service and experience please call

0 8 4 5 6 1 8 2 1 67 or visit us in Harrods

we discovered the vibrant character of the market that morning. His name was Alfredo.

32 BEAUMONDE AFTER THE CITY

Banker’s draught Former securities director Nick Gibson swapped the heady world of CDOs for the equally risky role of Islington gastropub landlord

ccasionally, Nick Gibson wonders if he should be waiting tables in a pub. ‘I sweep floors, I clear plates, unpack the drink deliveries,’ says the 43-year-old Oxford graduate and one-time executive director at Morgan Stanley. ‘I’ve had moments where I’m thinking, “Am I doing what I’m capable of?” But it’s wonderfully liberating.’ He is, it should be said, also co-owner of the pub, The Drapers Arms in Islington, and it’s not exactly a backstreet boozer. Since launching in May 2009, its traditional British menu has earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand and inspired a glowing write-up from the hellishly picky Giles Coren in The Times. On a spring day, with sunshine pouring in through waist-to-ceiling windows, chatting over a pint of well-kept Harvey’s Sussex bitter among the dark wood tables and worn leather chairs, it’s not hard to see the attraction. More surprising now for Gibson is that he worked in the City for almost 20 years. He joined Salomon Brothers after gaining a degree in politics and philosophy and eventually found his way to securitisation at Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan and Morgan Stanley – cat bonds and finally CDOs. ‘Yes, what brought the world to ruin,’ he says with a wry smile, ‘though I spent an awful lot of time when I was there saying they would. I was the gloomiest of the gloomiest.’ He was so gloomy, in fact, that when his job was creditcrunched in May 2008 he’d already sold his house and liquidised his assets. He had plans for his next career, too,

‘I’m personnel director, finance director and so on, but waiting tables keeps me connected with how well we’re doing our job’ having pipe-dreamt a chain of gastropubs with old friend Ben Maschler, son of revered restaurant critic Fay and former director of food at the Soho House group. They began looking for properties in August of that year and within a month had found The Drapers Arms, which had recently shut down rather suddenly. ‘I looked in and it was fabulous – a beautiful building with a wonderful vibe.’ They bought it without setting foot inside, having never seen one of its greatest assets, the bright, airy upstairs dining room. Gibson’s experience in securitisation had perhaps prepared him for such risk-tasking, but the rest was new. ‘I cook a lot, I’ve always been fascinated by wine and beer, but I’ve never run a pub,’ he admits. ‘It’s very, very easy to mess up.’ Spreadsheets of estimated spends didn’t add up: ‘We couldn’t get close to the top line we needed. But we looked at it and thought if we did what we thought was right – good staff, food and drink with integrity – somehow, with this building, we must be able to survive.’ The leap of faith was backed up with the rather more concrete decision to hire Karl Goward, formerly head chef at St John Bread & Wine, part of the legendary home of ‘nose-to-tail eating’, the St John group. He created a menu around the partners’ parameters of ‘affordable, robust, BRUMMELL MAY 2010

British, seasonal food’, the sort of cooking that’s come very much to the fore of late. Gibson is clear why that is: ‘You can give someone a well-sourced steak and some decent chips but you’re going to have to charge £15-£18 for it,’ he says. ‘It’s much nicer to offer them a full, rewarding meal cooked with a slow-braised shoulder of venison for £13.’ For all the success, it’s certainly been a more involved, intensive experience than he expected. The original plan had been for a group of 10, even 20 pubs, but that’s since been scaled down. ‘The aim is to have just two or three, so we can do them with the same conviction and passion,’ he says. ‘I like the fact that I now know half the people who come in here. I’m personnel director and finance director and so on, but waiting tables is what keeps me connected with how well we’re doing our job.’ S thedrapersarms.com WORDS JAMeS MeDD PHOTOGRAPHy JAKe GreeN

Above Nick Gibson photographed at The Drapers Arms, Islington, London

The best of the best from around the world Introducing a unique showcase for the most covetable objects in the world: traditional and modern, old and new, from the ﬁnest of ﬁne and decorative art to the best of wines, classic cars, jewellery and contemporary design. Find something to treasure at Masterpiece London.

24–29 june 2010 preview: 23 june Location

Former Chelsea BarraCks, london sw1

Information

masterpieCeFair.Com

+44 (0)20 7499 7470

STYLE 35

Into the wild Break new ground in creamy cottons and linens, with khaki wool and cashmere for after dark. Leather accessories are a natural fit for your explorations PhotograPhy Kia Naddermier FaShIoN EDItor Tamara FulToN

White linen shirt, £75, Jaeger. green cotton scarf, £55, MhL by Margaret howell. De Ville X2 Big Date alligator strap watch, £2,890, omega. Silver hook and brown woven leather cord bracelet, £495, Shaun Leane. rosewood and canvas folding chair with attached side table, £760, Purdey maY 2010 BRUMMELL

Opposite, Andrew wears: Beige wool two-button jacket, £1,130, beige wool v-neck tunic, £355, beige cotton tank, £135, all Dior Homme Melina wears: Silk beaded brown dress, £4,410, Salvatore Ferragamo. Gold-plated Star Fruit hoop earrings, £95, Pebble London

This page, Andrew wears: Green cotton jacket, £995, cream cotton jersey shirt, £95, both Dunhill. Sand linen trousers, £450, Versace. Chocolate East West Antony messenger bag, £450, Mulberry. Dark brown plaited leather belt, £275, Paul Smith. Sussex butler’s tray, £2,960, Ralph Lauren Home

MAY 2010 BRUMMELL

This page: Khaki cashmere knit, £2,700, khaki cotton linen mix trousers, £420, cotton espadrilles, £260, silver Arceau Chronograph watch, £2,715, all Hermès. Silver hook and brown woven leather cord bracelet, £495, Shaun Leane. Briar Wood pen, £550, Dunhill. Oak notebook, £60, Mulberry. Brown Mara atlas, £165, Smythson. Cream Faubourg Express suitcase, £2,330, Hermès. Tan leather suitcase, £3,000, Bally

Opposite, Melina wears: Canvas cotton tunic, £890, canvas cotton shorts, £385, both Bottega Veneta. Erdem handmade glasses, £290, Cutler & gross. Mammoth specimen and 18-carat yellow gold pei ring, £5,670, antique agate and 18-carat gold Serengeti ring, £2,380, both Belmacz. Bronze beaded bangle, £85.50, Angie gooderham

Andrew wears: Light cigar cotton/linen mix jacket, £690, light cigar cotton/ linen mix trousers, £500, both Bottega Veneta. Cream cotton mesh T-shirt, £95, paul Smith

HAir Kenichi At cAren.co.uK MAKE up LindA ohrströM At nAKedArtists.coM using MAc MODELS Andrew At FM, MeLinA At seLect prOp STyLing FAbrice speLtA FASHiOn ASSiSTAnT JessicA Firth-MorAis pHOTOgrApHiC ASSiSTAnT pAuL widegren HAir ASSiSTAnT MitsutAKA thAnKs to KAte o’brien And sAbinA goth

MAY 2010 BRUMMELL

The travellers descend into the Fish River Canyon, at the start of the 85km trek

BRUMMELL 41

TRAVEL

Lonesome valley

Comprising barren rock faces and unforgiving heat, offset by ambling emerald waters, a four-day hike through Fish River Canyon in Namibia can really separate the men from the boys WORDS IAN BelCheR PHOTOGRAPY DOUG MCKINleY

ou may have supped a Mojito in the aquamarine light of Rio’s Copacabana Palace; downed a Singapore Sling under the mahogany ceiling fan of Raffles; or even savoured a perfectly chilled pink gin on the rooftop terrace of Bar ThreeSixty in Istanbul, while the imams’ cries tumble down to the Bosphorus. But you will never – absolutely never – taste a more epic, heart-stoppingly beautiful sundowner than a frosted Windhoek beer in the al fresco bar of Southern Namibia’s Cañon lodge. It’s not just the setting, cut into the face of a vertiginous wall of ochre rock – you climb up a cliff and through a tunnel to reach it – and it’s not just the elegy-inducing widescreen views of a desert plateau bathed in warm dusk light. No, this sundowner is the world’s best because chances are, you’ve just hiked the Fish River Canyon. You’ve earned this drink. It will, trust me, taste like nectar. In your elation you may even contemplate a lunatic splurge on a 2005 lafite Rothschild Pauillac. This, you see, is no ordinary hike, and no ordinary canyon. At 160km long, up to 27km wide and 549m deep, the Fish River is the grandest gash in the planet after Colorado’s world champ. The local Nama people, who failed GCSe geography but scored A for creative writing, believe its mesmerising curves were hewn by the death throes of a giant snake. Modern geologists are a much less poetic bunch, however, droning on about rocks being deposited nearly two billion years ago and subsequently submerged under oceans, riven by seismic tremors and sculpted by ice and water. Whoever’s right – the Nama get my vote – the result is scenic drama worthy of Shakespeare: plunging walls of cappuccino- and espresso-coloured rock, punctuated with brutal gullies and flat-topped buttes reaching up from the dusty earth. lurking somewhere in the shadowy depths is the Fish River: a ribbon of water so sinuous that it hisses rather than flows. Its current, which occasionally splutters to a near standstill, is a lifeline for hikers who can only attempt the canyon in the cooler winters. With daytime temperatures still up past 30ºC, purification tablets guarantee constant

drinking water. Without it, you simply couldn’t carry enough liquid to survive. I was already overloaded as I stepped over the precipice, which, mere minutes after dawn, was hammered by relentless sun. Without toughened porters, such as himalayan natives, you hump with you everything you need to cool down, warm up, eat, cook and kip. Your life on your back. The canyon is supremely easy on the eye – dark dolerites, smooth sandstone and generous clumps of quartz – but cruel on the knees. huge boulders embedded into the sharp gradient made for murderous early progress. Factor in my poor packing – a pan, sleeping bag and sandals dangled alarmingly from my rucksack – and within hours limbs and muscles were screaming. Nature called a temporary truce at river level, where a chorus of ﬁsh eagles serenaded us during our dip in startling green water. But an hour later the hostilities resumed. The temperature rose, my vision ﬂickered and

As I gulped down rehydration fluids, Chris, our brilliant Namibian guide, shook his head. ‘Africa,’ he sighed, ‘is not for sissies’ the world turned white. heatstroke. I slumped down like a Premiership striker after a dubious penalty. A premature end to day one. Seventy-five kilometres to go. As I gulped down rehydration fluids, Chris liebenberg, our brilliant Namibian guide – do not leave home without one – shook his head. ‘Africa,’ he sighed, ‘is not for sissies.’ Or for the overburdened. Next morning, after a typical night’s fireside sleep under a 14-tog duvet of stars, he halved my pack weight, ‘redistributing’ it to the other two hikers. A problem shared. And observed. Two baboons stared at us impassively before mating furiously within an indecent distance of my breakfast muesli – something that hasn’t happened recently at Travelodge. For the following two days their troop padded along in our wake, as though preparing MAY 2010 BRUMMELL

42 BRUMMELL TRAVEL

AfricAn Adventure S cAnoes on the ZAMBeZi Take to the water for one of the more memorable experiences in Southern Africa. The Lower Zambezi Valley, with its islands, channels and sandbanks, is perfect for a three-night canoe trip to float up to big game and red clouds of carmine bee-eaters. End up at Ruckomechi, a tented camp in Mana Pools National Park on the Zimbabwe/Zambia border, where thrills come courtesy of a motorboat and guided hikes through the heavenly landscape. Eight-night trips including flights, transfers, canoeing and full-board accommodation from £2,200pp; expertafrica.com roAd to south AfricA Beyond safaris, surf and the World Cup, South Africa’s vast interior is perfect for road trips. Driving around KwaZulu-Natal and Lesotho brings you face-to-face with the dramatic Drakensburg peaks, where you can yomp to the high point of Cathedral Peak, or to the Amphitheatre, where Michael Caine took on the Zulu. Combine it with a stay in the Montusi Mountain Lodge for horse treks and walks to rock art sites. Twelve days including flights, car hire, accommodation and most meals from £2,495pp; audleytravel.com KenyAn running Wildfitness takes the office potato out and puts the hunter gatherer in, using a primal animal approach to movement, training and eating at Watamu on the gorgeous North Kenyan coast. Expect sunrise boxing and stretching on the roof of shabby chic Baraka House, barefoot running on the beach, swimming up creeks, along with volleyball, canoeing and snorkelling over tropical reefs. Plus expert advice on staying lean and injury-free. You can indulge in photogenic sundowners though. Two-week Revitalize course from £2,420pp (not flights); wildfitness.com

Clockwise from top The slow-flowing Fish River reflects the afternoon sun; hikers and guides share a sundowner; indigenous horses are unperturbed by the heat BRUMMELL MAY 2010

to pick off the weakest human. I believe that was me. Darwin would have been proud. It took 36 hours for the endless boulders to turn into more manageable ground. The Fish River transformed into thermal springs, complete with soothing mud and gurgling water shaded by palms – a legacy of some date seeds discarded by two German soldiers hiding out there during WWII. Prolonged bathing in the springs is said to have cleared up health problems and complexions, although rumours the men went on to pioneer single-sex marriage and open their own Cape Town spa are possibly unfounded. We passed the unmarked sole emergency exit path. Welcome to raw Africa, a different planet from the crowded trails of Kilimanjaro and Machu Picchu. Until the ﬁnal steps we didn’t see another human; just wild horses, petite antelope and massive earwigs. ‘Block your ears with tissue paper at night,’ warned Chris. ‘Twisting out an earwig leaves the headache from hell.’ And, of course, there were rocks. Millions of them. The geology of the area was astounding: huge slabs of pink feldspar, vast powder beaches that late-afternoon gales whipped into sandstorms and, on night three, a towering stone amphitheatre ignited by the setting sun.

Blisters hardened. The route softened. Our first signpost appeared on the final morning: an arrow of bleached animal bones – how savagely suitable – revealing a shortcut into a fat valley, where enormous rock fingers were reminiscent of Monument Valley. It contained the hike’s only historic sight – a desperately lonely grave for two German officers killed in the 1905 Nama uprising. ‘Through the canyon with three Reinecke,’ wrote Chris in the memorial book, using Afrikaans slang for Brits. ‘The hardest money I ever earned.’ Oh please. The guide’s trauma was almost over. His wilderness skills had trimmed kilometres and hot hours off the 85km route. As the valley widened, its path faded and Chris’s tracking was worthy of a Kalahari bushman. Old footprints guided us home like runway lights until the Ai-Ais hot springs emerged through a shimmering late afternoon haze. It was time for that bitterly cold sundowner. The canyon can be tackled safely from May to mid-September. S Abercrombie & Kent (0845 618 2200, abercrombiekent. co.uk) offers 11 nights in Namibia including full-board stays in Cañon Lodge (with four-day guided Fish River hike), Etosha and Damaraland. Flights and transfers from £5,210pp

Kuoni luxury travel

Visit us!

84 Bishopsgate

TAILOR M AK E YOUR PER FECT HOLIDAY AT 84 BISHOPSGATE, 0207 374 6601.

VOTED THE WOR LD’S LEADING TOUR OPER ATOR FOR 11 YEAR S IN A ROW • W W W.K UONI.CO.UK

44 BRUMMELL INVESTMENT

Whisky business

As single malt Scotch enjoys a comeback and a generation of high-quality Irish whiskeys and bourbons matures, the water of life is gradually gaining investment vitality WORDS SIMon Brooke illuStRatiOn LUCY VIGrASS

Dram kit S mctear’s The auction house’s next whisky auctions are in August and November in Glasgow. mctears.co.uk Bonhams The Edinburgh office is hosting a sale of whisky on 16 June, at 11am. bonhams.com WorlD Whisky inDex Advice on investing is available from the World Whisky Index worldwhiskyindex.com the Whisky exchange A huge range of whiskies from around the world with expert advice and regular events. thewhiskyexchange.com the Whisky shoW 2010 This consumer show takes place on 29-30 October 2010 and includes tastings, advice and masterclasses. thewhiskyshow.com

ocktails might be in fashion again and French wines are finding a new audience after the success of their brash new World cousins, but few drinks have enjoyed a comeback like that of whisky – high-end whisky, anyway. After years of decline, which saw the closure of distilleries in Scotland and Ireland, a new market is developing for luxury single malts. Such is demand that premium bottles are being seen increasingly as an investment. ‘The collectors’ market is growing as whisky enthusiasts become interested in rare bottles sold at auction,’ says David Williamson, of the Scotch Whisky Association. According to market researchers Mintel, whereas the sales of blended whisky fell by 13.3 per cent in the Uk between 2003 and 2007, the volume of deluxe whisky actually rose by 7.1 per cent over the same period. But this figure doesn’t reflect some of the truly remarkable price rises among the top end brands. McTear’s auction house in Glasgow now holds four sales of collectable whisky a year. At last August’s sale, a bottle of Macallan Anniversary 50-year-old went for £11,750, up from around £5,800 just two-and-a-half years ago. The Bowmore Black was released in the early nineties selling for £90 to £130 but it now changes hands for over £2,000. only 12 bottles of the Dalmore Sirius were released last october at £10,000 each; they sold out in just four days; but eight weeks later a bottle was resold for £16,000. ‘The low-volume, high-value deluxe niche – encompassing vintage and limited-edition Scotch whiskies – has grown globally and in the Uk on the back of consumer affluence and demand for exclusivity,’ says Jonny Forsyth, senior drinks analyst for Mintel. ‘Membership of a whisky connoisseur club is regarded as a sophisticated and social badge of status among consumers in their 30s and even 20s.’ ‘It’s best to go for a well-known name,’ says Andrew Bell, whisky expert at McTear’s. However, it’s possible to make smaller investments. Bell himself bought some bottles of Ardbeg’s 17-year-old whisky for £30 each in 2006; they went at auction last year for £150 a bottle. rarity and quality are obviously the key to the best potential returns. The whiskies to watch, he says, are The Dalmore, Macallan, Ardbeg, Springbank, Bowmore and Highland Park. The last products of the smaller distilleries that closed during the eighties, including Brora, rosebank and Port ellen of Islay, are also experiencing growing demand. David robertson of the Dalmore says: “There’s no exact science to predicting the return on investment for whisky because it differs greatly depending on bottle, cask, age

and distillery. For example a Dalmore 50 bought in 2003 for £710 is now estimated to be worth £1,620 which is an increase in value of 128 per cent, while a bottle of Springbank 1973 Green Label bought at the same time for £500 is now valued at £800, so it’s a smaller return at 60 per cent.’ one trick, if you have the time and patience, is to buy from the distilleries themselves where you’ll ﬁnd a greater range of ‘expressions’ as the different releases are known. Scotch whisky accounts for around 90 per cent of the collectors’ and investors’ market, says Sukhinder Singh of The Whisky exchange, but don’t dismiss Irish products. A 15-year-old bottle of redbreast, for instance, has gone from £40 to £120 in a year. ‘Irish whisky is popular with collectors who have a connection with Ireland, especially Americans.’ In the United States, whisky collecting is an even more recent trend. ‘It was illegal to sell spirits by auction in the state of new York until 2007,’ says richard Pike of

The Bowmore Black malt whisky was released in the early Nineties selling for £90 or so. It is now changing hands for over £2,000 Bonhams in new York. But since then it’s became more and more popular – especially pre-prohibition bourbon. Fermented grain mash must be kept in a cask for three years or more to be called whisky. This cask, usually an old sherry or bourbon butt, is what gives the spirit all its distinctive taste and colour. Some collectors are now buying casks as an investment for when the contents are later bottled, but David Williamson of the Scotch Whisky Association points out that investors should bear in mind the costs of storing the casks under bond and the further costs of bottling. The Amsterdam-based World Whisky Index allows investors to put their money into the spirit with advice from experts who will buy, sell and even store on their behalf, for a fee of between half a per cent and 10 per cent of the price of a bottle. As with any investment, putting your money into whisky, whatever the quality, is a risk and there is no secret formula. The well-known rules apply – do your research and don’t put all your eggs in one basket. But perhaps the best advice comes from Andrew Bell of McTear’s: ‘It’s really all about passion and patience.’ S

MAY 2010 BRUMMELL

46 BRUMMELL

Clockwise from left The Rapide; the definitive early Sixties DB4; the Eighties Lagonda

BY GEORGE

Rapide response When the crisis hit, some manufacturers scaled back their ambitions. not Aston Martin…

his time last year it was all doom and gloom in the car industry, especially at the top end. But while the naysayers were predicting the demise of the world’s most revered luxury marques, the people at thoroughly British Aston Martin maintained a stiff upper lip and forged ahead with some of the most ambitious projects in its 96-year history. Perhaps the most important of these was the development of the Rapide, an Aston of typically sinuous form, with the advantage of four doors rather than the two we’re used to on models such as the DB9, the V12 Vanquish and the V8 Vantage. The idea of a four-door Aston is not entirely new, however – in the sixties, 55 DB4-based Rapides were made; the early seventies saw eight V8 cars stretched to accommodate four doors; and in 1976 the radical wedge-shaped Lagonda appeared. But the 21st-century Rapide is Aston’s ﬁrst truly serious attempt to produce a four-seat grand tourer – and what a machine it is. styled to be soft, curvaceous and tactile, but with a tension that hints at taut muscles beneath aluminium skin, the role of the Rapide becomes obvious even before you climb in: this car is for crossing continents at speed, in style. The extra bulk from having four doors undoubtedly blunts the Rapide’s performance compared with the DB9 on which it is based, and while the handling outclasses that of most other sports cars, this Aston is clearly not quite as nimble as its two-door cousins. But its abilities still extend far beyond those of most people who will drive it, and the extra tenth of a second here, or the slight loss of handling precision there, are more than compensated for by its practicality and thoughtful design. Take the rear passenger strap hangers, for example: they’re not just screwed-on loops of leather. Instead, each is seamlessly attached and terminates in a tactile steel ball that, when not in use, is drawn to rest

satisfyingly against the door pillar by a powerful magnet. Then there is the sensible ‘hatchback’ design that opens onto a large load area, which almost triples in size when the rear seats are electrically folded (bespoke luggage is available). The Bang & Olufsen sound system with speakers that rise from the dashboard top is quite something, too. If the idea of driving a car around town that can consume fuel at the rate of 19 mpg niggles at your conscience, Aston Martin’s CEO Dr Ulrich Bez believes he has found a way of easing the guilt – by creating an Aston ‘supermini’. Based on a tiny Toyota iQ, the Cygnet has been widely derided in the press both for its concept and its appearance. It’s essentially an iQ with an Aston grille and an ultra-high spec interior – and only Aston owners will be able to buy one. But Bez reckons supercar drivers have consciences, too, and would prefer to keep their big Astons for big journeys and use their Cygnets for more local swanning about. The Cygnet cynics think the car is just a ploy by Aston to reduce its average CO2 output, but 67-year-old Bez says he’s ahead of the curve, and other luxury marques will follow. He’ll probably be proved right but, as much as I want to save the planet, I’m more tempted by Aston’s sublime, limited edition One-77 megacar. With a top speed of more than 220 mph, just 77 will be made. Apart from making a mean-looking machine that goes very quickly, the idea was to produce a supercar that blended art and engineering in a way never seen before. It’s worked – and it’s no ugly duckling, either. The Aston Martin Rapide is available now with a starting price of £139,950. The One-77 costs around £1.2 million. The Cygnet is tipped to cost around £30,000. S astonmartin.com WORDS sIMOn DE BURTOn

Stockists Adam Simmonds at Oliver Peoples 020 7813 1234; oliverpeoples.com Angie Gooderham 020 7288 9840; angiegooderhamstore.com Bally 020 7408 9894; bally.com Belmacz 020 7629 7863; belmacz.com Bottega Veneta 020 7629 5598; bottegaveneta.com Breitling breitling.com Bremont 0845 094 0690; bremont.com Church’s 01604 593333; church-footwear.com Cutler & Gross 020 7581 2250; cutlerandgross.com Persol at David Clulow 0844 264 0870; davidclulow.com Dior Homme 020 7172 0172; dior.com Dunhill 0845 458 0779; dunhill.com Girard-Perregaux girard-perregaux.com Hermès 020 7499 8856; hermes.com IWC iwc.com Jaeger 0845 051 0063; jaeger.co.uk Jaeger-LeCoultre jaeger-lecoultre.com Margaret Howell 020 7009 9009; margarethowell.co.uk Mulberry 020 7491 3900; mulberry.com Omega omegawatches.com Panerai panerai.com Paul Smith 0800 023 4006; paulsmith.co.uk Pebble London 020 7262 1775; pebblelondon.com Purdey 020 7499 1801; purdey.com Ralph Lauren Home 020 7535 4600; ralphlaurenhome.com Salvatore Ferragamo 020 7629 5007; salvatoreferragamo.com Shaun Leane at Harrods 020 7893 8407; shaunleane.com Smythson 0845 873 2435; smythson.com Tom Ford at Harvey Nichols 020 7235 5000; tomford.com Versace 020 7259 5700; versace.com

BRUMMELL MAY 2010