Graffiti Magazine

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T h e G r a f f M aG a z i n e / W i n T e r 2 0 1 0

A F F I T I

PERFECT BRILLIANCE EXCEPTIONAL dIAmONds THE POETIC ART OF Ed RUsCHA UNIqUE TImEPIECEs mONACO’s mAGIC LUXURy LOdGEs wORLd CLAss TRAvEL

L O D G E S & S PA Tel: +27 (0)21 885 8160 路 Email: reservations@delaire.co.za HELSHOOGTE PASS, STELLENBOSCH, SOUTH AFRICA www.delaire.co.za

With the explicit permission of the russian prime minister we glided into the arctic waters of provideniya Bay, the first non-russian vessel to do so in 60 years. a converted army truck carried us inland, where we shared a plate of bread, hot from the oven. and though we hadn’t yet sampled the vodka, we were intoxicated.

for while we had begun our journey aboard the yacht as 100 neighbors, we were now more than that. We had created history together.

three months later, Kate and i stand on our apartment balcony, watching the shoreline get closer, recalling the surprising warmth of the locals, even the soldiers.

and we renew our pledge to never forget that day. But the breeze coming off the water forces our heads back to a more literal warmth, the kind you can only feel south of the equator…

Only 200 make the journey, which continues aboardtheworld.com | +1 954 573 2583

Residences at Sea

represents

Ed Ruscha

Photo Š Leo Holub

Gagosian Gallery

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14 Cover photography Graeme Montgomery Styling Annette Masterman On the cover 20.02ct Fancy Deep Blue Diamond ring with pearshape Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 22.02cts)

MATTHEW SHAvE; GRAEME MoNTGoMERy

Published for Graff by Show Media Ltd 1-2 Ravey Street, London EC2A 4QP +44 (0) 20 3222 0101; www.showmedia.net Editor Joanne Glasbey Creative Director Ian Pendleton Art Directors Jonathan Bailey, Dominic Bell Managing Editor Katie Wyartt Picture Editor Juliette Hedoin Chief Sub-Editor Chris Madigan Sub-Editors Sarah Evans, Gill Wing Managing Director Peter Howarth For Graff Katherine Roach, Joanne Hill, Lily King, Adam Norton, Jessica Lansley Advertising Penny Weatherall and Katherine Roach at Graff +44 (0)20 7584 8571; graffiti@graffdiamonds.com Colour reproduction by FMG; www.wearefmg.com Printing by Taylor Bloxham; www.taylorbloxham.co.uk

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CONTENTS 14 in the stars

Vivienne Becker describes how two remarkable diamonds, the Graff Constellation and Delaire Sunrise, became part of the Graff collection

20 POetrY Of art If a picture paints a thousand words, then the Pop artist with the greatest longevity writes extra chapters. Ben Lewis talks to the great artist Ed Ruscha 26 fLiGhts Of fanCY

The finest white, yellow and blue diamonds, crafted into exquisite necklaces and earrings, adorn nature’s magnificent plumes

34 haUte hOrOLOGY

Simon de Burton explores Graff’s stunning timepiece collections, and finds the elegant and distinguished watches are acknowledged classics

56 MOnaCO MOn aMOUr The principality on the Côte d’Azur remains the epitome of European style and luxury, a playground with both history and an exciting future

38 View frOM the tOP

60 enChanteD eVeninG

The exclusive Delaire Graff Estate, set in the breathtaking beauty of the South African winelands, opens a spa and 10 luxurious private lodges

The depth and reflection of the world’s best diamonds, sapphires and rubies ensure there’s brilliant romance when the darkness falls

46 sweet DreaMs Elegance abounds as the lady takes tea, wearing delicately crafted confections that are exquisite examples of the jeweller’s art

72 hOPe taKes a LeaD The work of the FACET charity expands from its Graff Leadership Centre in Lesotho to Botswana and South Africa, sowing seeds of hope

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raff is famous for the most beautiful diamonds and gems in the world. We are constantly searching to find the finest stones, be it in rough or polished form. I am proud to introduce our latest treasures; the Graff Constellation, the first DIF round Diamond in the world to exceed 100cts, and the Delaire Sunrise, the largest square emerald-cut Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond that has been certified by the GIA to date.

In this issue, Vivienne Becker describes the incredible story of these two exceptional diamonds as they are carefully transformed from the rough to perfectly formed diamonds by Graff’s master cutters.

A star of the art world I admire is Ed Ruscha, interviewed here by Ben Lewis, who describes Ed’s career as having the feel of a road movie. His art invokes American icons and Pop Art, but is also a philosophical investigation of the way images and words create meanings.

Monaco insiders know that, while there are other notable and desirable locations around the globe, the royal principality’s effortless marriage of elegance and affluence has always reigned supreme.

Graff Monaco opened in the fabled and opulent Hôtel de Paris in April 2000; a decade on, Philip Watson explores the principality’s enduring attraction. And speaking of the international set, we experience owning a floating residence on board The World, as it sets its course for limitless exotic destinations.

Some destinations are more challenging, like in sub-Saharan Africa, where Graff gives its support back to the countries where its diamonds are sourced by partnering with local charities. I’m pleased to see the good work developing and expanding from the original Lesotho base to neighbouring countries of Botswana and South Africa. Small seeds of hope are planted and we look forward to them blossoming.

I hope you enjoy this issue.

Laurence Graff Chairman of Graff Diamond Holdings

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IN THE STARS TWO VERY IMPORTANT, RARE DIAMONDS WERE RECENTLY UNVEILED BY GRAFF, REPORTS VIVIENNE BECKER. THESE SPECTACULAR STONES ARE DESTINED FOR HISTORIC STATUS ummer on the Riviera, sunshine, sizzle and superyachts; only this year, the famous light of the Côte d’Azur is outshone by the radiance of two of the world’s most ravishing diamonds. Unveiled by Laurence Graff at the annual Graff Exhibition of Rare Gems in Monaco’s Hôtel de Paris on 30 July, the Graff Constellation Diamond and the Delaire Sunrise Diamond take centre stage, bathed in their own limelight. Both diamonds, mesmerising in scale and beauty, each over 100 carats, are the largest of their cut and quality in the world today. ‘Anything that Graff does,’ Laurence Graff has said, explaining his singleminded mission to be the best, ‘has to be of top quality. We don’t go for size, we go for quality every time.’ This time, however, Graff has succeeded in matching quality with size in these two new staggeringly superlative stones, doubtless destined for future historic status.

The Graff Constellation, 102.79 carats, is the largest D-colour internally flawless round brilliant-cut diamond in the world. ‘A breathtaking stone, the definition of rarity,’ is Laurence Graff’s

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description. ‘Perfect in shape, colour and clarity, with unparalleled brilliance. When you look into the Graff Constellation you see all the stars in the sky.’

The monumental and magnificent stone comes from the Light of Letseng, 478 carats in the rough, the 20th largest diamond ever discovered, and the third significant find in the Letseng mine in the Kingdom of Lesotho in as many years. The Letseng mine is renowned for its yield of superb diamonds of exceptional size, colour and clarity: in 2006, the Lesotho Promise, 603 carats, was recovered there, followed a year later by the 493 carat Letseng Legacy, and then by the Light of Letseng mined in September 2008, all three acquired by Graff Diamonds.

When the Light of Letseng was first unveiled by the Kingdom of Lesotho, Laurence Graff said he had an innate sense that this rough would reveal a record-breaking diamond, and, with his usual indefatigable determination, he decided he absolutely had to own this exceptional

stone, eventually winning a tense bid tender in Antwerp. At the time Graff stated, ‘To the best of our knowledge, this is the most valuable rough diamond ever to be sold.’

It took a year of intense study, painstaking assessment and patient precision planning, with fortnightly team meetings, before the Light of Letseng was cut by Graff’s elite team of worldclass master diamond cutters. Examination had revealed that in addition to a round diamond of over 100 carats, the rough was capable of yielding a cluster of other high-quality diamonds, including a D flawless heartshape of over 50 carats. The process of cutting a diamond of this magnitude and potentially record-breaking significance demands not only breathtaking skill, experience, expertise and nerve but also imagination, sensitivity and a Zen-like focus. ‘The greatest art form in the world is the transition of a natural rough crystal into a perfect polished diamond,’ comments Laurence Graff.

Flawless creativity The 102.79 carat Graff Constellation, previous page, is the largest diamond to come from the 478ct Light Of Letseng, top left. Computer modelling, above, the imagination of Laurence Graff, top centre, and incredibly precise cutting, top right, produced 10 diamonds from the original rough diamond

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Finally, after a year of anticipation, the magical Light of Letseng was successfully cleaved to produce the world’s largest round brilliant, along with nine other diamonds, including a 51.20 carat heartshape stone, all displayed at the Hôtel de Paris in July. Looking deep into the hypnotic round diamond, with its infinite unfolding lightfilled depths, Laurence Graff could see a thousand stars. ‘I had been talking to the artist Ed Ruscha’s wife about stars, saying that so many diamonds are named after stars,’ he explains, ‘And she came up with the idea of the Constellation.’

Consequently, the largest D colour flawless round diamond that the world has ever seen was named The Graff Constellation, and the nine accompanying stones became scintillating satellites. Laurence Graff muses on the rarity of this extraordinary stone: ‘Ten years ago we launched the Icon diamond there, in Monte Carlo.

At 90.97 carats, it was the largest D flawless round diamond at the time, and it has taken 10 years to

‘the world’s greatest art form is the transition of a rough crystal into the perfect polished diamond’ find another. I don’t know if we will ever surpass the Constellation.’

A contrast in colour, shape and character, a match in rarity and size, the Delaire Sunrise, at 118.08 carats is the largest Fancy Vivid Yellow square emerald-cut diamond in the world. It was cut from an astonishingly rare rough diamond of 221 carats, in a natural octahedral shape, discovered in an alluvial mine in South Africa.

Beautiful and intriguing in its raw, natural state, the stone exerted such a powerful magnetism that, despite the potential risks and challenges, Laurence Graff determined to preserve the perfect form, a true miracle of nature, by transforming the rough into a square emerald-cut diamond.

For this audacious task, he chose his master cutter, a renowned expert with an acute sensibility and a talent edging on genius, Nino Bianco.

Bianco, who sadly died in 2009, had a gift for conjuring the most intense, melting hues from a chunk of rugged rough. He spent months studying the stone, planning the angles and facets to create a poetry of precision that would maximise the glorious colour of the stone. Again, the process took a year, but was rewarded with a rich yellow diamond with spectacular depth and light, with the vibrant, warm tones of molten gold. Graff describes it as ‘the finest example of the master cutter’s skill.

A diamond as breathtaking as the African sunrise.

The rarest of golden colours, full of life.’

The vision of an African sun rising over the mountains prompted Graff to name the stone after the newly revitalised Delaire Graff Estate in the Stellenbosch Winelands, South Africa. Having acquired the Delaire estate in 2003, Graff has turned it into a state-of-the-art winery, lodge and

S A LE W SA ER D N

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Just a stroll away from the heart of Limassol town, it combines luxury apartments, villas with private berths and a state-of-the-art Marina with an enticing mix of restaurants and shops, to create a lifestyle uniquely shaped by ‘living on the sea’.

Construction has commenced and the first apartments have been released with an attractive finance scheme. Berths are available for residential property owners at the Marina.

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spa, and a cultural centre filled with native South African art from his own world-leading collection.

‘There is a synergy,’ he explains, ‘between this magnificent diamond, an incredible work of art, and the art centre that Delaire has become.’ A copy of the diamond will be kept at the Delaire Graff Estate.

The world, it seemed, was waiting for these two awe-inspiring, eye-wateringly valuable gemstones. The diamonds, each with its own strong, individual personality, appear at a time of impassioned connoisseurship among gemstone and jewellery devotees and collectors around the globe, when the quest for individuality, for the rarest of the rare, has intensified, to a point of near obsession, and when the diamond – immortal, invincible, with eternal light – becomes the ultimate possession, with a power beyond worldly wealth, as it was for princes and potentates through history. The Graff Constellation and the Delaire Sunrise are diamonds that express the pinnacle of new luxury, that speak to today’s discerning clients who delve into the origins and meaning of the stones, and want to be involved in their stories, their creative process.

These are the clients who understand that the two spectacular stones revealed in Monaco are the latest in a long line of extraordinary diamonds that have passed through Graff’s expert hands; from historic diamonds, such as the Idol’s Eye or the Wittelsbach-Graff, to the newly born

AFRICAN DAWN Discovered in an alluvial mine in South Africa and crafted by the late, great master cutter Nino Bianco, the Delaire Sunrise, above, was so named by Laurence Graff because its warm golden clarity reminded him of early African mornings at the Delaire Graff Estate in Stellenbosch, top

diamonds brought to life and light by Graff’s unrivalled passion. The diamonds express Graff’s courage and conviction, his flair and fearlessness in seeking out the most fabulous gems in the history of the world; the chances of finding and bringing to market one, let alone two diamonds of this size and quality are extraordinarily slim.

Laurence Graff is at pains to stress their extreme rarity and indeed the scarcity of all fine diamonds, the wondrousness of their journey through billions of years, from the centre of the earth to glittering prizes. ‘People don’t realise how rare they are, how difficult to find, and how much craft goes into cutting and polishing.’

The Graff Constellation and the Delaire Sunrise are also stones that mark their moment in time, through the fact of their discovery, in modern South Africa; as well as through the excellence of their cutting and polishing, setting new standards of quality and precision. ‘Stones were never finished to the same quality, to the same exacting standards as today,’ says Graff. ‘Criteria today are extremely high.’

The two divine diamonds – the purity and lustrous brilliance of the white; the emotionally stirring intense colour of the golden yellow – are expressions of Graff’s own dedication to perfection.

He says, ‘Right from the start I have always tried to excel and reach higher. The past 25 years have been the best ever in diamond history. It’s an exciting time.’

THe ArTisT’s sTudio ed ruscha, having just finished a painting at his studio in Venice, california, in 2006. round his neck is a mask to protect against the fumes from his air spray paint gun

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Poetry of art with his depiction of californian life and witty juxtaposition of phrases and images, the american artist ed ruscha has been intriguing his audience for half a century photography Laura Wilson | words Ben Lewis

d Ruscha has spent much of his life painting words (though that’s not all he paints, draws and photographs). He’s made paintings of famous logos like the Hollywood sign, and of everyday phrases like ‘Not a bad world is it?’ and of strange puns like ‘Chili Draft’. When I spoke to him, he had just found a nice new combination of words. ‘Bliss Bucket,’ he says to me happily, ‘I like that. It has a kind of fist-clenching strength to it. And I suppose that’s pretty much it. It doesn’t have to be analysed necessarily; it just stands for its own power. I forget where I heard it, if I ever did. Maybe it came to me in a dream.’

Alongside Warhol, Lichtenstein, Rosenquist, and a few others, Ed Ruscha is a leading member of the generation of American Pop artists who came to prominence in the early Sixties.

Each worked on different materials in a different way. Warhol did screenprints of celebs and newspaper photos, Lichtenstein focused on comic strips, and Rosenquist worked in the style of billboards. Ed Ruscha’s shtick was simple American words and icons, that always

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somehow seemed to be seen from a passing car.

In fact the whole of Ed Ruscha’s 50-year career has the feel of a road movie. Born in 1937, Ruscha studies fine art and commercial design at the forerunner of the California Institute of the Arts in LA in the late Fifties, while also working as a typesetter. His artistic career begins, appropriately, cruising city streets. He paints flattened boxes of Sun-Maid raisins in 1961, as if his tyres were squashing them into the Tarmac.

He paints the name of a cartoon strip character ‘Annie’ (1962), and the word ‘Boss’ several times. ‘“Boss” was one of the first word paintings I did, and I think that came about because there were multiple meanings to that word,’ he recalls. ‘There was one “Boss” which was someone you worked for. “Boss” was also another way of saying “cool” in 1959. People would say “Hey, that’s boss”.

And it was also the name of a clothing label for workmen, for Levi’s and Boss was like a blue-collar work clothes brand.’

Then Ruscha switches on his ‘Radio’ (1964), a painting in which the big hoarding-style letters of the word are comically squeezed by small workshop clamps. In 1966, Ruscha stops for gas, producing one of his best known works, a portrait of an American petrol station, ‘Standard Station’. The angle is low, as if we have driven in and are looking up through the windscreen. It’s cleanly graphic, like an architectural drawing. This picture is about an icon of post-war America, but, the petrol station has become the basis for a flat slice of constructivist geometry. Ruscha explains simply: ‘I’m a combination of an abstract artist and someone who deals with subject matter.’

As the years speed past, Ruscha produces series after innovative series, using words but in strikingly different ways. He makes influential books of photographs in the Sixties, alongside his paintings. Twentysix Gasoline Stations is a revolutionary artist’s book which draws attention to a random number of petrol stations on American highways. He follows it with Every Building on the Sunset Strip. Then come swimming pools, parking lots and so on. Ruscha seems to be searching for an emptiness of meaning – something that looks like a book, and feels like one, yet does not serve the purpose that books had hitherto served.

Ruscha has a favourite road movie, Vanishing Point, from 1971, in which Kowalski, a car delivery service employee, drives an old Dodge to San Francisco. He breaks the speed limit and the cops give chase. Along the way he tunes into a blind DJ with a police radio scanner, who helps him evade capture. ‘He breaks the speed laws,’ Ruscha tells me, ‘so the law is after him and somehow radio stations get hold of this guy that’s

LAURA WILSON, ed RUSchA/gAgOSIAN gALLeRy

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have to make any curves in the letters, and so if you had an R or an O it was all made up of straight lines so that made it very easy. Then I just kind of stuck with it.’

Ruscha’s road trip never ends but instead loops back on itself – like the track race at the climax of classic road movie Two-Lane Blacktop (1971). In 2005, Ruscha presented ‘Course of Empire’ at the Venice Biennale, when he returned to the industrial buildings and warehouses he’d painted in 1992, and recorded their changed logos against glowering skies. Why do you like the road so much? I ask. He says: ‘Probably like a mountain climber, I’d say I climb it because it’s there.’

Ruscha’s oeuvre is not restricted to the road and the word. A landmark work, painted

he developed his own angular typeface that recalled welded metal

font of knowledge Ruscha has perfected his own, instantly recognisable typeface, above. In 2009, he donated his work ‘Uh Oh’, top, to be auctioned in aid of Laurence Graff’s charity FACET, which helps African children.

Opposite page: Ruscha has an eclectic collection of music to listen to in the studio, top. One of his iconic Standard gas station works, ‘Burning Gas Station’, painted in 1966, bottom

running from the law and he becomes a folk hero for attempting to outrun the law. And it also had a lot to do with just driving on the road, just what I like to do.’

In the mid-Eighties, the artist finally hits the open road, painting slogans such as ‘A Particular Kind of Heaven’ against ironically romantic sunsets. In later decades he heads up into the mountains, writing odd phrases like ‘Baby Jet’ or ‘American Tool Supply’, which seems lifted from a hardware catalogue, over panoramas of snow-capped peaks. ‘The mountains are a way of suggesting some kind of heroic thought within a picture plane,’ says Ruscha. For these pictures he had developed his very own angular typeface that recalled welded metal – ‘I wanted to arrive at some sort of “can’t-go-wrong” typeface. So I imagined a kind of graphically inept person making an alphabet for a poster, where you didn’t

in the late Sixties, depicted the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on fire. It’s an oddly confrontational image considering Ruscha’s warm embrace from the art world, but it’s also a sign of the other notable quality of his art – his rebellious streak. At the tail end of the Sixties, Ruscha executed a strange series in which pills – amphetamines, tranquillisers and painkillers – floated in expanses of space. ‘Pills represented to me something that could be dangerously edgy, and I liked them also for their visual properties; they were tiny and potent.’ The pills are painted exactly life-size. ‘I was doing it at the same time that other artists were taking small objects and blowing them up real big. So I wanted to focus on the faithfulness of the object and just paint that.’

In the late Eighties, Ruscha painted nostalgic subjects for the first time, plucking out images from the black and white matinee films of America in the Fifties: lines of wagons from Westerns, and the silhouettes of sailing ships, yet painted as if seen through fog. ‘These images are based on what you might see in a book and so you are one step removed from the reality. I’m painting the idea of a ship. Marine painters have always been artists that loved the sea and being on ships. I’m the furthest you can be from that.

I’m not very interested in sailing or ships.’

Even in these shadowy images, words are not entirely absent. Crude white oblongs lie across parts of some images, as if the artist was blocking out text. The climax of the series is a painting of the last frame of an old movie that reads ‘The End’. The image is at once an American icon, an affectionate depiction of the scratchy surface of old film, and a symbol of death. ‘I grew up on

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black and white movies,’ says Ed Ruscha, ‘and I always appreciated those scratches and pops – the little irregularities that happened that weren’t supposed to happen – I started to mimic those.

Now movies in the future are not going to have those scratches, so I also look at that as affecting my art in the sense that 40, 50 years from now, people will look back and say, what does that mean? So I’m in a sense painting a lost cause.’

And yet, American icons and Pop Art are half of Ed Ruscha’s art. His work is also a philosophical investigation of the way images and words, the two tools that man uses to communicate and make art, create meanings.

Look at one of his pictures for a long time, and you might feel a certain fuzziness, even

CREDITS: LAURA WILSON, ED RUSChA/gAgOSIAN gALLERy

‘i just find myself nodding towards things that don’t make a lot of sense’ frustration, in your head, while at the same time a wry smile crosses your face. It’s a reaction you might have when you look at ‘Steel’, in which the title word is photorealistically painted as if it is liquid on a surface. And it’s the sensation you might have when you read ‘Faith’ (1972), painted in bright white italic capitals against an infinitely receding mysterious background of red and black.

That is because Ruscha is playing with the different ways that images and words function – and the pleasure and cleverness of his works comes from these games. Sometimes Ruscha works with contradictions – in ‘Hell Heaven’ (1989) he writes ‘Hell’ above an upside-down ‘Heaven’, creating a visual, verbal reversal of the normal spiritual order. At other times, he works with visual literalism. In ‘Scream’ (1964), he writes the word contrastingly in black on a bright yellow ground.

But then shards of the yellow cross into the lettering, threatening to obliterate it, the colour equivalent of a searingly loud noise – a scream.

Ruscha’s painting of the back of the Hollywood sign (‘The Back of Hollywood’, 1977) is different again – a symbol that suggests another dark side to the glamour of Hollywood. It’s a meaning that can only be conveyed by an image. You can never write the back of a word; yet here, of course, Ruscha has painted the back of the word, creating a meaning that language can never have.

Not that Ruscha has steeped himself in dense books about semiotics or, what philosophers call the phenomenology of visual perception.

Rather, the impulse comes from Ruscha, the contrarian, the artist who delights in experiencing those moments when meaning breaks down. ‘I just seem to find myself nodding towards things

taking inspiration A collection of framed images in Ruscha’s studio, including a portrait of a young Ed and his sister, and one of jazz saxophonist John Coltrane, top. ‘Boxer’, one of Ruscha’s sunset paintings, from 1979, right

that don’t make a lot of sense,’ he says. ‘I’m kinda treading on eggshells here, but I also feel like I don’t need to make any particular type of sense…’

The artist laughs, continuing, ‘I’m happy to be in a vocation where incoherency can actually be a virtue. I feel we’re lucky. Artists can get away with murder. When you build a house all the nails have to go into the right places. When you build a painting, all the nails can go into all the wrong places and it can be a great painting.’

Ed Ruscha is represented by the Gagosian Gallery, www.gagosian.com

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Flights oF Fancy elegant and SumptuouS, theSe beautifully crafted pieceS have a delicate Strength that complementS the grandeSt plumage of the natural world photography Graeme Montgomery | Styling Annette Masterman

Fancy Intense Yellow emeraldcut Diamond earrings set with round Diamonds on pavĂŠ swan hooks (Diamonds 113.94cts).

Pearshape and round D Flawless Diamond earrings (Diamonds 53.41cts).

Yellow radiant and white round Diamond necklace (Diamonds 161.59cts).

Pearshape D Flawless Diamond ring, set with pearshape Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 12.01cts).

Oval D Flawless Diamond ring, set with pearshape Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 12.78cts).

Heartshape D Flawless Diamond ring, set with taper baguette Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 11.01cts).

Multishape Diamond line necklace with 14.07ct D Flawless pearshape drop (Diamonds 75.70cts).

Heartshape Ruby and round, pearshape and marquise Diamond necklace (Rubies 70.46 cts, Diamonds 47.85cts).

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HAUTE HOROLOGY photography Matthew Shave | styling Annette Masterman

one can detect the make and model of a watch using the ‘three-metre test’, according to Simon de burton. it takes most timepieces a long while to be recognised and admired from a distance, but graff’s have quickly passed muster to achieve that status and become instant classics 01. MasterGraff Tourbillon This version of the 45mm MasterGraff Tourbillon, a watch designed to the exact specifications of Laurence Graff himself, embodies effortless superiority: the selfwinding movement features the revered tourbillon complication – regarded as the apotheosis of haute horlogerie – contained in a rose gold case that contrasts admirably with the jet-black dial. Arc-shaped sub-dials provide readings for retrograde date and power reserve while the rose gold theme is picked up in the buckle of the crocodile strap. Just 30 examples will be made.

02. ChronoGraff Imposing, robust and sporting, the 45mm ChronoGraff is also a watch that will slip seamlessly from a day of strenuous activity to a night of sophistication. This version, with black dial, white gold bezel and black, crocodile strap, uses a tried and tested Swiss-made, self-winding movement that features a date window between the four and five o’clock positions. Sixty-second, 30-minute and 12-hour sub-dials make the ChronoGraff a versatile timing tool that can be used for everything from sporting events to boiling the perfect egg.

03. GraffStar Grand Date With a 43mm case carved from a solid block of 18 carat rose gold, the GraffStar Grand Date is undeniably striking. The star-pattern dial provides a perfect backdrop to the rose gold hands, applied hour markers and the small seconds sub-dial at the nine o’clock position.

Beneath that dial lies a hand-wound Graff Calibre One movement with date function at 12 o’clock, 50-hour power reserve and a wheel inspired by the facets of a cut and polished diamond. This micro-mechanical marvel can be admired through the sapphire crystal case back.

04. GraffStar An exercise in understatement, the GraffStar represents the perfect dress watch: interesting to look at yet simple in design; functional yet stylish; minimalist yet statementmaking, with its elegant decorative work. The self-winding, Swiss-made movement provides no other function than to keep time, driving Graff’s trademark faceted hour and minute hands and a small seconds indicator at six o’clock. The dial face is either discreet white or black, enhanced with a star pattern in relief. Surely this is timekeeping in its purest form?

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‘why can’t a woman be more like a man?’ opined rex harrison as henry higgins in ‘my fair lady’. if the popularity of some of graff’s larger-cased watches among women is anything to go by, they are succeeding, though exquisite, diamond-studded timepieces will always shine bright

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01. ChronoGraff The blackened case of this version of the ChronoGraff is the result of the application of a material called DLC, or Diamond-Like Carbon, that is bonded to the case of the watch to make it many times tougher and more wear-resistant than steel. As well as endowing the ChronoGraff with an altogether darker character than other versions, it also increases its durability in potentially highimpact situations such as skiing.

The white rubber strap does not only contrast stylishly with the black dial, but is both waterproof and comfortable,

02. BabyGraff The small and elegant cocktail watch, de rigueur during the glamorous 1920s, is well and truly back – and nowhere is the genre more beautifully executed than in the exquisite BabyGraff 21mm.

Small it may be, but it is also perfectly formed: Made from 18 carat white gold, it is set with no fewer than 24 carats of the finest Graff diamonds – 30 half-carat diamonds make up the bracelet while 106 adorn the case and dial.

The complexities associated with making such a watch mean that just 100 will be available worldwide.

03. GraffStar This special version of the GraffStar really does epitomise everything that a ladies’ cocktail watch should be. It is based around a specially down-sized, 30mm case which contains a dial adorned with invisibly set diamonds. Beneath the glittering surface lies a necessarily small and beautifully engineered Swiss-made, handwound mechanical movement that drives Graff’s distinctive faceted hour and minute hands.

The watch is available with either a satin band or, as seen here, a crocodile leather strap.

04. ChronoGraff Advice to men: if you opt for the white-dial version of the ChronoGraff, keep it securely under lock and key or your ‘better half’ will almost certainly make off with it. The rose gold case and red crocodile strap of the version pictured here make it far too temptingly versatile for most women to resist – and where once its 45mm diameter size would have been deemed unsuitable for a female wrist, it is now considered entirely fashionable. Nothing, it appears, is sacred – even our wristwatches.

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VIEW FROM THE TOP In the heart of South afrIca’S wInelanDS, SaYS JANE BroughtoN, DelaIre Graff eState haS aDDeD luXurIouS loDGeS anD a SPa for the chIceSt StaY

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he recently opened lodges on Laurence Graff’s Delaire Graff Estate in Stellenbosch are proof that the best things in life do come in small, designer-wrapped packages. This is long-haul holiday bliss: the ideal post-safari circuit bolt hole – 10 exquisitely decorated, private lodges with a spa attached, perched between majestic mountains and rolling vineyards in the Cape winelands. Accessible yet secluded, the boutique-scaled accommodation augments the estate’s already impressive wine, food, art and design experience.

The opening of the pan-Asian restaurant, Indochine, in addition to the well established Delaire Graff Estate Restaurant means that there are now two excellent dining rooms on the estate, further enhancing the reputation of the region as a gourmet’s paradise. Better still, Cape Town’s legendary natural beauty and city attractions are less than an hour’s drive away. The bar has been raised for chic travel to the southernmost tip of Africa.

water feature The main swimming pool is located in an idyllic position, with views over Stellenbosch and the iconic Table Mountain

elegant nature With so few guests in residence at any one time, the pool and Jacuzzi, left, make for a highly relaxing experience. David Collins’ choice of rich blue and copper in the Indochine restaurant, top, epitomises his desire to create interiors of intense colour. Indochine’s Asian-inspired menu, above, focuses on light and lean flavours

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When Laurence Graff acquired the historic boutique winery known as Delaire, he was enchanted by its unique setting on the Helshoogte mountain pass linking Stellenbosch to the wine-growing regions of Franschhoek and Paarl. In 2009, an ultramodern winery was launched along with a flagship restaurant and tasting lounge; earlier this year the David Collins-designed lodges and spa were opened.

The creative stimulant for the entire estate was Mr Graff’s considerable collection of contemporary South African art, which also served as a natural point of departure when it came to developing the hotel’s design. This is most striking in the hotel lobby with its art gallery proportions.

Avocado-green leather sofas and canary yellow chairs in crocodile leather surround an epic marble fireplace with an installation of National Geographic magazines on either side. The eye-catching colour palette exemplifies designer David Collins’ passion for saturating his interiors with colour, enriched with tonal and textural contrasts. On arrival, guests are greeted by Deborah Bell’s regal sculptures that recall ancient civilizations and spiritual journeys. A series of Lionel Smit’s over-scaled portraits, titled ‘Malay Girl’, are impactful and visually powerful. Outdoors on the lawn, rough-hewn bronzes of cheetahs

by Stellenbosch-based Dylan Lewis bristle with pent-up tension.

The maximum number of guests in residence at any given time is two dozen, so the experience of staying here is highly individual – the winelands equivalent of being in a luxury safari camp or far-flung private island. Depending on the season, tropical fruit smoothies or eggnog laced with fragrant spices and Cognac are offered on arrival. In the late afternoon, complimentary Delaire wines and canapés, each one resembling a miniature work of art, are standard. Breakfast may be enjoyed in the privacy of your lodge at no extra

charge. Making up your own mini selection of gourmet ingredients – think charcuterie, local cheeses, berries fresh from the farm across the road, organic yoghurt, decadent pastries and eggs Benedict – will cure the most ardent critic of buffet breakfasts. General manager Jonathan Lithgow has an experienced eye and attention to the finest details is a defining point of staying here.

Throughout the hotel, colour is used abundantly. At Indochine, rich blues combine with battered copper and limed oak to provide an incredibly sophisticated yet relaxed ambience from breakfast through to dinner. On fine days, lunch is best outdoors on the restaurant terrace with its wraparound views of vineyards, olive groves and mountains. If there’s any time between spa treatments, wine tasting, vineyard walks, sightseeing and sunbathing, the port red and grey

THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF GUESTS IN RESIDENCE AT ANY GIVEN TIME IS TWO DOZEN private cinema – only 10 seats – is an intimate and inviting space for big-screen viewing.

At the heart of the hotel are the 10 generously proportioned lodges. Two of the lodges, the Presidential and Owner’s lodges, have huge living spaces, decks and pools, with an en suite bedroom at each end for maximum privacy.

These are heaven for parents travelling with children. Functioning like a private villa, each lodge has a private, heated infinity pool sunk into a wooden deck, a butler kitchen with a personal host on call, and interiors with the sort of attention to detail that should make anyone feel at home.

The 600-thread count Egyptian cotton bed linen is Coleman Prowse, the marble bathrooms are all-out pamper zones stocked with Jo Malone’s lime, basil and mandarin-fragranced products, and

luxury lodge Inside the well-appointed lodges, imaginative details such as calming decoration tones and subtle paint effects, natural materials including bamboo, reed, and end-grain wood and the selection of sumptuous 600-thread count Egyptian cotton bed linen all combine to create a sensation of total wellbeing and utter pampering

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the complimentary mini bar is pre-stocked with your favourite drinks – the summery, estateproduced Sauvignon Blanc included.

In the private, personal space of the lodges, the use of colour is less intense, broken down into paler hues with textures and tones becoming more relevant. Soft, calming tones of sea greens, ocean mist and aqua blues create a cocoon-like sanctuary, encouraging total relaxation. Bamboo and reed ceilings, polished concrete floors, end-grain wood and pigmented plaster in earthy tones were used to ground the interiors. Collins also engaged talented South African master craftsmen to produce furniture and lighting to his studio’s precise designs. Cushions in

THE DECOR OF THE LODGES IS SOFT AND CALMING, TO ENCOURAGE RELAXATION

THE LODGES Locally provenanced furniture, commissioned from South African master craftsmen, and soft furnishings that are locally hand-embroidered, help create comfortable interiors of original and international style combined with intelligent functionality

the bedrooms were given unique local provenance with hand-embroidered detailing; imported wallpapers have a bespoke finish, using colour washes and subtle paint effects. The result is a rare combination of original and international style and intelligent functionality.

Since the opening of the flagship Delaire Graff restaurant, with Christiaan Campbell at the helm, dining on the estate has been elevated to an art form. With the addition of Indochine, the estate is fast becoming a destination for fine dining. Indochine’s chef, Jonathan Heath, speaks knowledgeably and passionately about the synergy between the spa’s holistic approach to wellness and the fresh, light flavours that characterise his pan-Asian menu. Locally sourced, mostly organic fresh produce and fragrant spices equate to punchy explosions of flavour. Lunch

may begin in Southeast Asia with an elegant wild mushroom salad layered with spiced bean curd, bamboo shoots and coconut shavings and end up in India with fiery tikka duck masala. For a local twist, don’t miss the lightly seared salmon trout from nearby Franschhoek with the fresh flavours of chilli, lemon grass, basil and coriander.

The spa is an integral part of the hotel, and takes a holistic approach to beauty and wellness.

It’s open to non-hotel guests too, who favour all-day spa rituals with lunch at Indochine in between. There are four light-filled treatment suites, each with a private bathroom and hydromassage bath. Other facilities include an enormous outdoor pool and Jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms, a Technogym-equipped private gymnasium and a Pilates studio. Specialised anti-ageing treatments, medical consultations, private nutritional counselling, even guided nature walks in the mountains can all be arranged.

Therapeutic, restorative and rejuvenating benefits found in the Aromatherapy Associates plant- and flower-extract based oils and serums are designed to relax or revitalise body and mind. For more high powered, results-driven treatments, the anti-ageing Swiss Perfection range, developed at the renowned wellness centre La Prairie in Switzerland, includes the active ingredient of the Iris Germanica root, known to fast-track the skin’s cellular regeneration Most recently, a David Collins-designed boutique of jewel box proportions has opened on the estate, showcasing Graff jewellery and watches, in addition to another boutique offering exclusive white linen clothing by 100% Capri.

This chic Italian brand is the perfect match for South Africa’s balmy Mediterranean climate.

Delaire Graff Hotel & Spa, Stellenbosch (tel +27 (0)21 8858160; www.delaire.co.za)

arT Of rELaxaTiOn Arriving at the lobby, above, guests are greeted by the splendour of Deborah Bell’s sculptures and Stephan Graff’s works of art. Lionel Smit’s portrait, ‘African Girl With Residues’, far right, creates a powerful impact. The Spa at the Delaire Graff Estate, right, is the only spa in South Africa to offer treatments using Swiss Perfection products

PhotograPhY Thomas LaGrange | stYlIng Sam Willoughby

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LUXURY LINEN PhotograPhY Bruce Anderson | Words Joanne Glasbey n a far-sighted entrepreneurial initiative, young businessman Antonino Aiello has exported the Capri lifestyle to the world. Born in Sorrento, Italy, Aiello got his first taste for textiles and tailoring from his family’s business, and says he was influenced by the strong Neapolitan style. At the age of 23 he moved to the island of Capri and 10 years ago founded the highly successful fashion and household linen brand 100% Capri.

Linen is a natural, luxurious, go anywhere fabric. It was the first known textile fibre in the world, with earliest traces of use dating back to 8000BC. Made from flax, which the Egyptians called ‘woven moonlight’ due to its beauty, linen is the strongest vegetable-based fibre with at least twice the strength of cotton.

Aiello saw great potential in applying his experience to linen.

He is excited by the fabric’s many qualities: it’s thermo-regulating, making it breathable in hot climates, and cooler than cotton, and has been praised for being non-allergenic and anti-bacterial, making it especially kind to sensitive skin. It’s also ecologically friendly.

He is also inspired by its versatility, that linen can go from casually elegant to dressy casual. The values of typical Italian craftsmanship imbue the collections – many items are hand-stitched in Sorrento, for example – in which the hallmarks are crisp and comfortable, beautifully styled, clean lines with exquisite attention to detail, in the signature colours of chocolate, white and taupe.

The brand draws inspiration from the colours, shapes and lifestyle of Capri. ‘The island is the synonym of elegance,’ says Aiello.

‘Just look at the impressive characters who visited, like the writer Curzio Malaparte, the film-maker Vittorio de Sica, then Aristotle Onassis and Jacqueline Kennedy – who also popularised the world-famous Capri pants,‘ he describes. ‘100% Capri is inspired by this world and lifestyle: by the white lime of the walls, by the glare of the rocks, the blue of the sea around this beautiful island.’

With this jet-set lifestyle in mind, the whole family can be outfitted at the glamorous and fashionable locations of his shops round the world, including the Delaire Graff Estate in South Africa.

Linen is known as the prince of fibres; with 100% Capri, Antonino Aiello is surely the king of linen. www.100x100capri.it

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sweet dreams Delicate anD colourful confections, these tasteful pieces come from the top tier of Jewellery Design photography Matthew Shave | styling Helene Sivilia

21ct emerald-cut Diamond earrings with round Diamonds on pavé French wire hooks (Diamonds 48.38cts).

Emerald-cut, oval and pearshape Diamond necklace (Diamonds 71.78cts).

Dress, Nina Ricci.

White pearshape and marquise Diamond earrings with yellow radiant-cut Diamond centres (Diamonds 11.34cts).

White multishape Diamond necklace set with yellow radiant-cut Diamonds (Diamonds 141.96cts).

Grey top, Nina Ricci Round and briolette Diamond bangle (Diamonds 105.69cts).

Briolette Diamond earrings set with round Diamond pavé tops (Diamonds 48.62cts).

Round Diamond bombé ring on a pavé Diamond shank (Diamonds 22.04cts).

Vintage silk dress, My Sugarland.

20.04ct round Diamond ring with pearshape Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 21.84cts).

Emerald-cut Emerald and round Diamond bracelet (Diamonds 31.79cts, Emeralds 7.78cts).

Dress, Nina Ricci.

Round, pearshape and marquise Diamond chandelier earrings (Diamonds 31.12cts).

Round, pearshape and marquise Diamond chandelier necklace (Diamonds 27.58cts).

9.37ct Fancy Vivid Yellow pearshape Diamond ring with pearshape Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 11.03cts).

Dress, Nina Ricci.

Pearshape and round Diamond earrings with round Emerald drops (Diamonds 14.78cts, Emeralds 26.81cts).

Round and marquise Diamond swan brooch (Diamonds 23.62cts).

26.69ct marquise Diamond ring with pearshape Diamond shoulders on a pavé Diamond shank (Diamonds 30.43cts).

Dress, Nina Ricci, vintage headpiece, My Sugarland.

Make-up Liberty Shaw at Frank; Hair Peter Beckett at Frank; Manicurist Lucie Pickavence at Caren; Model Fruszina at Models 1 Confectionery Lola’s Kitchen; Ladurée; Fortnum & Mason Tableware Fortnum & Mason; Thomas Goode; Baccarat; Wedgwood

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NATURE’S REJUVENATION The SwiSS PerfecTion range offerS unrivalled anTi-ageing ProPerTieS, reSulTing in a naTurally youThful aPPearance or decades the Mattli family name has been synonymous with pioneering health care and beauty. Philanthropist Armin Mattli was an advocate of the benefits of cellular technology and achieved groundbreaking results at the family’s anti-ageing sanctuary, Clinique La Prairie, in Montreux, Switzerland. Mattli’s team of world-renowned scientists revolutionised cellular therapy, developing the first-ever animal cellular cosmetics line.

Mattli’s son, Gregor, inheriting the same pioneering spirit, has relentlessly sought to develop his father’s discoveries in the field of cellular cosmetics. His quest for ‘the perfect cell’ eventually led his team to redirect their focus from animal cells to plant cells.

Intensive research located a vegetal cellular compound in the root of the Iris Germanica plant: a cell with potent and unrivalled anti-ageing effects. This breakthrough gave birth to the vegetal cosmetics line: Swiss Perfection with Cellular Rejuven’Active IRISA, the only range used at La Prairie Clinic. It is available in exclusive heath and beauty centres around the world, and Swiss Perfection is now being introduced to South Africa at the Delaire Graff Estate Spa – the first time the range’s spa products will be used in Africa.

The production method involves a complex procedure that first isolates the intact root cells within the plant. These cells are then reduced to particles through micronisation, to ensure the absorption of their active ingredients into the skin. Further steps to the process then stabilise, preserve and finally integrate Cellular Rejuven’Active IRISA in an active condition into the Swiss Perfection cosmetics.

The result? A product, high in enzymes and proteins, that activates the skin’s metabolism, improving its ability to retain moisture and increase pore oxygenation. It has an extraordinary effect on mature skin by reducing signs of cutaneous ageing, and also prevents premature ageing on younger skin. The long-term benefits are outstanding. www.swissperfection.com

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PEAK PERFECTION The Swiss Perfection cosmetics line is based on root cells from the Iris Germanica plant, developed in Switzerland and now available at the Delaire Graff Estate in South Africa

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MONACO MON AMOUR IT’S NO BIGGER THAN LONDON’S HYDE PARK, AND HAS A POPULATION OF JUST 33,000. BUT, SAYS PHILIP WATSON, THE PRINCIPALITY’S RICH HISTORY AND INFUENCE GIVES IT GLOBAL SIGNIFICANCE AND REACH

W

hen Laurence Graff was looking for a location for his first store outside the UK, there were many possible and competing options – yet, really, he had only one place in mind. The year was 1999, and Graff had just successfully exhibited at the prestigious Biennale des Antiquaries, one of Europe’s most important fine art, antiques and rare jewellery fairs. The venue for the event had further convinced him that there was nowhere else in the world that quite matched it for style, romance, history and wealth. The name of the place, the site of Graff’s first crucially important overseas store, and setting for the realisation of an enduring personal ambition, was Monaco.

To long-time Monaco residents, visitors and aficionados, Laurence Graff’s decision came as little surprise. Monaco insiders know that, while there are certainly other notable playgrounds for the rich and renowned around the globe, the royal principality’s effortless marriage of elegance and affluence has always reigned supreme. Graff Monaco opened in the fabled and opulent Hôtel de Paris in April 2000, and proved to be an instant hit. In many ways, the store is a perfect embodiment of the qualities that make both Graff and Monaco so unique. The world’s pre-eminent diamond jewellery brand had arrived in the most exclusive and star-studded place on Earth. The relationship was naturally symbiotic.

‘Graff now has more than 30 stores worldwide, but the Monaco salon is so very important to Monsieur Graff because it was his first outside London,’ says

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Nicole Rey, who has been manager of the store since it opened. ‘He has always had a very close relationship with the salon.’

In addition to its unrivalled exhibition of rare jewels, precious gemstones and haute jewellery staged each summer in the Hôtel de Paris’s extravagant Belle Époque Empire Room, Graff recently opened a second much larger Monaco store. Designed by celebrated Monte Carlo-based interior designer Jean Pierre Gilardino, the new store is located in the select Gallery forum on the ground floor of the hotel; the original salon on the mezzanine is now being used solely for VIP appointments.

The private facility is likely to be busy, because Monaco is a village of just 33,000 people in which almost everyone can rightly consider themselves a VIP, if only because of their address.

Ever since the mid-19th century, when the principality became an independent sovereign state under French protection, and gaming at the lavish and newly built Casino de Monte-Carlo began generating sufficient funds for local income tax to be abolished, Monaco has been not so much a place as a phenomenon, a state of mind and of opulence.

The principality may be no larger than London’s Hyde Park, yet its history – inextricably linked to the fiercely independent and shrewdly resilient House of Grimaldi, which has ruled the city-state for more than 700 years – and influence – Monaco has been and is home to some of the world’s richest and most powerful businessmen and women and billionaires – has always given it a global significance and reach. Even the name suggests a certain exclusivity: ‘Monaco’ is derived from two Greek words, one meaning of which is ‘living apart from others’.

Fashionable high society has been drawn to Monaco for centuries, yet the principality also attracted an impressive cast of 20th-century artists, actors and impresarios, from Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis to Hollywood royalty such as Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant and Ava Gardner, to modernist painters Picasso, Matisse and Braque, who created set designs for Sergei Diaghilev’s Ballet Russes at the Opera House.

Monaco is where royalty, prosperity and celebrity meet and enjoy life on the Mediterranean coast.

While, in the Twenties, Monaco cleverly pioneered a stylish and hugely popular summer season (previously, a winter sojourn had been de rigueur on the Riviera), the apogee of Monaco’s

Right, from top: when Prince Rainier married Grace Kelly, Monaco’s international appeal swelled even further; the Monaco Grand Prix is the highlight of the F1 year; home for the ultimate luxury superyachts

MONACO IS WHERE THE JETSET AND THE POWERFUL MEETS, PLAYS AND PARTIES

international appeal and influence was the late Fifties and Sixties, after Prince Rainier married American actress Grace Kelly. Princess Grace brought an extra and elusive beauty, elegance and charm to the royal principality; Monaco became a nonpareil social epicentre for well-heeled European aristocrats, fêted American stars and glitzy British celebrities.

‘Monte Carlo’s got a mystery from way back in the Twenties and Thirties – it’s magical,’ Shirley Bassey, the British-born singer, has said.

Bassey is a long-standing Monaco resident whose famous hits ‘Diamonds Are Forever and ‘Hey Big Spender’ have often made her a fitting guest at Graff parties over the years.

It is not hard to pinpoint Monaco’s lasting appeal. The glorious Mediterranean sunshine and climate; the proximity to many of Europe’s capital cities and business hubs (the principality is a brief seven-minute helicopter hop from Nice airport); a coveted and much valued sense of secrecy and security – Monaco has strict privacy and anti-paparazzi laws, and a firm, ever-present police force; a lack of crime and grime (the city streets are washed sparklingly clean every night) – all have made this tiny state a celebrity safe haven and an international businessman’s dream.

Add the principality’s legendary nightlife; its world-class Michelin-starred restaurants; its upmarket shops and designer boutiques; the plethora of high-profile concerts, ballet productions and art exhibitions, many at the magnificent and recently renovated Opera House; the thrill and prestige of the annual grand prix, still today the blue-riband event of the Formula One calendar, and yacht show, where the ultimate luxury super yachts are regularly valued at $100 million-plus – and it’s little wonder that Monaco is where a modern international jet-set meets, plays and parties. Monaco is social, fun, decadent, dynamic, and often preposterously opulent.

‘Monaco is great because, if you want it to be, it’s like one enormous nightclub,’ says John De Stefano, a British commercial property investor and Monaco resident. It’s also fun to see the sports and performance cars that line up in Casino Square; it’s like a luxury motor show every night.’

While much of the Western world is still reeling from the global recession, Monaco continues to attract rulers and princesses, presidents and pop stars, oligarchs and entrepreneurs, to its sunny shores. In fact, much as it did during the fin de siècle, when Slavic princes and Bohemian barons over-indulged in a newly perfected tipple called champagne; today, it’s pretty much the principality’s national drink.

Opulence and style has always come to magical Monaco, and it is coming still today.

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ENCHANTED EVENING out-of-this-world dresses deserve the Most eXQuisite jewels. once night falls, only the lights will be diMMed PhotograPhy Lorenzo Agius | styling Ursula Lake

Emerald-cut Emerald and marquise, pearshape and round Diamond earrings (Diamonds 10.25cts, Emeralds 37.50cts).

Multishape Diamond and emeraldcut Emerald necklace (Diamonds 48.10cts, Emeralds 37.65cts).

20ct round Diamond ring with pearshape Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 21.84cts).

Black ruffle detail dress, Ana Šekularac.

Round Diamond double hoop earrings with a pearshape and round Diamond clip (Diamonds 23.32cts).

Heartshape, round and pearshape Diamond necklace with a 6ct pearshape Diamond drop (Diamonds 95.48cts).

10ct blue Sapphire cushion-cut ring with pearshape Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 1.80cts, Sapphire 10cts).

Men’s 43mm GraffStar watch with black face and white gold bezel and buckle.

Invisibly set princess-cut Sapphire cufflinks (Sapphires 7.89cts).

She wears: Burgundy silk jersey one-shoulder gown, Matthew Williamson.

He wears: Charcoal grey three-piece suit, Paul Smith; white shirt, Ede & Ravenscroft; black silk thin tie, Giorgio Armani.

21ct emerald-cut and round Diamond earrings on pavé swan hooks (Diamonds 48.38cts).

Emerald-cut and round Diamond necklace with oval and pearshape Rubies (Diamonds 74.15cts, Rubies 60.21cts).

Oval Ruby and oval Diamond line bracelet (Diamonds 13.14cts, Rubies 37.68cts).

10.88ct D FL oval Diamond ring with pearshape Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 12.78 cts).

Black silk chiffon strapless gown with black satin bow detail

by Marchesa.

Round and pearshape Diamond feather motif chandelier earrings (Diamonds 19.31cts).

38.12ct Emerald cut Diamond ring set in a round Diamond shank (Diamonds 39.79cts).

Men’s 45mm ChronoGraff watch with a white face and rose gold bezel and buckle.

Grey silk tulle dress, Elie Saab.

Round Diamond gypsy hoop earrings set with pink briolette Sapphires (Diamonds 12.64cts, Sapphires 28.95cts).

Marquise and round Diamond necklace (Diamonds 46.82cts).

Pale pink one-shoulder dress, Amanda Wakeley.

Yellow cushion and white round, marquise and pearshape Diamond earrings with Pearl drops (Diamonds 16.57cts, Pearls 8-9mm).

Yellow radiant and cushion-cut Diamond necklace set with pink, purple and white Pearls (Diamonds 37.94cts, Pearls 15-19mm).

26.67ct Fancy Intense Yellow cushion-cut Diamond ring with white trilliant Diamond shoulders (Diamonds 29.77cts).

Pale beige silk strapless dress, Vivienne Westwood.

Yellow radiant and cushion-cut and white round Diamond necklace (Diamonds 167.56cts).

36.24ct Fancy Intense Yellow cushion-cut Diamond ring with white pearshape Diamond shoulders on a yellow and white round Diamond shank (Diamonds 40.66cts).

Fancy Vivid Yellow cushion and radiant-cut Diamond line bracelet with white round Diamond centres (Diamonds 30.39cts).

Grey strapless dress, Roksanda Ilincic.

Hair Selena Middleton at Soho Management Make-up: Linda Johansson at One Make-up Model Ivana Filipovic at Models 1

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A VISION OF THE WORLD

T

he poet TS Eliot said, ‘The journey not the arrival matters.’ Such freedom of spirit and passion for exploration is the ethos behind the 644ft, 12-deck ship The World. This aptly named vessel is a true city at sea, allowing the adventurous (on average 150 on board at any one time) to travel in one of 165 private luxury homes while stopping at destinations around the globe. Time between ports is whiled away with four restaurants, a gourmet market, a theatre, a library and top-of-the-line fitness facilities. Residents can choose between two swimming pools, a full-size tennis court or a golf simulator or, for those saving their energy for shore, there’s a 7,000sq ft Banyan Tree spa. Also on board is the only floating Graff store, providing ocean-going guests with the most fabulous jewels in the world.

Circumnavigating the globe since 2002, The World has passed through the Panama and Suez Canals three times, and docked at exotic locales such as Madagascar, Greenland and Antarctica (pictured), complete with expert-led excursions. Always there to deliver its residents in style to top adventures, The World has attended A-list events like the America’s Cup in Auckland, the Louis Vuitton Challenger in Valencia, the Monaco Grand Prix, golf’s Open Championship and the carnival in Rio. Whether one makes such endless discovery permanent (all homes were sold in 2006, but do come up for resale) or tests the waters with a trial residency, arriving on the city at sea is simple: itineraries are planned 18 months in advance, letting residents decide when and where to join or leave ship. Such is one’s luxury when everywhere is home. www.aboardtheworld.com

highlands The landscape of Lesotho, a country blessed by natural beauty but devastated by poverty. Below Children at one of the Pebbles-run crèches in South Africa’s Winelands

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HOPE TAKES A LEAD Building on its success in lesotho, the facet foundation is now extending its outreach to Botswana and the south african winelands, rePorts Maria Yacoob PhotograPhY Robert Wilson

I

n sub-Saharan Africa, the countries of Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa are locked in battle with two ferocious enemies: poverty and AIDS. But, fighting against a future that can easily seem bleak, clear voices of determination and hope can be heard. ‘No matter how hard conditions are, I will never give up.’ ‘If I am HIV positive, I must be counselled and get anti-retro viral drugs.’ ‘I am going to live a new life with a skilled mind.’

These quotes all come from people who have taken part in programmes supported

by Laurence Graff’s FACET Foundation. Since establishing FACET in 2008 with an initial donation of $1 million, Laurence Graff has been explicit about its remit: to give support back to the countries in Africa where Graff sources its diamonds by partnering with deeply committed charities with proven track records.

The first country to benefit from FACET’s involvement was the one that most desperately needed it – Lesotho. Its inhabitants are some of the poorest in the world, and are burdened

with one of the highest rates of HIV and AIDS. FACET’s partnership with the charity Help Lesotho led to the opening of the first Graff Leadership Centre, in the Leribe district, earlier this year.

The Centre is designed to house 50 orphaned girls, and to enrol them in intensive educational and leadership courses. It also helps Basotho girls, boys and grandmothers with its extensive programme of literacy classes, after-school tuition, leadership courses and guidance for grandmothers.

FACET provided additional funding for an AIDS awareness debating competition, and conferences for young men and women, which all took place over the spring and summer months this year. The impact of the conferences was overwhelming. ‘The conference was very important.

It has empowered us a lot,’ said one participant.

Another commented, ‘I am now a woman who can stand up for herself.’

While the Graff Leadership Centre in Leribe goes from strength to strength, FACET is now announcing two new partnerships. The first is in Botswana with the charity Stepping Stones International. Stepping Stones works predominately

with older children in Botswana who have lost their parents to AIDS. All too often in these situations the girls become default caregivers, which means they lose out on education and are vulnerable to sexual exploitation.

FACET has promised to fund a new Leadership Centre in Botswana, which will provide support programmes for orphans and vulnerable children aged 12-18. The vision for the Leadership Centre in Botswana is to motivate three-quarters of its participants to continue education or find employment by the age of 18. After-school classes will include practical job skills training, study skills, and volunteer activities, but also life skills such as goal-setting and building self-esteem through sports, art, drama, and offering guidance to others.

The second new partnership is with the South African charity The Pebbles Project.

Pebbles works with children in the South African Winelands – an area where alcohol has a big influence on both the economy and communities.

Pebbles offers support to children with special educational needs, especially those whose lives are affected by alcohol.

1. South African Winelands The lush green valleys of the Western Cape’s Winelands are also home to high numbers of children with Foetal Alcohol Spectrum isorder, as well as those with other learning difficulties. Many children live with the negative effects of

3

alcohol due to parental drinking,

2

neglect, and communities where

1

drinking is a problem.

2. Lesotho

3. Botswana

Africa’s ‘kingdom in the sky’ is

The huge country’s landscape

blessed with natural beauty but

is dominated by the impressive

burdened with tragedy. Lesotho

Kalahari Desert and its economy

is the seventh poorest country in

is dominated by diamonds. Sadly,

the world and life expectancy is

HIV and AIDS are also dominant

just 35. The incidence of HIV and

in Botswana, with one in every four

AIDS is the third highest in the

to five people there living with the

world, and has blighted a generation.

virus. The biggest victims are

Orphaned children are either looked

those aged between 25 and 49,

after by grandparents, or must fend

so the number of children orphaned

for themselves. More than anything

as a result of HIV/AIDS continues

else, children want to go to school

to soar. Estimates suggest 64 per

yet just eight per cent graduate

cent of children aged 10-18 are

from high school.

without parents.

A new FACET-funded Leadership Centre will offer a uniquely tailored educational and psychological support programme for these children, and will also establish after-school provision for older children living in the Winelands.

To fund these major projects, FACET has announced two art auctions aiming to replicate the success of FACET’s 2009 auction at Christie’s, where $1.2 million was raised. The first auction will take place in February next year at the Delaire Graff Estate in South Africa, and will feature the work of such contemporary South African artists as Anton Smit and Cameron Platter. The second will take place in New York next May, and will feature work by some of the most important contemporary artists today, including Ed Ruscha and Louise Lawler.

As well as raising money for FACET’s Leadership Centres, the auctions aim to raise awareness about the terrible situations that face children in the countries of sub-Saharan Africa.

And how FACET wants, in the words of Laurence Graff, ‘to make a fundamental difference to the lives of Africa’s children.’

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GRAFF stoRes woRldwide EUROPE UK London UK flagship store 6-7 New Bond Street London W1S 3SJ Tel: + 44 20 7584 8571

UKraine Kiev 12/2/3 Gorodetskogo Street 01001 Kiev Tel: +38 044 278 7557

NORTH AMERICA

THE MIDDLE EAST dUBai Atlantis Hotel The Palm Jumeirah Dubai Tel: +9714 422 0063

new York 710 Madison Avenue New York New York 10065 Tel: +1 212 355 9292

The Dubai Mall Dubai Tel: +9714 339 9795

Monaco Monte carlo Hôtel de Paris Place du Casino Monte Carlo 98000 Tel: +377 97 70 43 10

Bal Harbour 9700 Collins Avenue Bal Harbour Florida 33154 Tel: +1 305 993 1212

France courchevel Rue du Rocher 73120 Courchevel 1850 Tel: +33 680 86 20 39

chicago 103 East Oak Street Chicago Illinois 60610 Tel: +1 312 604 1000

cHina Hong Kong The Peninsula Hong Kong Salisbury Road Kowloon Hong Kong SAR Tel: +852 2735 7666

Also at: Hôtel Les Airelles Chalet de Pierres Hôtel Palace des Neiges Tel: +33 680 86 20 39

Las Vegas Wynn Las Vegas 3131 Las Vegas Blvd South Las Vegas Nevada 89109 Tel: +1 702 940 1000

11 Sloane Street London SW1X 9LE Tel: +44 20 7201 4120

SwitzerLand Geneva 29 Rue du Rhône 1204 Geneva Tel: +41 22 819 6060 rUSSia Moscow Tretiakovsky Proezd, 6 Moscow Tel: +7 495 933 3385 Luxury Village Barvikha Moscow Tel: +7 495 933 3385 TSUM department store 2 ul. Petrovka 125009 Moscow Tel: +7 495 933 3399

Palm Beach 221 Worth Avenue Palm Beach Florida 33480 Tel: +1 561 355 9292

ASIA

Shanghai The Peninsula Shanghai Shop L1 O 32 Zhongshan Dong Yi Road The Bund Shanghai 200002 Tel: +86 21 6321 6660 JaPan tokyo The Peninsula Hotel Tokyo 1-8-1 Yurakucho Chiyoda-ku Tokyo 100-0006 Tel: +81 3 6267 0811

ON BOARD ‘THE WORLD’ in selected SaKS stores: SAKS 5th Avenue, New York Atlanta, Georgia Beverly Hills, California Dadeland, Florida Greenwich, Connecticut Naples, Florida San Antonio, Texas San Francisco, California Tyson’s Corner, Virginia

Tel: +1 646 996 4794

AFRICA

USa San Francisco

SoUtH aFrica Stellenbosch Delaire Graff Estate Helshoogte Pass Banhoek Valley Stellenbosch 7600 Tel: +27 021 885 8160

OPENING IN cHina Beijing Hangzhou taiwan Taipei

Jewel of the Alps For almost 10 years, Graff has been a fixture in the luxurious French resort Courchevel 1850.

This winter, Graff opens a new boutique on Rue du Rocher, the most prestigious street in the resort. The locally crafted wood-panelled interior has been designed to reflect the chalet style famous of the Savoyard region and features an open fireplace to create a warm welcome for visitors as they discover a treasure trove of fabulous jewellery.

The ďŹ rst European Residences at Mandarin Oriental Unrivalled location and views - Iconic architecture by Rogers Stirk Harbour + Partners - Exclusive interior design by Candy & Candy World Class leisure facilities - Legendary service by Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group - Acclaimed art by James Turrell

Experience the Exceptional By appointment only

www.onehydepark.com

info@onehydepark.com

+44 (0)20 7590 2340

A Candy & Candy designed project