Brummell Horology 2013 by Show Media Ltd

Breguet, the innovator. Classique Hora Mundi - 5717

An invitation to travel across the continents and oceans illustrated on three versions of the hand-guillochĂŠ lacquered dial, the Classique Hora Mundi is the first mechanical watch with an instant-jump time-zone display. Thanks to a patented mechanical memory based on two heart-shaped cams, it instantly indicates the date and the time of day or night in a given city selected using the dedicated pushpiece. History is still being written...

A S P R E Y L O N D O N 16 7 N E W B O N D S T R E E T

L O N D O N W1S 4 AY

+ 4 4 2 0 7 3 5 5 17 3 5 – W W W. B R E G U E T. C O M

www.thehourlounge.com www.vacheron-constantin.com

Now in London 37 Old Bond Street London Telephone 0207 578-9500

Patrimony Traditionnelle Calibre 2755

Welcome to Brummell The world of watches revolves in an interesting way, historically speaking. Time was first contained in the 14th century when the mainspring was invented and clocks began to be developed. Luxury items that only the wealthiest could afford, these mechanical pieces were mainly about exhibiting status, as the timekeeping capabilities were unreliable: they had only an hour hand as they weren’t accurate enough to warrant adding a further hand to mark the minutes. Intriguingly, some well-to-do traders and merchants sported gaudy clocks around their necks – a trend reflected in more recent days by some time-rich rappers. When the pendulum was invented in the middle of the 17th century, clocks became much more commonplace; similarly, when a spring was applied to the balance wheel of the pocket watch, instead of losing 15 or 20 minutes a day, it would be accurate to two or three. Cut to the late 1800s and wealthy ladies were embracing the new notion of wearing watches tied around the wrist with ribbon. A few decades later, the death knell for the pocket watch was sounded early into World War I, when soldiers demanded the practicality

of having the time instantly available at a glance in the form of a wristwatch. Now people are yet again reaching into their pockets to consult the time – albeit on their mobile phones; and soon we will have smartphones that strap, yes, to the wrist. In some respects, time has come full circle. And as accurate time is ubiquitous, connoisseurs and enthusiasts admire watches for the craftsmanship, engineering and science, whether old or innovative, that goes into their creation. In this issue, Brummell Horology focuses on innovation, taking in the new alchemy, including materials in development that will make timepieces last forever; looking at how watch design has been inspired by America’s Cup sailing, the Olympic sprinter Yohan Blake, spy planes and Antoine de Saint-Exupéry’s book Le Petit Prince; and, in a special section, tracing the new generation of women’s timepieces that are notable for both beauty and brains, as watch brands at last prioritise creating exclusive pieces for women that are as interesting on the inside as on the exterior. It’s a sign of the times. Joanne Glasbey, Editor

Dior VIII Grand Bal “Plume” Model. Pink gold, diamonds and ceramic. “Dior Inversé 11 ½” automatic calibre, 42-hour power reserve. Patented oscillating weight in gold set with diamonds and feathers.

Contents • Brummell

Cover illustration: Supermundane Show Media Brummell editorial 020 3222 0101 — Editor Joanne Glasbey Art Director Dominic Bell Managing Editor Lucy Teasdale Chief Copy Editor Chris Madigan Deputy Chief Copy Editor Gill Wing Contributing Editor Eleanor Pryor Senior Designer Jo Murray Picture Director Juliette Hedoin Staff Writer Charlie Teasdale Copy Editor Hilary Pereira Intern Lisa Aichhorn Creative Director Ian Pendleton Managing Director Peter Howarth — Advertising & Events Director Duncan McRae duncan@flyingcoloursmarketing.com 07816 218059 — showmedia.net brummell@showmedia.net — Visit Brummell’s website for more tailor-made content: brummellmagazine.net Colour reproduction by Fresh Media Group, groupfmg.com. Printed by Manson Group, manson-grp.co.uk Brummell is published 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). Reader offers are the responsibility of the organisation making the offer – Show Media accepts no liability regarding offers.

Contents 14

Watchword Far more than the shows in Switzerland, London’s SalonQP is the place where informed enthusiasts can engage with the watchmakers, argues Ken Kessler BEAUMONDE Horology news Quentin Tarantino’s timely honour; an extremely limited-edition Ferrari watch from Hublot; new London watch boutiques; and how Ball standardised the US railroads Sailing The 2013 America’s Cup, and preceding Louis Vuitton Cup, made for the most hi-tech regatta of all time – with timepieces to match Design Young French outfit Bell & Ross is known for its minimalist black watch faces. So its latest release – based on the Blackbird stealth plane – is an utterly logical step Literature Children’s (and adults’) favourite Le Petit Prince is 70 this year and IWC has produced a timepiece to celebrate Sport Sprinter Yohan ‘The Beast’ Blake and the Richard Mille watch he wears while anchoring the Jamaican 4x100m team to another gold WOMEN’S WATCH SPECIAL Introduction How an aficionado found his head turned by the new generation of women’s watches Mechanical watches The revolution that has resulted in serious horology that offers more than just a pretty face – it has high-quality movements too Night for day Elegant timepieces that tick all the boxes for different moods Timing Heptathlete and Olympic heroine Jessica Ennis-Hill on preparing for her next track-and-field challenge

FEATURES Technology How innovations in watchmaking materials – substances such as ceramic, Carbon Crystal and Sedna Gold – are nearing the holy grail of eternal life Diving watches Although most sub-aqua fans rely on dive computers underwater these days, the attraction of a chunky case, luminous hands and a uni-directional bezel remains Style A selection of watches, and complementary accessories, for different stages of the day Travel The longest weekend break: head to Rio de Janeiro and time will not stand still By George A treasure trove for horolophiles: the Harrods Fine Watch Room

Meet your makers

Watchword • Brum mell

One of the world’s premier showcases for fine timepieces, London’s SalonQP is as close as ‘civilians’ get to the watch gods

Words: Ken Kessler Illustration: Brett Ryder

Although BaselWorld is open to all, it’s too much of a trade show to expect watchdom’s superstars to take away valuable facetime from their distributors or journalists to talk with enthusiasts. The show held by Richemont in Geneva is invitation-only. At London’s SalonQP, though, watch lovers can get up close and personal with watches and their makers. Its most obvious strength is that it offers the first opportunity to see the new pieces launched at the aforementioned springtime Swiss shows, where the watches shown are usually pre-production. SalonQP, in contrast, takes place just as the ‘season’ begins, when many new models are ready for sale. This year’s event will host more than 50 exhibitors, ranging from A-list brands – Vacheron Constantin, Jaeger-LeCoultre, Zenith, Piaget, Ulysse Nardin, TAG Heuer, Girard-Perregaux, Hermès, Chopard and other large and/or historic houses – to the most boutiquey of micro-brands. The new-wave stars – some of which produce as few as 50 pieces per year – include Urwerk, Kari Voutilainen, De Bethune, Laurent Ferrier, Romain Gauthier, Ludovic Ballouard, MB&F, Maîtres du Temps, Christophe Claret and Julien Coudray 1518, all of which value the event because the visitors are their clients, or future clients. Thanks to the coverage it receives, SalonQP has evolved into a launch pad for young brands. ArkriviA, Breva, Revelation, HYT, Peter Roberts Watches and other makers of similar youth enjoy the event because, unlike at BaselWorld, they’re not lost among 1,000 or more exhibitors. Those who visit the event tend to stop at every stand. As with any themed event – be it a motor show, a boat show, something horsey or what have you – it stands to reason that the crowds it attracts has more than a passing interest in the subject. Because the level of knowledge is so high among the visitors, the salon is mutually beneficial: the exhibitors have, at the very least, an audience of people who already ‘get’ watches and don’t have to have

SalonQP’s visitors are treated with respect – it’s assumed they’re beyond Watch Lust 101. And it’s not a shop, so there’s no hard sell

explained to them why such-and-such a minute repeater costs £300,000. Conversely, the visitors know they’ll be treated with respect – it’s assumed they’re way past Watch Lust 101. Better still, it’s a salon, not a shop, so there’s no hard sell going on. Because the cross-section of exhibitors is so broad, every current trend is represented, from ultra-thin watches at Piaget and Jaeger-LeCoultre to ladies’ watches and all-black timepieces just about everywhere. And as SalonQP is a London event, it has become the showcase for the latest movement – if you’ll forgive the pun – which is the revival of British watchmaking. This year, it’s almost a Who’s Who of British makers, the list including Bremont, Hoptroff, Meridian, Pinion, Robert Loomes & Co and the Schofield Watch Company, while Schofield founder Giles Ellis and master watchmakers Peter Roberts and Roger W Smith will present lectures or seminars during the event. Another seminar will involve three of London’s best destinations for those who prefer to bid for watches rather than merely walk into a store. Fellows, Bonhams and Watches Of Knightsbridge will offer visitors the opportunity to ask about bidding techniques, pre-sale viewings, and how to sell at auction as well as buy. WatchFinders represents the world of online vintage-watch sales, and it, too, will advise visitors on buying and selling. Lest you fear xenophobia, there is also an axis of German brands at SalonQP. A Lange & Söhne,

the most prestigious name among Teutonic timekeepers and the brand responsible for restoring credibility to German watchmaking – which, based as it was in the east of Germany, was crushed by communism for half a century – was reborn in the Nineties in the village of Glashütte, near Dresden. This occurred thanks to the efforts of visionary Günter Blümlein and a lineal descendent of founder Ferdinand Adolph Lange: his great-grandson, Walter. Also exhibiting from the same region in Germany are Mühle Glashütte, Nomos, MeisterSinger, Kudoke and clockmaker Matthias Naeschke. There will be no shortage of astonishing timepieces at SalonQP, but I’m inclined to cite two that will raises the biggest smiles. Ulysse Nardin will be showing the Stranger Limited Edition musical watch, which plays Bert Kaempfert’s song made famous by Frank Sinatra, ‘Strangers in the Night’, on demand. And Russian manufacture Konstantin Chaykin has created a model called the Cinema Watch, with two movements – one serving the timekeeping and the other powering an animation based on the principles of a zoopraxiscope, which projected images from rotating glass disks in rapid succession to give the impression of motion. The function is launched manually and shows a brief movie of a galloping horse and rider in a small window at six o’clock. Seriously. It’s clear that SalonQP is to watch fanatics what the proverbial candy store is to a child. It’s fecund with riches, ripe with everything from Mühle Glashütte’s diving watches, via Jaquet Droz’s automata, to Döttling safes in which to store them. And I suspect that, if you look hard enough, you might even find a quartz watch or two that costs less than a new Volvo. l SalonQP, 7-9 November at the Saatchi Gallery, Duke ofYork’s HQ, King’s Road, SW3 4RY; for tickets and further information, visit salonqp.com

Beaumonde A daredevil-inspired timepiece; a trio of masterful movements; a salute to the London Underground

Heritage and heart ↑ From humble beginnings in 1833, when Antoine LeCoultre first set up a home workshop in Le Sentier, Switzerland, Jaeger-LeCoultre has grown to become one of the pre-eminent grand maisons of the horological world. Now celebrating its 180th anniversary, the brand’s trajectory of pioneering craftsmanship shows no signs of slowing down. This year has seen the release of the Jubilee collection of three watches that showcase Jaeger-LeCoultre’s prowess. There is a refined model with an ultra-thin movement, a flying tourbillon with a perpetual calendar and – the pièce de résistance – the Master Grande Tradition Gyrotourbillon 3 Jubilee, which is the first watch to be equipped with a flying gyrotourbillon that captivatingly appears to float in mid-air. jaeger-lecoultre.com

Playing Ball ↑ Until surprisingly recently, the time of day in Britain was dictated by sundial. The country was operating with a number of unofficial local time zones, leading to potential chaos and uncoordinated encounters. In 1840, Great Western Railways announced that a standard time was to be used across its whole network, and it didn’t take long for the other rail companies to follow suit; an obvious idea you might think, but it took the US nearly half a century to do the same. In 1891, when the inaccuracy of an engineer’s watch caused a collision that killed 11 people, the railroad companies decided they’d had enough, and watchmaker Webster Clay Ball was tasked with establishing

strict chronometric standards for all employee watches. Not only did it work, but it firmly cemented the name Ball in the annals of horological history. Today, the Ball Watch Company is still renowned for making notable timepieces at affordable prices under the motto ‘Since 1891, accuracy under adverse conditions’. The new Engineer Hydrocarbon Black was developed for Alex Honnold, one of the world’s most daring and talented rock climbers. With a titanium case coated in diamond-like carbon (DLC), 5000Gs shock resistance and automatic movement, this newcomer to the Engineer stable will suit the wrist of any serious adventurer. ballwatch.com

Patriotic Patrimony ↑ Vacheron Constantin, founded in 1755, is the world’s oldest watchmaker in continuous production. In celebration of the recent opening of its first London boutique, in Old Bond Street, the brand has recreated its famous Patrimony Traditionnelle model as the London Boutique edition. This special piece features a hand-finished guilloche dial inspired by the detailing in the Union Jack flag and encased in 18ct rose gold with a burgundy alligator strap. vacheron-constantin.com

Beaumonde • News

Reservoir cogs ↑ Lyon, the city where the cinematograph was first invented, recently played host to the fifth Lumière Film Festival, which saw movie maestro Quentin Tarantino honoured not only for his body of work, but for his cinephilia, his in-production tributes to actors and filmmakers of the past and his eternal motto: ‘Vive le cinéma!’. After Tarantino had received the prestigious Lumière Award, venerable Swiss watchmaker Girard-Perregaux, which partnered the ceremony, presented him with a coveted 1966 Annual Calendar and Equation of Time watch in celebration of his illustrious career. girard-perregaux.com

London calling ↑ The name Parmigiani Fleurier stands for the realisation of a long-held ambition. After years of hard work as a talented independent watchmaker and antique repair specialist, Michel Parmigiani was finally able to create his own dial name in 1996, with investment from the Sandoz Family Foundation. The brand’s newest atelier, opposite Scott’s on London’s Mount Street, opened this year. Visitors to the store, whether existing Parmigiani clients, timepiece enthusiasts or just curious passers-by, are welcomed by a watchmaker expert at his or her bench in the centre of the space. Coinciding with not only the brand’s arrival in our capital but also the 150th anniversary of the London Underground, a special edition of the company’s most popular watch has been created. Alongside a white-gold case and automatic movement, the Kalpa London Underground features a dial hand-printed with a representation of the iconic Tube map. parmigiani.ch

Horseplay Exclusive to selected British Hublot retailers, the Big Bang Ferrari UK will be one of the most exclusive watches on the market, limited to just 50 numbered pieces. Clad in the unmistakable prancing horse red, the watch features a titanium and black ceramic case, sapphire crystal dial and stunning flyback chronograph UNICO movement. hublot.com

Elevating the art ↑ Hermès has named its first flying tourbillon after the ornate lift that serves its Paris headquarters. The ‘Arceau Lift’ wristwatch, limited to just 176 pieces, is an artful 18ct rose gold watch featuring Hermès’s ‘double-H’ motif both on its tourbillon cage and on an opening over the dial. The motif, which adorns the lift’s gates, was originally designed to symbolise the marriage between Émile Hermès and Julie Hollande in 1900. The watch is hand-wound, has a 90-hour power reserve and is decorated with achingly tasteful finishes, including the Ex Libris emblem on the case back. hermes.com

MEASURES TIME . AND THE DISTANCE BEYOND AVERAGE .

Portuguese Chronograph Classic. Ref. 3904: The fact that Portugal’s greatest seafarers are remembered to this day is due not least to this watch: the appliquéd Arabic numerals and the railway track chapter ring elegantly reference its legendary forerunner from the 1930s. But today’s seagoing pioneers are equally well equipped with the Chronograph Classic. The IWCmanufactured automatic 89361-calibre movement and its 68-hour power reserve keep it firmly on course even under wind-

less conditions. Whether you’re aboard a historic three-master or a modern motor yacht, its state-of-the-art technology and classic design soon make it clear who’s giving the orders. i wc . e n g i n e e r e d fo r m e n .

Mechanical chronograph movement, Self-winding, 68-hour power reserve when fully wound, Date display, Stopwatch function, Hour and minute counters combined in a totalizer at 12 o’clock, Flyback function, See-through sapphire-glass back, Water-resistant 3 bar, Diameter 42 mm, 18 ct red gold

0800 111 4116 watches-of-switzerland.co.uk

Hublot Classico Ultra-Thin Skeleton. Extra-thin skeleton movement manufactured entirely by Hublot, with 90 hours of power reserve. Case crafted in a new unique red gold alloy: King Gold. Black rubber and alligator-skin strap.

For a list of Hublot stockists in the UK, please telephone 0207 343 7200 or e-mail info@timeproducts.co.uk www.hublot.com â&#x20AC;˘

twitter.com/hublot â&#x20AC;˘

facebook.com/hublot

Sailing • Beaumonde

Time and tide

The 2013 America’s Cup, the world’s biggest yacht race, was a showcase of technical innovation, including for watches

Words: Simon de Burton

It’s difficult to imagine a more drawn-out, convoluted, complicated and elitist sporting event than the America’s Cup, but the 34th running of it – held in San Francisco Bay during September – is said to have attracted a live audience of up to two million people, with many times that number seeing it on television around the world. The three-week race series, won by ‘defender’ Oracle Team USA, which beat the ‘challenger’ Emirates Team New Zealand, ran down to the wire, with the boat skippered by Jimmy Spithill making a dramatic comeback from eight-one down (and from being docked two points for technical fringements in warm-up regattas), saving seven match points to win 9-8. The 72ft carbon-fibre catamarans used by the teams are said to have cost a minimum of $10m apiece, although the overall spend was far higher. It is often said in sailing circles that ‘boat’ is an acronym for ‘burn off another thousand’; Oracle Team USA boss Larry Ellison is thought to have fired through a staggering $500m competing in this year’s races and the previous event in 2010.

It’s all a far cry from the Royal Yacht Squadron’s 53-mile race around the Isle of Wight in 1851, when a bunch of upstarts from the fledgling New York Yacht Club turned up in a 101ft schooner called America to compete for a £100 trophy that would come to be known as ‘the Auld Mug’. They won, of course, and the renamed ‘America’s Cup’ subsequently remained in the trophy cabinet of the NYYC for a remarkable 126 years as testament to the longest-winning streak in the history of the sport. It was not until 1983 that the Royal Perth Yacht Club’s Australia II – with its high-tech, inverted winged keel – wrested the cup from its long-standing holders after a thrilling match against Dennis Conner’s Liberty. The event resulted in massive publicity, vindicating the decision by Louis Vuitton to sponsor that year’s America’s Cup at the request of veteran sailor Bruno Troublé. ‘The sponsorship came about because of a very unusual event that happened after the 1980 America’s Cup,’ Troublé says. ‘No fewer than

Beaumonde • Sailing

seven challengers came forward, but the NYYC said it would not organise the regattas needed in order to decide the ultimate challenger because it was going to prove too expensive.’ It appeared that the historic event had run aground, but then Troublé (who was employed by the great Baron Bich to skipper his America’s Cup challenge boat France III, having already helmed France I and II) put in a call to Henry Racamier, the man who turned Vuitton into a global brand. ‘I simply asked him if Vuitton would be interested in sponsoring the preliminary races,’ explained Troublé. ‘Nowadays, such a request for sponsorship would require all sorts of PowerPoint presentations, meetings, calculations, spreadsheets. But, at 5pm the same day, he called me back to confirm he would provide $250,000 to get the regattas underway. In addition, LV set up a fabulous media centre and threw a huge party. It really put the event back on the map.’ Little could Racamier have known that his faith in the America’s Cup would form the foundation for a partnership that this year celebrated its 30th anniversary – or that Vuitton would end up as the official timer of the series through the watchmaking division it established in 2002. Owing to its involvement with the Cup, Vuitton has created various ‘regatta’ versions of its roundcased Tambour sports watch, the most impressive of which is the Twin Chrono, which was produced specifically to coincide with this year’s regatta. Developed at its high-end Fabrique du Temps manufacture, the 45.5mm white-gold chronograph boasts the ingenious capability of being able to measure two separate times and display the difference between them on its delectable, blue enamelled dial. The £50,000 watch combines a hand-wound movement for the bi-chronograph function and a separate, self-winding movement to drive the time display. The true genius of the mechanism, however, lies in the three-level column wheel mechanism, which is controlled from a single push piece at seven o’clock. Pressing it once activates the two lower chronograph counters; pressing it twice stops the hands on the lower-left counter and activates those on the one at 12 o’clock; a third press stops both counters. As a result, it is possible to see the first elapsed time on the lower-left counter, the second elapsed time on the lower-right counter and the difference between the two on the upper counter – a perfect system for timing racing yachts. Similarly, TAG Heuer used its involvement in the America’s Cup (backing Oracle Team USA) as a reason to develop a high-tech smartwatch specifically for the crew members. The ‘Extreme’ editions of the Aquaracer 72 contained wireless software customised to the specific tasks of each of the 11 sailors in a nautical first that gave them instant access to crucial real-time race data. Featuring a 51mm dial and a lightweight, ultra-tough case, impact-resistant to 5,000G, the watch has an LED display showing data such as boat speed, wind direction and even wind pressure in the sails. Just 50 were made, none of which will be available commercially – although TAG did create

Reuters

Elapsed time Previous page: The Omegasponsored Emirates Team New Zealand winning the LV Cup to qualifiy as the challenger for the America’s Cup. This page, above: Oracle Team USA, sponsored by TAG Heuer. Clockwise from right: Omega Seamaster Diver ETNZ; Louis Vuitton Tambour Twin Chrono; TAG Heuer’s Aquaracer 72 Digital Smartwatch

two special Oracle Team USA versions of the conventional Aquaracer sports watch for the US market: the 500M Calibre 16 and the 500M Calibre 5. Sailing fans in the UK, however, must make do with the ‘standard’ Aquaracer 500M automatic chronograph, which is, essentially, the same as the former but without the Team USA logo on the dial. It costs £2,995. Omega, meanwhile – as backer of the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron since its successful 1995 challenge, and sponsor of Emirates Team New Zealand skipper Dean Barker – has produced a limited run of 2,013 examples of a version of its Seamaster chronograph called the Diver ETNZ. The £4,170 watch has a screw-in back embossed with the team logo and edition number with the words ‘Challenger for the 34th America’s Cup’ engraved around the case, and black dial and red detailing echoing the ETNZ livery. It may represent a proud but defeated challenge but New Zealand should be back for the 35th America’s Cup (the government has promised backing again), joining an Australian boat and potentially a British challenge skippered by Sir Ben Ainslie. So expect a new fleet of interesting sailing watches in 2016. l vuitton.com; omegawatches.com; tagheuer.com

Brummell Promotion

Pace setters

Businessmen of the 21st century have schedules that are faster, more mobile, physical and demanding than those of their predecessors. Hogan shoes are the choice of a man such as specialist fund manager Nik Bienkowski – a man who knows he can thrive in his chosen field with his character and individuality intact

used to live, is a great city – the food’s fantastic, the weather’s pretty good, it’s very sporty and outdoorsy and the people are really friendly.

Nik, what do you do for a living? I’m a co-founder of Boost ETP – a specialist fund-management company that gives investors exposure to commodities and equities. I concentrate on product innovation, business strategy and the day-to-day running of the firm.

What accessories or pieces of technology do you always travel with that help you to work on the go? I can’t be without my phone, regardless of whether I’m in London or travelling outside the UK. It has all my contacts – basically, it’s my office away from home. I rely on internet access and Skype too. Back in the Eighties, before the net, my father used to travel overseas a lot. I remember how difficult phone conversations were then: the echo and the delay were terrible, making communication almost impossible. We take those things for granted today.

Do you enjoy the fast pace and pressure that comes with running your own business? Definitely. In fact, I think I work better when I’m stressed. At university, I took extra subjects and worked two jobs at the same time – I found that, by being under pressure, I could get twice as much done and learn twice as much in the same time. I discovered I actually became more efficient. Is there such a thing as a typical day for you? Yes and no. I get up at 6am, seven days a week, whether it’s a weekday or a weekend. I like to be in the office by 7am – the early bird catches the worm, as they say. I work at least 12 hours a day. When I come home, I play with my baby son and relax with my wife. At the weekend, I like to keep active, so I go out running or ride my bike, and I also enjoy catching up with friends.

Even if you’re wearing a smart suit, you don’t need to be conservative

How does travelling influence your style? Any time I go travelling, I go shopping. Whether I’m in Miami, New York or Paris, I always bring home something new.

Does your job require you to travel a lot? At the moment, my job is mainly London-focused, as our business is brand new, although we’ve plans to expand into Europe shortly. I travelled a great deal in my previous job – at a similar company to Boost ETP, where I worked for eight years – to cities including New York, Paris, Hong Kong and Tokyo as well as back to Australia, where I’m from. I helped set up offices in those places and had to visit on a quarterly basis. Which cities have you most enjoyed visiting? Every city’s really amazing in its own right. I love meeting new people and experiencing the different architecture, cuisine, fashion, climate and landscape. It’s all a learning experience. Melbourne, where I

And how about your go-to wardrobe for business trips? When you’re travelling for work, it’s important to have a good, sturdy bag, and I always pack a slim-fitting suit, a few white shirts and a good pair of shoes. It’s important to look right for meetings, and accessories and shoes are the key.

From top: Hogan B Dress urban sneaker with brogue detailing; Hogan B Dress hand-crafted wingtip with hand-brushed upper

Traditionally, the finance industry has been associated with a very conservative style of dress. Is it still? The style is definitely changing. Twenty or thirty years ago, you’d see virtually every City guy in a pinstriped suit and tie, especially in London. But I think the dress code is becoming a bit more casual. That’s partly because people are working from home more often and travelling a lot, as well as having meetings outside the confines of the office. In my view, even if you’re wearing a smart suit at work, you don’t need to be conservative – you can still show your sense of style with a good belt and bag and a great pair of shoes. l hogan.com

Beaumonde • Design

High flyers

Youthful French company Bell & Ross calls itself not a watch house but a design brand, one where imagination can soar

Space-time continuum From top: The Lockheed SR-71B Blackbird – the world’s fastest and highest-flying manned aircraft; Bell & Ross’s tribute, the new limitededition BR 126 Blackbird Flyback Chronograph

Twenty-odd years ago, a businessman and a designer got together to do what seemed a crazy thing: they launched a watch company. Not only was the higher-end market then dominated by a handful of companies with histories going back centuries, but the trend was for ostentation: a proper watch was gold, with Roman numerals and a crocodile strap. So what did the duo do? They launched with minimalist pieces in black. ‘We’ve also wondered, over the years, exactly why the company became successful,’ says Bruno Belamich, creative director and co-founder along with Carlos Rosillo of Bell & Ross. ‘But we had a good product at a good price. The industry was very traditional and we were offering these utilitarian pieces. But, as a designer, I can’t just start with blank paper and my imagination – I need a starting point. And that has always been function, especially inspiration from the military and aviation – though, of course, I know most people who buy our watches aren’t doing so merely in order to tell the time.’ That perhaps comes as a disappointment to him. After all, Bell & Ross – following Belamich’s utilitarian hero Dieter Rams – thinks of itself as a design brand, with all that suggests of substance over style, rather than a watch brand, with all that can suggest of status over substance. Check out the choice of the Franklin font and that balanced ampersand – and that’s just its logo. ‘I think the future of any luxury product is in its authenticity, and that lies in expressing your know-how, which, in our case, is all about utilitarianism,’ says Belamich, whose background, revealingly, was in designing for the likes of Kodak and Michelin. To this end, Belamich concedes that Bell & Ross must work within the confines of certain industry expectations: a truly modern design

watch would, he notes, not have the outmoded mechanical movement of the kind horolophiles set so much store by, but an advanced electronic one. ‘But we’ve made them with that and – surprise, surprise – they don’t sell,’ he adds. Instead, Bell & Ross has gone in the other direction, complementing its functional pieces with occasional tourbillons, jumping hours and other rarified complications. However, along the way, the watchmaker has already pioneered a number of impressive greatest hits. It began by launching its Space 1, a re-edition of the first automatic chronograph worn in space. Then it created the Type Demineur for the French security service’s bomb-disposal teams: the first timepiece with a non- and anti-magnetic case (a magnetic one might, inconveniently, explode the bomb). Its Hydro Challenger and Max diver’s watches have cases filled with an oil-based liquid that not only makes them water-resistant, but also prevents refraction, allowing them to be read accurately at any angle at a record-breaking 11,100m. And in its BR-01 – a square, forearm-

eclipsing watch based on a cockpit dial – it has something of an icon, even if Rosillo’s dainty wrists means he uses his as a desk clock... ‘Every big watch company has its iconic piece, or wants one, but there’s no recipe for creating it,’ says Belamich, whose latest model, the BR 126 Blackbird, is a tribute to NASA’s SR-71B spy plane. ‘My job is to try to do something original and, if I were a magician, I’d do it every time. That one worked. Some people think the BR-01 is awful, but others like it precisely because it’s distinctive. Sometimes, a design is too early for the market, but every design should aim to change the market too – and some people won’t like the result.’ Indeed, for all that Bell & Ross – which plans stores in London, New York and Tokyo over the next two years – may be most appreciated for its less-is-more aesthetic, it’s not above ‘experimenting with the market,’ as Belamich puts it. The first house to propose black cases and outsized watches, it also introduced vintage styling, prompting a rash of brands to trawl through their archives for reissues, and – inspired by distressed denim – the notion of cases and straps looking aged from new. So far, so inventive. Then it goes and issues a model of the BR-01 with – choke – a skull on the dial. ‘I recall discussing that idea,’ recalls Belamich, ‘and the feeling was, “No way – we can’t do that.” But we really liked it, so we did it anyway. Of course, a move like that is risky – we’re wary of damaging our image, especially as most of our customers see us as this refined design company. Yet the skull watch was a great success. It worked because it was unique – even if, undoubtedly, some people thought it was awful too. I always say that my best design is going to be my next one. But if a design sells, it means I’ve done my job.’ l bellross.com

Getty

Words: Josh Sims

Beaumonde • Literature

Finest hour

A new IWC watch celebrates the pilot, war hero and author whose little prince has lit up the lives of the world’s readers for 70 years

Words: Rob Ryan

I came late to The Little Prince. I was staying at the Auberge Le Petit Prince in Merzouga, Morocco, an inn on the edge of the Sahara named in tribute to the novella. After a day climbing the massive sand dunes nearby, I picked up an English copy of the book to see what all the fuss was about – it’s just for kids, right? – and, like millions of other readers, I became enchanted by this strange tale of a crashed pilot in the desert who encounters a little prince from another world. The story – and the tragic tale of its author, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, who disappeared into the Mediterranean while flying a reconnaissance mission for the Allies in 1944 – has stayed with me ever since. ‘Well, the book is magic,’ says Olivier d’Agay, a great-nephew of the author, who runs the Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation, which helps tackle illiteracy worldwide. ‘I first read it when I

was a child and I was not so impressed – I was too young. But I picked it up again when I was 18 and thought, wow, this is quite something. Now I think it is a book you have to read every 10 years, because each time you will get something different from it. Why has it stayed so popular? Because it gives people answers, hope, support, consolation, understanding. It’s about love and friendship and the way it is written and illustrated, I think it speaks to people of every culture and every generation.’ Penned in 1942, when de Saint-Exupéry was in the USA to plead the Allied cause for a second front in Europe, and published a year later, The Little Prince has sold more than 140 million copies worldwide in 250 languages. It still sells more than a million every year, to both children and adults, the latter drawn by its allegorical nature, the gnomic utterances of the title character and the romance of the backstory of the brave author who never lived to see its phenomenal success. As this year is the 70th anniversary of its publication, the Foundation and IWC watches have joined forces to release two commemorative timepieces. It is an appropriate tie-in, because IWC is known for its pilots’ watches and Saint-Exupéry was one of the great flyers of the Golden Age of aviation. He was a pioneer of the Aéropostales, the French airmail routes, and competed in ‘raids’ – daring aerial races for prize money. It was during one of these, trying to break the Paris to Saigon speed record in 1935 – the year before IWC unveiled its first Special Pilot’s watch – that he and his mechanic-navigator crashed in the desert near the Nile Delta. With limited food and water, they soon became dehydrated, began hallucinating and were close to death before they were rescued by a passing Bedouin. This brush

with mortality fed directly into The Little Prince. The IWC Le Petit Prince watches are rugged and handsome, with just a few subtle touches to indicate they celebrate the iconic visitor from a distant planet. The Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition ‘Le Petit Prince’ in red gold is the first of this model to feature the classic moon-phase display, but also adds the figure of the little prince himself, gazing at the stars from his tiny asteroid, and there he is again, scarf aflutter, on a lozenge on the transparent case back. Only 270 will be produced. The Pilot’s Watch Mark XVII Edition ‘Le Petit Prince’ in stainless steel is limited to 1,000 watches and has the Little Prince engraved on the case back. Part of the proceeds from the sales of these watches will go to the Saint-Exupéry Youth Foundation. But how did the watch company and the Foundation link up? Olivier d’Agay explains: ‘It was fate – a chance encounter. I met [IWC CEO] Georges Kern on a plane and he told me he was a long-term admirer of Saint-Exupéry, both as an author and as an adventurer. Our relationship grew from that meeting. The thing about Georges and the team is they get it – they absolutely understand the book and its importance and how its popularity can help the work of the Foundation in educating young people.’ As part of its commitment, IWC has organised a Sotheby’s auction in Geneva on 12 November of a unique platinum Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar ‘Le Petit Prince’ Edition. Proceeds from the sale will go entirely towards the building of a school in Cambodia by the Saint-Exupéry Foundation, set for completion in March 2014. Even after 70 years, it seems The Little Prince still has the power to change lives for the better. l

The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry (Egremont, £9.999 hardback)

French classic IWC’s Big Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Edition ‘Le Petit Prince’ is a tribute to a book now printed in 250 languages

Beaumonde • Sport Eric Feferberg/AFP/Getty

Time of the Beast Groundbreaking watchmaker Richard Mille has such a strong affinity for sport, he even built a timepiece on spec for Yohan Blake

Words: Josh Sims

‘Frankly,’ says Richard Mille, the independent watchmaker, ‘the high-end watch business can be boring. What excites me is an intelligent approach to design and big ideas. The industry needs to be more open to life: to technology, but also art, culture, sport.’ And, it would seem, especially sport. The relationship between watches and competition is, of course, not a new one: the demand to record speed or elapsed time has long been one of the driving forces for new developments in this field. But nobody said the timepiece should be an asymmetric $620,000 tourbillon with claw-like bridges in the bright colours of the Jamaican flag. But when Mille, the dapper Frenchman, decided to make a piece for Yohan Blake – the youngestever world champion in the 100m and the secondfastest man over 100m and 200m ever – he probably knew it had to grab the attention of the man nicknamed The Beast. All the more so since, while Mille may have made ground-breaking watches for Rafael Nadal (to cope with the punishing G-forces of tennis) and Roberto Mancini (to cope with the punishing demands of counting down injury time), he did not ask Blake about it before designing the model he inspired. And, given that Mille’s aesthetic is far from understated, that was some risk. ‘Our watches are very clinical in their design,’ he says, ‘but I hope that, through the way they look, they create some emotion. You either love them or you really don’t, and that’s fine.’ Fortunately, Blake really did. What better metaphor for a man who covers 100m in 9.69 seconds than a precision timepiece that looks like it belongs in a super-hero movie? Besides, the 23-year-old was an ideal candidate. The Jamaican

arch-rival, pal and training partner of world number-one Usain Bolt not only loves watches – ‘Even as a kid, I loved the James Bond gadget-ness about them,’ Blake says – but he is a rarity in actually wearing one while he sprints. ‘Not that I look at it much while running,’ he jokes. ‘I’m just looking down the track.’ His signature running style is arms pumping, fingers splayed in a manner echoed in those bridges, and, intriguingly, he says his secret is to imagine some sweetheart waiting for him at the end of the run, which instills an added sense of urgency to get to her. Those who try this may find that two hours of sprinting daily, a punishing gym routine, natural talent and the musculature of a raging bull may also be required. Such has been Blake’s devotion to wearing his own timepiece that he has risked upsetting the Olympic authorities to do so. ‘I think they were just being mischievous in suggesting it was a problem,’ he says, adding (somewhat mischievously himself), ‘but maybe it was to do with some other watch brand being an Olympic sponsor.’ He can probably afford to prod a little. As he is fond of reminding him, his friend Bolt is at the peak of his performance, whereas Blake is still growing – literally. ‘With age comes experience in competition, but also more strength.You get more masculine,’ he says, proposing a rather frightening thought, given the size of him already. ‘I’m getting faster and faster every year. My coach looks at me and says my face is still that of a baby and I need to get some man hair. But, of course, out on the track it’s not the face that counts.’ l richardmille.com

Yohan Blake is a rarity in wearing a watch while he sprints – ‘Not that I look at it much while running’

World time Yohan Blake wearing his Richard Mille RM 59-01 Tourbillon, having won his 2012 Olympic 100m semifinal. He won silver in the final

Vintage BR 126 Blackbird · Automatic chronograph with Flyback function · Limited edition to 500 pieces · Bell & Ross UK: +44 207 096 0878 · e-Boutique: www.bellross.com

Land & legacy With a 230-year history as a leading wine merchant, Corney & Barrow is the sole UK vendor of some of the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most exclusive wines

Words: Richard Woodard

Brummell Promotion

This page, from top Proprietor Aubert de Villaine oversees the harvest at the Romanée-Conti vineyard; some of Corney & Barrow’s exceptional wines

The world of wine is one of endless fascination and wonder, full of liquid gems awaiting discovery around every corner. But, when you first begin to explore its many byways, it can be complicated and confusing terrain. A trusted and friendly guide at your elbow can make all the difference. That’s where a good wine merchant comes in – one with years of expertise and independence to call on, whose integrity and mastery of such a complex subject can aid and inspire you on your vinous voyage of discovery. At more than 230 years old, Corney & Barrow is one of the longest-established wine merchants around. Edward Bland Corney opened his first shop in Old Broad Street, in the heart of the City of London, in 1780, and Corney & Barrow’s head offices have remained City-based ever since. Age is not necessarily a guarantee of quality, of course, but the company does have a couple of satisfied customers of whom you might have heard – it’s one of the only two wine merchants in the United Kingdom to hold Royal Warrants to supply wine to HM The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales. Corney & Barrow’s hard-earned reputation rests, above all, on the excellence of the wines that it sells, not least the blue-chip producers it

When it comes to wine, a trusted and friendly guide at your elbow can make all the difference

exclusively represents – that is, Domaine de la Romanée-Conti, Château Pétrus, Clos de Tart and Comte Georges de Vogüé, to name a few. These extraordinary wines are among the finest in the world, but the same level of care and enthusiasm is applied to every bottle that is listed by Corney & Barrow, whatever the price – from inspirational wines that epitomise the land that created them to reasonably priced, well-kept secrets from every corner of the wine-making world. The company has a global spectrum of wines that are waiting to be discovered, whether your taste inclines towards the traditional heartlands of fine wine – Bordeaux, Burgundy, Champagne, Tuscany and Rioja – or you’re keen to discover more about the increasingly diverse flavours which are being conjured in further-flung destinations, such as New Zealand, South Africa and Argentina. So, if you’re building a cellar of fine wine, looking for something to suit a special occasion or simply keen to find that perfect bottle to accompany a mid-week supper, you need your wine merchant to offer a reassuringly expert and trustworthy presence at your side. And Corney & Barrow has the expertise, integrity and passion to do just that. l corneyandbarrow.com

Swiss movement, English heart

Bespoke Unitas 6497 hand-wound movement (Calibre JJ02) from master watchmaker, Johannes Jahnke / Each piece, of only 250, personally assembled by Johannes in our Swiss atelier / Supremely engineered, 43mm, 316L stainless steel case with full diameter transparent case-back / Unique serial number engraved on case and movement Premium Louisiana alligator deployment strap / 5 year movement guarantee

Women’s watches • Brummell

Women’s watches special The new generation A serious woman, successful in business, doesn’t buy a car to match her shoes – she wants engineering excellence. The same is true of watches. Demand for proper mechanical pieces is growing – a woman’s movement, if you will...

Brummell • Women’s watches

My fair lady’s

How a stalwart of the watch industry suddenly found himself asking, ‘Why can’t a man’s watch be more like a woman’s?’

Words: Robin Swithinbank Illustration: Brett Ryder

It’s not something you can say lightly as a man, particularly if you’d prefer not to be tarred as a raving misogynist, but I’ve always found women’s watches rather boring. Predominantly, timepieces intended for ladies are lobotomised, scaled-down versions of men’s watches, with the mechanical heart replaced by a plonky work-a-day quartz movement and the case and dial smattered with precious stones. Which, forgive me, just doesn’t really do it for the horologically minded chap. In their defence, timepiece brands don’t force the issue. At press events, they show me their gents’ collection first and wait for the oohs and aahs with bated breath, before, with seldom hidden embarrassment, bringing out their ladies’ watches, usually accompanied by the line, ‘You won’t be interested, but…’ I’ve never minded this. Not in the slightest. In fact, the brand rep’s seldom hidden embarrassment is usually reflective of my barely concealed disinterest. Ladies’ watches get short shrift from

me, with no inclination to apologise. But – and it’s a big but – I think those days might just be on the wane. Women’s watches – and again, I should probably choose my words carefully here – are starting to titillate me. Let me begin to explain why, with a little background. By and large, the watch industry is a heavily male-dominated world – so much so that I’ve heard it argued more than once that it’s chauvinistic, sexist and, yes, even misogynistic. Logically, I’ve never seen the point of the debate. The gender-bias of a product-focused industry like this is determined by its chief consumer, who in watches has always been male, just as in haute joaillerie or couture it’s always been female (with a consequent bias to their products and positioning). Because of this, most luxury-watch brands devote little more than 25 per cent of their production to women’s watches. Some don’t go there at all – IWC, for instance, doesn’t make a single watch exclusively for women. Change is on the way, though, because women are falling for the charms of luxury mechanical watches like never before, making any remaining priapic obsessions within the watch industry not so much sexist as commercially stupid. Like so many others before it, this shift is being driven by the explosion of wealth in China and other emerging economies, and the more egalitarian way in which it’s distributed. The watch industry is discovering it needs to cater for a relatively new consumer – the socio-economically empowered female watch connoisseur. According to a recent Grant Thornton report, 51 per cent of senior management positions in China are now filled by women, compared to a global average of 24 per cent. Those women climbing the global corporate ladder want symbols of success too, the watch brand chief execs tell me, particularly those totems that will impress the boys around the boardroom table. And that means luxury watches from the top houses – with mechanical movements. Brands are waking up to this. Patek Philippe’s Ladies First collection kicked things off in earnest a few years back, followed more recently by lines such as Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Rendez-Vous and this year’s exquisite Vacheron Constantin Métiers d’Art pieces. Even Chopard’s Happy Sport, which has thrived for 20 years as a quartz model, now has a mechanical movement. I could go on. What I can also do is put a finger on the moment I realised women’s watches are no longer a footnote in the horological lexicon. It was at the BaselWorld spring watch fair on the Zenith stand, where I found myself looking at the gorgeous new Star Open and thinking, ‘If only this was available as a man’s watch.’ (It isn’t.) I don’t recall having such a thought before and I don’t mind admitting I was surprised. Make the case a touch larger, take away the diamonds and the heart-shaped motifs and I’d happily wear that, I thought. And then I realised I was designing a chap’s watch by taking a lady’s watch, scaling it up and stripping away the pretty bits. As a case study in irony, it’s not bad, but it might also represent a tipping point, the one where women’s watches got serious. If nothing else, it sums up the culture shift now taking place in watchmaking – and, it would appear, in me. l

Women’s watches • Brummell

The essence of time Chanel’s groundbreaking Première Flying Tourbillon deconstructed

Not just a pretty face Complicated timepieces are no longer the exclusive preserve of men, as proven by a new wave of watches for women that combine winning form with function

Words: Eleanor Pryor

Diamonds will always be a girl’s best friend, but style need no longer be an alternative to substance – a realisation the luxury-watch industry has woken up to en masse now that the market is demanding complicated timepieces for women. Complications are, as the name suggests, additions that serve an extra function and add intricacies to an already complex movement. Since the second coming of high-end mechanical watches after the fall of quartz, complicated timepieces have largely remained in the male domain, as evidenced by features such as motor racing-inspired chronometers or yachting timers, which have a traditionally gender-specific focus. But it’s been over a century since women availed themselves of the functionality of trousers, so why should the approach to watches be any different? Historically, owing to the impracticality of carrying around the larger pocket watches of the time, many of the earliest wristwatches were worn by women. Some of Jaeger-LeCoultre’s first examples were made specifically for females, while, in 1868, Patek Philippe created for Countess Koscowicz of Hungary the first Swiss wristwatch ever made. Given this heritage, it’s no great surprise that the renowned maison has been at the forefront of reintroducing serious horological propositions for women into the market even today. The brand proudly revealed its intentions with the launch of its Ladies First series of timepieces

Brummell • Women’s watches

Inside story This page, from top: The complicated movement that powers the Patek Philippe Ladies’ First Chronograph; the new Omega Ladymatic has a co-axial calibre 8520 movement that is visible through the back; TAG Heuer’s automatic 34.5mm Link Lady with mother-of-pearl dial and diamond bezel; the colourful new Rolex Oyster Perpetual Day-Date, shown in cherry, is also available a with green, blue, chocolate or cognac face

in 2009, the first of which was an ultra-thin chronograph and marked the debut of a new type of movement. Furthering its commitment to creating complications rarely found in women’s designs, subsequent timepieces have included a minute repeater and perpetual calendar. This year has seen this level of attention to the female consumer continue with a number of pieces, including the beautifully refined Calatrava ref. 7121, featuring a delicate moonphase indication positioned at 6 o’clock. ‘The process for a man’s or a woman’s watch is the same: we start designing the piece around the movement,’ explains Sandrine Stern, head of creative at Patek Philippe. ‘All our movements are thin and the diameters are quite small, so, for ladies, we are making even smaller pieces – and not only for sporty watches: you can have classical and evening pieces with a complicated movement, too.’ While the breadth of complication-packed men’s watches continues to expand, plenty of houses are rising to the perhaps harder challenge of creating something that is daintier on the outside but just as masterful within. Rolex’s recently launched Lady-Datejust Pearlmaster packs a self-winding movement complete with instantaneous date setting into a petite 29mmdiameter diamond-bezel case, while even one of the brand’s new lead collections – a range of brightly coloured versions of the popular Day-Date – has a decidedly unisex feel. Audemars Piguet followed suit, giving one of its signature designs a thorough makeover with the Royal Oak Offshore Ladycat Chronograph. A rising trend, however, has seen brands shying away from recreating traditional men’s models in miniature form and developing entire new lines with women in mind. Omega’s new Ladymatic

models utilise the pioneering co-axial calibre movement that has become one of the company’s technical trademarks, while the typically masculine TAG Heuer has added automatic options to its Link Lady collection. Meanwhile, 2012 saw Jaeger-LeCoultre launch the Rendez-Vous, its first-ever collection targeted specifically at women, which takes in complications ranging from day and night indications to the perennially soughtafter tourbillon. Of course, it’s not just brands with a traditional watchmaking heritage that are getting in on the action. Jewellery and fashion houses are upping the stakes in the race to capture the attention of this new breed of engaged, horologically inclined female customer, with a combination of haute horlogerie matched with a creative and smart approach to design. Chanel’s Première Flying Tourbillon seamlessly blends innovative watchmaking with a sleek, chic silhouette, while Dior leans on its haute couture roots for stunning watches that recreate the dramatic sweeps and swirls of red carpet dresses. Hermès, which is renowned for its watchmaking heritage, added a beautiful and sophisticated moon-phase complication, powered by a high-quality selfwinding Dubois-Dépraz movement, to its ladies’ Arceau line. Van Cleef & Arpels, meanwhile, translated the whimsy of its jewellery masterpieces into motion with designs that see butterflies and insects flutter across the dial. The appetite for complications in women’s watches is yet to be fully sated, and the next few years are sure to hold some interesting surprises as watchmakers reveal further results of years of research and development. The choice has never looked better for the savvy female customer who cares more about the calibre than the carats. l

THE SECOND WORLD WAR. 1 9 3 9 - 1 9 4 7.

Spring, 1943. And for the Allies, there’s none of the optimism associated with the season. The conflict in the North Atlantic has tipped decisively in favour of Germany. Allied convoys are easy prey for the deadly U-boats, hunting in their ‘wolf-packs’. Britain is on the brink of starvation. The situation looks bleak. In Whitehall, even Churchill privately doubts whether his famous powers of oratory will be enough to lift the nation this time. Plans for an Allied invasion of Europe in 1944 have been postponed for a year: the US will not send troops and equipment to Britain with the Atlantic under German control. This delay will give Hitler time to strengthen coastal fortifications in Normandy. German factories have an extra twelve months to build Panzers. And huge tank divisions will now form an iron line of defence along the Rhine, barring the way into Germany. The war looks set to continue until at least 1947, and with no guarantee of an Allied victory. It didn’t happen like that, of course. But it so nearly could have, had it not been for the efforts of a determined band of men and women in a ramshackle country house in Buckinghamshire: Bletchley Park. Some, like Alan Turing, were mathematicians. Others were musicians. Some were crossword experts. Yet working in eight-hour shifts in modest wooden huts, they managed to crack the German Enigma code, widely believed to be unbreakable. An Enigma machine could encrypt letters in more than 159 million million million different ways. (Your odds of winning the lottery look positively generous by comparison.) But with the code cracked, the Allies were able to follow the movements of the U-boats and route the convoys around them. And, in May 1943, Admiral Donitz conceded defeat in the Battle of the Atlantic, leaving the way clear for the D-Day landings.

It was only one of many instances where intelligence gleaned at Bletchley Park helped influence the outcome of key events in the war. The Bremont Codebreaker commemorates the work of Alan Turing, Gordon Welchman, Tommy Flowers and the 9,000 other men and women who served there. Proceeds from the sale of each watch will go to the Bletchley Park Trust, which is helping preserve the house and its famous huts for the nation. Every watch will feature actual material from Bletchley Park. The movement has an oscillating weight that incorporates original parts from a German Enigma rotor. The crown is inlaid with pinewood from the floorboards of Hut 6, the nerve centre of Bletchley Park. And while the design is inspired by a classic 1940s officers watch, everything else is very definitely 2013. The Codebreaker has a unique chronograph layout with a GMT flyback. (The first we’ve ever built in this configuration.) It’s available in two very limited editions: 240 in stainless steel and 60 in rose gold. We expect demand to be high. The men and women of Bletchley Park maintained absolute secrecy at all times, so word never got around. With the Codebreaker, this is unlikely to be the case.

The night watch A beautiful timepiece is the finishing touch to elegant eveningwear. These stunning examples are discreet yet eminently eye-catching

Photography: Andy Barter Styling: Gaia Geddes

Women’s watches • Brummell

Opposite: Aquaracer Lady with diamond bezel, 27mm, on steel and rose-gold bracelet, £4,500, TAG Heuer This page, from left: The City 34mm in rose gold and steel, £475, BurBerry. Lady-Datejust in rose gold and steel, £6,250, roLex at rolex London – one Hyde Park

This page: Malte Lady in rose gold set with a 50-diamond bezel on taupe alligator Mississippiensis strap, £17,800, Vacheron constantin Opposite: La strada in rose gold with diamonds on an alligator strap, £15,510, chopard. rose gold héritage watch with moonphase detail, £23,800, Breguet

Women’s watches • Brummell

Women’s watches • Brummell Opposite, from left: Rendez-Vous Art in white gold set with 18 white diamonds on a satin strap, £199,000, JAegeR-LeCouLtRe at Harrods. Butterfly Watch in white gold set with 231 diamonds on a satin strap with white gold buckle set with a further 22 diamonds, PoA, gRAff This page: Mademoiselle Privé Moon and Comet, 18ct white gold set with 60 brilliant-cut diamonds on a black satin strap with ardillon buckle set with a further 80 brilliant-cut diamonds, £25,200, CHAneL

Brummell • Women’s watches

From left: La D de Dior 38mm in steel with onyx dial, and a bezel and face set with diamonds on a satin strap, £6,300, Dior. Ladymatic 34mm white gold case and bezel set with diamonds, with black dial set with diamond indexes on a satin strap, £10,550, omega For stockists details, see page 70

Collection: Model: Movement: Crystal:

OfďŹ cial Watch and Timing Partner of:

Freelancer 7730-ST-20041 Automatic mechanical chronograph Sapphire crystal with antiglare treatment

Brummell • Women’s watches Getty

Inside track Omega ambassador Jessica Ennis-Hill explains why, for her, timing is everything

Words: Amy Raphael

Jessica Ennis-Hill, the British heptathlete who stormed to Olympic gold at London 2012 in front of 80,000 ecstatic, tear-stained fans, breezes into a London hotel room in a brilliant-orange dress. She looks, as you might expect, stunning, but admits she’s not sure the colour suits her. A year on from dominating the track and field at the Olympics, you might expect Ennis-Hill (her name annexed when she married her long-term boyfriend Andy Hill in May this year) to be super-confident. There is a steeliness to this Sheffield-born 27-year-old, but, for a champion, she’s impressively grounded. Recalling winning gold on Super Saturday, she grins. ‘I was really tired, so relief was the over-riding emotion. Thank God I’d done it! I’m normally reserved when I win, but I couldn’t hold back the tears. I’ve never felt so much emotion. It was the most amazing feeling ever.’ The heptathlon – made up of seven events in disciplines as varied as long jump and shot put – is

gruelling for any athelete. Ennis-Hill, who pretty much decided to devote her life to athletics at the age of 10, says it’s all about training and timing. ‘I train twice a day, six days a week, and recover in the evenings by watching box sets of The Sopranos or Breaking Bad. As for the timing, when I’m doing hurdling and sprint sessions, we’re constantly logging our results and comparing them to the previous year. Timing is everything – it’s why I’m sponsored by Omega – the timekeeper for the Olympics since the 1948 London games.’ Ennis-Hill, who keeps her Olympic gold in a box at home in Sheffield with her other medals, already has an eye on Rio 2016. ‘Time is ticking too fast! I’ll be 30 by then, so it’ll probably be my last chance to compete in the Olympics.’ Might she win another gold? She grins again, before disappearing in a flash of orange. ‘That would be amazing. Really amazing.’ l omega.com

Time is ticking too fast! I’ll be 30 by 2016: Rio will probably be my last chance to compete in the Olympics

Split-second timing Jessica Ennis-Hill wins the women’s heptathlon 800m and a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics

A. lANgE & SöHNE AUDEMARS PIgUET BAcKES & STRAUSS BAUME & MERcIER BEll & ROSS BlANcPAIN BREgUET BREITlINg BREMONT

THE NATURE OF TIME

BURBERRy cORUM DElANEAU FRANcK MUllER FRÉDÉRIqUE cONSTANT gIRARD-PERREgAUX HUBlOT IWc JAcOB & cO JAEgER-lEcOUlTRE JAqUET DROZ lONgINES MAURIcE lAcROIX MEccANIcHE VElOcI MONTBlANc OFFIcINE PANERAI OMEgA ORIS RADO RIcHARD MIllE ROgER DUBUIS ROlEX ROMAIN JEROME TAg HEUER TAg MERIDIIST U-BOAT UlySSE NARDIN VAcHERON cONSTANTIN VERTU ZENITH

THE FINE WATcH ROOM

+44 (0)20 7730 1234 harrods.com

Brummell â&#x20AC;˘ Watch materials

Gold, not standard This page and opposite: Molten gold, palladium and copper cools to form Omegaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sedna Gold

Watch materials • Brummell

Built to last Hyper-modern materials and technological bravura are the watchwords for brands looking to future-proof their timepieces

Words: Robin Swithinbank

It can be a peculiar thing to sit in on a presentation given by a watch brand. Most of the top horological dogs make a point of reminding journalists that they are ‘passionate about innovation’. Taken from an approximate viewpoint, this fluffy bromide might seem nonsense, because of the perfectly logical argument that a mechanical wristwatch is no more innovative than a horse and cart, even if the horse has wings and the cart is made of carbon fibre. Except that often it’s not nonsense. Held too strongly, that view can shield legitimate claims to novelty made by brands which, emboldened by newfound, post-millennial wealth, have invested hundreds of millions in innovation – frequently with startling results. Granted, few watchmakers are reinventing the wheel, and the basic principles of a mechanical timepiece haven’t changed since Napoleon was arguing his way across Europe. But, in other ways, brands are ploughing a progressive furrow, making watches that are more accurate and reliable, and longer-lasting – in a word: better. Take, as a paramount example, Richard Mille. Mille set up his brand in 2001 because he was

bemused that high-end watch companies were, to use his words, ‘making 19th-century watches using 21st-century techniques’. His ambition became to make 21st-century watches using 21st-century techniques. Using state-of-the-art materials found in Formula 1, aerospace and, yes, rocket science, he has shown us what being passionate about innovation means. Fuelled by it, he has succeeded in creating a tourbillon wristwatch that can sustain the multiple heavy impacts suffered during several years’ worth of tennis played by Rafael Nadal. Without casting aspersions, it would be foolish to attempt anything even remotely similar armed with a tourbillon made by, say, Breguet or Patek. The spec list of Nadal’s latest watch, the RM27-01 tourbillon, makes for unfamiliar reading. Its case is made not of a quotidian material such as reinforced steel, but of anthracite polymer injected with carbon nanotubes, which makes it very strong and very lightweight – just 19g, in fact. Its movement is made of titanium and Lital, a highly shock-resistant lithium alloy, and

then suspended inside the case on steel wires that are 0.35mm in diameter. It’s a tourbillon, but not as we’ve been brought up to know it. This quest for hyper-modernity did not begin with Richard Mille, of course. You can go back as far as you like to find examples of the quest for horological immortality. Latter-day highlights would include the first titanium watch made by Porsche Design and IWC in 1980, and Rado’s pioneering use of ceramic in the mid-Eighties. Both lightweight, super-tough materials are now ubiquitous in watchmaking. Rado, for the record, also made the first ‘scratchresistant’ watch – the DiaStar – in 1962. It was made of ‘hardmetal’, a marketable name for tungsten carbide – more commonly used in drill bits. One of the descendants of the DiaStar is the new DiaMaster Ceramic Automatic Chronograph XXL Plasma. Its ceramic case is heated to 20,000°C in a plasmacarburising process that gives the watch a scratchand fade-resistant finish. Fade-resistance is one of ceramic’s most valuable yet underrated qualities. There was a time when

Brummell • Watch materials

Material world Clockwise, from right: The ceramic carburising process during the making of a Rado watch; the Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon, constructed from Carbon Crystal; Omega’s Constellation Co-Axial chronometer in Sedna Rose Gold; Rado’s DiaMaster Ceramic Automatic Chronograph Plasma

Brands are ploughing a progressive furrow, making watches more accurate and reliable, and longer-lasting – in a word: better

long-lasting’ thanks to its palladium content, which ensures Sedna’s reddish hue won’t be burnt off by a few sunny days spent lying by the pool. Hublot’s gold obsession, by contrast, is hardness. Its so-called Magic Gold is a fusion of 18ct gold and ceramic, giving it a hardness of 1,000 Vickers – stainless steel is around 600 Vickers, as a comparison. But when it comes to making watches that last forever, minds turn to Cartier. That might come as a surprise, given the house’s richly deserved reputation for sublime but technically undemanding classics such as the Tank. It opened its Fine Watchmaking department in 2006. In the seven short years since, it has produced a remarkable 20 in-house calibres, some of which have already earned their place in the pantheon of horological wonders. But it later emerged that this efficient operation was also a cover for a research and development team tasked with revolutionising watch creation. The moving parts of a mechanical watch are subject to wear-and-tear, dust, shocks, water and simply being left alone or in the wrong position the dial or bezel of even the finest mechanical watch would succumb to the ravages of natural light. Some bezels were once made of Bakelite – an early plastic that was notoriously brittle and faded quickly. Mind you, that proved to be the least of its problems – there were some suggestions Bakelite bezels were radioactive. Rolex’s solution to this particular problem is Cerachrom, a ceramic it produces in-house in a process that takes 40 hours and involves heating the raw material to 1,500°C to purify and harden it. The result is a material that’s virtually scratchresistant and impervious to ultra-violet light. It appears in a chestnut-brown colour in the 50th-anniversary platinum Rolex Cosmograph Daytona, released this year. Having solved the bezel problem, watch brands are turning their attentions to precious metals. Gold, for example, fades and erodes, which is a problem. This is Omega’s motivation for developing Sedna Rose Gold, an 18ct gold alloy launched this year. According to the brand, the new metal’s lustre will be ‘particularly

for too long. For a time, Cartier’s solutions to these problems came in concept form. There was the IDOne concept of 2009, which claimed to be maintenance- and adjustment-free, thanks to the use of futuristic materials such as niobium titanium and carbon crystal, and to its vacuumsealed case. That was followed in 2012 by IDTwo, which continued the theme, improving on the original idea with developments including a previously unimaginable 32-day power reserve. This year, Cartier has begun turning this pie-in-the-sky technology into reality with the Rotonde de Cartier Astrotourbillon Carbon Crystal. Carbon crystal is lightweight, 10 times harder than steel and frictionless, and it appears in the Rotonde’s tourbillon. It is not therefore a zeromaintenance watch, but it does have some zero-maintenance parts. As such, it points to a future in which Cartier may be seen as more than the maker of timepieces with iconic status. It may yet come to be known as the watchmaker that created the timepiece that holds the secret to eternal life. l

M ESURE ET D ÉMESURE *

TONDA QUATOR White gold Automatic movement Hermès alligator strap Made in Switzerland

* EXACT AND EXULTANT

www.parmigiani.ch

ATELIER PARMIGIANI 97 MOUNT STREET, MAYFAIR, LONDON W1K 2TD, TEL. 020 7495 5172, ATELIERUK@PARMIGIANI.COM LONDON SELFRIDGES, THE WONDER ROOM

ARIJE

HARRODS, MONTREUX JAZZ CAFE

This page, from top: Radiomir 1940, PaneRai; avenger ii Seawolf, BReitling; easyDiver, RogeR DuBuiS at arije. Opposite, from top: Fifty Fathoms, BlancPain; Supermarine 2000, BRemont; oceanographic 4000, HuBlot

Menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s watches â&#x20AC;˘ Brummell

Dive school

these days, most serious scuba-users wear a computer on their wrists. But, on the other hand, a stylish diving watch makes a statement

Photography: Andy Barter Words: Simon de Burton

Brummell • Men’s watches

Panerai Radiomir 1940 ↑ During the Thirties, optical instrument-maker Panerai was commissioned by the Italian navy to develop a rugged, underwater wristwatch. Various models ensued (perhaps the most recognisable being the Luminor Submersible with its distinctive crown guard) but the original, cushion-cased Radiomir with its luminous ‘sandwich’ dial remains an all-time favourite. The latest ‘1940’ features a wearable, relatively slim 42mm case and ‘bar’ strap lugs rather than the wire variety of more historically accurate Panerais. The in-house, hand-wound movement is visible through a transparent back. £5,300; panerai.com

Breitling Avenger II Seawolf ↑ With a name like that, Breitling’s range-topping ‘super diver’ watch clearly means business. Indeed, it’s water-resistant to an impressive 3,000m. The self-winding movement is protected from the pressure of the deep by a 45mm steel case fitted with an extra-thick sapphire crystal and screw-down case back. The Avenger II is also fitted with a screwlock crown system; an easy-grip, unidirectional rotating bezel for monitoring dive times; and a valve to equalise pressure. Volcano Black, Tungsten Gray or Cobra Yellow dials are available, along with a choice of leather or rubber straps or steel bracelet. From £2,519; breitling.com

Roger Dubuis EasyDiver ↑ Big, bold and often somewhat brash, Roger Dubuis watches are not to everyone’s taste – but if you’re looking for a piece that is finished to an exceptional degree and fitted with a genuine in-house movement, look no further. Every watch from the Genevabased manufacture carries the exacting Poinçon de Genève quality seal to attest to the brand’s high quality of craftsmanship – and that includes the interestingly named ‘EasyDiver’ models that promise to take that distinctive style down to the ocean floor. The signature, three-piece lugs of the EasyDiver’s case carry a strap made from natural rubber. £26,500; rogerdubuis.com

Blancpain Fifty Fathoms ↑ Blancpain introduced the Fifty Fathoms in 1953 for military use, several months ahead of the diving watch many mistakenly think of as the first, the Rolex Submariner. The Fifty Fathoms became popular among sport divers a few years later when Jacques Cousteau wore one in The Silent World. The original was around 41mm in diameter – huge for the era – but a smaller, slimmer version called the Bathyscaphe became available a few years later. The Bathyscaphe was re-introduced for 2013, joining the ever-growing range of Fifty Fathoms. This steel standard model, Fifty Fathoms Automatique, costs £10,080; blancpain.com

Bremont Supermarine 2000 ↑ Bremont is known for its aviation chronometers, so when it came to introducing a high-quality diving watch, it called it the ‘Supermarine’ – the name of the British manufacturer of sea planes and the Spitfire. The original 43mm watch’s movement is encased in a Faraday cage to protect against magnetic fields and is guaranteed water-resistant to 500m. The beefed-up Supermarine 2000 gets a 45mm case and, being designed for professional dive use, is rated to 2,000m. Dials have highly luminous markings, and the screwed-down case back is embossed with the image of a Supermarine aircraft. £3,600; bremont.com

Hublot Oceanographic 4000 ↑ ‘How low can you go?’ is undoubtedly a pertinent question when it comes to Hublot’s most able dive watch, which is guaranteed waterproof to a lung-crushing 4,000m - more than 200m deeper than the final resting place of the Titanic. Originally unveiled at Monaco’s Musée Océanographique, the watch is available in two limited series, each of 1,000 examples, one series in titanium (pictured) and the other in carbon. The case measures a mammoth 48mm in diameter and a heavily engineered crown guard ensures the inner timing bezel can’t be accidentally moved mid-dive. POA; hublot.com

On the hour A wardrobe of watches for every minute of the day, complemented by a selection of elegant accessories to take you through to the evening

Photography: Andy Barter Styling: David Hawkins

Opposite: NeroUno Ballpoint pen, £175, MONTEGRAPPA. Seamaster Planet Ocean 600M 18ct gold men’s watch with alligator-leather strap, £20,950, OMEGA. Elephant hide-printed calf leather iPad case with lamb suede lining, £795, MONCRIEF (above). Panama Collection A5 folder in crossgrain calf leather, £270, SMYTHSON (below). This page: Pied-de-pouleembossed leather bag, £1,350, ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA at Harrods

Men’s style • Brummell

Opposite, clockwise from top: Glasses, £508, Thom Browne. Pocket organiser, £205, LoUIS VUITTon. meisterstück Signature for Good LeGrand fountain pen, £540, monTBLAnC.

Portobello lambskin diary, £180, SmYThSon. Br 126 Sport heritage watch, £2,850, BeLL & roSS. Pied-de-poule leather wallet, £195, ermeneGILDo ZeGnA at harrods

This page, clockwise from top right: Boskar weekender calf leather bag, £1,250, BALLY. hybrid Derby sneakers, £514, KrISVAnASSChe. The Britain Chronograph watch, £1,195,

BUrBerrY. Smartphone softcase, £220, LoUIS VUITTon. meisterstück Selection flannel wallet, £225, monTBLAnC. Colonia, £74 for 50ml, ACQUA DI PArmA

Men’s style • Brummell

Opposite from bottom left: Leather wallet, £295, JM WESTON. Varius Rubracer fountain pen, £780, CARAN D’ACHE. Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours watch on alligator leather

strap, £9,050, MONTBLANC. Mother-of-pearl cuff links, £135, TuRNBuLL & ASSER. This page, clockwise from left: Double-zip pouch in pied-de-poule-embossed

leather, £530, ERMENEGILDO ZEGNA at Harrods. 21in trolley case lined in Fox flannel, in collaboration with GlobeTrotter, £995, THE MERCHANT FOX. Terre d’Hermès Eau de

Toilette Natural spray, 50ml, £52, HERMÈS. Chiffre Rouge A02 watch, 38mm, in steel, £4,175, DIOR Shoot assistance: Lisa Aichhorn Stockists details on page 70

Brummell • Travel

This page: The peaks of Rio de Janeiro, ‘the world’s most memorable skyline’. Opposite, from top: The Nitéroi Contemporary Art Museum, designed by Oscar Niemeyer; open-air gym on Copacabana (correspondent not pictured)

Brazil nut It may seem crazy to take a 14-hour flight to a city break but, with only a four-hour time difference, Rio really shows you all she can in a weekend

Words: Ian Belcher

Idiot. Total idiot. What was I thinking? It’s 4am and I’m wide-awake, listening to a discordant duet of thumping Atlantic surf and angry, gurgling guts. I have indigestion. Savage, seismic indigestion, the product of eating 20 courses – yes, 20 – of different barbecued meats. Six hours earlier, I had stepped onto the tarmac of Rio’s airport promising myself a gentle opening night. Ahead of me lay a long weekend in the most fashionable, ludicrously photogenic honeypot on earth, a destination basking in the beneficent spotlight of an impending World Cup and Olympic Games. ‘Pace yourself,’ I thought, hailing my taxi. ‘Keep your powder dry for fireworks on nights two and three.’ How did I pace myself? After a 14-hour flight with two onboard meals, I headed straight for Marius, the renowned beachfront churrascaria at Leme. Buoyed up on caipirinhas and bonhomie, I embarked on a reckless carnivorous binge: Wagyu beef, lamb and pork, of course, but also warthog, alligator and chicken heart. And it got worse. At some point after midnight, I announced my intention to work out at one of Copacabana’s open-air beach gyms; I would reveal my inner Brazilian. A fellow diner looked

me up and down. ‘You’d never make a Brazilian,’ he said tactfully. ‘Brazilians move sensuously. They spend their lives walking on hot sand.’ He was right, of course. And now I have stomach cramps. Nevertheless, at 6.30am, I stumble to the nearest exercise point, at Rua República do Peru, and stretch gingerly. After 40 sit-ups on a steeply sloping board, I pause, breathe deeply, and perform multiple bicep curls and 30 press-ups on two low beams. I’m on fire. A crowd of fellow gymnasts – teenage beach boys and lean middle-aged men – watch with what appears to be admiration. Nonchalantly mounting the parallel bars, I manage four dips before collapsing with quaking biceps. I switch to the pull-up frame to repeat the failure, before suspending myself from two hanging chains. I attempt one leg swing and surrender. ‘It’s good that you try,’ observes Napoleon, a magnificently preserved 65-year-old hairdresser. ‘But to lose your belly you must run. And eat less.’ Napoleon has accurately pinpointed my main physical flaw, but in Rio what matters is that you’re seen to give it a go. So I relocate 500m and join Copacabana’s ‘Point of Happiness’ pensioners’ exercise class: a squadron of Gucci sunglasses, coiffured hair and soft stretches. Nine

Jens Goerich/Gallerystock; Alamy

Travel • Brummell

thousand kilometres from home and I’ve touched my inner Englishman. Thankfully, I have the perfect hotel at which to nurse my dented ego and aching muscles. The Copacabana Palace, stuccoed grande dame and epicentre of Rio social life, has hosted most of the world’s A-list stars and statesman. Rod Stewart was ejected for converting his vast suite into a soccer pitch and Mick Jagger conceived his Brazilian love child within its elegant walls. If I can harness a smidgeon of the old boy’s energy, I might survive this trip. I slump by its pool, warmed by the Atlantic sun and refreshed by iced face towels. It’s divine, but lethargy guilt soon sets in. Mini-breaks have become increasingly exotic – Kenyan safaris, Arabian Gulf bling, Big Apple blowouts – but a long weekend in Rio seems particularly decadent. With minimal jet lag – just four hours’ time difference – I have no excuse for indolence. The clock is ticking. An hour later, I swap sand for the sanctity of the Baroque Sao Bento Monastery whose riot of gold leaf offers a true Catholic gilt trip, before rehydrating in the Centro district’s Art Nouveau Colombo coffee house. Warning: its Viradinho de

Brummell • Travel Alamy

From top: The cable car up to Sugarloaf Mountain; the Art Nouveau interior of Colombo coffee house

Ameixa fruit and cream croissant will not give you Copacabana buttocks. Nor will the ‘Truck Driver’s Rice’ at Mineiro, a white-tiled neighbourhood restaurant in Santa Teresa. It’s worth it, however, for the tram ride; draped with freeloading kids, the bonde grinds uphill past old mansions, tropical foliage and graffiti-splattered walls. We continue to climb in the afternoon, this time by cable car, scaling the distinctive wedge of Sugarloaf Mountain. It’s a view to jump-start a jaded heart: the white curl of Botafogo Bay, tumbling favelas, the Tijuca Carioca mountains and, directly ahead at the peak of Corcovado, the icon on the cake, the statue of Cristo Redentor. As vultures soar around us, and Cecil B deMille directs the sunset, a perfect red orb plummets towards the stone figure’s left hand. He’s either going to catch it or, this being Brazil, attempt an overhead volley. It’s the perfect aperitif for a Rio main course: samba. Amid a writhing throng at the Centro Cultural Carioca, I place my body and dignity in the sensuous hands of dance teacher Drika. She flows, I lollop. Carnival dancer Drika can simultaneously wiggle and lie. ‘That’s great,’ she chirps, vibrating like a humming bird. ‘You’re really feeling it.’ I’m not; I’m hopeless. But I don’t care. I’m in Rio and it’s totally intoxicating, a city break like no other. And just to prove it, I rise at 5.30am the next morning and head 90 minutes up the coast

A helicopter tour, trip to the Maracanã and bodysurfing at Ipanema. Then caipirinhas

to catch a ludicrously cute fishing boat to tropical Ilha Grande for a morning on surf-lashed, sun-bleached Lopes Mendes beach. A hike through fecund forested hills, followed by long, lazy moqueca (coconut seafood stew) lunch at thatched waterfront Cantinho da Donna Maria, and I return sun-kissed and exhausted to the Copacabana Palace. Saturday night in Rio and I’m out cold by 10pm. So much for those crazy bacchanalian fireworks. I may be dull but at least I’m fully recharged for the final day. A late-night return flight leaves a full Sunday: time for a stroll around the hip, grungy Lapa neighbourhood, a peek at the dramatic Niemeyer-designed Museum of Contemporary Arts (Rio’s becoming a global cultural hotspot) and a helicopter tour of Corcovado. Under a cyan sky, the aircraft buzzes five halos around Christ’s statue, an act of worship that is inadvisable for Christians with vertigo. Back at sea level, I bodysurf at Ipanema Beach, before heading to Maracanã Stadium – reopened after a World Cup brush-up – to watch Bahia play Fluminense. There’s ample time for one final sunset caipirinha, and a last lingering look at the planet’s most memorable skyline. After three days of intense primary colour, a taupe London Monday is calling. ● Steppes Travel (0845 0756 078; steppestravel.co.uk) offers three nights at the Copacabana Palace, including BA flights and helicopter tour from £1,895pp

hotel experience in Seychelles AN EXTRAORDINARY LOCATION, UNIQUE IN ITS BEAUTY Nestled on the northwest shore of the idyllic island of Praslin with the Indian Ocean lapping gently at the shores of its 3 perfect white sand beaches, the 5* deluxe Constance LĂŠmuria is at the heart of a luxury Seychelles experience.

Begin the U-experience: call (230) 402 2772/73 or visit us at www.constancehotels.com

Brummell • By George

Second to none Harrods’ Fine Watch Room continues to be the one-stop shop for horolophiles and timepiece voyeurs

Words: Henry Farrar-Hockley

If rare and exclusive timepieces make you tick, you will struggle to find a more select collection of Swiss mechanical excellence than at Harrods’ ground-floor Fine Watch Room. This 18,000 sq ft space houses Europe’s largest watch collection, with 13 own-brand boutiques (IWC, Panerai, Vacheron Constantin et al) encircling a trio of central counters that offer more esoteric manufactures, such as John Isaac Genève to Philip Stein. In total, there are 35 luxe watchmakers running the gamut from classic movements to contemporary complications and everything in between. There is perhaps no greater example of elegance in these hallowed environs than Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Ultra Thin Jubilee, the world’s slimmest manually wound mechanical watch. Measuring a mere 4.05mm, it’s a feat of horological sleight of hand, its perfect circle complemented by a purity of design that was inspired by the House’s ultra-thin 1907 pocket-watch, the LeCoultre Calibre 145. At the other end of the spectrum, Jacob & Co’s futuristic Ghost provides five time zones at once via a GPS-synced quartz movement, and features a concealed charging port for powering up via a PC. ‘It is this extensive and plentiful selection of brands that has established Harrods as a global leader in the retailing of haute horology since the Room’s inception in 2011,’ explains Jason Broderick, Harrods’ General Merchandise Manager for Fine Watches and Menswear. ‘Retail firsts, such as the recent showcase of independent watchmakers including Sarpaneva and MB&F further enhance the Fine Watch Room offer.’ It’s not just the sheer breadth of high-end timekeeping that draws aficionados; the Fine Watch Room also boasts exclusives – top-notch timepieces you’ll not see anywhere else. Take the Zenith El Primero Lightweight, a fusion of traditional

Slim tickings In contrast to the choice in Harrods’ Fine Watch Room, Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Master Ultra Thin Jubilee lacks depth

mechanics and bleeding-edge materials (carbonfibre and titanium) weighing just 40g. Limited to just 100 pieces worldwide, Harrods is the only retailer in the UK to list this novel take on the Swiss marque’s famous Striking Tenth Chronograph. It rightly occupies pride of place in an elegant glass display at the heart of the collection. Corum’s Golden Bridge Tourbillon Panoramique (available from December) is another model specific to Harrods in the UK. Visible from any angle, its translucent movement is equipped with a cantilevered tourbillon – the acme of watchmaking eccentricity – that appears to float within its signature gold tonneau-shaped casing. Maurice Lacroix’s Masterpiece Seconde Mystérieuse (exclusive to Harrods) features a skeleton design containing a new in-house movement, the ML215, and an extraordinary oversized seconds dial that displays the time in a floating arc of alternating horizontal and vertical sweeps. Then there’s Girard-Perragaux’s Constant Force (exclusive to Harrods, available from December), the only piece of its kind in the UK. It marks

a major milestone in horological engineering, transferring a consistent flow of energy from the mainspring to the balance wheel to ensure truly accurate timekeeping. The neighbouring Harrods Fine Jewellery department (accessed via a short corridor bedecked with Chanel timepieces glowing like maritime treasures) is set to double its floor space, with an additional 5,000 sq ft of precious jewels opening later this month. However, this dazzling space too features exceptional timepieces informed by their makers’ high-jewellery heritage, including unique examples by the likes of Dior, Hermès, Cartier and Piaget. The latter’s Limelight Gala Watch is the apex of haute jewellery and mechanical design, its feminine curves dressed in 18ct white gold and adorned with 62 brilliant-cut diamonds. Should this elegant configuration not sate your penchant for sparkling stones, fear not: an even more luxe iteration is available, comprising a dial pavéd with 228 brilliant-cut diamonds and a bracelet decorated with a dazzling further 451. It’s time to shine. ● harrods.com

Stockists Acqua di Parma acquadiparma.com Ball Watch Company ballwatch.com Bally bally.com Bell & Ross bellross.com Blancpain blancpain.com Breguet breguet.com Breitling breitling.com Bremont bremont.com Burberry burberry.com Caran D’Ache carandache.com Cartier cartier.co.uk Chanel chanel.com Chopard chopard.com Christopher Ward christopherward.co.uk Dior dior.com Ermenegildo Zegna zegna.com Girard-Perregaux girard-perregaux.com Graff graffdiamonds.com Harrods harrods.com Hardy Amies hardyamies.com Harvey Nichols harveynichols.com Hermès uk.hermes.com Hublot hublot.com IWC iwc.com J M Weston jmweston.com Jaeger-LeCoultre jaeger-lecoultre.com Krisvanassche krisvanassche.com Louis Vuitton louisvuitton.co.uk The Merchant Fox themerchantfox.co.uk Moncrief moncrieflondon.com Montblanc montblanc.com Montegrappa montegrappa.co.uk Omega omegawatches.com Panerai panerai.com Patek Philippe patek.com Parmigiani Fleurier parmigiani.ch Rado rado.com Raymond Weil raymond-weil.com Richard Mille richardmille.com Roger Dubuis rogerdubuis.com Rolex rolex.com Smythson smythson.com TAG Heuer tagheuer.co.uk Thom Browne thombrowne.com Turnbull & Asser turnbullandasser.com Vacheron Constantin vacheron-constantin.com The Watch Gallery thewatchgallery.com

hermĂ¨s. time reinvented.

arceau le temps suspendu forgetting time, just for a moment, before recapturing it again. one press on the pushbutton makes the hours and minutes vanish at will. meanwhile, the central second hand, unperturbed, pursues its ardent race against time. while the illusion works its magic, the movement continues to beat thanks to a complication exclusive to hermĂ¨s. another push is all it takes for time to resume its onward march .

Her mes.com

Bespoke prom otion • Brum mell

A woman’s eye for detail A touring exhibition of Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s works by female photographers reaches Ankara in Turkey, and proves (as if there were doubt) that women have always matched men behind the lens

Words: Amy Raphael

In an 1968 interview with Studs Terkel, Diane Arbus explained frankly how she got turned on to photography: ‘I hated painting and quit right after high school because I was continually told how terrific I was. I didn’t want to be told I was terrific. I had the sense that if I was so terrific at it, it wasn’t worth doing.’ The painting world’s loss was photography’s gain. Arbus, who was born in 1923 and committed suicide in 1971, went on from her abandonment of paint to be acknowledged as one of the greatest figures of American photography, fascinated by contemporary life and the human condition. She talked of working ‘from awkwardness’, yet her photos spoke of nothing but confidence and compassion.

in association with

She was a groundbreaker. When photography was invented in the late 1830s, it was the domain of men: women who pushed their way into the field had to be determined, ambitious and focused. Briton Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879) was the first woman photographer to be famous in her lifetime, thanks to her portraits of eminent Victorians – and she didn’t even receive her first camera until her 48th birthday. Even more impressively, Margaret Bourke-White (1904-1971) started a long and illustrious career by selling photos of the campus at Cornell University to fellow students. She went on to become the first foreign photographer to take pictures of Soviet industry, the first female war correspondent, the

first woman to fly on a bombing mission and the first female photographer for Life magazine. Her advice? ‘Saturate yourself with your subject and the camera will all but take you by the hand.’ The Eye Wonder exhibition at the Cer Modern museum in Ankara, Turkey, places the work of these and many other female photographers side by side. It’s an astonishing exhibition of emotionally engaged, assured images that leave you wanting to see and know more. Lillian Lambrechts, Bank of America’s senior curator, is pleased with this response: ‘The exhibition was first shown at the National Museum of Women in the Arts in Washington DC. It’s important to ensure that people understand the work of

those women who made the first inroads into photography and who helped push photography into the mainstream.’ Until around a decade ago, there was snobbery about photography from many in the fine-art world. Now, finally, it is embraced as ‘real art’. In 2011, Cindy Sherman’s ‘Untitled’, shot in 1981, sold for $3.89m – a record price not only for a female photographer, but for any photographer. ‘Photography has had a slow and very difficult road to get to the point where it is truly considered fine art,’ agrees Lambrechts. ‘Now it has far exceeded expectation. If people want to start collecting art, then I always suggest the most accessible and immediate is photography.’ It started to became easier for women to follow photography as a profession in the Thirties. ‘Life magazine had a strong emphasis on photojournalism,’ says Lambrechts. ‘It was important that BourkeWhite’s photo of the construction of Fort Peck Dam appeared on its first cover in 1936. Equally, I was very careful, when choosing images for the exhibition, not to be swayed by celebrity. Celebrity

in association with

Life magazine had a strong emphasis on photojournalism. It was important that it was a woman’s photo, Margaret Bourke-White’s, that appeared on its first cover in 1936

can all too easily outshine the true value of a piece. I don’t mean monetary value value - that’s for the auction houses to decide; I mean the value for each individual looking at it.’ Another photographer who took important pictures, and ones that were certainly imbued with that value, was Ruth Orkin. She started taking photos in 1928 at the tender age of seven, on a 39¢ Univex. At 17, she cycled from Los Angeles to New York to attend the 1939 World’s Fair. At 29, she travelled alone to Italy, met a fellow lone female traveller and took a photo of her being admired by Italian men in the heart of Florence. The photo, ‘American Girl in Italy’, became one of the most widely known photographs ever taken. As a member of New York’s Photo League – founded in the city in 1936 – Orkin was dedicated to urban social imagery as much as to the glamour of images like ‘American Girl in Italy’. ‘I’ve come to admire the women of the Photo League,’ says Lambrechts. ‘It started as a social movement and became a real connection point with the poverty in the city. Orkin would capture what she saw in

Bespoke prom otion • Brum mell

Industrial, light, magic Page 7, from left: ‘Automat, 977 Eighth Avenue’ by Berenice Abbott (1936) © Berenice Abbott/ Commerce Graphics, Courtesy Howard Greenberg Gallery, New York; ‘Streetcar Conductor: Moscow’ by Margaret Bourke-White (c 1931) © Estate of Margaret Bourke-White /Licensed by VAGA, New York, NY. Opposite: ‘No. 1 Gas Holder, London - Finchley, England, 1975’ by Bernd & Hilla Becher © Sonnabend Gallery, New York. This page: ‘Sandstorm, Greenwich Village, New York City’ by Ruth Orkin (1949) © Ruth Orkin Photo Archive

the poorer parts of New York with such heartfelt emotion. I personally think it’s hard not to connect with her images, but then everyone who looks at a photograph takes so much of their personal experience into account.’ What is so clever about the Eye Wonder exhibition is the variety of images. Together, they offer an insight into the developing, industrial world, to global wars and suffering. They also celebrate life as captured in a particular moment by a photographer hoping to explain the world through her lens. There are the masculine, industrial photos taken by the husband-and-wife team of Bernd and Hilla Becher and the aching nostalgia of black and white images such as ‘Middle West Side: Automat’ by Berenice Abbott, who worked for a while with the surrealist photographer Man Ray. Rather wisely, Lambrechts has offered full freedom in installation and design to the Cer Modern museum. Each country, after all, sees photographs through its own prism of history and cultural life. ‘Museums have their own curators

and exhibition design experts,’ says Lambrechts. ‘It would move against the freedom and the importance of the show to always have the photographs hanging in a certain way. Although Bank of America provides the collateral – the brochures, posters and biographies of the artists – we shall be leaving the translation up to the Turkish curators. If you’ve ever experimented with Google Translate, you’ll know why!’ In one respect it’s a shame that women are still deserving of their own collective exhibitions, but in another, theirs is a history that is still too often overlooked. ‘I think character comes into it,’ explains Lambrechts. ‘Margaret Bourke-White was such a strong character. She could have achieved anything. She had some luck in what she did, but she was also very assertive and courageous. Sometimes we forget these aren’t male or female qualities. They are human qualities.’ l Eye Wonder:Women Photographers in the Bank of America Collection is at the Cer Modern museum in Ankara, Turkey in November 2013