Brummell December 2012

december 2012

the little black book for the city

Stellar style stars of the season’s accessories & jewellery / aurora borealis adventures watches with racing pedigree / the world’s best car rally / luxury ski chalets

Breguet, the innovator.

Invention of the Tourbillon , 1801

The Classique Grande Complication Tourbillon 5317 provides the perfect setting for Breguet’s most spectacular invention and undeniably the most beautiful of all horological complications, developed over 210 years ago to compensate for the effects of gravity. On the back, the “B-shaped” oscillating weight reveals the beauty of the meticulously hand-engraved movement. History is still being written...

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List of Boutiques available on www.chanel.com

welcome leTTeR | BRUmmell 07

Top noTch Belts by Brioni, Alexander McQueen, Aspinal of London, Hermès, Hardy Amies and Paul Smith

The art of giving

W

elcome to the December edition of Brummell. This issue revels in indolent indulgence – commissioning bespoke footwear; or renting that extraordinary ski chalet; thinking about putting your name down for the highly recommended new Range Rover, out early next year; or considering diamonds as an interesting direction for a personal investment portfolio.

But we also take a short stroll down the path of philanthropy. Columnist David Charters describes how grand strategies and lucrative deals may seem massively important, but asks if they will be indicators of a life lived well?

He suggests that, as smart City individuals, applying work skills to help mobilise talent and capital and create solutions to problems outside the square mile will ensure an enduring impact.

If that seems a big step, make a start with your nearest and dearest in this season of giving and take some inspiration from Brummell’s pages – then look to the greater good.

Joanne Glasbey, Editor

Villeret Collection Complete Calendar Half-Hunter Patented under-lugs correctors Secured calendar and moon-phases mechanism

Ref. 6664-3642-55B

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hermès. time in movement

dressage la montre hermès tames time so as to master its measurement. at the heart of the dressage model ticks the steady beat of the manufacture h1837 mechanical movement. from development through to the final adjustments, and from the making of each part to their finishing by hand, la montre hermès dedicates elegance and fine craftsmanship to the service of precision.

Her mes.com

CONTENTS | BRUMMELL

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Cover illustration

by Brett Ryder 50

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Show Media Brummell editorial 020 3222 0101 Editor Joanne Glasbey Art Director Dominic Bell Chief Copy Editor Chris Madigan Managing Editor Lucy Teasdale Picture Editor Juliette Hedoin Designer Jo Murray Editorial Assistant Charlie Teasdale Copy Editor Cate Langmuir Style Director Tamara Fulton Creative Director Ian Pendleton Managing Director Peter Howarth Advertising & Events Director Duncan McRae duncan@flyingcoloursmarketing.com 07816 218059 showmedia.net brummell@showmedia.net

ANDY BARTER; DouG MCKINLAY

Visit Brummell’s website for more tailor-made content:

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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 liabillity regarding offers.

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brummellmagazine.net Colour reproduction by Fresh Media Group, groupfmg.com Printed by The Manson Group, manson-grp.co.uk

Foreword Giving back is as important as making the deal, says David Charters Money No Object The latest masterpiece of marine design from iconic Italian boatbuilders Riva Yachts

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News High-end audio; a beautiful backgammon set; a designer bicycle; aged malt whisky Footwear JM Weston shoes – French, bespoke and the choice of many a Monsieur le Président Motoring Sports car, off-roader, limousine… the new Range Rover is many cars in one Suiting The new generation of tailors offering an alternative to the bespoke establishment Ski chalets The mountain retreats that are offering summit special this season After The City The woman who gave up City horsetrading to set up an equestrian investment venture

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Motoring watches Performance cars and timepieces have always had a close relationship, but in these watches it is a perfectly realised association Diamonds The romance – and economics – of collecting the rarest and most impressive of gems Northern Lights In a winter when the Aurora Borealis is showing off more than usual, northern Sweden is the place to catch the display Jewellery Cuffs in all types of gold are the star of the show this party season, whether they’re embellished or sculptural Mille Miglia Taking to the most scenic roads of Italy in a Thirties Bentley, as part of the world’s greatest vintage car rally Accessories Indulge yourself – or your nearest and dearest – with choice adornments

By George The story of jeweller Harry Winston, the originator of red-carpet Hollywood glamour

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foreword | BrUMMeLL

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Marking time The finer things in life don’t always come in the shape of a flashy sports car or a ski chalet. As David Charters suggests, there are more worthwhile ways of making your mark on society Illustration Brett Ryder How do you want to be remembered? If you had the chance to write your own obituary today, what would it say?

It is an interesting exercise and a way to remind yourself what matters. If you work in the City it is easy to become so absorbed in the most demanding of careers that you rarely pause for thought. Pushing the next big M & A deal over the finishing line, keeping that place at the top of the Equity Capital Market league tables for the third year running, beating Goldman Sachs to that restructuring mandate… It might all seem massively important today, worthy of almost any sacrifice, yet how will it seem when (if) you celebrate your 90th birthday and look back on a life you hope has been well lived?

At the start of my career in the City – this will give away my age – a senior colleague told me that today’s headlines are tomorrow’s fish-and-chip paper. We are no longer allowed to eat fish and chips wrapped up in newspaper but the point remains valid. On your deathbed, your grieving friends and family will not be thinking wistfully of the collection of Lucite blocks – tombstones – commemorating deals for long-forgotten companies.

It would be nice for us all to look back and think we got the basics right – that we were good husbands or wives, parents, neighbours and citizens; that we embodied the virtues of hard work, diligence, honesty and compassion.

But investment banking is not really like that.

The hours, the pressure, the competition, the politics, the sudden-death ends to promising careers as the industry goes through one of its periodic restructurings, the rollercoaster of failure and success in the high-stakes room in life’s casino, all tend to get in the way of the basic virtues.

Which is not to say there are no good people in the City – there are huge numbers of them.

But much of the time these good people are chained to the treadmill and many devote all of their formidable talent and energy to making this year’s numbers, when it should be going into getting this lifetime right.

Pioneering a new super-fast mean reversion trading strategy in the FX markets that raises divisional revenues by 20 per cent in what would otherwise have been a down year might seem like a great coup now, but in ten years time it won’t even be a footnote.

It is time we memorialised ourselves.

Luckily, we are singularly well equipped to do so. At a time of economic hardship, we are still among the most well-heeled people on the planet. And we are not just rich but smart, too.

We can analyse problems, test solutions, innovate and adapt when we get push-back, and we are used to overcoming obstacles.

We expect to win.

So in the face of some of society’s biggest issues, a failing system of education, say, which the government alone cannot fix, we can get off our backsides, mobilise talent and capital and create academy schools that will provide the solution. And yes, if we want, we can name schools after ourselves or whatever group we form to put our benevolence into practice. Is it all about ego? It shouldn’t

Many good people in the City devote all their talent and energy to making numbers, rather than getting this lifetime right

be but if that is what it takes to achieve the outcomes society needs, then even a cynic like me will bite his tongue.

A new school, or a clinic in a developing nation, or a coral reef turned into a marine park are all more impressive than a chalet in Verbier – anyone with a chequebook can have one of those, whereas the other things require effort, application and intelligence, as well as virtue.

And with the proper structures in place they can last forever. Endow a new lab or library at your old university and a part of you will live forever. Buy a painting for the nation and your name will be attached to something finer and nobler than you could ever have created. Set up a scholarship scheme and you provide for the development of generations of talent that will far exceed your own.

The best route of all, rather than giving alone, is to mobilise others to do so, or even to create an entity combining a social purpose with a commercial base that will sustain itself and expand in the future without you.

And this stuff is fun. It teaches your children things that they might struggle to learn from you at work. It makes a statement about values and objectives, that life is about more than the Ferrari in the drive.

Furthermore, if a few more of us became involved in such initiatives, the City might have a better name at a time when it needs an image makeover and a lot more friends. But, most of all, we would have the reassurance that our impact extended beyond the obvious material objects in our lives. Last but not least, our obituaries would be far more inspiring.

The Ego’s Nest by David Charters, the fifth novel in the series about City anti-hero Dave Hart, is published by Elliott & Thompson, priced £6.99

BRUMMELL

‘Well, nobody’s perfect,’ says millionaire Osgood Fielding III, at the helm of his Riva launch, when his fiancée ‘Daphne’ reveals herself to be Jack Lemmon at the end of Some Like It Hot. Perhaps nobody is perfect, but some design comes close.

Riva celebrated its 170th anniversary this year – and 60 years since it launched its quintessential model, the Aquarama. However, the company is not living in the past. From its boatyard on Lago d’Iseo, between Como and Garda, it launches at least one new design a year. The latest is the 63ft Virtus, its largest-ever open speedboat. While wooden hulls have given way to fibreglass, there is much teak to be caressed on the typically wide foredeck, as well as the cockpit, and the lines remain sleek and low-profile, even on such a large vessel with a main cabin, galley and six berths below deck. The Virtus offers sporty thrills (its twin V12s take you to 40.5 knots) but settles into an extremely smooth ride at its 35kn cruising speed, with a range of 250 nautical miles. So touring the Med (or English Riviera) is feasible.

If you need more space, wait for Riva’s largestever yacht, the 122ft Mythos, launched in 2013.

Riva Virtus, from €2.2 million; riva-yacht.com

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MONEY NO OBJECT The impeccable Italian style of Riva boats continues in its latest model, the 63ft Virtus Words Chris Madigan

Paradise Found Petite Anse Bay, on the south west coast of Mahe, is the location for one of the world’s finest and most exclusive beaches. The three - to six - bedroom freehold Four Seasons Private Residences nestle amid secluded plots averaging one hectare.

Each villa is uniquely designed by the internationally acclaimed architect Cheong Yew Kuan to harmonise with the dramatic granite landscape and panoramic ocean views.

Owners can take advantage of the Concierge Service and the extensive facilities at the renowned Four Seasons Resort Seychelles set in the middle of the 70 hectare estate.

Prices from US$7,250,000 LONDON: +44 20 8166 8122 sales@petiteansedevelopments.com www.petiteansedevelopments.com Four Seasons Private Residences Seychelles are not owned, developed or sold by Four Seasons Hotels Limited or its affiliates (Four Seasons). The developer, Petite Anse Developments Ltd., uses the Four Seasons trademarks and tradenames under a license from Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific Pte Ltd. The marks “FOUR SEASONS”, “FOUR SEASONS HOTELS AND RESORTS,” any combination thereof and the Tree Design are registered trademarks of Four Seasons Hotels Limited in Canada and U.S.A. and of Four Seasons Hotels (Barbados) Ltd. elsewhere.

NEWS | bEAumoNdE

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Audio enticement, beautiful backgammon and a gorgeous new bike

Fresh air for audio ↑ If high-end audio is to entice music lovers away from cheap swill (some might point to ‘iPod docks’) and back into serious components, traditional manufacturers have to learn about non-geek sex appeal. Enter UK maker Roksan’s new Oxygene line. The integrated amplifier and CD player are housed in sleek, single-piece casting cases with the same 12in x 12in dimensions as an LP sleeve, and only a mere 2.3in thick. Cool functions include soft-touch commands, such as running one’s fingers across the surface to change the volume; a Bluetooth connection; and an alphanumeric display peeping through the perforations.

Amplifier priced at £3,000 and CD player at £2,500; roksan.co.uk Going dutch ↑ Cycling is more popular now than it’s ever been, and it’s time to join the race. But what sort of cyclist do you want to be? Suit jacket in a backpack, riding a hybrid? Full lycra on a £5,000 titanium racing frame? Regardless of cycling style, Vanhulsteijn Bicycles has just made the rigmarole of choosing a new bike much easier. The Dutch company creates innovative bikes that not only look great, but ride like a dream. From single to 11-speed, each bike is hand-built to perfectly fit the dimensions of the rider, and its latest creation is the stunning ‘Cyclone’. The curve running from saddle to back wheel gives the impression the rider is floating on air, which they are in a way because the unique design and high-quality materials allow for a fast, smooth ride. You’ll be looking for any excuse to hop on your bike, because it means you get to ride a work of art.

From €1,400; vanhulsteijn.com

Briny, deep Continuing the trend for limitededition, super-aged single malts, Old Pulteney has finally released its 40 Year Old. Established in 1826, the distillery in Wick is the most northerly in mainland Scotland.

Following on from the awardwinning 21 Year Old, the 40 Year Old carries an intriguing array of tasting notes, including the briny characteristic created by all the sea air whipping around the distillery.

What’s more, it comes in a handblown azure bottle, making it as epic on the outside as it is on the tongue. £1,500; oldpulteney.com

burgundy in your pocket ↑ With 100 appellations and more than 3,000 producers, France’s Burgundy region can seem overwhelming. But thanks to Berry Bros. & Rudd, Jasper Morris’ acclaimed book Inside Burgundy: The Côte de Beaune has been turned into an interactive eBook for iPad and iPad Mini, to be rereleased every autumn. It has all the details on the region’s vineyards, grapes, growers and vintages you need. Inside Burgundy: The Côte de Beaune, £14.99; bbr-press.com

20 beAumonde | neWS

Face facts ↑ For €980, some might argue, you could buy an actual watch, but that’s the price just for a book about one. But when the subject is one of the most coveted timepieces in the world, enthusiasts are unlikely to blink at the cost. The 2,000-edition Rolex Daytona Story is authored by two of the greatest authorities on the subject, Osvaldo Patrizzi and Guido Mondani, and this duallanguage book (English and Italian, of course), measuring 310mm x 410mm, its 276 pages covering every detail a connoisseur could want. €980; mondanionline.com

Keep your head up The alpine experience enters the realms of sci-fi with the world’s first graphic information display for goggles, from Recon Instruments.

The groundbreaking Micro Optics Display (MOD) delivers crisp data crucial to your journey around the mountain directly onto your Reconready goggles, where the MOD Live sits unobtrusively inside the frame.

Using built-in GPS and a suite of sensors, speed, vertical descent, airtime, navigation, temperature and distance statistics are delivered via a micro-LCD widescreen that doesn’t impair your view. When synchronised with a smartphone, you can see calls and texts, and its playlist mode offers a soundtrack to your adventures. Around £250; reconinstruments.com

A beautiful game ↑ Created from wood used to replicate the sound and feel of original Middle Eastern backgammon boards, Alexandra Llewellyn’s visually stunning designs feature fine geometry and beautiful hand crafted pieces. Graphics available range from ‘peacock’ or ‘pheasant’ on walnut, ‘palm’ on natural laurel burr and ‘black and white feathers’ on maple. It’s also worth noting that Alexandra takes one-off commissions for game tables and boards, so if you really want to push the boat out this season, have a think about that bespoke poker table you’ve always wanted. £2,100; alexandralldesign.com

Loud and clear ↑ Wilson Audio has squeezed all the virtues of its Alexandria XLF speakers into the new Alexia loudspeakers, at roughly 25 per cent of the cost. Alexia is a more compact version, at a height of 1.35mm tall, 387mm wide and 537mm deep. And as with other Wilson models, you can specify just about any colour you like, from eye-searing Lamborghini orange or yellow, to subdued metallic hues such as titanium. But don’t try to install them yourself – they weigh 116kg apiece. £48,000; absolutesounds.com

22 beAumonde | FooTWeAR

bench mARk Clockwise from left: Look from the Eton collection 2012; Wingtip Derby, £585; Moccasin, £555; Buckle Derby, £590, all from the new collection

Gallic tread Meet the French designer shaking up the luxury shoe trade with his contemporary take on handmade classics

If François Hollande is to follow tradition as French president, then he will soon be paying a visit to JM Weston. Giscard d’Estaing, Chirac, Mitterand and Sarkozy all went there to be shod.

For, despite its rather Anglo name, JM Weston, which recently opened on London’s Jermyn Street, is a French footwear institution – the Gallic answer to John Lobb, perhaps.

The company was established in 1891 by Édouard Blanchard in Limoges, then, in 1922, his son Eugène registered the JM Weston name, with business partner Jean Viard – in homage to Weston, USA, where Blanchard Jr learned Goodyear welting – and the brand was born. By the Sixties it was part of the fabric of Parisian style, the so-called ‘Bande du Drugstore’ hipsters adopting its moccasin as a signature look and, in 1974, was bought by Jean-Louis Descours, putting it on the global expansion path.

But arguably, while certain of its styles have become minor classics – its Hunt Derby or its calfskin Chelsea boot, for example – it was with the appointment of Michel Perry as artistic director 10 years ago that JM Weston stepped into the limelight. Perry, aka ‘King of the High Heel’, is the shoe designer who made stilettos quirky with his own label, launched in 1987.

‘Although I design men’s shoes for JM Weston I still make shoes for women – it’s the best way to get close to them,’ says the cheeky 60-year-old. ‘You can seduce a woman by having a sense of humour or by making shoes.

And I’m no comic. It’s the heels, you see – they put a woman on a pedestal…’

With JM Weston, Perry has given what are essentially traditional styles a more avant-garde gloss. Its new Eton collection, for example, with its Oxford, loafer and buckled Derby styles, is nothing to scare the horses, but has some je ne sais quoi in the sweeping lines that makes it distinctly Gallic. While last year, JM Weston inaugurated a corporate foundation to maintain artisanal shoemaking skills, Perry also had the company team up with the likes of Maison Kitsuné to devise a capsule collection, and with artist André Saraiva to make a short film on shoes. In other words, he’s taking some of the stuffing out of the venerably traditional to find something more of its own style.

‘Your own style should show who you really are, rather than adhere to convention,’ Perry reflects. ‘You can express rebellion with society while being respectful. Punks can be charming.

Style is important. It’s a way of seducing people – and we all need to seduce people every day.’

It may be a point of debate whether men’s shoes do for women what women’s shoes can do for men: for women, men’s shoes seem to be more indicators of hygiene and upstandingness.

But Perry is all for extending your chances. The collection now includes casual styles – a suede Derby on a rubber sole, for example, or a suede trainer/shoe hybrid – and attaché cases, briefcases and more approachable satchels.

Expect ‘man of the people’ Hollande to be carrying one of those soon, too.

60 Jermyn Street, London SW1; jmweston.com Words Josh Sims

24 beaumonde | motoring

generational shift The new Range Rover, which will be on the road in spring 2013; the original 1970 model

Free Range Well, not free exactly, but the new Range Rover’s versatility does give its owner a huge sense of liberty on and off the road If self-imposed austerity measures are preventing you from contemplating the purchase of a new car costing £70,000-plus, a drive in the new Range Rover might well induce a rethink – because it should be easy to justify such a sum for a vehicle that, even before it’s hit the street, is already being hailed as possibly the best all-round car ever made.

How so? Because it offers the performance of a sports car, the comfort of a super-saloon, the tranquility of a Rolls-Royce, the load-carrying ability of a van and (if you choose the right engine option) the sort of fuel economy that previousgeneration Range Rover owners could only have dreamed of. Oh, and there’s also its useful ability to wade through three feet of water, keep on going when the road runs out and pull large objects behind it without breaking sweat.

Some of these traits have already helped the Range Rover attain the legendary status it has enjoyed since the original’s launch in the summer of 1970. But this latest version, the fourth generation of the breed and the first all-new model for a decade, broaches entirely new levels of driveability, practicality and refinement.

The key to its brilliance – and it is brilliant – lies in the fact that it’s a whopping 39 per cent lighter than the outgoing model thanks to the use of the world’s first, all-aluminium monocoque to be seen on an SUV.

Simply shedding such a vast amount of weight has resulted in significant benefits in acceleration, fuel economy, handling and aerodynamics. In the longer term, it should make the car cheaper to maintain (less wear on such things as brakes and tyres) and will help to reduce CO2 emissions over its lifespan.

While the new body is both lower and longer than that of the old car, it is unmistakably that of a Range Rover descended directly from the muchloved original penned by the late Charles Spencer King more than 40 years ago. Land Rover chief designer Gerry McGovern and his team have fulfilled the decidedly tricky challenge posed by the car’s international fan base to ‘make it better without changing it’.

It has changed, of course, and changed a lot. It’s better looking, for a start, and the extra length makes for extra comfort and wider doors for easier access. The interior’s had an extreme makeover, too, with a touch-screen infotainment panel absorbing much of the switchgear to leave a cleaner, sleeker dashboard, while the rear passenger area can be specified in an executive configuration which replaces the third, middle seat with a centre console.

More agricultural types, however, will want to fold the back seats down and make use of the ensuing cavernous load space – farmers could get a couple of ewes in there, no problem.

Only from behind the wheel do you get to discover what a true revelation this car really is. With the most powerful engine option – a monster, supercharged, five-litre V8 – the new Range Rover will sprint from a standstill to 60mph in less than six seconds and top-out at 155mph.

There are also non-supercharged petrol and diesel V8s, plus a frugal three-litre V6 which is claimed to be capable of returning more than 40mpg.

On the road, any of the above translate into an effortless gentleman’s express with a limolike ride, which makes the Range Rover’s remarkable off-road ability seem all the more implausible. The electronic Terrain Response System introduced on the old model (a knurled knob which can be toggled between a variety of different settings from ‘snow and ice’ to ‘mud and ruts’ and ‘rock crawl’) is now even more sophisticated thanks to an ‘auto’ mode which leaves the car to do the thinking for you.

And, judging from the way it performed on dirt tracks, sand dunes, river beds and boulder trails during the launch in Morocco, it enables the thing to go just about anywhere.

So think again: around £70,000 for a sports car, limousine, load lugger, rolling drawing room and mountain goat ? That’s too good a deal to miss.

From £71,295; landrover.com Words Simon de Burton

tailoring | beaumonde 27

Modern cuts

next generation From top: Alexander McQueen; A Sauvage; Spencer Hart; Rake STOCKISTS DETAILS ON PAGE 66

A new crop of tailors combines contemporary flair and Savile Row precision to give British tailoring an edgier look If being long-established is considered a benchmark of quality, might you be dissuaded from visiting a tailor established in 2002, or even in the vintage year that was 2012? It is certainly a long way from the venerability suggested by, say, Gieves & Hawkes (1771) or Davies & Son (1803).

‘I think there is a change in attitudes towards tailoring, especially among younger consumers,’ argues Clive Darby, formerly of Kilgour (1882), now of bespoke tailors and menswear brand Rake (2009). ‘Time was, a man traditionally went to the same tailor as his father. But now men are more educated about clothing and ready to branch out and have their own requirements met as they see fit. There is a shift happening: the older houses tend to have a set cut and a set idea of what they’re doing.

But there’s growing recognition that bespoke should be led more by the consumer, as in, what’s best for the person wearing the suit?’

Indeed, a growing band of (relatively speaking) young tailors are offering a more contemporary alternative to Savile Row’s big guns; it is, as it were, going Tommy Nutter (the tailor who shook up bespoke practices in the Seventies). Rake, for example, is making a name for itself online and at Matches, with tailored separates, still something of a radical idea in British formal dressing. Spencer Hart, at 62-64 Brook Street, has its minimalist, jazz aesthetic. Adrien Sauvage is a stylist-turnedmenswear designer who has recently opened premises as A Sauvage, at 48 Maddox Street in Mayfair, to showcase his super-streamlined, slightly shrunken look. And, similarly, Alexander McQueen now has its first menswear store, at 9 Savile Row, with a bespoke service that will see suiting carry the late designer’s signature pagoda shoulders that exaggerate the classic masculine V-shaped torso, giving the look a touch of Ming the Merciless.

In other words, the options for straying off tailoring’s beaten track towards a style that is, as they say in fashion, more ‘directional’, less Downton Abbey, are growing in number. ‘It has long been an issue with Savile Row, and younger tailors are now addressing it,’ says Nick Hart, founder of Spencer Hart. ‘With the long-established names in tailoring, you get

a garment that is beautiful, well-made and will last, but it can also be a bit “costume drama”. If modernity is what you’re after, that look doesn’t have much to do with the world we live in.’

Hart goes further. He suggests, as does Darby, that many ‘old-school’ tailors suffer from a lack of flexibility. They have a house style and shoulder shape, which they apply ceaselessly.

‘It’s bespoke so, of course, the resulting suit will fit perfectly,’ says Hart. ‘But that doesn’t mean it will look good.’ Younger operations, he counters, take a different tack: a distinctive over-arching aesthetic, but with multiple shoulder fits to get whatever works best for the customer, be that a softening cardigan-type fit for the bigger man, or a more rigorous line for the man who needs building up. It’s no longer a case of ‘one mode suits all’.

There is good reason why this younger group of tailors is offering something a little different. Many come from a menswear rather than a strict tailoring background, ‘so we’ve seen a lot of takes on the way men dress, the seasonal changes, its shifts and different demands,’ explains Hart, ‘and that makes you concentrate on fulfilling how an overall design idea, including the trims and the fit, all comes together. In contrast, traditional tailors tend to be trained in a particular way for a particular house and that can be hard to break free of.’

It’s a matter of opinion, perhaps. The only sure way to find out is to experience it for yourself, next time a suit is required, and you must ponder options from companies with their roots and their thinking in the 18th century or those with their minds on the 21st.

Words Josh Sims

28 beAumonde | skiing

ChALet peArLs From top: La Folie Blanche’s squash court; the vaulted ceilings of Chalet San Lorenzo; Pook Heli Lodges; a room in Chalet Edelweiss

La Folie blanche, Courchevel Le praz Gleaming white interior, including the most unusual room in the building: a squash court.

Also, unusually, the ‘Freedom to Choose’ option means you’re not committed financially or gastrically to a five-course meal every night.

Sleeps eight; from €4,900 a week (excluding food and drink); alpleisure.com pook heli Lodges, sainte Foy The lodges (sleeping six, 14 or 21) are in a small village in the valley between Bourg St Maurice and Val d’Isère-Tignes, and near Sainte Foy and La Rosière, and have a field in front on which choppers can land. So, uniquely, these are Canadian-style heli lodges in France.

Sleep six upwards; from £8970 upwards a week, or £2500pp as a heliski package; valheliski.com

Room at the top Most chalets look similar from the outside – but the best have surprises hidden inside. Would you prefer a nightclub, a squash court or a slide to the cellar Champagne, concierge, chauffeur, canapés, chef – sometimes it’s hard to see the good for the ‘C’s when it comes to choosing a high-end, high-service mountain rental. And with many mainstream operators touting, if you will, ‘lacksury’ (substituting lumpfish roe for caviar, Espaces for Mercs etc), it’s hard to spot a real alpine star.

Some of the latest chalets, however, really stand out, with unique features…

Chamois Lodge, st martin de belleville The location of this boutique chalet, run by its owner in the unfashionable but beautiful third of the Trois Vallées, means a price tag that simply wouldn’t get you the same space, comfort, service or quality in Méribel or Courchevel.

Sleeps nine; from £5,212 a week; thealpineclub.co.uk

grande Corniche, Les gets Off-the-beaten track location (in the Portes du Soleil) and off-kilter design (a glass sauna with views of the valley; a dining table that, when you flip a switch, becomes a snooker table; and a slide from bar to wine cellar).

Sleeps 12; from £14,500 a week; consensioholidays.co.uk Chalet san Lorenzo, dolomites A chalet in Italy (with skiing nearby in the Sella Ronda) is rare enough; one with a helipad and a private 18-hole floodlit golf course that’s open all winter is unique. This 16th-century bishop’s hunting lodge has been restored by former Escada fashion house CEO Stefano Barbini.

Sleeps 10; from €21,000 a week; sanlorenzomountainlodge.com Chalet marco polo, Val d’isère (Consensio) A resident spa manager runs a pampering centre that spreads across two floors of the chalet, with massage and beauty treatments, hammam, hot tub and sizeable swimming pool more akin to a hotel’s.

Sleeps 14; from £22,500 a week; consensioholidays.co.uk White pearl, Zermatt (oxford ski) The first private chalet in the exclusive Swiss resort with its own indoor swimming pool. There’s also a cinema, games room and separate bar.

Sleeps 10; from CHF37,000 a week; oxfordski.com Chalet edelweiss, Courchevel 1850 Less of a chalet than a winter palace: designed

by Baccarat, with a seven-floor spiral staircase, it has its own nightclub (and the ability to hire big-name DJs). For quieter evenings, there is also a cinema and library.

Sleeps 16; from £159,520 a week; summitretreats.com

Classic Fusion Skeleton Tourbillon.

Tourbillon movement, extra-thin skeleton manufactured in-house by Hublot.

Case in 18K red gold, crafted using a unique new alloy: King Gold. Sapphire dial.

Black rubber and alligator-skin strap.

Limited edition of 99 pieces.

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

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AFTER THE CITY | BRUMMELL

31

Showjumping is undergoing something of a resurgence and is now a vibrant industry, rather like racing was 30 years ago

Horse power Caroline Wilks traded in a career in banking to set up an equestrian investment venture that’s already paying dividends Words Eloise Napier Photography Ivan Jones

Like many inspired ideas, IN Showjumpers was conceived around a kitchen table over a good bottle of wine. The format is simple – talent-spot young horses with the potential to compete at the very highest level, buy them untrained, bring them on and then sell at a substantial profit.

For founder Caroline Wilks it turns out to be the perfect way to combine a lifelong passion for horses with the financial acumen garnered from 15 years in banking, with Royal Bank of Canada and Bank of Bermuda.

‘Showjumping is undergoing something of a resurgence,’ says Wilks. ‘It’s now a vibrant industry, rather like racing was 30 years ago.’

Emerging nations are galloping into the sport, investing heavily in European expertise.

The Saudis are said to have spent more than £25m on showjumpers alone in the run up to the Olympics; the Ukrainians have recently spent up to £19m on jumpers and the Chinese are known to be investing heavily, too.

It helps that the sport’s glamour factor is also in the ascendancy, pursued by celebrities such as Bruce Springsteen’s daughter, Jessica, who spent a small fortune buying one of Team GB’s gold-medal winning horses, Murka’s Vindicat W. But if you can buy a horse for less than £1m, then sell it three years later for £5m, as the owners of top UK showjumper Carlo 273 have, why isn’t everyone doing it?

‘Most of the top competitors don’t have the capital to buy the best young horses,’ explains Wilks. ‘Even if they do, weekly expenses can be £200 or more so there is often a lack of cash to keep the horse and bring it on. And up until now there has been no way for anyone other than industry insiders and well-informed enthusiasts to provide third-party investment.’

Wilks’ son Tim, an aspiring showjumper, trains with top professional Duncan Inglis, and it was while chatting with Inglis and his business partner, gold-medal winning Olympic trainer Henk Nooren, that she saw a gap in the market.

‘I introduced the idea of opening up a fund so that Duncan and Henk could fully develop their programme to bring on young horses.’

They set up IN Showjumpers in 2010 with the aim of finding horses aged from six to nine and costing between £150,000 and £600,000.

With their first round of funding, they purchased and brought on eight horses. Four have been sold, with an average return of 82 per cent after expenses; two more sales are imminent.

As Wilks puts it: ‘It’s so much better value than being tied up in a racehorse syndicate.’

There is also less risk involved than with racehorses. Showjumpers don’t compete at the same speeds and tend to jump on even, man-made surfaces, which means less jarring on the legs. However, to safeguard its investments, each animal it buys is insured.

The scheme has been given Enterprise Investment Scheme pre-approval and in partnership with RAM Capital Partners, Wilks has initiated a campaign to raise the next round of funding – the target being £3.5m.

Although not involved in identifying horses to buy – that is left to Inglis and Nooren – Wilks is hands-on in almost every other area of the business, including registering the horses, overseeing purchases and sales, and paying farriers’ bills. Her private client experience, as well as her tax expertise, have left her well equipped to handle the corporate aspects of the enterprise. She even rides the horses every now and again: ‘It means I know the business inside out,’ she says, adding sagely, ‘but no jumping – I don’t leave the ground any more!’ inshowjumpers.com

Motor wrists Performance cars have much in common with the best watches: engineering excellence combined with aesthetic grace. Here the two worlds come together words Simon de Burton Photography Andy Barter

watches | BRUMMeLL 33

dRive tiMe Clockwise, from far left: GMT, Bell for BMW; GTo 1962 Bizzarrini edition, ScAlfAro; f1 King Power Great Britain, HuBloT; Monaco calibre 12, TAG Heuer; AMVoX7, JAeGer-lecoulTre; Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, cHoPArd Hand-stitched Bridge of Weir luxmill leather car seat from the one-77, in a limited edition of 77, ÂŁ1.2 million, ASTon MArTin; astonmartin.com

34 BRUMMELL | WATCHES

Ball For BMW GMT BMW has linked up with the Ball Watch Company, which takes its name from Webb C Ball, who devised the first universal timing system for America’s railroads following the infamous Kipton disaster of 1891, when two locomotives collided. Ball’s initial efforts for BMW are a time and date watch, a power-reserve model and this GMT version with an additional time zone display. Highlights in BMW ‘Inka orange’ give the piece a sporty look, and the 42mm steel case also comes in a black, DLC coating option, as shown.

After dark, the dial is lit up by micro gas tubes that glow 100 times brighter than luminous coatings and will remain functional for 25 years. £3,670; ballwatch.com

Chopard Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Since 2002, Chopard has backed the biennial Grand Prix de Monaco Historique, for which it traditionally produces a dedicated, limited-edition chronograph. This year’s evokes the Seventies with a matte grey dial highlighted with contrasting orange or blue detailing and a distressed, perforated leather strap. The 42mm case is available in titanium (pictured, £4,870), titanium/rose gold (limited to 500 examples priced at £7,190) or rose gold only (around £12,000, limited to 100). The back of each watch is engraved with the legend ‘Grand Prix de Monaco Historique’ and carries the logo of the Automobile Club de Monaco.

From £4,870; chopard.com

Scalfaro GTO 1962 Bizzarrini Edition To mark 50 years of the Ferrari 250 GTO, of which only 39 were produced between 1962 and 1964, German-based watch brand Scalfaro is making a limited run of 250 chronographs with cases incorporating genuine parts from Pink Floyd drummer and car fanatic Nick Mason’s 250 GTO. The 250 GTO’s designer Giotto Bizzarrini has lent his signature to the watches, each of which has a rubber strap stamped with the firing order of the GTO’s three-litre, V12 engine. The side of the case bears the word ‘Omologato’ in purple (the car was intended as a homologation model for racing and Enzo Ferrari signed his name in purple ink). €7,950; scalfaro-gto.com

Hublot F1 King Power Great Britain Among Hublot’s many alliances, which include partnerships with Ferrari, Manchester United, Maradona and Usain Bolt, is the one brokered with Bernie Ecclestone in 2010 to make Hublot the official watch of Formula One. Following limited editions to mark the Grands Prix of Abu Dhabi, Japan, Brazil and India, this watch commemorates the 2012 British Grand Prix at Silverstone. It’s being made in a 250-piece edition with a case of ‘King Gold’ which combines gold with copper and platinum for a redder hue. Automotive imagery includes a carbon-fibre and ceramic bezel inspired by a brake disc, the F1 logo on the dial and a rubber-lined, alligator strap. £31,500; hublot.com

Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOX7 Jaeger-LeCoultre hit the road with Aston Martin back in 2004 with the AMVOX1, a variation on the much loved Memovox alarm model. The AMVOX2 was far more radical, featuring a chronograph mechanism started and stopped by pushing on the crystal, instead of conventional buttons. The latest AMVOX, number seven (there were no numbers four or six, incidentally) reprises this so-called ‘vertical trigger’ system but adds a power reserve indicator in the form of two red discs near the 12 o’clock numeral that gradually disappear as the watch winds down.

It has a titanium case and a dial based on the grille of Aston’s new flagship Vanquish. £17,400; jaeger-lecoultre.com

TAG Heuer Monaco Caliber 12 In a list of top car watches, TAG Heuer’s squarecased Monaco must be close to number one.

Immortalised when Steve McQueen wore one as Porsche-driving Michael Delaney in the 1971 film Le Mans, the model was revived in 1998 after a two-decade hiatus and has since been made available in dozens of different designs. McQueen’s had a distinctive left-hand winding crown, which is again available on versions fitted with TAG Heuer’s Calibre 11 movement. The Monaco shown here uses the less expensive Calibre 12, but still sports the all-important ‘McQueen blue’ dial.

One of the Monacos actually worn by the star in Le Mans recently fetched $800,000 at auction. £4,450; tagheuer.com

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the spirit of omega

Omega is defined by its pioneering spirit.

The brand has participated in some of the most challenging adventures in human history: providing timepieces for the conquest of space, creating the first divers’ watch in 1932 and providing world-class sports timekeeping, including for 25 Olympic Games. Brummell brings you the highlights, in association with The Royal Exchange Words Rob Ryan

38 BRUMMELL | pRoMotionaL fEatURE

pioneering spirit The Omega Speedmaster was the first watch on the moon – and the one that saved astronauts’ lives Omega has long been a company interested in exploring the edges of human experience.

From its innovative introduction of the first divers’ watch in 1932, through developing ever more accurate ways of sports timing, to the ongoing adventures of the sun-powered, gossamer-winged Solar Impulse aircraft, Omega’s products have gone where no timepieces have gone before. And no watch better encapsulates the true envelope-pushing spirit of Omega than the Speedmaster Professional, the First Watch On The Moon.

The Speedmaster was introduced in 1957, as a sports and racing chronograph to complement Omega’s position as the official Olympic Timekeeper. But five years later, Wally Schirra wore a Speedmaster on his trip into Space, aboard Mercury-Atlas 8. The watch was unofficial – ‘astronaut’s own’, as they say in photo credits – but subsequently NASA decided it needed an ultra-reliable official

mission chronograph. A series of brutal ‘proving’ tests were instigated, including subjecting various watches to low temperatures, oxygen saturation, high and low pressure, vibration and acceleration. Several brands were put through this extra-terrestrial wringer: the Omega Speedmaster came out victorious and, in March 1965, Gus Grissom and John Young wore the first official NASA ‘flight-qualified’ watches on Gemini 3. Then, months later, came a true pioneering moment: the Speedmaster, strapped to wrist of Ed White of Gemini 4, left the capsule for a space walk.

That EVA (extra-vehicular activity) alone would have guaranteed the Speedmaster a place in the history of space exploration, but the watch had much further to go. It was part of all the Apollo missions, including number 11.

So, on 21 July 1969 at 02:56 GMT, it was taken onto the surface of the moon. But not by Neil Armstrong, who took man’s first steps there.

He had left his Speedmaster in the Lunar Module, because that craft’s own timer had malfunctioned. The Omega stepped into the breech. But Buzz Aldrin (pictured) opted to take his down the steps: ‘Few things are less necessary when walking around on the moon than knowing what time it is in Houston, Texas. Nonetheless, being a watch guy, I decided to strap the Speedmaster onto my right wrist around the outside of my bulky spacesuit.’ One small tick for a watch, one giant tock for watchkind.

The Speedmaster’s adventures continued, not least during Apollo 13, when accurate timing was crucial to the astronauts’ survival. It has also been worn onboard the Space Shuttle, Skylab, Soyuz and the International Space Station. Nothing, as yet, has quite matched the iconic moments of the Speedmaster’s first EVA and moonwalk. Although, as Omega will doubtless tell you, there is always Mars.

Pioneers, you see, never stop pioneering.

Being a watch guy, I decided to strap the Speedmaster around the outside of my bulky spacesuit

40 BRUMMELL | PROMOTIONaL fEaTURE

DEPTH OF sPiriT For both professional divers and Scuba enthusiasts, the Omega Seamaster has become an icon Omega released its first dedicated watch for divers, the Marine, in 1932. This was incredibly prescient as, at the time, diving was a highly specialised business: it wasn’t until post-World War II that recreational Scuba took off. In fact, the Seamaster, Omega’s most famous dive watch, first introduced in 1948, has its roots in the war – it is the direct descendent of the robust, waterproof timepieces Omega made for the British military, including the Special Boat Service (which later used Seamasters on its covert missions in the Sixties and Seventies).

Early Seamasters did not look like today’s version. We can trace back the roots of the modern models, still favoured by sailors, soldiers and divers, to the 1957 Omega Automatic Seamaster 300. It was guaranteed down to 200m, but called the 300 because it functioned well beyond the range of testing equipment at that time (some of today’s models scoff at 600m). With its seahorse logo on the rear, and its rotating bezel and luminous numerals and hand-tips, it incorporated all the features we expect from a modern Seamaster.

Alain Julien, a French commercial diver of the time, said: ‘The Seamasters are of extraordinary solidarity. Despite the shocks of often extreme brutality, the cold water, and the great depths at which we work, they remained of an astonishing robustness and precision.’

Everything Julien said more than five decades ago is true today – Omega is proud of its diving heritage, and the current Seamasters, including the Aqua Terra and Planet Ocean models, continue a tradition of combining remarkable resilience and reliability under extreme conditions with understated elegance. Why do you think James Bond wears one?

The Special Boat Service used Seamasters on covert missions in the Sixties and Seventies

42 BRUMMELL | PROMOTIONaL fEaTURE

feminine spirit Women were wristwatch pioneers, so Omega has long created timepieces that match accuracy with grace It was women who first adopted the wristwatch.

In Victorian and Edwardian times, men favoured pocket watches; women wore elaborate timepieces on their wrists that doubled as jewellery. In the trenches of World War I, soldiers realised the convenience of the wristwatch and it became the norm for men, while women moved from the mostly ornamental to the practical. Some companies cleverly combined the latter two attributes – the striking Ladies’ Omega Medicus of 1937, with T-bar lugs and a clear, uncluttered dial, is a beauty. Later, Omega skilfully matched grace and accuracy with its Ladymatic line. First introduced in 1955, it was an early example of a self-winding watch designed specifically for women, and the original Ladymatic featured the tiniest state-of-the-art automatic movement the company had ever produced. They were handsome pieces into the bargain, until production ceased some years ago.

However, with the ladies’ wristwatch staging a strong sartorial revival, the Ladymatic is back. Like its earlier namesake, the Omega Ladymatic combines drop-dead gorgeous looks – albeit of a more contemporary kind with the most advanced technology. It is powered by Omega’s Co-Axial movement, visible through the sapphire-crystal caseback window, housed in beautifully proportioned 34mm cases in 18ct red or yellow gold or stainless steel, with a choice of polished or snow-set diamond-paved bezels. A perfect blend of fashion and function – each one is an officially certified chronometer – the Ladymatic is a forward-looking nod to another, more elegant, time.

The original Ladymatic featured the tiniest automatic movement Omega had ever produced

44 BRUMMELL | PROMOTIONaL fEaTURE

Sporting Spirit From the 1932 Olympics to London 2012 and beyond, Omega has been at the forefront of timing technology, recording ever greater feats The Olympic motto of ‘Citius, Altius, Fortius’ – faster, higher, stronger – applies to many sports. Humans are going further, quicker and with more power. The trick, as we reach the outer limits of sporting performance, is how to measure accurately the tiny increments by which elite athletes are sometimes breaking records, and there is no sporting occasion where this is more crucial than the Olympic Games (particularly in the swimming pool and on the athletics track). Which is where Omega comes in.

Omega first went to the Games as Official Timekeeper in Los Angeles in 1932. It took with it 30 stopwatches, able, for the first time, to record to one-tenth of a second. The Games after that was in Berlin, where Jesse Owens, who thrilled the world – Hitler excepted - with his magnificent time of 10.3 seconds (he had

run 10.2 seconds in the quarter finals, but that was wind-assisted) in the 100m.

And then came London in 1948 and a genuine sporting breakthrough. Although it had debuted at the St Moritz winter games, this was the first time a ‘Magic Eye’ – an innovative piece of equipment developed by the Race Finishing Recording Company – was used in athletics. It was linked to photoelectric cell timing by Omega. The system proved its worth immediately, as this new ‘photo-finish technology’ decided the winner of the men’s 100m (above), and the women’s 80m hurdles and the 4 x 100m relay.

Omega’s timekeeping has made many important strides since then. The Swim Eight-O-Matic Timer, the world’s first semi-automatic swimming timer, was first used at Melbourne in 1956; ‘touch pads’ for swimmers

to stop their own clocks were introduced in 1968 in Mexico City; and in 1972 a new improved Swim’O’Matic timer was introduced, accurate to a thousandth of a second. In 1984, pressuresensitive devices to detect false starts were introduced in both swimming and athletics.

For London 2012, Omega’s 25th Games, the company shipped in an estimated 400 tons of equipment, linked by 180km of cabling.

Some 450 professional timekeepers and data handlers were on hand, many checking a photo-finish system that was considerably more sensitive than the 1948 model. It also used the Quantum Timer - able to detect differences of one-millioneth of a second. It was a timing triumph. And next? Sochi 2014– when it will doubtless be a case of faster, higher, stronger and yet more accurate. The sporting legacy continues.

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Ring MastERs From top: Matchless diamond jewellery from Cartier, Gra and De Beers

Stone circles Until recently, diamond dealers have inhabited a rarified world but the precious gems are now finding their way into investment portfolios Words Sarah Carpin

Exquisite gemstones hold a magical allure for those who collect them. Each stone has its own history, from the rare geological forces that formed it deep within the earth, to the stories of those that have worn and loved it in its past. For generations, exclusive jewellery was traditionally purchased as a gift of love or passion and would be handed down to successive generations. But in recent years, the number of people who are choosing to invest in rare stones has risen as gemstones are increasingly regarded as a prestigious investment opportunity.

Rare large diamonds in particular are attracting record-beating prices. In November, a huge internally flawless diamond sold in Geneva for a record CHF20.35m (£13.5m). This rare white stone was a heavyweight sparkler, at a massive 3ct, roughly the size of a large strawberry. From India’s fabled Golconda mines, it once belonged to Archduke Joseph August of Austria, so had royal provenance in its favour as well as sheer magnitude. What makes this particular diamond auction so interesting is that it fetched more than double the price paid for it almost two decades ago, making it a worldrecord price per carat for a white, or colourless, diamond.

In the same week, Sotheby’s brought down the hammer after heated and lengthy bidding on a flawless blue diamond which had been estimated to fetch CHF3.2m to CHF4.2m. It sold for an astounding CHF10.27m (£7.26m). London diamond magnate Laurence Graff, who was bidding by telephone, bought the 10.48ct drop-shaped stone and as the hammer closed the deal, the room exploded into a round of applause.

David Bennett, head of Sotheby’s international jewellery department, says this was a world-record price per carat for a deep blue diamond. ‘It’s an extraordinary stone,

a very, very mystical deep blue and these coloured diamonds only come from one place: the Cullinan mine in South Africa.’

According to Mark Emanuel, of American jewellers David Webb, the blue diamond will most probably be recut. ‘It’s an extremely rare 10ct deep blue briolette that can be recut to a 7ct vivid blue,’ he explains. ‘Most of these diamonds are bought on the basis of speculating and re-cutting. That’s why we come. As diamond dealers we look at the potential of a stone and, at this level of business, the very, very best of coloured stones and the very, very best of diamonds has almost no limit in market value.’

Such prices at auction are fuelling a growing amount of interest and expectation in the value of diamonds themselves. The prices for 3ct diamonds have surged by 238 per cent, while the figure for 1ct diamonds has risen by 88.9 per cent since 2001.

According to the Rapaport Diamond Price Statistics Annual Report, every $1,000 spent on a 5ct diamond 10 years ago would have returned around $1,645 today.

In these terms, diamond investments have outpaced returns in the yen, euro and Nasdaq or Dow Jones.

Big diamonds are regarded as the stones to invest in, especially those of five carats or above, along with rare natural-coloured diamonds. It has been said that for every natural-coloured diamond, there are some

Some Forbes 400 types are investing up to $100m in the diamond market, mainly buying up large, polished stones

10,000 colourless stones. And to mine just one colourless diamond at a quality able to be used within jewellery, a diamond miner would typically have to unearth enough rubble to fill a three-bedroomed house.

Henri Barguirdjian, CEO of Graff Diamonds, says interest in diamonds as an investment is a fairly new phenomenon: ‘We are being approached by wealthy clients who are considering investing a small percentage of their portfolio in diamonds,’ he says. ‘This is something we have never seen in the past.

These people never considered diamonds as an investment. They considered them as something very beautiful and nice to own, that made their wives happy and were gorgeous to look at, but they always neglected the financial aspect of the transaction. And now they see what has happened with the price of diamonds and they realise it is not such a silly idea.’

As a result, he says, some Forbes 400 types are investing up to $100m in the diamond market, mainly buying up large, polished stones.

Martin Rapaport, whose diamond indexes are used as a reference in the industry, says it’s time for diamonds to become more investable.

But he warns potential investors to be cautious. He says normal investors have ‘no access to the market’, and the bid/ask spread for items is ‘crazy’.

‘Let’s say you have a diamond you inherited from your grandmother,’ he suggests. ‘Your ability to get a good price for that diamond would be a lot less than mine because I have more access to buyers and sellers and traders.’

The complexity of diamond pricing is one of the toughest obstacles to overcome.

Understanding and evaluating each of a diamond’s four C’s — cut, clarity, colour and carat — make standardised pricing very difficult. And grading of diamonds is often really rather subjective.

48 BRUMMELL | DIAMONDS jEwEL pERSONALIty From top: Exquisitely crafted rings from Cartier, Harry Winston, Graff and De Beers

There are processes, laboratories and reports that can grade and price diamonds, most notably the GIA (Gemological Institute of America), but large diamonds are often worth more than the sum of their parts. It will also depend on provenance, rarity, or whether it is a loose stone or mounted in a collectable piece from a distinguished jewellery house. The most collectable vintage jewellery is from historic jewellery houses such as Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels, Chaumet and Boucheron, while the most exquisite stones cut to perfection and set in more contemporary styles from Graff, Harry Winston and De Beers are also in high demand.

‘The greatest art form in the world is the transition of a natural rough crystal into a perfect polished diamond,’ says Laurence Graff. Collecting diamonds is more akin to collecting art than stockpiling gold bullion and diamond collectors such as Graff are driven to purchase rare stones predominantly in a quest for perfection and the rarest of the rare.

Most importantly, for many who work in the diamond industry, diamonds have a mystical romance and emotional pull. Stephen Lussier, chief executive of the De Beers company Forevermark, says: ‘Every diamond is a unique miracle of nature and the emotional content of diamond jewellery is most critical,’ he says. ‘We prefer our customers to buy diamond jewellery to keep, not to trade.’

Harry Winston was said to walk around with diamonds in his pockets, feeling their shape and allowing time for the stones themselves to give him inspiration for their settings. Many designers, setters and cutters within the world’s great jewellery houses would understand this all too well. Some diamonds simply have a magical feel to them.

It goes beyond value: it is the fire and scintillation within the stone itself that communicates, and the very best jewellery houses have the skills and artistry to let these miracles of nature shine out from works of art set within fine gold or platinum.

It can also sometimes take years to find matching diamonds of the same size, colour and quality to make a necklace or pair of earrings, followed by months of painstaking work by master craftsman to turn rough stones into polished diamonds, and loose stones into a final, exquisite, piece of jewellery.

This is a powerful argument for the world’s most perfect diamonds and works of haute joiallerie to be worn and celebrated, not simply locked away in dark bank vaults as emotionless financial investments. graffdiamonds.com; harrywinston.com; debeers.co.uk

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50 BrUmmell | traVel

light entertainment Aurora Borealis, the star of the show in Abisko in Swedish Lapland, lives up to its promise

Northern exposure Far above the Arctic Circle, the village of Abisko at Sweden’s furthest reaches is the best place on earth to see the Northern Lights, and the rush is on Words Ian Belcher Pictures Doug McKinlay

So this is what it’s like to be big in Japan. Stellar.

Stratospheric. A showbiz deity. As rumours of the iconic star’s presence crackle around our hotel, the Tokyo tour party enters a state of heightened rapture. Having travelled across eight time zones to reach Swedish Lapland their hysteria is intensified by brutal jet lag.

Rushing outside into the oily black night, they stumble around, rubber-necked and wide-eyed, pointing to the sky. It’s -33˚C. Nobody cares. They bump into one another, tread on toes, knock over camera tripods. A man slips and lies on his back in the snow, gesturing to the heavens, mouth opening and shutting like a dying fish. It’s carnage.

The star doesn’t disappoint. After a scene-stealing entrance, igniting the sky with three emerald arcs of light, he re-emerges as a giant serpent, his tail dripping into a molten pool on the horizon. An hour later, after a series of dazzling costume changes, he takes his final bow in the form of three vast burning globules – a super-sized, other-worldly lava lamp. Thank you and good night.

It’s not always this way, of course. A-list celebrities are, by nature, temperamental and this one, the Aurora Borealis, can be particularly fickle. One friend has now made three trips to the Arctic without a sniff of a high-altitude autograph.

But all that could change this winter.

A peak in the sun’s 11-year cycle – a ‘solar maximum’ – guarantees the Aurora will be intensely active, dazzlingly bright and happy to make regular photocalls.

And when they do, there are few better places on earth than Abisko. Lying 195km into the Arctic Circle, at 68.2 degrees north, it provides long dark viewing nights untainted by light or industrial pollution.

That puts it on a par with other northernhemisphere hotspots. What pushes it ahead of the pack is a slice of geographical luck. The tiny hamlet sits in the eastern shadow of Mounts Slattatjåkka and Nuolja, protected from North Atlantic fronts, and on the shore of Lake Torneträsk – a position that allows it to boast Sweden’s clearest, driest weather.

‘We call it the Abisko blue hole,’ says Putte Eby, former manager of the Abisko Mountain Lodge. ‘Go a few kilometres either side and there’s more than double the rain and snow.

Relatively it’s a desert. Add in our accessibility with the railway and road, and this is the best place in the world to see the Aurora Borealis.’

It sounds impressive, but the sensible Japanese don’t rely on local hyperbole. They make more rigorous checks. NHK, the national broadcasting corporation, sent crews around the planet to find the ultimate place to see the polar lights, climaxing in a head-tohead TV finale, Abisko v Antarctica. An incredible 17 million tuned in. Abisko took gold with a widescreen technicolour show-stopper. ‘That’s when I knew God was a Lutheran,’ says Putte, over a shot of schnapps.

‘You can’t buy marketing like that.’

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oUtER LiMits From top: sauna shed; the Lapporten valley viewed from the Aurora Sky Station; the Lights seen from the rooftop viewing tower

Japanese interest is hard to fathom. Certainly Yukari, Maiko and Shinya can’t explain their obsession as they warm their fingers in front of the Lodge’s fire. Sex clearly plays a part. Or at least insemination. Some Japanese believe babies conceived under the Aurora Borealis will grow into future geniuses. Just about every Laplander knows of the incident, 120 miles away in Gållivare, when a surprised snowmobile driver hit an entwined Japanese couple displaying high passion and extraordinary blood flow in the Arctic night.

But child geniuses are only one potential outcome of the lights. Folklore also credits the heavenly theatre as a reflection of vast shoals of herring, and a divine portent of war. They’re even said to be the result of ancestral spirits playing football with walrus skulls.

I trust the more prosaic scientists who attribute the Northern Lights to solar winds destabilising and energising particles in the earth’s outer atmosphere. As these zip towards the poles along our magnetic fields, they smack into atoms of gas, releasing energy – the Aurora.

For closer scrutiny of the phenomenon I catch Sweden’s chilliest chairlift to the summit of Mount Nuolja, home of the cosy Aurora Sky Station and rooftop viewing tower. I’m here for the night. Almost 1,000m closer to the gods, the mercury plummets further and faster. Frost rapidly coats my eyelashes but that doesn’t prevent me witnessing another mesmerising performance. At one point, the huge canopy of sky drips with tentacles of light, as if a giant astral jellyfish is swaddling the earth.

After a night’s kip in front of a glowing stove, I awake to the brittle glare of sun on snow. If last night was all about looking up, now it’s about looking down – and it’s seriously impressive. A Nordic giant appears to have bitten into the Abisko Alps, creating the valley of Lapporten. Far below lies frozen Lake Torneträsk, with distant peaks wrapped in ethereal mist. I feel a poem coming on.

Actually, that’s a lie. I feel exhilarating sub-zero exercise coming on and after snowshoeing the first stretch of the famous 425km Kungsleden Trail, I enjoy a scorching bake in a century-old lakeside cabin - surely one of Sweden’s most beautiful saunas – followed by a night in the Icehotel. Despite the serene beauty of its chapel and bar the sub-zero rooms carry a scent of sweaty humanity and processed tourism.

Returning to the Lodge, I meet Maiko and Shinya, who, it turns out, are honeymooners.

Tragically, they missed the dramatic northern lights they’d travelled half way around the world to see. They’d been sleeping, apparently.

If that’s a newlyweds’ euphemism, then I truly hope they find some compensation in the shape of Japan’s next child genius.

A three-night Northern Lights trip, including stays in the Abisko Mountain Station and Icehotel, flights and transfers costs from £1,233; 01737 214 251; discover-the-world.co.uk

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Cuff love Shades of gold, embellished and sculptural, to adorn the wrist and be admired for their elegant artistry Photography Andy Barter Styling Tamara Fulton

jewellery | BrUMMell 55

arM candy Clockwise from far left: yellow gold mesh cuff, £18,000, My dior by dior joaillerie. yellow gold, amethyst and ruby cuff, £13,250, Theo Fennell. white gold bangle featuring 11 pearls and rose-cut and brilliant-cut diamonds, price on application, Moussaieff. ‘Camélia Ajoure’ bracelet in white gold and diamonds, £56,300, chanel Fine jewellery. ‘Tango’ cuff in rose gold and burnished silver with brown diamonds, £20,865, Pomellato STOCKISTS DETAILS ON PAGE 66

Grazie mille The world’s most beautiful vintage cars gather each year for the Mille Miglia rally, loved by drivers and bystanders alike Words Charlotte Metcalf Photography Nick Dimbleby

‘Che bella!’ shrieked a cluster of women as our 1954 R-Type Continental Bentley purred by.

The car’s sleek, cream curves drew coos of admiration and squeals of delight wherever we went, clearly evoking a nostalgic yearning for that long-gone vision of Italy, made so irresistibly glamorous by Fellini, Sophia Loren and Audrey Hepburn. Luxuriously ensconced in its sumptuous leather back seat, I waved enthusiastically at the cheering crowds. At the wheel was Stéphanie-Rose, assistant to

vintage motoring | BrUmmeLL 57

Bentley’s director of communications. A pretty, diminutive blonde in diamanté designer sunglasses and red leather Bentley driving gloves, she received her own share of applause skilfully steering the heavy, stately car round tight corners and up steep, narrow streets.

Midnight in mid-May, and we were chasing after some of the 384 cars that had entered in the 2012 Mille Miglia, the classic car race that covers a thousand miles from Brescia to Rome and back. I had tagged along as part of Bentley’s

For three days and nights, classic cars from all over the world hurtle through Italy in a ritual that goes back to 1927

support team and never imagined I’d be lucky enough to end up at the heart of the action.

Chosen as one of the support cars to celebrate its 60th anniversary, the R-Type was so exquisitely elegant that neither police nor Mille Miglia officials seemed to mind that we often became muddled up with the actual racing cars instead of being siphoned off to join the other support vehicles.

The Bentley team cars we were supporting were two 4.5l supercharged ‘Blowers’. Great

on the road Previous page: Scrutineering at the Piazza del Loggia in Brescia.

This page: A 1930 Le Mans 4.5l supercharged ‘Birkin Blower’. Opposite: Three Bentley Blowers race from the start

vintage motoring | BrUmmeLL 59

growling beasts in traditional racing green that reeked of oil and leather, exhausts noisily belching filthy fumes. The 1929 ‘Birkin Blower’ had been raced extensively by legendary Bentley Boy, Tim Birkin and already completed the Mille Miglia in 2005 and 2011. Its companion car started life in 1930 as one of Bentley’s first showroom demonstrators and was one of 50 Blowers built for the road.

Every spring, for three days and nights, classic cars from all over the world hurtle through Italy in a time-honoured ritual that goes back to 1927, when 77 Italian cars entered the first ever Mille Miglia open-road endurance race. The only time Britain has ever won was in 1955 when Stirling Moss and Denis Jenkinson averaged an astonishing speed of 97.6 miles per hour in a Mercedes-Benz 300S SLR. In 1957, the race was stopped after two fatal crashes. However, 20 years later it was reborn as the Mille Miglia Storica, a parade of pre-1957 cars that spanned several days, and then revived in 1982 as an endurance road rally event once again.

I had no idea what to expect when I arrived in Brescia, a small, beautiful town near Verona, in time for the ‘scrutineering’, an elaborate word for looking at the cars before the start. With so many classic cars gathered in a vast hangar on the edge of town, it was like a pop-up car museum, with row after row of vintage glories – a grass-coloured MG with bottle-green leather tub seats, a tomato-red Mercedes with

gull-wing doors and toffee leather interior, a jet-black Ford Thunderbird with fins, a cornflower-blue Bugatti with wind-up engine.

Within minutes, I was wondering why it had taken me so long to appreciate the splendour of old cars. Engines remain a mystery, but the sheer loveliness of the cars’ silhouettes was enough to transform a reluctant debutante into an aficionado within minutes. There were Aston Martins, Porsches, Ferraris, Lancias, Maseratis, Jaguars, Austin Healeys, Alfa Romeos and, of course, the Bentley team’s two magnificent Blowers. I watched a silver-haired man reverently stroke the smooth flank of a scarlet Officine Meccaniche Superba and, for the first time, saw through a committed driving man’s eyes – these weren’t just pretty boys’ toys but triumphs of engineering and craftsmanship, built to endure and endowed with character and resilience through time and punishing journeys.

That night, Swiss luxury watchmaker Chopard, one of the race’s sponsors, threw

These aren’t just pretty boys’ toys but triumphs of engineering and craftsmanship, built to endure and endowed with character

a lavish dinner and I talked to Andrew Day, a Bentley owner and driving enthusiast. Bentley had invited Andrew to be a co-driver of their 1930 model with Rolf Frech, a member of Bentley’s Board for Engineering. ‘I’ve done the Mille Miglia nine times in a Bentley and always finished,’ he said. ‘The only time I didn’t was when I drove in a 1934 Alfa Romeo.’ Though clearly passionate about driving Bentleys (he’s one of the 3,700 members of the Bentley Drivers’ Club), Andrew admitted that the Mille Miglia was more of a man’s idea of fun, recalling the time his girlfriend – now his wife – was his co-driver: ‘It was 2002 and we were on our way to visit friends. I told her we were just doing a little detour through Italy and she found herself in an open car late at night. It was cold and raining and we got lost twice. I was not a gentleman,’ he chuckles ruefully. ‘I’ve since become less competitive about it all.’

Nowadays the race is less about competing, and more about the thrill of driving a beautiful old car very fast through some of Italy’s most ravishing countryside and historic towns. This is not a rally I can imagine Britain welcoming. Somehow, I cannot envisage British children out on the streets till after midnight, cheering on a bunch of wealthy car enthusiasts as they career noisily past, ignoring red lights and emitting a pungent fog of toxic fumes. If this were the Home Counties, Health & Safety would undoubtedly deem it not just dangerous for the children, but a health threat to the entire region.

The joy of racing through Italy is that Italians embrace the Mille Miglia as an opportunity to party and so, as cars charge through towns and villages, children run alongside waving flags, drivers laugh as their cars are forced off the road by a hooting Porsche or Bugatti and the atmosphere everywhere is festive as people celebrate this unique pageant.

The route itself is spectacular. Well away from motorways and A-roads, it winds through unspoilt countryside and historic towns that include Florence, Siena, Bologna, Modena, Parma, Verona and Cremona. Perhaps my favourite memories will be of sweeping along the shores of Lake Garda at sunset or climbing the winding road that snakes up to San Marino and then down again to Sansepolcro in Tuscany.

Most nights we slept for about four hours in unmemorable hotels after memorably jolly late-night parties that carried on as long as the last cars were rolling into that day’s destination.

What is perhaps most remarkable about the Mille Miglia is that entrants come from as far afield as Argentina, India, Japan, Russia and Zambia and are united by their shared passion for driving. It’s a rare opportunity to show off unashamedly, and fulfil a fantasy of dashing full-throttle around Italy in the company of fellow devotees. Whether you’re in a 1929 Bentley, a 1977 Mercedes or a 1955 Porsche, you’re celebrating the fruit of decades of superior craftsmanship and engineering; it’s the ultimate eulogy to some of the finest cars ever built.

1000miglia.eu; bentleymotors.com

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BacK To BLacK Black document case in supple ‘pleated’ leather, £1,650, Dior Homme.

Black embellished suede boot, £1,295, alaïa at Harrods

A touch of class Be indulgent this season with accessories made from the softest leather, the smoothest satin and the richest velvet, for you or your dearest Photography Andy Barter styling Tamara Fulton

accessories | BrUMMell 63

red alert Opposite, clockwise from top: ‘Dolce’ bag, £1,095, dolce & Gabbana at Harrods. Small ‘Heroine’ bag, £1,395, alexander

McQueen at Harrods.

Ostrich leather bag, £3,250, Givenchy at Harrods. ‘Kelly’ goatskin bag, £5,420, Hermès

eleGantly waisted This page from left: Black belt with punched detail, £200, Brioni. Red leather belt, £306, alexander McQueen. Black croc

belt, £69, aspinal of london. ‘Figure’ belt in perforated black calfskin, £620, Hermès. Grey leather belt, £195, and

grey leather moc-croc belt, £195, both Hardy amies.

‘Etrivière’ belt in burgundy suede, £540, Hermès.

Snakeskin black spot belt

in red, £135, and in grey, £135, both Paul smith at Harrods. Black and white snakeskin belt, £360, alexander McQueen

64 BRUMMELL | accEssoRiEs

pURpLE hazE This page, clockwise from top left: Tassled slippers, £340, canali. Slippers with silver monogram, £335, alfred Dunhill.

‘Grant’ suede tassled loafer, £530, Tom Ford. Slippers with silver motif, £453, Versace at harrods.

Slippers with purple piping,

£350, penelope chilvers.

Slippers with gold stitching, £295, holland & holland

BaG iT Up Opposite from top: Satin rectangle bag, £1,400, prada. Suede bag, £540, Miu Miu. Satin clutch, £1,160,

Lanvin at harrods. Satin pochette embellished with gold and mother-ofpearl cabochon beads and glass stones, £4,770,

Bulgari. Beaded satin bag, £1,400, prada STOCKISTS DETAILS ON PAGE 66

FEaTURE TiTLE | BRUMMELL 00

sTyLisT’s assisTanT Maddy O’Flaherty phoToGRaphER’s assisTanT Sergio Conde Thanks To Lucy Ziondi

66 BRUMMELL | BY GEORGE

SET IN STONE From left: Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes; replica of Kate Hudson’s Harry Winston necklace from How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days, recreated for the V&A exhibition

Talk to me, Harry When pioneering jeweller Harry Winston began designing for the stars, glamour changed forever

The international jeweller Harry Winston was impressing Hollywood even before Marilyn Monroe breathlessly name-checked him in ‘Diamonds Are A Girl’s Best Friend’ in the 1953 film Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. He was a man of vision, says the Harry Winston president and CEO Frédéric de Narp: ‘He was fearless, a pioneer – and passionate about precious stones. When he opened his doors in New York in 1932, the brand that emerged was all about exclusivity, rarity, craftsmanship and innovation.’

Winston revolutionised the setting of stones.

‘At that time,’ continues de Narp, ‘all the other houses were designing Art Deco, using heavy metal and beautiful geometric designs. Harry Winston went in the opposite direction and said, “If I could, I would attach diamonds on a woman’s

skin”.’ For him, the stone was the most important element of a piece of jewellery, so he would set the diamond with a minimum of metal so the focus would be on the stone, allowing it to capture and reflect the light and show off its beauty.

He had the largest collection of precious gemstones – including the Hope Diamond, which the company has donated to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC – second only to the British Royal Family. Eighty years on, the house is still honouring the legacy of its founder. ‘Harry Winston’s jewellery has always been about meaningful moments: today 80 per cent of clients come to us to celebrate an important time in their life. We offer timeless design and the highest quality of stones, craftsmanship and creativity.’

Harry Winston was the first jeweller to loan to an actress for the Academy Awards, and in so doing, he revolutionised red-carpet glamour.

In 1944, he dressed Jennifer Jones in signature diamonds; she went on to win Best Actress and Harry was lauded as ‘jeweller to the stars’ – an accolade that has stuck, as generations of Hollywood luminaries have looked to Harry Winston to complete their award-ceremony look.

So it’s only fitting that the modern-day Harry Winston company became lead sponsor of the major new Hollywood Costume exhibition at the Victoria & Albert Museum, exploring the art of costume design in cinematic history and bringing it to life with cutting-edge digital production.

For a man who would never have his face photographed – ‘for insurance purposes, as he was well known for carrying diamonds in his pockets,’ de Narp explains – Winston’s legacy has brought radiance and scintillation to the most glamorous of occasions, adding sparkle to life.

The Hollywood Costume exhibition is at the V&A until 27 Jan 2013; vam.ac.uk; harrywinston.com Words Joanne Glasbey

Stockists Alexander McQueen 020 7494 8840; alexandermcqueen.com Alfred Dunhill dunhill.co.uk A Sauvage 020 7495 5468; asauvage.com Aspinal of London aspinaloflondon.com Brioni brioni.com Bulgari 020 7838 9411; bulgari.com Canali 020 7290 3500; canali.com Chanel 020 7493 5040; chanel.com Dior 020 7172 0172; dior.com Dolce & Gabbana dolcegabbana.it Givenchy 020 7518 0680; givenchy.com Harrods 020 7730 1234; harrods.com Hardy Amies 020 7734 2436; hardyamies.com Hermès 020 7499 8856;

hermès.com Holland & Holland 020 7499 4411 ; hollandandholland.com Lanvin lanvin.com Matches 020 7487 5400; matchesfashion.com Miu Miu 020 7409 0900; miumiu.com Moussaieff 020 7290 1536; moussaieff.co.uk Paul Smith paulsmith.co.uk Penelope Chilvers 020 8969 2506; penelopechilvers.com Pomellato 020 7355 0300; pomellato.com Prada 020 7647 5000; prada.com Rake rakestyle.com Spencer Hart 020 7494 0000; spencerhart.com; Theo Fennell 020 7591 5000; theofennell.com Tom Ford tomford.com Versace versace.com

For any enquiries, please call +44 (0) 1428 656822

JAMES BOND’S CHOICE. Skyfall © 2012 Danjaq, United Artists, CPII. Skyfall, 007 Gun Logo and related James Bond Trademarks, TM Danjaq.

IN CINEMAS www.omegawatches.com

BESPOKE PrOmOtiOn | BrUmmELL 07

culture, preserveD With its support of museums, grants for painting restoration and fellowship in conservation research, says Dr Jim Harris, BAML is helping to keep art in fine health for the future

Corporate art collections are not new. Since banker and philanthropist David Rockefeller first established his art programme in 1959, many others have followed suit. However, Rockefeller’s vision extended beyond the acquisition of objects, setting exacting standards for their care.

At Bank of America Merrill Lynch, a similar sense of responsibility towards artworks and their audience has informed not only the creation of the firm’s collection but also its policies regarding their use. In the

in association with

belief that greater cultural understanding fosters increased opportunity for all, the bank has built a unique Arts and Culture Programme supporting organisations worldwide and focused on three key commitments: to share, to enable and to preserve.

Since 2008, an innovative loan scheme has allowed non-profit galleries to stage more than 50 revenue-generating exhibitions of material from the collection, at no cost to the institutions themselves. The bank also supports the performing arts, enabling

outreach, education and access initiatives in orchestras and opera houses, as well as museums, communities and businesses.

Another major contribution to fine art has been the bank’s Art Conservation Project.

Initiated in 2010, it enables costly but vital technical work to be undertaken in museums and galleries across the world: work that is central to their mission as custodians of visual culture.

For the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Marc Chagall is more than just one of the great 20th-century painters. Active at the Museum’s

Previous page Marc Chagall’s Solitude (1933), in the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum, supported by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. This page, 1 & 2 Two-sided canvas by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner – Scene In A Forest (Moritzburg Ponds) and Nude in the Studio – restored with support from BAML. 3 Lovers by Chagall.

4 Cain Slaying Abel by Rubens, restored by the Courtauld, with an award from the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project

1

3

2

foundation in 1932 and in the building of its collections, he donated its first-ever picture, the 1925 gouache, Jew with Torah. Two further gifts followed, The Wailing Wall in 1948 and Solitude in 1953. Together with paintings purchased by the Museum, they constitute a key group of works in which Chagall explored ideas of Jewish identity in the face of the looming European crisis of the inter-war years.

Chagall was hailed by Picasso who, after the death of Matisse, described the Russian as ‘the only painter left who understands what colour really is.’ His paintings proved as vulnerable as any to the ravages of time and climate. But the partnership between Bank of America and the Tel Aviv Museum has ensured that their predations have been arrested and

in association with

their effects reversed in five of the artist's most important works. Scientific investigations of the pigments and supports of the paintings led to the removal of discoloured varnish and the stabilisation, retouching and, in some cases, relining of the paintings to recapture the fresh brilliance of Chagall’s intense palette. Even their frames have been repaired and regilded.

The Courtauld Institute of Art, though a very different institution from the Tel Aviv Museum, is its exact contemporary. Founded in 1932, it houses one of the world’s finest small art museums, the Courtauld Gallery, and is a global centre for training art historians and conservators.

Paintings conservators Clare Richardson and Kate Stonor, partners in the firm TSR

Imaging, both originally trained at the Courtauld and returned in 2011 to take up the Caroline Villers Research Fellowship in Conservation. Their project included a technical study of Peter Paul Rubens’ Cain Slaying Abel, using microscopy and the latest infrared imaging techniques.

Obstructing their investigation, however, were layers of yellowing varnish , the removal of which lay beyond the scope of the Fellowship.

The wooden panel on which Rubens had painted his picture was in an even worse state.

According Clare Richardson, ‘Although the front was in relatively good condition, the back had suffered from warping, cracking and woodworm, largely as a result of well-meaning but destructive interventions by previous

00 bESPOKE PROMOTION A BRUMMELL| PROMOTION bRUMMELL 09

4

restorers. The whole painting was badly in need of conservation and restoration’.

The Courtauld applied for funding to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Art Conservation Project and was awarded a major grant. Richardson takes up the story. ‘The restoration of the painting wouldn’t have happened without the Bank of America Merrill Lynch award. It enabled us to repair and consolidate the back of the panel and to remove old varnish, which made the technical study far more fruitful.’

After working together on the reverse, and on the cleaning of the front, the two conservators studied detailed infra-red images of the surface, called reflectograms, before Kate Stonor and Graeme Barraclough, Chief

The restoration wouldn’t have happened without the award.

It made the technical study of the painting far more fruitful

Conservator at the Gallery, completed the restoration. The images unlocked a wealth of information about Rubens’ practice as a painter.

What the reflectograms revealed were underdrawings in the trees and landscape made by a hand clearly not Rubens’ own. ‘Cain Slaying Abel was painted around 1610, at a moment in Rubens’ career when he had recently returned to Antwerp from Italy and set up as an independent master,’ explains Richardson. ‘The underdrawing tells us that, even at an early stage in his career, he employed a specialist landscape painter to assist him in the workshop. It’s an important art-historical discovery to set alongside our improved technical understanding of how Rubens himself painted.’

The Rubens and the Chagall group are now back on permanent display in their respective homes. More importantly, they are physically secure and robust enough to give pleasure for generations to come. They are not alone. To date, 22 institutions worldwide have been partnered by the bank in conservation projects.

Coupled with the scholarly enquiry made possible as a result of their restoration, the rescue of these artworks places Bank of America Merrill Lynch at the forefront of support for the arts at its most fundamental level – in the care of objects.

The last word on the Art Conservation Project should go to conservators Clare Richardson and Kate Stonor in light of their painstaking restoration of the unseen reverse of the Courtauld Rubens. ‘This is not glamorous work - but it’s incredibly important to the longterm future of the painting.’ It’s a far cry from simply adding bling to a corporate HQ. Dr Jim Harris is Andrew W Mellon Foundation Teaching Curator at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford University, and a former Caroline Villers Research Fellow in Conservation at the Courtauld Institute of Art