THE
GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL SPRING 2014
BOYS TOYS FOR 2014
INVEST LIKE
WARREN BUFFETT The Great Nazi Art Heist
Michael Milken THE
JUNK BOND KING “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” Nelson Mandela
TRAVEL
Verbier Uncovered
GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS OBJECTS THAT EVERY GENTLEMAN MUST OWN
STYLE ICON
STEVE MCQUEEN
Boodles Circus +44 (0)20 7437 5050 boodles.com
v i e w t h e f i l m at: w w w. G i e v e S a N D h a w K e S. C O m
ON THE COVER: actor, racer and style icon Steve McQueen.
Editor’s Letter Here we are in 2014, hailed as the year of growth. I can’t remember ever reading as many stock picks as the web threw at me in the first week of January. Even we couldn’t resist with our “how to invest like Warren Buffett” article. As MPs battle it out in the House of Commons in the run-up to next year’s general election, the economic signs are good: we are growing, unemployment is falling, UK manufacturing continues to be strong. Well that it then, well done to the Conservatives. The funny thing is people don’t seem that pleased. Voting intentions remain divided, and if we were to hold a general election right now, Labour would come out on top. The problem is that the majority of people aren’t getting richer. Their lives aren’t improving materially and the growth hasn’t yet filtered down to benefit ordinary families. What people are seeing is the wealthy getting richer, foreign investment flooding the London property market and pricing out ordinary people. Hedge funders are returned huge bonuses and City restaurants are once again fully booked. We seem to have completely forgotten about the 2008 economic crisis. Instead of learning from it, it feels like we are hell bent on making it happen again. The words ‘boom and bust’ spring to mind. One economist is even predicting that the next economic crisis will happen by 2025. This may seem a bit far-fetched for many, but when you look back at past crises in the history books, 2025 sounds like a pretty good bet. We are optimists. We choose to forget the bad in order to focus only on the good, therefore we never seem to actually learn from past events, however significant they may be. If it’s of benefit to us, we seem to forgive very easily.
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Digby Warde-Aldam looked at the once-all-powerful Michael Milken, a man who many would still regard one of the 20th century’s greatest con men. However these days you will find him sitting on stages next to heads of state. He has completely reinvented himself through his charity the Milken foundation now, as in his heyday, everyone wants to be his friend. This type of forgiveness and admiration was no more apparent than in the Wolf of Wall Street, received as one of Martin Scorsese’s greatest films. This was about a man who had essentially ripped off thousands of people, and his punishment: he became a celebrity and got even richer. I was amazed by the amount of people who had watched the film and came out idolising him... These quick changes of opinion can, of course, happen the other way round too, as we discovered in this issue’s dynasty piece on the Assad family. Once seen by the West as a man they could almost do business with, today it looks more and likely Bashar Assad’s will be remembered as a murderer - not what he intended, I’m sure. All of these stories contain important lessons. But it’s down to us whether we choose to learn from them; maybe we should start preparing for 2025?
| HARRY JARMAN
contents THE GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL 2014
TRAVEL
POWER
BUSINESS
STYLE
THE SPRING ISSUE
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STYLE ICON Steve McQueen
020
FASHION Pastel tailoring
030
GROOMING Power tools
034
WATCHES SIHH
039
The Gentleman’s Essentials
060
The Assad Family
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LEADING LADY Amy Jackson
068
30 under 30
074
BUSINESS Michael Milken
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BUSINESS How to invest like Warren
084
Aston Martin
098
Rolls Wraith
090
YACHTS SILVER ANGEL
092
Boys toys for 2014
098
St Barts
100
Verbier uncovered
104
ART The Nazi Art Heist
10 Books every man should read
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Films to look out for in 2014
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RESTAURANT REVIEW Rextail
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DRINKS The best new world wines
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FOOD MARK HIX
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GENTLEMAN’S ETIQUETTE How to get ahead in the office
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Shooting: The 2013 Grouse Season
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Sport: Back in shape 2014
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UK & London housing market
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London’s Property Powerhouses
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England’s Lost Country Houses
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Diary
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INTERVIEW Michael Bruno - A few of my favourite things
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PROPERTY
112
SPORT
OBJECTS OF DESIRE
FOOD & DRINK
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CULTURE
INTERVIEW ARNAUD BAMBERGER
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Contributors
DIGBY WARDE-ALDAM
TANYA ROSE
Digby is a freelance writer who has been working for print publications since leaving school, and regularly contributes to magazines including The Spectator, Apollo and The Junket. He writes about art, corruption, himself and pretty much anything else people are willing to pay him for. He has written two features for this issue. He lives in West London and enjoys tinned food.
Seeing a niche in the travel market, Tanya founded Mason Rose in 1993, one of the only agencies offering integrated sales, marketing and PR services to the luxury travel industry. Prior to founding Mason Rose, Tanya was Director of Sales & Marketing for The Savoy Group in London for six years and before that launched the St James’s Club in Paris. Due to her work and experience in the travel industry, Tanya Rose has become one of the foremost authorities in luxury travel, recognised across multiple business sectors and media, including a nomination for the Women of the Year Awards.
MARK OSBORNE Mark Osborne is founder and Managing Director of JM Osborne & Co. and has been a qualified Chartered Surveyor and Land Agent for over 30 years. He trained on two large traditional landed estates (Chatsworth and Castle Ashby), before spending 11 years, (9 of which as a partner), with a rural practice firm on the English/Welsh Borders. Mark is a Fellow of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, a Fellow of the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers and a Member of both the British Academy of Expert Witnesses and The Expert Witness Institute. He undertakes a significant amount of expert witness work including court appearances. He is Managing Director of William Powell Ltd, one of the most trusted gunmakers and retailers of shooting and country clothing and accessories.
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MATTHEW BECKETT Matthew Beckett is a 30-something architectural historian with a particular love of British country houses in all their many varied and beautiful forms. He is the author of the wonderful blogs The Country Seat and Lost Heritage. In this issue, he investigates the great estates that fell on hard times. Check out his websites at thecountryseat.org.uk and www.lostheritage.org.uk
Š theo fennell plc copyright
theo fennell
unique bangle and cufflinks original designs, handmade in our london workshop london . 169 fulham road . harrods . burlington arcade . selfridges . royal exchange for uk and worldwide stockists please contact +44 (0)20 7591 5000
www.theofennell.com
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Š theo fennell plc copyright
theo fennell
cufflinks original designs, handmade in our london workshop london . 169 fulham road . harrods . burlington arcade . selfridges . royal exchange for uk and worldwide stockists please contact +44 (0)20 7591 5000
www.theofennell.com
THE GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL
Harry Jarman Editor In Chief Tina Blackmore Head of Finance
George Askew Sales & Business Development
Emma Corbett Associate Editor
Holly Macnaghten Junior Fashion Editor
Ines Suarez de Puga Creative Editor
Victoria Gardiner Junior Features Editor
Amanda Baigent Finance
Ted Maberly Account Executive
Milo Dickinson Art Editor
Digby Warde-Aldam Senior Sub-Editor
Martin Turner Special Features Editor
John Peveril Production Assistant
Alex Drabble Account Executive
Catie Elliot Senior Features Assistant
Laura Little Inhouse Photographer
Seb Heseltine In-House Videographer
Georgina Wootton Additional Copy Editor
Christopher Guy Evans Designer
Contributing Editors Edward Hambro-Rabben Freddy van Zevenbergen Rob Sheffield Katie Readman Digby Warde-Aldam Philip Womack Matthew Bell Matt Roberts Charles Blackmore Tanya Rose Guy Pelly Francis Boulle Mark Osbourn Rob Dubsky For editorial enquiries please e-mail: editorial@thegentlemansjournal.co.uk For advertising enquiries please e-mail: advertising@thegentlemansjournal.co.uk Subscriptions are available by e-mailing: subscriptions@thegentlemansjournal.co.uk THE GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL LIMITED 45 CLARGES STREET MAYFAIR LONDON W1J 7EP
The Gentleman's Journal Limited cannot accept responsibility for unsolicited submissions, manuscripts and photographs. While every care is taken, prices and details are subject to change and The Gentleman's Journal Limited take no responsibility for omissions or errors. We reserve the right to publish and edit any letters. All rights reserved.
All photos from Instagram @thegentsjournal
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Every picture tells a story. Create yours.
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Picture yourself on a simply sublime yacht, far, far away from the world as you know it. Somewhere where your only limitation is the ever-changing horizon. Where every day is different, and where your every desire is catered for. Yacht Masters is a small, privately owned, bespoke yet renowned brokerage, offering a truly private and discreet service for the more discerning client. It’s where you’ll find a traditional face-to-face service born of old school, British values that reflect the nature of their premium offering. For a clearer picture of superyacht charter, and to arrange your select portfolio of suitable yachts, simply contact Yacht Masters or visit their award-winning website. It’s time to get creative.
L O N D O N
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M O N A C O
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M O N T E N E G R O
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STEVE MCQUEEN STYLE ICON
THE KING OF COOL
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ewsflash! All those people, publications and posters that have absentmindedly piped up with his name as a ‘real influence’ when asked about the fashion greats, weren’t wrong. Steve McQueen was a style icon. Whether reeled off in a fleeting manner or meant with real passion, the fact remains that ‘The King of Cool’ truly did reign supreme. So this is our own ode to the great one, the one who taught us that polo necks were cool, who made us feel like maybe we could ride a motorcycle too (yes we are talking about that scene in 1963’s The Great Escape) and who gave us a couple of decades of pure chic that will live on for a long time to come. What’s so interesting about Steve McQueen as a style icon is that he made it look completely effortless – careless, even. He was synonymous with charisma and was one of the figures to define the fashion of his era. Yet you got the impression that he was never really that fussed with it all. Off screen, whatever he wore – whether it was a formal, three-piece herringbone suit or his classic All-American look of a leather jacket, aviators and jeans – he wore it for himself. That confidence
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translated onto the screen, enabling him to pull off practically anything. Though he broke boundaries in terms of male presence in the global fashion industry – he was the first man to adorn the cover of Harper’s Bazaar magazine – it was his cinematic style exploits that won the world over to him. Take, for example, the brown tweed blazer he wore in Bullitt (1968), which is thought to have sold at auction for upwards of $500,000. Another example of his sartorial influence comes in the form of the Tag Heuer Monaco that he wore in Le Mans (1971). Even though the film wasn’t his best, McQueen’s visceral style and infectious cool turned the watch into something almost as iconic as the man himself –Tag Heuer even re-released it in the 1990s. It’s his on-screen prowess that fetches the big bucks, but when it came to watches, his heart really lay with Rolex – so much so, in fact, that the watch brand named an Explorer model after him. Though we can hark on about the influence he has had on the style of future generations and how he will continue to be an influence in years to come, to get to the real root of what makes him an icon, we must delve deeper into just what it was that made people adore him so much. It wasn’t
so much what he wore that made him a style icon, it was his overall persona. He was rebellious, confident and straightforward. A real man’s man, McQueen’s main loves were smoking, shooting, and – most of all – racing cars and motorcycles. His passion for speed and burning rubber was so great that it famously prompted him to state: ‘I’m not sure whether I’m an actor who races or a racer who acts.’ This rebellious and carefree nature was true of McQueen since the word go. Following a tumultuous and unsettled childhood, McQueen gravitated towards the life of a petty criminal. He was caught stealing hubcaps when he was 14, and even when he joined the US Marine Corps in 1947, he was promoted and demoted several times before he was honorably discharged in 1950. His carefree, two-fingers-up attitude translated brilliantly to the screen, where he played his roles as the antihero with a charm that made women love him and men to want to be his mate. The rugged charm transcends time and earns him the much-used but rarely deserved status of ‘legend.’ We have been reminded of this legend again recently with McQueen’s
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grandson, Steve R McQueen. Proving that the stylish apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, the 25 year-old actor has recently featured in the new Abercrombie and Fitch campaign. And what do you know? He’s riding a motorcycle, too. Whether he meant to or not, McQueen has assertively stamped his mark on menswear, his legacy living on not only in his family (though we doubt they will ever come close), but in his way of life. Unrelentingly cool and effortlessly stylish – Sir, we salute you.
By Victoria Gardiner
(TOP LEFT) MCQUEEN CONVICTED FOR RECKLESS DRIVING. (TOP RIGHT) STEVE MCQUEEN AND V I R G I N I A G R E G G I N WA N T E D D E A D OR ALIVE (1959).
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PASTEL tailoring Put the spring back into your sartorial step this season with the best of pastel tailoring. From mellow hues of pink and yellow to mint green pinstripes and iridescent orange, this season is all about colour, gentlemen. Photographed by Hanna Hillier and styled by Holly Macnaghten
Photography by Hanna Hillier Styling by Holly Macnaghten Styling Assistant Hangna Koh Grooming by Danny Defreitas using Temptu & Dr Hauschka Model Oscar @ Next Models
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Jacket, Hardy Aimes, £475, hardyamies. co.uk. Shirt, Turnbull & Asser, £180, mrporter.com Trousers, Paul Smith, £257, paulsmith.co.uk. Shoes, Gieves & Hawkes, £395, gievesandhawkes.com
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Jacket,£600. Waistcoat, £250. Slippers, £395. All Hackett, hackett.com. Chinos, Paul Smith, £125, paulsmith.co.uk. Shirt, Richard Anderson, £125, richardandersonltd.com
T Shirt £45, sunspel.com Gillet £290 canada-goose.com
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Suit, £2,795. Shirt, £145. Shoes, £395. All Gieves & Hawkes, gievesandhawkes.com
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Jumper, £529. Trousers, £275. Jacket, £335. All Paul Smith, paulsmith.co.uk
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Shirt, £175. Jacket, £745. Trousers, £225. All Richard James, richardjames.com Shoes, Grenson, £185, grenson.co.uk Belt, Loro Piana, £350, mrporter.com
Trousers, £300. Jacket, £600. Shirt, £135. All Richard Anderson, richardandersonltd.com Scarf stylists own
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Jacket, £450. Slippers, £395. Both Hackett, hackett.com Shirt, £85. Trousers, £125. Both GANT, gant.co.uk Belt, stylists own
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Trousers, Hackett, £135, hackett.com Shirt, Gant, £80, gant.co.uk Jacket, Ralph Lauren, £515, ralphlauren.co.uk Grenson nude Shoes, £185, Grenson, grenson.co.uk Tie, Richard James, £95, richardjames.co.uk
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POWER TOOLS ghd air Professional Hairdryer £99.00 ghdhair.com Slendertone Face For Men £250.00 slendertone.com Philips BeardTrimmer Series 9000 £100.00 philips.co.uk Braun cruZer6 precision £18.98 braun.com Braun Series 7 Shaver £299.99 braun.com Philips Styleshaver Pro £80.00 philips.co.uk Remington HyperFlex Pro Rotary Shaver £169.99 uk.remington-europe.com Photography by Gareth Williams (gareth-williams.co.uk) and Luisa Whitton (luisawhitton.com) Art Direction by Ines Suarez de Puga
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Style
By Meg Abbott
WATCHES TIMEPIECES TO WATCH OUT FOR IN 2014
Watch enthusiasts have been positively spoilt for choice this year by two of the hottest and most prestigious events on the watch industry calendar, January’s Salon International de la Haute Horlogerie and March’s Baselworld Watch and Jewellery Show. In the glowing surroundings of the Fondation de la Haute Horlogerie’s Geneva HQ, a season of scrupulously crafted suits, dresses and jewels circulated the room, attached to the invitation-only guests present to witness the unveiling of this year’s timepieces. Now in its 24th edition, SIHH saw sixteen of the most esteemed brands take to the floor to show off their latest designs to a global clientele. This year saw a refreshing lack of trending, with emphasis leaning more on variety and ageless appeal. Inspiration ranged from classical 1950s elegance to the nautical voyages of Jacques Cousteau. Baselworld is an event that sparks similar excitement, with 22,000 visitors and 3,610 journalists from all over the globe clambering to get the first glimpse of the newest and most sought after timepieces and jewels. Here is our selection of the most jaw-dropping creations of 2014 so far.
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Baume et Mercier Clifton
The Swiss powerhouse has returned to its roots this year with the outstanding Mercier Clifton range. Harking back to the ‘golden era’ of design, the 1950s–inspired 10129 is the embodiment of understated elegance, featuring an alligator strap and a wide, silver sunburst face. With the 10130 and the 10123 sporting a more urban, heavy look, the brand has created an exclusive range of timepieces, with attractive versatility. Yet the subtle injection of luxury in the form of sapphire crystals, gold hands and the self-winding caliber lends these models a timelessness that is sure to mark them among the icons.
Grand Prix de Monaco Historique Chrono
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2014 is the seventh consecutive year Chopard will act as the sponsor and official timekeeper of the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique. This eponymous chronograph is the perfect watch for the event. A real gentleman racing driver’s chronograph, the model brings sartorial style and contemporary edge to the intensity of the race track. A racer’s watch both figuratively and literally, features include a taut and dynamically crafted titanium case, a unique dial with grooves inspired by those of the racetrack and a luxury black barenia racerstyle strap. Perhaps most striking, however, are the recurring flashes of bright yellow that punctuate the face and body. This impressive colour contrast provides improved readability and definition to the thunder of the Grand Prix.
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>
>
IWC Aquatimer Also gazing up in all its maritime-inspired glory is IWC Schaffhausen’s Aquatimer collection. Containing a date and calendar display nestled in a simple but elegant face, this is a large, domineering piece with poise and durability. Inspired by the legendary film-maker, conservationist and explorer Jacques Cousteau, IWC’s newest feat beholds a masculine elegance coupled with all the sturdy components of an adventurer’s essential.
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<
Vacheron Constantin Collection Excellence Platine Vacheron Constantin have paved the way for fine watch-making since Jean-Marc Vacheron established his workshop in the heart of Geneva. This piece features a clean and simple platinum dial and white-gold Roman numerals, as well as a gently curving platinum case and a folding clasp in the same robust, sleek material. Endowed with a power reserve of up to forty-eight hours, this watch embodies the ageless beauty of high-end timepiece craftsmanship.
Piaget Altiplano 38mm 900P
Ralph Lauren Automotive Flying Tourbillon All the history of the legendary fashion house resides in Ralph Lauren’s new timepiece. The aesthetics are cued by Mr Lauren’s favourite car, the 1938 Type 57SC Bugatti Atlantic Coupe, and the watch contains a suspended flying tourbillon detail. The double-layered dial, with a top layer of elm burl wood gives a nod to the Coupe’s dashboard. The watch also displays an enlarged ‘12’ and a gold and sapphire micro-rotor. A magnificent feat of design, Ralph Lauren secure a place amid the watch-making elite with this heady piece, and have created a wonder of masculine prowess to match even the most legendary brands.
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Famed since 1957 for creating the thinnest watches in the world, Piaget has grabbed this title once again this year with the Altiplano, retaining their throne as the masters of haute horology. This model treads the line between innovation and design history, with an intricate watch-face that allows its wearer to view the architecture of the mechanics. Ultra-thin and versatile, this watch encompasses modern craftsmanship and mechanical originality.
< Breitling for Bentley 6.75 Midnight Carbon The Breitling for Bentley collaboration has already produced several stunning timepieces, demonstrating their commitment to style, elegance and quality - and this model is no different. A fitting tribute to the 6.75 litre Bentley engine - the very one that powers the luxury Mulsanne limousines - this watch exudes boldness and power. The movement is a self winding chronograph with a large aperture calendar, satin-brushed steel case and knurled bezel with a midnight-hued livery inspired by the iconic Bentley radiator grilles. With only 1,000 being produced, this timepiece is set to be a real head turner. Price on request, breitling.com Spring 2014
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THE GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS Choice is good – we like choice. But once every couple of years, a product comes along that is so obviously the best of its type that it invalidates your freedom to choose. It is, quite simply, an obligation to buy it. If that all sounds a bit daunting, don’t worry – as ever, The Gent’s Journal is here to guide you through the minefield of men’s market no-brainers. Bank details at the ready? Let’s go!
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IRT SH THE
THE GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS
HILDITCH & KEY £125.00 In 1899, two employees in the shirt making company of Harman’s Duke Street left to open their own shop in Tottenham Court Road, London. They were Charles F. Hilditch and W. Graham Key. The partnership soon prospered and the name of Hilditch & Key became a favourite with the fashionable London gentry of the day. Mr. Hilditch also became a familiar figure at the great universities, offering personal service to the gentlemen undergraduates. hilditchandkey.co.uk
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CHRISTIES - LOT 186 - ROLEX
TCH WA
THE GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS
$ 1,145,000
In December, Christie’s auctioned off one of the most extraordinary pieces to surface in recent years. It’s a Rolex 8171 from 1953 that is as rare as Naomi Campbell in a good mood and twice as beautiful. The 8171 was produced in extremely limited quantities between 1951 and 1953, with almost all examples encased in yellow gold, and quickly became a favourite among connoisseurs, who nicknamed it the ‘Big Frying Pan’ due to its size. This fine stainless steel variant is pretty much one of a kind. The watch features a diamond-set automatic triple watch calendar with moon phases, a Cal. A.295 CPL automatic movement, 18 jewels, a two-toned silvered dial, applied baton numerals and diamond-set numerals at 3, 6, 9, and 12 o’clock, an outer date ring with blue Arabic numerals and a central blued steel date hand, two apertures for day and month in English, an engine-turned subsidiary dial for moon phases and constant seconds, a large circular case, calendar correctors in the band, a snap on case back, and a stainless steel Rolex buckle. You’re too late for it, but keep your eyes open - this sort of item just doesn’t crop up anywhere other than at Christie’s. christies.com Spring 2014
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HA T THE
THE GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS
LOCK & CO - THE HOMBURG HAT Originally based on a Tyrolean hat spotted by Edward VII on a trip abroad, the Homburg became a mainstay of the English gentleman’s wardrobe as men ditched their more formal top hats and bowlers. The Homburg has many variations in shape and colour but remains distinct in its turned up and bound brim. Still about as sharp as it gets, nobody makes them with more precision than Lock & Co of St James’s. lockhatters.co.uk
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POECNK THCEL THE
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MONTBLANC On a trip to America in 1906, German businessmen Alfred Nehemias and August Eberstein saw their first fountain pen. Both were fascinated by the then-new invention, and immediately set about producing a version for themselves. They launched the Mont Blanc pen in 1909 and it wasn’t long before it became a household name. In business ever since, the brand has never failed to live up to its values – culture, quality, craftsmanship and continuity. montblanc.com
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N GU THE
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BOSS & CO From the outset of his career in the late 18th Century, Thomas Boss only produced one quality of gun – the best. Little has changed since. A century later, the St James’s Street firm patented the famous Boss single trigger in 1894, the Boss ejector in 1898 and the over and under gun in 1909 – timeless pieces all. The best doesn’t come cheap – as George VI once said, ‘a Boss gun, bloody beautiful, but too bloody expensive!’ But don’t let that put you off. bossguns.com
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THE KET
BARBOUR - BEACON SPORTS JACKET
JAC
THE GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS
£399
Whether it’s a hidden trim, an unusual stud, or a zipper that also serves as a ring-pull, there’s always something to discover in the jackets, knitwear and shirts that make up Barbour’s Dept. B collection – a collection inspired by a historic area in Barbour’s South Shields Factory that specialised in customisation and attention to detail. The Beacon Sports Jacket takes its customisation cue from the wardrobe department on Skyfall, who featured a near identical Barbour jacket on Daniel Craig’s James Bond in the blockbuster film. The piece even references its muse in its product code, which includes the famous 007 in its composition. Get yours now. barbour.com Spring 2014
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ME RA THE
CA
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LEICA - THE LEICA M The story of 35 mm photography began almost 100 years ago with the legendary Ur-Leica. Today, it is the Leica M and its sisters, the Leica M-E & M Monochrom, that carry the legend of Leica M-Cameras into the digital age. With a 24 × 36 full frame sensor, they are the smallest digital cameras the world has ever seen. The Leica M has intuitive controls and is simple to use, even for those familiar only with SLR cameras. There are no superfluous functions and no overcomplicated menus. Photographers are given the opportunity to concentrate entirely on what’s essential: their pictures. leica-camera.co.uk
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£5,100
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SCHÖFFEL - GILET - OAKHAM FLEECE GILET With over two hundred years of experience and a heritage that spans seven generations, Schöffel is built on a foundation of uncompromising quality, innovation, technology and a passion for being the best. The result is a range of specialist and stylish clothing designed for the countryside. schöffel.co.uk
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TEC H WE AR AB LE
THE
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SENTURION Senturion Technology UK had a blinder of a proposal on their hands – creating a unique edition to mark the launch of their premier, tough-as-nails new keyless entry bracelet. The process was truly extraordinary – their raw material for creating the bracelet was a 4 billion year-old meteorite, which they had to slice open using state-of-the-art tools. The work was forensic, but no-one would disagree that the finished product is a stunning object. senturionkey.com
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R
GEO F TRUMPER There has recently been a return to fashion for traditional barbershops, and Geo F Trumper is a cut above the competition in London. The world-famous brand’s stunning range of gentlemen’s fragrances and grooming products offers a comprehensive selection of luxury products with timeless appeal. The Trumper shops in Curzon Street, Mayfair and Duke of York Street, St James’s are unrivalled in the services they offer from hair cutting and wet shaves to chiropody, manicure, head massage and face scrubs. trumpers.com Spring 2014
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KEY WH IS THE
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TOBERMORY 15 YEAR OLD Crafted and matured at one of Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s oldest distilleries, Tobermory 15 Year Old Single Malt Scotch Whisky embodies old-world charm and tradition with its depth and strength of flavour. Aged and perfected in superbly refined sherry casks from producer Gonzalez Byass Oloroso, the fullbodied liquid has a natural golden colour and a softly spicy finish. This single malt is one to watch, as the launch of a new expression is sure to match the legendary Tobermory spirit of discovery. tobermorymalt.com
thesilverfund.com
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Since 1996, the Silver Fund has become the world’s largest dealer in Georg Jensen silver, having sold over $40 million’s worth of the stuff to private collectors everywhere. The exquisite wares on sale also take in some really quite breathtaking 20th Century silver by Jean Puiforcat, William Spratling, Antonio Pineda and many, many more.
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FLORIS Introduced in 1951, No.89 takes its name from the number of the Floris shop in Jermyn Street, founded in 1730 and still run from the same family today. Discerning and devoted followers of this crisp, clean classic include Ian Fleming. Orange and bergamot blended with lavender and neroli give No.89 its classic cologne aspect. Warmed with a touch of spicy nutmeg, the floral heart is underscored by the dominant accord of sandalwood, cedarwood and vetiver in this quintessentially English gentlemanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fragrance. florislondon.com
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THE GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS
SUNSPEL Sunspel has been creating luxury staples for gentlemen since 1860. Manufacturer of the original British boxer shorts, Sunspel is the go-to brand for premium cotton undies and T-shirts. They’ve cornered the market when it comes to luxury with their exclusive range of ultra-soft Sunspel Sea Island Cotton underwear. Sunspel continues the tradition of quality, offering a full range of modern everyday clothing, including luxury swimming shorts, hoodies, cashmere jumpers and their famed Riviera polo, becoming an essential for Daniel Craig’s Bond in Casino Royale. thesilverfund.com
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THE GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS
FRESCOBOL CARIOCA Since launching in 2009, Frescobol Carioca has embodied the spirit and style of Rio de Janeiro. Frescobol has grown to include, not only beach gear and accessories, but also casual wear that reflects the cool ‘Carioca’ way of life. The Spring/Summer 2014 collection features bold prints and vibrant colours drawing on the energy and atmosphere of Carnival, the forthcoming World Cup and the 2016 Olympics. All made with high-quality fabrics that work as well on the beach as they do in the city, this collection is the embodiment of Brazilian summertime. frescobolcarioca.com
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£145
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THE GENTLEMAN’S ESSENTIALS
GINETTA RACING DRIVERS CLUB Luxury car marque Ginetta is breaking new ground with its Racing Drivers Club. Created for newcomers, the package includes your own road legal G40 Club car, two track days with tuition and a racing licence. Your Ginetta G40 Club car comes with a 1.8 litre engine and weighs in at 820kg. And all this for just £27,250+VAT. The Club has hospitality facilities available, and members are welcome to use the boardroom. Events include a once-in-a-lifetime road trip to the 24 Heures Du Mans, as well as golf days and much more. To begin your journey with them contact Hayley on GRDC@ginetta.com or call 0113 385 4158. Spring 2014
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THE GENTLEMANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ESSENTIALS
EDG CUFFLINKS - THE KNIGHTSBRIDGE The new Luxury Designer EDG Cufflinks Collection is absolutely unique with fabulous eye catching vibrant colours, with the inside link duplicating the fusion of colours of the outer cufflink design. The Collection is all British Made, celebrating British design and craftsmanship. Guaranteed to add the EDG to your style. Be proud, buy British. edgcufflinks.com
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THE GENTLEMANâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S ESSENTIALS
CROCKETT & JONES Founded in 1879 in Northampton, Crockett & Jones is today renowned throughout the world for their fine quality shoes for both men and women. They remain committed to maintaining the highest standards of traditional craftsmanship, quality and service to which they have held true for more than 130 years. Using Goodyear welted construction and only the finest leathers available, Crockett & Jones shoes have an exceptional combination of comfort, elegance and durability in wear. 92 Jermyn Street, St Jamesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, London SW1Y 6JE Tel: +44 (0) 207 839 5239 Spring 2014
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EDE & RAVENSCROFT - BURLINGTON NAVY SUIT For 320 years Ede & Ravenscroft has upheld its reputation as tailors of distinction. Meticulous craftsmanship has rewarded the company with commissions from royalty to the judiciary. Ede & Ravenscroft enjoys the privilege of being the tailors and robe makers of choice for twelve coronations. Ede & Ravenscroft is thought to be the oldest firm of tailors in the world. In 1689, the area of London now known as Aldwych, was the bustling centre of the tailoring trade.In that year a respected tailoring family, the Shudalls, started a business that was to become Ede & Ravenscroft. The quality of their work won them the honour of creating the robes for the coronation of Their Majesties William and Mary. They soon became a recognised supplier to the royal family, going on to produce a large number or ceremonial robes for the coronation of His Majesty King George III.Ede & Ravenscroft is proud to hold all three Royal Warrants, an honour shared by only a small number of other companies. edeandravenscroft.com
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THE ASSAD FA M ILY THE CULT OF ANONYMIT Y By Digby Warde-Aldam
In the early hours of January 21st 1994, a car speeding up the fog-bound highway to Damascus Airport span out of control and slammed into a road barrier. It rolled over several times before the wreckage came to a standstill, leaving one passenger unhurt and another seriously injured but not yet critical...
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The vehicle’s 32 year-old driver, however, had been pulverised by repeated impact. Just hours later in London, a young ophthalmology student received a call summoning him home to Syria immediately. The corpse on the road to Damascus had belonged to Major Bassel al-Assad, a sporting hero, ladies’ man, dashing air force officer and heir apparent to his father Hafez’s Ba’athist dictatorship. The man in London, by now rushing to board a flight back to his homeland was Bassel’s younger, quieter brother, Bashar. Though few in the West can have appreciated it then, the events of that morning were to change the course of Middle Eastern history forever. The reserved and physically unprepossessing Bashar Assad now finds himself at the head of a regime fighting a back-and-forth game against rebel groups; it is the most acute form of civil war, one that neither side can afford to lose. Now reviled by both the democratic West and the Sunni Muslim World and propped up by an unwieldy alliance of military force, Iranian support and Russian and Chinese obstinacy, Syria’s president is far from secure. However distressing and bewildering the tabloid stories of Bashar tyrannical campaign against his own people and his wife Asma’s Imelda
Marcos-like profligacy, what really beggars belief is how both he and his father before him consolidated their power in the first place. When Hafez al-Assad died in 2000, Bashar inherited a fully-functioning police state unlike any other. In outward appearance, Ba’athist Syria was a relatively permissive society; tourists came and went and in Damascus, at least, its citizens enjoyed a far higher freedom and quality of life than elsewhere in the Middle East. But closer inspection revealed something altogether less rosy; the ‘free press’ was little more than the instrument of the ruling party, and should one step out of line, the General and Police Security Directorates, Assad’s repressive Mukhabarats, would waste no time in making space in one of the country’s many detention centres; it is thought that by 2011, there was one intelligence agent for every 250 of Syria’s 22 million people. As the Independent’s Robert Fisk observed shortly after Bashar took power, ‘Syria is a ‘middle’ dictatorship… if you flew in from London, Damascus was the capital of a police state – but if you travelled from Baghdad, it felt like a liberal democracy.’ As we will see, this ‘middle ground’ was a hallmark of the Assad family’s personal rule.
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THE ASSAD FAMILY Translated to English, the Arabic thus ensuring that they had vested interest had a military career, Hafez was a trained word ‘assad’ means ‘lion’ – Hafez’s father in maintaining loyalty to the leader and his combat pilot who had flown missions adopted it as a nickname in the 1920s and family. It was not just the Alawites who against the British during the 1956 Suez it stuck. The disparity between Hafez and rallied behind him, either; as David Lesch Crisis. The sobriety of the image, though, later Bashar’s ungainly physical appearance states in The Fall of the House of Assad, belied a callousness every bit as tyrannical and their grandiose surname was the butt with the country’s post-independence history as Saddam’s; following years of violent of many jokes. One rumour that still of instability and ‘war on Syria’s borders an disturbances from the Islamist Muslim circulates in Algeria insisted that Hafez had almost constant feature since the mid-1970s’, Brotherhood, Hafez gave a speech in 1982 been named ‘Naaja’ (‘Ewe’) until Egyptian many ordinary Syrians ‘willingly accepted the that made his position on fundamentalism president Gamel Abdul Nasser bullied him Faustian bargain of less freedom for more clear: ‘Death a thousand times to the Muslim into changing it – they are thus, as one stability that (Hafez) offered’. Brothers!’, he declared. This was no idle Algerian expatriate put it to me, ‘sheep in This stability was underwritten by the threat – shortly afterwards, tanks under the lions’ clothing’; this is, of course, untrue, fact that power was concentrated entirely command of his brother Rifaat rolled into but it is nonetheless telling. Across the in the hands of the Assads – and it seemed the city of Hama, then as now a centre of Arab world in the 1960s, Hafez – at the evident to all that Bassel’s succession opposition, and blew it apart. The lowest time climbing the greasy pole to the top would continue this. In such a model of estimates put the death toll at between 5 and of the Syrian leadership – was seen as little government, it is usually the case that the 10,000. Others chillingly cite anything up to more than Nasser’s puppet. By the time leadership begins to manifest delusions of three times the latter number. of the bloodless coup that installed him grandeur in its public appearances – the Bashar, with his comically long neck, as president, Hafez had clearly realised phrase ‘dictatorship’ conjours images of fondness for the music of Phil Collins and he was not a strongman in the protruding bat-ears, is a caricaturist’s mould of other Arab dictators. He dream of a middle-aged nerd. As was, however, as Machiavellian an Syrian exile Majid Rafizadeh points operator as any the 20th Century out, by comparison to his charismatic threw up. brother Bassel, ‘Bashar was viewed When he seized power in 1970, as the ‘momma’s boy,’ and was he quietly and deftly established often seen as a bit of a joke,’ and what for the majority of his rule few believed he had what it took was an improbable but impregnable to lead a country as isolated and dictatorship. By the time he died, he volatile as Syria. But he was not had established first a republic with stupid; in fact, by playing on his a ‘president for life’, and thence, perceived weaknesses and stressing once his son succeeded him, a de the differences between himself and facto socialist dynasty – oxymoronic the phenomenally popular Bassel, proposals both. His rise to power, he actually managed to capitalise ‘Hafez al-Assad was as Machiavellian on his perceived weakness both though, was far from predictable; his family belong to the Alawite an operator as any the 20th Century at home and abroad. As David sect, a branch of Shia Islam whose Lesch identifies, ‘he has got where threw up’ adherents make up only 12-13% he is and stayed there despite of Syria’s population. The Alawites – or perhaps because of – his military regalia and idolatrous personality had traditionally been marginalised by the unassuming appearance.’ Rather than cults. The Assads, however, were not Sunni-majority, and it was only under the posing as a ‘warrior prince’, he saw Syria as foolish enough to fall prey to their own divide-and-rule strategy of the 1920s French the exception to the Middle Eastern rule, vanity. Businesslike anonymity has been the colonial administration that they began and himself as a level-headed mediator. sartorial and linguistic hallmark of their rule to enter public life. After independence No-one expected him to show ever since the drably-named ‘Corrective in 1946, Syria was subjected to a number untoward aggression towards Syria’s Revolution’ that brought them to power; as of coups and it was not until 1963 that enemies, and an unyielding but everFisk notes, government newspapers, far from the Ba’ath Party – a Socialist, pan-Arabist diplomatic resistance to Western pressure trumpeting the greatness of Syria’s rulers, movement whose name loosely translates as allowed him to steer his regime through were so fixated on jargon and statistics that ‘renaissance’ – seized power and established even the headlines ‘ran the risk of boring the some of the most incendiary situations Syria a degree of stability. Many Alawites has ever faced. He more or less successfully reader to sleep.’ In Egypt, museums, major including Hafez rose to prominent positions resisted American belligerence post-9/11, thoroughfares and even lakes are named in the government, and less than ten years the invasion of neighbouring Iraq and the in honour of Nasser; in Damascus, only later he led a faction of them to stage his decade of sectarian violence that followed, one major building bares Hafez’s name – bloodless but successful coup. the 2006 Israeli invasion of Lebanon significantly, it is a public library. The make-up of the new administration and constant accusations of ‘sponsoring In stark contrast to, say, his presented a problem for which Hafez had terrorism’ from Washington. By 2010, it contemporary Saddam Hussein’s khaki a neat solution: although he was careful looked as though his perseverance might fatigues, Hafez wore nondescript suits, to delegate certain positions to Sunnis, an have been successful: Barack Obama’s resembling something closer to a provincial overwhelmingly disproportionate number of bank manager than a ruthless autocrat. There administration re-opened diplomatic ties top jobs went to relatives and fellow Alawites, with Damascus and Bashar was reportedly was some irony in this; while Saddam never
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seen in the company of high-ranking US politicians. In March 2011, Vogue Magazine even ran an ill-judged feature on his wife Asma, describing her as a ‘desert rose’ – the article was published just days before protests erupted in her backyard. Unlike his uncompromisingly aloof father, Bashar has a history of expressing views that, for an autocrat, seem almost impossibly liberal. In his inaugural speech, he spoke of ‘modernising’ Syria and reforming its creaking socialist economy to sweep out what Roger Owen, in his post-Arab Spring study The Rise and Fall of Arab Presidents for Life, calls the ‘crony capitalism’ and ‘personalised corporatism’ that have played an instrumental role in propping up the Assad family since 1970. However sincere his intentions, the institutionalised corruption ensured that change was limited, but it didn’t stop him expressing admiration for the protestors in Egypt and Tunisia months before he elected to begin the massacre thousands of Syrians in the same position: ‘just be transparent with your people’, he offered the Wall Street Journal as a pointer to where the governments of those countries had gone wrong; ‘Syria is stable,’ he added. ‘Assad thought Syria was different’ writes Lesch; ‘he was obviously wrong.’ Events moved fast, though. In Tunisia, the 24-year regime of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali unravelled in a matter of weeks; in Egypt, the military refused to fire on
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protestors and thus drew the curtains on Hosni Mubarak’s three decades of power. When largely peaceful protests broke out across Syria, it became clear that the country was anything but ‘stable.’ On March 15th 2011, security forces opened fire on a peaceful anti-corruption protest in the southern city of Deraa; soon, innocuous demonstration had escalated into full-on revolt, and the regime responded with wholesale brutality. From this point onward, chaos was assured. We cannot know for sure why Bashar allowed his soldiers to repress the demonstrations so brutally, but it is possible that it was a knee-jerk reaction to Mubarak’s downfall and a test of his army’s loyalty. Whatever the cause, it was the worst decision the normally cool-headed dictator could have made; the war has so far cost the lives of an estimated 180,000 people and shows no sign of immediate resolution. Assad may yet survive the turmoil; the Syrian Army remains loyal despite mass desertions and the wildly diverging political and religious interests of the rebels ensure that their alliance remains at best expedient, allowing him to cast his regime as a bastion against Islamist terrorism – a major factor in the West writing off a Libyan-style intervention last August. What is clear, though, is that the state built by Hafez al-Assad and all progress Bashar has made with diplomacy, reforms and their dull but
considered image has been violently torn apart by the disastrous haste and barbarity of his response. At the time of writing, negotiations have just opened in Geneva. Businesslike to the last, Assad had entered the talks stating that he would not relinquish power without being voted out of office – a measure that would not only save him face but, with some irony, allow him to claim he had brought democracy to his country. Unbelievably, given revelations of the Syrian state’s use of chemical weapons and photo evidence of horrific torture, he may well get exactly what he wants. Even should this happen, though, one thing is for sure: his image – that of the nondescript, reasonable everyman – has been definitively cracked.
‘Bashar saw Syria as an exception to the Middle Eastern rule, and himself as a level-headed mediator’
Herring Exmoor & Dartmoor available from
www.herring.co.uk
Amy Jackson Leading Lady
Brits are all over the movie industry in the USA – but what about in Bollywood? This month’s Leading Lady, model and actress Amy Jackson, has at the age of 22 become one of only a handful of British thesps to make it big in the world’s largest film industry, and has been starring in majorleague pictures there since her breakthrough four years ago. In need of some tips for our own subcontinental success, we met her to find out how she pulled it off...
How were you discovered? It all started when I won Miss Teen World in America at 16 and Indian film director A.L Vijay spotted me. He thought I had the right look for the lead role in his movie Madrasapattinam, so he travelled over to England to meet me and within 2 weeks my mum and I were in Chennai shooting for my first movie.
What are you working on at the moment? Last weekend was the release of my debut in the Telugu film industry with Yevadu, and it’s been a blockbuster hit. I love their movie industry - it’s very flamboyant! At the moment I’m in Chennai shooting for a Tamil movie, Ai, which means ‘Divine Beauty’. We’ve been shooting this movie for nearly two years now and it’s taken me all over the world, from China to Australia. The movie is now set for an April release.
What is your greatest achievement so far? The past four years have been an absolute whirlwind. There have been some obstacles with language barriers and culture differences, but I’m now fluent in Hindi and working hard at Tamil and Telugu so that’s one of my biggest achievements. I’ve also just won the Ritz Young Icon Award. That’s a big honour for me.
Where do you hope to be in 5 years from now? Acting is a passion and I hope to follow it wherever it takes me. I like to mix up every script I work on, so in five years’ time I hope to have a lot more movies under my belt, and to be recognised for taking on roles which are a little bit different.
Obviously you are a huge star in India, but how are you perceived when you come back to the UK? It’s great because I have the best of both worlds. When I come home I can just enjoy time with friends and family. I’ve been recognised a couple of times by the Indian community, but other than that I’m just Amy!
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What do you do to relax? I’m animal-obsessed. We’ve got dogs, cats and horses at home, so when I’m feeling a bit stressed, I just chill with them. I love to go horse riding early in the morning on country roads, I come back with a clear mind and I’m ready to take on anything!
What is your philosophy for work and play? Work hard, play hard. When I’m filming we usually shoot very long days, between 15-18 hours and we do that for months on end until the schedule is finished. Then when I’m in England, I’m up and down the country on modelling shoots and endorsements. When I get a little break I like to take off somewhere with my girls and let loose. We usually go to Ibiza and a couple of festivals throughout the Summer. This year we’re going to Miami for the Music Conference in March.
If you weren’t doing what you are now, what do you think you’d be doing instead? Modelling and movies are ideal for me because you never know what to expect. If I had to choose a different career path it would have to be something crazy and random... I’d split my year in half and spend six months training dolphins in Florida and the other half working in Spain at the School of Lippizaners.
I’ve been told that you now call India home... India has opened its arms to me and it’s definitely my second home.
Whereabouts in India do you live? I have a base in Mumbai, which I think could possibly be the craziest city in the world. It’s constantly buzzing!
What are the pros and cons of living there? Mumbai is a city where anything can happen, it’s changed me in a good way. I’m open to everything now and I think it would take a lot to faze me. The downside is that it’s HUGE, and everyone here lives in the fast lane. Although there are so many people and so many friends, it can somehow get a little lonely.
Living in India, what’s your opinion on how women are treated there? I must admit, India has a long way to go regarding women. From what’s been highlighted in the press, it’s shocking. But I have noticed certain things changing. For instance, 10 years ago in the film industry, actresses were not given parts anywhere near as important and substantial as they are now. Women were just perceived as pretty faces who could dance, but now they are really given roles to showcase their talent.
What do you think it will take for there to be a change? The women of India are very strong and I admire them a lot. I believe that if we unite together and stand for our rights, then change can happen. It’s going to take a long time, and support from people in power is vital. Men committing crimes against women need to be punished, and punished severely.
What are your views on the ‘Nirbheek’ gun that has hit the press recently? Frankly speaking, women cannot walk outside after dark in cities like Delhi, and I don’t see anything happening to make them feel better about the situation. They are clutching to anything that could keep them safe. I can completely understand women who want to carry the Nirbheek Gun, but I don’t believe it’s the answer to the problem. Women should not have to take the law into their own hands - it’s up to the politicians and people with power to make the change in India.
Do you miss England? Of course, home is where the heart is. I have friends and family who I’ve known my whole life, but Skype really helps build a bridge.
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30 UNDER 30 The List
Thought you were ahead of the game? Think again. There’s a whole load of kids just waiting to make even your decisions look like potty training. We’ve always had prodigies, but the staggering advances in technology over the past decade mean that the young’uns have an unfair advantage – after all, they’ve grown up with YouTube, Twitter and all that new-fangled stuff. For this issue, we’ve picked thirty of the most impressive entrepreneurs, entertainers and philanthropists born since 1984. They’re precocious, they’re daring and they’re very, very successful. Underestimate them at your peril.
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DAVID KARP 27, FOUNDER, TUMBLR When he was 20, David Karp used a fortnight’s holiday to develop an idea he’d been playing around with. By the time his two weeks were up, he’d created Tumblr. The now-ubiquitous blogging platform was launched in 2007, and attracted 75,000 users in its first two weeks. Last year, Karp sold the company – which now hosts over 140 million blogs – to Yahoo! for a staggering $1.1 billion. He remains CEO and is, presumably, laughing all the way to the cleaners.
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JUSTIN BIEBER 19, SINGER Seriously? Yup. Disagree and you’ll have 49 million beliebers out there ready to string you up. Since he released One Time in 2009, the Canadian wunderkind has gone from mop-topped YouTube hit to full-on superstar prima donna. While it remains to be seen whether Bieber will take his pre-teen following with him into his 20s (and indeed control his increasingly odd behaviour), you can’t argue with record sales of 15 million and counting.
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EVAN SPIEGEL & ROBERT MURPHY 23 AND 25, FOUNDERS, SNAPCHAT
PETE CASHMORE 28, FOUNDER, MASHABLE Until relatively recently, the most successful thing to come out of Aberdeen was granite. How times change. Since Cashmore started Mashable from his bedroom in 2005, aged just 19, he has pretty much entirely re-shaped the way we think about social media and online news. The pioneering site now has nearly 4 million Twitter followers and is acknowledged as one of the most important web endeavours in history.
Ever wondered who was responsible for the Selfie taking over the world? Look no further than this pair, the brains behind SnapChat. Spiegel and Murphy developed the fast-paced photo messaging app while still at Stanford University – since then, they have reportedly declined offers from Facebook ($3 billion) and Google ($4 billion). Not bad for a student in-joke, eh?
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PATRICK & JOHN COLLISON 25 AND 23, CO-FOUNDERS, STRIPE Sibling rivalry be damned – these brothers from County Limerick have changed the face of Internet payments and pioneered marketing software with Auctomactic and Stripe. Their entrepreneurial endeavours aren’t the end of it, either: Patrick moonlights as a scientist, specialising in artificial intelligence, while John is also a pilot and a pianist. Together, they have attracted over $40 million of investment to Stripe alone.
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AVICII 24, DJ AND RECORD PRODUCER Forget ABBA, there’s a new Swede on the block. Since 2010, when he had his first international hit with Seek Bromance, Avicii has climbed up the charts and into the kind of global fame normally reserved for RnB divas and Gallagher brothers. Ranked number 3 in DJ Magazine’s top 100 DJs list for the second year running, Avicii has played the game his own way, and set the template for hundreds of inferior imitators.
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PALMER LUCKEY 21, INVENTOR To look at this happy-go-lucky kid from Long Beach, California, you wouldn’t imagine he was responsible for one of the most radical inventions in the history of gaming. The Oculus Rift device that he patented aged just 20 is a gobsmacking piece of kit, a head-mounted visual display of a kind never before imagined, let alone seen. There’s obvious enthusiasm for it, too: in the development stages, Luckey managed to ratchet up $16 million in private investment.
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CHASE ADAM 27, FOUNDER, WATSI About five years ago, Chase Adam was a volunteer for the Peace Corps in the town of Watsi, Costa Rica. Stepping onto a bus one day, he met an impoverished woman who begged him for money for her son’s urgent medical treatment. It suddenly occurred to him that if crowd-funding could be used for, say, music events, then surely it would work for charitable donation, too. The not-for-profit healthcare platform he went on to start uses donations to pay for medicine and treatment all over the world, and is completely transparent in its dealings – an absolutely revolutionary approach to public philanthropy.
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ONE DIRECTION 3.5 – THE BAND ITSELF, THAT IS. ITS FIVE MEMBERS ARE AGED BETWEEN 19 AND 22 Say what you like about Simon Cowell, but taking a chance on this lot was a masterstroke. Since we first met them auditioning for the X-Factor – can it really be only three years ago? - the 1D boys have transcended their band’s rather unfortunate name to become the biggest British group of the modern era. Now that they’ve become the acceptable face of mass-produced pop and sold in excess of 20 million records, the only question is: what next? Will Harry go solo? Will Louis go into politics? Will we ever be able to remember the names of the other ones? Only time will tell...
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ANDY MURRAY 26, TENNIS PLAYER Read the heading above again – 26. Yup, 26. How is that possible? It feels as if the infamously short-tempered Glaswegian has been stomping the courts of Wimbledon forever. Despite his triumphant 2013, Murray has recently crashed out of the world top 5 for the first time since 2008 after a spirited but disappointing performance in the Qatar Open, he will no doubt be back on form come the summer. Murray, after all, means business – and not just his reported £30 million sponsorship deal with Adidas.
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JONATHAN OSTREM
ANDREW SUTHERLAND
29, POST-DOCTORAL SCHOLAR AND CONSULTANT
23, CREATOR OF QUIZLET
Based in San Francisco, Ostrem has done pioneering work into combating cancer. He has spent the last decade creating a drug that effectively smothers Ras, a previously unstoppable form of cancer molecule associated with lung tumours in the lungs, bowels and pancreas.
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ZAKIYA SMITH 27, EDUCATION ADVISOR By the time she was 24, Harvard and Vanderbilt graduate Zakiya Smith was already a senior policy advisor at the White House, instrumental in forging the Obama administration’s ground-breaking educational reforms. Although she left the President’s team in 2012 to pursue a similarly challenging role as an advisor to Lumina, a schools thinktank, her work for the government is already being felt across the classrooms of the United States.
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LUDMIL ALEXANDROV 27, PHD CANDIDATE It’s sobering to consider how little we actually know about the mutational processes that cause cancer, and this is precisely what Alexandrov is striving to change. His work is providing ever-more insight into the genetic faults that kill so many, and is one of the most ambitious endeavours in modern medical science.
Astonishingly, Sutherland was only fifteen when he created the online learning programme with which he would make his name. Using his knowledge of code, he worked to construct a tool that would help him revise for his exams. He looked back at what he’d put together and realised it had wings – and it wasn’t long before Quizlet, as he named it, had become a standard revision tool across the American education system.
RORY MCILROY
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24, GOLFER
JAKE HELLER
Although he’s only been pro since 2007, County Down-born McIlroy has already made a name for himself as one of the greatest golfers of all time. Last year, he signed a deal with Nike for a rumoured £100 million, and despite controversial views on the organisation of the Ryder Cup and a hesitancy over whether to commit to the British or Irish teams for the 2016 Olympics, the future looks very bright indeed.
29, CO-FOUNDER, CASETEXT Having a comprehensive legal system is a good thing, we’re agreed. But how on Earth is the layman to approach it? Jake Heller wondered the same thing, and decided to start Casetext, a sort of legal Wikipedia with crowd-sourced entries. ‘Making all the world’s laws free and understandable’ – quite a mission statement, but one that is obviously not beyond Heller and his supporters; their investors include everyone from CrossLink Capital to Ashton Kutcher.
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NATE LEVINE
SAM SHIKIAR
22, FOUNDER, OPENGOV
28, VICE PRESIDENT, GOLDMAN SACHS
ALLISON LAMI SAWYER
Whatever the Daily Wail might have you believe, bureaucracy isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It does, though, have its problems, and some of the most challenging have been created by the enormity of moving records from paper to digital. Nate Levine realised that government data storage was confused and inefficient – so he decided to sort it out with software. Since its launch in 2012, Levine’s company OpenGov has streamlined the processes of budgeting and documentation in over 50 government agencies across the USA, and is rumoured to be expanding into the private sector.
How many representatives do you have? We’re betting it’s less than 7,300 – the number that brokerdealer Sam Shikiar has across the USA. He is currently head of the electronics commodities trading team at Goldman Sachs, having cut his teeth at Global Alpha and Equity Opportunities Funds.
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MALLORY BLAIR 25, FOUNDER, SMALL GIRLS PR
TOM SELLERS
Mallory Blair started her fantastic PR firm Small Girls (Blair herself is 5”3) three years ago, and has since then scored an absolutely remarkable string of successes. Her firm now takes care of the image of many highprofile clients including GE, Gawker and MeetUp from its Brooklyn HQ.
27, CHEF
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GEORGINA DENT 19, CHEF Georgina Dent is nothing short of a prodigy. She began working at Nathan Outlaw’s legendary restaurant in Cornwall before she’d even taken her GCSEs, and is now chef de partie. She has already worked with some of the greatest chefs in the UK, including Sat Bains and regular Gentleman’s Journal contributor Marcus Wareing. Having won last year’s hallowed Observer Food Monthly for best young chef, her future looks incredibly tasty indeed.
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Having aced a master’s degree in nanotechnology, Allison Lami Sawyer launched her Rebellion Photonics company in 2010, looking into cuttingedge technology and impossibly complicated problem-solving. Amongst her most spectacular solutions is a device that is capable of ‘seeing’ gas leaks before they would otherwise be detectable. Our bet is that it’ll be installed in every kitchen in the western world before the decade’s out.
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Tom Sellers, has come a long way since being kicked out of school in Nottingham, aged sixteen. He discovered the excitement of cooking through Marco Pierre White’s White Heat and rose up the food chain (sorry), working for the likes of Noma’s Rene Redzepi and Thomas Keller. The time came to strike out on his own, and when finally Sellers opened Story, his ground-breaking restaurant, in South East London last year, it received 10/10 reviews across the board.
29, ENTREPRENEUR
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JUNO TEMPLE
EESHA KHARE
24, ACTOR
19, STUDENT AND INVENTOR
Originally from Somerset and daughter of respected documentarymaker Julien Temple, Juno’s roles keep on getting better and better – as do her performances. From Christopher Nolan’s final Batman outing to the hilarious indie flick Greenberg, she has kept her CV diverse by never entirely falling for mainstream cinema’s bait. Snagging an Oscar before her 30th might seem ambitious, but don’t bet against it.
Eesha Khare isn’t even into her third decade but has already come up with an invention that might change the way we use electronics. Her brainchild is a supercapacitator that may one day replace batteries, making portable electrical devices more efficient and less environmentally harmful. You’re right to be gobsmacked – American talkshow host Conan O’Brien was so impressed he invited her onto the show for an interview.
30 UNDER 30
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LENA DUNHAM 27, WRITER AND ACTOR Groan, you might be thinking – but how on earth could we have left out Lena Dunham? Her sitcom Girls – which she wrote in its entirety – is the funniest, cleverest, most painfully true and – ah, to hell with it – just the best thing on TV anywhere right. As if that weren’t enough, she’s just published her first collection of essays.
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GREG KIMBALL
CARRYN MCLAUGHLIN
26, MANAGER OF DIGITAL STRATEGY AT L’ORÉAL Greg Kimball’s face is not that of a man in charge of what must be one of the world’s biggest and wide-reaching digital departments in the world. This, though, is precisely what he is, and with his responsibilities he has changed the way that conglomerates like L’Oréal think of their approach to social media.
29, VICE PRESIDENT, JP MORGAN CHASE Carryn McLaughlin is in control of handling over $2.7 billion of business, having obtained her CFP six years ago. Shooting up JP Morgan Chase’s pecking order quite so quickly is achievement enough in itself – but to land with such an impressive portfolio is something else entirely.
YANNICK SONNENBERG 25, FOUNDER, ELEFUNDS Operating from Berlin’s trendy Schönhauser Allee, Sonnenberg’s Elefunds network rounds up its users’ online purchases and distributes the optional donation to charity, publishing the results to Facebook with the option for friends to give more. If it sounds too simple to be true, don’t write it off – with 35,000 regular donors, the site has established a completely new way of giving.
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MICH A EL
MILK EN THE JUNK BOND KING By Digby Warde-Aldam
S
crolling down the personal website of the soi-disant ‘philanthropist, financier and medical research innovator’ Michael Milken is an odd experience. The photographs of ‘Mike’ – as the site’s text chummily calls him – portray a square-jawed, broad-shouldered man with a shining bald pate and a permagrin stretched to the point of pain. Videos show him in conversation with the likes of Tony Blair and Bill Gates, and long blocks of text detail his Milken Family Foundation’s laudable history of charity work. You’d be forgiven for imagining you were reading about a latter-day Mother Teresa. Not in a million years would you guess that as the brains behind investment bank Drexel Burnham Lambert during the 1980s, this well-connected do-gooder once played
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an instrumental role in bringing the US economy to its knees. Milken was born in the quiet, middleclass town of Encino, California less than a year after the end of the Second World War. It’s easy to make generalisations, but the significance of his origins is manifest; the post-war generation he belonged to would change the world, and nowhere could be more emblematic of the economic, political and social revolution it wrought than Milken’s home state. California has a GDP of almost $2 trillion – were it an independent country, it would now be the world’s eighth-largest economy. It is home to more millionaires –and indeed billionaires – than any other sub-national entity; significantly, though, it also has the highest poverty rate in the United States. It
is not clutching at straws to state that this schizophrenia of wealth is only an extreme microcosm of the culture that Milken and his followers ushered in during the 1980s. Milken is an intensely private individual, and as such we know little of about his early life. His father, an accountant, provided a comfortable but unremarkable life for his family. Michael, who is Jewish, attended Birmingham High School (where somewhat improbably, he was head cheer-leader) before going on to study at Berkeley. Going bald in his teens only amplified his already reclusive character traits, and he distinguished himself by working harder and longer than his contemporaries: ‘I don’t know if I’m smarter than anyone else,’ he would later tell Frederick Joseph, CEO of Drexel Burnham Lambert, ‘but I can work 25% harder.’ The
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Milken realised that all that was holding the existing order in place was snobbery
first real signs of his unique abilities became apparent after he began a post-graduate course at the Wharton School of Finance in Pennsylvania, where he studied bonds. Investigating a number of once-great blue-chip corporations fallen on hard times, he realised something extraordinary; the big Wall Street credit agencies had downgraded the bonds of these ‘fallen angels’ from AAA to C-grade (‘junk’) status, thus attaching a stigma based on past performance rather than on their assets or any potential returns they might one day yield. They were dirtcheap, and the prospective profits from a massive gamble on them would be colossal – that was why those who traded in them preferred to call them ‘High-Yield’ bonds. As Milken saw it, the ratings agencies were blinkered, too willing to play it safe – and investors too short-sighted to defy their influence, scared of being tainted with the indignity of such a gamble. A lightbulb had gone off under his ill-fitting toupée; essentially, Milken had realised that all that was holding the existing order in place was snobbery. From here on in, Milken developed a unique ability to sense changes in the financial world that others were too lazy or unimaginative to detect. After excelling at
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Wharton, he began work as a trader at an old-guard investment bank called Drexel Firestone, where he was charged with researching low-grade bonds. As Michael Lewis recounts in Liar’s Poker, his gripping account of working at trading firm Salomon Brothers (taken over by Milken in 1987) in the 1980s, Milken was out of place – ‘he lacked both tact and couth,’ and his illfitting wig ‘looked as if a small mammal had died on his head.’ The Californian Jew of unremarkable extraction in a sea of Ivy League-educated East Coast WASPs would quickly learn to turn his outsider status into a strategic advantage. The firm merged several times in the mid-1970s, becoming first Drexel Burnham and then Drexel Burnham Lambert. These changes allowed Milken to exploit the company’s new structures and he eventually approached his superiors with the intention to let him create a designated high-yield bond department. They recognised his obvious intelligence and decided his plan, despite the negative connotations of such ventures, was worth a gamble – give him a small amount of capital to play with, they figured, and let him get the fantasy out of his system. They could have had no idea what they’d let themselves in for: by 1976 he
was earning 100% on the capital provided him to run his bonds operation. This was unprecedented – almost overnight, he’d become Drexel’s most important employee, and he and his department were given carte blanche to do as they pleased. Representative of this was his hugely symbolic gesture of moving his operation from New York to Los Angeles – the outsider had not only shaken up Wall Street, but taken it home with him. From his new HQ at 9560 Wilshire Boulevard, Beverly Hills, Milken began targeting struggling money managers who invested in pension funds and life insurers. These individuals needed to create high returns in order to attract the new clients who might allow them to stay in business, and junk bonds offered a quick and easy solution. Soon, Drexel was delivering them $50 million for every billion they had in their company portfolio – which would itself expand exponentially. Buying bonds from companies with low credit standing was a huge risk – but, as Milken had assessed, if you cast the net wide enough, the odds would stack in your favour. Why make one expensive investment with low interest rates in a ‘safe’ institution when you could make a killing buying bonds in ten companies deemed to be on the brink of insolvency? Whether or not these doomed businesses managed to turn around their performance would be irrelevant – the mark of a cash injection from a successful investment bank would be enough to make the price of their bonds soar. ‘In short,’ as Michael Lewis writes, ‘junk bonds behave much more like equity, or shares, than old-fashioned corporate bonds’. This was capitalism as it had never before been seen. In 1980, a recession-hit America went to the polls. On the one hand was the embattled and increasingly unpopular Democrat Jimmy Carter, whose presidency had birthed a new term: ‘stagflation’; on the other was the charismatic Hollywood ham Ronald Reagan, who advocated a ‘supply-side economy’ in which tax would be lowered dramatically and the government would effectively allow the markets to run free of interference. It was an election fought on drastically simplified economic terms, and, unsurprisingly, Reagan’s sunny promises delivered him a landslide over Carter’s convoluted message of fiscal responsibility. The result was the fiscal equivalent of taking the police off the streets of a major city – it relied on blind faith in market confidence alone. There was now nothing to stop the strongest from
BUSINESS MICHAEL MILKEN : THE JUNK BOND KING doing exactly what they wanted. It was the beginning of Milken’s imperial phase. His seemingly infallible methods meant that all of a sudden high-yield bonds were the only ticket in town. Although a certain sniffiness persisted towards the high stakes involved, bond buyers tended to perceive this as the sore reaction of the corporate clique whose power was being destroyed by the hostile takeovers advocated by Drexel Burnham Lambert. Avenues that had previously been closed to all but a few élite WASPs were flooded with ‘outsiders’ inspired by Milken’s success. Connie Bruck, whose 1988 book The Predators’ Ball: The Inside Story of Drexel Burnham Lambert caused a storm when Milken tried to prevent its publication, records that ‘in the fall of 1986, Milken had not only cast Drexel but to a large degree (Wall) Street in his image.’ Naturally, this had an impact on the market itself; as with any commodity, abstract or physical, junk bonds were subject to the laws of supply and demand – and demand was beginning to outstrip supply. A large part of their attractiveness lies in the fact that they are cheap, and any increase in their value could send an already precarious activity disastrously off-balance. Milken had a solution; since junk bonds are themselves an indication of volatility, it was paradoxically necessary to create instability in order to guarantee market stability. He began bankrolling the infamous ‘corporate raiders’ to buy out large corporations with massive sums of debt, thereby creating new junk bonds as soon as the takeovers were announced. People like James Goldsmith, who had practised similar tactics in Britain, and the rapacious Carl Icahn made billions from wresting control of industrial giants and gutting their infrastructure. Reagan’s laissez-faire economic policies meant that once these asset strippers had a toehold in corporate America, there was nothing to stop them becoming dominant. Revlon, Disney, Gulf, Phillips… one by one, the giants were ‘downsized’ – that is, disembowelled – from the inside out. ‘Greenmail’ – a tactic whereby the raiders would buy up huge stakes in a corporation in order to force it to buy them back at a hugely inflated price – became the norm. Share prices would rocket as if in competition to affirm Milken’s genius. By 1986, the small stream of money Milken had diverted from the investment-grade market (as valued by the ratings agencies) in the 1970s turned into a torrential river of funds,’ observed investigative journalist Edward Jay Epstein,
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The outsider had not only shaken up Wall Street, but taken it home with him ‘entire industries – such as cable TV, health care and regional airlines were developed through the proceeds.’ In 1970s, the junk bond market had been virtually non-existent; between 1980 and 1987, an estimated $53 billion worth of them came to market. The seminar for junk bond traders Milken held in Beverley Hills every year – the infamous ‘Predators’ Ball’ – would feature live entertainment from the likes of Frank Sinatra and Diana Ross. ‘It’s the Academy Awards of business!’, as one organiser put it. Milken himself reportedly made $296 million in 1986 and $550 million in 1987, but seemed little interested in the flash of his contemporaries; even at the height of Drexel’s power, he was living in a modest house in Encino, driving a humble Oldsmobile. ‘There seemed to be no personal use for the fortune Milken had built,’ Bruck writes. It was all about proving he was smarter than the rest, that he was right. But his confidence was turning to arrogance – it would later transpire that not only was Drexel involved in an intricate series of cover-ups, but it had also taken advantage of its clients, putting its own interests far above those of the people it was obliged to serve – it was, in effect, defrauding them. In Washington, the Reaganites had come to see the high-yield bond market as the emblem of a resurgent America, and its adherents as a new generation of Rockefellers. But despite the big talk, it was clear that something was very wrong with Reagan’s ‘voodoo economics.’ The entire idea was essentially a re-packaging of the
old foible that wealth created at the top of a pyramid will filter down to those at the bottom; needless to say, it didn’t. As writer Francis Wheen observed: ‘Although the ‘supply-side’ economics had a veneer of scientific method… it was indistinguishable from the old, discredited superstition known as ‘trickle-down theory.’ Wall Street may have been booming, but Main Street did anything but – since 1980, the US’s deficit had shot up from $900 billion to $3 trillion, and unemployment figures were worse than ever. Due in part to the raiding activities of the ‘greenmailers’, American industry was in its death throes, and there was thus little evidence for any real material growth or improvement in output. It was abundantly clear that something had to give. ‘Never have so few owed so much to so many,’ Connie Bruck reports a keynote speaker at the 1986 Predators’ Ball declaring. The Churchillian aphorism was a boast, given some historical irony by what happened when they had to pay it all back. ‘Most people,’ Wheen asserts, ‘would regard it as suicidally irrational to embark on a credit-card splurge without giving a thought to how the bills can ever be paid.‘ For all Milken’s confidence that he had changed the face of finance, the securities boom was nothing but a bubble. Compounding what some commentators including JK Galbraith were predicting was imminent economic disaster was a wave of scandals that hit Drexel in 1986. In May, a Drexel broker called Dennis Levine was arrested for large-scale insider
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trading, causing many to cast doubt on the practises of the mighty firm. But this was nothing compared to what was to come from his confessions. In November, Ivan Boesky, a colourful arbitrageur with whom Milken had substantial business ties pleaded guilty to the insider trading with which he had built his fortune. Boesky’s crookedness was common knowledge amongst the financial community, and he was far from the only individual to have played fast and loose with already-lax regulation. Wall Street was nonetheless shocked ‘not at what he had done,’ Bruck explains, ‘but that he had been caught.’ Boesky – considered a ‘winner’ by Milken – had been anything but subtle, regularly buying huge amounts of shares in corporations at the last moment before a value-boosting takeover was announced. No-one could have been stupid enough to put this down to coincidence, and the SEC had finally had enough of it. In return for a dramatically-reduced sentence, Boesky agreed to inform on the practices of other high-rollers: suddenly, the previously toothless Federal authorities were out for blood. The SEC, chaired by then-New York District Attorney Rudy Giuliani, began investigating the names given by Boesky in earnest: chief among them was Michael Milken. It transpired that Boesky had made a payment of $5.3 million to Drexel Burnham Lambert, which the firm told the SEC was a ‘consultation fee’. It provoked enough suspicion for the authorities to pry further into Drexel and Milken’s activities. Executives at the bank saw themselves as victims: ‘one wonders if this isn’t a plot to destroy us,’ wrote Drexel’s honorary chairman Tubby Burnham. Throughout 1986 and 1987, Drexel – now suffering staff exoduses and beginning to lose clients – fought a PR campaign to save its reputation: ‘Junk Bonds Keep America Fit’, ran one slogan. The truth was that Drexel was well aware of numerous incidences of wrongdoing – it had been almost standard procedure – and the vain hope that investigators might somehow overlook its transgressions was all it had to go on. The bank thus sought to trivialise the violations it had made, phrasing it, as Bruck writes, that its rule-breaking ‘was not murder.’ However, if ‘Milken’s and by extension Drexel’s actions were not worth prosecuting,’ as that author qualified, ‘then the securities laws were not worth passing.’ In October 1987, the global stock market crashed harder and faster than at any point before in its history. Overnight,
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millionaires were driven to automatic bankruptcy and confidence turned inside out. Although the junk bond market was not severely affected, it was a sign that the era Milken had both personified and done much to shape was drawing to a close. Even if Milken and Drexel weathered the storm, their days of market dominance were over for good. In September 1988, the SEC sued Drexel and Milken for a multitude of violations including insider trading, manipulation of stock prices and inaccurate record-keeping. Most serious of all were allegations of fraud and racketeering. Drexel Burnham Lambert pleaded guilty to six charges, agreeing to pay a fine of $650 million and to help the SEC with its investigation of Milken. The game was up, and in April 1990, Milken was cowed into a guilty plea for charges of securities and reporting violation. He was sentenced to three and a half years in prison, fined $200 million and forced to accept a lifetime ban from dealing in securities. The backdrop to this was positively Wagnerian: the Berlin Wall had been breached, Nelson Mandela released from prison and riots that would eventually lead to the ousting of Margaret Thatcher had erupted in Britain over the ‘Poll Tax’. Against this upheaval, it seemed almost incidental that the junk bond market had finally collapsed, but it was nonetheless a blow that Drexel Burnham Lambert was never to recover from. The bank staggered on for several months before declaring bankruptcy in February 1990. The ‘80s were over. What drove Milken, then? Judging by his unremarkable lifestyle, it was not personal avarice, nor was it a desire for attention, as attested by his reclusiveness. ‘Making money for the sake of making money’ is a tired old cliché – Milken, in this writer’s view, had his sights on something much larger. ‘Michael Milken democratised capital,’ his one-time client Steve Wynn told film-maker Adam Curtis in 1999 – his iconoclastic approach to finance was as much about destroying the illusion that high finance belonged to the chummy, established cadres of the East Coast as it was a manifestation of unapologetic greed. His objectives were nothing less than the wholesale upheaval of the existing order; he was, in his own way, as much of a revolutionary influence on 1980s society as Margaret Thatcher. It is not unreasonable to suggest that they shared the same Randian, borderline fanatical convictions in the power of societal change through personal endeavour –‘doing business is what gives you the fuel to do
good,’ as James Goldsmith put it at the time. Unlike most other businessmen, Goldsmith being no exception, Milken actually did put a lot of money into ‘doing good.’ Since his release from prison in 1992, Milken has beaten serious prostate cancer and strived to rehabilitate his image. Despite the still-extant ban on involvement in the securities industry, he is still immensely wealthy, ranked 222 in 2013’s Forbes 400 list with a personal fortune of $2.5 billion. For all his aforementioned philanthropic activities (Fortune Magazine described him as ‘the man who changed medicine’), Milken’s conduct at Drexel ensures that he will remain a controversial figure. Writing in the Denver Post, journalist Al Lewis described hearing him speak about healthcare at a Jewish fundraiser in 2012. After Milken had left the stage, Lewis went over to gauge the opinion of the crowd: ‘I asked some rabbis whether it was kosher to have such a notorious white-collar criminal held up as an example,’ he wrote, ‘like a gaggle of economists, their opinions varied.’ One rabbi stated that Milken’s charitable work had more than redeemed him; another, though, responded somewhat less positively: ‘he should not have been given that stage… do you think he’d be up there if he’d been convicted of rape?’ The jury, it seems, is still out on the man once known as the ‘JunkBond King.’
'Michael Milken democratised Capital' - Steve Wynn
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H OW TO I NVE S T LI KE WARRE N BU F F E T T There are few in the world who can match Warren Buffettâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s skill and know-how when it comes to investment. If his estimated fortune of $52 billion isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough to prove it, then his skill and track record certainly are.
By Harry Jarman
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HOW TO INVEST LIKE WARREN BUFFETT
The man who makes up part of the do this, Buffett looks for the following: Forbes’s ‘10 richest people in the world’ strong profitability, minimal debt, strong was born in 1930 in Omaha, Nebraska management and strong brand. Another key to US Representative Howard Buffett factor is that he has a strong understanding and wife Leila. Even as a child, Buffett of what the business actually does. He likes displayed an interest in making and saving to invest in ventures that he himself can money. His first business experience was understand and analyse. It’s for this reason selling chewing gum, Coca-Cola and weekly that he has to a certain extent ignored the magazines door-to-door. Before this, when technology sector and generally chooses to he was at school, he made money doing a invest in retailing, insurance and food. paper round, selling golf balls and stamps Another aspect crucial to Buffett’s and detailing cars. When he was just 14, investing is his focus on a company’s Buffett filed his first tax return on which management. To him this is imperative to he took a $35 deduction for the use of his all his investments, and according to Robert bicycle and watch on his paper route. A Hagstrom, author of The Warren Buffet year later Buffett and a friend spent $25 Way, there are three questions he asks a on a used pinball machine, which they company’s management: are they rational, strategically placed in the local barbershop. do they admit to mistakes and do they resist Needless to say, within months they owned the institutional imperative? While he says several machines spread across various he never interferes in the running of a similar businesses. It was clear from an early company, he does make sure there is strong age that this was someone special. management before investing. This is a view In 2011 shares in Buffett’s investment that is often backed up by companies he has company Berkshire Hathaway were valued invested in. at $103,500 per share – when he took Unlike many investors who look for over the company in 1965, they were just $15. Buffett has carved out a reputation for identifying companies that he believes are ‘Wall Street is the only place that undervalued, then investing in them and holding the investment people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to long term. Seems easy enough get advice from those who take when it’s put like that, but just the subway.’ what are the keys to his success? Firstly it must be said that holding a stock long-term requires a huge amount of discipline, and as any reader who invests in the stock undervalued companies, Buffett hates market will know, it takes a lot of nerve and debt and avoids it where possible, even conviction. Unlike many investors, Buffett if it means he passes on an investment doesn’t look at business in the typical way; opportunity. The thinking is that a company he has a belief that when he invests in a with a high return on equity (ROE) could business he is buying it outright, and not be fuelled by debt, and it is for this reason just buying shares. His reasoning behind that he takes into account the return on this is because he approaches a company invested capital (ROIC). Where possible, as though he were actually buying it, he Buffett will ensure that debt is taken will look at the management, whether the out of the equation by adding it back to business has a competitive edge and low the shareholder equity before doing the capital expenditure. calculation. The simple reason for this is The second trend you will see in that he believes that companies become Buffett’s portfolio of companies is that they over-burdened with debt because they are tend to have strong brand names, such as exposed to rising interest rates. Coca Cola, McDonalds and Gillette. While For Buffett, strong profitability goes they may not provide step growth, they do hand in hand with proven profitability, provide solid growth. believing that a company’s track record is When Buffett invests in stocks they more important than what analysts predict are usually undervalued. Spotting these the profitability will be, however impressive stocks is by no means an easy task – it’s the predictions. He looks at many things to simple to pick out a stock that is unloved assess this, preferring companies with an by the stock market, but deciding whether ROE in excess of 15%. Another measure it is dead or undervalued is the key. To is ROIC, for which Buffett calculates a
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company’s profit margin by dividing net income by net sales: the higher the ratio, the more profitable the company, based on its level of sales. Buffett has coined many phrases that have now become commonplace. Perhaps the most important of these is ‘the moat’: he uses this to describe a company’s competitive advantage or unique position in the marketplace that protects it against competition. Businesses with a wider ‘moat’, as he puts it, offer protection to the business core – the ‘castle’, as he refers to it. These can range from geographical advantage, entry costs, a strong brand or owning a particular patent. They give the business a strong competitive edge that normally stands it in good stead as it develops. Finally, Buffett’s success comes down to his patience and his cool – he doesn’t make rash decisions. Just as he holds onto stock long term, Buffett is a calm and calculated investor. He doesn’t go looking for things, but rather takes opportunities as they come, saying that investors would be better off if they could only invest a limited number of times, thus making sure they give some proper thought to what they are doing. Whilst all of the above may sound simple, there is a strong reason that only a select few are as successful as Buffett. When you strip away all the skills that it takes to make a good investment there are underlying factors that you can’t just pick up – essentially, human nature and restraint. Buffett’s success comes down to his own temperament – he has incredible discipline, and unlike most people of similar wealth, he doesn’t have a yearning for private jets and super yachts. In fact, he has lived in the same house for most his life and drives a decidedly un-flashy Lincoln saloon. For Buffett, it’s purely the job that matters and he feels a great sense of responsibility to the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders. Many who meet the man say he is unlike anyone they have ever met before. In 2006, he pledged 10 million Berkshire Hathaway shares to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation, the first donation of 500,000 totalling around $1.5 billion. While we may be interested in his extraordinary wealth, we are also fascinated by the man himself; he has become globally famous as the friendly face of Capitalism.
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HOW TO INVEST LIKE WARREN BUFFETT
15 BUFFETT QUOTES ‘Rule number 1: Never lose money. Rule number 2: Never forget rule number 1.’ ‘If the business does well, the stock eventually follows.’ ‘It’s far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.’ ‘Our favourite holding period is forever.’ ‘Wall Street is the only place that people ride to in a Rolls-Royce to get advice from those who take the subway.’ ‘After all, you only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.’ ‘Time is the friend of the wonderful business, the enemy of the mediocre.’ ‘I try to buy stock in businesses that are so wonderful that an idiot can run them. Because sooner or later, one will.’ ‘I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and a better businessman because I am no investor.’ ‘Someone is sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.’ ‘I always knew I was going to be rich. I don’t think I ever doubted it for a minute.’ ‘Risk comes from not knowing what you’re doing.’ ‘I buy expensive suits. They just look cheap on me.’ ‘Your premium brand had better be delivering something special, or it’s not going to get the business.’ ‘You do things when the opportunities come along. I’ve had periods in my life when I’ve had a bundle of ideas come along, and I’ve had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I’ll do something. If not, I won’t do a damn thing.’
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ASTON MARTIN - CALIFORNIA
VANQUISH VOLANTE AND V12 VANTAGE S LAUNCH BY TOM HUNT
Hunt... James Hunt. Those were Chris Hemsworth’s opening words when he played my father in Ron Howard’s recent blockbuster, Rush. It’s a clear reference to one of the most quintessentially British gentlemen of all time. Even without this, it wouldn’t have taken much persuading when the GJ asked me to hop on a plane to California to attend Aston Martin’s centenary celebrations. This was the launch of their two latest models: their flagship Vanquish Volante and the extraordinarily quick V12 Vantage S. This was it – my chance to play James Bond. Aston Martin is as much about luxury and indulgence, a lifestyle, as it is about motor cars. Stepping onto a private jet to transfer from LAX to Palm Springs, I was greeted by an English butler – for a moment, I actually WAS James Bond. Having been shown to my room in a stunningly intimate hotel, it was time for the evening’s proceedings to kick off – a drinks reception followed by dinner, and an introduction to the first star of the show, the Vanquish Volante. This is the first Volante to have a full carbon-fibre skin, which has allowed them to create something really quite breathtaking.
Combine this with the immense power delivered from the 6.0L V12 engine and you get something so much more than a GT car – I can see why they like to refer to it as a ‘super’ GT. It’s a car that radiates elegance and luxury, two ingredients of the Aston Martin brand, but also makes a clear statement that it means business as a driver’s car; the classic Aston nose and grille are poised to gobble up whatever stands in its way. The 20-inch wheels, the oversize rear wheel arches, the carbon fibre detailing and the curvaceous lines in the bodywork give a real sense of speed and flow. I was ready to go. The following morning it was time to sample the goods. Co-pilot at the ready, we set off up into the canyons surrounding Palm Springs and out into the desert. I have to say, this was one of the most enjoyable drives of my life. You might think the US isn’t the best place for a car launch with its long straight roads patrolled by power-crazed police enforcing ludicrously low speed limits, but Aston Martin had clearly done their research. There wasn’t a cop in sight and the roads easily compare to some of the best Alpine routes Europe has to offer. We did pass a couple of signs reading ‘Speed enforced by aircraft’, which only enhanced the fantasy of being a 007 agent evading the
‘ASTON MARTIN IS AS MUCH ABOUT LUXURY AND INDULGENCE, A LIFESTYLE, AS IT IS ABOUT MOTOR CARS.’
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PRICE
£199,995
0.60
4.2 SECS
ENGINE
5.9-LITRE V12
RPM BREAK HORSE POWER WEIGHT
5500 565 2320KG
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‘IN AN INSTANT, WE WERE NO LONGER IN A GT CRUISER – WE WERE IN A SPORTS CAR WITH A TOP SPEED OF 180MPH AND CAPABLE OF REACHING 60 IN 4.1 SECONDS.’
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VANQUISH VOLANTE AND V12 VANTAGE S LAUNCH
next globe-threatening villain. It certainly didn’t do enough to resist pushing the ‘Sport’ button on the steering wheel, and boy was I pleased about that. In an instant, we were no longer in a GT cruiser – we were in a sports car with a top speed of 180mph and capable of reaching 60 in 4.1 seconds. That’s what I love about this car – it’s effectively two in one. When you look at it this way, the £200k price tag suddenly seems almost reasonable. After lunch at a stunning olive grove followed by a quick sprint to a supposedly world-famous pie shop for pudding (good, but dear old Mother’s is better), it was on to our evening destination in the desert where luxury Airstreams, champagne and butlers awaited us. Day two and time for the second star of the show, the V12 Vantage S. Now here is a car that left me lost for words. Believe it or not, the Vanquish Volante was the first
modern sports car I’d ever driven, so I don’t have much to go on by way of comparison – when I said the previous day had been the best drive of my life, what I meant to say was, ‘up until then.’ This is a true sports car – you’ve only got to look at the stats to work that out: with the same 6.0L V12 putting out 565bhp, but over 200kg less baggage than the Vanquish, it reaches 205mph and passes the 60 mark in just 3.7 seconds. A more compact design with added carbon fibre detailing, most notably the vented scoops in the hood, the accentuated carbon mesh grille for increased air intake and, as the design director likes to put it, ‘less scarf in the wind than the Vanquish and more tailor made, bomber jacket styling.’ It was clear that only pure fun lay ahead. My trusty co-pilot Simon de Burton was first to take the wheel this time, and
POWER VANQUISH VOLANTE AND V12 VANTAGE S LAUNCH
enlightened me to the thrill of speed – real speed – in no time. Here’s a man who’s clearly done this before - and there was no holding back when we got onto the first bit of open desert road. No, we didn’t take it to top speed, but it wouldn’t have taken more than a few seconds to reach it if he’d kept his foot down for much longer. I’ve no shame in admitting that my hands were firmly locked around the door handle and my knuckles as white as they’d ever been. Although terror had almost set in (I’d far sooner be at the wheel than in the passenger seat), I have to admit it was a feeling I could get used to very quickly. More of the same, please! After a couple of hours with Simon at the wheel it was my turn to tame the beast. Sitting in the driver’s seat, it was evident that this was an out-and-out sports car. You feel more enclosed and at one with the car than you do in the Vanquish, but the first thing that struck me when we got going was how easy it was to drive. Despite the incredible power, low ride and stiff suspension, it is an absolute dream at cruising speed and has the comfort to go with it – no beast to tame here, it’s already been done for you. But you know that can all be undone at the push of a button. You could quite easily drive all day in it and feel refreshed at the end – a remarkable feat of engineering given its performance as a sports car, as I was about to find out.
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Up into the canyons we went again, and suddenly it was time to push that beautiful little button and don the 007 hat once more. With a self-confessed rookie driving the car, I think poor Simon was rather nervous, but I have to say I’d have struggled to come off the road even had I tried. With the air temperature well over 30 degrees centigrade and the tarmac even hotter, the Pirelli P Zero semi-slick track tyres made it feel more like we were doing a bob sleigh run, completely glued to the road. But again, there was nothing difficult about it; yes, you have to concentrate, but at the same time it was like everything had been taken care of. With Palm Springs now in sight from the top of the surrounding mountains, we stopped for a breather, and contemplated the last few miles of mountain roads we could see below us. I offered the last stint to Simon, but being the gentleman that he is, he politely declined. With a couple of hours’ experience under my belt I decided to push a little harder, and was once again blown away by the performance. Just sensational, breathtaking, eye opening, exhilarating – and then some. In fact, it was so much fun that when we got to the bottom, there was only one thing for it: a quick U-turn and back up to take it on as a hill climb. Needless to say, when we got to the top I once again offered Simon the wheel. I knew if he accepted this time, I was in for a terrifying ride – and he wasn’t going to say no twice. What followed was probably the most thrilling few minutes of my life, complimented by those white knuckles again and a string of ‘F**ks!’ – Gordon Ramsey would have been proud. Thanks Simon – I’m not going to forget that in a hurry! The only thing left to say is that both of these cars are sensational. If I had to pick, I’d go for the Vantage S, but that’s probably down to my relative youth. As we all know, Aston Martin have had a shining first Century not only as a car manufacturer, but also as a mark of all things British. On the strength of the latest additions to their repertoire, they’re on the right track for the next 100.
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THE GENTLEMAN’S RACER
THE ROLLS ROYCE WRAITH BY JONATHAN HORNE
CYLINDERS POWER TORQUE TOP SPEED
Nearly a century into its illustrious history, Rolls Royce continues to redefine itself. Jonathan Horne took to the wheel of the iconic British brand’s latest design to see what all the fuss was about.
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V12 624BHP (5600RPM) 590LB-FT (150-5500RPM) 155MPH
ACCELERATION
0-62 IN 4.6SEC
TRANSMISSION
8-SPEED AUTOMATIC/ REAR WHEEL DRIVE
We all know Rolls-Royce for producing the ultimate luxury cars; no expense is spared in terms of manufacturing, not to mention the price tag. A Rolls-Royce is a car that more than any other says ‘you’ve arrived’ – in other words, it’s stately rather than sporty. The brand is not, it’s fair to say, renowned for its racing credentials – but a detailed look at its history reveals a prestigious heritage. Royce’s co-founder, the Honourable CS Rolls, was a committed motor sport enthusiast, winning the Isle of Man TT in 1906, and Rolls-Royce’s brief racing history included a Grand Prix win amongst various other accolades. Despite the company’s high-octane beginnings, it has long since been associated more with private chauffeurs than racing drivers – a
connotation of extreme wealth that it is reluctant to drop entirely but is keen to play down. The Wraith, Rolls-Royce’s latest offering, is a car that has the ‘power, style and drama to make the world stand still’ – clearly, it is not just another Phantom. The Wraith is in fact the most powerful RollsRoyce ever produced with a 6.6 litre, twin turbo-charged V12 engine that delivers an almighty 624 bhp and 800 Nm of torque. Despite these impressive stats – and in true Rolls-Royce style – you certainly wouldn’t guess at this level of power when you turn the engine on, as the insulated doubleskinned bulkhead blocks out most of the noise. It’s only on the road when you really begin to appreciate the sheer power of the Wraith; it’s a bit like driving a supercharged
POWER CARS
truck that has been adapted to race around a track – it’s a lot of fun and quite hard to get bored of. When you put the accelerator down you can feel the power kick in and the deep-set Pantheon grille lift, bracing the Spirit of Ecstasy for the increase in speed. Above 80mph and you could be forgiven for thinking that there is no limit on the 6.6 litre engine, as it continues to drive the 2.36 tons effortlessly through the air. As is to be expected from a RollsRoyce, the interior of the Wraith is just as impressive as its performance. As you open the coach doors, you are swamped by an interior that is far more comfortable than most two-door coupés. The attention to detail is superb, from the flawless leather to the sumptuously thick wool carpets and the open-grain wood panelling that runs
through the cabin. As an optional extra, you can add 1,340 fibre optics to the headliner which Rolls-Royce say ‘creates your very own star-filled sky.’ With regards to the gadgets, there is an optional 18 speaker audio system, a 360 degree camera system and active cruise control that also prevents you from crashing into the car in front. There is also a voice-activated phone and navigation system, which makes it possible to send e-mails – perfect for the morning commute to work. Rolls-Royce have also talked up its Satellite Aided Transmission, which uses GPS data to predict the road ahead, choosing the right gear to deliver power smoothly. However, the feature is hardly noticeable, which means either that it’s a lot of jumped up marketing speak or that the
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system is very efficient indeed. I wanted to find out what the closest competition to the Wraith was, and received a reply that was nothing if not bold: no other car exists to match it, Rolls-Royce told me in no uncertain terms. I have to say that, in many ways, I agree: no other car exists of this size and power, which makes it a joyous driving experience. The Wraith is quite simply the supreme gentleman’s gran turismo. The Wraith is available to order from £235,000. For enquires call 01243-384 000 or visit: rolls-roycemotorcars.com
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CRUISING SPEED BUILDER EXTERIOR DESIGNER CONSTRUCTION
15 KNOTS BENETTI STEFANO NATUCCI STEEL ALUMINIUM
THE YACHT
SILVER ANGEL BY HARRY JARMAN
When it comes to cruising in the utmost luxury, there are few boats that can rival the Silver Angel. Set over five decks, it has a vast interior volume for its size and has been designed with spacious living in mind. The interior has been designed by London-based Argent Designs and while it may not be to everyone’s liking, it’s certainly impressive: the décor takes in a combination of dark oak, white onyx, silver leaf and Lalique crystal, all used in vast but balanced quantities. This is matched by the awe-inspiring central staircase, large living areas and fully-equipped gym, enough to make a lasting impression on even the pickiest guest. The lavish scale has by no means interfered with the exterior areas, which are again spacious and flow superbly down from the sun deck with its oval Jacuzzi pool. There’s
also the mid-deck with its superb al fresco dining area, perfect for entertaining large numbers of guests. It’s down on the swim platform where the real fun begins. The Silver Angel boasts a varied assortment of tenders and toys to keep even the most demanding of kids happy. The tenders include one Boesch 7.5m classic mahogany speed boat, perfect for ensuring you arrive at your port of call in style. For watersports, there is also a fully customised Novurania semi-ridge rib, ideal for post-lunch entertainment. For the more adventurous and active, there are 16 sets of diving equipment, a Tee-It golf machine, two Yamaha FX high-output jet skis, two Cayago F7 sea-bobs, a kiteboard, deep-sea fishing equipment and a wide range of waterskis, donuts, bananas, knee and
wakeboards. Even though the Silver Angel can offer all of the above, many will know that it’s often the service that makes a holiday, and with one of the best-trained crews in the industry making up a 1:1 crew to guest ratio, you can be sure to feel completely spoiled. As Robert Dubsky, founder and CEO of Yachtmasters tells me, ‘we have chartered Silver Angel a number of times to our clients. It’s a yacht we consider to be one of the best, with a first class crew and an owner who does not cut corners’. The Silver Angel has quickly earned itself a reputation as one of the premier charter yachts available, with many guests coming back year on year. Although its size means that it is extremely spacious, it is still capable of getting into most major ports, where you can entertain and impress to your heart or ego’s content. Available to charter through Yachtmasters www..yachtmasters.com
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SUMMER: EASTERN & WESTERN MEDITERRANEAN, 450,000 PER WEEK. WINTER: INDIAN OCEAN, 450,000 PER WEEK
GUESTS
12
CABINS
7
CABIN CONFIGURATION
1 1 3 2
LENGTH BEAM DRAFT DISPLACEMENT BUILT
MASTER VIP DOUBLE TWIN
65.5M 12.10M 3.55M 1250 TONNES 2009
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BOYS TOYS Far from implying anything about the measurements of one’s groin, extreme pursuits and all the boys’ toys that come with them are these days seen as a statement of ambition and taste. After all, if you’ve got adventurous fantasies, it’s a bit cooler to act them out in your own private submarine than in an eco-friendly Japanese hatchback, innit? There are some seriously cool machines out there for the aspiring action hero – and we’ve been up close and personal with five of the most impressive… By Victoria Gardiner
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LEHMANN AVIATION LA200 €2490 from store.lehmannaviation.com The Lehmann Aviation LA200 Long Range Drone is the perfect gadget for all aviation and photography enthusiasts. It makes aerial photography a whole lot easier – all you need to do is connect the drone to a battery, send it on your intended flight plan via Wi-fi and launch it up to the heavens. The rest is all taken care of by your GoPro camera, depending on where you place it – at the top of the wing for Oblique images (Hero, Hero2 or Hero3) or at the bottom of the wing for Vertical images (Hero3 only). This specialised camera will bring you incredible imagery that simply wasn’t possible before. Mostly made of foam and carbon fibre and weighing in at 950 grams, it is light, practical and ideal when travelling around.
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DEEPFLIGHT SUPER FALCON This manned submersible, designed by Marine Engineer Graham Hawkes, takes revolutionary technology and underwater exploration to a whole new level. Encasing its passengers in clear domes, the Super Falcon has a low frontal area and a lightweight proprietary pressure hull, allowing its passengers to get up close and personal with Davy Jones’s locker. When it comes to the engineering, this electric submersible defies convention. Instead of using the traditional, two-dimensional method of buoyancy and displacement to glide through the water, this DeepFlight masterpiece relies on aerodynamic principles of lift, thrust and fixed positive buoyancy to ‘fly’ through the water. The Super Falcon is safer (self-righting, even after full immersion and self-return to the surface), cleaner (high-efficiency brushless DC drivetrain and underwater lithium-iron-phosphate battery pack), and more comfortable (adjustable carbon-fibre seats and flow air conditioning) than most of its peers, and with Richard Branson and Vladimir Putin making the investment, Super Falcon has well and truly secured its spot as the ultimate boys’ toy.
$1.7 million from deepflight.com
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U-BOAT WORX C-EXPLORER 5 €2 million from uboatworx.nl Calling itself the world’s first sub-sea limousine, the C-Explorer 5 takes underwater luxury to a whole new level. Staying true to its maker’s ethos of creating high-performing, manoeuvrable, safe and cost-effective submersibles, this model reaches depths of up to 300 metres. Four passengers can enjoy air-conditioning, a single sideband acoustic telephone, sound system, an HD camera and GPS system. What is special about this model is its commitment to the user’s enjoyment and comfort. As you cruise at a speed of 3 knots, you and your friends can have a full 360-degree view from the acrylic pressure hull in comfortable surroundings. This is the ultimate toy for any yacht owner looking for a new world of underwater exploration. Your perspective on what lies below will never be the same again.
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PARAJET ZENITH THOR 200 £6,125 from parajet.com They call this the future of paramotoring, and with its unrivalled precision, it’s not hard to see why. Lightweight with high strength and rigidity, this Zenith improves all previous weight-to-power ratios, and its compact and portable structure means that transporting your paramotor is now easier than ever. When it comes to user experience and performance, the quality airflow means reduced resistance, increased fuel efficiency and superior in-flight manoeuvrability. You’ll be able to glide through the air with minimum expenditure and maximum ease and enjoyment. What’s more, it’s entirely manufactured with CNC-machined parts, making all the components easily replaceable. Features include lightweight harness, quick-release fuel tank, aerofoil cage and swan neck pivot arms.
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GIBBS QUADSKI $42,800 from gibbssports.com/dealers Never quite decided which you like more â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the thrill of trekking the land, or cruising the sea at high speeds? Well, the Quadski allows you that indecision, giving you the best of both worlds all wrapped up in one compact, powerful package. Before this creation from GIBBS, there was no commercially available amphibian able to exceed 10mph on water. Now, however, their BMW Motorrad K1300 engine means that a top speed of 45mph is possible both on land at sea. The hull is designed to be durable and lightweight, and its HSA technology provides a stable surface and lateral grip for superior handing on the water. The Quadski amphibian is capable of an amazingly fast transition between water and land, and its GIBBS water jets are lighter and more compact than traditional marine industry water jets, ensuring top quality thrust and manoeuvrability.
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HOTEL ST BARTH ISLE DE FRANCE
“Someone has moved the South of France to the Carribbean – cheers; thanks a lot. The most hair-raising landing strip arrival is worth it for an island dripping with cool chic and serious style.”
Travel
HOTEL ST BARTH ISLE DE FRANCE To book, contact the bespoke travel service Mason Rose Private who will ensure your every need is taken care of. Telephone on 020 7201 8071 or e-mail enquires@ masonroseprivate.com or visit masonroseprivate. com By Tanya Rose
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“Mix Glamour with charm at this perfect fusion in the Caribbean” This small, charming and privately owned hotel sits on the Baie des Flamands, one of the prettiest beaches on St Barthélemy. With its pure white sand and pale turquoise clear sea, it is picture-postcard perfect. While there are many attractions on the island – clubs, bars, cafés, terrific restaurants and boutiques to die for – it is very difficult to tear yourself away from this example of easy luxury. Here, nothing is too much trouble. This is Gallic style with the rudeness replaced
by Caribbean insouciance – whether you need a daiquiri or a citron pressé, it will appear with a smile and a touch of grace. This is the perfect place to do as little as possible – swim or float, take in some sun or sit in the shade with a book or three, and when it’s time for lunch or dinner, the freshest ingredients are prepared and served. Breakfast is ready when you are, and sundowners are available long before the sun goes down. Whether you stay on the beach or in one of the pretty garden suites or cottages you will enjoy perfect privacy. Should you want to indulge, there is a Molton Brown spa with a plethora of treatments, and a boutique which will melt your credit card within seconds, so desirable is the merchandise.
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Even though you may be slathering sun-cream on your body all day long, it will still need extra care and attention after a day of sun, wind and sea...so take it along to the spa and organise a nourishing body wrap to remoisturise and pamper.
ACCOMMODATION
39 Rooms, Suites and Villas DINING
Restaurant and Bar RECREATION
Spa, gym, 2 Pools. Nearby: watersports, sailing, motorboats, windsurfing, jet-skiing, deep sea fishing, diving and tennis TRANSFERS
St Barths Airport 5mins by car (following connecting flight from Antigua) SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE
Sooth and smooth your sun and sea-kissed skin
ROCK & ROLL At Eden Rock make sure you have a table on the lower level for the best of the bay of St Jean. Order the mahi mahi which is simply prepared, fresh and delectable. You must break the ‘no carbs’ rule to sample the baked-onsite
bread which is insanely delicious. Dress
– resort chic and enjoy the romance of this wonderful setting.
LA TABLE French Creole chef Maya Beuzelin-Gurley has been packing them in to what is one of the best restaurants in the Caribbean. Movie stars email their reservations, so make sure you’ve made yours before you hit the island. Elegant and comfortable with fresh fish, exotic daily specials, and Creole dishes. Too fabulous, go and be seen.
CASA NIKKI Just a short drive from its beachside locale lives the Case Nikki. This is the too-coolfor-school place to shake your tanned booty after hours. It is where the yacht-hopping partygoers revel with its bumping sound system and endless bottle service. You can’t get it better
than this. Wear a handkerchief and order lots of Champagne.
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VERBIER UNCOVERED
Travel
VERBIER UNCOVERED As far back as anyone can remember, the little Swiss village of Verbier has been associated with the rich and famous – think of it as the winter version of St Tropez or Monaco. However, it is worlds apart from these equally glamorous destinations. Verbier is different it has a certain understated style - ‘understated’ not being a word you’d associate with its Riviera counterparts. In Verbier, you can’t help but be aware that people are wealthy. A standard chalet will set you back around £8 million, and holidaying there isn’t cheap either; the average pint of beer will set you back around £6, and a meal out for a small group can
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easily cost in excess of £500. Then there are the more obvious signs of wealth, from the black Mercedes G-wagons slowly rumbling through the Place Centrale (village square to the non-Verbiens), to the Moncler shop, not to mention the kind of watch boutiques you might associate with Bond Street rather than a small Swiss village. What gives Verbier or ‘Verbs’ (as the Chelsea set would have you call it) the edge is that the obvious wealth is glamorous, stylish and tasteful. Most of the people are there for the reasons they should be – the skiing. This is the key to Verbier’s timeless allure. The powers that be, otherwise known as the Bagnes (the council to you and I), don’t want flashy Russian Oligarchs or ‘boy done good’ city traders bragging how much money they made this year and how they
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loved the recession (if this is you, you might want to look at Courchevel). They want tasteful people who enjoy the town for what it is. Verbier has expanded hugely since the 1950s, but it has done so organically and at a manageable rate. There are tight regulations on what you can and can’t build, which sets it apart from its counterparts in the French Alps, where massive concrete flats have been built – or should I say ‘dumped’? – on a large scale to cope with the demand, not about what it will look like in years to come. The Swiss care about these things (probably why Prince Charles prefers Klosters). The Swiss take huge pride in everything they do and this shows in the quality of the buildings. Verbier has some of the most luxurious chalets in the world. Two of the best, which can be yours for a week, are Chalet Septième Ciel and Richard Branson’s mountain retreat, The Lodge. If you don’t fancy chalet living then there are some great hotels, my favourite being the Chalet-Adrien. If this doesn’t take your fancy and you’re looking for something a little more modern, there is the Hotel Nevai or the recently opened W, Verbier. As well as its fantastic accommodation, Verbier is host to some amazing restaurants. For lunch, I would recommend Le Rouge, an informal place at the foot of a ski run that serves great food, including sliced meats, home-made burgers, crêpes and mountain salads. It has a large terrace outside for those sunny days, and if there is a group of you I recommend you buy a magnum of Chateau Minuty Rosé, which is reasonably priced for where you are and wonderfully drinkable. My only criticism would be the view, which due to its situation at the bottom of the mountain means that the rooftops of the village obstruct the otherwise beautiful view across the valley. Further up the mountain there is l’Olympique, perched at the top of the Funispace lift. This has a seriously good formal restaurant with some stunning views. Further up the mountain, there is Cabane Mont Fort, which is located on the Gentianes run to la Chaux. It has great views also over the Colombe Massif. This is actually a ski refuge with showers and 2-bed dormitories which is used by the Swiss Alpine Club for ski touring. The cozy interior gets crowded in bad weather, but the sun terrace has some of the best views. There is a wide variety of food, from mountain favourites like spag bol to good salads. Back down the mountain and left of the
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THIS PICTURE; The W Hotel Carve bar. BELOW: The W Hotel living room.
Medran lift, you will find Chez Danny. This is my favourite restaurant, not least for the lovely forest ski you take to get there. It has a feeling of seclusion and is a popular place with the locals - always a good indicator. It has great views, fantastic food and a wonderfully big terrace both upstairs and down. Due to its popularity, they don’t take bookings at lunch so it’s best to arrive early. Back across the other side you have Carrefour, which is just above the Le Rouge run. This is great for a quick drink on your way down the mountain. Being so close to the bottom, it’s not ideally situated for a mid-day stop, but I would strongly recommend it for dinner. You can order that alpine favourite of fillet steak on a hot stone, or ‘pierre chaude’ for the francophiles among you. The pierre chaude is highly recommended,
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and comes with great sauces and a choice of rösti or chips. The puddings there are also great - crème brulée, for example, comes in a bowl instead of a small ramekin – why not? – you’re on holiday! The other option would be to book Chez Danny for dinner. You get taken up to the restaurant by snow cat and after your fondue or meat you can blow all the calories off by tobogganing down to town to continue the party. It’s said that you haven’t experienced Après Ski until you have been to Verbier, and there are three places to go: Le Rouge, Pub Mont Fort and Farinet. Le Rouge is great for après ski, and has to be experienced at least once. They have great DJs and the music isn’t too loud, so you can still hear yourself speak. Grab a bottle of rosé and party the evening away as the sun drops behind the
mountains. Pub Mont Fort is a favourite of the seasonaires; from 4 o’clock it gets jampacked as happy hour lasts until 5pm. They serve popular ‘shakers’, and it’s a great place to start off before moving on to Farinet. It’s fairly rowdy and loud and thus hated by some, but to most it’s all part of the fun. Farinet is really where the party gets going. In the après ski bar, expect to get splashed with beer and end up dancing on the tables and the bar. The likes of Richard Branson have been known to pour shots down skis and dance on the bar. After a few hours here, you’ll probably be fast asleep by 10pm, happily exhausted and ready to be up bright and early the next day. However, if you have the stamina then Verbier doesn’t stop here! A stumble down the steps of Farinet and you will find Casbah, a little cave-like boîte de nuit and probably the cheapest out of the clubs – though this, of course, is relative. Across the road there is the Farm Club – now where should I start? Everyone I speak to has a story about the Farm Club, which opened in 1971 and has since become famous worldwide. It has a sort of glamorous ‘70s feel, and still has a great reputation. With increased competition around Verbier, though, could the good times become memories? We don’t think so. They cater for a particular clientèle, and its name is synonymous with Verbier itself. If walls could talk, as the saying goes... While other ski resorts might be great for some things, Verbier has it all: restaurants, après ski and last, but by no means least, some of the best off-piste skiing in Europe – if, that is, you can get out of bed in the morning!
Swiss movement, English heart
C9 HARRISON BIG D AY- D AT E A U TO MATIC Made in Switzerland / Modified ETA 2836-2 automatic movement with Big Day-Date complication by Johannes Jahnke / 38 hour power reserve / 43mm, Hand-polished, 316L stainless steel case / Anti-reflective sapphire crystal / Exhibition case-back / Italian leather strap with Bader deployment
THE FĂ&#x153;HRERMUSEUM
THE NAZI ART HEIST By Milo Dickinson
Dwight D. Eisenhower (right) inspects stolen artwork in a salt mine in Merkers, accompanied by Omar Bradley (left) and George S. Patton (center)
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I
n 1906, a youthful Adolf Hitler made his first visit to Vienna, then the thriving capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was dazzled by the beauty of its architecture and by the brilliance of its society – it was a stark contrast to the pale and dull provincial city of Linz, his childhood hometown. The visit proved to be the spark of a brutal master plan that obsessed the young ideologue and came to change the course of history. Hitler envisaged the transformation of Linz into the glorious capital of a `thousand year Reich’, and as a global cultural centre that would assert the superiority of the Germanic peoples throughout history. At the heart of this was the creation of the Führermuseum, an enormous complex housing a monumental theatre, an opera house and a hotel, all centred around a colossal art museum created to house the world’s greatest artistic treasures. By forming a museum more glorious than any seen before, Hitler wanted to construct a permanent symbol of the Reich’s power as the leading force of world civilisation. Hitler had grown up dreaming of being an artist, and fully believed he would spend his life and career painting. His surviving works show him to be a fairly crude and uninspired painter with a narrow palette (although this hasn’t stopped recent auction prices of his works soaring). At the age of eighteen he applied to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, at the time a hotbed of young, radical and predominantly Jewish artists, such as Egon Schiele. However, the Academy twice rejected his application – a colossal blow to the aspiring artist,
who had always had supreme confidence in his own abilities. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Hitler is believed to have told Nevile Henderson, the British ambassador to Germany: `I am an artist and not a politician. Once the Polish question is settled, I want to end my life as an artist.’ It is likely that the unexpected rejection from the Academy that so angered Hitler helped fuel his hatred of modern art and his anti-semitism. His rejection is one of the great `what ifs’ of modern history; there can be no doubt that life today would be very different had Hitler’s artistic career progressed as he’d desired. After he became Chancellor of Germany in 1933, Hitler made a clear attempt to subject these beliefs upon German culture. He ferociously attacked modern art as degenerate; Cubism, Futurism and Dadaism were all considered the products of a decadent twentieth century society. In 1937, the Nazis started to cleanse state museums of modern art, and at a Nazi-organised exhibition to highlight the debased nature of modern art, Hitler described German art as suffering `a great and fatal illness.’ In March 1939, to hammer this point home, the Nazis set fire to 1,004 modern paintings and 3,825 watercolours, drawings and prints in the courtyard of the Berlin Fire Department. Hitler favoured the Old Masters of Northern Europe, as they fitted snugly into his political views on the superiority of Germanic and Nordic culture. He started out using the considerable funds from the proceeds of Mein Kampf to fund his art buying habits, but as Germany started to assert its might under his leadership and sweep aggressively
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(BELOW) Hitler’s painting The Courtyard of the Old Residency in Munich, 1914
across Europe, he found other methods to add to his collection. Hitler used German expansion to plunder the private and state possessions of his European neighbours on an unprecedented scale. Under Hitler’s direct command, the ERR (Einsatzstab Reichsleiter Rosenberg), the official Nazi confiscation service, was created. Headed by Nazi Party ideologue Alfred Rosenberg, agents stationed in France, Belgium, Italy, Czechoslovakia, and Poland systematically acquired, by both legal and forceful means, thousands of objects that were shipped on to Germany and Austria for wartime storage in castles and deep, speciallyconverted underground mines. Hitler ordered that all confiscated works of art were to be made directly available to him, and art collections from prominent Jewish families, including the Rothschilds, the Rosenbergs, the Goudstikkers and the Schloss Family were specifically targeted due to their significant value and racial significance. This well organised confiscation scheme took place on an astonishing scale: according to the last ERR report, 203 private collections, or 21,903 items, were confiscated between November 1940 and July 1944 from France alone. The extent of the wartime looting remains unparalleled, but Hitler and Goring were in effect continuing a well-trodden path of military leaders,
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stretching back to antiquity. Cultural looting has always been a staple by-product of war. From ancient times to the recent war in Yugoslavia, art plunder and the wilful destruction of cultural heritage has been used by the victor as a supplementary means to conquer and humiliate the enemy, giving tangible proof and physical symbols of victory for returning leaders to present to their populace. When Napoleon ravaged through Italy in 1799, he stripped both Venice and Rome of their finest artistic treasures, and jubilantly arrived back in Paris parading a number of famed ancient statues through the streets, including the Laocoon, the Apollo Belvedere and the Dying Gaul. `Rome is no longer Rome,’ he reportedly announced, ‘the whole of Rome is in Paris.’ Hitler, though, was different to the great military figures of the past. Napoleon was a military man through and through, a great general who had risen to the top on the back of tactical victories – he pillaged the cultural property of defeated nations to hammer home the symbolism of his triumphs. Hitler, by contrast, was originally an artist, an ideologically driven daydreamer. Whilst he also enforced looting to assert German superiority and further strengthen the psychological victory over the defeated, Hitler’s accumulation of art was long in the planning. The creation of the Führermuseum was to be a totem of
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(ABOVE) German soldiers of the Hermann Göring Division posing in front of Palazzo Venezia in Rome in 1944 with a picture taken from the Biblioteca del Museo Nazionale di Napoli before the Allied forces' arrival in the city.
his transformation of Europe into a homogenous society, rid of the `Untermenschen’ (sub-humans), and forming a master race of ‘Nordic’ (Aryan) racial stock. It was this plan and the hatred and racism that fuelled it – not to mention the horrific consequences it had – that separates military leaders such as Hitler and Napoleon in our imagination. The estimated number of deaths resulting from the Napoleonic Wars ranges from three to five million people, but Napoleon is seen in a very different light to the Nazi leader; although like Hitler he was determined to conquer Europe, Napoleon did not destroy it. His legacy was subsequently celebrated, embraced and expanded on. His life’s work continued after his exile and death: administration, education, legal codes and institutions left by him are still in use today. No moral stain could ever make him as abject, scorned or diabolical a figure as Hitler. Paul Schroeder‘s rather simplified analysis put it well: `Hitler did it for the sake of an unbelievably horrible ideal; Napoleon for no underlying purpose at all’. Thankfully, his ideology came crumbling down. The Allied forces eventually turned the tide of the war, and as the Nazis were driven back they desperately attempted to hide their cultural plunder, predominantly in a complex of salt mines in Altaussee, Austria. In April 1945, as Allied troops approached Altaussee, oblivious to the treasures
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that lay deep underground, Nazi Gauleiter August Eigruber gave orders to blow it up. He transported eight bombs with 500 kg of explosive each into the tunnels, and the destruction of a large part of Europe’s cultural heritage was prevented only at the last minute by a number of local miners. In May 1945, General Patton’s Third Army uncovered the mine, which housed more than 6,500 paintings – the majority of which had been destined for Hitler’s museum in Linz. Amongst the masterpieces were Michelangelo’s Madonna of Bruges, stolen from the Church of Our Lady in Bruges, Jan van Eyck’s Altarpiece from Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent and both Vermeer’s The Astronomer and The Art of Painting. As the German military situation verged on total collapse, Hitler found himself presiding over a rapidly disintegrating Third Reich. The Nazi leader retreated into his Berlin bunker and had a nervous breakdown, and on 30 April 1945 he shot himself on his sofa after consuming a cyanide capsule. Located next to his slumped body was a scale model of the Führermuseum, the doomed symbol of his horrifying dreams.
CULTURE INTERVIEW
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THE INTERVIEW
A RNAUD BAMBERGER LE FRANGLAIS– 10 questions for Arnaud Bamberger, immaculately dressed anglophile and chairman of Cartier UK. TGJ: You’re a descendant of the fathers of cinema and a graduate in Philosophy and Economics. It’s fair to say that luxury jewellery was not the most obvious career path to follow - what attracted you to the business? And what would you have done otherwise? AB: The world of luxury, and more specifically that of watches and jewellery, is a privileged one. It has craft, savoir-faire and great traditions at its heart, and then a Maison like Cartier has the history and unique romance of famed clients and commissions, which continues to this day. These are the aspects that intrigued me, and I think I would have always found my way into this business of beauty. TGJ: After an itinerant decade in the 1980s, you settled in London in 1992 - what is it about the city that appeals to you? AB: London is where the whole world meets with culture, art and history. It is a most international city but with a British touch that makes it unique. For day-to-day life, it is a beautiful city too, with all of the parks and green squares. TGJ: Do you see London losing any of its present status as a ‘World City’ in the next few decades? AB: I don’t believe so; more and more people flock to London as it is a truly international city and still a financial centre. It is also home to institutions such as Royal Ascot, which cannot be replicated anywhere else. TGJ: You were named president of the Chambre du Commerce Française en Grande Bretagne in 2013 - what extra work does the role involve? And has recognition of the expatriate French community in Britain meant a lot of new investment here? AB: This role is a great honour and being a Frenchman who has been in London for so long, I feel that I can contribute with experience and knowledge developed over many years. The satisfaction I gain from meeting all sorts of new people far outweighs any extra work I have taken on. I hope to provide guidance to French companies
entering the market, drawing on my time at Cartier but also having lived in London for a number of years. My role is about promoting the two countries I prefer and building stronger relations between them in the economic world. TGJ: In terms of brand image, what measures have you taken to ensure that Cartier remains elegant and exclusive rather than flashy and bombastic? Striking a balance between commercial appeal and restraint must be difficult... AB: This really is about balancing the past with where we are going to in the future. Cartier prides itself in its heritage and its commitment to innovation. Cartier was always ahead of its time, defining luxury along the way with avant-garde yet classic products. For instance our new jewellery range, Clou, was avant-garde in the ‘70s and is nowadays still modern and ahead of its time in design and aesthetics. Pieces such as the Tank are iconic, instantly recognisable and timeless. Finally there is the exceptional craft and dedication that goes into each piece we create. This is what helps keep the balance, and maintains the integrity of the Maison. TGJ: How has the jewellery trade changed in the last 30 years? Is there anything you miss about the old days? AB: Customers have changed as people travel and purchase products around the world. The shopping experience becomes essential to acquire customers and maintain an experience of luxury and uniqueness. One of our unique points in London is that we have one of the three ‘temples’ of Cartier here. The history of the brand lies in London, New York and Paris - these are the oldest boutiques with the richest history, and there is a wealth of stories and experience. From my time and before, this has always enhanced our customer’s shopping experience. I have always kept to the same principles over the past 30 years, which I have remained faithful to. This means I am always able to move forward and embrace new things with little nostalgia.
TGJ: What has been the single biggest change to the industry? Has the Internet significantly changed the way it operates? AB: The digital age has definitely dawned and the luxury industry has started to embrace it. It opens a whole new way of communicating with our clients, both existing and new. The essentials of creativity and craft remain the same, but this tool for communicating to a new generation of people is an interesting and exciting opportunity. TGJ: Would you say that, with efficient management, a recession can be a positive thing for luxury brands? AB: We are fortunate at Cartier that from the beginning of our history, when the three Cartier brothers founded the Maison, that quality and integrity were central to our creations. This has meant that both in prosperous times and those that are more difficult, our clients remain faithful to us. Whether there is a recession or not, desirability must remain; there is always a way to find the glass half-full. TGJ: As new markets emerge (in Russia, and latterly in China, for example), have others declined? AB: We have both a strong local market, as well as many foreign clients from the Middle East, China and Russia amongst others. Yes, there is always a flux, but we are fortunate to enjoy an international clientele. TGJ: Your style has been described as ‘Classically British’ - not a compliment usually afforded to the British themselves. How does it feel to be an honorary Brit? AB: I am in many ways an anglophile. I value deeply how much I have been accepted into this wonderful culture, and I myself find it a great compliment. TGJ: Finally, where do you see yourself in ten years? Do you have plans to retire? AB: For now I am still at Cartier, and will continue to be so as long as I can add something.
By Digby Warde-Aldam
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OBJECTS OF
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F IVE OBJE C T S WE WI SH WE OWNE D RIGHT NOW
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£29,000 lucas rarities.com
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£25,000 lapicida.com
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£POA magnum marine .com
LAPICIDA
Fancy something a bit out of the ordinary? Luxury stone specialists Lapicida are now producing scale model replicas of your own car! Each one is a unique work of art, representing a state-of-the-art process that begins with a 3D modelling of the vehicle. The model is then interpreted through a series of software programmes, which allows the image to be fine-tuned in 3D. This sets up the diamond drills that replicate its shape in exquisite detail.
Technologically the most advanced boat built in years, this beautiful new Magnum has impressive acceleration and top performance. Interiors include a double master cabin, a full size head with shower, and a luxurious salon. This is without mentioning the spacious cockpit complete with dinette area, cockpit refrigerator and ice maker. A sun deck with ample seating completes the exterior. Not a bad way to spend a few weeks in Monaco, we think.
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RONALD PHILIPPS – REGENCY 21-INCH TERRESTRIAL GLOBE
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FISKENS THE ASTON MARTIN DB4 GT
£POA ronald phillips antiques.com
SAM LOXTON – SMOKER’S ENSEMBLE
Perfect for anyone who likes a smoke with their Art Deco. This ensemble compromises a black wood tray with agate, gold and black enamel handles. It contains fitted spaces for a ‘pot of cigarettes’ in agate with coral, onyx and cabochon rubies as well as stacker ash trays in the same with black enamel stands. Stamped with an 18-carat gold French eagle’s head dating from 1925, this would be a great piece for the billiards room.
MAGNUM 44 BANZAI
£POA fiskens.com
This early 19th Century terrestrial globe by J&W Cary is fitted into a mahogany circular stand with a horizon ring above a veneered frieze and stands on three turned, tapering and reeded legs. The globe maps the journeys made by Captain Cook as well as those of the great explorers Captain Vancouver and the Comte de la Perouse. This globe would make a fabulous addition to any drawing room, whether on land or at sea.
Arguably one of the greatest cars ever manufactured, this is definitely one of the most valuable and collectable cars in Aston Martin’s history. First shown in October 1959 at the London Motor Show, the DB4 GT differed from the original DB4 as it was lighter with an upgraded engine. Designed to be equally at home on road and track, this car is an automobile enthusiast’s dream.
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1 0 B O O KS EV ERY MA N SH OULD R EA D 1. THE ODYSSEY, HOMER
A Greek epic poem which follows Odysseus on his journey home after the fall of Troy. All the powerful themes of human nature are covered: justice, vengeance, cunning, pride, fate and free will. Heavy, but worth the effort.
2. THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, J. D. SALINGER
The ultimate story of teenage angst. Judgmental, alienated, disgruntled and sarcastic, sixteen year old Holden Caulfield despises life’s ‘phonies’, often not realising that, in his own way, he too is a fraud.
3. FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS, ERNEST HEMINGWAY
A classic war novel from the wildly talented Ernest Hemingway. Expect lots of death, suffering and politics, with each of the characters learning a lot about the value of life along the way.
4. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GREY, OSCAR WILDE
The only published novel from the brilliant aesthete Oscar Wilde, this narrative can be defined as a symbolic representation of the split between the two sides of Wilde’s personality. Not surprising, then, that you will find a running discussion of art against life and themes of homoerotic love.
5 . L O R D O F T H E F L I E S , W I L L I A M G O L D I N G
Along with The Catcher in the Rye, this is the book that everyone read in school - but its quality and resonance explain why. An allegorical novel from Nobel Prize-winning author William Golding, it tells the story of a group of boys who become stranded on an island and have to govern themselves. As you can imagine, chaos ensues.
6. ON THE ROAD, JACK KEROUAC
Published in 1951, this novel is hewn from Kerouac’s memories and experiences when travelling across America with his friends in the 1940s. Considered a key piece of post-war Beat Generation literature – a movement that rejected materialism and established mores in favour of experimentation and alternative expression – Kerouac’s novel follows a personal journey of discovery, set against a background of sex, drugs and jazz.
7. MONEY: A SUICIDE NOTE, MARTIN AMIS
This novel comes from the point of view of its likeable but disgusting protagonist John Self, a director of ‘controversial’ commercials about smoking, drinking, junk food and nude magazines. Self – whose own life mirrors the corruption of his commercials – is asked to direct a feature film by a New York producer. Money documents his downfall with horror and hilarity.
8. THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, TOM WOLFE
Branded ‘the quintessential ‘80s novel’, The Bonfire of the Vanities is Wolfe’s masterpiece. An explosive tale of ambition, human comedy and politics. Just don’t attempt to watch the film adaptation...
9. THE LITTLE PRINCE, ANTOINE DE SAINT-EXUPÉRY
French aristocrat, writer and aviator Saint-Exupéry began writing this famous novella during World War II, after Germany’s invasion of France had forced him to give up flying and flee to New York. Though it is categorised as a children’s book, its exploration of the meaning of life and its central message of love and compassion mean that it resonates with all ages. It is also the most translated book in the French language. Now, for a kids’ book, that’s pretty damn good.
1 0 . B R I D G E T J O N E S ’ S D I A R Y , H E L E N F I E L D I N G
This 1998 British Book of the Year may seem like a surprising novel to make it onto our list, but its hilarious, raw and clever depiction of chain-smoking, binge drinking 30-year old eternal singleton Bridget Jones, makes it a worthy entrant. Not quite the scholarly look you were going for? Well, that’s what Kindles are for. By Victoria Gardiner, Photography by Gareth Williams (gareth-williams.co.uk) and Luisa Whitton (luisawhitton.com), Art Direction by Ines Suarez de Puga.
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FILMS TO LOOK OUT FOR I N 2014
CULTURE
1 Noah (Released 28th March)
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When it comes to his directorial resume for the last fifteen years, Darren Aronofsky hasn’t really put a foot wrong. Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Fountain (2006), The Wrestler (2008) and Black Swan (2010) have all been massive critical and box office successes, and the Oscar nominated director’s new film is on course to continue that winning streak. Starring Russell Crowe, Emma Watson and Jennifer Connelly, the film is inspired by Ari Handal’s graphic novel and follows the Biblical story of Noah as he attempts to save his family (and the rest of animal existence) from an impending flood.
2 Transcendence (Released 25th April) The eagerly anticipated Transcendence - the story of an artificial intelligence researcher (Johnny Depp) who is killed by terrorists but, with the help of his wife (Rebecca Hall), has uploaded his consciousness into a computer - acts as the directorial debut for Willy Pfister, a man famed for being Christopher Nolan’s talented cinematographer. With Nolan on as executive producer and Morgan Freeman, Kate Mara and Paul Bettany starring, this sci-fi/drama could be the film that affirms Pfister as a director to watch out for in the future.
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Godzilla (Released 16th May)
Guardians of the Galaxy (Released 1st August)
Walter White vs Godzilla might sound like a trippy musing of a drugged up Jesse Pickman, but it is actually the plot for the new Godzilla film. Ok, so Mr White won’t actually be making an appearance in this film, rather Brian Cranston playing Joe Brody, the father of lead Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-ass). The rebooted film follows the iconic Godzilla structure but with some excited modern twists and much darker undertones.
4 X-Men: Days of Future Past (Released 22nd May) With Bryan Singer, director of the original X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003), reinstated at the helm of the sci-fi franchise, we’re very excited about the upcoming release. Bringing in characters from the previous films, Days of Future Past sees Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) travelling back in time to change history and prevent a deadly disaster from destroying the world. Alongside Jackman, the film costars Jennifer Lawrence, Ellen Page, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, James McAvoy, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry and Patrick Stewart.
5 A Million Ways to Die in the Mid West (Released 6th June) Bolstered by his successful feature film debut, the hilarious Ted, Seth McFarlane is back again with A Million Ways to Die in the West. A comic Western starring Amanda Seyfried, Charlize Theron, Liam Neeson, Neil Patrick Harris and the man himself, Seth MacFarlane. If his past work is anything to go by, raucous and rude hilarity is set to ensue.
The facts are there, people love a Marvel film. With each one becoming both a critical and commercial success, the pressure is on for the 10th franchise installment not to disappoint. Unlike its predecessors, this Marvel flick adapts the story of lesser known characters, the eccentric space misfits Gamora, Rocket, Drax the Destroyer and Groot. These Guardians, played by Zoe Saldana, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista and Vin Diesel respectively, are employed by leader Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) to help him protect the orb from the villainous Ronan.
7 Gone Girl (Released 3rd October) Whenever a book is adapted into a film it divides opinion and creates conversation. Did they stay true to the original? This latest adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best selling novel Gone Girl is set to be no different. The ending of this film - which follows Nick and Amy Dunne (Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike) who leave New York city to move out to the country but things take a turn when Amy goes missing and Nick becomes the prime suspect - was actually rewritten by Flynn to create a completely alternative ending to the book. A risky move - will it pay off?
8 Fury (Released 24th October) Though it is not set for release until October, we have already seen lots of stills from this World War II action/ drama and, from what we can gather, it makes for a very exciting project. Directed by David Ayers (End of Watch and Training Day), this film sees a team of allied soldiers led by Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) as they make a heroic mission across enemy lines. Co-stars Shia LaBeouf, Logan Lerman and Michael Peña.
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Interstellar (Released 7th November) When it comes to competition in the film industry, studios are trying anything to get their film noticed above the rest. Early teasers and multiple trailers are the usual bait of choice but if there was going to be one director to go against the grind, it comes as no surprise that it is Christopher Nolan. Famed for his pre-release mystery, the details of this sci-fi thriller are being kept under close wraps but with Matthew McConaughey, Jessica Chastain, Anne Hathaway and the legendary Michael Caine starring, this flick is already set to be one of the highlights of the year.
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The Interview (Released 5th December) Every time Seth Rogen and James Franco unite something hilarious happens (Bound 3, need we say more?). Hoping to continue this stella reputation, Rogen has linked up with Franco and Lizzy Caplan to star in The Interview, the story of a talk show host who inadvertently gets involved in a plot to kill Kim Jung-Un, leader of North Korea. The 31-year old funny man has also co-written and co-directed this project.
By Victoria Gardiner
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Rextail Mayfair
Although Mayfair may already be home to some of London’s most iconic restaurants, when celebrated Russian restaurateur Arkady Novikov opens a new space it is impossible to ignore.
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Aggie Verdin Although Mayfair is already home to some of London’s most iconic restaurants, it is impossible to ignore a new opening by celebrated Russian restauranteur Arkady Novikov. Having attended Culinary Institute No. 174 in his native Russia, Novikov worked his way up the ranks as a chef before convincing a friend to invest in his first restaurant, Sirena. Sirena was Novikov’s response to a meat shortage in Russia at the time, and was Moscow’s first dedicated seafood restaurant. It marked his first brilliant success, flourishing and heralding a path for fine dining in postSoviet Russia. Novikov managed to brush off the mafia and went on to open more than 50 restaurants across Russia, his name becoming synonymous with the very best dining experiences. In 2011 he set his sights on London, and opened the eponymous Novikov on Berkeley Street. A fusion of two restaurants, pan-Asian and Italian, Novikov has a staggering 540 tables and has hosted a wealth of famous faces. His newest offering is Rextail, so
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named after the Cretaceous beast, situated a stone’s throw from Novikov on Albemarle Street. It’s a far smaller restaurant (a mere 120 tables this time), and is comparatively intimate and far more comfortable. Aside from the main restaurant, it also houses a charcuterie bar where one can sample a delectable array of cold meats and cheeses, to be washed down by one of their tempting cocktails. Novikov has ensured the smooth running of the kitchen with the recruitment of head chef Adrian Martin – a veteran of many of the capital’s most prestigious restaurants, including the Dorchester, Scott’s, The Ivy and Annabel’s – leaving him more than capable of upholding Novikov’s exacting standards. Arriving early for our 7 o’clock booking, we decided to take a drink at the bar before heading to our table. Huge hocks of ham hung behind the bar, and bowls of plump olives and salted almonds sat ready to be enjoyed with the cocktails. We chose an elderflower mojito and a gin & mint punch, both expertly blended – perfect aperitifs.
Unlike Novikov’s other London restaurants, Rextail does not explore Asian cuisine but instead focuses on expertly cooking fish, game and choice cuts of meat, which are either charcoal-grilled or woodroasted. Although it principally showcases the best British produce, Rextail also takes pride in allowing the diner to experience the choicest internationally-bred cuts, such as Wagyu from Nebraska and the true Fiorentina T-Bone. To start, one can choose from the selection of charcuterie or from the menu, which provides a fine, vegetarian-friendly selection including burrata pugliese with datterini tomatoes, Orkney scallop carpaccio with olive oil and steak tartare. As tempting as these options were, we opted for the seared beef, black truffle and rocket, and baked Scottish langoustine with lemon and parsley oil. The delicately-sliced layers of beef were lavished with enough black truffle to make sure that each mouthful had the perfect balance of flavours, rich and earthy. The langoustine were succulent and just-
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cooked so that the meat was juicy and full of flavour. Although a rather messy dish to eat, its simplicity made sure the flavour of the langoustine shone through. Choosing the main course proved difficult, with a wealth of enticing cattle breeds such as a 40-day dry-aged 900g rib eye from the Irish Black Angus Tipperary herd or a veal chop from Munsterland, Germany, all cooked on the charcoal grill. The wood-roasting oven offers a variety of poultry, game and red meats including braised Yorkshire grouse and kid goat massala and, of course, several fish dishes including grilled Loch Fyne Salmon and baked Canadian lobster. Although tempted by the fine steaks, we wanted to try something a little different, and unable to withstand the lure of red meat we opted for a bison striploin from the US Prairie. Chargrilled with a crisp layer of fat and accompanied by salty, hot pommes allumettes and béarnaise sauce, it was cooked perfectly and, although we were apprehensive, the flavour was not too gamey
or intense, tasting more like an extremely well-aged steak. The other dish we chose was suckling pig served with caramelised apples, which was one of the most delightful things either of us had ever eaten. Generous portions of tender slow-cooked pork topped with layers of divine crackling, providing contrast to the delicate meat, all of which was brought together by the buttery sweetness of the apples. For dessert we decided to veer away from the menu, which showcases treats such as poached pears or lavender crème brulée, in order to consult the daily specials which are enjoyably presented on a dessert table as one enters the restaurant. We chose an impressive ‘Tower of Napoleon’, layers of pastry and cream, and a classic tarte tatin, accompanied by salted toffee ice cream. Unfortunately, as good as the puddings were, they did not quite live up to the supreme quality of the first two dishes, yet they were not at all unenjoyable and we finished the meal with a sweet satisfaction. Rextail may face competition from the
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restaurant establishment of Mayfair, even down the road from Novikov itself, but the lavish and intimate settings provide a more seductive dining experience. Arkady Novikov is Russia’s most successful restaurateur and we see no reason why this latest venture should not follow in the footsteps of his prior success.
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THE BEST NEW WORLD WINES
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2008 Mullineux White, Swartland, South Africa
2012 Vasse Felix Chardonnay, Margaret River, Australia 2010 Au Bon Climat ‘Bien Nacido’ Chardonnay, Santa Maria Valley, USA Located in a canyon on California’s Central Coast, twenty miles from the Pacific Ocean, the Bien Nacido is Au Bon Climat’s primary vineyard source. The warmth of the day works with cooler temperatures at night to produce the beautifully unusual soil that makes this grape so unique. To the nose, it has notes of cinnamon, apples, roasted nuts and lemon curd, with a taste that is dry and fresh on the palette. Serve with roast chicken.
Vasse Felix was the first winery built in the Margaret River region, and is committed to delivering cutting-edge, top quality bottles. This trophywinning Chardonnay in particular is a dry and very modern mix of premium stone fruits and partial wild yeast fermentation in French oak barriques. The finished product? A toasty, nutty nose with a full palette of exotic fruits. Serve with white meat.
A meticulous and complex fusion of old vine Clairette, old bush vine Chenin Blanc and younger Viognier, offers a vibrant, beautifully acidic taste to this fresh, herby, nutty and subtle wine. Prolonged ageing in old oak barrels on the lees adds a richness only possible using this method. As with all Mullineux wines, it is made as naturally as possible without damaging the supreme quality. Serve with barbecued fish and white meats.
2008 Constantia Glen Five, South Africa This multi award-winning red is texturally rich and broadly aromatic. Blending five archetypal Bordeaux grape varieties – Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Petit Verdot, Malbec and Merlot – the prominent flavour is loaded with notes of cassis and red plum and a sweet spice that lingers on the tongue. Serve with beef.
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2009/2010 Saintsbury Pinot Noir Carneros, USA
2012 ‘Angels’ Share’ Shiraz, Two Hands, McLaren Vale, Australia This spicy and fullbodied red is a Shiraz powerhouse. Developed by Two Hands, it incorporates a vast array of flavours and textures from coffee, cocoa and cola to mulberry and plum. Soft, smooth tannins make this an intensely aromatic and pleasurable tipple. Serve with red meat.
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2011 Viñalba Gran Reservado Malbec, Mendoza, Argentina Winner of the Decanter and IWC Bronze Awards, this fruity and flowery Malbec stands tall as Viñalba’s flagship wine. Originating from Mendoza’s Lujan de Cuyo region, it has been developed by the brilliant Hervé Fabre, one of the first Bordeaux-schooled winemakers to realise the potential of the grape. Expect a fulfilling, long finish with notes of vanilla. Serve with steak or venison.
An elegant and expressive Pinot Noir, it blends notes of bitter black cherry, spice and vanilla with hints of tobacco and liquorice. Voluptuous and complex, this wine represents the established hallmark of the vineyard. The lingering taste is generously woody with hints of warm oak coming through. Serve with duck, lamb and game.
2012 Martinborough Vineyard ‘Te Tera’ Pinot Noir, Martinborough, New Zealand Martinborough Vineyard have taken the New Zealand Pinot Noir grape and transformed it into a global success. On the nose, the stunning blend of red and black cherries comes through with elements of spice and herbal notes on the palette. The cool maritime climate leads to a natural low-vigour site for a wine with smooth texture and body. Serve with roast lamb.
By Victoria Gardiner Photography by Gareth Williams (gareth-williams.co.uk) and Luisa Whitton (luisawhitton.com) Art Direction by Ines Suarez de Puga
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QUINTESSENTIAL BRITISH LEATHER GOODS SINCE 1934 www.ettinger.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)20 8877 1616
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MARK HIX on food
English Chef and restauranteur Mark Hix shares with us some delicious seasonal recipes that are simple to prepare, and will impress your guests no end. Why not try out the whole 3 courses for the perfect dinner party?
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S C A L LO P S W I T H BLACK PUDDING AND JERUSALEM ARTICHOKE PUREE
You can make this from scratch, but I find the use of a good fish soup for the base (instead of merely fish stock) improves it immensely. Serve this as they do in France – with thick slices of bread, grilled and brushed with olive oil and garlic. IN G R E DIE N TS
3-4 tbsp olive oil sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 200g monkfish, cut into 1-2cm slices on the bone 250g sea bream, red or black, scaled and cut like the monkfish 100g cleaned squid, cut into 3-4 cm chunks 250g mussels, debearded and scrubbed, discarding any that refuse to close 3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 2 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley 1 tbsp ground almonds 1 recipe quantity of fish soup If you’re not confident about opening scallops yourself, ask your fishmonger to do it for you. Don’t be tempted to buy those ready-prepared ones, unless you know that they have been freshly shucked; more often than not, they will have been soaked in water, frozen or washed to death and have practically no flavour left.
I N G R E D I EN TS
300g Jerusalem artichokes, peeled and halved sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 80g butter 150g good-quality black pudding 1 tbsp cold-pressed rapeseed or vegetable oil 12 medium scallops, cleaned and trimmed a handful of flat-leaf parsley
I N S TR U C T I ON S (SE RVE S 4)
Cook the artichokes in a pan of lightly salted water for 8-10 minutes or until tender. Drain well and whizz in a blender or food processor to a puree. Return to a clean pan and place over a low heat. Warm the puree for a few minutes, stirring so it doesn’t stick, until it has reduced slightly to a spoonable consistency; it shouldn’t be wet and sloppy. Season with salt and pepper to taste and stir in about 30g of the butter; keep warm. Cut the black pudding into small nuggets and set aside ready to cook. Rub a non-stick heavy-based frying pan with the tiniest amount of oil (too much will make the scallops boil rather than fry). Heat until almost smoking, then add the scallops and cook over a medium-high heat for 1 minute on each side. Immediately remove from the pan to avoid overcooking and place on a plate; keep warm. Lower the heat and add the black pudding, parsley and rest of the butter to the empty scallop pan. Cook gently for 2-3 minutes to warm through, stirring every so often. To serve, spoon the Jerusalem artichoke puree onto warm serving plates, place the scallops on top, then spoon the butter and black pudding over.
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IN S TR UCTIO N S (S E R VE S 4)
Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Heat the oil in a frying pan, season the fish and lightly fry for a minute or so on each side. Transfer to an ovenproof dish. Add the squid and mussels, then mix the garlic, parsley and almonds into the fish soup with about 100ml water. Add that to the pot, cover and cook in the oven for 1520 minutes, stirring occasionally.
FOOD DRINK
&
FISH STEW
RHUBARB PIE So, what do we have against rhubarb? Memories of school meals of stewed rhubarb and lumpy custard maybe, or when mum didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t quite put enough sugar into the pot. There is, however, undoubtedly a rhubarb revival happening, with lots of new and interesting recipes hitting the streets, along with wellmade old classics. I N GRE DI E N TS
1kg rhubarb, trimmed and chopped into 2cm pieces 1 large cooking apple, peeled, cored and chopped 300g granulated sugar, plus a little extra for the top 1 egg white, beaten thick custard or clotted Jersey cream, to serve FOR THE SWEET PIE PASTRY 110g soft butter, plus extra for greasing 135g caster sugar 1 tsp baking powder 225g strong flour a pinch of salt 125ml double cream serves 6-8
Put the rhubarb, apple and sugar in a heavy pan, cover and cook on a medium heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the lid and cook for 8-10 minutes over a fairly high heat, until the rhubarb is soft and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. To make the pastry, cream the butter and sugar. Sieve the baking powder and flour together and stir into the butter mix with the salt, then slowly pour in the cream until well mixed. Chill for about 30 minutes before rolling. Grease a 17-18cm diameter, 2-3cm deep tart tin with butter and roll twothirds of the pastry to about 2-3mm thick. Line the tin with the pastry and trim the edges. Then line the tin with a circle of greaseproof paper and fill with baking beans. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until the pastry is lightly coloured. Meanwhile, roll the remaining pastry out to a circle just a little larger than the tart. If you like, you can cut the pastry into strips about 1cm wide to lay on top in a lattice pattern or just keep as a circle. Remove the beans and paper from the tart and spoon the rhubarb mixture in. Cover with the pastry top, trim and press on to the edges of the pastry base with your thumb and forefinger. Brush the top with egg and scatter with sugar. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the top is a golden crisp. Leave to cool to room temperature and serve with thick custard or cream. Spring 2014
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GENTLEMAN’S ETIQUETTE HOW TO GET AHEAD IN THE OFFICE
& SPORT
SHOOTING | 5 OF THE BEST EXERCISES
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T H E G E N T L ES H MOAONT I’NSG E T I Q U E T T E
SPORT
HOW TO GET AHEAD IN THE OFFICE Despite the Gentleman’s Journal’s fortune-telling expertise, we can’t risk upsetting the gods by revealing your future – and we absolutely assure you this isn’t code for ‘we couldn’t be bothered to steal a horoscope off the Internet.’ But whatever your New Year’s resolutions, a stellar ascent is unlikely; you’re not about to become Director-General of the BBC (unless, of course, you are about to become Director-General of the BBC, in which case we can only apologise and beg you to start plugging us on Eastenders). But, as TV presenters enjoy telling us so much, every journey has a start – and while your 2014 career plan may have begun clearing up the empties left over from the office Christmas party, follow these five simple steps and we assure you that you’ll be sipping martinis in an executive chair before the year is out*.
N 1 BODY LANGUAGE If I had a penny for all the useless dross I’ve heard about confidence, posture and, y’know, stuff like that, I’d be... not a millionaire, per se, but I would be able to afford a KitKat with my sandwiches occasionally. Still, there are always things worth remembering about how to use your body in the office environment: keeping your clothes on, remembering to breathe and not dribbling over your keyboard would be a start. Then there’s stuff like eye contact – tricky, this one: a little is basic good manners, but cross the line and suddenly you’re in Hannibal Lecter country. Similarly, when you shake hands with someone, remember not to crush them – I know they tell you to be ‘firm’, but blimey, this isn’t Mortal Kombat you know. Finally, there’s washing – when your boss talks about ‘working up a sweat’, he may not mean it literally. Oh, and stand up straight when I’m talking to you, you filthy slob.
N 2 ALPHA MAIL You don’t have to be criminally stupid to get fired off the back of an office e-mail, but it helps. First of all, make absolutely sure you’re sending your message to the right person – though your boss may well enjoy your ‘imaginative’ role-play missives to your Internet-only girlfriend, she probably won’t be so forgiving when it comes to receiving memos about quarterly performance or Taiwanese interest rates. Don’t send any jpegs of your genitals, or those of anyone you work with. In fact, probably best to avoid willies altogether. It’s a lot to ask, but don’t be rude, boring or drunk. Speling things rite is gud to (see wot I did ther?).
N 3 GET REAL PAID Soooo... you actually believe you deserve a pay rise, do you? Depressingly, so does everybody else - you’re going to have to make a pretty convincing case. It helps to do some research into what’s realistic – if you work in a pub, for example, it’s probably not a great idea to ask for executive pay. There’s also the old myth that you need to talk like a mob subordinate from a Martin Scorsese film – it’s all very well saying ‘… and if you don’t, I quit!.’ But come on: in your boss’s shoes, wouldn’t you be tempted to reply with a shrug of the shoulders and a nonchalent ‘Okay. Byeeee’? In any case, as the ancient Mesopotamian saying goes, don’t be a dick.
N 4 MASTERING THE MEETING Groan, groan, groan: the real key here is to switch your phone off, pretend you’re not bored and sit tight hoping nobody asks you anything. But what if they do? While the best plan of action might actually be to feign illness and sod off for lunch, it’s probably good to have some idea of what’s being discussed. You still don’t have to pay attention, but having a meaningless but impressive-sounding bit of management speak ready is always handy. The shorter, the better: something like ‘In the end of the day, the crystal ball is looking bright, and with a little blue-sky thinking, we can really drill down to move forward with things.’ People love that sort of thing, apparently.
N 5 BECOMING THE MODEL WORKER Don’t hurry. Don’t slack. Don’t undersell yourself. Don’t brag. Don’t be nasty. Don’t be nice. Don’t brown-nose. Don’t fail to compliment your boss. Don’t argue. Don’t hold back. Don’t do anything, in fact. And when the severance pay comes through, don’t forget to thank the Gentleman’s Journal.
By Digby Warde-Aldam Illustrations by Alexander Ashby alexanderashby.com
(DISCLAIMER: under the diktats of the 2014 unrealistic promises act, Gentleman’s Journal accepts no liability for your probable failure to be sipping martinis in an executive chair before the year is out, but best of luck.)
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SPORT
SHOOTING
GROUSE SEASON THE ROUND UP TO THE SEASON
What a season it’s been! While there have been specific areas where the grouse have not done well in 2013, generally it has been an exceptional year, with large numbers of grouse bagged over much of the North of England and Scotland. After a horrendously wet spring and summer in 2012, we had just the opposite in 2013, and despite late snow on some higher-lying moors, the weather was as perfect as it could have been for the grouse chicks to thrive. The end result was large broods (often with nine or more young) on many moors. There were a few weak spots, but grouse were in abundance from the Peak District through the main Pennine Belt, across the North Yorkshire Moors and on into Northumberland and the Scottish Borders. The Lammermuir Moors, which lie to the south of Edinburgh, were particularly good, as were parts of the Scottish Highlands. Scotland has been very erratic in terms of its grouse count for a number of years, but there definitely seems to have been a rejuvenation on many moors, which is very pleasing to see. The mirror effect of increased grouse numbers on well-managed moors and the best year recently for black grouse and waders shows what can be done by good management when the weather is kind! After the disasters of the previous two years, black grouse were in desperate need of a good breeding season, and fortunately this year – just as their number was looking perilously low – they experienced a lovely, dry summer
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which resulted in exceptional chick survival rates. The highlights of the season were probably the significant increase in grouse numbers on a few moors in Perthshire, which has with few exceptions been grim for many years, and the extraordinary consistency of many moors in the grouseshooting heartlands of Yorkshire, Northumberland and Durham. Undoubtedly, this is in part due to the effectiveness of modern medicated grit, which contains a wormer to control the strongyle worm, long the scourge of grouse moors. Recent advances in the development of medicated grit – in particular its duration of effectiveness when put out on the moor – have allowed much larger stocks of grouse to be carried without enabling the strongyle worm to build up. This is the boom-bust cycle, which until very recently was the pattern of grouse management. The lettings market remained good for much of the season, in spite of large grouse numbers necessitating extra days in October and November. Early season days were letting at £150 per brace, dropping south of £120 later on in the season. Fortunately, there are still sportsmen happy to shoot late season grouse on Highland moors in November (sometimes with snow on the peaks!), but rightly they pay less to do so than on a balmy day amidst the purple-flowering heather of August. Undoubtedly it is the late season days that produce the very best quality sport, with large packs of exceptionally strong grouse flying at up to 70 miles per hour.
Somewhat bizarrely, it’s at this time of the year that we are making plans for next season. Heather burning has started (though the hills need to dry up before it gets going in earnest) and the grit has all been put out. Whilst snow over the winter months is fine, we are desperate to avoid late snowfall in March or April, when the grouse are nesting. In the Highlands, it is not unknown for snow to fall heavily in May, and if this happens, it is unlikely young grouse will survive. All in all, 2013 will go down as one of the very best grouse years and most thoughts have now turned to partridge and pheasant shooting.
Mark Osborne is a Chartered Surveyor and Land Agent who specialises in Sporting work, and is a Director of William Powell Sporting, which lets amongst other sport, Grouse Shooting in the North of England and Scotland. He can be contacted on: 01295 277 197 jmo@jmosborne.co.uk
EXERCISE
5
SPORT
EXERCISES TO GET YOU BACK ON TRACK FOR SUMMER
It’s finally Spring, and whether you’re starting to plan your summer holiday or want to lose some of those excess pounds, we’ve designed a training program that will help you burn lots of body fat and help to create some lean muscle. Best of all, you can do it anywhere.
1
Bruce Lee chin up
2
Disco Lunges
3
Spiderman Push-Up
4
Single Leg RDL
5
Flowing Push-Up
The exercises prescribed below are twists on some traditional routines you may recognise – follow the programme at least 3 days a week to make 2014 clean and lean.
This exercise works your back, arms, shoulders and core. Grab a bar with your hands shoulder-width apart, with an underhand grip and palms facing you. Keeping your body still with your legs parallel to the floor, pull yourself up until your chest hits the bar. Do not let your body swing - keep the legs straight and then fully straighten your arms when you lower your body down. Do 6 – 8 repetitions and then rest for 30 seconds.
This exercise works your legs, glutes, core and upper back.This is a great exercise to help improve your posture. Begin standing with feet together, arms by your side with hands clenched and thumbs pointing up. Step forward with the left leg and lower your hips by bending at the knee. Land with your heel first and let the front knee travel forward. As you step forward, raise both arms above your head to make a ‘Y’ shape with your arms. Return to the start position by pushing from the front foot and return your arms back to your side. Keep your chest up throughout the movement and don’t let your knee collapse inwards when you lunge. Complete 10 repetitions with the left leg, then with the right leg for 10 repetitions. Rest for 30 seconds.
This exercise works your back, arms, shoulders and core Begin in a push up position with your feet hip-width apart and hands slightly wider than shoulder-width apart. Throughout the movement, keep your belly button drawn in and keep your back flat. As you bend your elbows, slowly lower your body to the floor and bring your right knee towards your right elbow. Push back to the start position and return your leg to the start position. Then repeat and alternate each leg. Complete 8-10 repetitions, then rest for 30 seconds.
This exercise is great for your hamstrings, glutes, lower back and core. Begin with your feet together and hold some type of resistance (dumbbell, medicine ball etc) in front of your hips. Hinge over at the waist and push the left leg backwards until there is a straight line from your left heel through to the knee, hip and shoulders. Then return to the start position while maintaining a flat back throughout the movement. Repeat 12 – 15 with each leg, then rest for 30 seconds.
Begin in a push-up position with your feet hip-width apart. Raise your hips so your body forms an upside-down V. Bend the elbows and lower the front of your body until your chin nears the floor. Lower your hips as you raise your head and shoulders toward the ceiling. Now reverse the movement and return to the starting position and repeat 6-8 times. Rest for 60 seconds, then repeat the whole circuit 3 or 4 times
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JAN/FEB 2014
Property
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THE UK AND LONDON HOUSING MARKET
PPRRO OPPEERRTTYY
The UK & London Housing Market A BRIEF OVERVIEW There was much talk about a ‘property bubble’ in the last quarter of 2013 – and it’s a subject that will continue to divide opinion this year. Although many commentators have remained sceptical about the apparently unstoppable rise of property prices, it has, with the exception of the early ‘90s recession, been a mug’s game to bet against the London market over the last 40 years. Property prices continue to increase, which is due to the basic rule of continually rising demand and limited supply. However, such strength in the market has rarely been seen in the immediate aftermath of a recession. As for the UK as a whole, buyers’ appetites have grown at a faster rate than the number of homes available, according to agents and surveyors. Some analysts have suggested the UK is in need of a further 100,000 extra homes to cope with the demand. It’s for this reason that many have criticised the government’s Help to Buy scheme, which saw its second act launch in October. It offers lenders a taxpayer-backed guarantee on mortgages of up to 95%. It seems the scheme is working, with the banks and estate agents predicting an 8% rise across the country. This, in layman’s terms, would
add almost £1,600 a month to an average house price of £247,000. The demand is so strong that house prices are rising at nearly ten times the rate of average earnings. It looks as if the government’s Help to Buy scheme, in tandem with record-low interest rates, is sending demand through the roof. This nation-wide rise in demand is especially evident in London, where the property market is in a different ball park from the rest of the country. One key factor currently making the headlines and making buyers and developers twitch is the ever-increasing foreign investment in prime London real estate. This thirst from overseas investors now seems to come from all corners of the globe and is not only contributing to rising property prices, but pricing others out of the market. Many average buyers looking at buying in London are being forced to look at areas that in the past they wouldn’t normally have considered. Foreign investment has caused a ripple effect outwards from prime areas such as Mayfair, Belgravia, Chelsea and Knightsbridge that stretches right out to the suburbs. This will be a key issue in the next election, with all political parties saying they vow to introduce taxes on expensive homes. London is attractive to wealthy investors due to its security, liquidity, universities and its
In regards to the UK as a whole, buyers appetites have grown at a faster rate then the number of homes available according to agents and surveyors. abundance of high-end shops and restaurants. It has all the ingredients to make your average high-net-worth individual feel at home. Many of the top London agents have criticised George Osborne’s Autumn statement, which launched a crackdown on wealthy foreign homeowners – and agents say this type of talk brings uncertainty to the market. Savills have even forecasted a slowdown in high-end property prices next year and a dip in 2016 as a direct result of election campaigns. It seems the government – in particular Osborne – has a juggling act on its hands; while foreign investment is crucial for the growth of the UK economy at large, it’s pricing out the majority. This may have laid the foundations for the Help to Buy scheme, which in turn has been criticised by many as a mere band-aid on what looks to be a much bigger problem. It seems that the real issue is the lack of available and affordable housing, and no 95% mortgage can change this.
Interior of The Heron Panoramic Collection apartments above the 30th floor
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PPRRO OPPEERRTTYY
MAYFAIR PROPERTY ON THE MARKET OUR PICK OF THE BEST MAYFAIR PROPERTIES
10 QUEEN STREET, MAYFAIR KNIGHT FRANK £9,750,000
This gorgeous Grade-II Georgian townhouse comes with the adjacent one-bedroom mews house next door. Cute. Its five bedrooms, labyrinthine vault space, four bathrooms and glorious balconies cover a total of 4, 148 square feet. Sure, the floorspace is not gapingly expansive, but who cares? This is without doubt one of the most extraordinary properties you could ever hope to come on the market – the buyer even gets the freehold. And, best of all, it’s all of thirty seconds’ walk from The Gentleman’s Journal HQ. Invite us round for a cuppa, go on…
THE MANOR, DAVIES STREET, MAYFAIR HARRODS ESTATES POA, GUIDE PRICE: £10,000,000
With four bedrooms, two reception rooms, a massive dining room, study and no less than four bathrooms, this is a serious apartment. It’s located on the upper floors of the Manor, an historic Edwardian apartment block at the corner of Davies Street and Grosvenor Street, built for dowager countess widows. Grosvenor and Berkeley Squares are both within easy walking distance, and the parade of shops on the ground floor ensures that, as happens so often in such grand districts, you will not find yourself trudging for miles if you run out of washing powder – in fact, you could get by pretty well without ever having to leave the building. Whatever your tastes, this is about as close as apartment living comes to the word ‘palatial.’
10-12 CHARLES STREET, MAYFAIR KNIGHT FRANK £11,000,000
Part of a six-storey apartment block at the Berkeley Square end of elegant Charles Street, this 3,000 square foot apartment is the sort of place where you keep expecting to run into a hungover Bertie Wooster bumming around in his dressing gown. (This is not a bad thing, incidentally.) The fifth-floor property encompasses three bedrooms, a drinks bar, reception room and ‘greeting hall’, kitchen and dining room. And that’s without even mentioning the warren of bathrooms and utility spaces or the contents of the lower ground floor flat you get thrown in with it. The tenant also gets a share of the freehold – which, for the record, endures for another 983 years. Make no mistake: this is an investment worth making.
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PROPERTY
34 ALDFORD HOUSE, PARK STREET, MAYFAIR HARRODS ESTATES POA, GUIDE PRICE: £8,000,000
If ever there was a status symbol property, then this is it. Located in Aldford House, an austere but elegant interwar block that was once home to actress Anna Neagle, the apartment snugly fits in three double bedrooms, two lavatories, a laundry room and a voluminous entrance hall – cum – entertainment area. There’s a state-of-the-art kitchen and a dining room Jeffrey Archer would covet for his shepherds’ pie and Bollinger parties. (but don’t let that put you off.) There’s only one word to describe the view from here: phwooooaaaaaarrr. Rarely does anyone get access to such a gobsmacking panorama of Hyde Park and Mayfair. This is genuinely something special.
WAVERTON STREET, MAYFAIR WETHERELL £25,000,000
Enjoy the odd night down the pub? How do you fancy the idea of living in one? Obviously, this being Mayfair, this is hardly the kind of run-down old den of iniquity the word might suggest. No, it’s about the most luxurious building conversion imaginable – with interior design courtesy of the brilliant Bill Bennette, this five-bedroom former boozer covers seven floors and contains a swimming pool, two terraces and a master bedroom that covers the entire first floor. As if that weren’t gobsmacking enough, there’s a 216 sq ft patio, a gym and steam room, an impressive home cinema and a passenger lift. Trust us, shack up here (you’ll get the freehold, too) and gross pub bogs and rancid jars of pickled eggs will be the last thing on your mind. BALFOUR PLACE WETHERELL £2,100,000
Located just off elegant Mount Street, this is a bachelor pad par excellence, perfect for the modern man-about-town. With a state of the art kitchen, a gloriously spacious bedroom and an extremely attractive en suite bathroom, the flat is a comparative snip at just over £2 million. The explanation for the price is the property’s relatively short lease, but this really shouldn’t be a deal-killer. As it stands, it’s the ideal step to getting a head-start on the staggeringly competitive Mayfair property market. With the Central London Property Investment Fund (rather fancifully, we think) suggesting the average one-bedroom flat price might hit £36 million by 2050, it would be stupid to miss out.
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Why it’s wise to get a judge to handle your next house sale Surgeon, airline pilot, judge of the realm. Not professions where you can make slip-ups. We believe our clients should demand the same attention to detail they would expect from any other professional. And a reassuringly high bespoke service. Because no two of our clients are the same, we take each case individually – with a precise understanding of the issues and requirements. With an intimate knowledge of our specialist area, we know exactly the right buyers and properties for you. Always making sure the price does justice to the one you had in mind. At Crayson, we display the same level of professionalism you would receive from other professionals we admire. Where, make no mistake, service has to be gold standard. But we’ll let you be the judge of that.
hello@crayson.com T 020 7221 1117 10 Lambton Place London W11 2SH
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PPRRO OPPEERRTTYY
LONDON’S PROPERTY POWERHOUSES THE GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL LOOKS AT 6 PERSONALITIES WHO ARE CHANGING THE LONDON PROPERTY MAP.
W
ith severe limits on new house building and a cultural buzz like no other city, London continues for the time being to be the real estate capital of the world. Major developments continue to pop up all over the capital, and are in turn redrawing the residential map. Such developments stand to make a handful of ambitious property developers very wealthy indeed. We took a look at six individuals currently making their mark on the London map. They have come from all walks of life, some brought up on council estates and others born into wealth. What they all have in common are bucket-loads of ambition and vision.
SIMON & DAVID REUBEN REUBEN BROTHERS
SEAN MULRYAN BALLYMORE PROPERTIES
TONY PIDGLEY BERKELEY GROUP
These two brothers have a formidable reputation when it comes to business, and have interests in Russian Aluminium, data storage and property, all of which has contributed to their £7 billion fortune. Over the last few years, they have made some serious trophy purchases including the Millbank tower, prime real estate along Sloane Street and a large number of flats in Paddington. This most talked-about part of their portfolio has to be their plan to transform the former In and Out club on Piccadilly, which they reportedly brought for £130 million in 2011. They aim to turn it into the home of all homes – amongst other things, it will contain 48 rooms, an underground swimming pool, a gym and a large wine cellar. Experts say a property of this calibre could fetch as much as £210 million and would sell quickly too – if, that is, they decide not to keep it for themselves.
This former bricklayer’s firm can boast of owning more land in London than any other private company. He first came to fame for developing Barratt-style homes in Ireland, and it was not until after the crash of 1991 that he moved his attentions to London, where he bought up huge chunks of the Docklands. Mulryan is currently developing Embassy Gardens at Nine Elms in Vauxhall which, when launched in 2012, quickly became one of the fastest selling residential projects that year. This development, part of the government’s huge plan to regenerate the South Bank, consists of 1,000 square foot ‘New York-inspired’ flats.
Tony Pidgley didn’t have a conventional start to life. Born in Surrey in 1947, he was adopted by travellers at the age of four and spent much of his youth living in a disused railway carriage. Enormous success with the Berkeley Group, which he founded 35 years ago and is now a FTSE250 company, has made him one of London’s most prolific developers. Pidgley shows no sign of slowing down, and currently has developments across the capital, the most talked about being The Tower, One St George, which looms over the banks of the Thames at Vauxhall. With two-bedroom apartments said to cost £1.77 million, Pidgley looks to be on to a winner.
IRVINE SELLAR SELLAR PROPERTY GROUP Sellar was once a leading light in the clothing industry, and a founder of the shopping chain Mates forty years ago. He moved into property in the 1980s, and has built a reputation that towers over most of his rivals – quite literally, in fact; for it was Sellar who was behind London’s most recognisable new building and Europe’s second-tallest skyscraper. Although still two thirds empty, the Renzo Piano-designed Shard at London Bridge has become an immediate landmark. Sellar himself is rumoured to be worth close to £100 million
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JAMIE RITBLAT DELANCEY If you’ve ever paused to wonder what’s happened to the area around the Olympic Stadium, trouble yourself no longer. It is being turned into the largest residential developments in history, taking in 1,439 new homes and any number of other facilities. The project is the responsibility of Jamie Ritblat, head of Delancey. The son of British Land’s Sir John Ritblat, Jamie has followed in his father’s footsteps to become one of the most important property players in the country. The Olympic development, marketed as the ‘East Village’, is a massive risk – can he pull it off ?
GERALD RONSON HERON INTERNATIONAL Ronson, who started out in the 1950s working for his father’s furniture company, has built Heron into one of the biggest house builders and property developers in Europe. You can see his influence on the London skyline – the Heron Tower, on the North East fringe of the City, is one of Britain’s tallest buildings, and one of only a thimbleful of residential projects in the Square Mile.
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PPRRO OPPEERRTTYY
ENGLAND’S
LOST COUNTRY HOUSES BY MATTHEW BECKETT
in Buckinghamshire. Coleshill was an early example of the type of country house which came to dominate in the Restoration period, a radical break with tradition which drew on Italian, English, French and Dutch themes to create something new. Tragically, though, its rectangular blocks, symmetrical facades and bold chimneys were destroyed in a fire in 1952.
‘I
Coleshill House, Berkshire ’m sorry, but it’s the horses, you know’ confessed Arthur Basset as he visited the tenants on his estate in 1916 to explain why he was selling the magnificent Tehidy House. The 17,000-acre estate had generated £30,000 a year from tin mining, but he had brought it low by gambling – sold to speculators who felled the timber, the house became a hospital, before a fire finished it off. Such financial folly ruined several families; the final demolition of the grand house was a sad conclusion which was repeated hundreds of times across the UK. To see the glories of a country house after a winding drive through private parkland guiding the visitor to the solid front door, one might imagine that these bastions couldn’t be breached. But it’s estimated that since 1800 as many as 2,000 country houses have been demolished or otherwise ruined. Even the grandest, owned by the most noble families and designed by the nation’s best architects, were not safe from this sad fate. Perhaps the reason relatively few are aware of such losses was the insidious way in which it happened; many once-powerful families found the world changing around them and simply failed to adapt; more often,
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Cassiobury, Hertfordshire houses fell victim to fires, shattering an existence overnight, and fashion and folly played their parts too. The role of the State is both that of aggressor and saviour – swingeing taxes signalled the end for many estates, but political changes also saved many through tax breaks. When the 7th Earl of Essex met his untimely end under the wheels of a London taxi in 1916, the death duties immediately placed the house at risk, especially when the relentless growth of urban Watford was already threatening Cassiobury, the ancient seat of the Capel family. When Country Life featured the house in 1910, it gave a charmingly bucolic view but by the early 1920s, the Estates Gazette dispassionately observed that it was the most obvious space into which Watford could expand. The house was sold for materials in the early 1920s, including the staircase by the exceptionally talented wood carver Grinling Gibbons which was bought by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. The building was demolished in 1927. A great country house is about more than beautiful architecture; equally important are the setting certainly and the contents. Carclew in Cornwall, for example, was one of the first to have electricity fitted – but such modernity was also its downfall: a short-circuit started a blaze which reduced the house to a shell in 1934. One of the most lamented losses was Coleshill House
‘...it’s estimated that
since 1800 as many as 2,000 country houses have been demolished or otherwise ruined.’ Even being in possession of one of the greatest fortunes of the day didn’t protect the Duke of Westminster’s vast Victorian palace, Eaton Hall in Cheshire, being demolished. The Grosvenors’ wealth came from a strategic marriage that brought the area of London now better known as Mayfair and Belgravia into their estates. The family’s seat had been through three previous incarnations before the architect Alfred Waterhouse, famed for designing the Natural History Museum, created a remarkable masterpiece of High-Victorian Gothic which contained over 150 bedrooms. Described by the third wife of the 2nd Duke as more a town than a house, its grandeur seemed tasteless in the context of Post-War austerity. It seemed as though the days of such flagrantly aristocratic living were over, and when the current Duke inherited it as a youth, his trustees thought it better to be rid of it. The house was demolished in 1961. The Duke was later to build a much smaller house on the site of the old one. Although the 20th Century brought many challenges for country house owners, it also presented opportunities for new uses. Built for the 10th Duke of Norfolk in the 1770s,
PPRRO OPPEERRTTYY ENGLAND’S LOST COUNTRY HOUSES
Eaton Hall, Cheshire
the Deepdene, Surrey, was bought by the wealthy merchant Thomas Hope in 1807. Hope, obsessed by Regency Classicism, and renovated the house accordingly. The Deepdene was remodelled again in a more formal Italianate style by his grandson in the 1830s and ‘40s, but in the late 19th Century the house fell into decline. The house was inherited by the 6th Duke of Newcastle in 1862, but it wasn’t long before its new owner declared bankruptcy. The house was let out until the 1920s when 2,200-acres of the estate were sold for development, leaving just 50 acres surrounding the house. It was run as a hotel before being bought by the Southern Railway Company and was subsequently used as a military HQ in WWII
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before becoming regional offices for British Rail. It was finally demolished in 1969 and an office block built on the site. Given the massive wealth of today’s top earners, one might expect Britain’s country estates to be flourishing once again. Many, however, are still very much under threat, with owners allowing them to decay or, worse still, imposing unsympathetic changes that compromise the beauty of what they have bought, as though they wished to add a few more brushstrokes to a Picasso. There can be no disagreement that owning such a property is an enormous challenge – but it’s one that is well worth undertaking. Find out more about England’s lost country houses at Lost Heritage: lostheritage.org.uk
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1. Pullman Editions designs original limited-edition Art Deco posters featuring glamorous resorts along the Côte d’Azur, in the French and Swiss Alps, as well as classic cars on the road and track. £395 each. View and buy online at www.pullmaneditions.com 2. Botti Shirts of London Most men have a little ‘niggle’ or two when they buy shirts off the peg – be it tight across the back, too short in the sleeve or too baggy around the belly! The discerning man will know this only too well! Botti Shirts of London have overcome all of these problems by producing perfectly made to measure shirts in beautiful plain, striped and patterned fabrics. Shirts range from £99 to £149... www.botti.co.uk 3. Kent brushes Gentleman’s handmade ebony wood and natural bristle hair brush, testimony to the quality of all that is best in British brush making. www.kentbrushes.com 4. Willow & Warson is a new company producing 3 styles of wooden bow ties, hand carved across 11 wood types, from a mix of exotic hardwood off-cuts and salvaged, local woods, in its Devon workshop. From £85, including a handmade leather case, also made from a local upholsterers off-cuts. The wood in this bow tie is salvaged Lace from Kensington and Chelsea after a tree fell in 2011. www.willowandwarson. co.uk 5. Emmett London seamlessly bridges the gap between the heritage of Jermyn Street tailoring standards and contemporary sartorial style. Creating what many deem to be the best shirts in London, using the very finest fabrics in the world, this London based shirtmaker has a devoted fan base, the most devoted of which may well be X Factor’s Dermot O’Leary, who graced this season’s show in Emmett’s ‘Handmade’ shirts, week after week. England Manager, Roy Hodgson, is the latest high profile figure to be wooed by Emmett, having recently visited the shirtmaker to have his World Cup shirting wardrobe designed by the company’s creative director, Nash Masood. Emmett London are known worldwide for the uncompromised quality of both their fabrics and their tailoring standards, as well as for the hint of European design flair, which features in the subtlest of ways and which sets this brand apart from traditional shirt makers. www.emmettlondon.com 6. Organise-us. An original and beautifully made collection of stationery, notebooks, diaries, address and visitors books. All are made in England. www.organise-us.com 7. Dragonfly Zurich. With each and every jewellery piece exquisitely hand finished, simply choose your jewellery, card and add your personal message online - they then beautifully gift wrap and send direct to your loved one, or to you. For a gift she’ll love this Valentine’s Day. Delivering internationally. Visit www.dragonflyzurich.com 8. Fairfax and favor “A Luxury Fashion brand selling men & women’s clothing, shoes and boots” www.fairfaxandfavor.com 9. Cravat Club Ooze panache and inject style into your wardrobe with Cravat Club. 100% premium jacquard woven and printed silk cravats made exclusively in England. For the dapper dresser. www.cravat-club.com 10. NN jewellery supply quality jewellery at affordable prices ! Unbeatable prices ! 10% off discount code - gents101 and discount code GJ14 11. Travelteq is all about Smart Traveling. This timeless laptop bag has been made by hand in a little factory in Tuscany. Crafted with the finest vegetable tanned Florentine Vachetta leather. It doesn’t show, but all necessary compartments, and more,
THE
GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL AUTUMN ISSUE | 2013
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EXPLORERWEAR A WILDERNESS WARDROBE
POLITICS, GROWTH AND POWER:
MICHAEL HESELTINE
LEWIS HAMILTON Q&A
HIGHCLERE CASTLE DOWNTON’S HOME REVEALS ITS SECRETS
BUSINESS
THOSE WHO RISKED ALL AND WON
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Winston Churchill
THE MAN I CALL DAD
JAMES HUNT BY TOM HUNT
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02/09/2013 14:51
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Diary
The
STEVE COOGAN AT THE MOËT INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS
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Celia and James Nesbitt
Oliver Cheshire
Ella Catliff
Sophie Windsor and Rachael Stirling
Henry & Rachel Wyndham
Diego Volupe and Olivia Grant
Katie Readman
THE FAYRE OF ST JAMES
Sabine Roener
Following the success of last year’s event, the Quintessentially Foundation had no choice but to put on another charitable soiree and, this time, it was bigger, better and more spectacular than ever before. Guests, who included everyone from Oliver Cheshire and Sophie Windsor to Ben Elliot and Celia Nesbitt, took to St James’s Church to kick off the festivities. Following some music from Pixie Lott and readings from Celia Imrie and Natascha McElhone, the group headed to Fortnum and Mason where they were treated to mulled wine and roast goose. In all, the silent auction raised £200,000 for the charity of the night, Rays of Sunshine.
Mary-Clare and Ben Elliot
Ed MacFarlane Freddie Fox, Jeremy Langmead and Douglas Booth
Guest and Andrew Barker
Charles Finch and Jeremy Langmead
Toby Bateman and friend
Isaac Ferry and Tara Ferry
MULBERY AND MR PORTER DINNER The British fashion élite was out in force as Mulberry collaborated with Mr Porter to celebrate the launch of their luxury capsule bag being sold exclusively on the e-commerce site. The guests ate premium lobster and the Sancerre flowed in the Domino Room at the Café Royal. Guests at the event, hosted by Mulberry Brand Director Anne-Marie Verdin and mrporter. com Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Langmead, included Douglas Booth, Freddie Fox, Allen Leech, Isaac and Tara Ferry, Charles Fink and Ed MacFarlane.
Dan Rookwood and guest
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Allen Leech
Dominic Cooper and Mark Strong
Antonia Campbell-Hughes
Kelly Ripa
James McAvoy
Sophie Kennedy Clark
Hayley Atwell and Lesley Manville
Sean Ellis
Tom Hardy
THE MOËT INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS
Julie Walters
The great and the good of British and American cinema flocked to Old Billingsgate Market last December for the 16th Moët Independent Film Awards. The event, hosted by James Nesbitt, celebrated the highlights of British film over the last year. Those present included Saoirse Ronan, Steve Coogan, Douglas Booth, Jim Broadbent, James McAvoy, Stanley Pucci and Tom Hardy. Guests were treated to a menu of salmon, horseradish and dill rillettes, fillet of bream and roasted butternut squash washed down with – what else? – magnums of Moët & Chandon and Belvedere Vodka cocktails. The night saw renowned director Paul Greengrass receive the Variety Award and Julie Walters CBE win the prestigious Richard Harris Award.
Gemma Chan
Johann Pillai, Andy Rinker, George Askew and Patrick Couderc
Emma Sayle and Jean-Baptist Maillard
Anne Hicks and Mirjana Oberol
Jilly Buch and Ian Turner
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Ian Turner, Vanna Barca, Johanna Thomas and Jean-Baptist Maillard
Elena Parry, Rosie Lillis and Tom Hunt
Richie Cotterell and Jack Blackmore
THE GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL PARTY AT ANNABEL’S
Hetty Chidwick and friend
It was a night of luxury and elegance from start to finish. The Gentleman’s Journal’s Editor-in-Chief Harry Jarman hosted a festive evening in association with Vacheron Constantin, Chopard and Flightserve at Annabel’s, the iconic members’ club in Berkeley Square. The party – which was put on in order to showcase TGJ’s favourite luxury brands – saw a crowd including fashionista Katie Readman, Mulberry’s Anne-Marie Verdin, Charles Hambro, Tom Hunt and Lord Margadale sipping on Stolichnaya cocktails before they sat down for a delicious threecourse meal. Following this, the guests were treated to music from boy band Blake as they danced the night away into the early hours. Travel to and from the event was taken care of by Bentley, whose classic Flying Spurs picked up and dropped off guests all over London.
Will Tobin and Arabella Holland
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Dermot O’Leary
Oliver Cheshire
Lulu
John Standing, Michael Gambon
Sir Elton John
From left clockwise John Standing, AA Gill, Michael Gambon, David Furnish, Oliver Cotton, Kenneth Cranham
THE ENGLISH GENTLEMAN AT THE CABINET WAR ROOMS
Kenneth Cranham
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Deep below the Whitehall lie the Cabinet War Rooms, a network of bunkers constructed to protect Winston Churchill and his government from the bomb’s of Hitler’s airforce – it was where the most important men in the country plotted their way to victory. Flash forward seventy years to LC:M 2014 and the War Rooms were fulfilling an altogether more peaceful – though no less exclusive – purpose. Luxury whisky producers Chivas had buddied up with the finest designers on Savile Row to present a celebration of the classic style of the English gentleman. Guests from Elton John to Dermot O’Leary to AA Gill packed the subterranean lair and knocked back the novel Chivas cocktails on offer from the immaculately-dressed usherettes. For one night only, fashion quite literally went underground.
Tom Stubbs
David Gandy
Tommy and Dee Hilfiger
Grant Pearce and Tinie Tempah
Caroline Issa
Tommy Hilfiger and Suzy Menkes
Jonathan Newhouse, Nick Foulkes and Tommy Hilfiger
TOMMY HILFIGER AND JONATHAN NEWHOUSE DINNER If a top-flight fashion designer offered you free beef, would you turn it down? An odd question, perhaps, but when Tommy Hilfiger and Jonathan Newhouse hosted a beef and béarnaise sauce party in Mayfair restaurant 34’s Emin room, this was precisely the quandary presented to invitees on the first day of London Collections: Men. As it turned out, most of them did accept the offer, and the likes of Tinie Tempah, David Gandy and Tracey Emin (well, the room is decorated by – and named after – her) turned out to rub shoulders with Elizabeth Saltzman, Nicholas Coleridge and Suzy Menkes. A meaty guestlist (sorry).
Grant Pearce, Bruce Pask and Guest
Simon and Michaela De Pury
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Saffron Aldridge
Amanda Wakeley
Sarah-Anne Macklin and Darren Kennedy
Katie Readman and Amanda Sheppard
Lisa Snowden and Tim Wade
Camilla Rutherford
AMANDA WAKELEY FLAGSHIP STORE OPENING, 18 ALBEMARLE STREET This hallowed address was already one of London’s most elegant residences before Amanda Wakeley set about improving it with her impeccable taste. The starry gathering turned up some impressive names – Liz Hurley, Greg Rusedski, Tracey Emin and Pink Floyd’s Nick Mason were all in attendance. Canapés provided by Gentleman’s Journal regular Mark Hix included pumpkin arancini and spiced aubergine cigars, while drinks came courtesy of Belvedere vodka. The ‘eightini’, a cocktail specially created for the event, was dangerously compelling.
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Amanda Sheppard, Katie Readman, Martha Ward and Saffron Aldridge
Sarah-Anne Macklin
Anna Wintour
Michelle Harper
Claus-Dietrich Lahrs and Jason Wu
Benedict Cumberbatch
Diane Kruger, Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow
Scott Eastwood and Jason Wu
DAVID BAILEY SHOW AND BOSS F/W FASHION SHOW The opening of David Bailey’s retrospective at the National Portrait Gallery proved once and for all that he’s still just as much of a star as the famous faces he photographs, many of whom turned up for the event. Trays of Ciroc vodka cocktails did the circuit of the room, supped up by ‘slebs from Duran Duran’s Nick Rhodes and Bill Wyman to Kate Moss and Jerry Hall. And is it really any surprise? Everybody who’s Anybody wants to know him. ‘David Bailey makes love daily’, as the old slogan used to go – perhaps not any more (he’s 76) but he’s still king of the A-list. Not bad for a lad from Leytonstone.
Gerard Butler and Adele Exarchopoulos
Gerard Butler
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Charles Cator & Viscountess Grimston
Mr and Mrs Charles Pugh
Major Henry Norton
Arabella Cecil, Vanessa Anstruther-Gough-Colthorpe and Gilly Norton Viscountess Linley
SKIING WITH HEROES AT CHRISTIE’S Skiing with Heroes is a charity that has pioneered adaptive skiing for disabled war veterans, and seeks to help them find employment. In order to help them out, Christie’s South Kensington arranged a drinks reception and auction in aid of their SKIHABILITATION programme. The evening attracted the likes of Sir Stuart Rose, George Percy and Christie’s deputy director Charles Cator, and was a stunning success, raising over £40,000. As hosts Viscount Linley and the Marquis of Bowmont and Cessford, circled the room, guests knocked back mulled wine and bid for lots that ranged from a vintage James Bond poster to a trip up Mount Kilimanjaro with Prince Harry’s chum Martin Hewitt. Sir Stuart Rose
Mrs Sonja Waites
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Hannah Bagshawe and Eddie Redmayne
Naomi Campbell and Oprah Winfrey
Jessie J and Rita Ora
Alicia Vikander
Dylan McDermott
Stephen Fry
PHILOMENA BAFTA AFTER PARTY If any event BAFTA weekend – this was surely it. Guests, including Philomena Lee, arrived in high spirits to celebrate The Weinstein Company’s BAFTA win for Philomena for Best Adapted Screenplay. After Philomena bagged the BAFTA for Best Adapted Screenplay, guests including the film’s inspiration, Philomena Lee, turned out to celebrate in high style. The party was nothing if not the hottest ticket in town. Not content with just a few delicious cocktails, stars Rita Ora and Karen Elson joined performers on stage for an improvised rendition of Piece of my Heart to an utterly delighted crowd. Recently back in the spotlight, Lily Allen was seen chatting to Stephen Fry, hidden behind Grey Goose Night Vision bottles and sipping on the brand’s iconic cocktails. Steve Coogan entertained guests, taking to the stage to perform an impromptu speech, while Oprah Winfrey and Naomi Campbell were spotted catching up over a Grey Goose Le Fizz. To accompany the cocktails, a selection of delicious canapés including steak tartare, shrimp burgers, gourmet fish’n’chips and chili pork belly were served. In addition, a selection of deserts and sweet treats were available in Holborn Delicatessen complete with chocolate fountains, soured marshmallows and strawberry cheesecake popcorn.
Sarah McDonald and Noel Gallagher
Luke Evans
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A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS
MICHAEL BRUNO
FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN OF 1STDIBS.COM
TGJ: Favourite Object? MB: My Alpine retreat in Tuxedo Park,
New York. It’s a 14,000 square foot neo-Georgian mansion designed by the famed American architect John Russell Pope in 1900. It’s perfect for skating and cross-country skiing. TGJ: Favourite timepiece? MB: A Chanel waterproof watch that I
received as a gift. I wear it to track my time when I swim in the ocean.
TGJ: Dream home? MB: A house in the Italian Alps where
you can ski in and ski out. It’s a fantasy for me because even though it sounds dreamy I’ll probably never own it. TGJ: Favorite Interior Designer? MB: For me the man who influenced
more of today’s design than any other person in the 20th century was Jean Michel Frank. His clean lines and choice of beautiful materials are timeless. TGJ: Favourite Dealer? MB: The late Amy Perlin. It took me
five years to get her to join 1stdibs, and once she did she became my biggest advocate. That’s the way Amy did everything. TGJ: What, in your view, is the key
to 1stdibs’s success? MB: Treating our dealers like they are partners and by maintaining a win–win relationship.
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TGJ: Where do you think
e-commerce is going? MB: The world’s wealthiest buyers were the first to embrace the Internet and we still sell thousands of items in the thousands of dollars every month. TGJ: Communication must be key
with regards to the dealers – how do you find this? MB: Communication is key to all relationships. I have visited over 1,000 of our dealers in 14 countries so I could better understand how they operate their business.
ABOVE: Bruno’s 14,000 sq. ft. Alpine retreat in Tuxedo Park New York
TGJ: You’ve recently had a huge
investment from Index Ventures – how do you plan to use it? MB: It’s allowed us to significantly increase our global marketing budget and hire world-class engineering and product teams. The result – we’ve doubled traffic in the last year and expanded to include eight new countries. TGJ: Where do you see 1stdibs in 10
years’ time? MB: A household name across the United States, Europe and China.
RIGHT: The architect John Russell Pope who designed Michael Bruno’s home in Tuxedo Park, New York. Chanel J12 - Marine watch www.chanel.com
LEFT: Jean Michel Frank chest of drawers
Business Jets Medical Flights Helicopters Aircraft Management Cargo
22 Grafton Street, Mayfair, London, W1S 4EX T: +44 (0) 207 060 9320 E: journey@flightserveuk.com www.flightserveuk.com
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