The Gentleman's Journal - Winter 2014 by The Gentleman's Journal

WINTER 2014

£5

BUSINESS

POLITICS

RUPERT MURDOCH

BORIS JOHNSON

DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK

HOW HE COULD BECOME PM

INFLUENTIAL

Jeremy PIVEN

ANNABEL’S THE LEGEND CONTINUES

TRAVEL From Aspen to Mustique – where to holiday with the A-list

WORLD’S MOST

TALKS MR SELFRIDGE, ARI GOLD AND PUBLIC PERCEPTION

“I’M AS HUNGRY AS I’VE EVER BEEN.”

The

WATCH & JEWELLERY

ISSN 2052-4285

SPECIAL Winter 2014

Winter 2014

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Winter 2014

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Winter 2014

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EDITOR’S Letter THE POWER OF THE BRAND As I write this it’s mid-October, personally my favourite time of year. The trees have started to change, and there’s a real sense of transition in the air. For me, it’s the winter season that signifies the start of a new year, as crisp, cold mornings become all too familiar. As we gear up for Christmas, it’s not just the familiarity of the season that interests me, but also festive traditions like the purchase of presents and the reasons we buy them. As the world is in the midst of a technological revolution, I wonder how our consumerist impulses will change? At this time of year, companies are looking for new consumers to increase their annual turnover. Perhaps most importantly, they are trying to reengage past customers, instead of new clients. This, in simple terms, is brand power. What is it that draws a person towards a particular product? Why Apple over Samsung, or Jaguar over BMW? They are all big brands, but what is it that persuades a customer to buy a specific product? In a world where technological innovation fuels competition, the brand is just as important as the product. The Gentleman’s Journal is a relatively new business, and we are constantly trying to build our brand in order to become the best in our field. This is made especially difficult as we’re up against names that have been established for many decades. The advertising team needs to work out how to entice brands to promote their products with us over our competitors. Firstly, our product has to be as good as – if not better – than the competition, and secondly, advertisers have to feel comfortable with the brand. The latter, of course, comes with time. In this issue, there are brand stories that continue to defy the odds. One example is the feature on the renowned Mayfair club Annabel’s (pg. 74). It has flourished for over 50 years: a feat almost unheard of in its industry and we reveal the secrets behind its success. Another example of brand power is in the Watches Special (pg. 43). What makes a person decide to buy a particular

watch? Is it the price? Or are there emotional and subjective elements involved? One brand making waves is Tudor (pg. 70), which was founded in 1946, and relaunched in the UK this year to great acclaim. Edwin Smith takes a look at the media mogul Rupert Murdoch (pg. 88). Five years ago many were predicting that the titan would fall with the decline of print, the phone hacking scandal and a failed BskyB bid, however 2014 has definitely been Murdoch’s year. One of his most recent investments was in millennial media company Vice, a move that was seen by many as a certification of the Vice brand as a global sensation. The importance of the investment was not so much the money, but the fact Murdoch was the one spending it. People, as we know, can be brands too. Another personality to realise this is politician and showman Boris Johnson, who manages to use his celebrity as a populist weapon. Guy de Vito looks at just how and why this once mocked man could become Prime Minister (pg. 94). Throughout this issue you will find the globalpowerhouse brand names that dominate fashion, cars, watches and tech. Alongside these, there are also new start-ups; names you should take note of, as you never know whether they will be the next Apple. They are, after all, fighting harder for your business and approval; aiming to offer a stellar product with a great service; and all with an unreserved focus on the customer. After all, aren’t these the components that create a great brand? HARRY JARMAN

“A LWAY S O F F E R A L A D Y Y O U R S E AT ” Jeremy’s Rule No. 3 for living a better life

Winter 2014

2014 B O O D L E S . CWinter O M /A SHOK A

THE GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL 2014

CONTENTS WINTER ISSUE

ON THE COVER 022 – JEREMY PIVEN 043 – THE WATCH SPECIAL 080 – THE MOST INFLUENTIAL LIST 088 – BUSINESS: RUPERT MURDOCH 094 – POLITICS: BORIS JOHNSON 098 – THE JEWELLERY SPECIAL 122 – TRAVEL: EXCLUSIVE LOCATIONS

FEATURES 074 – ANNABEL’S The legendary Annabel’s uncovered 120 – INTERVIEW: GEOFFREY KENT What drives the adventurer and entrepreneur and what the future holds for A & K 182 – DRINK: WHISKY & CHAMPAGNE Settle in with the very best whiskies and champagnes this winter 186 – FOOD: WINTER CANAPES Mark Hix indulges the taste buds with three unmissable winter canapés 200 – CHRISTMAS GIFT GUIDE The only gift guide you’ll need this Christmas 204 – GENTLEMEN THEN & NOW Tish Weinstock takes a look at the notion of the gentleman from past to present

STYLE, WATCHES & JEWELLERY 032 – AFTER DARK, MY SWEET A look at the luxe glamour of winter’s new evening wear 044 – WATCHES: THE BUYING GUIDE The best time pieces available today 052 – WATCHES: THE MINUTE REPEATERS Nothing quite beats the kudos associated with a Minute Repeater, enjoy... 058 – IWC: BEHIND THE BRAND The inner workings of luxury watch brand IWC 061 – WATCHES: A MOMENT OF YOUR TIME Q & As with the world’s horology titans 070 - WATCHES: TUDOR BRAND PROFILE The history of Tudor uncovered 072 – THE TASTEMAKERS: GEORGE BAMFORD Meet the rebel making waves in 2015 098 – JEWELLERY: ICONIC WOMEN & THEIR JEWELLERY The only thing more beautiful than the iconic jewellery is the women that wear them 102 – JEWELLERY: THE SWEETEST THING Photographer Hanna Hillier shoots the gemstones that all women want 110 - JEWELLERY: THE MEN BEHIND THE JEWELS Talking diamonds, St Barts and celebrity friends 116 – JEWELLERY: I DO! How to buy the perfect engagement ring 190 – THE ESSENTIALS The products a gentleman should own in 2015

216 – PROPERTY: PERFECT PANORAMA Three of the most exclusive international properties from around the world

228 – INTERVIEW: HARRY HANDELSMAN The mind behind the Chiltern Firehouse, St Pancras and Manhattan Loft Gardens 234 – THE DIARY The people, the places, the parties

Winter 2014

Crafted for New Heights Featuring one of the most delicate complications in fine watchmaking, the Montblanc Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar will require no adjustments until the year 2100, so long as its self-winding Calibre MB 29.15 is kept sufficiently wound. Housed in a 39 mm 18 K red gold case, this refined timepiece truly promises to be a lifetime companion. Visit Montblanc.com

224 – PROPERTY: THE NEW LUXE A look inside the new wave of mega-mansions in the green belt

242 – LEADING LADY Designer and socialite Tatjana Anika talks travel, men and swimwear

Meisterstück Heritage Perpetual Calendar and Hugh Jackman

022

Winter 2014

CONTENTS

NORTHAMPTON ENGLAND MAKERS OF FINE SHOES SINCE 1879

136 BOYS’ TOYS

170 SPORT

130 – INTERVIEW: ANDREW WINCH Andrew Winch talks masts, bows and the lost art of drawing

162 – NEW YEAR, NEW BODY The ultimate guide to getting in shape for 2015

150 – YOUR CAR AWAITS, SIR The best four-door saloons for your pleasure

166 – THE ULTIMATE THRILL: THE CRESTA RUN Harry Dalmeny talks us through the thrills and spills of the exclusive Cresta Run

158 – THE MASTER OF MOTORSPORT Sir Stirling Moss, a true gentleman 207 – GUN BUYING GUIDE Claire Zambuni’s ultimate guide for first time buyers 212 – 10 BITS OF TECH TO OWN IN 2015 Electric perks, quirks and new ways to work

170 – HELI-SKIING Everything you need to know before taking to the skies this season 178 – HOW TO SKI IN PERFECT STYLE British Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott helps you perfect your style this winter

TRAVEL 122 – WHERE TO? Lydia Gard takes a look at the most luscious locations

On the cover

136 – NEW YORK, NEW YORK Where to stay in the city that never sleeps

ARTS & CULTURE 142 - ART: THE MODERN MEDICIS Milo Dickinson looks at the world’s most prolific art collectors 146 – ART: CHARLIE LANGTON PROFILE The practice of sculpture and his inspiration 148 - OBJECTS OF DESIRE Six unique objects that deserve a place in your home Jeremy Piven wears Suit, Dunhill, £2,290. Pocket Square, Dunhill, £60. Shirt, Turnbull&Asser, £165. Shoes, Berluti, £1350. Styled by Holly Macnaghten. Grooming by Lara Zee using MAC cosmetics and Tom Ford skin care. Photograph by Aline & Jacqueline Tappia Reynaud

Winter 2014

STYLE: HARROGATE MATERIAL: TAN SCOTCH GRAIN

LONDON

JERMYN STREET BURLINGTON ARCADE KNIGHTSBRIDGE ROYAL EXCHANGE CANARY WHARF

BIRMINGHAM COLMORE ROW

NEW YORK 7 WEST 56TH STREET

CROCKETTANDJONES.COM

BRUSSELS RUE DE NAMUR

PARIS

CHAUVEAU LAGARDE BOULEVARD RASPAIL BON MARCHÉ

Winter 2014

CONTRIBUTORS ADAM FUSSELL The man behind the lens of our main fashion story, After Dark, My Sweet, is the young British fashion photographer Adam Fussell. Having worked on the Autumn Issue’s editorial in Scotland, we stayed closer to home in Mayfair’s the Cuckoo Club for this shoot. Photography aside, Adam tries to incorporate his love of subcultures, film and hot sauces as regularly as possible into life!

ROBIN SWITHINBANK Robin is one of the UK’s leading watch critics. Published in the Financial Times, The Times, Condé Nast Traveller, Men’s Health, Wired and Country Life he lives and breathes watches, regularly offering up unique insight and opinion on some of the world’s most beautiful and rarest timepieces.

SIMON DE BURTON Simon de Burton is a freelance journalist and author who writes about luxury goods for publications around the world. He is especially well known for his articles about wristwatches, which regularly appear in publications such as the Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, Vanity Fair ‘On Time’ and GQ. He is also the auctions correspondent for Patek Philippe International magazine and the specialist watch title QP.

LYDIA GARD Lydia Gard is the editor of Mr Fox magazine, for the best of all things boy. She has been a travel writer for more than a decade and is a regular contributor to Condé Nast Traveller, House & Garden and Tatler as well as being associate editor of Country and Town House. Her perfect winter is Christmas on the slopes and New Year on the beach.

CLAIRE ZAMBUNI Between a love for north London’s art and music scene, an education in fine tailoring, and an affinity for country sports, Claire Zambuni embraces all aspects of fine culture. She is just as at home hunting in the wilderness of Lapland as she is on a yoga retreat in the Balearic Islands, or admiring the craftsmanship of Savile Row. Her love of brands led her to launch Zambuni PR, now considered a top agency in the luxury sector. Although highly devoted to her business, Claire manages to find time to devote to her writing, whether it be on the beach or on the side of a mountain.

Winter 2014

THE GENTLEMAN’S JOURNAL Yasmin Le Bon wears LOVES diamond earrings

Harry Jarman Publisher & Editor-In-Chief Holly Macnaghten Fashion Editor

Holly Butler PA To Editor-In-Chief

Charlie Thomas Features Editor

Milo Dickinson Art Editor

Tara Ghazanfar Art Director

Tina Blackmore Finance Director

Rory Smith Motoring Editor

Guy De Vito Features Writer

Amanda Berwick Finance

Luke Fussell Fashion Assistant

Billy Jenks Legal Editor

Lowenna Waters Sub-Editor

Tom Pratt Photography Editor Nina Hooft Graafland Advertising Manager

Contributing Editors

MARK HIX, CLAIRE ZAMBUNI, ROBIN SWITHINBANK, SIMON DE BURTON, LYDIA GARD, TISH WEINSTOCK, GERARD WARD, CHEMMY ALCOTT, EDWIN SMITH, MATT ROBERTS, ROBERT SHEFFIELD, KATIE READMAN, TANYA ROSE, MARK OSBORNE, VALENTINE WARNER, ROBERT DUBSKY

Contributing Photographers

ALINE TAPPIA REYNAUD, JACQUELINE TAPPIA REYNAUD, ADAM FUSSELL, MARCO WALKER, HANNA HILLIER, GARETH WILLIAMS

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

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Winter 2014

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Winter 2014

J JEREMY PIVEN

Photographs by ALINE & JACQUELINE TAPPIA REYNAUD Styling by HOLLY MACNAGHTEN

Winter 2014

Suit, Dunhill, £2,290, dunhill.co.uk. Pocket Square, Dunhill, £60, dunhill.co.uk. Shirt, Turnbull & Asser, £165, turnbullandasser.co.uk. Shoes, Berluti, £1,350, Berluti.com. Grooming by Lara Zee using Tom Ford skin care.

Winter 2014

eremy Piven is a fully converted anglophile, he loves the place, the people, the architecture, the sense of humour (especially Monty Python). It’s just as well, because he’s spent roughly half of each of the last three years in London, filming ITV’s lavish period drama Mr Selfridge. First, he lived in a house in Notting Hill that used to be owned by Idris Elba, a friend of his. The neighbours loved Elba and said very nice things about him but, Piven says, “I think they were thrilled that I wasn’t a DJ, like Idris is.” In his most recent stay in the city, Piven has been living in Marylebone, just down the road from the hottest hangout in town. He was one of the first people to visit the Chiltern Firehouse, the Alpha and Omega of London’s high-end, high-gloss nightlife scene of late, but “simply because it was walking distance” from his digs, and because he’s fond of André Balazs’ other places, such as LA’s Château Marmont, and the Standard in Miami. “I remember walking around in there when he stopped to show me the place when it was just kind of opening. He did a brilliant job of it; the bar feels like a set, it’s lit beautifully, everything is chosen really well. Maybe it is burning too bright and soon won’t be as hot, but I go because I like it. Even when it’s no longer a hotspot, I’ll still go.” We speak over the phone, even though we are only a few miles apart. Piven is across town in the East End, finishing off the last scenes in the third series of Mr Selfridge. But he has already watched some of the completed episodes and is pleased with what he’s seen. So much so that he says it is “the best season of TV I’ve ever done in my life.” Quite a statement, particularly as the American department store entrepreneur in early 20th century London is a world away from Entourage – and his show-stealing portrayal of the fast-talking, self-regarding, ball-breaking Hollywood agent Ari Gold. Piven has said in the past that he’s “the antithesis” of that character in real life. But for many of his fans, that’s hard to believe. “I do think people are a little disappointed when they run into me [in public]. They expect me to be this brash super-agent, and I’m just a stage actor from Chicago. It’s almost like they pull the curtain and meet the wizard and it’s not how they thought it would be. But the good news for me is that I’m not Ari Gold. Believe me, that’s great news.” Instead, Piven credits the vast majority of what came out of Ari’s mouth in the eight seasons of the show to writer and director Doug Ellin. “It takes a lot of time and energy and passion to write

Winter 2014

the episodes and speeches so, as an actor, you owe it to the writer to get it right – every bit of it. It was constructed so well, it’s our job to be ready on the day to make it seem improvisational, but that doesn’t mean you’re improvising the words. That’s the trick of it. I had a deal with [Ellin] – when I said it word-perfect, I would have a take when I wouldn’t improvise the whole thing, but would add little touches that would either make it in, or they wouldn’t. But I do believe that the harder you work, the easier it looks.” This work ethic and earnest attitude towards his craft are likely a product of Piven’s upbringing, and having two parents who established their own highly regarded theatre school; the Piven Theatre Workshop in Evanston, Illinois. He studied there alongside John Cusack, one of his friends from high school, at Drake University in Iowa, NYU and the National Theatre in London. So it’s perhaps unsurprising that he feels a degree of enmity towards Ari Gold – and people like him in the industry. “He is a guy who is focused solely on making money. I think, as an actor, if you’re like that, you’re going to lose sight of what you’re doing and you’re not going to be happy. I would make the Ari Golds of the world furious: ‘Why am I off doing an English period drama when I could be off making a bunch of money somewhere, doing a sequel or repeating myself or whatever?!’” A certain kind of lightweight, D-List celebrity gets his goat a little bit too. “[In the US] we have a lot of examples of reality stars taking victory laps. And it makes people think: ‘You know what? Count me in. I deserve that. I don’t really need to work hard or study. I look good, I take a nice selfie; why aren’t I a star? Where is my celebrity space shuttle? I’m entitled and it’s time to begin my victory lap!’” I assure him that, even if he might not have noticed so many of them, we have our fair share of these people on this side of the Atlantic. Piven is more sympathetic to Harry Selfridge, and likens his character arc to the sort of thing that you would see in a Greek tragedy. “He was deeply in love with his wife, but was a slave to his urges and so blew it with her. When he finally realised what life was about, she died.” He adds: “I think we all have a need to please, and Harry has a deep need to do that.” Piven will be back on British television screens when the third season of Mr Selfridge airs in the New Year, and there are already plans for a fourth, but we haven’t seen the last of him as Ari Gold. The movie version of Entourage is scheduled for release next summer and, since it was first mooted by Ellin in 2010, has been generating a steady stream of rumours and gossip – mostly concerning the cameo roles that the show is famous for. When I ask him to pick a favourite so far, Piven immediately mentions ex-

Left page: Jacket, Aquascutum, £1,650, aquascutum.co.uk. Jumper, Aquascutum, £275, aquascutum.co.uk. Coat, Burberry, £2,495, uk.burberry.com. Jumper, Ralph Lauren, £115, ralphlauren.co.uk. Trousers, Ralph Lauren, £150, ralphlauren.co.uk. Grooming by Lara Zee using MAC Cosmetics.

Winter 2014

“

MY USUAL ROUTINE HAS BEEN JUMP INTO THE NEXT JOB. BUT I’M REALLY EMBRACING BALANCE AND IT SOUNDS SO CLICHÉD, BUT I NEED TO TAKE A BREAK. I REALLY NEED TO LEARN HOW TO TAKE IT EASY.

”

Coat, Burberry, £1,995, uk.burberry.com. Jumper, Ralph Lauren, £115, ralphlauren.co.uk Grooming by Lara Zee using Tom Ford skin care.

Winter 2014

Python John Cleese, and says that the two of them have become friends. “He was such an influence on me. Just to be around a legend like that and for him to be so accessible and cool – that was something that I’ll never forget.” But what about the new film? There are two rumoured cameos that, on behalf of the readers of The Gentleman’s Journal, I feel I need to ask about. The first is Rhonda Rousey, the 5’7’’ parttime model and full-time ass-kicker who is the most feared woman in the UFC. The second is Emily Ratajkowski, the outrageously proportioned British-born model-slash-actress who came to the world’s attention – and made Robin Thicke momentarily famous – by appearing in the video for Blurred Lines. The good news is that they will both appear in the film, but Piven doesn’t say much more than that. Rousey is “a force of nature” and “has worked so hard to achieve what she has” but when the conversation moves onto Ratajkowski, I hear him being called onto set. “I have to go back to work,” he says. But there’s a promise that we will catch up in the next few days to chat some more. I take the opportunity to get in touch with one of his co-stars from the third season of Mr Selfridge. Kara Tointon, who made her name on EastEnders before winning Strictly Come Dancing in 2010, makes her debut in the new series, and tells me it’s easy to feel like “the new girl“ when joining an established cast. “But [Piven] was incredibly welcoming. He’s got this fantastic energy that is wonderful to be around. He wants you to be able to do your best, and wants the best for the show so he puts you at ease and always wants to make sure that you’re happy.” She says she hasn’t seen any rough cuts of the new episodes yet, but when I tell her about Piven’s comment that it’s the best TV that he’s done in his career, her voice lifts. “Really? If he’s saying that, that’s great news!”

Winter 2014

“Well I know that I am older. On paper, indeed I am older, that is a fact.” I laugh, as there’s more than a hint of Ari Gold’s silvertongued charm in his delivery. “Journalists... the entire racket, they’re obsessed with age. [Written] right next to your name, more so in the States, is your age. They like to list you and rank you so that they can compartmentalise you. ‘Oh, he’s this age, he has this much longer, he’s of this generation.’ And, you know, I think we can all become obsessed by that. There was a great baseball player who played longer than anyone and his philosophy was: ‘How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you are?’ And I think we should keep focusing on that. [Age] is a really great excuse not to take care of your body, to give up, to say it’s too late, to not follow your dream. But I think it’s important to kind of not be held down by that – those preconceived notions of where you should be at any given age.”

“

I DO THINK PEOPLE ARE A LITTLE DISAPPOINTED WHEN THEY RUN INTO ME [IN PUBLIC]. THEY EXPECT ME TO BE THIS BRASH SUPERAGENT, AND I’M JUST A STAGE ACTOR FROM CHICAGO.

Okay. So how about looking to the future? Presumably he has plans, and things he’d like to achieve. Where would he like to be another decade on from now? “Travel more, embrace balance, give more and continue to nurture my own projects... Be a citizen of the world and start a family” “There’s that old joke,” he says, speaking more slowly now. “How do you make God laugh? You tell him your plans. It’s a very interesting balance. You and I are strangers, we’re talking on the phone, we’ve never met and you want to know my plans for the next 10 years. It’s surreal. This moment is surreal – I’m not sure if that makes any sense to you? You know the movie Her? [In which Joaquin Phoenix’s character has conversations with an advanced version of Siri.] It’s kind of like that. We’re having a moment like that. I don’t even know if you’re real.”

”

When Piven and I do manage to resume our conversation it takes place on the phone again, but this time, our voices are beamed between continents. Mr Selfridge has wrapped, and he has made his way back to New York over the weekend. As well as a home in Malibu, he’s got a pad on the East Coast, and plans to stay there while he takes some time out. “My usual routine has been jump into the next job. But I’m really embracing balance and it sounds so clichéd, but I need to take a break. I really need to learn how to take it easy. I’m here in New York and I’m having a nice moment, taking care of my place and getting my home together and I’m letting that be enough for now.”

Coat, Burberry, £1,995, uk.burberry.com. Jumper, Ralph Lauren, £115, ralphlauren.co.uk. Trousers, Ralph Lauren, £150, ralphlauren.co.uk Grooming by Lara Zee using MAC Cosmetics & Tom Ford skin care. Styling assistant Hangna Koh.

It’s now 10 years since the first series of Entourage aired, Piven is 49 (and single, despite having been linked with a string of beautiful women) So, I wonder, how does he think he’s changed in that decade? “I don’t think I’ve changed professionally,” he says. “I’m as hungry as I’ve ever been.” But what about personally – is he older, wiser, different in any way?

This approach represents something of a change of pace. “What’s interesting is I’ve always just been a scrapper when it comes to my career. Because nothing is really ever handed to you in this life. And when you start living that way, it’s a slippery slope and it’s not healthy. I was lucky enough to grow up in the theatre and you had to make your own breaks. “Literally, I’m not making this up, if you were to look at the first 20 or 30 movies I did, you’ve got tiny little roles – on the page they’re little scraps. And everyone overlooks them, but you go in there and you wait it out, you deal with all the rejection and you get turned down and you finally get lucky. Then it’s your job to play those small roles like they’re the lead, with as much integrity as possible. Ultimately that will lead to something, I guarantee you. And that’s kind of what I did.”

I think this is probably a cue to end the conversation, so I start to round things off. But Piven does add that “you’ve got to take everything I say with a grain of salt” and again expresses exasperation at the fact that people seem to think that he is like Ari Gold in real life. “The irony is that I can sit here and tell you what my plans are. But it’s just me telling you. Do you know what I mean?” I think I do. It goes without saying that there’s a limit to how well you can really get to know someone in any interview – particularly when circumstances dictate that it takes place over the phone. When Piven is back in town next year for another series of Mr Selfridge, perhaps we’ll have a chance to meet in person, and I’ll get to know him better. For now though it’s time for Piven to return to Tinseltown and get back to grappling with the Ari Gold’s of this world.

Winter 2014

Don’t dream, do…

+44 (0)207 099 0941 www.yachtmasters.com

Winter 2014

AFTER DARK

my sweet

AS EVENINGS GET LONGER AND DARKNESS FALLS, IT’S TIME TO TAKE YOUR FORMALWEAR HIGH OCTANE IN LUXURIOUS JEWEL TONES AND SHIMMERING FABRICS. THERE’S NOTHING DULL ABOUT THE WINTER NIGHTS TO COME.

Photographs by ADAM FUSSELL Styled by HOLLY MACNAGHTEN

Tuxedo, Ralph Lauren Black Label, £1,595, ralphlauren.co.uk, Shirt, Ralph Lauren Black Label, £195, ralphlauren.co.uk, Shoes, Ralph Lauren Black Label, £1,050, ralphlauren.co.uk, Bow Tie, stylist’s own.

Winter 2014

Suit, Gieves & Hawkes, £795, gievesandhawkes.com, Shirt, Gieves & Hawkes, £125, gievesandhawkes.com, Bow Tie, stylist’s own.

Winter 2014

Jacket, Hardy Amies, £750, hardyamies.co.uk, Trousers, Hardy Amies, £350, hardyamies.co.uk, Shirt, Huntsman, £300, h-huntsman.com, Shoes, Louis Leeman, £515, louisleemanparis.com, Bow Tie, stylist’s own.

Winter 2014

Miles wears:Jacket, Hackett, £450, hackett.com, Waistcoat, Hackett, £350, hackett.com, Trousers, Hackett, £200, hackett.com, Shirt, Hackett, £110, hackett.com, Shoes, John Lobb, £585, johnlobb.com, Bow Tie, stylist’s own. Natasha wears: Dress, Maxmara, £775, maxmara.com, Shoes, Brian Atwood, £429, brianatwood.com.

Winter 2014

Miles wears: Jacket, Hackett, £500, hackett.com, Trousers, Hackett, £200, hackett.com, Shirt, Hackett, £110, hackett.com, Bow Tie, stylist’s own. Natasha wears: Dress, Antonio Berardi, £765, antonioberardi.com.

Winter 2014

Miles wears: Jacket, Dunhill, £1,850, dunhill.co.uk, Trousers, Dunhill, £390, dunhill.co.uk, Shirt, Dunhill, £295, dunhill.co.uk, Shoes, John Lobb, £585, johnlobb.com, Bow Tie, Stylist’s Own. Natasha wears: Dress, BCBG Max Azria, bcbg.com.

Winter 2014

Miles wears: Suit, Richard James, £1,050, richardjames.co.uk, Shirt, Caruso, £250, carusomenswear.com, Shoes, Hardy Amies, £250, hardyamies.com, Natasha wears: Dress, Antonio Berardi, £1,065, antonioberardi.com.

Winter 2014

Miles wears: Suit, Huntsman, £2,750, h-huntsman.com, Shirt, Huntsman, £300, h-huntsman.com, Shoes, John Lobb, £585, johnlobb.com, Bow Tie, Huntsman, £55, h-huntsman.com, Natasha wears: Dress, Temperley, templeylondon.com, Hair by Magdalena Tucholska, using Bumble & Bumble and Diva Pro. Make-up by Charlotte Kraftman, using Chanel and Dior. Fashion assistant Luke Fussell. With special thanks to The Cuckoo Club, thecuckooclub.com.

Winter 2014

WATCHES IN ‘THE WATCH SPECIAL’ WE TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ULTIMATE GENTLEMAN’S ACCESSORY. FROM BUYING GUIDES AND IN-DEPTH FEATURES TO INTERVIEWS WITH THE BIGGEST NAMES IN THE BUSINESS, THIS SECTION DISSECTS ALL THINGS HOROLOGICAL, PROVIDING INSIGHT INTO JUST WHY THE LUXURY WRISTWATCH IS THE COMMODITY THAT IT IS.

Photos: courtesy of IWC

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

The

MARINER

With their enduring designs, impressive functionality and timeless appeal, diving watches have the unique ability to completely bypass trends, meaning they generally hold their value very well. One of the most appealing aspects of the dive watch is, of course, its purposeful nature. The simple fact that it can travel down to the furthest depths of the ocean is an enviable trait, and one that has appealed to countless collectors and enthusiasts over the years. For most, the only water their watches will see is in the shower, yet as they appeal to such a wide audience, it’s impossible to ignore the prominence and indeed the lasting appeal of them.

TUDOR HERITAGE BLACK BAY, £2,120, tudorwatch.com

Winter 2014

ROLEX SEA-DWELLER 4000, £8,050, rolex.com

OMEGA SEAMASTER PLANET OCEAN, £3,950, omega.com

If diving watches are all about the numbers, the Rolex’s Sea-Dweller wins hands down. It can plunge to an incredible 4000 feet, yet is still housed within a 40mm case size for everyday use.

Launched in 1948, Omega’s Seamaster range is the favoured choice of seafarers after a tough, durable and ultimately stylish watch. Its hands and hour markers are coated with bright Super-LumiNova for great visibility under water, too.

The Rolex sub-brand took on an almost cult-like status during its first period of production, beginning in 1946. Tudor has recently been re-launched in the UK, and the Heritage Black Bay is perhaps the finest model available in the range. It’s a diving watch with character for the man who seeks style, history and great design.

BLANCPAIN FIFTY FATHOMS BATHYSCAPHE FLYBACK CHRONOGRAPH, £5,100, blancpain.com

If you’re looking for a dive watch with a difference, you should consider this. Inspired by Blancpain’s watches of the 1950s, it has a satin-brushed ceramic bezel and case, a durable NATO strap and a beautiful design, which is highlighted by its circular hour markers, monotone subdials and small details like the stylised writing at 12 o’clock.

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

The

DRIVER

BREITLING FOR BENTLEY 6.75, £6,690, brietling.com RICHARD MILLE RM 030 LE MANS CLASSIC, £107,500, richardmille.com

A performance automobile is nothing without outstanding design, and the same can be said for watches. Whilst more and more high-tech materials are being utilised within the watch world, if the end result is not one of beauty, then there is simply no point. With the heritage trend permeating much of the industry, more and more brands are looking to the past for inspiration and this has spawned a new age of ‘driving watch’, which can be seen in both Breitling and Richard Mille’s collections. For those of the old school though, the Tag Heuer Monaco and Rolex Daytona are favoured for their iconic styling and movie star credentials.

TAG HEUER MONACO CALIBRE 12 CHRONOGRAPH, £4,600, tagheuer.co.uk

ROLEX COSMOGRAPH DAYTONA, £25,100, rolex.com

Similarly iconic, the Daytona is perhaps the world’s most famous chronograph. Unveiled in 1963, it was inspired by the famous American race of the same name and, with its instant-classic design, it didn’t take long for it to become a worldwide sensation.

Made famous by Steve McQueen in the seminal movie Le Mans, the Tag Heuer Monaco is firmly rooted in the automotive world. With its striking blue dial, deep-navy strap and innovative square case, it’s an all-time classic.

Winter 2014

Created as a tribute to Bentley’s largest engine, the 6.75 litre V8 that powers the Mulsanne, this Breitling is a statement piece, featuring a tachymeter, chronograph and a large aperture calendar, all housed within an intricately decorated case.

With enough tech to challenge Silicon Valley, the RM 030 Le Mans Classic is quite remarkable. Its automatic winding calibre features a de-clutchable rotor with variable geometry and a free sprung balance with variable inertia, which basically means it’s the Formula 1 car of the watch world.

VACHERON CONSTANTIN QUAI DE L’ILE DAY-DATE AND POWER RESERVE £40,500, vacheron-constantin.com

For all-out style, a Vacheron is hard to beat. This one features a power reserve indicator, central month and date sub-dials and an 18k pink gold case, thin enough to slide under the cuff: very impressive.

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

The

AVIATOR

IWC BIG PILOT’S WATCH, £11,250, iwc.com

One of IWC’s most iconic creations, the Big Pilot’s Watch has been in production for seven decades, which attests to the timelessness of its design, as well as the proficiency of the famed Swiss brand. It’s the archetypal aviation watch, with its large, anti-magnetic 46mm case, thick hands and bold numbering. It also features the 51111-calibre movement, which is one of the brand’s most impressive, boasting a mammoth seven-day power reserve.

LONGINES TWENTY-FOUR HOURS SINGLE PUSH-PIECE CHRONOGRAPH £ 2,750, longines.com

A re-issue of an early 1950s pilot’s watch, this stunning 24-hour timepiece boasts a highly legible silvered-dial with the seconds presented on the outside, and the 24-hour clock on the inside. A novel way to tell the time, its vintage appeal is furthered by the oversized crown, curved lugs and integrated mini-seconds dial at 9 o’clock.

The world of watches and aviation are more closely linked than you may at first think, as precision, performance and high quality engineering are all aspects widely utilised in both. A highly legible dial is a necessity for the aviation watch, as pilots need to be able to check their timepieces at a glance. This means that the cases are slightly larger than usual, and the hands, numerals and hour markers more prominent. Similar to aeroplanes, aviation watches can vary massively in design, yet the heritage-inspired pieces are often more attractive, meaning they’re preferable for the modern gentleman.

Winter 2014

BELL & ROSS WW1 ARGENTIUM RUTHENIUM, £3,700, bellandross.com

OMEGA SPEEDMASTER PROFESSIONAL, £3,340, omega.com

Whilst they are known for their modern, squarecased watches, this Bell & Ross WW1 timepiece is far more elegant, with its 1920s-inspired design, and sleek Argentium alloy finish.

Known as The Moonwatch, Omega’s Speedmaster Professional is nothing short of iconic. It was strapped to the wrist of Buzz Aldrin during the Moon landings of 1969, making it the first watch to be worn on our inimitable satellite. It’s a prized piece among collectors and amateur enthusiasts alike, largely due to its classic design and everyday wearability.

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

The

TRADITIONALIST BEAUME & MERCIER CLIFTON, £9,850, baume-et-mercier.co.uk

For many, the dress watch is an unbeatable option. The most versatile and wearable of all watch styles, this traditional timepiece should have a place on every gentleman’s wrist, not least because it exudes a timeless elegance. An evolution of the pocket watch, this is a style that will see you go from the boardroom to the bar in unbeatable style and, if chosen well, will look just as great with your weekend attire, too. Traditionally, dress watches are very simple and minimal, usually lacking complications and only telling the time. This only adds to their charm, and thanks to a resurgence in understated design they are proving more popular than ever. For the traditionalist, this is the only watch he needs.

CHOPARD CLASSIC MANUFACTURE, £9,540, chopard.com

With its white porcelain-style dial, timeless rose gold case, simple Roman numerals and selfwinding, in-house movement, this Chopard dress watch is a classic. Tradition is honoured throughout, and its hand-sewn alligator strap and thin, 38mm case means it’s as understated as it is extravagant.

Although masters of affordable luxury, Baume and Mercier are well-versed when it comes to creating a truly standout timepiece. Their Clifton line has proved to be very popular, and this is its finest offering. Although inspired by watches of the past, its 18k red gold case has been updated to 42mm, for a contemporary - yet ultimately stylish aesthetic.

CARTIER TANK LOUIS CARTIER, £10,100, cartier.co.uk

Montblanc’s range of watches is as diverse as ever, yet the Star Date Automatic has a great throwback design. It forgoes additional complications in favour of keeping it simple, with leaf-shaped hands, a fluted crown and highly legible Roman numerals.

MONTBLANC STAR DATE AUTOMATIC, £2,085, montblanc.com

For many, Cartier’s Tank is the ultimate dress watch. Exuding class and sophistication, its squared case is instantly recognisable, although in this instance its lugs are rounded, giving it a slightly softer, yet no less suave, appearance. Its sapphire-set crown, silvered dial, blued-steel, sword-shaped hands and alligator strap only add to its lustre.

All words by CHARLIE THOMAS

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

Audemars Piguet Millenary Minute Repeater

The MINUTE REPEATER There’s always entertainment to be had in clocking someone else’s timepiece in a bid to determine just how much of a watch buff they really are. The name on the dial says a great deal of course, but after that it’s a matter of what’s going on with the mechanism – if it’s a split-seconds chronograph, a perpetual calendar or a tourbillon, you can bet the wearer is serious about their wrist-wear. Yet nothing carries quite the kudos of a movement equipped with a minute repeater, the creation of which is regarded by many as the apotheosis of the horologist’s art. First seen (and heard) in the 17th century, the minute repeater was born out of a necessity to tell the time after dark in an era when guttering candles and smoky oil lamps hadn’t yet given way to the invisible magic of electricity. Operated by a discreet slide protruding from the side of a watch case, the mechanism causes a tiny hammer and gong to sound out the hours on one note and the minutes on another, higher note, in order to provide an audible report of the time.

This basic system remained popular for more than 200 years before being refined to include ‘grande sonnerie’ chimes, which sound the hours and quarters every 15 minutes and, ultimately, to feature the so-called ‘Carillon de Westminster’ which replicates the four quarter bells that accompany the legendary Great Bell (or ‘Big Ben’) in the tower of the Palace of Westminster. It was not until the 1940s, however, that any maker proved brave enough to tackle the conundrum of reducing a minute repeater to wrist size, with all its inherent problems of (really) tiny parts and creating resonance within a far smaller case than that of a pocket watch. Yet only when Patek Philippe re-ignited interest in the complication with its Calibre 89 pocket watch of 1989 did work really begin in earnest on perfecting the minute repeating wrist watch. Here are some of today’s best.

by SIMON DE BURTON

Audemars Piguet has embraced the art of the minute repeater since its founding in 1875 – and was at the forefront of the mechanism’s modernday revival. Its latest musical creation is this version of the distinctive, oval-cased Millenary, which features the brand’s innovative, lubricantfree AP Escapement for extreme accuracy, smooth running and enhanced shock resistance. The sound of the minute repeater is enhanced by the use of titanium for the case, which also allows the hand-wound movement to be seen from both sides thanks to the combination of an open-worked dial and a transparent case back.

£347,600. audemarspiguet.com

Winter 2014

WATCHE S S&&J EJ E WW EE L L EL E RR YY

A. Lange & Söhne Grand Complication

This remarkable watch took seven years to develop and will be made in an edition of just six pieces. It features a split-seconds chronograph mechanism, a perpetual calendar and a fivepart enamel dial – but its most impressive feature is the minute repeater which, when set in ‘grande sonnerie’ mode, invokes a tiny, lowpitched gong to sound the full hour, followed by a double strike of the low-pitched gong and a higher pitched one to mark the quarters. In ‘petite sonnerie’ setting, meanwhile, it indicates the elapsed quarter hours with one, two or three double strikes on both gongs.

€1.9 million (approx) alange-soehne.com

Winter 2014

Vacheron Constantin Patrimony Ultra-Thin Calibre

Many horophiles believe Vacheron Constantin to be the quiet king of haute horologerie, not least because it is the oldest watch company to have remained in continuous production. Since its founding in 1755, Vacheron has established an unrivalled reputation for its ultra-thin watches, as demonstrated by the remarkable Patrimony Contemporaine which measures just 8.1mm from top to bottom. Its slimness is down to the superb, 265-part Caliber 1731 movement – itself a wafer-thin 3.9mm and stamped with the prestigious ‘Geneva Seal’ to denote its exceptional standard of decoration and finish.

£291,150 vacheron-constantin.com

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda Resonance

Michel Parmigiani was one of Switzerland’s most respected restorers of antique clocks before establishing his eponymous dial name in 1996, with financial backing from the super-rich Sandoz Family Foundation. Parmigiani’s aim was to highlight the art in watch making, as a result of which, the brand’s pieces are made in low volume to an exquisite level of finish – a prime example being the Tonda Resonance minute repeater. Don’t be fooled by its simple appearance, though: inside the 40mm case is a superb, handwound movement, which despite containing 336 components, measures a mere 5mm thick.

£370,000 (in white gold) parmigiani.com

Winter 2014

Patek Philippe Grand Complications

To mark its 175th anniversary this year, Patek Philippe has wowed the watch world with one of the most complicated wrist watches ever made in the form of the Grandmaster Chime, which features 1,580 components and 20 complications (including, of course, a minute repeater). It also costs £2 million and will be made in an addition of just six, all of which have already been sold – but you could always settle for the more understated Reference 5078P. Inside the elegant, 38mm platinum case is a hand-wound movement with a two-gong minute repeater topped with a beautifully simple dial in white enamel: it’s exquisite.

£271,000 (approx) patek.com

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

“

IWC HAS REMAINED A BRAND FOR THOSE WHO KNOW

IWC

”

BEHIND THE BRAND

This year saw a number of brands look towards classical watch design as the days of bling came to an end and the era of understated elegance began. One brand that sums up understated elegance more than most is the International Watch Company, otherwise know as IWC. Harry Jarman gives an exclusive, behind the scenes look into the brand at IWC’S home in Schaffhausen.

IWC is as much a mark of your status as it is of your personality.

The secret to IWC’s success is the ability to remain a relatively understated brand. While everyone knows of the likes of Patek Philippe and Rolex, IWC has remained a brand for ‘those who know’ and the timepieces certainly have this feel to it. Their designs don’t try to grab attention, many models are discreet, under-the-cuff pieces that are wiss company IWC was acquired by the owner for the owner’s founded by American satisfaction and not for anyone else’s. Florentine Ariosto Jones in 1868. Jones had The brand itself has various already been a director partnerships, most notably with of America’s leading the Mercedes AMG Petronas watchmaker E. Howard & Co and it Formula One team. They have a was his aim to build a watch company strong philanthropical element, that combined Swiss engineering supporting the Laureus Sport for with American technology. IWC also Good Foundation, the Charles differed because unlike the majority Darwin Foundation and The of Swiss watch brands, it chose to Cousteau Society. CEO Georges base itself in eastern Switzerland on Kern says supporting sustainable the banks of the Rhine. This in itself action “not only consolidates our is a selling point, as being so close brand’s reputation but also its to Germany perhaps influenced the competitiveness”. already precise Swiss engineering, to become even more methodical and From an investment point of view reliable. and because of their classical design, IWC more than most, will prove to Today IWC has become a be a sound long-term investment. powerhouse of horology, known for The after-sale care of IWC is producing some of the most sought- also considered second to none, after watches in the world. With with the brand claiming they have model names such as the Portofino, information on every timepiece they Portuguese and Pilot’s Watch, an have manufactured since 1885.

Although the brand has a keen focus on sport (especially diving) with the Aquatimer and aviation with the Pilot’s Watch, its true brand essence in my view lies with the more classic timepieces, namely the Portofino. This watch, in my view, summerises what true style should represent; elegant, discreet, exclusive and understated. If a gentleman was a watch, he would probably be an IWC Portofino. For more information on the brand and timepieces visit IWC.com

Winter 2014

A MOMENT OF YOUR TIME FOUR MEN BEHIND SOME OF THE WORLD’S MOST FAMOUS WATCH BRANDS

www.vacheron-constantin.com

by CHARLIE THOMAS

Winter 2014

Photos: courtesy of IWC

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

GEORGES KERN

When he took over IWC Schaffhausen in 2002, Georges Kern became one of the youngest ever CEOs within the prestigious Richemont group. Since then he has propelled the Swiss watch brand into a global powerhouse, and today, IWC are one of the most well respected and beloved watchmakers around. Here, Mr Kern talks about his favourite watches, IWC’s new flagship store opening and what his plans are for the future. You recently launched the new Portofino Midsize collection. How did you know the time was right to introduce a predominantly female collection? A brand is similar to a living organism in that it grows, develops and adapts to its environment, but ultimately doesn’t change its DNA. Our core target group is undoubtedly men. But at the same time we’ve always appealed to certain women, particularly with the Portofino collection. With our Portofino Midsize collection, we’re answering an increasing demand from customers with slimmer wrists, as well as responding to the growing global demand for watches set with diamonds. This collection will appeal to anyone with a preference for wristwatches that combine understated design with a touch of the exquisite. What was the biggest thing you had to change when taking over IWC? We’ve always had great product lines; therefore it wasn’t so much about changing things. It was more a question of being innovative and creative with the existing collection and at the same time respecting the history of the brand. From the very beginning, it has been our objective to grow from a local watch producer to a global brand – not only in production volume, but also in terms of its global perception in the luxury watch industry. Now we want to reach the next level, which ultimately is to be perceived as an iconic brand. Could you describe the ethos of the IWC brand? An American, Florentine Aristo Jones, founded our watch manufacture in Schaffhausen in 1868, and we’re greatly indebted to his pioneering spirit and innovative approach to engineering, design and the art of making beautiful watches. As a premium brand in the international luxury watch industry, IWC is committed to the manufacture of top-quality haute horlogerie timepieces and as a brand we embrace the broad range of the company’s watchmaking expertise: from robust watches for everyday use, to professional sports watches and of course the complications of haute horlogerie at its finest. You’re opening the first UK IWC boutique in London’s New Bond Street. How big of a step is this for the brand and why choose London? Opening an IWC boutique in London has been a key focus of the brand for some time now. It was, however, important to find the ideal location, one that provided a fit with both who we are as a brand and our customers’ expectations. New Bond Street was a natural location of choice, being one of the most famous streets in the world, synonymous with luxury and elegance. The new UK boutique is a big step in that it represents yet another highlight for the brand in terms of retail experience and we hope that it will raise IWC’s brand equity significantly. What’s your favourite IWC watch? It’s a difficult choice to make, with each family representing elements of my life for which the watch in question is ideally suited. For example, the Portuguese Tourbillon Hand-Wound is a classic timepiece for black tie occasions, however, being an enthusiastic cyclist, the Ingenieur Automatic Carbon Performance

Winter 2014

Ceramic is an excellent sport watch. That’s what I love about IWC, no matter what your interests in life, be it sailing, diving, cycling, motor racing, there is an IWC that will be suitable for any occasion. This year is the second that IWC have partnered with the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team. Are you enjoying the season so far? What can I say – Mercedes AMG Petronas and of course Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg are all performing absolutely outstandingly this season and it gives me great pleasure and pride to be associated with such a successful team. We’re delighted that Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team has won the 2014 FIA Formula One World Constructors’ Championship. This early victory before the end of the season shows how values like precision craftsmanship, performance engineering and the search for excellence reward a truly great team. Do you see any similarities between the world of watches and the world of Formula One? Absolutely. The engineers who work in both worlds have many things in common. They share a passion for precision technology and innovation. Their pioneering spirit and know-how push the boundaries of mechanical engineering and continuously redefine the achievements of precision technology. Many of the materials found in Formula One – such as carbon-fiber, ceramic and titanium – are now being used more and more in watchmaking. The use of these materials is becoming increasingly popular in sportier watches due to their hardwearing nature. We used many of these materials in our new Ingenieur collection launched last year. What’s your inspiration for the brand going forward? IWC Schaffhausen has been successfully producing watches for almost 150 years now. It’s therefore our duty to continue to build upon the partnerships we’ve established, listen to our customers and continue to observe trends in the industry in order to strengthen the brand’s foundations and continue to produce popular watches for the next 150 years. Where do you see IWC in ten years time? As mentioned earlier it is our objective to be perceived as an iconic brand. We therefore constantly strive for improvement in technology, design and customer satisfaction and work in search of excellence every day and in everything we do. How big of a threat do you think smart watches are to traditional mechanical watchmaking? We welcome all innovation and development within our industry. However, they are two different things and I feel it’s a completely separate market. A mechanical luxury Swiss watch is seen as an informed choice, one that reflects your tastes and style within your business and personal life. Watchmaking is as much about tradition and craftsmanship as it is design, technology and precision. I’d like to think there will be room for both.

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

MARK HEARN

Patek Philippe is often regarded as the world’s finest watch manufacturer. The man at the helm in the UK, Mark Hearn, is very keen to maintain this elite stature and it’s fair to say that throughout his near 15-year reign he’s excelled. Here he talks about the brand’s 175th anniversary, the arrival of a huge flagship store and what he’d be doing if he wasn’t UK managing director of Patek Philippe.

This year marks 175 years for Patek Philippe. It’s a big milestone; can you tell us what you have planned? Yes a very big milestone indeed. The 175th celebrations officially began on the 1st May, the date in 1839 when Patek Philippe founders Mr Antoine Norbert de Patek and Francois Czapek officially joined forces to create the company. However it wasn’t until earlier this month (October) in Geneva that we unveiled the 175th commemorative collection. These watches are all being produced in limited editions and have been designed to reflect the manufacture’s vast know-how and unique heritage. What is it about Patek Philippe the brand that makes it so special? I think the fact that Patek Philippe is the last family owned Swiss watch manufacturer is one of the contributing factors as to why it is so special. It means that we are able to develop and build movements/watches according to our own demands without having to bow to the pressures of shareholders. The watches reflect in every aspect our quest for the exceptional. What’s your favourite watch of all time? It is so very hard to choose but I must say that my favourite watch is an Annual Calendar reference 5146, which I wear every day and take great joy in doing so. The mechanism was patented by Patek Philippe in 1996 and in fact caused a small revolution in the watch world as it is the first wristwatch that automatically indicates the day, date and month for both 30 and 31-day months. Tell us about your career in watchmaking. I have been in the watch industry for over 25 years, I started working for Zenith back in the late Eighties but Patek Philippe was always where I wanted to be. I have had a fascination for mechanical watches since I was a teenager and it is very fitting that my career has ended up at Patek Philippe. Describe the ethos of the brand. The culture of the brand is embodied in ten core values: independence, tradition, innovation, quality and fine workmanship, rarity, value, aesthetics, service, emotion and heritage. These are faithfully upheld by our manufacture, our salons, our distributors and our retail network across all the world. Can you tell us about the Patek Philippe seal and what it means? Launched in 2009, the Patek Philippe seal was created as a comprehensive emblem of excellence that applies to the completed and fully cased watch. It assures that all quality criteria

Winter 2014

developed and established by the manufacture are honoured. It stands for performance, precision and artisanal perfection, emphasising the intrinsic value, rarity and longevity of Patek Philippe watches. This year sees you reopen a huge flagship store on Bond Street. Can you tell us why London was your chosen destination? London has always been a very important city to the brand; it is home to only one of three Patek Philippe salons worldwide. Over the past 10 years, London has become one of the most important cities in the world and luxury brands are starting to recognise this. We were one of the first watch brands to open on Bond Street and have wanted to expand our presence there for some time now. We had an opportunity towards the end of last year and subsequently purchased the premises next door. This has allowed us to expand from 85 square metres to 420 and to create a beautiful space that reflects the brand heritage, culture, style and tradition. The Bond Street salon will open in late-2014 completing our trilogy of fully owned stores in prime locations in Geneva, Paris and London. Tell us about the business side of things. Where is Patek seeing strong growth and where in the world will the focus be for the next few years? I can’t comment on Patek Philippe’s global strategy but on a UK level I can confirm that over the next few years our focus will be on strengthening our already very special relationships with our network of retailers up and down the British Isles, and of course Patek Philippe owners and enthusiasts around the country. How big of a threat do you think smart watches are to traditional mechanical watchmaking? I don’t think smart watches are going to be a threat; they serve a very different purpose. Smart watches will be important to us, as they will be putting watches on the younger generation’s wrists. As they grow up this younger generation may one day aspire to have a timeless mechanical timepiece on their wrist instead. If you weren’t in the watch industry, what would you be doing? I would like to have been a pilot, flying is a great hobby of mine it gives you a great sense of freedom and is one of the best sensations you can have. Learning to fly has reinforced my life philosophy that if you do something as important as your work you need to enjoy doing it. I have been very lucky throughout my career, I have always loved it and flying makes me feel the same way.

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

RICHARD MILLE

Back in 1999, French entrepreneur Richard Mille founded his eponymous brand and changed the watch world forever. Spearheading the uber-hightech sports watch market, he carved out his very own niche, creating what is for many the ultimate no-compromise timepiece. Here he talks about how he started out, the inspirations behind his designs and what he envisions for the future of Richard Mille.

You’re known somewhat as a maverick in the industry. What made you want to create a brand so entirely different from the norm? Boredom. For years I had found ‘normal’ really boring, so I thought ‘now or never’, as there is so much more that can be done in the world of watchmaking. I essentially made these watches for myself; the first RM is the watch I always wanted but could never find. What has been your most memorable moment during the brand’s lifespan? When a dealer bought several of my timepieces all at once in the first year I started. It was a real ‘eureka’ moment when I saw my ideas had traction and resonance within the watch world. Where do you see the brand Richard Mille going forward? The course taken from the very start has given fantastic results, so there will be no major changes as such. Two aspects however are always under scrutiny: an organic, controlled and step-wise approach to growth development, as the brand must never compromise and always remain exclusive, (we only create about 3,000 timepieces a year, a tiny fraction compared to the production of the older industry players), and the further development of new areas within the Richard Mille collection. What’s your favourite Richard Mille timepiece? Seriously, whichever new design I am working on at any given moment! You’ve stated before that your watches are often inspired by the technology behind Formula One. As a big classic car fan though, have you been tempted to create a more traditional timepiece? My vision of haute horology covers all standpoints; it combines the traditions of hundreds of years of knowledge with new impulses and ideas from the 21st century. Classic and modern are complementary and not mutually exclusive. That is why you can find classic elegance in something modern, and modern lines in something classic.

Winter 2014

Your brand ambassadors, including Rafael Nadal and Felipe Massa, famously wear their Richard Mille timepieces during competition. Was this something that was encouraged by yourself ? It was important for me to be able to learn from the watches being used in actual real-life situations, when they are subjected to stress, abuse and heat, etc. This was so that I could analyse structural details for the effects of sports and high G-forces on the mechanism. Felipe always wore a watch during races, and Rafael did some times during games, but he began wearing my watches all the time after he got used to testing the prototype timepieces. He started feeling ‘naked’ without one of my timepieces on his wrist after that. Outside of the world of motorsport, what or where else inspires you? Many things; it could be a view, a painting, a chance occurrence or a rare and inspiring event like a quiet meal, wine and conversation with good friends. You compete in a number of classic car events annually. Which track do you enjoy the most? There are several, but I must say the Le Mans track, with all its rich history and the direct connections it has with several cars that I own and love cannot be beaten. Few watchmakers can claim to have absolutely no boundaries when it comes to design. Was it always your goal to offer a ‘no compromise’ timepiece? Yes, it was always the only goal, because I could not find such timepieces anywhere in the market. I was fully convinced that if I made a watch without compromises, people would want it. How big of a threat do you think smart watches are to traditional mechanical watchmaking? I do not think they are much of a threat as such. A smart watch and a mechanical timepiece are in essence totally different animals and cannot really be compared. They also populate completely different market segments.

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

JEROME LAMBERT

CEO of Jaeger-LeCoultre at 33, Jerome Lambert turned it into a star within the Richemont Group and has now taken on Montblanc. He talks challenges, classical design and broadening the company footprint. He intends to take Montblanc from being known as the preeminent pen brand to one that excels in producing a range of luxury accessories.

Montblanc is known as a pen brand, however recently you have made a huge focus on leather accessories and watches, turning the brand in to a true maison. What is your vision for the brand in 5-years time? Montblanc has always been associated with success and our mission is to be the company for the achiever; we want our products associated with a sign of success. How much of a challenge is it to implement the same level of quality across your entire range? Yes, it’s our mission to be more assertive about the quality of Montblanc. We want to convey our expertise and our superior quality across all aspects of our output. If you say Montblanc people will say quality. We bring to the leather and watches the same technical approach and superiority. What are the challenges of transitioning Montblanc from a brand focused on pens, leather and watches to an eclectic maison? Life is full of challenges and if not it would be very boring. We want to create this technical superiority throughout the collection, where people think of the brand as the best possible quality. We are not in fashion, we are in products, and we make products that are built to last. Our products have a classical nature to them and therefore the designs are built to last, this is important to the consumer. When it comes to sales Montblanc has 500 boutiques around the world, more than 260 under our own name, which is a very strong position in making the product come together, this has been the thing that is often missing from many maisons, a place they can be completed in the most powerful way. You are targeting a younger demographic with your new Extreme Collection. Will they have the same buying habits as the older generation? We think the leather category is a great way to open the door to this audience. It’s a good way for them to enter into the maison, introducing them to the brand. It’s a bridge for them.

Winter 2014

In terms of the luxury industry, there is a lot of talk about bespoke. How is Montblanc reacting to this? This is something that has existed in our writing instruments for more than 10 years, meaning you can really do bespoke in every way from A-Z, and get a completely unique pen. We are also developing the bespoke business in the very high-end watches, namely the Villeret collection. Last there is the third category; leather that we will develop also. It’s definitely something we are taking seriously. What do you see as the biggest challenges in the luxury industry? One of the biggest challenges is being able to create a true maison. Secondly it’s being able to keep the creativity and being able to embrace modernity and to create objects of desire. You will see that technology companies are already hiring from the luxury industry – they are already modern, and therefore the luxury industry needs to be a part of this too. What are the things that sum up watches? True craftsmanship, substance and elevation of achievement. What’s your favourite piece from the Extreme collection? The backpack. How do you run a business in so many countries? I travel a lot – from the watches, to leather, to the pens. We have great teams in each of these that help me to run them. How do you relax? I run a lot, I do a lot of marathons. And when I am not doing this I have two daughters and their lives are very important and take a lot of attention.

Winter 2014

WATCHES & JEWELLERY

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STRAP A RANGER OR AN ADVISOR TO YOUR WRIST AND YOU’LL HAVE WHAT HANS WILSDORF INTENDED – A WELL DESIGNED, WELL-MADE WATCH THAT DOESN’T COST THE EARTH

TUDOR

”

THE HISTORY OF TUDOR UNCOVERED

epending on who you listen to, it’s been at least 11 long years since Tudor last shifted a watch in the UK. Back in the early Noughties, the Swiss watch brand was a mess and it withdrew from Britain, part of a global retreat that left it unrepresented in Japan and even the USA, markets it had always banked on. In 2007, bloodied but unbowed, Tudor regrouped. After an investment that must have totalled millions, in came a new brand identity and a new collection. Visitors to the annual Basel spring watch fair in the following years returned to these shores full of praise for Tudor, praise that soon turned to frustration at the brand’s continued reluctance to resurface over here.

Tudor is rivaling global news stories for column inches. Now, given the watch world’s tendency to over-enthuse, you might think this horological huff and puff. But it isn’t. Not at all. And the reason is this: Tudor has the all the right ingredients to become the next household name in watchmaking, ranked alongside Rolex, Omega and TAG Heuer. That’s a big claim, but not when you consider that Tudor is owned by Rolex, the powerhouse voted the UK’s number one superbrand two years out of the last three. In the past, the link has been a blessing and a curse. Originally, Tudor was a Rolex-on-a-budget kind of brand. It was set up by Hans Wilsdorf in 1946, 41 years after he’d founded Rolex. The idea was to make a more affordable watch, backed up by Rolex quality. For years, you could buy Tudor watches with Rolex names – a Tudor Submariner, a Tudor Oyster Prince and so on.

But at last Tudor is back. In September, it opened 100 points of sale around the country in a show of force that will have sent a chill down the competition’s spine. People who know their watches Initially, the theory worked and the have hailed its return, and suddenly Tudor Rose blossomed. But then

Winter 2014

came the 1980s, the decade that made Rolex the status symbol nonpareil. Gradually, owning a Tudor became an uncomfortable acknowledgement that you couldn’t afford a Rolex. A couple of decades of neglect later, and the Tudor brand was all but dead. But – thank goodness – those days are gone. The relaunch seven years ago has reversed its fortunes and the extended period of absence has reset perceptions of the brand. Yes, Tudor is still backed by Rolex (its watches are assembled on the same site, albeit using parts from third parties such as movement specialists ETA), but it now stands on its own merits with its own watches. Rolex doesn’t make a watch called the ‘Ranger’, or the ‘Advisor’, so there’s no awkward my-Lidl-to-your-Waitrose style comparison going on. Nor should there be. Strap a Ranger or an Advisor to your wrist and you’ll have what Hans Wilsdorf intended – a well designed, well-made watch that doesn’t cost the earth. Same with a Heritage Black Bay - a diver’s watch modeled on the 1954 Tudor Submariner - that won the Revival Prize at the Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève last year, which is about as close to winning an Oscar as a timepiece is ever going to get. The list of corkers goes on. The Heritage Chronos have vintage-cool in spades; the Advisor has an all-too-rare mechanical alarm; the Fastrider Black Shield has a monobloc black ceramic case (made with Rolex know-how); and the titaniumcased Pelagos is a straight-up tool watch for people who scuba. As collections go, it’s balanced, with entry points for all kinds of level-headed watch enthusiasts. So, solid watches made by a solid brand, fuelled by Rolex nous and marketing power. So far, so likely to succeed. Combine that with how much its watches cost, and you begin to see why Tudor might fly. The whole collection sits between £1,370 and £5,440, a highly competitive segment dominated by some of the titans of watchmaking, including TAG Heuer and Omega. This could, as they say, get interesting. Officially, Tudor says the reason for the delayed return to the UK (and to the US last autumn, and probably Japan next year), is not because it got burned last time round, but because it wanted to wait until it had completely revamped itself first. That job is now done. It’s been a long time coming, but you suspect its impact will be quick. Very quick indeed.

by ROBIN SWITHINBANK Winter 2014

INTERVIEW

TASTE MAKER

GEORGE BAMFORD

George Bamford is a man who knows what he likes. Son of JCB owner and billionaire Lord Bamford and Daylesford Organic founder Lady Bamford, George has entrepreneurship in his blood. His company, Bamford Watch Department, can be described as somewhat of a disruption in the watch industry. The company customises luxury watches to the owner’s tastes and personalties, creating products that are totally unique to each individual. The idea came about when he was given a watch for his birthday by his father, which he said at the time was the coolest thing he owned. However his excitement was short lived when he discovered a number of people owned the same watch, so like every entrepreneur he decided to customise his own. Soon everyone was ask-

ing him where he got the watch and the business was born. Today he is busier than ever and has an impressive list of clients to match. George isn’t resting on his laurels though, as he believes in disrupting the world of luxury, and that true luxury comes in the bespoke. His current project is Bamford Cycle Department, where cycling enthusiasts can completely customise their own bike from scratch. Being a keen cyclist himself he had been looking for a company that customised bikes for some time, however he couldn’t find one that did the job to the high spec he wanted. There are also mumblings of few other collaborations on the horizon. Looks like 2015 is going to be a busy year.

To find out more visit bamfordwatchdepartment.com

LU X U RY R E - E N G I N E E RE D T R AV E L A C C E S S O R IE S F O R T H E J E T S E T L IF E S T Y L E

Winter 2014

domreill y. c om

Winter 2014

CULTURE

Annabel’s THE LEGEND THAT WAS, IS AND ALWAYS WILL BE

Just the name Annabel’s conjures up feelings of mystery, memories and intrigue in equal measure. The legendary club which is still going strong after 50 years, has been used not only as a reference point of a bygone era, but today is still a symbol of success and status as it ever was. A new film, ‘A String of Naked Lightbulbs’, directed by Greg Fay and produced by Ridley Scott goes in-depth and explains just why that little door on the edge of London’s Berkeley Square represents something far bigger than just a nightclub.

hen I first heard about this film, I couldn’t help but get excited. Having watched a documentary called The Mayfair Set a year earlier, it has become an era and culture that I especially admire. When Annabel’s launched in 1963, the world was in the midst of a seismic shift. It represented a new dawn for business and before this time the word ‘entrepreneur’ was very much frowned upon. Annabel’s represented the old establishment, whilst at the same time, very much representing the new order, doing so seamlessly and with immense skill. The film starts from the very inception of the idea and takes us right through to the present. In doing so there are hidden messages on how society has changed, our attitudes towards status and the establishment as a whole.

Winter 2014

Before Annabel’s, London nightlife was terribly bland and boring. England, not to mention the world, was still in post-war mode and it was as if life would never be glamorous or luxurious again. Before the Second World War you had the 1920s, an era of great excess, non-stop parties and endless glamour. After however, the closest thing anyone could get to a nightclub in post-war London was a table in a dark and dingy basement where, as Peter Bond describes in the film, the wine would have your name on it and you would be forced to eat something (which, more often than not, consisted of a lackluster sandwich). It was in 1961 when John Aspinall, a society gambling entrepreneur, looked to establish a casino at number 44 Berkeley Square – arguably one of the finest townhouses in London. Until then Aspinall had been running underground gam-

bling nights in people’s apartments, at country house weekends and the like, due to gambling being illegal at the time. When the laws were relaxed it allowed Aspinall to look for a more permanent location and 44 Berkeley Square seemed like the perfect spot. At the time, underneath the magnificent house was a damp empty wine cellar that would later become the iconic Annabel’s. During this time a young gentleman by the name of Mark Birley had a Hermes shop a stone’s throw away in St James’, otherwise know as ‘clubland’.

Winter 2014

CULTURE

“

WHEN IT COMES TO ENTERTAINMENT YOU NAME THEM, THEY’VE ALL PLAYED AT ANNABEL’S: FROM TINA TURNER TO RAY CHARLES AND MOST RECENTLY LADY GAGA.

Birley was the son of the wellknown society painter, Sir Oswald Birley, who was Eton educated, tall, socially connected and every bit the archetypal English gentlemen. When the friendship began, John realised that Birley had the social connections and asked him to build a club in the hope of attracting the ‘right sort’ to his Casino and by the right sort he meant good looking and rich. Birley went full steam ahead to create his dream nightclub and no expense was spared. Firstly, to create the space that Birley desired they dug up the whole garden to allow for a large restaurant, dance floor, bar and lounge areas; more of a true club, than nightclub. Birley being part of society himself realised the importance of making the club exclusive, and by the time the club opened in 1963, it was the beginning of the Sixties and very much a new era, furthermore London was the place to be. For the original membership Birley sent out only 500 letters, mainly to his friends and the membership was very cheap indeed. For Birley it was about getting the right sort, as this would make the membership even more exclusive and sought after later on, and this strategy has stood the club in good stead ever since, with at one

Winter 2014

point the waiting list running into the thousands. Birley himself was known for having a great eye for detail and this wasn’t just regarding interior design, but right through to the food, wine list, music and most crucially, the staff – some would later describe him as a control freak, however he was just interested in finding the very best and at no point was he ever entirely satisfied. Although he was known as a hard taskmaster, Birley had a talent for finding the best staff. He would walk around London poaching staff from other famous establishments such as the Mirbeau and Wiltons. Staff were of particular importance to Birley and in the film Sir David Tang and Tim Bell talk of their particular fondness for Louis Emmanuel – who in some ways was the more important than any member – so much so that when he was kicked in the backside by Shirley Bassey, she was banned from the club. Staff was not the only thing to get the Birley treatment. When it came to the music he would have the latest tunes flown over almost daily from Sam Goody’s on Broadway. For the food, Mark hired Elizabeth David, who in his view was the best of the day, known for cooking amazing,

non-fussy food, that was for eating rather than looking at. Such dishes as shepherd’s pie even appeared on the menu, not to mention the famous muslin over the lemon that was, yes you guessed it, invented at Annabel’s, and now a must in every fine-dining establishment worldwide. When it came to entertainment you name them, and they all played at Annabel’s – from Tina Turner to Ray Charles and, most recently, Lady Gaga. Annabel’s uses its own notoriety as a nightclub to attract the very best at the height of their fame. Another one of Birley passions was the wine and Annabel’s was said to have one of the most extensive and best wine lists in London. Entertainment was a big part of Annabel’s success and apart from the legendary roster of amazing acts; it was the sheer proximity between the audience and the performers that made shows at Annabel’s so memorable. Over the years Birley organised a series of weeks – from a Russian themed week to a Rio Canival themed week – each with overwhelming success. He would fly in a performer for these events from all over the world and when you speak to those who were there, they remember it like it was yesterday. Today those weeks have been replace with Charles Finch’s Bafta nights, although they’re still

Boy George

Francesca Von Thyssen and Jerry Hall

Poppy Delevigne

Kid Creole

Lady Gaga

”

Princess Michael of Kent

Anna Wintour

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CULTURE very much remembered by those who attend, not to mention attracting a who’s who of Hollywood talent. It’s the interior of Annabel’s which sets it apart from the rest, whilst Birley would work with designers such as Nina Campbell; it was designed very much to his own taste. He managed skillfully to buy

“

JUST LIKE TODAY PHOTOGRAPHY WAS A NO-NO, GIVING THE FEELING THAT WHAT HAPPENED IN ANNABEL’S REMAINED IN ANNABEL’S.

”

things from a range of shops, in a whole host of countries, he was know for loving shopping – almost verging on the addictive. He made things that would never normally go together look seamless; like they were always meant to be. Annabel’s especially was known for its romantic and flattering lighting, this combined with mirrors and

deep reds would beautifully reflect the dim light around room, creating an atmosphere unlike any other. Another detail is the amazing loos – it sounds ridiculous but every detail has been thought about. In the film Nicky Haslam talks fondly about the Eighties and their ticketing machine in the loo running off the latest results from the stock market. It is stories like this that made Annabel’s unlike any other. Whilst Annabel’s was very much part of the establishment, Birley realised the shift in society as a whole – it was no longer made up just aristocrats and the like – but it was becoming the era of the self-made man. Annabel’s became the place where all the different worlds would collide; the membership was in many ways varied, however whether a Duke, businessman or fashion designer, Annabel’s was a mark of your important status. Whilst Mark was a die hard Tory and what you would call part of the upper class, he was very much happy for people to join society – as Tim Bell so eloquently put it “you had join it, not fight it”. For many in the public eye Annabel’s was one of the few places in the world where they felt relaxed. Just like today, photography was a no-no, giving the feeling that what happened in Annabel’s remained in Annabel’s. It became a favourite of the Beatles, the Royal Family and other luminaries, stars included Di-

ana Ross, Gregory Peck and Frank Sinatra. This was the first place outside of their homes where they could totally relax, safe in the knowledge that whatever they did was not going to end up on the front page the next day. Discreetness was very much paramount and whilst the membership was varied, everyone understood that this was of the highest importance. It was after Annabel’s 40th birthday that Mark’s children, India and Robin took over the day-to-day running of the club, managing to inject a youthfulness into the scene. India refreshed the look of the club while retaining the overall feel of the place and together they brought in a younger crowd, ensuring that Annabel’s future was once again safe. It has been this ability for Annabel’s to continuously reinvent itself while keeping its identity that has kept it at the forefront of London nightlife – to such an extent that Annabel’s can now be described as timeless. Today, under the relatively new ownership of clothing tycoon Richard Caring, Annabel’s continues to thrive. It was Caring who added the smoking terrace – which undoubtedly is one of London greatest – and it was him who managed to land the Lady Gaga performance in the height of her fame. It is events like this that keep Annabel’s as fresh as the day it opened. The question is what next? Is it

a toast to the next 50 years? Well I certainly think so. A club that breezed through more recessions than I can think of, not to mention the Lloyds crash in the 1970s, which, although not as sever as some recessions, had a direct impact on the members of Annabel’s at the time and many lost serious money overnight. Annabel’s has been described as many things: timeless, glamorous, folklore, magical and occasionally ‘the center of the world’ (despite how far fetched that may seem). But for me it’s the almost Narnia-like quality that never fails to impress; the face of a person who has walked down the stairs for the first time, the sense of discovery, the sense of privilege. A man compared to James Bond – Mark Birley, created it and instilled it with his in-depth knowledge of wine, food, women, travel, design and manners. He was a man of great taste and gave great attention to detail, some would argue he had the greatest taste of all. It’s this passion that I believe will ensure its timelessness and survival in years to come. It is the mix of people from all types of backgrounds coming together to just have fun that makes it unlike any other. As Bryan Ferry says in the film “when something is put together with that kind of affection, it lasts forever.” I cannot disagree.

by HARRY JARMAN

Winter 2014

BUSINESS

50 Influential

CARL ICAHN

The WORLD’S

MOST PEOPLE

THEY INFLUENCE THE INFORMATION WE RECEIVE, THE ELECTRICITY WE USE, HOW WE COMMUNICATE AND HOW WE DRESS. THEIR FORTUNES ARE INCOMPREHENSIBLE AND THEIR POWER UNRIVALLED. THESE ARE THE WORLD’S FIFTY MOST INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE.

SIR RICHARD BRANSON TRAVIS KALANICK An old fashioned investor who has been an immensely important player in the world of finance since the 1970s, Icahn continues to have a great deal of influence over the companies he invests in. His 2013 sale of Netflix shares is believed to be one of the largest stock gains in history and his fortune has been estimated at $26 billion.

BARACK OBAMA

ELON MUSK NEIL AND DAVID RIMER

Perhaps the most exciting and ambitious magnate on the planet today, Musk’s passion for new technologies is inspiring. The CEO of Tesla Motors has dragged the automobile industry into the 21st century by aiming to provide cheap electric cars to the world. As if this isn’t enough, he’s also the CEO of SpaceX, a company whose mission is to provide easy access to space.

MARISSA MAYER

The founder of Uber has had stiff opposition to his transportation network company and faces considerable competition from clone enterprises. Despite this he has ensured that Uber continues to grow and is making inroads (pun intended) in almost fifty countries. The Rimer brothers have been setting the gold standard for venture capital as their company; Index Ventures goes from strength to strength. Their unwavering belief in biotechnology has encouraged others to follow suit, resulting in greater innovation within computer and life sciences.

The president of the United States is always going to feature on a list of the world’s most influential people and Barack Obama has had a decent year. With his controversial domestic policy being overshadowed by events in Ukraine, Gaza and Iraq, Obama has been able to show his statesmanlike side, giving a strong showing on the world stage.

JIMMY WALES

MARIO TESTINO

SIMON COWELL As one of the world’s most recognisable billionaires, Branson makes this list once again, despite a reduced public profile over the last couple of years. On the 21st of September 2014 Branson was named by the Sunday Times as the most admired business person of the last five decades.

PRINCE WILLIAM AND PRINCE HARRY

JONAH PERETTI Although there are signs that his long-held grip on the music industry may finally be diminishing, there’s no doubting that he remains the most powerful man in the business. One Direction, his most famous creation to date, continue to storm the charts around the world and one suspects he will be around for a while yet.

PAUL ALLEN

The CEO of Yahoo! since 2012, Mayer has been credited with breathing new life into the company. She is considered to be one of the most powerful women in America and, at just 39, there seems to be no limit to what she can achieve.

Winter 2014

Although Wikipedia may be a non-profit website, it is the fifth most visited website in the world and Wales’s influence is felt around the globe. In 2014 Wales has been prominent in his criticism of the European Court of Justice’s Google ruling concerning the right to be forgotten, maintaining his passion for unconditional free speech.

The man who famously photographed Diana – not to mention a host of glitterati including supermodels, politicians, pop stars and actors – is flavour of the month once again after a risqué photoshoot with a nude Cara Delevingne. Testino has been the world’s pre-eminent fashion photographer for the past twenty years and shows no signs of slowing down.

Nothing whips the media into a frenzy like the announcement of another Royal baby and William seems to be more revered than ever. His brother meanwhile has been gaining plaudits for his tireless campaigning for soldiers seriously injured in battle; his major role in organising the Invictus Games was widely commended.

The founder of BuzzFeed continues to change the way we absorb news stories and information, and the importance of this site cannot be overstated. Peretti also had a hand in creating the Huffington Post and Reblog and he will, no doubt, continue to change the media landscape for years to come. The co-founder of Microsoft has a multi-billion dollar investment portfolio that includes media, tech and real estate companies. In addition to this, he also owns an NFL team, an NBA team and has founded scientific institutes for brain science and artificial intelligence.

Winter 2014

BUSINESS

TIM COOK AND JONATHAN IVE MARK ZUCKERBERG JEFF BEZOS

The founder of Amazon.com has had his wealth estimated at a staggering $32.3 billion and is showing no signs of slowing down. Astonishingly, Amazon only has ten international websites so far and the potential for growth in new and emerging markets is almost incomprehensible.

ANGELA MERKEL

SAMUEL IRVING NEWHOUSE JR AND DONALD NEWHOUSE

The owners of Advance Publications – of which Condé Nast is a division – own Vogue, GQ, Wired, Vanity Fair and the New Yorker as well as countless other periodicals. To say that they had an enormous sphere of influence would be an understatement; few have had such influence over the Western media.

The Facebook founder has predominately focused on philanthropy and politics of late and along with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates, was a signatory of ‘the giving pledge’. By the end of 2013 Zuckerberg was estimated to have been the most generous American of the year with his donations to charitable causes amounting to around $1 billion.

OPRAH WINFREY

DAVID AND VICTORIA BECKHAM

Posh ‘n’ Becks may have given up the things that made them famous in the first place (music and football respectively) but despite this they remain an iconic couple. Victoria’s venture into fashion has been generally well received and David is in the process of getting a MLS franchise off the ground.

THE QUEEN

The men who were given the unenviable task of filling Steve Jobs’s shoes at Apple have been making a good go of it. The iPhone 6 has had good reviews and sales of the phones broke past Apple records. Between the two of them the world’s biggest company is in safe hands.

VLADIMIR PUTIN

WARREN BUFFETT

RUPERT MURDOCH

Undoubtedly the most powerful woman in the world, the German Chancellor has had a busy year. Aside from the usual business of keeping other EU states from each other’s throats, she has had to contend with the recent Russian propensity for warmongering and masterfully handled the spying scandal that made a fool of the USA’s intelligence services.

Winter 2014

Since the News International phone hacking scandal Murdoch has taken a low profile in the UK, preferring to focus on his interests in the US. Murdoch’s company, 21st Century Fox failed to win Time Warner with an $80 billion bid in August, but despite this he remains as busy – and ambitious – as ever.

It has been another very successful year for the British monarch, with the news of another great-grandchild and the defeat of the nationalists in the Scottish referendum. The Queen’s continued presence as the constitutional monarch of sixteen countries, the head of the Commonwealth and the head of the Anglican church, ensures her status as one of the world’s most influential people.

JACK DORSEY

The talk show host continues to wield a good deal of influence in American liberal circles and the ‘queen of all media’ seems to be branching out more and more. In 2013 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and her wealth is estimated at a cool $3 billion.

As someone who is consistently cited as the world’s richest – or one of the world’s richest – men, Warren Buffett’s place on the list is a given. As well as being one of the most successful investors of all time, the ‘sage of Omaha’ has also acted as a close confidant to Barack Obama. His wealth is estimated at $67 billion.

The Russian president has probably been the most focused upon person in the world in 2014 and with good reason. The conflict in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea has set Russia on a collision course with the West that is unnerving to say the least. Putin’s approval rating within Russia has been polled at 85 per cent but with sanctions being imposed upon the country due to the Ukrainian instability, he may have overplayed his hand.

The co-founder and chairman of Twitter has not been sitting on his laurels and has been mainly focused on his mobile payments company Square for the last couple of years. He has also intimated that he has a burgeoning interest in politics and expressed an interest in running for mayor of New York in the distant future.

Winter 2014

BUSINESS

CRISTIANO RONALDO MALALA YOUSAFZAI BILL GATES

ABU BAKR ALBAGHDADI

The mysterious leader of ISIL has come out of nowhere to be one of the biggest influencers of geopolitics in 2014. The estimated membership of the Islamic State is between 20,000 to 100,000 and these members are directly under al-Baghdadi’s control. The instability and war in Iraq and Syria makes it hard to predict whether he’ll be around for long, but for the time being he’s a major player in the Middle East.

POPE FRANCIS

The two-time Ballon d’Or winner had a poor showing at the World Cup but, as the golden boy of the world’s biggest sports team, he wields huge global influence. Unlike his great rival, Lionel Messi, his looks and charm as well as his phenomenal talent ensure that he is the one of the world’s most recognisable people.

The computer pioneer does not have much to do with Microsoft these days; rather he just sits back and lets the money role in as he concentrates on his philanthropic endeavours. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation continues to garner the majority of his attention and it has played a considerable role in alleviating poverty, famine and disease in many parts of the third world.

JOHN KERRY

GEORGE AND AMAL CLOONEY

The ‘it-couple’ of the moment were recently married in a Venetian wedding attended by some of the biggest stars in the world. George is a Hollywood actor who is passionate about humanitarian work and has hinted at a future career in politics, while Amal is one of the world’s top human rights lawyers - move over Brangelina.

CARLOS SLIM

The young Pakistani who tirelessly campaigned for the right to education, regardless of gender won the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize, becomeing the youngest ever Nobel laureate in the process. She has been shot, been subject to a fatwa, been a subject of the Taliban and lived to tell the tale.

SEPP BLATTER

BORIS JOHNSON

DREW HOUSTON

The world’s richest man is worth an estimated $82.9 billion, however the Mexican has not compiled such a fortune without controversy. Critics have complained that he has not helped ordinary Mexicans as much as he should have, however he plays an active role in his charitable foundation and has given an estimated $4 billion of his fortune away.

LARRY ELLISON

The first Latin American Pope has enjoyed a relatively calm start to his papacy and he is considerably more popular that his predecessor Benedict XVI whose papacy was dogged by the sex abuse cases. As the spiritual leader of 1.2 billion people around the globe, the head of the Catholic Church will always command great respect and influence.

Winter 2014

At 31 Houston is one of the youngest major players in Silicon Valley and Dropbox – the company he founded in 2008 – continues to grow in popularity. It has so far managed to corner the storage market fairly unopposed and for the time being has few serious rivals.

Since Kerry became Secretary of State in 2013 his profile has been sizeable, mainly due to the various international crises of 2014. He has taken to his position with great aplomb and the one-time presidential candidate has given the US an assured presence on the world stage.

The Mayor of London has announced that he will stand in a safe Tory seat for the 2015 election and could end up leading the Conservative Party if they loose the next election or fail to win an outright majority. He may find a return to Westminster trickier than he imagines though – George Osborne and Michael Gove are thought to be similarly keen on leadership bids.

At 78, Blatter maintains an iron grip on his presidency of FIFA (the International Federation of Association Football). Although he has been the subject of much controversy and several corruption scandals, no one has been able to oust him from FIFA and, after a relatively successful World Cup this year, it looks like he’ll still be around for the next one.

Although he has now stepped down as the CEO of Oracle, Ellison continues to wield a great deal of influence in the world of computing. A close friend of the late Steve Jobs, Ellison was never as well known as his competitors at Apple or Microsoft but still managed to compile a fortune estimated at $49.7 billion.

Winter 2014

BUSINESS

DILMA ROUSSEFF ANNA WINTOUR

The editor of US Vogue and artistic director of Condé Nast remains the most important person in the fashion world bar none. With a formidable reputation and steely persona, Wintour is feared and respected in equal measure.

JAY-Z AND BEYONCÉ

The couple have amassed a large fortune and between them they have sold nearly 200 million records (including Destiny’s Child). They are friends with the Obamas and are one of the most recognisable couples in the world.

JUSTIN BIEBER THOMAS PIKETTY

THE CHAPAR LOVE CLOTHES HATE SHOPPING

She may not be president of Brazil for much longer with elections looming in 2014, but the first female president of the country has had a prominent year. With Brazil hosting the World Cup, the eyes of the world have been on the emerging super-power and the spectacle did not disappoint.

RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN

Piketty gave the economic right something of a hammering with the English-language publication of his book Capital in the Twenty-First Century. Lauded by critics as one of the greatest economics books ever, Piketty has been tipped as a future Nobel laureate and continues to gain both plaudits and detractors.

The pop brat is anathema to many and is showing signs of a breakdown at the tender age of 20, but Bieber remains an incredibly popular solo artist. He is commonly referenced as one of the most powerful celebrities and is consolidating his position as the pre-eminent male solo artists in the world, unfortunately.

The newly elected president of Turkey and former prime minister is often compared with Putin due to his authoritarianism, disregard for the constitution and the fact that, like Putin, he has been both prime minister and president. His plans for Turkey are as yet unclear but he will be a major player both in the Mediterranean and the Middle East for years to come.

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RU PERT

MURDOCH DON’T CALL IT A COMEBACK THE MEDIA TITAN WAS HUMBLED BY THE HACKING SCANDAL, THE CLOSURE OF THE NEWS OF THE WORLD AND THE FRACTURE OF HIS EMPIRE. BUT, RATHER THAN DECIDING TO CALL TIME ON HIS CAREER, COULD RECENT EVENTS MEAN THAT ‘DIGGER’ IS BACK TO HIS OLD TRICKS? EDWIN SMITH INVESTIGATES.

by EDWIN SMITH

Rupert Murdoch

n Monday 18th July 2011, visitors to the website of the Sun newspaper were automatically directed to a story about the death of Rupert Murdoch. ‘Media moguls body discovered’ ran the headline, over a description of how the Australian-born owner of the paper had been found dead in his garden, having ingested a cocktail of poisonous chemicals in a probable suicide. There was at least a degree of plausibility to the story, coming as it did just days after the News of the World had been closed down, and the day before the magnate was due to face a House of Commons committee to answer questions about the hacking scandal that led to its demise. But rumours of Murdoch’s death were greatly exaggerated. The omission of an apostrophe in the headline gave a clue as to its provenance; it was the result of a hack of a different kind, one carried out by the mischievous online group LulzSec. So, the following day, and in rude health for his 80 years, Murdoch appeared in front of MPs. And although he left his son James to draw most of the enemy fire, he did make one solemn pronouncement. “Can I just say one thing,” he said, cutting in after a speech by James. “This is the most humble day of my life.” There is some doubt among his critics as to whether the statement was a genuine show of humility, but what seems clear is that after that day, Murdoch reached an even lower ebb. The following spring, the committee issued a damning verdict that described the chairman and chief executive of News Corp as “not fit to run an international company”. The words were delivered by Labour MP Tom Watson, who would go on to co-author a book, Dial M for Murdoch. It turned out to be just one gust in a storm of negative press and excoriation.

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What would have been of more material importance to Murdoch was the fact that the committee’s findings effectively torpedoed the proposed News Corp takeover of BSkyB (it already owned 39 per cent) and, eventually, would force Murdoch to cleave in two the empire that he had been building for 60 years. (At the time of the split, the hacking scandal had cost News Corp $389m in legal and other costs.) In 2013 most of News Corp’s film and television assets were hived off into a new company, 21st Century Fox, leaving 130 newspapers (including The Times, The Sun, The Wall Street Journal, the New York Post and numerous Australian titles) to remain under the News Corp banner. Then, last year, came Murdoch’s divorce from Wendi Deng (his third wife, 38 years his junior and mother to his two young daughters) after extraordinary rumours and speculation concerning an alleged affair between Deng and one-time Murdoch ally Tony Blair. The “most humble day” of Murdoch’s life was, in fact, only the start of a major decline – one from which many an ageing campaigner would have failed to recover. And yet, more recent events suggest that some kind of renaissance may be afoot. His companies have again begun to make bold, forward-looking moves, most notably an audacious $80bn bid for another media conglomerate, Time Warner. The deal would have brought HBO, Warner Bros and other prized assets under Murdoch’s control and, if successful, would have been felt around the world. Indeed, it still might. So while many, especially his detractors, have already made up their minds, several questions remain unanswered. Have we heard the death rattle of a once-mighty old media empire, or is this all just another chapter in the continuing story of one of the most formidable entrepreneurs and strategists ever to have lived? And, in either case, what’s going to happen next?

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EVEN THOSE TRADITIONALLY UNSYMPATHETIC TOWARDS HIM HAVE ACKNOWLEDGED THE ‘SHEER SCALE AND BRILLIANCE’ OF HIS ACHIEVEMENTS.

The digital headline on Monday 18th of July 2011.

James Murdoch

Keith Rupert Murdoch’s empire building can be traced back to his return to Australia from Oxford, where he read philosophy, politics and economics. Aged 21, he took up the mantle of his father Sir Keith, following his death in 1952. At that time, the Adelaide News was the family company’s most valuable asset, but it didn’t take long for Rupert to establish the pattern of expansion that would come to define his career, purchasing newspapers across Australia and coining a style that prompted the Economist to credit him with the invention of the modern tabloid. After a foray into neighbouring New Zealand, Murdoch reached the other side of the globe in 1968 and took over the News of the World. By the time he had

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and large, the popularity and financial success of the tabloids has been able to support the less profitable highbrow publications. And both have been used to wield political power.

“He used his newspaper properties to further his political interests, his political beliefs, and his favourite political candidates,” says Folkenflik. “But he’s been willing to toggle back and forth between the two major parties in all of these countries. While he’s a pretty resolutely Conservative guy at heart, he’s very acquired the Sun in 1969, and The Times pragmatic and is willing to say that there and Sunday Times in 1981, his strategy are certain people he can do business with. had emerged – at least, with the benefit of Tony Blair was someone like that. hindsight. “His willingness not only to endorse his “He plays a high and low game,” says favourites, but to use his pages to batter David Folkenflik, author of Murdoch’s those that he opposed is unrivalled. It was World: The Last of the Old Media very punitive, but for those in his good Empires. “In [the US, the UK and graces it was very rewarding. And it meant Australia] he has one of these prestigious, that, in the political realm, politicians national-affairs-type publications, as well would do favours for him if they were on as more tabloid-style dailies and weeklies. his good side – or even if they weren’t, in So he looks for commercial successes the hope of getting on it.” and political influence. That has been a winning strategy for him, not necessarily financially, but in terms of establishing Folkenflik points out that Murdoch’s influence.” Folkenflik, who is a New York- newspapers haven’t been on the losing side based media correspondent, says that, by of a UK general election since 1974, but

Lachlan Murdoch

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“That sway with politicians [thanks to newspapers] has given him regulatory relief and other kinds of favours routinely over the years. Sometimes that has been used for the acquisition of newspapers, but often for the acquisition of profitable television properties. These television properties then help him to insulate his beloved newspapers as they go through real financial struggles. You have what is, from his standpoint, a virtuous cycle.” At last count, Forbes reckons Murdoch is worth $13.5bn.

football and, by extension, the face of the global game. In the States, The Simpsons, Fox News and record-breaking box office successes such as Titanic and Avatar have all flowed from Murdoch’s buccaneering enterprise. But it wasn’t until the 2007 acquisition of the Wall Street Journal, as part of a $5bn deal for the paper’s parent company Dow Jones, that he had, as Folkenflik puts it, “the prestigious [newspaper] property in the US that he did in Australia and UK. It forces people to give him a respected place at the table.”

But, according to Professor Rodney Tiffen, author of Rupert Murdoch: A Reassessment, his commitment to execute this plan and establish Sky television in the UK in the early Nineties, was very nearly catastrophic. “He’s always ridden his luck,” says Tiffen, speaking over the phone from his home in Sydney. “There’s a gambling side to his personality and back then he

But this acquisition, which he regarded as the “capstone” of his career, according to his semi-authorised biographer Michael Wolff, coincided with an unprecedented decline in the fortunes of newspapers. Indeed, getting to grips with the new dynamics of a digital age isn’t something that Murdoch has yet proved himself capable of. The most glaring example of

CAN I JUST SAY ONE THING,” HE SAID, CUTTING IN AFTER A SPEECH BY JAMES. “THIS IS THE MOST HUMBLE DAY OF MY LIFE.

there is some debate here. Is it the case that Murdoch’s preferred candidate becomes overwhelmingly likely to win, or that he simply has a knack of siding with the likely winner? There’s probably an element of truth to both interpretations, but the now legendary Sun front page that greeted John Major’s unexpected 1992 victory over Neil Kinnock (‘It’s The Sun Wot Won It’) suggests which one Murdoch would prefer.

could have easily gone under, but the banks saved him. He owed something like $7bn to 146 different banks and lending institutions. If he collapsed then, we’d remember him in a very different way.” As we now know, Sky survived and flourished. Among other notable successes, it went on to shape Premier League

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his failure in this regard is News Corp’s acquisition of MySpace for $580m in 2005. Back then it was the most popular social networking site in the world, but in the wake of Facebook’s ascension, users left in their droves and the company was eventually sold to Specific Media Group and Justin Timberlake for $35m in 2011.

Although Murdoch’s influence over politics and the extent to which he has been able to control vast swathes of the media landscape has often been perceived as dangerous or damaging, even those traditionally unsympathetic towards him have acknowledged the “sheer scale and brilliance” of his achievements. Writing in the Spectator, Peter Oborne, a veteran Telegraph journalist who identifies himself as a critic of Murdoch, said earlier this year that “there is no doubt that by taking on the printing unions Rupert Murdoch saved British journalism. This took immense guts and courage... Again and again Murdoch – especially through the Sun and with his massive investment in satellite television – has risked everything to create and build new markets.” Indeed, Folkenflik argues that television networks (including Fox in the US, BSkyB in the UK and Foxtel in Australia) are the “third leg of the stool” – another crucial part of the Murdoch strategy. Rupert Murdoch and Wendi Murdoch

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“The traditional Murdoch business model is that you pay a premium for an acquisition, but it pays off in the long run,” says Professor Tiffen. “It’s hard to start a new daily paper or TV network. But in an internet age, it’s very easy to start up new businesses. I’m not sure the old model is going to keep working.” But Murdoch hasn’t been discouraged from pursuing digital businesses. News Corp’s recent acquisitions of social news agency Storyful, property website Move and luxury online retailer The Handpicked Collection all sit alongside a $70m investment that saw 21st Century Fox take control of 5 per cent of Vice, the Brooklyn-based youth media company. “He’s a nice old guy,” said Vice co-founder and CEO Shane Smith when I spoke to him last year. “But I’ll tell you what, if you can take the third biggest newspaper in Adelaide – a third tier city in a faraway country – and turn it into the largest media conglomerate in the world, then you’re a hell of an entrepreneur. I didn’t know him in those days, but he’s a sharp guy and he’s got a lot of sharp guys working for him.” Although some doubt that their achievements have merited the job titles that have been bestowed upon them over the years, you might include Murdoch’s offspring among those “sharp guys”. Lachlan, James and Elisabeth – all children of his 32-year second marriage to Anna – have changed position in the pecking order but, at present, could all conceivably play a role in the legacy that their father seems intent on preserving. Lachlan, after an exile of sorts in Australia, has now returned to take up the role of co-chairman of 21st Century Fox. Younger brother James is co-chief operating officer, while Elisabeth, who ended her marriage with Matthew Freud (whom Murdoch was said to dislike) earlier this year, rejoined the fold when Shine, the production company she founded, was acquired by News Corp in 2011. But surrounding himself with his children doesn’t mean that Murdoch is preparing

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James Murdoch

to call time on his life – or his career. “I think he feels that he’s going to prove the bastards wrong,” says Folkenflik. “People wrote him off at the height of the fury over hacking at a time when members of all three parties were lining up to denounce him in parliament – including people that his parties had backed. But there’s a strong sense of defiance that he can persevere, succeed, and show them that despite his years, his gut instincts are better than anyone’s.

he was researching his book, he had been speaking to News Corp employees and realised that they were saying “if Rupert retires” or “if Rupert dies”. “Eventually I said to one of them, don’t you think it’s likely that, at some point, he will die or retire? Shouldn’t you be saying ‘when’?” Not so, according to the News Corp employee in question. “Around here,” he replied, “they say ‘if ’.”

“If you think simply that because Time Warner has rejected him that he’s not still figuring out ways to do it, then you’re wrong. If you think that if he’s not successful with Time Warner he’ll give up on figuring out ways to grow, that’s wrong too. I think he’s probably thinking long term about [completing the takeover of] Sky in Britain as well.” The sands of time may run out before Murdoch can achieve some of those goals, but that doesn’t seem to be a thought that occupies the man himself, or those around him. “He thinks he’s immortal,” says Folkenflik. “And his mother lived to be about 20 years older than he is now.” What’s more, Folkenflik reveals that while

Charlie Brown, Spitfire pilot wears Herring Burgh

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POLITICS

HEAVY LIES THE CLOWN HOW UNDERESTIMATED BORIS JOHNSON COULD BECOME PRIME MINISTER Boris Johnson

HE’S BRITAIN’S MOST RECOGNISABLE POLITICIAN; ANTEDILUVIAN, FROWSY AND YET BELOVED BY THE ELECTORATE. HE LED THE CONSERVATIVE PARTY TO AN UNLIKELY VICTORY IN TWO LONDON MAYORAL ELECTIONS AND HAS MADE NO SECRET OF HIS DESIRE TO REPLICATE HIS SUCCESS IN PARLIAMENT. JUST HOW WILL HE GO FROM AN AVERAGE MP TO THE LEADER OF HIS PARTY – AND THE COUNTRY?

by GUY DE VITO

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t’s a typically wet summer’s day in early June 2020 and Prime Minister Johnson is a few weeks into his premiership. He’s sitting in the Cabinet Room in Downing Street fiddling with his new Apple Watch 4. “Ye gods!” he suddenly exclaims and slams the watch down on the oaken table. “Florence, Florence! Get in here and work this infernal contraption for me.” A coquettish young woman enters wearing a well fitting trouser suit with flowing auburn hair “Prime Minister?” “Ah my dear – I’m being riled by this bloody thing and I’ve got to meet Emperor Putin later to persuade him to pull his tanks out of Warsaw – dulce bellum inexpertis and all that.” “Oh Prime Minister, you know that classics was never my strong suit.” Boris peers over his glasses, giving her a fervid look “Hhhmmm, and what is your strong suit…?”

No, this isn’t the prologue to a particularly racy Mills & Boon novel, but rather a fanciful imagining of what Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson’s early premiership would be like if he were to win a 2020 general election. The recent announcement that Johnson would stand for election in the North London constituency of Uxbridge and South Ruislip set tongues wagging with speculation about a future Prime Minister Boris Johnson – but the truth is Britain’s most ebullient politician has a gargantuan mountain to climb before he is even in contention for the leadership of the Conservative Party, let alone the premiership. Johnson resigned his position as MP for Henley in 2008 and since then the changes in representation at the House of Commons have been staggering. Over 240 MPs have either stood down or lost their seats (the MPs expenses scandal of 2009 meant that a record number of MPs stood down in 2010 – 149 in total). Although the 2015 election will not present such a great upheaval in personnel, it would not be

absurd to suggest that at least 100 new faces will appear, as will the same number disappear. Boris, assuming he wins his seat in the next election, will return to a very different parliament to the one he left in 2008. All those hours put into forming allegiances, consummating deals, and solidifying his status as the Tory golden boy will all come to naught. Not because of the capricious nature of Westminster, no – but because so many of those that he wooed and charmed won’t be there any more. Johnson will have almost 350 new MPs to impress on both sides of the house and, while many will be in awe of this Conservative grandee, many will question his authority after such a long hiatus from government and opposition. Let’s not feel too sorry for the flaxen haired politico though, he has a strong sense of purpose and will be plotting an ascent to the top – despite myriad opposition. His long-term aim to lead the Conservative Party and become Prime Minister is undeniable – just

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POLITICS

Thatcher trailed Kinnock by 14 per cent in the polls). But all is not lost for Boris in the event of a Conservative majority; indeed, it actually could make his life a lot easier as Cameron may simply hand over control. Blair handed over power to Brown in 2007 and so it might just be a case of another PM leaving on his own terms. Some might argue that Blair handed over power to his Chancellor but George Osborne is astute enough to realise that the public’s perception of him is not exactly positive. If the Conservatives are in power and Cameron decides to step down, ensuring that the party is freshened up for a 2020 campaign, who else is going to be in contention… Michael Gove? Jeremy Hunt? Chris Grayling? All honourable, capable politicians though it is perhaps hard to picture any of them leading the country.

Boris Johnson

how he will achieve these goals is a different matter altogether. Johnson is no clairvoyant and even he does not know whether Cameron will be Prime Minister in eight months time – various possible scenarios would each present very different challenges in the scramble to win a leadership bid. The first scenario is one that Boris probably won’t even want to consider – that rare beast, a Conservative majority. David Cameron’s mandate to lead the country will be hardier than ever and he will have beaten, in Ed Miliband, a left-wing idealist, out of touch with centrist Britain. Tory MPs have long been grumbling about Cameron’s ineffectual stance on Europe and the rise of UKIP but all will surely be forgiven if he leads them to full majority.

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If Labour win as is expected in 2015, Boris’s return to Parliament will be overshadowed by the havoc that the election of a new government invariably creates. The second scenario would involve a very close victory for Labour, so close in fact that Cameron may decide to stay on as leader and fight for another term in 2020. This would probably present Boris with an ethical – as well as a logistical – challenge. He would almost certainly be invited to join the new Shadow Cabinet and then would have to decide whether or not to make his move. He would do well to be careful in any coup, for as Michael Heseltine will testify; “he who wields the knife never wears the crown”. If Cameron does resign however, the Conservatives may decide to elect a temporary leader such as Teresa May. She would certainly provide a steady pair of hands until Boris finished his second term as London Mayor in 2016, after which he could take over the leadership and fight the 2020 election – assuming of course he doesn’t have any rivals.

10 Downing Street

Boris Johnson and Leo Johnson

There is, of course, a third possibility; an unwanted repeat of 2010’s hung parliament, with neither party commanding enough MPs to gain a full majority. In 2010 the Liberal Democrats played kingmakers, though their enthusiasm for government has since waned. Nigel Farage has also declared that there will be no alliances between the Tories and UKIP in 2015, though you wouldn’t bet against Boris wooing Farage into an allegiance (rumour has it they rather like each other). If UKIP were to pick up seats from the Labour Party as well as the Tories, winning over 20 seats in the process, Farage may just be in a position to play kingmaker. He has shown distain for Cameron, and any coalition with the Conservatives in the next parliament would surely come with the caveat that Cameron goes... Cue Boris Johnson.

LET’S NOT FEEL TOO SORRY FOR THE FLAXEN HAIRED POLITICO THOUGH, HE HAS A STRONG SENSE OF PURPOSE AND WILL BE PLOTTING AN ASCENT TO THE TOP.

In this eventuality it is very hard to see Tory MPs in government stabbing their Prime Minister in the back – though it can happen as Mrs Thatcher found out in the autumn of 1990. For Boris to oust Cameron it would take an almost superhuman effort and he would have to galvanise backbenchers and the cabinet alike. It would also be reliant on a strong Labour lead (in 1990

Recent polls suggest that Labour are en route to victory in the 2015 election with a slight, fluctuating lead – though that only tells half the story. The most interesting thing about recent polls – and worryingly for David Cameron, is that UKIP seem to be taking a huge bite out of Conservative support. The recent by-election in Clacton resulted in a huge win for Douglas Carswell who defected

to grab a number of closely contested, key constituencies.

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to UKIP and Mark Reckless is looking to prove that lighting can strike twice; he too has joined Nigel Farage’s firebrands, sparking a by-election in Rochester and Strood. Obviously UKIP won’t hammer the Tories in all the constituencies, but they will take away just enough support from the Conservatives, allowing Labour

The chaos that another hung parliament with shaky allegiances would cause is unconscionable – though also very possible. It may just take a bullish, Churchillian sort of fellow, with a scruffy blond mane, to be the one to sort it all out.

Boris Johnson and David Cameron

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WATCHES & JEWELLERY

Iconic

WOMEN &

their jewellery THE ONLY THING MORE BEAUTIFUL THAN THE ICONIC PIECES OF JEWELLERY ON THESE PAGES IS THE WOMEN WHO WORE THEM. STEP BACK IN TIME AS WE REMEMBER THESE ICONIC PIECES AND THE SIRENS WHO WORE THEM.

AUDREY HEPBURN Audrey Hepburn as Holly Golightly in the 1961 film Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Hepburn is wearing a Tiffany & Co. diamond necklace and hair clip with her iconic Givenchy evening gown.

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ÂŠ Dennis Stock/Magnum Photos

GRACE KELLY Grace Kelly on the set of High Society, her final film, directed by Charles Walters in 1956. Kelly is wearing the 10.47-carat, emerald-cut diamond Cartier engagement ring given to her by Prince Rainier.

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PRINCESS DIANA Princess Diana in 1986 wearing the Cambridge Loverâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Knot Tiara. Commissioned by Queen Mary in 1914, the tiara was designed and executed by E. Wolff & Co. for the royal jewellers Garrard. Princess Diana was given the tiara as a wedding present and wore it often during her marriage.

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SWEETEST THING BETWEEN SAPPHIRES AND DIAMONDS, AQUAMARINES AND TOURMALINES, THE WAY TO HER HEART LOOKS AS SWEET AS SUGAR-COATED CANDY

Photographs by HANNA HILLIER Styled by HOLLY MACNAGHTEN

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THROUGH HELL & HIGH FAS HION Earrings, Chopard, (Temptations Collection featuring pink and green tourmalines surrounded by diamonds and set in 18ct white gold) £POA chopard.co.uk - Ring, Tiffany, (Emerald ring set in platinum with diamonds) £57,000 tiffany.com - Bracelet, Tiffany, (Victoria bracelet set in platinum with marquise cut diamonds) £29,700 tiffany.com

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GREEN EYED GIRLS Ring, Tiffany, (Emerald ring set in platinum with diamonds) £57,000 tiffany.com Earrings, Tiffany, (Emerald cut green tourmaline drop earrings set in platinum with diamonds) £18,700 tiffany.com - Necklace, Boodles, (Peacock emerald tassel pendant with diamonds in platinum) £60,000 boodles.com

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BLUE FOR YOU Earrings, Chopard, (Haute Joaillerie collection featuring pear shaped aquamarines and diamonds set in titanium) £POA chopard.com - Ring, Boodles, (Savoy blue topaz ring in white gold with diamonds) £2,100 boodles.com - Bracelet, Theo Fennell, (18ct white gold and 5.60ct diamond palm cuff) £22,950, theofennell.com

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PRETTY IN PINK Necklace, Van Cleef Arpels, (Oiseaux De Paradis Necklace white gold, round diamonds and pink sapphires) £POA vancleefarpels.com - Ring, Van Cleef Arpels, (Socrate Between the Finger Ring, white gold and diamonds) £9,300, vancleefarpels.com - Watch, Chopard, (Imperiale collection with a diamond set dial, bezel and bracelet, all set in 18ct white gold) £POA chopard.com

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BEYOND THE PALE Ring, Theo Fennell, (18ct white gold, 3.70ct Cushion Cut Morganite & Diamond Pave 0.68ct Halo Ring) £12,500 theofennell.com - Earrings, Theo Fennell, (18ct white gold, 92.63ct Pear Cut Green Beryl & 7.10ct Pave Diamond Chrysanthemum Earrings) £POA theofennell.com

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THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE Ring, Donald Edge - CODE, (“Letters of Love” stacking rings, features a letter of the alphabet in Morse Code, letters are TGJ) price ranges from £275 to £575 DonaldEdge.com - Earrings, Theo Fennell, (18ct white gold, 31.46ct Oval Cut Kunzite & 1.67ct Diamond Drop Earrings with Pave Spike) £23,000, theofennell.com Ring, Theo Fennell, (18ct white gold, 3.70ct Cushion Cut Morganite & Diamond Pave 0.68ct Halo Ring) £12,500 theofennell.com - Ring, Donald Edge - CODE, (Couture platinum and diamond bracelet, spells “Love Is A Moment In Time” in Morse Code) £100,000 DonaldEdge.com - Bracelet, Donald Edge - CODE, [as before ] £100,000 DonaldEdge.com - Necklace, Donald Edge - CODE, [as before ] , £320,000 DonaldEdge.com All lingerie by Myla - myla.com and Mimi Holiday - damaris.co.uk. Hair by Magdalena Tucholska, using Bumble & Bumble and Diva Pro. Make-up by Charlotte Kraftman, using Chanel and Dior. Cupcakes from The Humming Bird Bakery, hummingbirdbakery.com - Chocolates from Charbonnel et Walker, charbonnel.co.uk - Macarons from Ladurée, laduree.com

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THE MEN BEHIND THE JEWELS

Describe your brand in a few sentences. I would like to think that it is genuinely original and thoughtful and that it subscribes to the traditional values of craftsmanship and aesthetics but in a very contemporary and stylish way. That style is sometimes quirky and theatrical, sometimes classic and simple. I think it is the eclectic spectrum of influences in our pieces that best defines the company. What is your earliest memory involving jewellery?

What is your favourite piece of famous jewellery?

What formal training did you have as a jeweller/designer?

If you had to choose one designer to collaborate with who would it be? Why? Louboutin, I love women’s shoes. What do you hope your jewellery evokes in people?

My father pointing out a woman who had just walked into a restaurant where we were lunching together when I was about twelve. She was achingly chic and wearing an all cream outfit but with a very noticeable emerald ring as her only jewellery. She (and it) took my breath away.

The Barbour Jewel in the V&A museum. I have always loved Elizabethan jewellery but also love jewellery from many eras; anything that is beautifully conceived and made.

and enjoyable to wear and look at, it needs to be beautifully made. I really do believe that jewellery should not be ephemeral and should give pleasure for as long as it lasts - which should be pretty-much forever.

It depends what I am aiming for but a sense of enjoyment in wearing it and appreciation of its craftsmanship. I hope it would stimulate, satisfy and amuse. What life lessons have you learnt through this career path so far? That craftspeople and artists are much happier than the rest, that money beyond a convenient amount is not worth fighting for and that very little that we worry about is seriously worth the time we spend worrying over it.

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JEWELLERY IS RETURNING TO ITS CREATIVE AND CRAFT ROOTS

I went to art school to study painting but, though I can draw reasonably well, I was laughably bad as a portrait artist and so fell into the silverware and jewellery world by happy chance. I spent time at the bench with some of the most skilful and extraordinary characters you can imagine and learned enough to know what could and could not be made and how to interpret what I wanted. It was an invaluable process and one I believe every designer should go through. Apart from that, the craftsmen were just the best people to spend time with as are those that work in our workshop now.

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THERE’S SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY ABOUT THE LAVISH AND UNIQUE WORK OF THEO FENNELL AND, AS YOU’LL SOON DISCOVER, THERE’S A REAL AURA SURROUNDING THE MAN BEHIND THE BRAND.

of your brand?

Is there a certain way you hope people wear your jewellery? I hope they love it and cherish it and that it gives them a sort of talismanic feeling... that it becomes a friend. If you could choose anyone to be seen wearing your jewellery who would it be? Anyone with their own style and flair and who brings a smile to the face…or Doctor Who, perhaps? What do you see in the future

I think that jewellery is returning to its creative and craft roots and that the demand, certainly at the top levels, is for unique, well made and thoughtful jewellery... often bespoke and with real values. This suits us perfectly.

What can you tell us about your creative processes?

Any advice to men when buying jewellery for women?

I have very eclectic tastes and find many things can trigger an idea – from music to a sculpture, a book to a carpet. Some ideas are purely visual and some cerebral. I sketch all the time so I put these ideas down in a sort of image shorthand and those that hold water will go forward to more formal imaging in the studio. The workshop is next to my studio above the shop in the Fulham Road so, once I have decided on the materials to use, I will sit down with the chosen craftsman and talk it through. Some of them have worked with me for over 30 years so we understand each other pretty well. I then watch its progress minutely.

Women are much more adventurous wearers of jewellery than men think and are not always happy with something bland. Any woman who just wants big and flash is normally well served by the man who goes for that sort of woman. So assume some style and panache and don’t patronise.

What are your core philosophies when it comes to jewellery design? As well as being original, beautiful, thought provoking

What’s your most treasured possession? An original Nat Tate picture! What are your favourite places to visit/where are you happiest? I am genuinely at my happiest anywhere with my family and friends doing almost anything.

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Can you describe your brand in a few sentences?

Who if anyone would you love to design a piece for?

Van Cleef & Arpels is a house of high jewellery founded in Paris in 1906. We are well known as experts in jewellery and exceptional stones and have quite a specific style and direction.

We’ve been blessed by being able to design for quite a lot of celebrities. Elizabeth Taylor was a great collector and inspiration, so I would have to say that she is someone I would love to design jewellery for.

What’s your earliest personal memory involving jewellery?

How would you describe Van Cleef & Arpels’ position within the jewellery industry?

The one that comes to mind actually, comes from literature. As a teenager, I read the famous late 19th century novel A Rebours (Against the Grain), by French author Joris-Kaul Huysmans. It illustrates a time of decadent sophistication and in particular describes a turtle set with precious stones.

I think it’s a reference: a reference of quality, of technique, of tradition and design.

What’s your favourite piece of famous or iconic jewellery? It would have to be by Van Cleef & Arpels, le Star of the East et le McLean which was developed in the early 1950s, which encapsulates my love for jewellery. The piece has a very high level of technicality, it can be transformed into a bracelet or a necklace, it took years in terms of technical development, but has a very strong design and it is a good summary for what the house is about and what I love about jewellery.

What life lessons have you learnt through this career? I think the most important has been about the collective vision of creation. When I was younger I was very close to the art world, where creation is usually one person, but I think that over the years, within Van Cleef & Arpels and the world of art, I’ve learnt that you can really experience a huge creative process with a team and the culmination of talent, and its something that has changed my vision of creation.

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Where does the inspiration come from with Van Cleef ?

DESIGN IS A COLLABORATIVE PROCESS, THERE ISN’T ONE DESIGNER OR ONE NAME

Our inspirations are drawn from different sources, but the importance of history is paramount. So we take our inspiration from the past, we have significant archives and history, but we like to combine these with elements from every field of culture; from literature, poetry or the world of ballet, the visual arts, and most of all, our jewellery or watch collections are inspired by books and by the work of artists from different categories of art, we love to start with a story and try to complete it.

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I think that jewellery is probably one of the most ancient forms of decorative art, going back thousands of years, so I don’t see it disappearing anytime soon, we will continue to evolve as lifestyle evolves, but the magic and enchantment that comes from jewellery will last. So I see a very good future.

What advice could you provide to men who are buying jewellery for their girlfriends or wives? I think they should buy something that they (men) like and love because if you do that, the person you give it to will love it as well. Where do you go to relax and unwind?

What do you believe the core philosophies are when it comes to jewellery design?

The Caribbean, mainly St Barts, and also the French countryside.

I think it’s about imagination; trying to come with an element of surprise.

Where are you happiest?

If you had to choose one designer or brand for Van Cleef to collaborate with who would it be and why? CEO TO THE FRENCH JEWELLERY AND WATCH COMPANY, VAN CLEEF & ARPELS, WHEN NICHOLAS BOS ISN’T RELAXING IN ST. BARTS, HE’S HAPPIEST SURROUNDED BY HIS CREATIVE TEAM ON THE EDGE OF NEW DESIGN.

Where do you see the future of the brand going?

For us the design is a collaborative process, there isn’t one designer or one name, there are a lot of designers we would love to work with, but today it’s more about imagination shared by a team, our team.

I think it’s when I start to work at the beginning of a creative process, when you start to discuss the inspiration and the energy that you have starts to turn into something beautiful, that’s something that motivates me. What do you believe makes a gentleman in today society? I think it all comes down to having respect for others.

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WATCHES & JEWELLERY Describe your brand in a few sentences.

What makes your jewellery unique?

CODE by Donald Edge is a new luxury collection that allows clients the rare opportunity to hide secret meaning and messages within the jewels. We draw on the past and design for the future.

We live in a world where privacy and mystery seems ever more elusive, and the coded pieces juxtapose the subtlety and romance historically associated with the giving of jewellery, against a very modern, exhibitionist culture.

What is your earliest memory involving jewellery?

What life lessons have you learnt through your career path so far?

My father presented my mother with a superb vintage double diamond twist ring, which my father bought by selling his racing motorbike, much to the relief of all his family and my mother! What is your favourite piece of famous jewellery? I read a great deal as a child and was fascinated by history and remember very well being tickled pink by Edward VII, presenting to his mistress – Mrs Keppel, a brooch composed of flags that when read said “Position quarterly and open, I am about to fire a Whitehead torpedo ahead”. Did you have any formal training as a jeweller/designer? I worked with antique jewellery for over 25 years – restoring, valuing, selling, and remounting – and this is where I found my true passion for design. What was the first piece of jewellery you ever made, designed or sold? I fell in love with the idea of designing and making jewellery when I was asked to design wedding bands in an antique style for a marvellous couple. Back in those days I was most chuffed when their wedding photograph was on the front cover of ‘Hello’. What can you tell us about your creative processes? I’m a responsive designer. I listen and I draw on my knowledge and experience of heritage jewellery design to create pieces that are wearable, personal and beautifully romantic.

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Is there a certain way you hope people wear your jewellery? I want my clients to burst with joy wearing my jewellery! I love it when my diamonds are worn everyday rather than saved only for special occasions. Carpe Diem!

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If you had to choose one designer to collaborate with who would it be and why?

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I think my jewellery appeals to bright young things and women with a sense of individuality and style.

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As I am a responsive designer I always listen to whomever has commissioned the jewel - and when I design as I have for ‘Code by Donald Edge’ it is a mixture of nature, art and science.

DONALD EDGE

What type of people do you think wear your jewellery?

WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE PRIVACY AND MYSTERY SEEMS EVER MORE ELUSIVE

Where does your inspiration come from?

CREATIVE DIRECTOR, DONALD EDGE, ONCE DESIGNED A $2 MILLION BEJEWELLED CHAMBORD BOTTLE, SO YOU CAN BE CERTAIN THAT HE KNOWS A THING OR TWO ABOUT LUXURY. HE’S ALSO GOT A HOST OF CELEBRITY FRIENDS. THE CHARMING DONALD EDGE TALKS US THROUGH MORSE CODE, DIAMONDS AND THE ULTIMATE RELAXATION.

Pursuing something you really love gives you the drive to overcome any obstacles. By identifying my strengths in the jewellery industry and with a lot of hard work, I have been fortunate enough to develop and design a collection I am very proud of.

I would have loved the opportunity to collaborate with the amazing English artist Oliver Messel. He was one of the most wonderful theatre stage designers, and his elegance and wit were always apparent throughout his career and designs. What do you hope your jewellery evokes in people? I want my pieces to evoke joy and subtle glamour at any time of day. The jewellery conveys a sense of mystery and secrecy – adding a romantic and intimate value to the pieces that I hope people feel when they wear it.

If you could choose anyone to be seen wearing your jewellery who would it be? The divine Yasmin Le Bon who is our muse of course! Though – if I could time-travel, I would love the thought of Boudica going in to battle wearing the Donald Edge collection. What do you see in the future of your brand? We would love to make the brand an international one. Expanding in to new markets is a very exciting prospect for us and one we hope to fulfil in the future. Do you have any advice for men when buying or choosing jewellery for women?

Yes, call me immediately! What’s your most treasured possession? A memory of my myself one summer on a trip back to Australia where my parents and I lunched on a huge platter of oysters. I can still feel the sun on my back and hear my mother’s laughter and father’s chortle. Where do you go to relax? I honestly don’t relax enough. I love being at the gym where I relax by exercising with my music in my ears and I am then in ‘Donald World’. What are your favourite places to visit and where are you happiest? I always adore my trips to Mustique as it is so full of laughter. I’m happiest in the Alps, walking in summer with friends and family – you feel as though you are on top of the world.

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WATCHES & JEWELLERY

I DO... HOW TO B UY THE PE RFE CT E NGAGE ME NT RING 2

Keep your choice classic and timeless; this particular piece of jewellery has to stand the test of time. But classic does not necessarily equal boring. Feel free to stand out in your choice, but instead of going for an unusual stone choice, instead choose an unusual cut. Boodles offer the ‘Ashoka’ diamond cut, which is exclusive to them in the UK, giving a special individuality to the stone. Similarly, jewellers like Graff Diamonds will offer guidance and a wealth of knowledge that comes from years of experience; Laurence Graff has been said to have handled more important gem quality diamonds than any other diamantaire. You often hear advice telling you to buy a diamond in the D-G colour bracket and of a certain level of clarity. But to the uninitiated, this is all both overwhelming and in general thus, ultimately, useless. Graff does not boast a ‘one size fits all’ philosophy, working with the individualities of each diamond (and each customer) and tailoring the ring to its particular characteristics to guide you towards the perfect purchase. Similarly, Van Cleef & Arpels prides itself on providing a faultless service with their personal advisors helping you to find a ring that matches your history and your tastes.

Choosing the girl you want to spend the rest of your life with is a big decision, but choosing the ring that will make her say yes is an even bigger one. And when you have the perfect ring to back you up, plucking up the courage to propose becomes just that bit less daunting. One of the things people frequently seek advice on is how much they should spend. The rule of thumb for engagement rings is they should cost twice the man’s net monthly salary but, of course, this is just a guideline. Higher value does not necessarily equate to a better, or more suitable, ring. As Boodles director James Amos notes, ‘the important thing to remember is that the ring will be on her finger for many years to come’, so instead of choosing based on what you think you should be spending, you should choose based on what you think she would be happy to see every day for the foreseeable future.

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Drawing from a wealth of experience at Boodles, James Amos singles out the three main types of engagement ring shoppers choose: ‘the adventurous type’, ‘the twosome’ and ‘the cautious type’. In short, the adventurous type boldly chooses the ring on his own, the twosome choose as a couple and the cautious type speculatively goes shopping with his other half to covertly gather information so he can surprise her at a later date with a ring she has already approved. For the adventurous type who is happy to take the plunge and buy the most important piece of jewellery a woman will own without her help, it is advised to seek guidance elsewhere, most usefully in the form of a good jeweller. If you are confident that this is the woman you want to marry, you are probably confident you know what she likes. However, the bold, statement jewellery she may like now, she will probably hate in ten years. So don’t draw your inspiration from trends she is buying into at the moment.

For the cautious type, there is the option of taking your girlfriend shopping and nonchalantly commenting on some rings as you walk past a jeweller to secretly gauge and internalize her reactions. But, it is important to remember that no matter how subtle you think you are being, the fact that you are paying even the slightest amount of attention to a ring is certain to raise a few red flags in her mind. So, if you want to maintain the element of surprise while at the same time ensuring she gets exactly what she wants then the ‘Perfect Proposal’ package offered by Simon Wright is ideal for you. The package gives you the option to buy the raw materials in a beautifully presented gift box complete with an invitation to Wright’s workshop to come as a couple to design and make your own bespoke ring. He jokingly describes the service he offers as a ‘get out of jail free card’ as you are essentially dodging the decision making, but still managing to adhere to the traditions of proposing. And, in coming to Wright’s

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WHEN YOU HAVE THE PERFECT RING TO BACK YOU UP, PLUCKING UP THE COURAGE TO PROPOSE BECOMES JUST A LITTLE BIT LESS DAUNTING.

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WATCHES & JEWELLERY

workshop you ensure that your fiancée not only gets exactly what she wants, but also that it is unique to her. In the workshop, you create not only a ring, but a shared experience to be remembered. Bespoke jewellery is the perfect route to go down for the twosome. Recognizing that this is one of the most important milestones in their life, this couple wants to share their experience the whole way, so they are perfectly suited to a bespoke jeweller like Donald Edge who believes that, ‘the journey should be equally as important as the ring’. Offering an incredibly intimate service, Donald works with his clients on a personal level to find the perfect ring that ‘lifts the heart’. In his office in the heart of London he creates an atmosphere to house the memories that will last a lifetime. The intimacy of experience provided by Donald is encapsulated in his new range, Code by Donald Edge. He is incorporating the ‘letters of love’ into his jewellery through Morse Code dots and dashes made of diamonds. So, not only will he make an engagement ring that is exactly what your fiancée envisaged but also he can secretly mark the journey you went through to create it in a code that lies in plain sight to everybody but you and your fiancée. This adds another, personal, level to an already beautiful piece of jewellery. Ultimately, the key to buying the perfect engagement ring is to take time to make your choice and immerse yourself in the task, whether you do it alone or collaborate with your fiancée. It is important to remember it is not just about the final product, but the experience of finding it and eventually presenting it as you propose that you, and the ring, become a permanent feature in her future.

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1. Halo group by Theo Fennell 2. Tiffany & Co Photo credit: Carlton Davis 3. Theo Fennell 4. Boodles 5. Tiffany & Co Photo credit: Carlton Davis 6. Boodles

Personal. Bespoke. Design. Visit Simon Wright in his Clerkenwell Studio Workshop www.sw-jewellery.com 020 7490 0665

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INTERVIEW

GEOFFREY KENT An adventurer and entrepreneur and probably one of the most hands-on business leaders Britain has ever produced, Geoffrey Kent is the man behind the travel sensation Abercrombie & Kent, a company with over 2,500 staff operating in 52 separate group companies. Whilst many have tried to take the crown, Geoffrey is undoubtedly the king of luxury travel. Harry Jarman went to find out what makes him tick and what the future holds, whilst listening to some great stories along the way. It’s 9am and I find myself wondering down a cobbled mews off London’s fashionable Eton Square trying to find Geoffrey Kent’s house. Out of the corner of my eye I spot a beautiful cream Bentley Mulsanne and with the number plate starting with GK: it looks promising. As I get let in I can’t help but think that this world must seem like a long way from the one Geoffrey grew up in Kenya, where he founded A&K 50 years ago with his parents, but then this is the man that knows luxury better than most. In my life I have been lucky to meet some of the world’s best-known entrepreneurs, however few are as charismatic as Geoffrey: he oozes energy and enthusiasm that you can’t help but absorb. I am very lucky to catch him in London, as this is a man that spends most of the year in the air. Tomorrow morning he is leaving on a round the world trip in a Boeing 757-200ER, which he has transformed into a luxurious A&K private plane experience – the only one of its kind with flatbed reclining seats all made with fine Italian leather and resembles the inside of his Bentley. On the itinerary are locations such as the Amazon, Easter Island, Samoa, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Madagascar, and Kenya. Such a trip doesn’t come cheap – $108,000 per ticket to be precise – but nevertheless it’s always a sell out.

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he was mad, but bookings started coming in thick and fast. Geoffrey wanted to grow his business internationally and look after the world’s elite. When the richest man in the world David Rockefella finally booked a safari, he knew he’d made the big time. Most people with Geoffrey’s success and at his age would sit back and start to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Not Geoffrey, as he sees it, he loves his job, loves adventures and challenges, without this he sees life as pretty boring. Essentially A&K conceived the idea of experiential travel, packaging experiences that people want to buy. He has never been an advocate of what he describes as “hedonistic” travel. Over the years he has been the first one to take people on a luxury boat down the Amazon, do a round the world trip in concord, pioneer the traveling bell boy (where you can go from hotel to hotel without worrying about your luggage) and also to come up with the idea for guardian angles (people who represent the company in all of the countries they operate should you have a problem). It has been this relentless attention to detail, bespoke service and personalisation that has ensured A&K’s dominance and loyal customer base.

This is typical of Geoffrey’s style. When he thought of the idea, needless to say his team weren’t too keen, however Geoffrey is the type of man who isn’t too keen on the word ‘can’t’, as he says, “for my own pride I said “fine, I will lead it”. It’s also this type of trip that is the focus of A&K’s growth, focusing on the ultra-high-net-worth market. Geoffrey is a hugely demanding and successful individual, who was given a net worth of £273 million on the Sunday Times Rich List. Not bad for a man who started with one truck in Nairobi.

It’s Geoffrey’s relentless drive that continues Abercrombie & Kent’s growth – and with turnover above the $600 million mark it’s a sizeable business. I asked if he is constantly fighting off the competition, and he explained that no one could replicate what they do, the company structure is complex to say the least as each company acts as its own separate entity; therefore they operate separately financially which ensures positive cash flow. To him the value of owning an actual property product is crucial, something that he was also reassured of whilst reading a biography of the late Steve Jobs. He goes on to describe how owning the product ensures you can control the service and experience yourself and you are not relying on a third party.

Geoffrey pioneered tent safaris as we know them today, with the simple idea of linking a refrigerator to the truck engine – meaning the guests could have fresh food, cold drinks and everything we take for granted on safari today. Most of his friends thought

With future growth focused on ultra-highnet-worth clients, I wonder how he finds such people. Today he is uber-connected, and personal friends with most of his clients, however, how did the boy from Kenya rise through the ranks? Apart from his Rockefeller break,

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he also tells me before that he used to wait outside the New Stanley Hotel in Nairobi, which was the top hotel of the day, so anybody who was anybody would stay there. Everyday he used to buy a milkshake and sit outside the café over the road from the hotel, looking for Texans as he had been told they were the richest people in the world. Finally one day a guy with a big hat arrived and Geoffrey pounced on the chance to talk to him. Introducing himself he asked him and his wife if they would like to go on a safari, they said “why not”. He ran back to his office to plan a 30-day trip and added the cost up, which back then came to $3,300. He then ran back to the hotel, heart beating with excitement to tell them about the trip, and the Texan asked what the cost was. Having a mind blank, Geoffrey spurted out the figure of $2,290, to which the Texan responded, “is that all”. Geoffrey not wanting to undersell himself replied “each”. For Geoffrey, the A&K journey is far from over and – unfortunately for his wife – retirement doesn’t seem to be a word he’s too familiar with. His vision and aim is to be the best across luxury travel and his focus this year includes an array of partnerships. In aviation he is partnering up with Abu Dhabi’s Royal Jet and American company Net Jets, encouraging the wealthy to be a bit more adventurous on where they take their jets. In yachting, a world that he has been frustrated with for some time, he has partnered up with the Royal Oceanographic museum in Monaco to create some amazing trips for ocean lovers. He has even partnered up with Christie’s to create Christie’s travel, organising trips for art lovers and collectors alike. Geoffrey is a true entrepreneur in every sense of the word and one who takes the expression ‘hands-on’ to a new level and is continuously trying out new ideas despite the risk. As he says: “Bigger risk, bigger money”. He’s not wrong there.

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WHERE TO ? A LOOK INSIDE THE MOST LUST-WORTHY LOCATIONS AROUND THE WORLD: FROM SKIING IN ASPEN WITH JACK NICHOLSON TO SUNBATHING IN ST BARTS WITH KATE MOSS. THE BEST KEPT SECRETS IN TRAVEL ARE UNCOVERED, THE CHOICE IS YOURS.

Words by LYDIA GARD

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TRAVEL

Left: Princess Margaret in 1972, with Colin Tennant, Lord Glenconner (in hat), who bought the island in 1958, and friends.

St Barts: Bon viveur and virgin beaches

A winter-sun St. Tropez with its own branch of Nikki Beach. Young professional Parisians, media moguls and oligarchs mix it up with celebs and locals who wouldn’t recognise Kate Moss – or care if they did.

Mustique: Privacy rules A melting pot of artists, writers, musicians and celebrities peppered with royalty on a fiercely guarded island in St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Above: Mick Jagger

Who you’ll meet at the bar: If you own or rent a villa then you’ve paid for the privilege of not having to rub shoulders, so most interesting parties seem to be spontaneous and almost always hosted ‘at home’. That said, prop up the small bar at Firefly while you wait for pizza, and you might catch Mick Jagger putting the world to rights. Hover around Basil’s Bar at sundown to clink cocktails with Will and Kate, or watch Bon Jovi rock an air guitar when he occasionally emerges from his cliff-top yoga podium to buy Carolina Herrera a drink. Although Tommy Hilfiger owns a gopping neo-Palladian mansion – cut and pasted straight from Palm Beach – there’s some question as to whether he actually exists as he has never graced a beach. Do: See in the New Year on Macaroni beach where everyone on the island gathers at dawn. Mind you don’t trip on a yacht owner who has anchored offshore and will be languishing

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alone as a sandy social pariah. Skinny-dipping is par for the course. Don’t: Brandish a camera. Celeb fawning star-seekers are better met in St Barths. Try and take an ‘ussie’ and you’ll be shunned, rock up with a long lens, and you’ll more than likely be deported. What not to wear: It may be the celebrity capital of the Caribbean but one should never knowingly overdress. Shoes pre-sunset and jewellery certainly will scream excess. A Mara Hoffman two piece with a kaftan thrown over does day to night. Where to eat: Michelin-starred chef Tristan Welch, formerly of Le Gavroche and Petrus, will soon preside over a new beach café, not your average burger on the beach. Where to stay: If you can’t afford to rent a villa, bag an invite. It’s social suicide to stay at the island’s Cotton House hotel. People book at least two years in advance for the vast 6-bed Hummingbird Villa, from $50,000 per week. mustique-island.com/villa/hummingbird

Above: Princess Margaret with Lord Glenconner

Who you’ll meet at the bar: Almost a hundred restaurants in just eight square miles means those staying on St. Barts go out. A lot. Perhaps because stars are of little interest to the locals, the islands’ 17 beaches are scattered with tabloid fodder. Beyoncé, Jay-Z and Kate Moss frequent the beach at St Jean while Spencer Matthews makes use of the Rockstar villa at his parents’ hotel Eden Rock to ‘detox’. You might get a table (against the backdrop of Parisian House music), next to the recently reconciled Catherine Zeta Jones and Michael Douglas at Le Gaïac, but Harrison Ford, Bernie Eccleston and Paul McCartney tend to stay well off radar. When at his Rockefeller Estate home, Abramovich’s yacht Luna is often papped bobbing in Gouverneur Bay next to Paul Allens’ ominously named yacht Octopus. Last year, Stelios Haji-Ioannou hired an Elvis impersonator to entertain Ivana Trump et al at Dõ Brazil.

Do: Pay a visit to the long-haired, softly spoken island astrologer, Hubert De La Motte at Hostellerie de Trois Force. Lunch on classical French food, get smashed, sleep it off on a sun lounger and wake up for an espresso and a horoscope reading in Hubert’s ‘special room’. Don’t: Expect an early night. St. Barts parties until morning. At Le Ti, showgirls clad in fetish finery dance tabletop while at Casa Nikki, champagne Methuselahs are sprayed into the crowd. What not to wear: Hippy, wafty, barefoot beach this is not. Think around the clock Parisian-chic for tropical climes. And accessorize.

Above: Roman Abramovitch and Dasha Zhukova

Below: Beyonce

Where to eat: Forget French fuss, eat Asian-Creole fusion seafood in Eddy’s tropical gardens at Gustavia. Where to stay: Tap up Dagmar at Relais and Chateaux, Hotêl Le Toiny to set you up in one of 14 deluxe villa suites with private pools. From £700 per night. letoiny.com

Left: Kate Moss

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TRAVEL Below: Cara Delevingne

Below: Rihanna

Bahamas: Secret society Barbados: Polo, jazz

Below: Cameron Diaz.

hands and bad taste bling

Little England with perma-sun, sports personalities and minor celebs seeking winter sun (and omelettes) make for showbiz central. Who you’ll meet at the bar: Rihanna, scantily clad on a jet-ski, just bought her One Sandy Lane apartment from Michael Tabor, where she parties with Cara Delevigne and Eminem. If you failed to blag an invite to the Kidd sisters’ party, be sure to check out the Holders Season events held at the family estate. Simon Cowell, Sinitta and Sir Philip Green drink rum punch at Daphne’s, while the Rooneys are newest on the Westmoreland block. Fellow sporting neighbours include Joe Calzaghe, Gary Lineker and Michael Vaughan. Coveted as Willy Wonka’s golden tickets, an invite to the Bamford’s Heron Bay is unlikely. Do: Stop for a handcrafted libation at the Jacobean St. Nicholas Abbey.

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Don’t: Forget your manners or your stash of vulgar Bulgari. What not to wear: Camouflage. It’s the law (no, really). Where to eat: Head east for Sunday brunch and a live Caribbean gospel choir at L’Azure in St. Philip. To be surrounded by the great and good of the C and D-list head to The Cliff - Barbados’ answer to the Ivy – or Daphne’s, which has a guest list to rival the Chiltern Firehouse. Where to stay: Privacy is de rigueur and Atelier House has it in swathes. Infinity pools, double-height ceilings and views from the ridge come at a price, that being £4,500 per week.

www.ExceptionalVillas.com (Atelier villa).

Below: Simon Cowell

The social scene is so laid back, it’s horizontal. Who you’ll meet at the bar: Back in the day, Helmut Newton and Bob Marley set the bar by aching to escape from celebrity and heading to the remote islands. But when India Hicks and husband David Flint Wood decamped to Harbour Island in the nineties, it quickly became the epicenter of pared-back fashionable chic. You’ll see Elle McPherson, Cameron Diaz and Andy Murray swimming, stretching and frolicking on the beach, Robert De Niro, and Colin Farrell sipping Nassau rum under palm fringes, while the fabulously wealthy – Bill Gates, the de Givenchys and Arki Busson – shuttle between dinner parties at private houses without collecting any coral pink sand between their pedicured toes. Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin famously sheltered their children from the media furore over their ‘conscious uncoupling’ by jetting to the Bahamas when the story broke. Don’t: Namedrop. You might think the house parties will welcome you if you allude to a

connection with Wills, but it’s a small world. Instead play down your connections and come off as modest, by far the more attractive option. What not to wear: The preppy look flown in from Miami is overpowered by the chic Europeans who dominate the scene, but to dress up in the Bahamas is to put on flip flops. Arty and creative is the vibe, so ditch the watch you re-mortgaged your house to buy and string some beachcombed shells around you wrist. Where to eat: This isn’t about fine dining, but enjoying the simple pleasures. According to Zac Posen, conch salad from the Conch Shack is delicious. Where to stay: The Landing on Harbour Island is a safe bet for rubbing shoulders with the beautiful people, while extreme privacy comes with a hefty pricetag at Musha Cay Resort. www.luxuryretreats.com (Musha Cay

villa)

Above: Andy Murray Below: Elle Mcpherson

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TRAVEL

Below: Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn

Verbier: Old

money, new powder

Aspen: Shout, don’t whisper

Subtlety be damned, Aspen is Hollywood on skis. Who you’ll meet at the bar: While Jack Nicholson and Antonio Banderas may have multi-million dollar homes here, the average A-List visitor to Aspen can expect to spend up to $1 million in a weekend. Regulars include Jack Nicholson, Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Kate Hudson, Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell. Hang out in the West End or Red Mountain. Don’t: Book a return ticket. Everyone of note arrives by private jet, usually from LA (Clay Lacy Aviation). So be sufficiently charming and you might just be invited to an after party – at Orsa & Winston in Los Angeles. What not to wear: Smarten up but don’t worry about lugging too much gear with you. A

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Steep and deep Verbier in the Swiss Alps is Chelsea-on-piste. Who you’ll meet at the bar: Rock up at Hotel Farinet for a bit of après and you may have the relative misfortune of sharing the place with James Blunt or Jason Statham, but if Sir Richard Branson’s Lodge is not taken over for personal use, then Prince Harry can often be found still in his boots, before he smartens up for supper at Marcus Bratter’s Hotel Nevaï (he also owns Farm Club). Harry’s mate Guy Pelly opened Public Verbier, a new institution in the Alps for young Londoners last year, so expect to see Verbier regulars like Jude Law, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jamie Oliver indulging in the scene.

Below: Jack Nicholson

handful of boutiques have recently made their Aspen debut, including Dolce & Gabbana, Helmut Lang and Rag & Bone. Moncler is still the go-to for piste while girlfriends should be kitted out in a white Chanel all-in-one and lots of fur. Where to eat: You’ll need to slip the concierge some serious wedge to get a table at David Arquette and John Terzian’s Bootsy Bellows or Tim Goodell’s Ricard in nearby Snowmass. Failing that, the après scene at The Little Nell is stellar. Where to stay: The Little Nell Residence at the bottom of Aspen Mountain. It’s recently had an $18million renovation, and regulars Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn seem to love the changes. thelittlenell.com

Above: Prince Harry

Don’t: Expect to hear much Russian in the queue to the Savoleyres lift; vulgarians are barely tolerated in Verbier, which regards itself as sophisticated. Incidentally, new money tends to hover around Courchevel where they can comfortably land their jets.

What not to wear: Though the vibe is young and carefree, plenty of planning is needed to work the look in Verbier. Après is almost always done in full piste gear (especially if you start up at Ice Bar and have to ski down). You’re never too far from Jack Wills chinos or the fuzz of a cashmere pullover.

Below: Sir Richard Branson

Where to eat: On-piste, make like Beatrice and Eugenie and grab a pizza at La Vache, the upmarket pizzeria opened last year by James Blunt with partners Lawrence Dallaglio and Carl Fogarty. Where to stay: Virgin’s The Lodge, a 9-bed chalet with a ratio of one member of staff to every guest. You can book an individual room but far it’s more fun to take the entire lodge where the pool, gym, spa and ice-rink will be yours for playtime. thelodge.virgin.com

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ANDREW WINCH

WITH OVER 27 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE, ANDREW WINCH DESIGNS ARE WIDELY RECOGNISED AS ONE OF THE MOST INNOVATIVE AND TECHNICALLY COMPETENT DESIGN TEAMS. CONTINUALLY EVOLVING, THEY HAVE PAVED THE WAY AS DESIGN SPECIALISTS, CREATING SOME OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR YACHTS, JETS AND INTERIORS AROUND THE WORLD. INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED YACHT DESIGNER AND FOUNDER OF ANDREW WINCH DESIGNS TALKS MASTS, BOWS AND THE LOST ART OF DRAWING WITH HOLLY BUTLER.

When you and your wife first started out with the Swan 36, did you ever imagine this scale of growth?

Is it a hard balancing act pleasing the client and staying true to your design principals?

In 1986 we founded Andrew Winch Designs as a specialist interior and exterior yacht design company. Over time, and in response to our clients’ needs, the studio has added aviation and architecture teams to our core yacht portfolio. I am immensely proud of what we have achieved, our incredible team and the award-winning projects we design.

For a great project, the client needs to trust and empower the designer with their dreams and it is our responsibility to realise every client’s unique vision and surpass all expectations. I am very lucky to have had successful partnerships with my clients based on trust and understanding. The result is that, in recent years, our clients have frequently commissioned us to design and build not just their yachts, but their aircraft, their private homes and their offices.

If you are always recognising the dreams of clients would you say you had an ‘Andrew Winch’ signature still? Andrew Winch Designs does not have an in-house design style – no two projects are the same and our portfolio demonstrates the diversity of our design. What underpins all of our work is quality, attention to detail and the enthusiasm of our team. The results are innovative and bursting with creativity whilst reflecting the clients’ tastes and lifestyle.

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How did your years being mentored by Jon Bannenberg shape your vision for starting your own firm? I am extremely grateful to Jon Bannenberg. He mentored and trained me from my college days and was hugely supportive when I left to start Andrew Winch Designs with my wife.

What advice would you give to a young designer today? The design world is hugely competitive and increasingly difficult to enter. That’s why Andrew Winch Designs has established a paid internship program that is dedicated to encouraging and supporting new talent, as well as offering students experience in a busy and successful design studio. If I could impart any advice I would say, be passionate, be persistent and practice your freehand drawing skills! Do you have any particular inspirations? I am continuously inspired by everything that I see, hear and experience. However nature especially never fails to inspire me. From the smoothest pebble found on the beach, to the power and curves of breaking waves, nature creates the most wonderful shapes that are hard to replicate.

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With a renowned studio and over 50 employees, what are the traits you seek out in a potential employee? Andrew Winch Designs is a multi-talented and multi-creative international studio. Every colleague who joins our team is pas-

Your leather range with Foglizzo is an extraordinary venture, do you see Andrew Winch Designs taking on other opportunities like this in the future? Our Winch Interiors team is constantly developing unique and bespoke items for each of our projects. Attention to detail is vital to the integrity and success of our designs and we work with the finest craftsmen to create the most beautiful pieces of furniture and furnishing for each of our projects. The collaboration with Foglizzo was an opportunity to design a beautiful leather range that reflected the very highest standards of creativity, quality and decorative finish that both Foglizzo and Andrew Winch Designs strive for. We enjoy working with other likeminded craftsmen, so future collaborative opportunities are something we remain openminded to. With the need to ‘keep up’ with today’s technology, do you miss the mediums that have been replaced by digital technology?

sionate about creativity, hugely talented and dedicated to delivering the very best. From a design perspective it is vital for each designer to be able to draw by hand, and this is an important talent that we will always look for in our design team members. How much of a hand do the team have in the execution of the designs? With the assistance of my team of directors, I lead a studio of over 55 employees to design and deliver each project. Each project is a collaborative effort between me and my talented team. With interior and exterior yacht design departments, as well as dedicated aircraft and architecture departments we offer specialist design knowledge and I am involved in every projects design.

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Since we were first founded, the studio has created beautifully evocative watercolours and pencil visuals for each of our client projects – every illustration is unique and captures the individual dreams and experiences each owner 2 will enjoy once their project delivers. At Andrew Winch Designs it is vital for each of our Designers to be able to draw by hand and this is an important talent that, moving forward, we will always look for in our design team members. Our 2D and 3D works are equally important – whether hand-drawn or computer generated, each visual is created for a specific purpose; and when presented together they illustrate how a client’s personal vision will be brought to life.

What sort of professions and backgrounds do your clients come from? Our clients are international and originate from the UK, Australia, France, Turkey, Russia, America amongst many others. They tend to be clients who know each other through international business and follow a similar lifestyle. How long does the design process take before work can begin? It’s important to understand exactly what the client is looking for before we apply pencil on paper. Our studio listens to our clients to discern their likes, dislikes and their lifestyles - only then do we begin the design process. Your team have won a multitude of awards - which one(s) are you most proud of ?

3 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7.

Every award reflects the creativity and work of a host of individuals – including designers, shipyards, brokers and, most importantly, the vision of the client. I am proud of every project we have created, each one pushes the envelope in so many different ways.

Slipstream Exterior Cloud 9 Entrance Hall and Staircase Cloud 9 Exterior Shot Cloud 9 Upper Saloon Slipstream Jacuzzi Imagine Interior Slipstream Exterior

Andrew Winch Designs work on buildings, yachts and planes - what do you prefer to work on and why? Overall my passion is for design, I don’t have a preference towards designing sailing yachts, motor yachts, aircraft or architectural projects. I love creativity and quality, and each of these beautiful structures embodies everything that I do. Do you work completely from your Richmond studio or do you find yourself travelling to the far corners of the globe?

We are based out of our studio in Richmond, but myself and my team travel extensively for meetings with clients and in order to monitor the production of our designs. In all of our projects, be they a yacht, jet or architectural project we work closely with completion centres and shipyards all over the world, throughout the entire design and build process, right through to delivery.

Where do you see the yacht market heading? The growing enthusiasm from our clients to have the most spectacular of private yachts and jets is most exciting – it’s the future of our industry.

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@ClydeCo_SYLaw #SuperyachtLaw Winter 2014 135

NEW YORK

New York WHEN VISITING NEW YORK, THERE’S NOTHING QUITE LIKE STAYING AT A HOTEL IN THE PERFECT LOCATION. FROM ART DECO OPULENCE ON PARK AVENUE, TO DOWNTOWN-COOL ON WEST 57TH STREET, HARRY JARMAN CHOOSES HIS FAVOURITE BIG APPLE HAUNTS.

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There is something quite romantic about New York in November; the sky is bright blue and the weather crisp and cold. With bursts of autumnal colours, Central Park never looks better and there is excitement in the air with the Union Square Market and Rockerfeller Christmas tree building up to Christmas. For me, this is when New York is at its freshest and you can really experience what the city is all about. There is no shortage of places to stay in the city, but in my view it’s all about location. Being in the perfect spot allows you to walk with ease to the Radio City Music Hall, Carnegie Hall and go shopping along New York’s iconic Fifth Avenue. However, when you take location into account there are only a handful of hotels that completely fit the bill. Two new hotels that opened after refurbishments at the beginning of the year are The Viceroy and The Loews Regency. Both are unique and yet both share great locations. The Viceroy is located on West 57th Street; just a stone’s throw from Fifth Avenue whilst the Loews Regency is on New York’s fashionable Park Avenue. Each has a very different vibe which is aimed at different audiences, however both are luxurious in their own way. In a part of town where the room rates can be extortionate, these hotels might just fit the bill in more ways than one when you next visit the Big Apple.

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THE LOEWS REGENCY Loews Regency Hotel first opened its doors in 1963, defining Park Avenue hospitality. Having just undergone a major $100 million renovation, its reopening in January this year was highly anticipated. Located on Park Avenue, just moments away from the best of midtown Manhattan, the hotel has 379 guestrooms, 58 of which are suites, all renovated to the highest standard. Loews Regency’s chairman Jonathan Tisch brought together the top names in design for the overhaul, and enlisted guests and customers to find out what was important to regular travellers meaning they are tailored for customer satisfaction. The restoration has given this hotel the feel of a modern classic, blending Art Deco inspiration seamlessly with modern clean lines, fabrics and fixtures that are elegant and crisp in its execution. The hotel is perfect for both business and pleasure, and boasts excellent dining with the Regency Bar & Grill, meeting rooms and high-spec amenities. In terms of dining, the Lowes Regency serves a world renowned New York ‘power-breakfast’, a 1970s classic that they’ve brought right up to the present day – a heavenly start to the day. Other dining options include Sant Ambroues Coffee Bar, a Milanese-style café, the Regency Bar and the Lobby Lounge. For those looking to relax after a hard day’s shopping, the Julien Farel Restore Salon & Spa offers the urban traveller the perfect place to unwind.

HOTEL AT A GLANCE ACCOMMODATION 379 Guest Rooms 58 Luxury Suites DINING Regency Bar & Grill Sant Ambroues Coffee Bar Lobby Lounge Regency Bar AMENITIES Fitness Centre 24 hour business centre Julien Farel Restore Salon & Spa State of the art audio-visual equipment Free Wifi throughout

Book a room: www.loewshotels.com

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THE VICEROY Located on West 57th Street, The Viceroy has been designed by Roman and Williams architects and oozes a downtown cool vibe rather than upper-Manhattan chic, that adds to its charm. Guest rooms and suites range from 250 to 1,200 sq ft, and I’d advise that you ask for a room overlooking Central Park, as they feature floor to ceiling windows. They also have beautiful interiors, and feature exotic woods, mixed-metals and classic light fixtures the combination of which gives an Art Deco feel. The rooms are also kitted out with the most luxuriant of amenities and the latest innovations in tech, including smartphone enabled room service, available via the Viceroy app. Other highlights include a gym, an indoor plungepool, and a great restaurant called Kingside. Run by the famous television chef Marc Murphy, Kingside offers a contemporary interpretation of American cooking, with an excellent New York style breakfast. On the roof, there’s a lounge and bar called The Roof, which boasts an outdoor deck with incredible views across Central Park – perfect for that pre-dinner tipple. Fresh from refurbishment, the Viceroy definitely offers something new and vibrant to the New York hotel scene, and is more tailored towards the younger, 30-something crowd. Its location is perfect, a convenient 45-minute transfer from JFK. Championing a relaxed vibe, which I for one prefer, it will soon become a regular fixture not only in New York, but also the international hotel scene.

HOTEL AT A GLANCE ACCOMMODATION 189 Guest Rooms 42 Luxury Suites 8 Terrace Rooms Penthouse Suite DINING The Roof Kingside AMENITIES Indoor plunge-pool Fitness Centre featuring Technogym equipment Full-sized spa products by Neil George Rooftop bar and lounge High-definition, flat-screen 40” Samsung Smart TVs

Book a room: www.viceroyhotelsandresorts.com

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The MODERN

DAMIEN HIRST As the leading figure of the YBA’s, and one of the best known living artists, Damien Hirst is a divisive figure. For some he is a symbol of the preoccupation in contemporary art to look to shock and awe rather than educate and beautify. However, it is impossible not to admire Hirst’s uncanny mastery of the art market. He is an icon of his generation. In 2005 he purchased the enormous Gothic Revival country pile Toddington Manor, and painstakingly restored it to house and showcase his art collection. The collection has a British focus, but also includes works by Andy Warhol and Jeff Koons. Like in so much of his work, the underlying theme of the collection is death. Hirst does not compare to the others on this list in wealth. However, we can often get an insight into the state of the art world and market by looking at which leading artists collect each other’s work. Hirst buys predominantly contemporary, impact pieces that have simple messages. His collecting habits are mirrored closely by the majority on this list, which helps explain the hegemony at the top of the market by a few brand name artists.

MEDICIS THE WORLD’S TOP ART COLLECTORS

by MILO DICKENSON

ith the upper echelons of the art market thriving, world record prices are regularly made and then broken again, and not just in the contemporary art market, but across virtually all top end sectors. But who are these people paying such stratospheric prices? (Francis Bacon’s Three Studies of Lucien Freud recently sold for $142.4 million at Christie’s in New York). The acquisition of expensive fine and decorative arts has historically been perceived as a luxury only afforded to aristocratic or Royal figures determined to maintain an affluent lifestyle and project a dual symbolism of refined taste and supreme power. However, this narrative has long been a fallacy, ever since the upwardly mobile Netherlandish merchants of the 17th century forced themselves into the fray. They used their new-found capital to purchased Frans Hals, Jan Steen, van Goyen and David Teniers, among others, in their droves, and the market has been in almost continual expansion ever since. The list of present-day art collectors represents a crosssection of contemporary high society, from oil-rich Middle East Royalty to forward-looking multinational corporations. The Prince of Liechtenstein is the last bastion of European nobility and monarchy to play a serious active role in the market. The presence of the son of a mechanic from Bristol, and an orphan from Lithuania – Damien Hirst and Roman Abramovich respectively – would seemingly attest to the evolution of society in the 20th and 21st centuries. However if we look to the past, the landscape is actually not so different. Artists, from Michelangelo to Rubens, acquired great wealth and fabulous art collections. The proprietors of the world’s natural resources have been shocking onlookers for more than two centuries with ostentatious displays of wealth in up-market art dealerships and galleries. Where previously this was American industrialists or European diamond speculators, today it is the Russian oligarchy or members of a reigning Middle Eastern family. The acquisition of art is a great symbol of success. As you do not need art to survive, and it is a pleasure of the mind rather than the body, spending your income on art is an announcement that you are both prosperous and sensitive to culture. It is a proclamation that you

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have interests beyond your own ego, even if this is often incongruous with reality. ROMAN ABRAMOVICH & DASHA ZHUKOVA The best known figure of the Russian oligarchy, Roman Abramovich became a public figure in the West due to his acquisition of Chelsea football club. From orphan beginnings in Lithuania, he rose in astonishing fashion and by the age of 30 part owned a controlling stake in the oil firm Sibneft (Gazprom Neft). Abramovich personally recommended Vladimir Putin to the then Russian President Boris Yeltsin, and Putin reportedly now treats Abramovich like a favourite son. Together with his girlfriend Dasha Zhukova, Abramovich has emerged as a major buyer in the international art market. He buys Russian art, including the works of the conceptual artist Ilya Kabakov, but also follows the trend for paintings by Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and other blue chip names. Zhukova’s involvement in the contemporary market (she is head of the Garage Centre for Contemporary Culture and a board member at LACMA) has evidently encouraged Ambramovich’s collecting habits. Where Abramovich goes the rest of the Russian oligarchy invariably follows, and so long as Russia has a controlling stake in the oil and gas industries, it is likely we will continue to see the Russian oligarchy dominating the very top end of the art market. FRANCOIS PINAULT A French billionaire and founder of The Kering Group (formerly PPR) of luxury goods companies, Pinault owns or has owned the likes of Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Château Latour and Converse shoes. As the owner of Christie’s auction house, Pinault controls the world’s largest art business, and as such has an intimate inside knowledge of the art market. He has built up one of the world’s largest and most valuable new collections of art, and has bought a number of works by the next man on our list, artist Damien Hirst. Pinault’s great rival in business, Bernard Arnault, France’s richest man and chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH luxury goods copany, is also a prolific collector of modern art. In 1999 he bought Phillips de Pury auction house, in direct competition to Pinault’s Christie’s. That the two chief proprietors of luxury goods of the last 50 years have taken such an interest and stake in the art market shows how important art has become as a symbol of luxury and wealth.

Damien Hirst

Roman Abramovich and Dasha Zhukova

“As a human being, as you go through life, you just do collect. It was that sort of entropic collecting that I found myself interested in, just amassing stuff while you’re alive.” – Damien Hirst, 2006. MICROSOFT The company proclaims their collection has “5,000 works of art and is displayed in more than 180 buildings. The collection emphasises contemporary art from around the world, displayed for the benefit and enjoyment of Microsoft employees, their guests, and Microsoft customers”. Microsoft only spends a sliver of their $86 billion yearly turnover on their collection, but even a sliver of such a large pie is a serious outlay, particularly for a public company that has to answer to its shareholders. The company employs a full time curator and collects mainly mid-level and emerging contemporary artists, but what is revealing is that they collect at all. Other corporations with a collecting habit include Deutsche Bank AG, who now own 50,000 works, including a Picasso and a Richter. Apart from enlivening the walls of office headquarters, why do these companies collect? Art is seen in many quarters as an inherent good, and for multinational companies that want to be portrayed as progressive, investing in art is a good way to promote their image and increase ‘soft power’. As companies become more reliant on their public perception, and the idea of art as an investment vehicle grows traction, top international companies could soon become the major art market competitors of the future.

Jean Nouvel and HE Sheikh Sultan under the Louvre Abu Dhabi architectural model. Photo courtesy of Abu Dhabi Toursim & Culture Authority.

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RONALD PHILLIPS FINE ANTIQUE ENGLISH FURNITURE

François Pinault foundation - Palazzo Grassi Venice

Paul Allen

Prince of Liechtenstein

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AL NAHYAN FAMILY In 2007 the Louvre announced a major multi-billion dollar agreement between the French government and Abu Dhabi for the formation of a museum in the small gulf state, to be called Louvre Abu Dhabi. The driving force behind this controversial agreement was the Al Nahyan family who has ruled Abu Dhabi since 1793. The family fortune is estimated at $23 billion, largely based on the fortunate geological landscape of a city with a population of 921,000. Abu Dhabi holds 9 per cent of the world’s proven oil reserves and almost 5 per cent of the world’s natural gas. The museum is still under construction and the family has collected with discretion, but they are looking to purchase masterpieces from antiquity to today, without discrimination. It has been announced that there is no censorship (nudity is acceptable), which the museum will shy away from, despite the museum’s location in a Muslim country. There is a will to create a major international art collection within the brand of Louvre Abu Dhabi so as to transform Abu Dhabi into a tourist destination and give credence and prestige to the city state. The creation of such a dialogue between East and West using art must be construed as a positive development for international cooperation. PRINCE OF LIECHTENSTEIN The Liechtenstein’s 300-year-old family collection is arguably the greatest private collection of European art in the world. In the tough economic climate after 1945, the collection was under threat, and dozens of masterpieces were sold off to cover financial losses. The current Prince, Hans-Adam II, has managed to reverse this and actively expand the collection, as well as buy back much of what was previously lost or sold off. The success of the family owned LGT banking group has been the catalyst for this. Without the need to build a collection from scratch, the Prince has practiced a studied acquisition policy, only pursuing the very finest old master paintings, sculptures and decorative arts on the market. Most of the collection is held in the Liechtenstein Museum in Vienna. The museum is a great highlight of Western culture, packed floor to ceiling, room to room, with Renaissance, Baroque and Rococo masterpieces. Extraordinary Raphael and Rubens canvases jostle for space with Boulle cabinets and mesmerising Giambologna bronzes. Unfortunately this writer’s opinion is clearly a minority view, as the Liechtenstein Museum has been closed since 2012 due to poor visitor numbers.

A PAIR OF GEORGE IV 18-INCH GLOBES ON MAHOGANY STANDS BY J. & W. CARY 26 BRUTON STREET, LONDON W1J 6QL +44 (0)207 493 2341 ADVICE @ RONALDPHILLIPS.CO.UK RONALDPHILLIPSANTIQUES.COM

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MY KINGDOM FOR A HORSE HOW CHARLIE LANGTON COMBINES HIS LOVE OF EQUESTRIANISM WITH SCULPTURE.

he current golden boy of equine art, Charlie Langton is making his mark on the contemporary art world. His unique and individual style has distinguished him as one of the most exciting and inspiring sculptors of our time. In recent years, since the YBAs, there has arguably been a trend among contemporary artists to create shocking, innovative and controversial work. Charlie Langton’s work – that’s within the tradition of realism – therefore comes as a refreshing change. Langton is best known for his work on a number of high-profile horse sculptures, in the last few years including Yeats, Goldikova, Pegasus, Galileo, Sadler’s Wells, Montjeu and most recently Kauto Star, which will be unveiled at Kempton Racecourse on Boxing Day this year. Having spent his childhood surrounded by horses it’s no wonder they are his inspiration. Both his great uncle and mother bred racehorses and by the age of six, Charlie was fortunate enough to have a small Welsh Mountain pony of his own. Horses have always been an integral part of his life, and are a natural subject to him. After studying fine art at Edinburgh College of Art, Charlie proceeded to

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Images by Amanda Lockhart. Charlie Langton is represented by Sladmore Gallery.

spend one and a half years training at the prestigious Charles H. Cecil Studios in Florence. It was there that he gained a deep appreciation for the works of the Old Masters and refined his academic and technical skills. Charles Cecil teaches the importance of observing from life and understanding the form through light and shade by way of the sight-size technique. “Being surrounded by works from the Renaissance,” explained Charlie, “By the master sculptors such as Donatello, Michelangelo and works by the ultimate universal man, Leonardo da Vinci, highlighted the importance of knowing your subject to a level that is rarely, if at all, accomplished in art today.” When asked what advice Charlie would offer to a young artist, his response was rather appropriately “study Leonardo da Vinci.” So what is it that makes him so successful as a sculptor? The real art of sculpting, Charlie believes, is to truly know your subject. For him, observing their character and understanding the nature of a particular horse is paramount to achieving its final likeness. The initial stage of the artistic process is spent observing the horse, and chatting to those who know it best – its trainers, riders and owners. This research allows him to create works that so accurately capture the spirit and character of the subject.

Thoroughbreds in particular inspire him. The attitude, character and physicality of the champion racehorses puts them in a league of their own, and it is their unique combination of power speed, elegance and grace that Charlie finds so compelling. Charlie’s first life-size public commission was a hugely high profile one. Selected by Ascot to create a bronze statue depicting the four-time Gold Cup winner Yeats, his work had to meet high expectations. The sculpture was unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen on the first day of Royal Ascot in 2011 to a warm reception, and it still takes pride of place at the parade ring today. The work took 800 hours to complete and the final result is magical. Sinuous, yet powerful in build, every line of the horse flows with grace and elegance. Recalling seeing Yeats race at Ascot a few years ago, Charlie mused: “He is one of the most beautiful horses you will ever see and instantly recognisable in the way that he walks and carries his head, I could not have asked for a better subject”. He speaks fondly and passionately of Coolmore Stud, the breeding organisation that looks after Yeats in Ireland. On a number of

occasions Harry King, the manager at Coolmore Stud, would fly over from Ireland to Charlie’s studio in Wiltshire to watch the sculpture progress, and stay for about 30 minutes before flying back to Ireland. It was through this that Charlie’s other pubic projects came about. His

“

a 5 per cent over life-size bronze of the great steeplechaser for Kempton Park Racecourse, to be unveiled there on Boxing Day this year. The sculpture was generously donated to the racecourse by Clive Smith and will undoubtedly be admired and coveted for generations to come.

THE THOROUGHBRED COULD MAINTAIN MY INTEREST IN THE HORSE AS A SUBJECT FOR A LIFETIME

”

most recent work, Kauto Star was commissioned by the horse’s owner Clive Smith. Charlie was asked to create

It is evident that Charlie Langton has a promising career ahead of him. You could be forgiven for thinking he may become restless within the arguably limited confines of his subject; however, he insists it’s easy to keep fresh enthusiasm an excitement for the project. “Every champion horse has a unique combination of attributes that sets him apart from the herd, it is the process of trying to establish what these are, and attempting to capture them, that I find so alluring. The thoroughbred could maintain my interest in the horse as a subject for a lifetime.” I for one am excited to see where his unique and extraordinary talent takes him next.

by NINA HOOFT GRAAFLAND

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DAVID LINLEY SHOOTING COMPANION

PETER FINER GUNS

The Linley Gentleman’s Shooting Companion is a portable miniature drinks carrier designed for taking on a shoot, in oiled walnut with a high-gloss finish. It has sturdy leather handles on either side for easy transportation, and a sterling silver engravable plaque on the lid for personalisation. The perfect gift for any keen shot, Linley’s Shooting Companion will ensure one feels complete whilst out on the moors.

Peter Finer is renowned for the exceptional quality and condition of his fine antique, arms and armour. This pair of silver mounted Indian Flintlock Holster pistols is certainly no exception. Extravagant and ornate, this stunning pair of pistols is deeply chiseled with scrolling decoration set against a gilt background. Dating from c.1785, the provenance of these pistols can be traced to Major Claude Marin, whose signature can be found engraved forward of the touchhole.

020 7730 730 £4,500 www.davidlinley.com

Objects

020 7839 5666 £58,000 www.peterfiner.com

ASPREY ART DECO DECANTER

TALISMAN FRENCH OAK COMMODE

MALLETT ANTIQUES A VICTORIAN GAMES COMPENDIUM

Established in 1998, Hampton Antiques are recognised as being one of the country’s leading experts in their field. This Asprey Art Deco decanter is the ultimate, unique home accessory or gift. Dating back to c.1931, it includes a T bar stopper, a sterling silver collar and, as it can hold up to 900ml of your favourite spirit, it’s functional as well as beautiful.

This stunning French, provincial oak commode with original hand-cut marble top and ormolu mounts harks back to c.1760. Available at the renowned antiques emporium Talisman on the New Kings Road, this commode would make a stylish addition to any interior.

Available from Mallett, this outstanding Victorian games compendium would be a superb feature in any period property, or an excellent unusual gift. Dating back to 1870, the set is in excellent condition, with richly veneered coromandel wood and lacquered gothic revival brass mounts.

07779 654 879 £1,295.00 www.hamptonantiques.co.uk

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0207 731 4686 Price on Request www.talismanlondon.com

020 7499 7411 £14,000 www.mallettantiques.com

STOCKINGER FOR BENTLEY

Each Stockinger safe is an entirely unique and bespoke masterpiece. Available in a variety of paints, interior suedes and different wood veneer panels, they provide the ideal, secure environment for your valuables. The Stockinger for Bentley model is designed specifically for watches, and is equipped to include state-of-theart watch winders for exceptional timepieces: the ideal piece for any serious watch-collector. 089 124138962 Price on Request www.stockinger.com

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CARS A NEW SEASON CAN ONLY MEAN ONE THING, TIME FOR A NEW CAR. LET US TALK YOU THROUGH SIX OF THE BEST FOUR DOOR SALOONS WHICH, THANKS TO THEIR ELEGANT LUXURY, ARE CARS YOU’LL WANT TO DRIVE AS WELL AS BE DRIVEN IN.

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BENTLEY FLYING SPUR W12 It might have been the Continental GT that spearheaded Bentley’s rise once again, however it’s their four-doors that make it a true luxury brand to rival the likes of Rolls-Royce. The new W12 Flying Spur goes right back to the days when they used to produce super-fast lorries. While the Flying Spur might be a graceful four-door saloon, when you put your foot down, the beastly 6.0-litre twin-turbocharge W12 can’t help but put a smile on your face, even if the fuel bill won’t. To be expected the W12 engine has an average mpg of 19.2, however considering it is a huge four-door saloon with a top speed of 200 mph that does 0-60 mph in 4.3 sec, the engineering is pretty spectacular. This car is designed for a new type of businessman, as it’s perfectly suitable for being driven during the week, and at the weekend. However, we don’t think that it’s as good looking as its big brother the Mulsanne, though then again what is? Inside, the interior is hard to fault – we would expect nothing else from Bentley – with leather-stitched padded seats and walnut veneer, what’s not to like? The ride and handling again is hard to fault, and due to the refined suspension, passengers in the back can work without distraction. Because this car tempts you to put your foot down, it’s often easy to forget its large size, especially when driving outside of London. The running costs are as you would expect, however if you have the spare cash to buy it, I doubt this will be a problem. Overall this is a car that won’t fail to impress and is Bentley down to the core: big, fast, luxurious and impressive.

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TRANSMISSION POWER TOP SPEED 0-60

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£153,000 6.0-LITRE, TWINTURBOCHARGED W12 8-SPEED AUTO 616 BHP 200 MPH 4.3 SEC

JAGUAR XJ LUXURY PRICE ENGINE

TRANSMISSION

Since being bought by Tata Motors in 2008, Jaguar’s rejuvenation has been quite remarkable. They seemingly haven’t put a foot wrong, and with the release of the F-Type last year, they have solidified their place once again among the automotive elite. The new generation XJ was originally released in 2010 and it, along with the XF, was directly responsible for the resurrection of the brand. Its forward-thinking design came courtesy of Ian Callum, who shunned Jaguar’s stale-approach to previous iterations in favour of something radical; the Jaguar of the future, some might say. The result was an elegant one, that today looks just as good as when it was first released. In the flesh the XJ boasts a stately appeal, but one decidedly different from the old-fashioned models of the past. Its looming body is long yet slender and muscular, begging you to get behind the wheel. And when you do, the low driving position, chunky steering wheel and sweeping leather-wrapped dashboard exude effortless luxury. Of course, it is a luxury car at heart, yet when you set off you’d be forgiven for thinking it’s a sports car. The car we tested, the 3.0 litre V6 Turbocharged Diesel, is the entry-model in terms of performance, yet it moves with an urgency befitting of its namesake. The 271 bhp engine propels the car from 0-60 mph in just 6.0 seconds and its impressive 443 lb-ft. of torque is immediately available at very low speeds, thanks to the complex parallel sequential turbo-boosting system. This essentially means that, when push comes to shove, over-taking is a breeze. Unlike most of the other cars in this group though, the XJ can do economy too. Its Intelligent Stop/Start system, which cuts the engine when you pull up to the traffic lights, and the frankly brilliant ZF eight-speed automatic gearbox, work together in harmony, delivering a seamless experience that feels completely natural, yet provides outstanding fuel economy of up to 44.8 mpg and CO2 emissions of 167 g/km. The Jaguar XJ V6 diesel offers the best of both worlds. Its performance figures don’t jump up from the page, yet in the real world, the punchy turbo-charged power delivery is all you need. Its fuel efficiency is where it stands out though, and while it’s certainly no Prius, it sets the bar among luxury saloons.

£56,870 3.0-LITRE V6 TURBOCHARGED DIESEL 8-SPEED AUTOMATIC WITH INTELLIGENT STOP/ START

POWER

271 BHP

TOP SPEED

177MPH

0-60

6.0 SEC

Words by CHARLIE THOMAS

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ASTON MARTIN RAPIDE S

ROLLS ROYCE GHOST II When you think of the term ‘luxury automobile’, chances are that Rolls-Royce immediately comes to mind. Their inimitable Phantom has been dominating the streets of Mayfair, its blue whale size an imposing threat to the regular plankton they share the road with. Whilst the Phantom represents the ultimate in unashamed luxury, it’s the prestigious brand’s smaller model that grabs the attention most. Although it retains many of the styling cues of its older brother, the Ghost Series II is instantly recognisable due to its softer, rounded edges and its more compact and purposeful silhouette. Step inside the signature ‘coach doors’, and the opulent interior is swathed in leather, and decorated with more wood than in a small forest. It’s every bit as luxuriant as you might imagine. To drive, the Ghost is no less impressive. Its 6.6-litre, twin-turbo V12 delivers 563 bhp to the rear wheels and, from standstill, it can reach 60 mph in just 4.7 seconds. This is a mightily impressive feat for a car that weighs two and a half tons. The way it reaches such speeds delivers a strange sensation – because the powerplant is virtually silent – although this will ensure those important business calls wont be disrupted as you rush to the office. Indeed, like most Rolls-Royces, this is a car that the majority of its clientele will purchase to be driven for them, which is a shame. Despite the back seats being endlessly luxuriant, the driving experience is one that should, and deserves to be, enjoyed.

PRICE ENGINE

6.6-LITRE, V12

TRANSMISSION

8-SPEED AUTO

POWER

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£231,730

563BHP

TOP SPEED

155MPH

0-60

4.9 SEC

Since its initial release in 2010, the Aston Martin Rapide has been the most beautiful car in the performance fourdoor game. Aston have a habit of churning out stunning design after stunning design, and the Rapide is no different with its elongated body, smooth lines and signature, elegant front-end. For 2014 though, the Gaydon-based firm’s largest automobile has been given a makeover, as well as a lauded ’S’ badge, meaning higher performance. The most noticeable design change on the Rapide S is the all-new grille that is wider gaping for a more aggressive look, contrasting nicely with the smooth, one-piece front bumper. The bonnet has been updated with subtle louvres, and a sculpted rear spoiler completing the new, sportier aesthetic. It’s underneath the aluminium body though that the Rapide S truly shines. Aston Martin is one of the few marques still solely producing naturally aspirated engines. Indeed, the Rapide S is the only car that forgoes turbocharging in this list. Its 6.0-litre V12 is meteoric, producing 552 bhp and, more importantly, a sound that would make Thor quake in his boots. Push the ‘engine start’ button and it comes to life with an unmistakable rumble, which when on the move builds into a howling crescendo. Indeed, it sounds as good as any Aston and this, combined with its inherently luxurious qualities, makes the Rapide S an enthralling proposition. It’s the car’s all-round performance that puts it ahead of the competition though. Aston have worked hard on the transmission, and they’ve delivered, implementing the majestic eight-speed Touchtronic III gearbox, which shifts up or down in just 130 milliseconds. This combined with all-new damping and a 20 per cent stiffer suspension means it can tackle corners as well as the best of them. All this results in the Rapide S being arguably the ultimate four-door machine. It’s essentially two cars in one: a refined, more-than-capable long distance GT, and a frighteningly quick performance machine. It’s all you need from a car on the road.

PRICE ENGINE TRANSMISSION POWER TOP SPEED 0-60

£153,000 6.0-LITRE, V12 8-SPEED TOUCHTRONIC III 552 BHP 203 MPH 4.2 SEC

Words by CHARLIE THOMAS

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MASERATI QUATTROPORTE S There’s something endlessly appealing about Maserati. In a sea of grey suits, the Maserati is wearing royal blue. That is, they stand out for being different, although of course, they are far from garish. Maserati do things their own way, and as a result, in the hyper-competitive performance saloon market, they excel. The Quattroporte is the flagship car in the range, and it doesn’t disappoint. At once aggressive and understated, the exterior of the Quattroporte has been very well executed. Whilst it doesn’t tingle the senses in quite the same way as their sportier GranTurismo, its sleek angles and purposeful front-end let you know it’s ready for business. Blending the old with the new, Maserati’s signature grille harks back to one of the brand’s most beautiful classic cars, the A6 GCS Berlinetta, with its vertical convex bars. This is contrasted by the thoroughly modern LED headlights, which flow smoothly with the car’s bodywork, completing the unified design. Whilst it still doesn’t quite compete with the German or British brands, Maserati have massively stepped up the quality of their interiors, no more so than in the Quattroporte S. Making use of the finest Poltrona Frau Italian leather, the cabin is a thoroughly enjoyable place to spend time, making it a very easy place to wile away the hours on long trips. This is also down to the way the car drives though. Its 3.0-litre V6 has been doused with two turbo-chargers and, pumping out 404 bhp, meaning it can certainly shift when needed. Its power delivery is almost instant, making overtaking a breeze and its relatively low weight for its class means it’s got a highly respectable 0-60 mph time of 5.1 seconds. The Quattroporte isn’t a car that will blow you away in one single category, yet its all-round capability and easily accessible performance means that it should not be overlooked.

MERCEDES S-CLASS BLUETEC SE Ever since its creation, the launch of the new S-Class has been the beginning of an exciting time for Mercedes as it’s a car that leads the way with regards to technology and safety. This time it’s no different and it’s practically faultless. The exterior styling is impressive and Mercedes describe it as “dynamic [and] purposeful”. The interior is particularly impressive, considering the price. When inside, the outside world seems far away because there’s barely any outside sound, and there is enough wood and leather trim to make you feel like you’re in a luxury saloon. Our only criticism is that the equipment and functionality is not as simple to use as its rivals – however this shouldn’t be an issue once you’ve got the hang of it. With regards to performance, while the 350 BlueTec V6 diesel might not be as exciting and fast to drive, it does however boast an impressive 51.4mpg. On top of this the ride is hard to fault, cornering is a dream, however we wish it had the Magic Body Control available on the S600 AMG Line because this is impressive tech that reads the road ahead for potholes and bumps, adjusting the car accordingly. Safety has always been a category where the S-Class excels and this latest generation is no exception. It boasts an array of driver assistance systems, including collision prevention assist, attention assist, and even cross wind assist – all of which really do make for safer driving. These cars will appeal to business owners due to their reasonable price for their category, and their astonishing mpg. If you buy one however, don’t expect to stand out because this car is so good they are already ten a penny. For those looking for a bit more speed and individualism, you may have to get the chequebook out.

PRICE ENGINE

PRICE

£80,115 TRANSMISSION

ENGINE TRANSMISSION POWER TOP SPEED 0-60

3.0-LITRE, TWINTURBOCHARGED V6 8-SPEED AUTO 404 BHP

POWER TOP SPEED 0-60

£65,650 3.0-LITRE,V6 2987CC TURBODIESEL 7-SPEED AUTO 254 BHP 155 MPH 6.8 SEC

177 MPH 5.1 SEC

Words by CHARLIE THOMAS

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POWER reminiscently. “Apart from a few corners here, in principle, it’s a relatively safe circuit. It’s dependent on the drivers – any circuit can become dangerous if the driver hasn’t the confidence to race there, but Goodwood isn’t any worse than any of the others.” Despite what Moss says, he doesn’t blame himself for the crash, far from it. To this day he still doesn’t fully understand what happened the moment he left the track but his feelings towards his car and Colin Chapman’s Lotus team speak volumes: “The thing with motor racing is, the only thing that makes you have a crash or drives you into trouble is yourself, nobody else… unless something breaks or you’re in a Lotus.” Moss’ unequivocally dry delivery tells me he’s still every bit the determined, matterof-fact competitor he appeared to be during his racing years. Suffering from bullying at school, he found solace by proving himself in sporting events and competitions, and it was this early determination that would later prove fundamental in his racing career and recovery.

THE MASTER OF MOTORSPORT:

SIR STIRLING MOSS by RORY SMITH

t’s a hot Saturday in September and I’m feeling the heat under the tweed jacket, flannel trousers, knitted tie and Panama hat I’ve chosen to wear to this year’s Goodwood Revival. Weaving through the racing paddock, I glimpse not one but 16 gleaming Maserati 250Fs, neatly lined up in a stunningly accurate recreation of the pits at the 1954 Monza Grand Prix. The car is celebrating its 60th anniversary and owes much of its notability to the man I am about to meet: Sir Stirling Moss.

Densi Jenkinson and Stirling Moss in the Mercedes 300 SLR in the Mille Miglia, 1955

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oasis amid the charismatic chaos of the Revival and perhaps the most exclusive venue of the weekend. Sitting just meters from the track start-line, shielded from the roar of 30 Jaguar D-types by just a set of French windows sits Moss; appropriately dressed in Bugs Bunny braces and still seemingly brimming with as much enthusiasm and charm as when he first stepped into a singleseater. We meet, shake hands and from his greeting alone it’s apparent that he’s different from other racing drivers I’ve met; a true gentleman-racer from a time when your performance on the track meant more than just the position you finished in. “It’s a very friendly atmosphere at Goodwood, isn’t it?” He says with a smile on his face. I agree but I’m astounded at the warmth Moss still feels for the place that effectively ended his racing career in 1962, when he crashed his experimental LotusClimax V8 during the Glover Trophy. Considering the incident put him in a coma for a month and partially paralysed the left side of his body for a further six, I can’t help but ask Moss if Goodwood has a special significance because of this?

Born on the banks of the River Thames to Aileen and Alfred Moss on 17th September 1929, Moss started his competitive career as a gifted and promising horse rider. Despite winning several awards, he longed for a more dangerous pursuit and used the winnings from riding competitions to put a deposit down on a racing car, against the wishes of his mother and father. On the eve of his 21st birthday he found himself on the start line of the biggest motor race in Britain, the Ulster TT. Using a Jaguar borrowed from a family friend he won the race in the wet and just hours after, he was approached by Jaguar to lead their works racing team. Stirling Moss had become an overnight motor racing sensation. “The fact that I crashed here is not relevant. It no doubt cost me a lot in I remind myself of this as I walk across that I found myself, at the age of 33, the manicured lawn and make my way having to start working for a living, into the elegant surroundings of the which is something I hadn’t done all Credit Suisse Race Control building; an my life so it was quite a shock,” he says

After spending a short time with Moss it becomes apparent there is something more to him than raw talent and determination. He bears a characteristic that’s seldom found in the deadly serious world of motorsport:

showmanship. “I found out quite early that if you’re in a race, when you finish, go round waving at the public and if they wave back, then the organisers think you’re worth a lot more money and pay you a lot more the following year – it’s show business,” he says while breaking a smile and chuckling to himself. “You’ve got to show that you’re the best; when I was in Monaco in 1961, I was never more than two or three seconds ahead of the Ferraris but I would still go round a corner and wave at them even though I was going absolutely flat out. The fact is, they saw me waving and would think I wasn’t finding it difficult. It’s very important to be able to form that kind of situation, you have to build it up over time and it’s not that easy.” For Moss, acting the part on the track was only the start. He realised from an early age that his private life generated as much public interest as his battles did on the circuit. As a young, charming and eligible British racing driver, Moss was largely responsible for bringing motorsport into the mainstream conciseness of the British public, often through his glamorous lifestyle. “When I got a girlfriend it received more publicity than when I won the British Grand Prix! People are interested in the character behind the wheel.” His ability to appeal to the

Goodwood Revival 2014 with Jackie Stewart.

public soon gave way to sponsorship deals, even if it went against his healthy lifestyle. “I did smoke, but only ever enough to get an advert [Craven A cigarettes]. It was worth the equivalent of £50,000 back in the day,” he readily declares. Perhaps the greatest testament to Moss’ ability to win over the general public, is how after just one Grand Prix title and a relatively short racing career, he still manages to captivate a global audience, appearing in numerous books and on screen, while starring year upon year as a guest of honour at arguably the world’s greatest historic motorsport event, the Goodwood Revival. Pitching a parting question to Moss, I naively asked what qualities he thought made a racing driver a gentleman; a question I now realise he’d been answering continuously over the time I’d spent with him. For a racing driver to be a gentleman they must have the stamina to persist with their chosen career despite the warnings and wishes of those around them; an aptitude for balancing not just a racing car but also their public image; and perhaps most importantly, they must strike an infectious balance between bravery and stupidity. They must possess, in every respect, the qualities of the true master of motorsport: the qualities of Sir Stirling Moss.

Moss - Goodwood Revival

Moss with the BMW Isetta

Denis Jenkinson and Stirling Moss after the 1955 Mille Miglia

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NEW YEAR

NEW

BODY

DIET & NUTRITION by LEE BROOKS , TIER 3+ TRAINER AT EQUINOX KENSINGTON

THE EXPERTS AT THE WORLD FAMOUS EQUINOX GYM TALK US THROUGH THE ULTIMATE BODY REJUVENATION. FROM FINDING THE RIGHT NUTRITION FOR YOU, TO KICKSTARTING THE NEW YEAR WITH GROUNDBREAKING NEW WORKOUTS, THIS IS THE ONLY HEALTH AND FITNESS PLAN YOU’LL NEED FOR A FULL AND ALL-ENCOMPASSING OVERVIEW OF WELLBEING.

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My client’s big smile was due to his new purchase of a Maserati with a Ferrari engine: very responsive, quick moving, stable performance, effortless on every task and emitting a lion-like roar. His breakfast before our session was ‘cronuts’, some half-breed donut and croissant invention. It didn’t take long for it to click when I asked him “Would you put canola oil in your Maserati as fuel and expect it to perform the way it does now?” Food is our fuel source plain and simple. If we put poor food/fuel choices into our bodies the likelihood of our mental and physical performance being optimal is low. Our body is the same as an athlete’s in that you eat for your goal. An athlete may be on 8,000 calories a day to sustain hours of daily training so they can win a race. For the majority of the population, looking better naked and being ‘in shape’ is their goal but you still have to eat correctly to achieve the end result. For some it’s finding out how many calories you’re consuming and with expert advise you may have to lower calories slightly or change macronutrient (fat, carbohydrates and protein) ratios. With 80 per cent of supermarket foods having added sugar, which will hinder goals, we often need to reduce carbohydrates and increase good fats. Increased protein is usually needed to repair the muscles from gym work and keep body fat levels dropping/low. Unfortunately so many foods available to us are poor options and they have to be limited or taken out of the diet for a better body. You might have excuses such as “oh the microwave meals are quicker. I don’t have time to scramble some eggs. Fish, green vegetables and some nuts are boring and too extreme.” Basically you can have excuses or results, not both. The foods that will serve your goals are natural (from the land) and not man made. If you ate natural food sources

90 per cent of the time you would notice a huge difference. You’ve probably heard of the Paleo diet already; it’s a way of eating similar to people in the Paleolithic era when there was only natural and no processed foods. The largest food source following a Paleo diet is lean meat, eggs and fish followed by vegetables. Fruit and nuts are in lesser quantities, so you would basically take in more protein, more fibrous carbohydrate in the green vegetables, and maybe less fruit and simple carbohydrates than current eating habits. If your plate is mostly meat or fish and green vegetables with some nuts or seeds you will start feeling better and looking better. Meal spacing is a broad topic but around 4 food or fuel intakes a day is pretty good then you can divide the amount of total calories or food you need per day by four and stay on track. The good thing with Paleo is that it’s also a long-term plan. My clients often come to realise that what they’ve been eating is processed rubbish and when they understand what real food is, it becomes a lifestyle rather than a diet. If eating this way is the norm then the days you have a beer or glass of wine and that dessert at dinner are not going to be a problem. To simplify it all, eat natural. Can you find the food you’re about to eat in the wild? And no, there are no pizza trees unfortunately. Avoid processed man-made foods and drink plenty of water to ensure hydration. We are mostly made of water so if we are even slightly dehydrated our body doesn’t function as well. Ask an expert. Sometimes it’s easy fixes I give to my clients, things that they are unaware of doing and repeat daily.that hinder their goals.

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REGENERATION & RESTORATION by CARL MARTIN, PERSONAL TRAINING MANAGER AT EQUINOX KENSINGTON

GENERAL FITNESS & WORKOUTS by CARL MARTIN, PERSONAL TRAINING MANAGER AT EQUINOX KENSINGTON Maintaining your fitness during the holiday season can be challenging, especially if you don’t have access to a gym and your time is limited. The Christmas and New Year holidays can bring in a lot of ‘wanted’ and ‘unwanted’ calories. How best to use this excess fuel is always the conundrum. If you have the option, choose resistance training. This can be as simple as bodyweight and affecting reps and tempo, or adding external resistance. Building lean muscle is vital to curbing any excess body fat, so using the extra calories and putting them to some good use is always a benefit. Any extra time you have, sprinkle in some cardio, preferably some short and sharp HIIT (high intensity interval training) style intervals. Depending on your fitness levels, change the rest accordingly; for a starting point use a 2:1 ratio of rest to work. For example, 2 min rest, 1 min work. The premise of the workout below is to use something called Peripheral Heart Action (PHA) to shift blood around the body to create a challenging program and help keep you lean. It alternates a lower body exercise with an upper body exercise, and also front of body to back. a1. Split Squat: Step forward into a split stance position. Aiming to touch the back knee on the ground, drive the front knee over the front foot keeping the front heel on the ground in a lunge like position. Once the back knee touches the ground, you can return to the start position. If using body weight remember, slow down and slow up. Do 4 sets of 15 reps alternating with exercise a2. a2. Barbell Row: Use a wide grip, grab a Barbell outside body width. Sending the hips back with a slight bend in the knees, keep a flat back whilst trying to maintain the chest as parallel to the floor as possible. Row the Barbell up to the chest and pause slightly at the top position, maintaining the good back position. Complete 4 sets of 12 reps, rest 60 seconds before returning to exercise a1.

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b1. Barbell Deadlift: Setting a barbell on the floor, the ultimate aim is to pick it up into a standing position. Walk up to the bar as close as possible. Send the hips back as far as possible, loading the hamstrings. Slide your hands down in front of your knees, maintaining a neutral back position as much as possible. Grab hold of the bar, and keeping the shoulder blades locked together, send the hips forward until you are at your tallest position, squeezing your glutes at the top. Reverse the movement to the floor, and that will be 1 rep. Complete for 4 sets of 10 reps alternating with exercise b2. b2. Spiderman Pushup: Starting in a normal pushup position. Begin descent into a push up and as you do touch left knee to left elbow, returning it to the start as you return to the top. Then complete on the other side. Repeat for 12 reps and 4 sets. Rest 45-60 sec after performing both exercises c1. Walkouts/Inchworms: Start in a standing position. Reach down and touch your toes. When hands are on the ground, walk hands out as far as possible and then return to start position of standing. That is one rep. Repeat for 15 reps. Complete 4 sets as part of a circuit with exercises c2 and c3. c2. Side Plank with Rotation: Assume a side plank position, with top hand facing ceiling. Bring the top hand down, across and underneath the body and reach behind. Rotate back to return to the top for 1 rep. Repeat 4 sets of 12 reps c3. Reverse Crunch: Lie on your back on the floor with your legs straight out. Curl your legs in and bring your knees towards your chest. As they get closer, try and drive the feet as high up towards the ceiling as possible. Your bottom should come off of the floor. Then return to the start. Do 4 sets of 15 reps. Rest 45-60 sec after completion of all 3 exercises.

At Christmas time, shopping for presents, deadlines at work and lots of extra food and alcohol cause the body a lot of unwanted stress. The premise behind Regeneration at Equinox is that any and everybody can benefit by adding restoration and recovery moves into their daily selfcare routine. Balance is key to a healthy body. We spend so much of our lives beating our bodies up, causing our muscles damage and tightness, and never giving them the opportunity to repair and recover. The thought process is to ‘treat before you train’. Strategies of self-care, guided self-massage and stretch sequences play a significant role in the recovery of our body, which in turn affects health and even appearance. Performance is also enhanced by regeneration and an introduction of breath, mindset and meditation processes. As one masters the use of breath and its relationship to the nervous system, it becomes easier to more readily reset any stresses or tweaks one might feel during the day and thus prevent injury and disease before it has a chance to fully manifest. Maybe introducing a yoga class into your routine can help open up a new world of possibilities. The idea of Self-Myofascial Release (SMR) has been around for a long time, with its premise being to keep joints mobile, tissues supple and facile so that the body lasts longer and is pain-free for decades. It is a relatively safe way to address aches and pains, myofascial tension and overall stress – so it is really for all of us, whether we are super-fit or super-sedentary! Myofascial care serves to hydrate tissues and is ideal to unwind and reset the resting length of muscles and can down regulate the nervous system after cycling, personal training or intense cardio sessions. It can also be used as a preparation before a workout to de-tangle knots of tension before training begins. A foam roller (the long cylinder like object you see people rolling around on) can be a good start to hit most of the necessary areas, but a set of balls can help the release

become even more targeted. The Tune up Fitness Therapy Balls come in various sizes and are available in the shop at Equinox and at yogatuneup.com. Note there are additional ball sizes to address tension across your whole body. If not, try: Use a rolling pin or a golf ball to massage your feet. Place a beach ball under your hips to mobilise your lower back and stretch out hip flexors. Use a lacrosse ball to workout cranky knots in your quads and hips. If it’s too sore, put the balls in a clean pair of socks to make more comfortable. Stability Ball. Stretch out your front, back and side seams by rolling around on a giant therapy ball. Make sure you have safe area to move. 3 Moves to try at home for tension release in your neck & upper back Thoracic Mow: Standing against a wall, place 2 balls inside a tied up sock between your shoulder blades on either side of spine. Bend and straighten knees to ‘mow’ the balls up and down the length of the thoracic spine (the upper and middle back). Rhomboid Wringer: Standing against the wall, place a ball between shoulder blades, wrap arms around chest in a hug, and ‘swivel’ shoulders while bending and straightening knees to swirl the YTU balls up, down and all around the rhomboids (the muscles of the upper back). Trapezius Chug: Lie on your back and pin one ball beneath each shoulder, close to the neck at the upper traps. Keeping your arms on floor, extend them overhead and lift hips into bridge position. Take a few breaths of sustained compression, keeping balls in place, then push and pull floor with feet to ‘chug’ balls up and down into upper traps. Equinox Kensington www.equinox.com 0207 666 6000

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THE ULTIMATE THRILL THE CRESTA RUN

THE CRESTA RUN IS A NATURAL ICE RACING TOBOGGAN TRACK STRETCHING 1.21 KILOMETRES AND IS ONE OF THE FEW IN THE WORLD DEDICATED ENTIRELY TO THE SPORT OF SKELETON. OPENING LATE DECEMBER AND CONTINUING FOR NINE WEEKS UNTIL THE END OF FEBRUARY, THE CRESTA RUN IS OPERATED BY THE ST. MORITZ TOBOGGANING CLUB. WITH OVER 30 HIGHLY COMPETITIVE RACES AND RIDES TAKING PLACE EVERY DAY OF THE SEASON (BAR CHRISTMAS DAY), ITS HISTORY AND TRADITIONS RUN DEEP.

Charles Austin on the 3rd Bank of the Gully during the Grand National February 16th 1885

s with most winter sports that take place in the Alps, the Cresta’s roots lie in a simple bet made by Johannes Badrutt, the founder of the Engadiner Kulm Hotel, in St. Moritz in late summer of the year 1864. At this point in time St. Moritz was a popular summer holiday destination for wealthy British, but Badrutt wanted them to see for themselves the beauty of this small hamlet in the sunshine filled days of winter. And so, he bet a small group of Englishmen that if they returned in the winter and there was no sunshine, their stay would be completely complimentary. Lo and behold, upon arrival that winter they were greeted with the archetypal beauty of the Swiss Alps drenched in sun. After spending their first winter season skating on frozen lakes, skiing and tobogganing they returned home ready to start spreading the news and therein lies the birth of the winter season. A natural ice run, the Cresta is man made and re-built every year from scratch down the same river valley and runs from the top end of St. Moritz – arguably one of the chicest ski resorts in Europe – down to the village of Celerina. As Dalmeny tells

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me over a vodka fizz at 5 Hertford Street (a Cresta tipple of choice), “if you were to put a curling stone or a bowling ball in the Cresta, half way down it would come shooting out, whereas if you put it in a bobsled tracks, it would trundle down. That’s because a bobsled track was built to hold things in, whereas the Cresta is built to punish failure, overconfidence or the attempt to go beyond your skill level. Unless you actively steer, you will fall.” Most fall at the infamous Shuttlecock, which is the great corner. In fact almost everybody in their career will fall at Shuttlecock at some point, but before we jump straight into the deep end of the thrills and spills, Dalmeny opens up about the experience in its entirety. So you’ve been doing it for years, can you explain what it’s like for a first timer? It’s one of the great bucket list things to do. If you want to do the Cresta you have to commit to doing it five times, and for those five runs you’ll be given all the equipment and instruction. You go with a group of other beginners, there is no practice course – this isn’t a driving range – and you have to get

out onto the Cresta. To start, you go from about two thirds of the way up which is the Junction Start, not the top start that is only for really experienced riders. Junction starters are basically shown the run, they study the maps and they have experienced riders explain what to do and talk them through how to brake using the spikes on your boots. Can anyone join the club? Anyone can apply to join, every year about 50-60 people apply, and about 15-25 get it. They tend not to let in people who’ve only done it once, they like to let people in who’ve been doing it for a couple of years, but it’s also just down to spaces, because all the people who apply are quite active riders and if we kept on adding, it would get too crowded. We want to make sure that the actual members always have the ability to turn up and have two or three rides in the day. Essentially the club looks for people who will fit in with the atmosphere of a totally amateur sport, so they don’t want a team turning up with aerodynamic everything drinking protein shakes in the shower, or people who are all about their secret equipment! It’s a club of friends and people need to get to know the club and get to know the members before they become one, otherwise it just turns into a kind of bus stop and we really don’t want that. The club is one of the most fun places on the planet, it really is – it’s like a sort of 1930s air terminal in the great age of Zeppelin flying, with a control tower perched on top and a crusty ex-colonel barking on the microphone; a variety of quite high-tech speed measuring equipment; and cameras monitoring bits of the run. There’s an enormous changing room with various kits and men standing around half naked wearing spiky boots and body armour, I mean it’s an absolute posers paradise! On the first floor is the bar where people stand and chat and drink coffee or something stronger, and watch others riding down. Then, as you go down, there are various points where you can come out and watch and when you see a rider really going for it, or there’s a known falling risk, there’s a whole gang of vultures who lean out the window and as the rider goes past and you can feel the whole club sucking its breath in. Why is the club men only? Well, tobogganing is a sport that had its origins in St. Moritz, and until the early 20th century, it operated completely without sexual differentiation, with men and women riding side by side. At some point in the 1900s a doctor said that he thought that things like toboggan riding gave women breast cancer, and he clearly was wrong about that, but in those days, you know they thought cigarettes were healthy and they thought tobogganing was unhealthy! So at some point it was decided

that as it was getting faster and people where beginning to damage themselves, to make it a men only sport. There are some women who want to do the Cresta and almost inevitably, if they really want they can experience something very similar on the bob-skeleton. The nature of Cresta is pretty special, so I think that if women want to do fast winter sports, there are so many options, as opposed to a private club that does this. It just is what it is. If it were to change, I’d be neither unhappy nor relieved. You mentioned the competitive aspect. Is there a very competitive atmosphere or is it like camaraderie? The great thing about a sport like the Cresta is that you can handicap it, so there are two types of races, there are open races where the fastest rider wins, generally over three or four runs averaged out. Then you have handicap races, where a committee of the people who work at the club have worked out that, for example, I am on average two seconds slower than the fastest person in the race, so on each course I would be given a two second handicap, which gets taken off my time. This means that if the handicappers do their job right, at the end of the race everybody will be first! Of course some people ride better or worse than they were expecting, so technically the best rider in the world can ride in active competition against someone with one lung and a dickey leg, who’s pitched up from England not having been out for two years, his children watching from the terrace and the blood rises and he gets in a mammoth performance! Someone who is by no means an athlete can actually end up winning some enormous trophy, slicing the head off a bottle of champagne at the bar. It is a competitive sport in that it’s for people who are innately competitive, but not in a nasty way. We have people who love to ride properly against each other. You see men in there eighties writing down their speeds and analysing it and you just smile and think to yourself, “there are guys your age watching day time TV at home in their sitting room and you’ve just ridden at 70 mph two inches above the ice on a lump of iron and leather, through the most beautiful landscape on the planet, and validated you’re existence, you’re not dead! You’re more than alive!” And I love that; some of these mad old men have the most amazing stories. They are stunt pilots, war heroes, some owning massive companies, billionaires or bus men, people who have saved up all year to come out, and then there are people who come in on their private jets. Granted, it’s not a cheap sport – don’t get me wrong – but on the actual day, there’s not that much at all that separates the rich man from the guy who just wants to go out on the ice.

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SPORT Old and new toboggans are by and large the same. The cutting edge technology does at the very highest-spec get things slightly faster, but the great thing about the handicap is that if you normally use an old fashioned toboggan, you’ll be handicapped on that time, meaning there’s every chance you will beat £15,000 worth of German engineering that your competitor spent the entire night polishing with micro-fibre. So its perfectly possible to rock up in the morning, kiss your wife, tug down your helmet, spit on your hands, have the ride of your life and win! Can you talk me through the actual experience?

it in 51.09 seconds in 1999; to this day no one has beaten that. Clifton Wrottesley is the current fastest rider, who, in order to ride faster, took the truly logical decision to dispense with unnecessary equipment, including his body armour! As a whole, the finest riders are British aristocrats in their late forties. The Cresta is just a big family of friends. There are a lot of Brits as it’s a British Club but it’s probably where Brits and Europeans see more of each other than most other places in the Alps. It’s the sort of place where you find hard working Italians, punctual French and laid back Germans! The best of every country mingle and continue to come back year after year.

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If you don’t do it before you die, you miss out. You’re never really too old! I’ve taken 65-year-old and 18-year old-boys down for the first time, I’ve taken a girl down on my back, I’ve done it in a kilt, on a miniature sized toboggan the size of a cereal pack and whatever you do it’s going to be a really great time. It’s a pretty dangerous thing to take part in, right? There are certain places where you can fall and have really nasty crashes, but the best riders, even at the very limit of their speed are still in control of what’s going on, so even if they do fall, they push their toboggan away, curl into a ball, fly through the air and whack into the bags. Unless you hit your toboggan again, you’re likely to be okay, if you’re very unfit and don’t know what you’re doing then you might break a leg or collarbone. Equally there are freak accidents, which are very sad, but people really generally... they sign up for it. I mean a lot of people have gotten bits of metal in their body from crashes on the Cresta Run. There’s a famous skeleton made out of X-rays of the body parts of members of the club! Is fear an aspect that you can overcome, or do you just have to accept it? Fear is one of things you have to feel. But because you do it a lot, you know the run and you know the turns, so you make as much as possible out of the experience. Therefore all the bits of fear are reduced to specific areas, and you hope your desire to go fast will conquer your feeling of, “oh god this is stupid you’re an absolute idiot.” Can you compare the feeling to anything else? I think it must feel a bit like motorcycling, but the crucial thing about the Cresta is that you’re going very fast and your chin is two inches above the ice so you see the world coming at you in two dimensions. It is without a doubt, the best hangover cure in the world! Aside from the competitive aspect and the sport, there must be a great social element?

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The Holy Grail of the Cresta Run is to run from Top. At this starting point, further up the hill from the Clubhouse is a little octagonal hut with a wood burning stove and a bench around it and 12 sweating men confronting their private demons before they ride. You are so scared before you’re about to go, because every single hard wired Neanderthal impulse in your head is saying, “Bad idea! Not good for survival of your particular branch of the species!”

Oh yes! St. Moritz is a big and social place, and a lot goes on there. There’s a great nightclub called the Dracula Club – which is my opinion the best club in the world – as well as coffee shops, races, nightclubs and wonderful hotels where you can easily spend your whole week enveloped in luxury. The Cresta riders tend to meet up and go to the same things because it only happens in the mornings, the run begins to melt after that, so the lunches are fantastic and then the fun unravels from there.

To do it you have to conquer those fears and ride in that glacial period of silence inside your head. You almost don’t breath and have to get from top to the bottom to finish. The fastest riders on the planet will do it in just over 50 seconds, with nobody having ever broken 50 seconds. The fastest man is in fact James Sunley who is the president of the company, who did

You must have some great stories from the social side of things?

Winter 2014

Nothing that is printable!

WHEREVER YOU ARE, BE A GENTLEMAN WWW.THEGENTLEMANSJOURNAL.COM Winter 2014

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“

HELI Skiing FOR ADRENALINE JUNKIES AND THRILLSEEKERS HELI-SKIING IS THE ULTIMATE SKI EXPERIENCE - THE MOST ELITE SPORT ON SNOW.

magine all the joy that comes with being part of the breathtaking landscape of the snow-topped mountains, combined with the adrenaline rush that only a sport like skiing can provide, and all set amongst the luxury of beautiful hotels and firstclass restaurants. Now imagine this without any queuing for lifts or swerving to avoid beginners tackling their first black run. This gentlemen, is heli-skiing. The Bugaboos (or ‘Bugs’ as they are known to locals) in British Columbia lay claim to being the unofficial home of heli-skiing. In 1963 an Austrian named Hans Gmoser kick-started the heli-skiing industry. After moving to Canada in the Fifties, the ‘Father of heli-skiing’ began experimenting with the sport, and by 1965 it became so desirable to those who could afford to partake that Gmoser founded CMH Heli-Skiing. The remote peaks, deep snow, and perfect terrain cultivated a meteoric rise in the popularity of heli-skiing. By the late Sixties, without enough Canadian guides to handle the burgeoning popularity of the sport, Gmoser was actively recruiting European guides to work with him heli-skiing in Canada, and today sees the same such popularity only increasing by the season. If you think that carrying the most expensive lift pass in the resort (a helicopter), to gain access to the most untouched powder on the mountain is luxurious you’re right, but heli-skiing is also not a sport to be taken lightly. Heli-skiing is not for

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the fainthearted, inexperienced or indeed the unfit. Like any high-octane sport there are always risks; that said, according to a Blackcountry.com study, you are actually safer heli-skiing than you are driving on a motorway – the heli-ski fatality rate is .018 per cent (usually from avalanche) versus .022 per cent for car accidents. There is also arguably less risk involved than in alpine or resort skiing. Famously, most skiing accidents occur in overcrowded conditions on slopes, or through sheer inexperience. It goes without saying that flying at any time in a helicopter carries a certain degree of risk. Flying one at high altitudes within mountain peaks pounded by high-winds and having your pilot lower it onto icy, unpredictable terrain carries even more risk, but the thrill actually comes from the physical act of skiing the untouched surfaces, not from the thought of “will I survive this?”

HELI-SKIING IS EXCLUSIVE, EXTRAORDINARY AND EVERY EXPERT SKIER’S DREAM. IT’S ALSO PRETTY ADDICTIVE.

”

Do your homework on heli-ski operations. There are many heli-skiing companies in British Columbia, that especially cater for different time periods. How long you go for will depend on your budget, your time and, of course, your physical ability. You might be surprised to find out just how physically demanding it can be once you set off on these first rides, which can last for several hours at a time. You don’t have to be an expert skier to enjoy heli-skiing, but you do need to be comfortable skiing in heavy powder snow. This is rugged skiing in a pristine wilderness at its most majestic. If you haven’t been before it’s advised that you do

a single day first - before committing to a week with a heli-ski operation located near a ski resort, so you can ski in the resort on down days. A full heli-skiing adventure gives you the opportunity to ski in some of the most sensational settings and conditions you’ll ever have experienced. You’ll plunge into the deepest powder, ski the most spectacular glaciers, make fresh track in pristine open bowls, practice your turns in the trees and witness incredible views from the greatest heights. Heli-skiing is expensive, but it’s worth it. When you find yourself flying to the summit of a snowcovered mountain, with untouched snow, stunning peaks surrounding you and not another being in sight, you’ll soon realise that there really is nothing quite like it in the world. Heli-skiing is exclusive, extraordinary and every expert skier’s dream. It’s also pretty addictive. Dress in layers; heli-skiing is a work out, from your heli-ski safety training to loading and unloading the chopper, skiing deep powder and waiting for the helicopter to pick you up and do it all over again – your core temperature and extremities will fluctuate from warm to cold. Technical fabrics with wicking and quality base layers, plus water resistant outerwear to keep you dry in deep snow (and in the event of a fall) are highly recommended. For heli-skiing, goggles are a must, helmets are advised but not usually a requirement and magnetic zips are a not allowed since they can interfere with your avalanche receiver. Even for the most well-travelled of skiers, there is nothing quite comparable to the feeling of soaring through the mountains and the valleys in search of that pure-powder snow for which these select few regions are so renowned.

You can be assured that the operation is run by highly disciplined professionals. Once the blades are fired up and you feel that first stomach dropping lift of the chopper, all thoughts or fears will soon drain from your mind as shear excitement and adrenaline take hold, in anticipation of the day ahead. Like many of the best things in life, with high-cost and high-risk come the best rewards. You need to be prepared, knowledgeable, and in good physical - and mental - shape to have the best heli-ski trip: a ski trip of a lifetime.

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WHERE TO GO WHISTLER, BRITISH COLUMBIA Whistler, and its surrounding region is a magnet for snow, and accumulates 20-30 metres each year. On top of this, there lies a huge diversity of terrain, from long vertical steeps to big and inviting powder bowls, to tree runs like you’ve never seen before. Add this to the amount of pro skiers and filmmakers this area gets passing through it and you’ll realise why this location is easily one of the best in the world. Combine this with the fact you can ski such terrain a mere ride away from the world-famous Whistler and Blackcomb villages and you know you’re about to have the holiday of a lifetime. What was once a well kept secret is now one the world’s most sought after ski destinations, with fine dining and a serious emphasis on the buzzing nightlife. No trip would

be complete without an evening spent at Fifty Two 80 Bistro and Bar at the Four Seasons that offers a seduction for your senses with local flavours. Culinary sophistication meets a casual-cool vibe, perfect for relaxing. With live entertainment and seven nights of après, this place provides the perfect ending to your day of adventure on the mountain. Equally, just because you’ve avoided the crowds for the past few days whilst skiing in serene isolation, that doesn’t mean you have to miss out on the fun come the end of the day. Head to Merlin’s Bar and Grill for a rowdy watering hole experience with fellow skiers and watch the last of the skiers descend from the comfort of a deckchair, beer in hand. Fairmont Chateau

OPERATORS LAST FRONTIER HELISKIING

STAY AT

FAIRMONT CHATEAU WHISTLER

NITA LAKE LODGE

It is heli-heaven this year at Fairmont Château Whistler, without doubt Whistler’s premier address. Whether it is on the glacier or through the trees, guests can enjoy endless powder away from the crowds with a jetfuelled helicopter at their beck and call.

If you truly want to stay away from the crowds, then this is the hotel for you, high up above Whistler and Blackcombe, Nita Lake in an idyllic setting. A far cry from bustling Whistler centre, it’s still within easy reach by taxi. This satellite village, known as Creekside, was the original village of Whistler, long before the developers joined forces with Blackcomb. The iconic Dave Murray Downhill run, used for the Men’s Downhill in the Olympics, ends at Creekside, just a five-minute walk from Nita Lake Lodge.

For more information: nitalakelodge.com

This ski-in, ski-out hotel is at the base of the Blackcomb Mountain and on the doorstep of some of Canada’s finest skiing. The Whistler Blackcomb area has more than 8,100 acres of skiable terrain and a vertical rise of more than 5,200ft. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, the hotel also retains its reputation as a popular spot for après-ski drinks – martinis and scotches are the order of the day – with its two roaring fire pits right on the slope.

For more information: fairmont.com/whistler

Last Frontier Heli-Skiing in the wilderness of British Columbia, close to the Alaskan border, is the world’s largest heli-skiing concession and the ultimate experience for any skier, whether you are a competent intermediate on your first heli-skiing trip or a seasoned heliski veteran. Boasting a ski area of 9,500km2 (compared to the average Canadian heliski area of 2,200km2) and annual average snowfall of 25 metres, the combination of terrain and conditions is unsurpassed. Last Frontier operate with small groups of up to five guests and two-three groups per helicopter (A-star B2 or Bell 407), which guarantees a swift and efficient service to maximise your vertical feet. Equally important is terrain with tree cover as Last Frontier can usually get you skiing even when the weather closes in.

For more information: scottdunn.com WHISTLER HELI-SKIING Having been in operation since 1981, this is one of Whistler’s most popular heli-ski companies. Its exclusive tenure consists of 432,000 acres of classic, big mountain terrain that every skier or boarder must experience at least once in a lifetime. Their terrain includes 173 glaciers and 475 runs in an area that is 50 times the size of Whistler Blackcomb. Operating dates are December 5, 2014 – April 19, 2015.

For more information: whistlerheliskiing.com

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SOLHYLLAN LOG CABINS

LAPLAND For a truly unforgettable skiing holiday, take adventure to the true limit and go heliskiing in Swedish Lapland. How many people can say they’ve done that? Settle in and enjoy the thousands of square feet of empty mountains and totally untouched snow. Embark on winter wonderland adventures in one of the most unique landscapes around and get a taster for life in Lapland with husky sledding, cave tours, snowmobiling and ice climbing.

Heliskiing in Swedish Lapland offers empty slopes, glaciers and couloirs with untouched snow and vertical drops of up to 1,400 metres. Towards the end of the season in May, the 24 hour daylight allows for heli-skiing under the midnight sun – truly a once in a life-time experience. The heli-skiing season runs from March to mid-May, as this is the only time of year when there’s enough daylight - due to its northern proximity.

Solhyllan enjoys Björkliden’s best location with magnificent views over the mountain world. To create a genuine montane feeling, the houses are built from rough timber in a alpine style. Filled with rustic charm in abundance, these lodges cater to all your needs, and are fitted with TVs, Wi-Fi, Blu-Ray players and iPad/iPhone docks. They are ideal for a large family or group of friends. The accommodation offers the highest level of comfort and a layout suitable for big groups that like to spend time together in seclusion.

For more information: skisafari.com

STAY AT HOTELL FJÄLLET Hotell Fjället offers very comfortable four star classic ski chalet accommodation and the lobby bar is a lovely area to relax by the fire with a drink, taking in the panoramic mountain views. There are lots of exciting activities to keep you busy and give you a taste of life in Lapland such as husky sledding, cave tours, snowmobiling, ice climbing and, most thrillingly, heli-skiing!

For more information: scottdunn.com

OPERATORS ARCTIC HELI-SKIING In Sweden, Arctic Heli-Skiing is currently working with one of Sweden’s leading mountain guides Stefan Palm, who has over the years built up a high-end heli-skiing operation in northern Sweden’s Lapland region. The area encompasses an expansive untouched wilderness, with exciting opportunities for adventure heli-skiing at its best. Like in Iceland, the season for skiing in Lapland is spring, with the endless days and midnight sun making it a favourite destination after a busy season in the Alps or elsewhere. Their Swedish heli-ski adventures are tailor made to each group’s requirements in terms of time and dates.

For more information: arcticheliskiing.com

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VALDEZ, ALASKA Heli-skiing in Valdez is not for the faint-hearted. With more than 2,500 square miles of glaciated mountains, Valdez offers everything from scenic glacier runs and powder bowls to steep couloirs, exposed ramps and big mountain faces. The cold maritime snow that falls in the region is world-renowned and with good reason. Providing some of the steepest terrain in North America with a confidence and sense of security not possible anywhere else, runs average between 3,000 and 5,000 vertical feet with the longest sitting at 6,200. Pacific storms building over the Gulf of Alaska mix with cold Arctic air, reliably delivering some of the deepest powder in North America. This proximity to

the Pacific Ocean not only brings large amounts of snow, it also generates moderate temperatures. Though the days are shorter and colder, February and March see the deepest powder. Temperatures can drop below zero during these months but the average is typically 10-20F. Then, in the long days of April and May, powder is accompanied by corn snow and temperatures average 15-30F. Alaska’s eastern Chugach Mountains have been the epicentre of big mountain skiing since its inception in the early 1990s. This terrain remains the proving ground for the world’s elite skiers and riders.

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STAY AT TSAINA LODGE Housing 32 guests in 16 single- and eight double rooms with private baths, these brand-new accommodations are just steps away from the VHSG heli-pad. Enjoy the Tsaina’s view of Worthington Glacier while feasting on world-class gourmet steaks and fresh local seafood. Relive memories or create new ones in the historic Tsaina Bar. Relax in the reading room. Store your skis, boards and boots in the guest locker room. 24,000 vert per day not enough for you? Visit the gym to sweat out what you’ve got left. The amenities include; Luxury Rooms, Fine Dining, Historic Bar and a Full Gym.

For more information: tsainalodge.com

OPERATORS VHSG Heli-skiing with Valdez Heli-Ski Guides is unlike skiing anywhere else in the world, but you do need to be an expert skier to enjoy it. Valdez Heli-Ski Guides caters far advanced and expert skiers and riders only. They fly Eurocopter A-Star B2 helicopters for all of their operations. This powerful helicopter has an excellent safety record and is the best aircraft available for mountain flying.

For more information: valdezheliskiguides.com BLACK OPS VALDEZ Black Ops Valdez specialise in the true Alaskan Heli-skiing experience. From the moment you get to Valdez, until you leave, you will experience the best of Alaska. While their name may be new to the area, the personnel are not greenhorns. Black Ops Valdez consists of a team of highly skilled and trained Valdez heli-ski guide veterans, many of whom have guided here for over a decade. They operate Eurocopter A-Star B-Series 350 aircraft and have 16 maximum clients at any one time, or four groups of four, each with a guide. This ensures that your experience is a personal one and eliminates the need to wait for the helicopter between runs.

For more information: blackopsvaldez.com

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To purchase call 01243 755055 or visit

www.goodwood.com Winter 2014

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HOW TO

SKI IN PERFECT

STYLE FORMER BRITISH WORLD CUP ALPINE SKI RACER AND FOUR TIME WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES COMPETITOR CHEMMY ALCOTT TALKS US THROUGH THE ART OF SKIING IN PERFECT STYLE.

s someone who has been fortunate enough to follow their passion for chasing winter snow around the world for over 20 years, I have had my fair share of skiing in every condition: ice injected pitches, grippy hero snow, end of season wet mush, corduroy perfection, manic moguls and even fitted in some drops out of a helicopter in Whistler a few years back. The strangest aspect of retiring from being a ski racer is that non-piste fans keep challenging me to see how good I am out of my comfort zone. Well in that I have always skied because it makes me happy, my day rarely ended when the race or season was over – that just meant the start of ‘play’ time. The day after I retired I spent three weeks skiing from 9-5 every day. In hindsight travelling around Europe joining friends for an end of season ski I realised that actually I was being invited to test: “I bet she can only ski around gates!” Every day, however, I was left satisfied by the looks on friends’ faces when I ripped down all types of terrain. I mean, boys and girls (mostly boys actually – and mostly my older brothers), it’s important to remember that I have been challenging myself at super-fast speeds in all spectrums of visibility and on any snowy surface for 30 years now so please don’t underestimate the retired alpine racer! In short, I feel I am fairly well placed to advise on the perfect skiing style.

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ON PISTE On piste is where you can perfect your foundation so that you can be adaptable and versatile when it comes to skiing the rest of the mountain. I am a metaphor coach – I find there is a lot more clarity in giving skiers visual aids as opposed to be overly technical. For example the old ‘bend ze knees’ is advice to try and make you pitch your weight forward, so that you have pressure on the tongues of your ski boots and thus more control of the ski, but it is very easy to bend your knees and have no forward pressure. For instance, right now I am sitting at my desk writing this with my knees bent at 90 degrees but all my pressure is down and back so even though I am ‘bending ze knees’ it will most definitely not help my skiing technique. For this I like to ask people to visualise placing an overripe peach in front of their ankle. Whilst skiing down the mountain I want you to crush that peach so that at the bottom there is only the pip left! The result of this is that you will force your shins forward as much as possible – ankle angulation is key. The second visual I use is to ask clients to show me their best gorilla impression. I see them all round their back and shoulders whilst engaging their core – then I ask them to drive their arms forward and voila, they look like racers!

OFF PISTE & POWDER Off piste/powder is slightly different because you can get away with tipping the pressure fractionally onto the tail (especially when you have the right kit and your skis are ‘fat’) – this lifts the tips of your skis up very slightly and means you float and bounce on the soft fresh snow. You can’t attack the fall line as much to create speed but you have to choose your radius of turns and act accordingly. For instance, all the best off piste skiers carve beauties down the steep powder with really long fluid turns, others choose to jump/pop from side to side (especially when it is vertical) to control the speed.

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With your knees and hips aimed downhill, keep your skis shoulder-width apart and balance your weight evenly over the centre of your skis. When turning, steer by pointing both feet in the direction you want to go. When ready to turn again, plant your downhill pole below your bottom ski. Use your pole as a target and aim to turn right around it.

At the end of each turn, lift the weight off your skis. By pulling up on you feet, ankles, and knees, you will actually raise your skis to the top layer of the powder. This will make it much easier for you to make your next turn.

Make sure your upper body is always pointing downhill when you are skiing through powder. The only part of you that rotates is your lower body. This helps with your momentum and balance.

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MOGULS Moguls, I confess, are not my forte. I like them now and again but I don’t really go searching for them, which probably has more to do with my metal right leg and continuous knee pain than not actually being in love with the bumps. When moguls are skied well it really is an art. It’s efficient and bouncy as opposed to when moguls are done poorly, which just looks awkward and painful. The obvious tip is to narrow your stance (this helps if you have the old school straight up and down skis – it is rather difficult to ski with your legs close together if you have big parabolics/ carvers on). Narrowing the stance and really skiing two footed letting the pendulum swing your legs from side to side whilst having your upper body stable and facing squarely down the mountain really helps.

The slower you ski moguls, the better chance you have of keeping in control and the less you need to rely on your own reflexes. The slowest and easiest way to ski moguls is to ski what is known as the ‘Green Line’.

The Green Line is just a description of the route you will take through the mogul field. This mogul technique is where you initiate and complete each turn on the flat top of a mogul. The flat top is the highest horizontal plain of a particular mogul (bump). Then, with soft edges, you should drift down the front or the side to the next mogul.

Visualise the Green Line as skiing from one flat mogul top to another flat mogul top. When you visualise only certain terrain elements of a mogul run it simplifies the terrain complexity. People tend to ski where they are looking, so keep your eyes focused on the flat tops of the moguls, not the troughs (the valleys between moguls) and the route will look less daunting.

Initiate a turn on a flat top of a mogul, then drift down the front side of it to the next mogul – keep your legs relatively soft, so you absorb the terrain and don’t bounce up and down too violently. This is a slow but controlled way of tackling a mogul field, but it will help you learn to eventually take a faster and more advanced route.

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FOOD & DRINK

WINTER’S GOLDEN

NECTAR

2. Johnnie Walker Blue Label, £182.00, harrods.com

1. The Ardmore Legacy, £29.99, selfridges.com

THIS SEASON, SOAK UP THE WARMING NOTES OF THESE SMOOTH, FRESH AND MELLOW WHISKIES. LET THE INDIVIDUAL EXPRESSIONS DO THE TALKING AS YOU SETTLE IN FOR THE LONG NIGHTS TO COME.

4. The Macallan Gold, £38, waitrose.com 8. Talisker Storm, £40, tesco.com, morrisons.com

3. Glenfiddich 26 Year, £350, whiskyshop.com

9. Glenlivet 12 Year, £34, waitrose.com

7. Highland Park 12 Year Old, £34.04, waitrose.com 5. Chivas 12 Year Old, £27, sainsburys.co.uk

6.The Glenrothes Single Speyside Malt, £700, bbr.com

10. Hibiki, £36.95, thewhiskyexchange.com

Photographs by Gareth Williams Retouching by Luisa Whitton Photographer’s assistant Michelle Dwyer

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FOOD & DRINK

“

THE ART OF

COME QUICKLY, I AM TASTING THE STARS! - DOM PERIGNON

CELEBRATION

NOW IS THE TIME TO INDULGE IN ALL THAT SPARKLES. FROM THE FINEST CHAMPAGNE TO THE BEST SPARKLING WINE, NEVER FIND YOURSELF WITHOUT A FLUTE IN HAND.

2. Krug Grand Cuvee, £160, selfridges.com

1. Louis Roederer Cristal 2006, £185, selfridges.com

6. Nyetimber Classic Cuvée 2009, £35.99, majestic.co.uk 3. Pol Roger Brut Reserve, £38, fortnumandmason.com 4. Lanson Black Label, £34, selfridges.com

5. Dom Pérignon 1998 Vintage, £260, uk.domperignon.com

7. Bollinger Gande Année 2004, £75, majestic.co.uk

”

8. Taittinger Brut Réserve NV, £44.95, harrods.com

Photographs by Gareth Williams Retouching by Luisa Whitton Photographer’s assistant Michelle Dwyer

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FOOD & DRINK

WINTER Canapés by Mark Hix

PUT DOWN THE CRISPS AND DIP, FORGET ABOUT THE CRUDITES AND TAKE A LOOK AT THESE FAR MORE INTERESTING WINTER CANAPES. PERFECT FOR CHRISTMAS EVE COCKTAIL PARTIES OR THE IDEAL ACCOMPANIMENT TO BEATING THE JANUARY BLUES. MARK HIX TALKS YOU THROUGH THESE MELT-IN-THE-MOUTH CANAPES.

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CUTTLEFISH CROQUETTES MAKES 10

METHOD

INGREDIENTS

Melt a little vegetable oil in a heavy frying pan, season the cuttlefish and lightly colour on both sides then remove from the pan and put to one side. Meanwhile melt 25g of butter in a heavy saucepan and gently cook the shallots and garlic for a couple minutes until soft. Then add the white wine, fish stock and cuttlefish, bring to the boil and simmer very gently for about 1-1 ½ hours or until the cuttlefish is tender. Check the cuttlefish at regular intervals as it may well take less time than this. Remove the pieces of fish and put to one side to cool.

500g cuttlefish, cleaned weight A little vegetable or corn oil for frying Salt and freshly ground black pepper 100g butter 2 large shallots, peeled, halved and finely chopped 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed 125ml white wine 300ml fish stock 150g plain flour 2 sachets of squid ink (about 25g) Juice of 1 lemon Flour, egg and fresh white breadcrumbs for coating

In a clean, thick bottomed pan, melt the butter, add the flour and stir on a low heat for a minute or so then gradually whisk in the hot cooking liquor to avoid lumps forming. Then add the ink, squeezing out as much as you can from the packets (you can swish them out in the stock first). Bring to a simmer and continue simmering very gently for about 20-30 minutes, stirring regularly so it doesn’t stick to the bottom. The sauce should be really thick and gluey, almost with a mashed potato consistency almost. Remove from the heat and leave to cool. Meanwhile finely chop the cuttlefish and mix in with the sauce, re-season if necessary and add lemon juice to taste. Place the mix in the fridge for a few hours then transfer to a piping bag with a 2cm nozzle and pipe in long lines on a tray lined with greaseproof paper. Place the tray in the freezer for an hour to firm the croquettes and cut into 3cm lengths. Using three bowls, one with the flour, the second with the beaten egg, and the third with the breadcrumbs, carefully flour the croquettes, then put them through the egg and finally the breadcrumbs, re-shaping them with a palette knife if necessary. Leave in the fridge until required. Heat about 2-3cm of vegetable oil in a deep-sided frying pan and carefully fry the croquettes for about 2-3 minutes on each side until golden.

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FOOD & DRINK

FRENCH BEAN & SALMON CANAPES SERVES 20 A lovely way to serve fresh salmon is in canapés. I find three French beans in each wrap is just right. Malaysian kecap manis is a type of soy sauce, but if you can’t find any then use ordinary soy sauce, it will work fine.

FRIED BROAD BEAN PODS SERVES 6-8

INGREDIENTS 200-250g skinned and boned salmon centre fillet 150-200g French beans, trimmed 2tsp kecap manis (or soy sauce) 1tsp Nigella seeds (onion seeds)

METHOD Cook the French beans in boiling, salted water for 3-4 minutes, so that they still have a bit of a crunch, then drain and refresh under a cold tap. With a very sharp knife, cut thin slices of salmon vertically down the fish. Take three French beans and wrap a slice of salmon around the middle twice, then trim the beans about 1cm either side of the salmon. Arrange the salmon on serving dishes, place a drop of the soy on each and sprinkle with the Nigella seeds.

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I was messing around at home with a new broad bean dish, and just as I was about to dump the pods in the compost, I suddenly had a moment of inspiration and decided to put them through flour, milk and flour again and deep-fry them. I gave them a sprinkle of Cornish sea salt and they were absolutely great. I even did a second batch and spiced the flour up a bit with cumin, paprika and black pepper – and they were even better.

INGREDIENTS

METHOD

The pods from 8-10 medium-sized broad beans 120-150g self-raising flour Salt and freshly ground black pepper 150ml milk Vegetable or corn oil for deep frying Cornish sea salt for sprinkling

Cut or tear the beans in half lengthways on the natural seam and remove any stringy bits and discoloured ends, then cut the pods into 3-4cm lengths. Season the flour well and add the suggested spices above if you wish. Preheat about 8cm of oil to 160-180C in a large thick-bottomed saucepan or electric deep-fat fryer. Have three bowls ready, one for the seasoned flour, one for the milk and the third for the finished bean pods. Coat the pods in the flour, shaking off any excess, then pass them through the milk and again through the flour. Deep fry in batches, stirring occasionally, for 3-4 minutes until lightly coloured and crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon on to some kitchen paper and sprinkle with Cornish sea salt. Serve immediately.

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VERTU PHONE

STYLE

The

ESSENTIALS THE PRODUCTS EVERY GENTLEMAN SHOULD OWN

The unmistakable Vertu for Bentley has a knurled, Grade 5 titanium casing and a sleek quilted trim to match Bentley styling. With a Grade 5 titanium, engine-turned back plate, echoing Bentley’s instrument panel, this edition also carries a forged metal winged Bentley badge and contains exclusive Bentley content. The fine attention to detail is carried through into each and every feature, culminating in the screws, modelled on the air vents of Bentley’s

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automobiles. It’s wrapped in diamond-stitched, quilted calf leather, crafted by one of Europe’s oldest tanneries using traditional methods, as a result each Vertu for Bentley is extremely individual and ultimately unique.

Vertu for Bentley PRICE: £10,700.00 www.vertu.com

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2 3

BELUGA VODKA

CROCKETT AND JONES SHOES

STYLE

Beluga Noble is refined in just every way. Using unique production technology, century-old traditions and a strict system of purification and filtration, the flavour of Beluga Noble has acquired an irreproducible smoothness. Produced in the heart of Siberia the refined bottle design is created with hand-made elements, on each bottle you will find a small Beluga fish, traditionally hand-fitted, making each and every bottle unique. The first batch of

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Beluga Noble Russian Vodka was produced in 2002 as a result of the meticulous hard work of the Mariinsky Distillery masters. The refined, rich taste is best enjoyed ice-cold in a signature Beluga Martini.

Beluga Noble Vodka PRICE: £35.35, 70cl www.vodka-beluga.com

Throughout 135 years of history, Crockett & Jones have cemented their place as a true British classic and are introducing new and innovative shoes amongst their tried-and-tested styles for AW14. Esteemed Northampton shoemakers, their creations are as versatile as they come with smooth, minimal lines and winter-ready leather soles. With the sleek combination of the finest black calf leather, medallion punching on the toe and bark tanned single leather

soles, the Barrington semi-brogue Oxfords are a must-have for winter. In their Hand Grade Collection, Crockett & Jones’s attention to detail is inescapable, featuring heavy punching detail that will only get better in years to come.

Barrington Brogue PRICE:£495.00 www.crockettandjones.com

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4 5

HUNTER BOOTS

PURDEY SPORTER

STYLE

When it comes to Wellington boots there is really only one brand worth considering. Hunter is renowned for producing the very finest in country footwear, and has been so for over a century, supplying landed gentry and countless royals in the process. With design classics throughout their collection they truly are the benchmark, so if you want to channel your inner country gent then look no further. The Balmoral Sovereign is the boot for those who demand the very best. A vulcanised rubber construction with

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the new addition of Vibram® sole and shock absorbing pads, this boot is designed for high performance in the harshest of landscapes. The Balmoral features the same unique soft rubber construction and weatherproof buckle as its sibling, making them perfect for a festival, a day on the farm or anything in between.

Balmoral Soverign PRICE: £300.00 www.hunter-boot.com

The Purdey Sporter is the very best in its class. A remarkable over-and-under, it takes the most admired elements of Purdey heritage and combines them with 21st century know-how. Elegant, low-profiled and beautifully scrollengraved, the Sporter is built around an action by Edwinson Green. Naturally, the walnut stock is bespoke; hand-carved and finished from the blank that you can hand-select in Purdy’s famed Long Room. At Purdey’s workshop in London, they expertly blend modern technology with

centuries-old craft. Combined with the input of their boutique gunmaking partners in Brescia, Italy’s gunmaking capital, the Sporter weaves competition-winning levels of accuracy into the DNA of this consummately English gun. The result is a Purdey shotgun offering longevity, elegance and magnificent handling.

The Purdey Sporter PRICE: from £38,400.00 www.purdey.com

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6 7 FLORIS HONEY OUD

ETTINGER

STYLE

Ettinger London has designed and handcrafted luxury leather goods since 1934, making truly classic accessories that stand the test of time. This sterling orange billfold is inspired by the British £10 note, exuding style and confidence with its orange interior, you can’t miss the flash of colour. The buttery soft leather, combined with the fine black calf exterior, ensures that the whole wallet has a touch of extreme refinement and timeless appeal, it also features six credit card

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slots along with two slip pockets for that special touch. If you are stuck for winter birthday ideas gents, why not let Ettinger personalise this item with your loved ones initials?

Sterling Orange Billfold Wallet with 6 C/C PRICE: £162.00 www.ettinger.co.uk

British family perfumers since 1730, Floris creates finely crafted fragrances – artfully composed, each unique fragrance expresses the story behind its creation by combining exquisite ingredients sourced from around the world. The family’s most prestigious range of perfumes, the Private Collection, is exclusively produced in small batches. Inspired by people and events, past and present, Honey Oud opens with a gourmand accord of English honey and vanilla which combine to add a velvet softness to the oud oil and accentuate the rose at the heart of this complex fragrance. A quintessentially Floris

interpretation of this iconic fragrance, the oud oil in this scent is among the most expensive in the perfumer’s palette. It is an opulent, deep sensual note that combines beautifully with rose and sandalwood.

Honey Oud – Private Collection (Harrod’s Exclusive) PRICE: £160.00 www.florislondon.com

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8 9

LEICA M-P

EDE & RAVENSCROFT JACKET

STYLE

Leica Camera AG is a German optics company, and the Leica M series cameras have a somewhat legendary status amongst contemporary photographers. With their superb build and the excellent optical quality of M-mount lenses many photographers arguably see them as the ultimate acquisition. With exceptional image sharpness and the finest rendition of details, the Leica M-P is always there to capture your most treasured moments. With its two gigabyte memory buffer, the Leica M-P is twice as fast

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at capturing shots in sequence as the Leica M. Protecting the LCD monitor screen is extremely scratch-resistant sapphire crystal glass – one of the world’s hardest materials – meaning it’s almost unbreakable.

Leica M-P (Silver) PRICE: £5,650.00 www.leica-storemayfair.co.uk

The Charles soft unstructured jacket is a key style for autumn/winter 2014 and perfect for smart-casual looks. It has an extremely tailored fit in compacted wool Harris Tweed and is hand-woven in a herringbone pattern. Ede & Ravenscroft pride themselves on their intricate and functional features including patch pockets, reversed tweed elbow patches and leather football buttons. Established in 1689, Ede & Ravenscroft are the oldest tailors in London, and they make, sell and hire out legal dress,

academic dress and other ceremonial and formal dress. They have shops in Oxford, Cambridge and Edinburgh alongside their three London boutiques. Their men’s tailoring is stylish whilst remaining elegantly enduring and approachable in style and fit.

Charles Unstructured Harris Tweed Grey Jacket PRICE: £395.00 www.edeandravenscroft.com

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STYLE

10 11

12 9

For him

THE

Gift Guide

SUMPTUOUS DRESSING GOWNS OR ONE-OFF VINTAGE PIECES, THIS IS THE ONLY WISH LIST YOU’LL NEED FOR THE SEASON OF GIVING.

FOR FAMILY, FRIENDS AND LOVERS: THE ULTIMATE GIFT GUIDE HAND SELECTED BY US, FOR YOU

12 6

6 4 9

1. Dressing Gown, Sirplus, £150, sirplus.co.uk - 2. Shirt, Ede & Ravenscroft, £250, edeandravenscroft.com – 3. Humidor, The Silver Fund, £12,090, thesilverfund.com – 4. Jacket, Barbour, £279, barbour.com – 5. Scarf, Harvie & Hudson, £135, harvieandhudson.com – 6. Jacket, Hackett, £800, hackett.com – 7. Cufflinks, Holland & Holland, £295, hollandandholland.com – 8. Boxer Shorts, Sunspel, £32, sunspel.com – 9. After Shave, Floris Honey Oud, £90, florislondon.com – 10. Wallet, Montblanc, £300, montblanc.com – 11. Flask, Fox & Hardy, £175, foxandhardy.com – 12. Match Box, David Linley, £75, davidlinley.com.

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1. Bag, Chapman, £155, chapmanbags.com – 2. Backpack, Michael Kors, £435, michaelkors.com – 3. Hat, Lock & Co, £150, lockhatter.co.uk – 4. Leather Gloves, Oliver Brown, £55, oliverbrown.org.uk – 5. Shoes, Herring, £275, herringshoes.co.uk – 6. Sunglasses, Taylor Morris, £125, taylormorrissunglasses.com – 7. Belt, Pampeano, £55, pampeanobelts.co.uk – 8. Satchel, Tanner & Oak, £295, tannerandoak.com – 9. Grooming Kit, Aesop, £105, aesop.com – 10. Camera, Leica, £1,850, uk.leica-camera.com – 11. Razor, Geo F Trumper, £120, trumpers.com - 12. Boots, Hunter, £285, hunterboots.com – 13. Jumper, Aquascutum, £195, aquascutum.com.

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STYLE

2 1 1

3 2 11

For her

THE WAY TO HER HEART? BLACK LACE, GOLD ACCESSORIES AND RED HOT LEATHERWEAR.

10 5

5 10 8 7

7 9 6

1. Notebook, Smythson, £45, smythson.com – 2. Watch, Baume & Mercier, £7,150, baume-et-mercier.co.uk – 3. Jacket, Belstaff, £550, belstaff. co.uk – 4. Clutch Bag, Alexander McQueen, £1195, alexandermcqueen.com – 5. Handbag, Mulberry, £4,500, mulberry.com – 6. Slippers, Charlotte Olympia, £365, charlotteolympia.com – 7. Key Chain, Ettinger, £36, ettinger.co.uk – 8. Eye Could Palette, Laura Mercier, £38, lauramercier.com – 9. Boots, Valentino, £1,235, valentino.com – 10. Biker Jacket, Acne, £1,150, acnestudios.com – 11. Sunglasses, Saint Laurent, £325, ysl.com – 12. Top, Temperley, £325, temperleylondon.com.

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1.Necklace, Virzi & De Luca, £555, virzideluca.com – 2. Candle, Cire Trudon, £65, ciretrudon.com – 3. Travel Luggage, Gucci, £4,430, gucci. com – 4. Coffee Machine, Streitman, £1,038, strietman.net – 5. Book, Peter Harrington, £1,250, peterharrington.co.uk – 6. Bracelet, Finds, £100, net-a-porter.com 7. Earrings, Monica Vinader, £370, monicavinader.com – 8. Make-up Set, YSL, £25, ysl.com – 9. Headphones, Frends, £119, wearefrends.com – 10. Nail Varnish, Chanel, £18, chanel.com – 11. Fragrance, Jo Malone, £82, jomalone.co.uk – 12. Sloe Gin, Chase, £26, chasedistillery.co.uk - 13. Lingerie Set, £71, damaris.co.uk.

Winter 2014

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CULTURE

Gentlemen THEN & NOW

IN THE WORDS OF EVELYN WAUGH: “WHAT AN IMMATURE, SELF-DESTRUCTIVE, ANTIQUATED MISCHIEF IS MAN!’’ ONCE UPON A TIME IT WAS ALL POCKET WATCHES, BOODLE’S, AND SNUFF. TODAY THEY SPEND THEIR EVENINGS HOBNOBBING WITH EUROS AND HITTING UP GROUCHO WITH BAGS FULL OF GAK. FROM WHERE THEY DRINK TO WHO THEY DIDDLE, HERE IS A LOOK AT GENTLEMEN: THEN AND NOW.

or as long as there have been gentlemen, there have been gentlemen’s clubs. From Brooks’s to Boodle’s, The Arts Club to The Kennel Club, such establishments have long been home to the most established of men. The most prestigious of which was, of course, White’s. Founded in White’s Chocolate House in 1693, by an Italian chap named Bianco, and famously frequented by international men of mystery Beau Brummell, Lord Alvanley, Henry Mildmay, and Henry Pierrepoint. White’s has been a hotbed for drinking, smoking, gambling, dogging, and male camaraderie ever since. A place where no man enjoys another’s company more – except, perhaps, in one of the public lavatories in Clapham – White’s is where gentlemen went to let their hair down, and to escape the stifling pressures of married/mistress life (Prince Charles reportedly had his stag night there). Fast forward to 2014, and White’s is also the name of a strip club in Aldgate. “It’s all changed now,’’ one particularly crusty member tells me over some Scotch, “the young don’t want to be surrounded by us old folk anymore. They want to be around people their own age, around women and, you know, bohemian types.’’ With the family wealth long since dried up, gone are the days when boozerouged gents could afford to while away the day drinking in raucous packs of five. Indeed, no longer able to rely on the rent of villagers for their income, the chattering classes of today have been forced into comparatively ball-breaking jobs. They work hard and snort harder when it comes to spending their free time, meaning making merry with a bunch of bloated old toffs isn’t as appealing as it once was. In an age where you can get laid, get home, and get high all at the click of a button, it must come as no surprise that the fervour for formalities, and the tendency for tradition have fallen rather by the wayside. So, too, has the desire to frequent the stuffy gentlemen’s clubs of generations past, despite most of them now admitting women (feminist harpies of the world, rejoice!). And so, the era of the gentlemen’s club is over; cue the rise of the private member’s club – whose members are chosen based on coolness of character rather than land ownership, gender or wealth – and the dawn of gak offs in Chelsea – something you don’t have to be Made In to be part of. Furthermore, unlike the wealthy elites of the past, the modern

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day gentleman keeps a far more cosmopolitan company. Mingling with models, musicians, actors and artists, or rubbing shoulders with Russian oligarchs and German princes –those Von Trapp’s, Von Dutch’s, and Van Helsing’s of the banking world – gents today spend late nights at LouLou’s and get giddy at Groucho, before heading off to an after party in SW7. Hoovering up designer beverages like a pig to the trough, anything from Grey Goose to David Beckham’s very own brand of whiskey (it looks like a large bottle of perfume, and is about as manly as a bowl of fruit), it’s a far cry from the days of sipping aged brandy and snorting good snuff. Even the all-male, old drinking societies at Oxford University have lost their riotous flare; reduced to some box-office hit starring he of the long lashes, Douglas Booth.

Brummell Dighton

Benedict Cumberbatch

Giacomo Casanova

“It’s not cool to be a part of the Bullingdon anymore,’’ scoffs an Old Etonian who turned them down. “Today it’s all about Piers Gav’s summer party in a field, which anyone cool is invited to.’’ The change within these exclusive drinking societies has been gradual. It was only up until the late Eighties /early Ninties that bumptious elitism and vulgar displays of wealth was seen as being outrageous, yes, but welcome all the same. However, pompous pictures of Bojo and Nat Rothschild, posing in front of Peck Quad all puffed up and preened, in their Bullingdon tails, are a thing of the past; today the modern gentleman gets his kicks in the queue for the drugs tent at Piers Gav, where everyone is in fancy dress, and there’s strictly no pictures allowed. The same sense of change can be felt in the modern day gentleman’s choice of holiday destinations. Gone are the days of The Grand Tour, where bright eyed and bushy tailed scholars like Charles Townley have been going since the 16th century to immerse themselves in the grandest forms of European culture – particularly the lost world of classical antiquity. And gone, too, are the weekend sojourns at Chatsworth, where evenings were spent playing bridge and listening to music by the fire. With less emphasis on the mind than the body, today’s elite would rather go skiing in Gstaad or boating in Mustique than ponder the origins of Venus de Milo, while enriching the mind is just another way of describing a couple of nights in Ibeefa or a weekend away at Stanway House.

Cary Grant

Lord Byron

And it doesn’t stop there: no longer shagging the maid, deflowering debutants, or diddling underage boys, but sexting the Tory PR girl, shagging models, and, well, still diddling underage boys – though it’s a lot more frowned upon now, especially if you work for the BBC – even their bedfellows are different! Because, ultimately, unlike their forefathers of generations past, gentlemen today can move in many different circles. No longer confined to their class, sex, or nationality, in 2014, gentlemen are able to spread their wings as far as their banknotes will take them. In short, they are everywhere, and now you know how to find ‘em.

by TISH WEINSTOCK

Rupert_Everett

Eddie Redmayne

Roger Moore

Winter 2014

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SHOOTING THE GUN BUYING GUIDE

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SHOOTING

GUN BUYING GUIDE THE ULTIMATE FIRST-TIMERS GUIDE TO GUN BUYING.

The Holland and Holland Sporting was created with a similar ethos in mind; originally designed for the booming US clay market and since then has developed as a clay and game gun. Completely made in-house at the Kensal Green factory, there is more machining than the Royal, but the Sporting is still mostly hand made. In the rack at their Bruton Street store, most of the guns are now set up as game guns with fixed chokes, a solid rib rather than ventilated and a half-pistol grip. This is a complete crossover gun that is extremely strong, very reliable, and available from £45,000. An iconic name in English gunmaking and one of the few revered brands actually still British owned, Boss & Co. have been in continuous existence over two centuries building sporting guns and rifles of the highest quality. Boss has been responsible for major technical innovations in gunmaking. John Robertson, the proprietor of Boss at the turn of the 20th century, produced the first reliable single trigger in 1894 that earned universal acclaim. In 1909, the Boss patent single trigger over-and-under shotgun was a radically new version that was strong, very light and the most handsome ever produced, contrasting to existing over-and-under guns that were large and heavy in comparison.

by CLAIRE ZAMBUNI

Holland & Holland

ith the grouse season well under way and the partridge season just around the corner, buying a gun is going to be tempting. Whereas historically people would think that traditional Englishmade guns have a stratospheric price tag, perceptions are dramatically changing. Although you still pay top dollar for the handmade, beautifully crafted option, there are new makes and models appearing that take less time to produce and don’t cost the earth thanks to modern techniques. Even if you are lucky enough to have a hand-made Holland and Holland in the gun cabinet, for shooting larger groups of high flying birds, you are probably going to be wary of putting larger cartridges through the barrels. Also, over-and-under shotguns have become completely acceptable on the high bird driven days, which has increased the popularity of the Italian gunmakers from Brescia. Side-by-sides are still a common sight on the grouse moor and some would say they do give a slight advantage. Personally, I think there is nothing better than seeing a team of guns using side-by-sides. Some of the best shots I have witnessed have cleanly dispatched a high driven pheasant or partridge with an antique British 20-bore side-by-side from the family gun cabinet. If you are relatively new to shooting, it will be likely that your first experience was with a basic over-and-under Beretta at a shooting school. Beretta are an excellent Italian gunmaker and have been the go-to-gun for many people coming into the sport as they require minimal maintenance and are perfect for both clays and game.

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Perugini & Visini, they are able to bring you a Purdey shotgun in a significantly shorter time that shoots as well as it looks. The three years spent developing the Purdey Sporter ensure the right balance between machine and handcraft. The result is a gun of extremely high tolerance that will guarantee longterm mechanical integrity and strength, but still with the coveted Purdey name.

Launched in Tuscany at the beginning of July this year, the 690 Field III is the latest in a new generation of Beretta boxlock over-and-unders. This latest gun follows on from the 687, the Silver Pigeon III and the Silver Pigeon deluxe, continuing the line of Beretta’s coveted field guns. Steelium barrels guarantee precision while minimising weight. The new action is a modernised development of the tried and tested 680 series with the stock manufactured from specially selected high grade walnut, oil finished and roll marked game scene engraving. Well-balanced, the 690 Field III is a lighter gun than the previous 687 models due to the re-engineered barrels and fore-end design. Taking their inspiration from the Italian gunmakers, the Purdey Sporter crosses the boundaries between clay and game. Retaining the fine balance and distinctive feel of a Purdey. The Sporter shares its ancestry with over-andunder guns of the early 20th century, such as those of Boss, Edwinson Green, and Woodward. In 1968, the boutique Brescia gunmaker Perugini & Visini produced their own version of the Perazzi design, and then, in 2005, joined with Purdey to make important design changes and developments. This resulted in the Sporter. Essential components including the action body, trigger group, extractors and monoblocs are machine made in their Hammersmith factory, then shipped to Brescia in Lombardy. Here, Perugini & Visini fit the barrels in the monoblocs, attach high-grade walnut stocks, and carry out the engraving. The assembled piece is then returned to Purdey in London for proofing, regulating, and hand finishing. By working with

Moving forward to the present day, Boss are still family owned and Boss guns are still hand-made in-house by highly skilled craftsmen using the same traditional methods as they were 100 years ago. As Boss pioneered the single trigger over-and-under, many manufacturers will refer to their own guns as ‘Boss styled’, which is a great reference point for our over-and-under guns. The current build time for a Boss gun is approximately 2 ½ years, not more than 20 guns (sideby-sides and over-and-unders) are produced each year, thus making the Boss over-and-under very desirable with a total of 650 in various calibers produced since 1909.

Boss & Co.

Things are changing in the gun world and there are some new English gunmakers on the block that are taking the spotlight. Ray Ward, William & Son, William Evans and Longthorne are just four of the names making their mark. Longthorne, a family owned business, have a king amongst their clientele with six guns on order, all English and made in-house. All of their current models are true side locks with a superior trigger pull and available in all gauges. They are the only English manufacturer achieving Magnum Steel proof in the UK. Their guns are lightweight and strong with a typical 12 bore with 30” barrels weighing in circa 7lb making them appealing to clients who do not want to lug a heavy gun across the moors. Their entry-level gun is the Hesketh over-and-under 12 bore which retails at £13,900. William Evans, based in St James’, have successfully worked with Grulla Armas of Spain to create the Pall Mall sideby-side shotgun and with Caesar Guerini of Italy on their over-and-unders, known as the St James. Both guns represent excellent value from respected European manufacturers with the finishing processes applied by British craftsmen. The youngest London gunmakers are Ray Ward of Knightsbridge. The Pheasant model was the first pair of Ray Ward 12 bores to be produced and were named due to their suitability to shoot high birds. The engraving on the Pheasant is a unique design, specially directed by John Ward.

Purdey

Winter 2014

209

Gavin Gardiner Limited

SHOOTING

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Auctioneers of Fine Modern and Vintage Sporting Guns, Riﬂes and Accessories

Boss & Co.

There is a precise but subtle gold inlay across all areas of the action. Completely made by the best English craftsmen, these guns offer the true bespoke experience from choosing your engraving – to having the gun fitted by John Ward. However, these guns are probably not suitable for the budget of someone new to the sport at £150,000 for the pair, all made to order. Perazzi, another Italian gunmaker based in Brescia, won every gold medal at the 2012 Olympics, which speaks for itself. Over the past few years, they have become much more concerned with making a good game gun as well. The EJ Churchill Crown is testament to this, again, with the Perazzi accuracy and durability combined with EJ Churchill’s expertise in making and finishing a British game gun. Zoli and the Blaser F3 are other guns well worth a look at for your first gun. However, whatever gun you choose, the most important thing is to get it fitted to you properly and that you have some excellent instruction in the field. I can personally recommend Adam Calvert and Simon Ward, but however much you pay, if the gun does not fit you properly, it will greatly detract from your shooting experience and enjoyment.

“

SOME OF THE BEST SHOTS I HAVE WITNESSED HAVE CLEANLY DISPATCHED A HIGH DRIVEN PHEASANT OR PARTRIDGE WITH AN ANTIQUE BRITISH 20-BORE SIDE-BY-SIDE FROM THE FAMILY GUN CABINET

” Forthcoming Auction: 10th December 2014 at Sotheby's 34-35 New Bond Street London Preview at Sotheby's Tuesday 9th December 9am to 4.30pm Wednnesday 10th December 9am to 1pm Auction at 2pm Catalogue £17 by post Longthorne

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Tel 01798 875300 Winter 2014 www. gavingardiner.com

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TECH

10 BITS of TECH TO OWN IN 2015 TALKING ABOUT ELECTRIC PERKS, QUIRKS, AND NEW WAYS TO WORK.

Gnawing away at your last reserves of restraint are the kinds of tech you’re really hankering for, but are waiting for that good enough excuse to finally grab. Hold back no more, because although some of these aren’t available until 2015, time will be your last line of defence against scooping up the latest in tech and gadgetry.

BANG & OLUFSEN BEOPLAY H6 HEADPHONES These bad boys have got the versatility that most over-the-ear headphones ask for – swiveling one side for DJing for example – with extra features like a volume rocker, being able to plug in to either side, and even plugging in a second set of headphones to share the music you’re listening to. B&O is renowned for its love for design, and the high quality leather combined with anodized aluminium and lambskin earpads makes this headset classy, not clunky.

GOPRO HERO4 BLACK

The size, weight and ultrawide angle lens of the durable GoPro camera series have always been its best selling points – like strapping it to your helmet or surfboard. The latest version takes the features up to a whole new level, with up to 4K resolution quality and the ability to capture 120 frames per second in 1080p resolution for slow-motion videos – or 240 frames when dropped to 720p. The ability to control multiple cameras through a smartphone app or remote makes for an awesome multi-angle setup.

Available: Now Cost: £329 www.beoplay.com

APPLE WATCH

Let’s face it; if you’re going to pick up a smartwatch, chances are you’re only going to wear it once if it doesn’t look good. Apple’s incarnation involves a stainless steel and aluminium alloy casing and selection of wristbands – from leather straps to a Milanese loop or a sports band – that add a touch of class that wearables on the market haven’t really caught on to yet. The almost indestructible sapphire crystal screen and Retina display make the face of your superwatch useable and safe from daily life, and should be your go-to for maps, calls, messaging, social media and fitness tracking. If you have one of the supported iPhones, you can also use the Apple Watch to pay in stores using Apple Pay (see #8) with the built-in NFC chip. Available: Early 2015 Cost: $349 USD www.apple.com

Available: Now Cost: £369.99 shop.gopro.com

WREN V5BT BLUETOOTH SPEAKER OCULUS RIFT DEVELOPMENT KIT 2

Virtual reality is not new, but it’s never been great quality either. The first version of the Oculus Rift showed huge potential, with a relatively lightweight headset that tracked your head movements and gave a smooth experience in a digital world. Facebook saw the potential in the Oculus Rift and acquired the company this year, meaning soon this will be retail ready. If you’re up for a little tinkering before then, buying the second

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iteration of the development kit now means getting your head into the VR game early – no pun intended. With a higher screen resolution and smoother tracking system in place, the future looks very exciting indeed. Available: Now Cost: $350 USD www.oculus.com/dk2/

BAXTER ROBOT Developed to become the affordable robot that could learn manufacturing tasks and keep the sanity of humans doing the same thing, Baxter can become whatever it needs to be. The potential of owning Baxter for yourself is too hard to turn down. Surely there are tasks in your daily life or work that you could switch with your new e-buddy. Signing countless autographs? Baxter’s got your back. Need to occasionally nod as your relatives yammer on about that-thing-you-care-little-about? Manoeuvre those mechanical arms to form Rodin’s The Thinker, resting a clenched robo-fist under its LCD screen chin as its eyes stare with the same half-open daze you would.

Available: Now Cost: From $25,000 USD www.rethinkrobotics.com

Avoiding the increase in the overly colourful sound systems boasting Bluetooth connectivity, the curved Wren V5BT draws enough attention from its choice of old-school rosewood and bamboo finishes, and lets out a mean sound when asked of it. It’s no portable speaker, but sync this to any of your Bluetoothenabled devices at home or in the office and pop on a playlist when the mood feels right. Available: Now Cost: $299 USD store.wrensound.com

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TECH

Auctioneers & Valuers Antiques | Jewellery | Watches

TESLA MODEL D

The ‘D’ stands for dual motors. That alone could sell a car, but Tesla stands for pioneering electric cars. This allwheel-drive sedan can go 0 to 60 in 3.2 seconds – not bad for an electric car, right? All of Tesla’s models have been sleek and luxurious, with design being just as important as eco-conscious. With a top speed of 155mph and a driver-assist system that can follow the white lines on the road, read speed signs and self-park, there’s a lot to be excited about with this upcoming model. Available: February, 2015 Cost: From $89,000 USD www.teslamotors.com/en_GB

APPLE PAY

With the UK’s adoption of contactless payments – including London’s public transportation going cashfree – there hasn’t been a real outstanding platform to adopt this new and quick way of paying. With security concerns of hackers being able to grab your card details unbeknownst to you, Apple’s come in with their answer. Using the iPhone 6’s thumbprint recognition, Apple Pay seems to be the best version of contactless payments. It might seem all like a bit of work, but considering we’re heading down this path, best be more prepared than the rest. Available: Now Cost: Requires iPhone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad Air 2, or iPad mini 3 www.apple.com/apple-pay

LEICA X (TYPE 113) Bridging the gap between DSLR quality imagery and old-school sophistication, this German-made compact digital camera is sharp and gorgeous – with a light aluminium and magnesium body, and simple navigation controls on top and on the back. The lens is a high-performance f/1.7 ASPH aperture with a manual focus ring, giving you that super-detailed bokeh effect that makes any daytime object stand out like a well-orchestrated studio-shot masterpiece. Available: Now Cost: £1,550 en.leica-camera.com

ZINTER PRO 3D PRINTER

The talk about 3D printing has gotten out of hand, but UK-based Zinter’s beautifully designed PRO model doesn’t look at all like the tacky alternatives you find elsewhere. What’s more exciting is its ability to print with two materials on a single model. Switching between different filaments – whether by colour or material – means more intricacies in the models being printed out. Available: Now Cost: £2,350 www.ioncoretechnology.com

by GERARD WARD

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Visit us in London or Birmingham for free valuations of antiques, jewellery and watches. To arrange your appointment, please call us on 020 3733 6118. www.fellows.co.uk Saleroom & Head Office 19 Augusta Street, Birmingham, B18 6JA | +44 (0) 121 212 2131 London Office 2nd Floor, 3 Queen Street, London, W1J 5PA | +44 (0) 20 3733 6118

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PROPERTY THE FINEST LUXURY PROPERTIES IN THE AMERICAS AND ASTRONOMICALLY EXPENSIVE NEW MANSIONS IN THE ENGLISH COUNTRYSIDE

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PROPERTY

THE PERFECT PANORAMA

SPECS

THREE EXTRAVAGANT NEW RESINDENCES ON THE MARKET ARE A CUT ABOVE THE REST IN THEIR RESPECTIVE HEDONISTIC CITIES, ALL WITH VIEWS TO DIE FOR: A LUXURIOUS HOUSE IN RIO, AN OLD-SCHOOL COOL MAIMI SURF CLUB AND THE ULTIMATE NEW YORK PENTHOUSE

NEW YORK £10,500,000 - £51,000,000 WWW.432PARKAVENUE.COM TEL: +1 212 432 5657

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432 PARK AVENUE

he tallest residential building in the western hemisphere (standing at 1,396 ft) 432 Park Avenue is jaw-droppingly luxurious. Minimalistic in theme, but with glamour and luxury at its core, we think we might just have found the ultimate bachelor pad. The USP? Well there are many, but the view has got to be up there with one of the best we’ve ever seen; from the Hudson to the East River, Central Park to the Atlantic Ocean – we can think of few views more incredible to wake up to, and there will be no missing out on the views as all the ceilings are 12 ft 6 in

• 30,000 sq ft of

and every window is an amazing 10 ft x 10 ft. In terms of features and amenities, there will be private elevator landings, separate staff entrances, master bedrooms with his-and-her bathrooms and dressing rooms, 12.5 ft ceilings, solid oak flooring, Italian statuario marble in the bathrooms and regular marble in the kitchens. Aside from a selection of ‘handpicked staff ’, residents will have access to a private restaurant, stunning garden, 75 ft swimming pool, library, billiards room, spa, screening room, gym and luxurious outdoor terrace.

above-grade amenities

• Three double-height

floors with ceilings up to 28 ft

• A full floor dedicated to

• 75 ft indoor swimming pool

• Spa and fitness centre with

• In-suite catering, concierge,

entertaining

sauna, steam, and massage rooms

24 hour doorman and valet parking services

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PROPERTY

SPECS

RIO DE JANEIRO £6,707,880 WWW.SAVILLS.COM TEL: +1 424 231 2399

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OCEAN FRONT

his spectacular Rio de Janeiro five bedroom, eight bath luxury oceanfront loft with approximately 8,500 sq ft and 24 hour security at the entrance to the property is situated in a prime location between Sao Conrado and Barra da Tijuca. An open living concept with 18 ft ceilings and floor-toceiling sliding doors frame the endless views and compliment the open and dramatic floor plan that is perfect for intimate gatherings and large-scale en-

• Spectacular ocean front loft

• 1,000 sq ft master suite

• Open and dramatic floor plan

• State-of-the-art amenities

• Private infinity pool

• iPad controlled smart-house automation

tertaining. The 1,000 sq ft master suite is reserved for selfish enjoyment and includes a spa with a vertical garden and a lush waterfall shower with over 1,800 plants. A modern kitchen, home theatre, home office, BBQ, outdoor decks and an infinity edge pool surrounded by a forest facing the ocean are just a few of the features of this stunning property. Designer furnishings are included to complete the package. Welcome home.

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PROPERTY

MIAMI, FLORIDA £1,800,000 - £21,700,000 WWW.THESURFCLUB.COM TEL: +1 305 330 4000

THE SURF CLUB

he Surf Club was originally opened in 1929 as a private members’ club, which played host to Winston Churchill, Elizabeth Taylor and Frank Sinatra, amongst others, and is now being restored by Miami developer Nadim Ashi, and Pritzker prize-winning architect Richard Meier. On completion, the original Surf Club will be reinstated as a private members’ club, and the site will also comprise of two new buildings designed by Meier, encompassing 150 private residences and a 5 star Four Seasons Hotel that will service all the residences. The site itself is quite unique in that The Surf Club boasts 8 acres of private beachfront dotted with

40 elegant and spacious cabanas, all of which are also being restored as part of Meier’s work on the project. Each of the residences have been meticulously designed by Richard Meier – including interior finishes, materials and details designed in collaboration with Lee Mindel – to maximize ocean views. Indoor and outdoor spaces merge together seamlessly, making it possible to appreciate the abundant natural beauty while preserving privacy. The thoughtfully designed open floor plans take advantage of the views by creating a complete indoor-outdoor living space.

SPECS

ORIGINAL SURF CLUB

• Private swimming pool for residents

• State-of-the-art fitness centre

• Dedicated private arrival and

• Private elevator lobbies for each

valet entry for each building

residence

• Dedicated resident’s lounge located on ground floor of South Tower • Private self-parking in select residences in addition to valet services

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PROPERTY

LIMITLESS LUXE EXTRAVAGANCE KNOWS NO EXCESS LIKE THE NEW WAVE OF MEGA-MANSIONS RISING UP THROUGHOUT THE GREEN BELT. HOME COUNTIES BANKERS AND FOREIGN BUYERS BEWARE, THIS LUXURY IS LIMITLESS Where would you choose to live if money were no object? A penthouse in Mayfair, a mansion in Primrose Hill or a Knightsbridge townhouse? Clearly the most desirable postcodes of our capital just aren’t cutting it anymore, as the wealthiest of the country are bidding farewell to London and instead moving to the green belt Home Counties. Not, however, to take up residence in grand old stately homes, but rather to buy up large areas of undeveloped land and to build what can only be described as mega-mansions. These multi-million pound mansions are flying off the proverbial shelves in the best areas of Surrey, Hampshire and Buckinghamshire, and the popularity of these new-builds shows no sign of waning. Last year, a six-bedroom house on the Wentworth Estate in Surrey, sold for £6 million. The seller of the home had spent £1.5 million renovating it to luxurious standards, but the family who bought it wasted no time in completely gutting the entire house - including

the brand new £150,000 kitchen, beautifully redecorated bathrooms and even the swimming pool. Surrey’s Virginia Water, Cobham and Weybridge are in the lead when it comes to such excess on the market. Another recently sold new-build mansion included hand-stitched leather doors and banisters throughout and a white quartz entrance hall. Buyers from Kazakhstan are some of the most prominent at the moment, on average looking to spend £4 million to £6 million in any of the prime Surrey locations. If the Home Counties’ bankers and foreign buyers can’t find exactly what they are after then they’re simply redesigning from the inside out. For those of you with your hearts set on one of these seriously impressive homes, take a look inside these three homes – if you don’t like what you see, then who cares? You can gut the whole thing and start again!

ABBOTS WOOD TAPLOW, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE GUIDE PRICE: £6,995,000 AGENT: STRUTT & PARKER TEL: 020 7629 7282

Tucked away in a secluded woodland setting, with the utmost privacy, Abbots Wood manages to combine outstanding attention to detail with contemporary styling and impressive leisure facilities. Set within 22 acres of enclosed private grounds, it is ideally placed for central London, Heathrow and Gatwick airports and the motorway and rail networks, with extensive leisure and recreational amenities in its locality. Not only this, but with London less than a 45 minute train ride away, moving to the Home Counties doesn’t seem so much of a stretch. Rosewood stained hardwood, sweeping galleried staircases, Crema D’ore polished marble flooring and a bespoke quartz kitchen allow this elegant property to boast the latest technology for the modern lifestyle. Abbots Wood’s landscaped grounds play host to numerous amenities such as the all-weather tennis court, pavilion, freshwater pond and detached four-car garage block (with self-contained staff accommodation above). Inside, the stunning brand-new development has expansive space to hold a cinema, wine stores, games room, gymnasium, sauna, leisure complex with heated pool, spa, steam room and changing rooms. Built to an exacting standard with light spaces, exceptionally clean lines and smooth curves its features give this property a refined, welcoming ambiance. Strutt and Parker also list the potential for further land by negotiation, around 34 acres – music to any keen developer’s ears.

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PROPERTY LEYTON HOUSE OXSHOTT, SURREY GUIDE PRICE: £6,295,000 AGENT: SOTHEBY’S REALTY TEL: 01932 798 039

WOODROW WINDLESHAM, SURREY GUIDE PRICE: £24,500,000 AGENT: KNIGHT FRANK TEL: 020 7861 1065

This exceptional four-story mansion is situated in an extremely exclusive area favoured by some of the world’s most esteemed royal families. Lavish living spaces; an abundance of landscaped and wooded grounds and just 28 miles out of London, Woodrow is one of the finest new mansions in the Ascot area. You approach this property over a long carriage drive up to an elevated setting resulting in a peaceful and private location, achieving all the benefits of upmarket country living. Arranged over four floors, with lift access to three, this new English mansion boasts all of the top-of-the-range specifications that one would expect in a luxury contemporary home. Woodrow makes the most of its exceptionally generous living space, with his-and-her dressing rooms and en suites, an indoor swimming pool, sauna and steam rooms as well as gym, 14-seat cinema, wine cellar, entertainment room and bar. This is not to mention the two staff apartments, six-car garage and 6,000 sq ft terrace; the list goes on and on. Offering the sumptuous luxury only found in the highest echelons of the property market, Woodrow also houses a refrigeration room and convenient commercial preparation kitchen which can facilitate the hosting of over 300 guests for dinner, cocktails or parties. The eight bedroom suites are superbly appointed, and beautifully finished, and the close attention to detail is inescapable. From Italian marble and American walnut flooring to Miele kitchen appliances and Villeroy & Boch designer bathrooms, Woodrow encompasses a very splendid glamour.

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A unique home, Leyton House manages to effortlessly combine timeless architectural design with contemporary state-of-the-art security systems and has been finished to the highest standard and specification throughout. This spectacular Palladian style home is set back from the road achieving privacy with a large gateway hidden behind impressive electric gates. Set within the heart of Oxshott’s exclusive Crown Estate and within walking distance to Oxshott mainline train station, Leyton House is extremely well situated. Its thoughtful design achieves a well-proportioned living space with masses of natural light and room for versatility – in fact the entire ground floor can be open plan or made private room by room with bi-fold doors. The magnificent vaulted entrance hall and marble flooring are crowned with an expansive domed roof light allowing the glamour and outlandish nature of the furnishings and features to be highlighted. Luxury is not compromised; there are fully automated blind controls to all rooms, audio and video distribution to all rooms via the media server, air conditioning and under-floor heating throughout. Alongside these features the property enjoys an indoor swimming pool and spa complex, 3D cinema and home entertainment room, games room, five reception rooms and a stunning roof terrace with views across the well manicured lawns, box hedging, conifers and wraparound natural stone terracing. The bespoke Italian kitchens and bathrooms and splendid walk-in dressing rooms evoke a level of style and flair expected from a property of this prowess. If we must add to the growing list of impressive attributes it is worth noting Leyton’s self-contained staff apartment, triple garage and parking area for 6-8 cars all designed to reflect the classical style of the villa.

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INTERVIEW

TASTE MAKER

HARRY HANDELSMAN

Harry Handelsman is what you would describe as a brave entrepreneur, however his professional title is a property developer. His company, the Manhattan Loft Corporation is responsible for some of London’s most impressive and ambitious developments, which include the St Pancras Renaissance Hotel and Chiltern Firehouse - the latter he did in partnership with André Balazs. His next project, however, will prove to be his most ambitious yet. Set in London’s Statford, Handelsman’s aim is to redefine what high-rise living means. The project, named Manhattan Loft Gardens is a double-cantilevered tower that will be a crucial part of the redevelopment of Stratford City. Harry’s passion for the project is clear and he and his team have created a building with expansive living spaces as well as beautifully laid out community areas that are totally unique. With Stratford being one of the biggest and most dramatic transformations in Europe, like St Pancras and Chiltern Firehouse, it

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looks as if Harry Handelsman is once again working where others would see huge risk. Unlike most developers in London, Handelsman isn’t in it for the quick buck – he talks about the project with great affection. When being shown around the Southwark show room, he explains the smallest details; right down to the kitchen finishes. He’s also incredibly passionate about the type of people who buy the apartments, explaining that whilst they are great investments, he is mindful of oversea buyers who don’t actually live there, as it will detract away from the community feel. This passion combined with excellent transport links, design, open spaces and investment opportunity made us start wondering if we should buy there too. Harry Handelsman continues to put his money where his mouth is, albeit with a few restless nights’ sleep.

To find out more visit manhattanloftgardens.co.uk

Manhattan Loft Gardens

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THE DIRECTORY

MERCI MAMAN In 2007, Béatrice, a young French mother, started to design and create personalised jewellery so that you can keep your loved ones close at all times or treat them with a lovingly hand-crafted piece of jewellery. “Merci Maman” translates as “Thank You Mum” in French, and their elegant cursive handwriting is inspired by their French roots. They are now a team of 13 working to create the perfect gifts and every piece is hand-engraved and assembled in their London workshop so that your present will always be truly unique and personal. Last October, Kate Middleton was spotted wearing one of their necklaces while shopping in Chelsea. This gold plated necklace was offered to the Duchess of Cambridge after the birth of Prince George in July 2013. Featured is the authentic Duchess Necklace.

ROBINSON SHOES Robinson’s Shoemakers not only provide beautiful British made footwear in numerous colours and styles, but they also ensure that the customer is actually fitted properly. That may not sound like anything special, but research has shown that over 90 per cent of men wear the wrong size shoe. Robinson’s provide footwear in up to ten different width fittings to suit all shapes of feet, delivering a made-to-measure feel to all their footwear. Would you wear a suit that was too long for you just because it fitted around the chest? Absolutely not! Why do it with footwear, then? Also, their fitting service is free, so call into their Carrickfergus showroom!

COKROACH SHOES XANTHE MARINA www.xanthemarina.com 07768 263198

Cockroach shoes provide painstakingly crafted shoes from the darkest corners of England, and have crawled into the light with a collection of elegant handmade footwear. They cater for a range of tastes, including velvet-skinned, satin-quilted, wire-embroidered Albert Slippers with gold and silver motifs, along with Goodyear welted, leather-upper and soled slip-on shoes. No stone has been left unturned in this unique footwear experience, from the Cokroach signature shoe-covers, to a personalised calling card. Prepare your feet for character like no other..

COOGAN LONDON

STOCKINGER

Coogan London are all about designing and creating genuine leather men’s shoes at affordable prices. Their styles are unique and exclusive, and can be yours for £40 or less. Their products are bold and fashionable, colourful and classic, and are made to the highest standard to offer a comfortable fit for all occasions. With new styles arriving frequently, you can be sure to find the perfect shoe for you on their online store. When you buy a pair of Coogan London shoes, you buy a product from people who are passionate about creating and delivering something special.

The Cube safe, from German manufactory Stockinger comes with high-security features, a luxurious design and a compact size providing you with the ultimate in security. It can be customised to your preferences, just like when you order a new car. Variations include its exterior colour, gold or silver fittings, and interiors including a jewllery tray or watch winder, that keeps your automatic watches safely stored and gently wound. All in all, Stockinger’s Cube safe will allow you to sleep soundly!

London-based fine jeweller Xanthe Marina delivers beautiful and bespoke pieces to her clients. By encouraging her customers to choose from an array of gems, metals and elegant edgy designs, she creates jewellery that catches both the eye and the imagination.

www.robinsonsshoes.com 02893355464

www.cokroach.co.uk 07714473914

www.mercimamanboutique.com 02077311377

TRAVELTEQ This bag is a timeless essential for the modern traveller. It’s produced by hand in a little factory in Tuscany using the finest soft vegetable-tanned leather, and boasts an Italian made lining of the best quality. Both practical and elegant, the bag combines all necessary compartments without compromising on design. It’s also versatile, and is perfect for a short flight to Milano, a weekend away in Paris, a drive in the county or simply a visit to the gym. It ages beautifully, and will never get old.

Priced at £795 each. www.travelteq.com

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BEGG & CO Begg & Co handcrafts exquisite scarves and throws from the finest cashmere, silk and lambs wool yarns. Made in Ayr on Scotland’s west coast since 1866, they are beautiful to touch, a delight to own and a pleasure to wear. Offered in rainbow or plain colours, with a selection of classic and modern designs, they have something to suit even the most discerning taste and represent the ultimate in understated chic. Everything is presented in striking boxes, making these scarves the perfect self-indulgent purchase or luxury gift.

Prices from £75-£1200 www.beggandcompany.com

www.cooganlondon.com 020 8945 5745

Price 38.000 € (net, ex works) www.stockinger.com +49(0)891241389-60

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ANATOMIC & CO It may be getting cold outside, but don’t worry, Anatomic & Co have you covered with their new Autumn/Winter collection. Designed in London and handmade in Brazil, their unique Anatomic gel technology and signature sheepskin linings will have your feet protected against the imminent temperature drop. And with £10 off your first order we definitely recommend you pay them a visit; enter ACAW10 at the checkout (minimum spend £100 and expires midnight December 24th) for your discount.

INTELLIGENT INVESTMENTS, CAREFULLY CURATED

www.anatomicshoes.co.uk 0203 115 0002

PULLMAN EDITIONS CW DIXEY C.W. Dixey & Son of London has been creating elegant eyewear for a discerning, sophisticated clientele since 1777. Choose C.W. Dixey & Son frames and you join an elite group of iconic clients including Sir Winston Churchill, seven Kings and Queens of England, Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor Qianlong of China, and James Bond creator, Ian Fleming. It’s quite a story. Be part of our next chapter.

www.cwdixeyandson.com 01932 867467

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Pullman Editions designs commissions and publishes striking original posters that capture the enduring appeal of Art Deco. Their newly commissioned posters feature glamorous resorts around the world, winter sports in the French and Swiss Alps, as well as the world’s greatest historic automobiles on the road and track. Available in strictly limited editions of 280, the posters are printed using traditional techniques on the finest quality 100 per cent cotton fine art paper. There are currently over 100 designs to choose from, all of which are available to view and buy online.

Priced at £395 each. www.pullmaneditions.com 02077300547

www.onefinebid.com

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The

DIARY Alan Rickman Shia Labeouf

Jennifer Lawrence Cara Delevigne

James McAvoy

BFI LONDON FILM FESTIVAL The BFI London Film Festival is the UK’s biggest annual film event, and as such it screens the most anticipated new releases before anywhere else in the world. Taking place every October, the event is a vast showcase of cinema and film, encompassing featurefilms, documentaries and shorts. Given that it is such a large event, the celebrities regularly come out in force. This year was of course no different, and the world’s biggest A-list movie stars battled the British weather to catch the premieres of their own and others’ new films. The likes of Brad Pitt, Damien Lewis, Jennifer Lawrence, Benedict Cumberbatch, Alan Rickman, Cara Delevingne, James McAvoy, Kiera Knightly, Shia LaBeouf and Steve Carell all made appearances throughout the 12 day event. Treating fans to signed posters and numerous selfies; the stars graced the red carpet before swiftly moving into the warmth of the theatre to watch their respective films.

Keira Knightley

Brad Pitt at the British Film Festival

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Benedict Cumberbatch

Steve Carell

Damien Lewis

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James Campbell Gray and Clare Tollemache

Richard Blackwell and Piers Hedley

Daming Zhang and Sam Gadar

Francis and The Lights

Chris Horne, Ed de la Rue and Paddy Macmullen

Agi Mdumulla and Sam Cotton

Mark Ronson

TUDOR PARTY Charles Hambro sr and Charles Hambro jr

No expense was spared on the night that Tudor watches launched in the UK. Indeed, the Rolex sub-brand hired out the entire ground floor of London’s Sanderson Hotel and a lavish party was thrown for numerous VIPs and the nation’s top press. Tudor’s entire collection was on show including the lauded Heritage Black Bay and Heritage Ranger, alongside vintage pieces, demonstrating the heritage of the exemplary brand. With the backing of the world’s biggest watch brand, Rolex, the Tudor launch party was always going to be a glitzy celebration though. With an endless supply of champagne and cocktails, and enough canapés to feed a small country, the organisers didn’t disappoint.

Charlie Casely-Hayford

James Horne and Lord Westmorland

Octavia Tidswell Norrish, Samantha Dobbie and Rosie Lillis

Of course, with an event of this calibre, the music has to be equally impressive. A haunting performance by Francis and The Lights warmed up the crowd before none-other than world-famous DJ Mark Ronson took to the decks. His music entertained the likes of Laura Pradelska, Charlie Casely Hayford, Marc Hare, designers Agi and Sam, Darren Kennedy and Jim Chapman. If this star-studded affair was anything to go by, Tudor are well and truly here to stay.

PURDEY PARTY To celebrate their mammoth 200th anniversary, iconic gunmakers Purdey threw a lavish drinks party in partnership with The Gentleman’s Journal at their flagship South Audley Street store. The Gentleman’s Journal’s annual shooting issue was also launched on the night, providing an eclectic mix of old and new. Britishness was celebrated in full on the night, which was immediately apparent even before entering, as two Aston Martin’s sat outside; a Vanquish and a V12 Vantage S. Inside the store was immaculate, its history practically seeping through the walls. Chase Vodka cocktails were enjoyed alongside mini roast beef Yorkshire puddings, keeping the traditional element well and truly alive. Various personalities from the shooting world were present, including Charles Hambro, Lord Westmorland, Purdey chairman James Horne and James Campbell-Gray. Purdey’s famous Long Room was open for all to see, acting as an almost museum-like space filled with numerous historic artefacts dating back to the inception of the 200-year-old brand. Guy Vincent and Amber Kramer

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The eccentric evening was a great insight into the history of the brand, who very much have their sights set on the future.

Marc Hare

Mark Ronson

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Camilla Thorp and the Earl of Sunderland

Lady Daisy Fane

Joanna Sykes and Bex Manners

Donald Edge

David Gandy

Paul Gladstone-Reid and Jay Russell

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The Goodwood Revival is always one of our favourite events of the year. It embodies everything we love about motorsport and the classic automobiles and timeless style exhibited is always admirable. This year’s event was no exception and both the cars on display and on the racetrack proved to be truly unforgettable.

MONTBLANC EXTREME COLLECTION LAUNCH We were very excited when Montblanc announced their innovative Extreme Collection, so we just had to be there when it launched at their New Bond Street store. In association with The Gentleman’s Journal, the German brand welcomed the nation’s press as well as a whole host of VIPs to view the collection, as well as the usual array of familiar Montblanc items throughout the three floors of their new store. Champagne, whiskey and canapés welcomed guests on the night, as they entered the stark black facade of the newly opened flagship store. The likes of Jemima Cadbury, Lady Daisy Fane, Lady Violet Manners, Anish Bhatt, Arabella Holland, Sabrina Percy and Jack Freud joined a number of high profile clients as well as Montblanc UK MD Kevin Boltman. Montblanc’s usual impeccable attention to detail was on show throughout the entire event, which saw their Extreme Collection go on display for the first time. Featuring pens, wallets, a chronograph watch, bags and even iPad covers, it is a truly expansive collection that will satisfy anyone with a hankering for durable luxury.

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The event’s outstanding tradition provides a glamorous window in to the past and it is this, coupled with the exiting action on track that regularly attracts big-name celebrities, whether from the automotive world or not.

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Formula 1 legend Jackie Stewart was present alongside current driver Max Chilton and ex-F1 race winner Mark Webber. Mark’s old boss Christian Horner – team principal of the Infiniti Red Bull Racing Formula 1 team – was joined by his partner Geri Halliwell. Elsewhere, petrol-heads Rowan Atkinson, James Martin, Chris Evans and male supermodel David Gandy enjoyed the action that took place throughout the three-day festival.

Lady Violet Manners and Zoe Snell

The British weather held up too, making this year’s Revival one of the best of recent memories. The dates for 2015 have already been announced, and we are counting the days. Elizabeth Walker and Chris Horne Rowan Atkinson

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LONDON FASHION WEEK

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For style lovers across the nation, London Fashion Week is a must-see event. The finest designers on the planet descend upon our fair capital for a five-day extravaganza of all things style. Highlights on the catwalk included Christopher Raeburn, Temperley, Paul Smith, Belstaff, Burberry and the inimitable Tom Ford, who impressed with his slick monochrome show. The many displays and presentations that took place across the entire affair provided an insight into the spring/summer 2015 trends yet for many, it was the parties and after-dusk events that were the main attraction.

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Of course, with such a glamorous event, it’s only right that some of the world’s biggest stars were in attendance. Colin Firth, Drew Barrymore, Rita Ora, Ellie Goulding, Pixie Lott, Paloma Faith, Kate Moss, Alexa Chung and many more took in shows over the course of the week, making it one of the most actionpacked, celebrity-filled events of the year.

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SUBSCRIBE FOR ONLY £20 A YEAR! www.thegentlemansjournal.com/subscribe Jonathan Saunders SS15

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Livia and Colin Firth

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LEADING LADY TATJANA ANIKA On a sunshine filled morning in late October, we went to the beautifully bohemian west London home of swimwear designer Tatjana Anika. Over take-out coffee and croissants, the pint-sized beauty told us about travel, men and, of course, swimwear. When did you start your brand? I started Tatjana Anika in 2009, beginning with a small capsule collection that launched in 2010. How did you start your brand? I used to work in interior design, and got really into making mood boards. I collected inspiration, imagery and materials, and then narrowed it down to a collection of beachwear. Describe the brand in three ways. Beauty in simplicity, the highest-end products with a modern take on a retro-vibe, and the versatility to move from day to night. How do you begin designing a collection? I start with mood boards, ideas and designs and experimentation. Then I return to the brand bible to reach the collection’s final vibe. Where do you go for inspiration? I get my inspiration from everywhere: friends, art, beautiful views, colours and travelling. Where is your favourite place to travel to? Sailing from Turkey to Greece is one of the nicest trips I have ever done. I also go to Ibiza a lot which is stunning and great fun. What do you do in your time off ? I travel a lot for work, so when I’m home I stay in and have friends over for dinner and drinks, visit friends abroad or go on mini-breaks.

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Time flies, spend it wisely.

What’s your favourite city in the world? I would have to say London. What’s your favourite restaurant and bar in London? I love Coya in Mayfair and Bocca Di Lupo in Soho, and La Bodega Negra for food and drinks. Who is your idol? I look up to my family, who have always been there for me. The roots run deep down and I’m really lucky to have them in my life. What do you look for in men? I like a man who’s serene, smart and witty with a laid back attitude to life. How do you relax? With holidays, or being completely lazy and lying in bed with a book or movie. What’s your most treasured possession? A beyond stunning bracelet that has been in the family for generations. What do you still want to achieve in your career? I want to collaborate with another designer, for TA to be recognised worldwide, and to have my own store. A girl can always dream…

Kaftan, Tatjana Anika, £265 tatjana-anika.com, Ring, Tods, £254, tods.com, Necklace, Bex Rox, £290, bexrox.com, Stockings, Sock Shop, £15, sockshop.co.uk Photography by Marco Walker. Styled by Holly Macnaghten.

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