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FROM THE EDITOR
‘PRACTISE ANY ART, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what’s inside you, to make your soul grow,’ said Kurt Vonnegut. And perhaps this can be said of all things we set our hearts to, all new endeavours we embark on. They all start with the impulse to find out more, and with the very human desire to expand and grow.
This issue is testimony to this human capacity to explore and discover. It is also a celebration of those who approach their craft with commitment and artistry oftentimes culminating in great success.
Our own homegrown entrepreneur and Africa’s first space tourist, Mark Shuttleworth, is a case in point. He says he’s always been driven by curiosity. In ‘Here be Dragons’ (page 24), he shares how this led to his trip into space in 2002, which fundamentally altered his relationship to Earth and deepened his connection with it. He is currently creating ways of keeping one of the world's most pristine locations as pure as it was when he first stumbled upon it.
Another inspiring figure who Private Edition was honoured to meet at this year’s Watches and Wonders in Geneva is Pierre Rainero, the custodian for image, style and heritage at Cartier. It was Cartier’s founder, the luminary Louis Cartier, who felt compelled to venture beyond the round watch faces that had dominated the market in the early 20th century and transform timepieces into wearable art. In ‘Master of Shapes’ (page 28), we share in Rainero’s passion and gain insight into his knowledge of what goes into creating a longstanding and iconic brand such as Cartier.
If that’s not enough to whet your appetite, then turn to ‘Let the Darkness Find You’ (page 56), where we speak to local chocolatiers who, amid the global chocolate crisis, are dedicated to continuing their craft of creating that perfect piece
of chocolate made from the finest cacao beans in the world.
Earlier this year, Private Edition was granted access to board the planet’s only private residential yacht, The World Unsurprisingly, the residents living on this extraordinary ship, which follows an endless itinerary circumnavigating the globe, are themselves often entrepreneurs, innovators and inventors. Here the select group of people have discovered the joys of living in a perpetual state of travel and exploration, driven by their curiosity to see some of the globe's most compelling corners. Tempted? Turn to page 22 to learn about the ‘The Ultimate Address’.
Private Edition is published by The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd, 8th Floor, Tarquin House, 81 Loop Street, Cape Town 8001. Copyright: The Publishing Partnership (Pty) Ltd 2024. No portion of this publication may be reproduced without prior written consent from The Publishing Partnership or the authors. The publishers are not responsible for any unsolicited material. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of The Publishing Partnership or the editor.
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Private
How Mark Shuttleworth is creating ways of keeping one of earth’s most pristine locations as pure as it was when he first stumbled upon it.
We
An exciting array of new releases made their appearance at this year’s Watches and Wonders. Here are some of our favourites.
CE N’EST PAS EN SUIVANT LES AUTRES QUE L’ON DEVIENT PREMIER. ERLING HAALAND PORTE LA NAVITIMER.
Exploring an architect’s Perth home that juxtaposes nature’s softness with industrial materials in its out- and indoor spaces.
48 A RACE THROUGH TIME
As iconic automotive marques celebrate milestone anniversaries, Peter Frost chooses his favourites and highlights future classics.
52 FIT FOR THE GODS–AND MORTALS TOO
Cape brandies are making a serious go at being recognised on the global stage alongside France’s formidable cognacs.
56 LET THE DARKNESS FIND YOU
Amid a global chocolate crisis, South Africa’s chocolatiers are sourcing the finest cocao and dreaming up ways to seduce us with their creations.
64 IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF OOM SCHALK
Justin Fox visits luxurious RockFig Lodge in the Groot Marico, recalling the love South African writer Herman Charles Bosman had for its landscape and people.
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BVLGARI UNVEILS AETERNA, AN EXTRAORDINARY COLLECTION CREATED BY THE ROMAN HIGH JEWELLER.
Marking the Maison’s 140th anniversary, Bvlgari’s new Aeterna collection showcases an unprecedent masterpiece, the Serpenti Aeterna necklace. The necklace is said to be the most extraordinary and precious diamond high-jewellery piece ever crafted and displayed by the Roman Maison, requiring more than 2 800 hours to complete. Breaking new ground in jewellery-making, a rough diamond of more than 200 carats was cut to create seven D flawless ultra-clear and pure pear diamond drops totalling 140 carats, one for each year of the brand’s history. The drops are embraced in a sinuous three-dimensional wave structure in platinum, embellished with 698 baguette diamonds weighing 61.81 carats. bulgari.com
PRIVATE TIME
Making the invisible visible
A COLOUR-CHANGING WATCH IS THE COLLABORATION BETWEEN RADO AND JAPANESE FASHION DESIGNER, KUNIHIKO MORINAGA.
In 2017, Rado collaborated with the visionary Kunihiko Morinaga to create a limited-edition timepiece that blended the brand’s renowned mastery of materials with the colourchanging technology for which the avant-garde designer is so well known. Rado and Morinaga have now announced the release of their latest shared masterpiece, the Rado True Square x Kunihiko Morinaga Special Edition watch. It’s no surprise that the new timepiece is so visually compelling, featuring a squarish polished black monobloc high-tech ceramic case and crown.
The transparent dial is one of the watch’s defining elements. In true Kunihiko Morinaga fashion, it was given a photochromic treatment, which means that it changes colour according to the available light. The designer explains: ‘The intent was to add colour and take it away. I tried to capture the ethereal nature of time in the design by integrating a photochromic lens that changes colour based on ultraviolet light.’ And it works. When exposed to sunlight, the True Square’s dial darkens. But as the sun goes down, the dial shade evolves into grey and finally becomes transparent, revealing the Rado calibre R734 at the heart of the watch. Magic and mastery. rado.com
INVESTMENT
The Golden Ticket
LOOKING TO GET EU MOBILITY THROUGH INVESTMENT? RECENT LAW CHANGES MIGHT MAKE NOW THE BEST TIME.
The qualifying investment threshold for the Greek Golden Visa will increase from €250 000 to €400 000 in low-density areas and €800 000 in high-density areas by 31 August 2024. But there’s still time to invest. Investors may still apply under the current €250 000 threshold if a 10% deposit is paid by 31 August 2024..
According to Megan Copley, sales director of the offshore real-estate and investment migration portfolio of Sable International, Greece has an incredibly exciting and buoyant real estate market with rising direct foreign investment due to the considerable economic growth and increased tourism, driving Greece into a pinnacle phase of its history. This new state of prosperity is a key milestone for foreign investors looking to share in the growth available in the Greece property market.
However, Copley suggests there are a few golden rules when looking to purchase the Greek Golden Visa. These include focusing on an investment property within easy reach of maintenance and services, and acquiring a property that will allow you to remain within the rules of the Golden Visa during ongoing ownership. Focus on locations with a reasonable projection for price growth and good transaction levels and that offer a reliable rental demand and investment case for long-term property ownership. This property is the linchpin to your visa; take good advice and buy a property that will offer you a nice return and low maintenance. Consider properties that have been recently refurbished or are in good condition requiring little to no renovation work, she advises. Copley says that Sable International provides a range of professional services for clients with crossborder interests.
sableinternational.com
Thankfully, these are ideal conditions in which to grow grapes that elegantly capture the taste and sparkle of summer. ‘This kind of climate is extremely beneficial for the grapes because we want a certain kind of ripeness, not the ripeness you’d expect if you’re a winemaker in the South of France.’
Wet, overcast weather, along with a very particular kind of soil, are part of the DNA of the Champagne wine-making appellation, and crucial to the creation of its most soughtafter vintages, including Veuve Clicquot’s premium cuvées.
‘What I love is the mouthfeel,’ says Casenave of La Grande Dame 2015. ‘It’s so remarkably silky.’
He says Veuve Clicquot’s winemakers like talking about the texture of their vintages because, along with that softness on the palate, there’s a detectable minerality that’s a ‘pure reflection of Champagne’s great terroir’. It’s the chalk in the soil, he says – a signature of the small, exclusive French appellation where Veuve Clicquot has over 300 hectares of vineyards.
TASTINGS
To bottle the sun
VEUVE CLICQUOT’S LATEST RELEASE, LA GRANDE DAME 2015, HONOURS THE MADAME BEHIND THE FAMOUS CHAMPAGNE BRAND. AND IT TASTES LIKE SUNSHINE. WORDS KEITH BAIN
It’s ironic that what tastes like the bottled equivalent of liquid sunshine should have its origins in a part of France known for consistently miserable weather.
‘Ours is not the best climate to live in,’ says Pierre Casenave, a senior winemaker at Veuve Clicquot, one of the Champagne region’s legendary maisons. ‘It’s always cloudy, drizzling all the time, a bit like London.’
PRIVATE TIME
Get set, go…
The maison, in existence for over 250 years, has since 1972 produced 24 vintages of its prestigious Le Grande Dame, launched in celebration of Veuve Clicquot’s bicentennial and named in honour of the entrepreneurial Madame Clicquot, who took control of her husband’s family business when he died in 1805. Widow – or veuve – Clicquot was just 27 years old when she took the reins and famously oversaw significant industry innovations, including the creation of the first recorded vintage champagne and the first known blended rosé champagne.
Le Grande Dame is dominated by Pinot Noir, a cultivar that’s notable for expressing Champagne’s distinctive terroir.
Of the recent release, Casenave is rhapsodic: ‘A combination of fresh berries, a bit of fresh apple, some yeastiness from the ageing process because we always take our time at Veuve Clicquot and leave the wine in contact with the lees for a long while. Then it’s quite flowery, jasmine on the nose, followed by a slight, very gentle smokiness.’ The sort of bottled sunshine of which Madame Clicquot would have approved. veuveclicquot.com
CELEBRATING ITS ROLE AS OFFICIAL TIMEKEEPER OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES, OMEGA HAS UNVEILED ITS UNIQUE HOME FOR THE DURATION OF PARIS 2024.
If you’re visiting this year’s Olympic Games, you’ll want to make a turn at OMEGA House Paris, set to become a sanctuary for selected members, invited guests, VIPs and athletes. Located at The Hôtel de Poulpry, Maison des Polytechniciens, OMEGA House Paris will occupy multiple floors. The venue is flooded with natural light and is home to sophisticated interiors and lush outdoor garden terraces.
Raynald Aeschlimann, President and CEO of OMEGA, says, ‘We love sharing the Olympic Games with our friends from around the world. It’s such a magical experience and OMEGA House gives us the opportunity to celebrate that time together. I can’t wait to open the doors and create some extraordinary Paris memories.’
OMEGA House will not only highlight the brand’s 92-year history as timekeeper, it will also embrace the energy and excitement of the Olympic Games. During the day, guests can relax in a variety of luxurious spaces, with sport being shown on big screens. At night, it wil host a series of VIP events and themed evenings. OMEGA House will be open from 28 July to 10 August, with a full schedule being unveiled during the Olympic Games. omegawatches.com
CONQUEST
BARBARA PALVIN
TASTINGS
FYN wins again
THE CAPE TOWN RESTAURANT HAS BEEN RECOGNISED BY THE WORLD’S 50 BEST RESTAURANT AWARDS ONCE MORE.
Chef Peter Tempelhoff’s fine-dining restaurant, situated in Cape Town’s city centre and renowned for its unique Japanmeets-South African menu, has once again attained a prestigious place on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants List. This year, which marks FYN’s fourth listing, sees the restaurant ranked 60 on the coveted restaurant awards extended 51-100 list, a move up from last year when it was ranked 75 and won the Flor de Caña Sustainable Restaurant Award.
Tempelhoff says, ‘I’m so proud of the team and what we’ve accomplished collectively. From our phenomenal suppliers and craftspeople to our network of small-scale farmers, foragers and fermenters; without all of them FYN wouldn’t be what it is.’
A trailblazer in the South African restaurant scene, Tempelhoff opened FYN to critical acclaim in 2018. The restaurant merges the rigours of Japanese technique with the finest local and indigenous ingredients, creating a truly one-of-a-kind dining experience. fynrestaurant.com
THE ULTIMATE ADDRESS
TOP Life on The World offers a global experience, but it’s not only the travel adventure that appeals; each day begins and ends in visual splendour. ABOVE Repose comes in many forms, and relaxing poolside is just one of the many ways to do so onboard.
The planet’s largest privately-owned residential mega yacht docked in Cape Town earlier this year. Private Edition was invited onboard The World for a peek into its incomparable lifestyle.
WORDS SUSAN NEWHAM-BLAKE
ITHIS PAGE An aerial view of Anahita OPPOSITE PAGE The south garden at Harmonie. An exceptional lifestyle offering awaits at Anahita.
MAGINE IF, without leaving the comfort of your home, you could wake up each day in a completely different part of the world. Where, each morning when you drew your living-room curtains, you’d be greeted by a different view –one day you might gaze upon the glaciers of the Antarctic, another the Amalfi Coast, or the cliffs of Hawaii or even the jaw-dropping sight of Mount Etna erupting.
Although this might sound like the stuff that dreams are made of, for those who live onboard the planet’s largest private residential yacht, The World, they’re a reality. Launched in 2002, it’s the only ship of its kind currently in operation sailing a continuous itinerary across every ocean, visiting every continent.
As with any other home, you can own an abode onboard the ship in your own private capacity, live in it permanently, host dinner parties (if your guests can get to the port), and even decorate as you please. Residences range from elegant 30m2 studios to spacious 300m2 three-bedroom homes – each of which can be customised to suit your specific preferences and tastes.
According to Residential Director Andy Dinsdale, who’s been working onboard The World for 14 years, there are currently a few residences available. Tempted? You should be.
While docked in Cape Town recently, Private Edition was invited to dine at one of the ship’s restaurants with an American resident (who prefers to remain anonymous) who has been living onboard since 2019. She discovered The World at an auction where she offered the winning bid for a two-week stay. ‘I thought I was either going to love it or hate it. I’m not much of a sea person; I suffer from seasickness and have had a couple of cruise experiences that were not great. But The World is different: after two weeks I was hooked and bought one of the units,’ she recalls.
DEPARTURES
She says many homeowners decide to live on The World because of the extraordinary travel opportunities, but most stay for the sense of community. She says there are incredible people onboard, including inventors and innovators. There are also a few families with young children who are homeschooled who’ve been living on the ship for years. And as a single female she says it makes sense for her to live and travel this way.
The ship circumnavigates the globe every two to three years following an itinerary selected by the residents themselves. The American resident explained how the ship had just arrived in Cape Town from Antarctica and described how they had sailed right past the A23a, Antarctica’s largest iceberg, which has now started to drift and break down.
‘I have to pinch myself every day,’ she says. ‘I love living onboard. It took a while for me to get my sea legs but now, even in the roughest seas, I no longer suffer from seasickness.’
Regular events are also on offer onboard.
‘Although residents like to spend time at home, there are opportunities to mingle,’ she says. Before arriving at a new port, enrichment evenings are held where guest speakers give lectures on the culture and history of the next port of call. There are also a number of in- and outdoor restaurants, including a Japanese restaurant that would rival any Michelin-starred eatery on land. Nobel Prize laureates have been invited onboard to dine and converse with guests, such as Shuji Nakamura, the Japanese scientist who invented blue lightemitting diodes (LEDs).
‘I HAVE TO PINCH MYSELF EVERY DAY. I LOVE LIVING ONBOARD THE WORLD.’
There is also an impressive library, puzzle tables, a fitness centre, hair and beauty salon and even a small supermarket with fresh produce for those who prefer to cook their own meals at home.
For those looking for pampering, there’s an exquisite spa with treatment rooms, saunas, steam rooms and plunge pools. There is also a permanent doctor and nurse onboard, as well as Pilates instructors and physiotherapists.
Comprised of approximately 150 families from 20 different countries, the international community of residents brings diverse perspectives and experiences to life onboard the ship.
And while satisfying The World’s net worth requirement is a precondition of ownership, once onboard, the world is literally your oyster. aboardtheworld.com
The World passing by the Greek island of Santorini. BELOW Residences may be furnished and decorated as per the owner’s desires. BOTTOM Relax at the Plaza Bar, one of the world-class restaurants and bars onboard.
HERE BE DRAGONS
Africa’s first space tourist has done much more than innovate and democratise computer technologies. Mark Shuttleworth is also creating ways of keeping one of the planet’s most pristine locations as pure as it was when he first stumbled upon it.
WORDS KEITH BAIN
AVOLCANIC ISLAND in the Gulf of Guinea, cloaked in rainforest and surrounded by reefs, its dramatic outline studded with beach coves and tall palms, its interior peppered with spindly basalt mountains reaching heavenwards from mist-swirled jungles. The air redolent with fresh mango, the sea and the scent of the earth after generous downpours, the island of Príncipe is purest paradise, and there’s barely anyone there.
OPPOSITE PAGE AND BELOW Sundy Praia, one of three eco-lodges owned by Here Be Dragons, is situated at the remote northwest tip of Príncipe Island in what was once part of the second-largest cocao plantation on the island, now a leafy sanctuary in harmony with its natural surrounds.
LEFT Here Be Dragons was established by IT innovator and one-time space tourist Mark Shuttleworth.
SHUTTLEWORTH WAS STRUCK BY PRÍNCIPE’S FRAGILITY, AWARE THAT AT ANY MOMENT ITS UNSPOILT MAGIC COULD UNRAVEL.
And yet when investor, IT entrepreneur and one-time space tourist Mark Shuttleworth landed here, quite fortuitously, in 2010, it was also a place in need of a miracle.
São Tomé e Príncipe is an island nation off the coast of Central Africa. Just three per cent of the 200 000 population live on Príncipe, separated from the island of São Tomé by 40 minutes in a twin-prop plane. Príncipe’s 7 000-odd people eke out a meagre, disproportionately happy existence in one of those unspeakably pristine places, its time-warped wildness preserved by isolation. For 500 years this was the domain of Portuguese plantation owners who exploited the lush landscape and equatorial climate to grow cacao and coffee on the backs of slave labour. Despite colonisers clearing tracts of forest for crops, Príncipe remained Edenic, ‘like a magic land, the dream of some wild painter’, according to British journalist Henry Nevinson who visited in 1906.
Príncipe is the tinier, more pristine of the two islands that make up Africa’s second-smallest nation after Seychelles. But the government, struggling to make ends meet, was on the verge of signing a deal that would have allowed a palm-oil producer to convert more than 1 000 hectares of jungle into plantations, a terrible tragedy for a place that’s home to the greatest number of endemic species per square kilometre on the planet (more than the Galápagos Islands).
When Shuttleworth touched down in his Bombadier 15 years ago, he and his pilot had been casting about in search of a convenient stop-off between his two bases – the Isle of Man and Cape Town, where he grew up.
He says he’d been on the lookout for somewhere that would give him that feeling of being in Africa, without being too much in the thick of things. A millionaire’s playground without the millionaires, perhaps. Without much of anything, really, São
Tomé e Príncipe remains one of the least-visited countries in the world – it logged only 33 000 visitors in 2018, before the pandemic threw in a spanner. International flights are few, private jets handier.
Born in the mining town of Welkom in the Free State, the 50-year-old, who created software company Canonical and founded the operating system Ubuntu, is for many a legend, responsible for democratising access to computing. His ‘in-hisparents’ garage’ origin story includes founding Thawte, a global leader in cryptographic security, while still a student at UCT.
‘I was fascinated with the internet as a way to connect people and do business,’ he says of his earliest forays. Cape Town was at the very tippity edge of the internet in those days.’ He started ‘figuring it out’ with ‘a little Linux server’ and ‘a dial-up connection’.
Curiosity was always his driver, but his trip into space in 2002 tripped the switch and reconfigured his world view. He spent eight days aboard the International Space Station, and returned with a new perspective on the wholeness of everything, and a desire to ‘do something that would have a global impact’.
The journey greatly deepened his connection to Earth and enhanced his awareness of its vulnerability. ‘You see Earth as a whole all at once, so everything feels connected,’ he says. ‘You’re
LEFT A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the Gulf of Guinea, the island of Príncipe is lush with jungle vegetation, studded with spindly peaks and edged by beautiful beaches.
BELOW Príncipe’s people are poor, which is why Mark Shuttleworth has invested in eco-tourism and agribusinesses that encourage residents to steer clear of environmentally-harmful monocrop farming.
over San Francisco and 20 minutes later you’re over Santiago, Chile. You have a very strong sense of the impact we have on each other. Pollution from one country is drifting into another. It made me more aware of the fragility of Earth and the consequences of what we’re doing. We’re literally attacking our own spaceship.’
It sparked in him a desire not to colonise Mars or fund space rockets, but to look for ways of investing in our planet’s preservation. Landing on Príncipe a few years later was precisely the spark of inspiration he needed. Something about the Jurassic Park febrility of the island touched him deeply.
He says, too, that he was struck by its fragility, aware that at any moment its unspoilt magic could unravel. Despite its size, it is inundated with wonders: its rich biodiversity includes endemic plants, birds and butterflies; its waters teem with kaleidoscopic coral-reef fish; humpback whales visit seasonally; and, from July, green, hawksbill and leatherback turtles nest on palm-fringed Praia Grande.
But its people are undeniably poor, which makes those natural riches vulnerable.
When Shuttleworth learned that the fate of Príncipe’s pristine wilderness was in the balance, he dreamed up Here Be Dragons (HBD), an enterprise punting small-scale, high-end ecotourism as a way of luring visitors – and their wallets – to the island.
Shuttleworth was granted permission by the government to invest in several areas in the island’s north; his first purchase was a group of beach shacks, known as Bom Bom, scheduled to relaunch this September, following an extensive upgrade. It’s one of three barefoot luxury resorts HBD has on the island. There’s also Omali Lodge, a 30-room hotel on São Tomé where guests typically stay before onward flights.
His intervention goes well beyond hospitality, though. In 2012, the combined efforts of the government, local community and HBD saw Príncipe designated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. There’s no green-washing here. Shuttleworth is in for the long haul, has established social programmes, housing schemes, training facilities – plus HBD is Príncipe’s largest employer, having created jobs for over 500 people. A form of universal basic income has been instituted to incentivise residents to rewild their land rather than turning quick profits via potentially deleterious agriculture. The Financial Times called it ‘a $100 million experiment in sustainable tourism’ and Shuttleworth admits there’s no prospect of financial return; his sole objective is altruism.
He says this kind of investment in the future is in line with his decision, years ago, not to have children. Rather than leaving a genetic legacy, he’s creating a blueprint for ways that other wealthy, privileged folk can apply themselves to the task of investing in the planet.
‘I like hard problems,’ Shuttleworth says. ‘The idea of starting something that’s really difficult and expensive to do and has no obvious business model. It’s hard, but wouldn’t it be nice to try something almost impossible and see if you can pull that off?’
THE MASTER OF SHAPES
Pierre Rainero has been Image, Style and Heritage Director at Cartier for the past two decades. Private Edition shares an exclusive interview with him from this year’s Watches and Wonders in Geneva.
PIERRE RAINERO has been at Cartier for longer than almost anyone. Joining the company in 1984 as International Advertising Manager in the Communications Department, he moved around a bit before settling into his current role in 2003. As Image, Style and Heritage Director, he has a say in every product development, every piece of communication as well as its archives. Neither a small job, nor a small responsibility for a brand as iconic and successful as Cartier.
Surprisingly he says that when he joined Cartier in 1984 it wasn’t necessarily because of a passion for watches and jewellery. ‘Yes, I always had an attraction to beautiful objects so it was easy for me to subscribe to the Cartier philosophy but it was only progressively that I became sensitive to the artistic dimension of Cartier. And I was surprised as to how passionate I felt about it,’ he says.
The Cartier philosophy subscribes to the belief that the strength of a winning design is its capacity to change over time. Rainero says that to understand this is to understand the company’s mastery of shapes.
He says, ‘It was the main vision of our founders to look at creation as shapes. With our watches, our mission is creating and playing with shapes. In our territory and our field of expression, this is what we do. And we always aim at creating shapes that will last, and which are linked to the capacity of the design to offer variations for the future.’
LOUIS CARTIER’S AMBITION WAS TO INTEGRATE AESTHETICS WITH FUNCTIONALITY, CREATING PIECES THAT WERE INNOVATIVE AND ICONIC.
Louis Cartier, the luminary behind the Cartier brand, was a revolutionary in the world of watchmaking. His mastery over shapes was an attempt to transform the traditional watch into a piece of wearable art. This foray into unique shapes began early in the 20th century, as he ventured beyond the round watch faces that had dominated the market.
Rainero says that an important consideration is that the shapes have been chosen for their essentiality. The inception of shapes like the Tortue in 1912 and the Tank in 1917 showcased Louis Cartier’s ambition to integrate aesthetics with functionality, creating timepieces that were both innovative and iconic. So too, if you look at the iconic Santos shape, you see that in all its variations, the watch face shape is the same – instantly recognisable and unique. ‘That essential part is a guarantee while you go through the different processes of innovation. The more you add to a design, the more fragile it becomes. The more you stick to the essential shape, the less fragile you are, and the more capacity those shapes have to evolve in terms of proportions, elements of décor, elements of material,’ he says.
Already that vision is a way of solving the issue that innovation could erase tradition. He says, ‘First the shapes we have are very modern and we always have the possibility to work with them and propose different versions for today. This is a main characteristic in our way of creating.’
Continuing the odyssey of magic and illusion, the Reflection de Cartier blends openwork and polished reflective gold with elongated lines and defined edges.
BELOW The SantosDumont Rewind remains loyal to the elegant original model from 1904.
BELOW RIGHT The manual winding 430MC movement on Cartier’s Tortue Hours/Minutes version is its thinnest. Available in platinum or yellow gold.
TIMEPIECES
This approach doesn’t mean Cartier is beholden to a set number of shapes – as is seen in their new release, Cartier Reflection. Throughout the 20th century, there was an adherence to the original essential shapes like the Tortue, but they’ve also had much success in adding new essential shapes such as the Ballon Bleu in 2007.
‘We don’t say it’s easy but it’s possible because that new shape is the most successful shape in the entire history of Cartier.’
Of the new releases this year, Rainero says they’re very proud of what they’re presenting.
‘In each category there is something wonderful happening. I like the work that was done on Santos and on the Tortue. I like the Reflection watch because not only is it a beautiful object but also an illustration of what Cartier is about in terms of creation
and style. We’ve released clocks before that play with reflection, like the Prisma clock, but this goes beyond because it’s more than a piece of watchmaking, it’s a piece of jewellery.’
Rainero refers to his role in the watchmaking industry as being in the business of applied art. He says he loves his job because of the objective he shares with his team and the team of designers.
‘To work in this field and with a maison that has such an interesting philosophy in terms of design is an enormous privilege. It’s also a huge responsibility, of course, because we know that Cartier plays an important role in the entire world of jewellery and watchmaking. But there is a shared culture of what we should be doing and this is very exciting; the idea of a synergy of talents and the satisfaction you get when you arrive at the very end of a production of an item and share your releases to the world.’
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT The Santos de Cartier Dual Time Watch; the Cartier Privé Tortue Monopoussoir Chronograph; the Cartier Pebble Tigre.
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THE SHOW STOPPERS
This year’s Watches and Wonders luxury watch fair in Geneva displayed an exciting array of new releases. Here are some of our favourites.
ROLEX PERPETUAL 1908
This top-of-the-line Rolex dress watch features a 39mm case in platinum with an alligator leather strap, distinctive for its green calfskin lining and tone-on-tone stitching. Although identical in almost all respects to the versions in gold, the new 1908 is exceptional. This has much to do with its ice-blue dial featuring a unique guilloché rice-grain motif lending this beautiful timepiece an alluring appeal. With its eye-catching dial created via guillochage, a technique that uses a turning tool to sculpt a pattern into a surface, Rolex is pursuing the course it has set for the Perpetual collection as a tribute to the classic art of watchmaking. The result speaks for itself: a watch of pure elegance.
ULYSSE NARDIN FREAK S NOMAD
With a limited release of only 99 pieces, the Freak S Nomad testifies to Ulysse Nardin’s deep love of haute horlogerie, métiers d’art and the rare handcrafting and finishing techniques that define only the finest luxury watches. No element in the Freak S Nomad better illustrates this passion than the hour disc that sits behind the carousel ‘spaceship’ movement. It features a diamond guilloché pattern finished in sand-coloured CVD, evoking rippling sand dunes. Produced one piece at a time by a skilled artisan, the painstaking method behind it takes years to learn and perfect.
IWC PORTUGIESER ETERNAL CALENDAR
This year IWC relaunched its Portugieser collection with new dials and feats of engineering. Most notable about the IWC Portugieser Eternal Calendar is that it automatically takes into account the Gregorian calendar’s complex leap-year exceptions by skipping three leap years over a 400-year period. In addition, this horological marvel also features a moon-phase display with a mathematical accuracy of 45 million years. In short, it will not need to be adjusted until 3999. While it is hard to believe that all this technology is packed inside the 44.4mm diameter platinum case with a thickness of 15mm, the practically non-existent bezel allows a wide, open view of the dial, which creates an elegant, timeless design.
HERMÈS ARCEAU CHORUS STELLARUM
You have to love Hermès for its blend of traditional craftsmanship and whimsical design. Despite its classic appearance, the Hermès Arceau Chorus Stellarum incorporates playful elements, such as mobile appliques, engraving and miniature painting, coming to life in a whimsical and mischievous equestrian universe. Two exclusive interpretations reveal a decorative world that is at times fantasy-tinged and at others futuristic. Inspired by the Chorus Stellarum silk scarf designed by Daiske Nomura.
CARTIER REFLECTION
After the Clash [Un]limited and Coussin de Cartier watches, the Reflection de Cartier timepiece continues the odyssey of magic, illusion and fascination. The collection’s motto, transcribing the mysteries of time through bold creations, is illustrated by this horological masterpiece. The latest Reflection de Cartier timepiece is equal parts jewellery and watch, a nod to the successful collaboration between Cartier’s jewellers and watchmakers. It all starts with the open bracelet’s unprecedented generous architecture that blends openwork and polished reflective gold with elongated lines and defined edges. A delicate dial delightfully meets its reflection, where time appears to move backwards. The gem-like bevelled glass on the dial marks the piece’s double identity, equal in sophistication and precision.
VACHERON CONSTANTIN’S LES CABINOTIERS – THE BERKLEY GRAND COMPLICATION
With The Berkley Grand Complication, Vacheron Constantin presents the world’s most complicated watch. Comprising 63 horological complications, be they in the realm of astronomical and chiming functions or useful complications in terms of chronometry, alarms and time zones, it surpasses the previous record also held by the Maison. The result of 11 years of development, including a year devoted entirely to its assembly, The Berkley Grand Complication is born from the will of its commissioner, who has chosen to give it his name. The main innovation of this impressive timepiece is its traditional Chinese perpetual calendar. Given the particularities of its complex and irregular cycle, the mechanical programming of in-house Calibre 3752 through to the year 2200 is a feat of horological genius.
PATEK PHILIPPE GOLDEN ELLIPSE
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the legendary Golden Ellipse, Patek Philippe presents a new ‘grandetaille’ rose-gold version of this icon, adorned with an ebony black sunburst dial whose applied hour markers and slender hands are also in rose gold. The large-sized Golden Ellipse also welcomes its first metal strap. Composed of links set in fine rows reminiscent of chain bracelets, this supple, elegant chain-style wristband in rose gold – with an engraved clasp – pays a fine tribute to the 1970s, during which the Golden Ellipse watch played a starring role. Utterly timeless.
GRAND SEIKO – EVOLUTION 9 COLLECTION
not an automatic. For those who love the pleasure of manually
Today, the ritual of winding a watch is one of life’s uncommon pleasures. In the 1960s and ’70s, manually wound 10-beat Grand Seiko creations were manufactured in the pursuit of better rate stability and higher precision. Calibre 9SA4 makes its debut in a new dress watch belonging to the Evolution 9 Collection, whose design represents a continuation of the Grand Seiko Style that harks back to the iconic 44GS of 1967. Only this time, the Evolution 9 Style itself has been further refined to create a watch that instantly communicates the charm, elegance, grace and subtlety one would expect of a hand-wound dress watch. Several aspects of the design have been revisited: from the prominent, grooved indexes, which have been slimmed down and elongated, to the multifaceted lugs, which are now narrower and have a smaller surface area. The watch’s centre of gravity has been lowered to ensure the comfort and stability for which Grand Seiko’s Evolution 9 creations have become renowned. But the real appeal of this dress watch is that it’s not an automatic. For those who love the pleasure of manually winding a watch, the SLGW003 is a satisfying choice.
records, including the latest achievement: the thinnest mechanical watch ever produced, which is also the world’s slimmest COSC chronometer. At 1.7mm in thickness this is a
product of design ingenuity showcasing Bvlgari’s unique ability to create elite Swiss watches that still feel like an Italian brand. This record-breaking timepiece marks the continuation of Bvlgari’s quest to use this case style to make incredibly slim watches. The COSC certification and 50-hour power reserve from the manual-winding movement are even more impressive. The BVL 180 calibre is just 1.5mm thick and can be wound via a crown on the underside of the case or using a digital module within the watch packaging.
HUBLOT BIG BANG TOURBILLON
Constantly pushing new boundaries in terms of materials, fusion and aesthetics, Hublot has been working closely with daring, unconventional artists and designers to envision watches from new creative angles. The collaboration between Hublot and Samuel Ross began in 2020, the subsequent three-year engineering process leading to an entirely new development, from case to crown, from dial and strap to bezel, resulting in the Big Bang Tourbillon SR_A by Samuel Ross. With the hexagonal honeycomb shape and its perfect six equal sides, the watch is conceived as a durable, ergonomic and incredibly lightweight object – in this case, made to be worn on the wrist. Just as the first release, this new iteration is produced in a 50-piece limited edition. To assert its industrial look, Ross has opted to attire all the watch-case components in shiny micro-blasted titanium, extending this to the clasp that also features a rough laser engraving of the Hublot logo.
150 years after Piaget was first founded, 67 years after it invented its first ultra-thin calibre and six years after it created the thinnest watch in the world at the time, Piaget has once again pushed the boundaries of horological ingenuity. The Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon truly stretches the limits of watchmaking feasibility. With a diameter of 41.5 mm, a guaranteed water resistance to a depth of 20 metres and a blue PVD-treated cobalt alloy case, the Altiplano Ultimate Concept Tourbillon appears to possess all the features of an everyday watch. However, its 2mm thickness and its annular tourbillon take it to a different plane: that of the extraordinary.
TUDOR BLACK BAY 58 GMT
The Black Bay remains one of Tudor’s most recognised and recognisable lines. The Black Bay 58 is named after the year in which the first Tudor divers’ watch, waterproof to 200 metres, was introduced. Among other aesthetic allusions to this famous historic watch, this model has a 39mm diameter case, in keeping with the characteristic proportions of the 1950s. The new Black Bay 58 GMT is fitted with Tudor’s new mid-sized GMT Manufacture Calibre paired with warm hues of burgundy, black and gilt on the bezel. The seconds hand recalls the lollipop design of the brand’s early diving watches.
TAG HEUER MONACO SPLIT-SECONDS CHRONOGRAPH
TAG Heuer built its reputation on sports timekeeping based on its split-seconds chronograph timepieces. With its black DLC-coated titanium case and red accents, the Monaco Split-Seconds Chronograph pays homage to this legacy. Crafted in grade-5 titanium, the Calibre TH81-00 is a marvel of lightness and complexity further magnified by the Monaco’s case, a fusion of titanium and sapphire crystal offering unobstructed views of the movement’s intricate inner workings. Measuring separate time intervals simultaneously, this complication is a nod to the Swiss Maison’s timekeeping history.
PANERAI SUBMERSIBLE LUNA ROSSA
Ahead of this year’s America’s Cup, Panerai has introduced the Submersible Luna Rossa in satin-finished stainless steel. Limited to 300 pieces, the timepiece pays tribute to the manufacture’s role as sponsor of the Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli sailing team, which has been in action since 2019. A symbol of Panerai’s innovative spirit and a nod to the team’s daring performances, this watch is encapsulated in a 42mm blue sun-brushed and black gradient finish that combines sleek aesthetics and a blackmatt ceramic bezel. The Luna Rossa is water-resistant to a depth of 300 metres.
Following the launch of the Montblanc Iced Sea Collection in 2022, Montblanc pushes the boundary even further in 2024 with the Montblanc Iced Sea 0 Oxygen Deep 4810. In the spirit of overcoming limits, Montblanc explores new territories at minus 4 810 metres – inverting the 4 810 metre height of the Mont Blanc Mountain to connect the world of the ocean to the mountain, which has always been part of the Maison’s DNA. Beyond its eye-catching aesthetics, this timepiece has been created to perform in extreme conditions. Engineered to withstand depths that only few watchmakers have dared to explore, its performance makes it a reliable companion in harsh underwater environments.
GARDEN STATE
Boasting edible and rooftop gardens, and with a medicinal garden at its core, an architect’s Perth home juxtaposes nature’s softness with industrial materials in its out- and indoor spaces.
WORDS MARTIN JACOBS
THIS PAGE Most of the rooms at street level face inward onto an internal courtyard. To help regulate interior temperatures and airflow, and to maximise light, a shuttered courtyard window offers views of the adjacent park. The upstairs living space leads onto a terrace.
OPPOSITE PAGE
A combination of materials – glass, exposed concrete and blue-glazed bricks – at the home’s entrance draws one’s eye upward, and hints at the material palette to come. ‘The glazed brickwork speaks to the surrounding blue-tiled roofs,’ explains architect and homeowner Jimmy Thompson.
PERHAPS WHAT IS MOST CURIOUS about Australian architect Jimmy Thompson’s home is that more square meterage is dedicated to gardens and outdoor spaces than there is plot itself. This poses somewhat of a numbers conundrum, begging the question as to how it makes sense. If one accepts it as part of the mathematical mastery that comes with an architectural qualification and many years on the job, it becomes one of many tricks of the trade that the design director of MJA Studio brought to the conception and design of the newbuild home he now shares with his partner, Angie. Thompson was on the lookout for a plot in Perth’s northern suburb Goonderup, having lived in several homes in neighbouring areas. Spotted online by the architect while in a Norwegian airport, it was only a matter of time before he purchased the unusual piece of land, the former back garden of a larger property, adjacent to a small neighbourhood park.
To understand what Thompson did next, one first has to understand the site. The plot has neighbouring homes on two sides, the park on a third, and a narrow lane that permits access to the backs of the street’s original properties as a fourth. The intriguing use of space that defines his home was a response to the site itself, what’s known as a battle axe block, a plot in which the subdivided land – situated behind the original structure – is accessible by a driveway conventionally shared by both properties. ‘Too often such blocks see the replacement of an ex-backyard with homes that cover the majority of the site and leave little room for gardens,’ he explains. ‘I wanted to flip the typical diagram by making the lane our front door and the street our back, while opening up in party mode to the adjacent park.’ The result is a contemporary home that intelligently maximises available space while remaining considerate to its neighbours.
Built over two storeys, the heart of the home is a central courtyard, a medicinal garden that comprises a leopard tree and plants that can
TOP LEFT Sheltered from street noise, the internal courtyard is a serene space that includes a built-in bench, barbeque facilities and an outdoor bath. It’s partly covered for year-round protection and centres around a medicinal garden.
THIS PAGE Upstairs, a wooden ceiling adds warmth to the open-plan entertainment space.
Burnished concrete floors and linear dining chairs (by local artisanal brand Remington Matters) are juxtaposed with softer artworks – a painting by UCT graduate Helen Teede, and a woven piece by Australian contemporary artist Mary Dhapalany.
be used for teas and tinctures. The surrounding ground-floor rooms – the master bedroom, its en suite, and a study (with proportions that allow it to be reconfigured as two bedrooms in the future) – are largely introverted, with retractable glass walls that open to the garden, making for seamless, and private, inand outdoor living. Alongside the courtyard is a covered outdoor area complete with a bath, kitchen and daybed. Perforated brickwork, which regulates airflow and temperature within the home, also allows outward views onto a perimeter edible garden that includes plantings of herbs, pomegranate, citrus and stone fruit trees.
In contrast to the secluded ground floor, the upstairs area –home to an open-plan kitchen and entertainment space, as well as a terrace – is outward looking, with views across the park and towards Perth’s skyscraper horizon making it feel more expansive. Brave a series of metal rungs built into an external wall, and you can access the rooftop garden with its panoramic views and endemic Western Australian landscaping, chosen to withstand climatic extremes, and to round out the biodiversity of the two lower-level gardens.
Both upstairs and down, inside and out, material choices repeat, contributing to the sense of a boundaryless indooroutdoor lifestyle. ‘The rough, white bagged brickwork reflects Perth’s brutal sun and provides the home’s enclosure, negating any need for boundary fencing,’ Thompson explains. ‘The glazed blue brickwork speaks to the surrounding blue-tiled roofs and
the exoticism of the courtyard typology.’ Burnished concrete floors, recycled timber, and louvered glass windows complete the material palette.
Thompson recounts how, shortly after moving in, the couple invited neighbours to drop by for a closer look at the ‘peculiar’ home, the building of which they’d had to endure. When a neighbour remarked how the home’s out- and indoor nature left her feeling like she wasn’t even in a house, Thompson truly understood the power of design. ‘Mine is an adaptive and flexible home with spaces designed to provide us with choice, so that no matter the time of day or year, there is always an ideal place to inhabit,’ he says. mjastudio.net
TOP ‘The rooftop includes plants evolved to withstand shallow soils, wind, extreme heat and evaporation, drought and very little water,’ explains the Banksia & Lime team, landscape architects tasked by Thompson to oversee the rooftop garden.
OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Thompson’s home studio was designed at a scale that allows for potential subdivision into two additional bedrooms; louvred glass windows, popular in Australian architecture for their thermal regulation, are used across the home; the same blue-glazed brickwork on the external façade repeats as a splashback in the kitchen; as in the master bedroom, walls of glass in the home studio slide open, creating a seamless flow into the medicinal garden and courtyard.
BRAVE A SERIES OF METAL RUNGS BUILT INTO AN EXTERNAL WALL, AND ONE CAN ACCESS THE ROOFTOP GARDEN, WITH ITS PANORAMIC VIEWS AND ENDEMIC WESTERN AUSTRALIAN LANDSCAPING.
A RACE THROUGH TIME
Anniversaries are very in season. As Mercedes-Benz celebrates 130 years in motorsport, Aston Martin 60 years of inspiration, and Fiat a whopping 125 years of growth, Peter Frost chooses his favourites and highlights future classics.
Colour is back in motoring and the 2024/5 palettes are every kind of exuberant, such as Mercedes-AMG’s triumphant burnt orange on its latest GT 63 S E-Performance. The coordination continues inside, evoking the GTs of the golden era.
MENTION THE 18th century Cornish champion wrestler
Richard Trevithick and everyone draws a blank. But before Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler developed the world’s first automobiles, Trevithick, an inventer and engineer, had perfected a steampowered, horseless carriage. Given that railways rather than roads were the future in the 1790s, his invention led to the development of the first locomotive, rather than the car. It was nearly a century later that Benz and partners would present the internal combustion-powered Model 3 Motorwagen at the World’s Fair in Paris in 1889 (the same year the Eiffel Tower was unveiled).
MERCEDES-BENZ IS ONE OF ONLY THREE MANUFACTURERS TO WIN THE TRIPLE CROWN: THE INDIANAPOLIS 500, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS AND THE MONACO GRAND PRIX.
AIMING FOR THE CHEQUERED FLAG: MERCEDES-BENZ Paris as well as the Eiffel Tower loom large in Mercedes’ motorsport mythology. It was here in 1894 that the fledgling company won first prize in the inaugural Paris-Rouen race (after the winner had been disqualified because his steam-powered car needed a stoker as well as a driver). Daimler was making engines at that point, notably for pioneers Peugeot. They’ve come a long way
since then, one of only three manufacturers to win the Triple Crown: the Indianapolis 500, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Monaco Grand Prix. To celebrate the 130-year anniversary, Mercedes took aim at a record it had wanted to break for years, the famed Mount Panorama Circuit. Job done: in February a Mercedes-AMG GT3 set the fastest lap around the 6.213km Bathurst circuit for a car with a roof at 1 minute and 56.605 seconds.
That unrestricted car won’t be in anyone’s garage soon, but another AMG-GT will be: the hybrid enhanced Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E-Performance is set to light up showrooms early next year. It’s a missile to be sure, the 4-litre V8 now paired with an electric motor to produce a whopping 1 420Nm of torque. That will make it good for a 0-100km/h time of 2.8 seconds. Legendary indeed.
Crowning moment: Mercedes SSK 1928. The magnificent open-top sports roadster, designed by Ferdinand Porsche, fetches upwards of R180 million today.
COAL SHUTTLE TO COOLMEISTER: ASTON MARTIN
ASTON MARTIN’S 110 YEARS ON THE ROAD HAVE BEEN MARKED BY MASSIVE TURBOCHARGED BLOWERS, SVELTE BOND CHARIOTS AND NOT A LITTLE BIT OF LE MANS GLORY.
Aston Martin’s 110 years on the road have been marked by massive turbocharged blowers, svelte Bond chariots and not a little bit of Le Mans glory. The road hasn’t been without its speed bumps though. Record losses in the early 2000s led to Ford selling the company to a consortium of super-rich investors. The move seems to have done the trick; Aston’s future, according to Forbes, is looking rosy with electric plans well underway and sales of their iconic V12s charging ahead. As 2025 looms large, everyone is talking about one car, the new Valour, a limited-edition thoroughbred that’s likely to be the marque’s most collectible car to date. Petrolheads will be talking about the twin-turbocharged 5.2-litre V12 as well as the manual gearbox, but
Aston Martin’s design language has always been about taking up a substantial amount of road real estate. So it is with their latest V12 Valour, which boasts the visual attitude to match the sound and fury.
style aficionados are hailing it as Aston’s prettiest in years.
The Brit style continues inside; woollen tweed seats are an option, meant to recall the 1959 Le Mans-winning DBR1. As Aston itself says, it’s a tribute to the golden era of driving when cars were seductive, wild and beautiful. Amen to that.
BEGINNING IN TURIN IN 1899, FIAT’S HISTORY HAS BEEN ANYTHING BUT SIMPLE. IT HAS SURVIVED MULTIPLE RECESSIONS, MADCAP OWNERS AND ABSURD IDEAS BUT, HAPPILY, ALSO EQUAL AMOUNTS OF GENIUS.
Crowning moment: Aston Martin DB5, 1963. Sean Connery’s first Aston in Goldfinger reappeared in Thunderball sporting new watercannons and a jetpack. Designed by Federico Formenti in Italy for Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera.
ITALY’S TORRID AFFAIR: FIAT
Beginning in Turin in 1899, Fiat’s history has been anything but simple. It has survived multiple recessions, absurd ideas and colossal temper tantrums by madcap owners but, happily, also equal amounts of genius. For decades Fiat owned the small-car space, giving the world the Topolino in 1936, the 500 in 1957, the 128 in 1969 and the Panda in 1980. It’s this last car that is laying the future for Fiat, now part of the leviathan Stellantis
Motor Group. July marks the 125th anniversary of the company and the new Panda will form the basis for an international electric platform. Expect to see variations of the small runabout soon, including a bakkie. But the real style news is from sister marque Alfa Romeo, which will launch the oh-so-beautiful SUV Junior in late 2024. Touted as the company’s first full electric car, it’ll do battle for the title of coolest urban crossover, and our money is on it being the hands-down winner.
Crowning moment: Fiat 8V, 1952. Fiat’s most audacious foray into the world of V8 power quickly became the design sensation of 1952. Spaceship looks, futurist overtones, it referenced the ’50s obsession with all things interstellar. An original 8V Ghia Supersonic will fetch R52m at auction today.
The Junior, Alfa Romeo’s small SUV, continues Turin’s design trend towards futurist elegance. There’s not much on the road that looks like it, underlining Alfa’s return to a sense of strong individuality.
FIT FOR THE GODS
– AND MORTALS, TOO
Much maligned thanks to lingering associations with banners and Coke, brandy from the Cape is making a serious go at being recognised on the global stage alongside France’s formidable cognacs.
WORDS KEITH BAIN
VICTOR HUGO CALLED cognac the ‘liquor of the gods’ but he probably never tasted an aged pot-still brandy from the Cape. While cognac is unlikely to be knocked off its throne as the ultimate symbol of French luxury, it’s notable that South African brandies – racking up armloads of ‘best in the world’ trophies year after year – rarely feature in breathless conversations about what it is the gods of Hugo’s imagination do in fact sip after dinner.
Unless you talk to the experts, that is.
People like KWV brandy master Pieter de Bod whose life’s passion is to create the most harmoniously balanced brandies imaginable.
‘I get goosebumps just talking about it,’ he says of KWV’s 15-year-old brandy. ‘It just explodes in your mouth, a very soft brandy with such complexity. And full of surprises, each flavour giving way to another – beautiful tawny port, vanilla, sweet tobacco, and then apricot and dry fruit. Then, you smell it again
and you taste crème brûlée, chocolatey Christmas pudding, caramel, nuts. But the best part for me is the elegant, long, lingering flavour. It stays in your mouth for such a long, long time. I think it’s gorgeous.’
But it’s like picking a favourite child, De Bod says, each one is loved for different reasons. He says his KWV 20-year-old has its own unique genius.
‘Normally, if you smell an older brandy, you get old flavours: cigar box, a lot of wood. But when you first smell our 20-year-old, it’s very fruity, almost tricking you into assuming it’s not all that old. When you taste it, an explosion happens, all those wonderful fruit-cake, spice, old-oak and honey flavours, which you don’t anticipate from the aroma profile.’
He says that this surprise element is possibly why it garners so many awards.
De Bod is a proud parent to these fine expressions of Cape spirit distillation. ‘I assume we’ve done a good job to have earned the title “best brandy producer” six times in the last eight years, all of the “best brandy” trophies, and “best brandy in the world” seven times in the last nine years.’
He says, too, that some of his favourite feedback comes straight from the mouths of French experts, his colleagues in Cognac. On at least one voting panel – that of London’s International Spirits Challenge – representatives from three of France’s biggest cognac producers, Hennessy, Rémy Martin and Courvoisier, have spoken highly of aged South African brandies to De Bod (the panel’s chairman).
De Bod says it comes down to Cape brandy’s fruitier flavours, a result of our climate. The difference is that our grapes are picked mid-summer, which translates into intense fruitiness because of the high sugar concentration due to prolonged sunlight and heat at harvest time.
In Cognac, grapes come off the vines in winter, when there’s barely any sun shining on those grapes, De Bod explains. Instead of fruity
OPPOSITE PAGE KWV’s coveted 20-year-old pot-still brandy, with its deceptively fruity aroma and explosive flavour. ABOVE, FROM LEFT Pieter de Bod’s beloved KWV 15-year-old brandy; KWV’s Nexus 30-year-old brandy; Van Ryn’s 15- and 20-year-old brandies. BELOW Ageing barrels in the cellar at Upland Organic Estate.
ABOVE, FROM LEFT Edmund Oettlé’s Upland 24 Karat Directors Reserve XO Brandy with gold-leaf flakes; Rust en Vrede’s 12-year-old pot-still brandy; Joseph Barry’s XO pot-still brandy is made from St Emilion and Colombard grapes. RIGHT Tokara’s aged brandy is double-distilled using a copper Prulho Alembic pot still. BELOW Sugarbird uses trickle filtering to infuse its 14-year-old brandy with a dash of honeybush and rooibos, while fynbos honey adds subtle fynbos notes.
aromas, cognacs tend to evoke ‘perfume’. Those perfume notes are beautiful, luxurious and very expensive, and – along with the sanctity of the tradition (and reputation) of the Cognac region –are why those spirits are so coveted.
To some extent South African brandies have long been under the radar, ignored because of slothful marketing. This is changing, thanks to the upstart artisanal brands that are demonstrating how to appeal to a younger market.
Matt Bresler, CEO and founder of Sugarbird and Kindred Spirits, believes South African brandy has ‘batted above its weight’ for a very long time. But there’s been a lack of awareness of that high batting average.
He says it’s hats off to KWV, which puts a lot of energy into training new distillers in order to shake up the industry. ‘These older players have incredible heritage and create incredible liquor, but have not been particularly cutting edge when it comes to marketing themselves.’
For a long time, the mainstay was what he calls the ‘musty wine-farm’ spirit brands, but new youngblood energy is helping to elevate the reach of stalwart brands like KWV and Van Ryn’s, that other vanguard of traditional Cape brandy excellence.
With almost 20 years in the industry, Van Ryn’s master distiller, Marlene Bester, says pot-still brandies comprise about 20 percent of the market in South Africa. ‘Those are the really high-end brandies, normally 10 years and older, the brandies meant to be sipped neat or with a dash of water. In essence, the same as cognac.’
Van Ryn’s is the flagship brand of Distell, SA’s biggest distiller. Their Van Ryn’s 15-year-old pot-still brandy was named World’s
The copper stills at Van Ryn’s Distillery in Stellenbosch, where distillery tours and tastings are available.
OUR SPIRIT INNOVATORS, PERFECTIONISTS AND UPSTARTS ARE BRINGING A NEW SHEEN TO OUR INDUSTRY – BOTH ABROAD AND AT HOME.
Best Wine Brandy at this year’s World Brandy Awards for the second year in a row. In 2022, their 20-year-old won.
Pushed to pick a favourite child, Bester says she loves Van Ryn’s 12-year-old. ‘In summer when it’s 35 degrees outside, you can have it with two blocks of ice, and in winter it’s something quite different – you just heat the glass with your hand and get those warm citrus notes and some nuttiness. There’s a complexity that makes you want to go back and taste it again and again.’
Bester says her brandies are produced the same way cognac is made, only using different grape varietals. ‘These are brandies with beautiful floral, fruity characteristics from the grapes, and from the barrels, dark chocolate, nuttiness and vanilla flavours.’ The uniqueness for Cape brandies, she says, is the integration between the two flavour dimensions.
And yet, the designation ‘South African brandy’ still doesn’t roll off the tongue quite as luxuriously as ‘cognac’. That has much to do with perception. Despite a distilling legacy that’s almost as old as that of Cognac, we’re still received as young.
In the late 1930s, a tiny news item in The New York Times made mention of the arrival in America of a South African brandy for the first time. It was reported with all the wide-eyed surprise of a country bumpkin explaining a UFO sighting. For decades since, our brandies have represented insignificant real estate on international liquor shelves.
But Cape brandy makers are catching up to the luxury market’s potential. Our spirit innovators, perfectionists and
upstarts are bringing a new sheen to our industry – both abroad and at home. The Cape Brandy Distillers Guild has helped birth a category of sipping brandy officially known as ‘Cape Brandy’ with a protected designation of origin. Some 23 distillers in the Western Cape are already recognised in this premium spirits division.
Among them are unconventional crusaders like Edmund Oettlé who has pioneered a kind of garagiste distillation operation using grapes grown under uncompromisingly handsoff conditions on his farm, Upland Organic Estate, in the hills above Wellington. You will not find any chemical fertilisers or sprays anywhere near his vines. He even made his own still, the only handmade one in the country that’s certified and still going strong after 27 years. It’s the country’s only organic certified distillery and makes South Africa’s only cask-strength (62% alcohol) brandy.
‘Nothing has been added, not even water!’ Oettlé says of what is some of the most expensive South African brandy on the market, its fruity notes topped by vanilla, lingering depth, and complexity of flavour with a dry finish, so reminiscent of great cognacs. His entry-level brandy is a 10-year-old XO made, unsurprisingly, in limited quantities.
To underscore the superlative status of this unique spirit, his Upland 24 Karat Directors Reserve XO Brandy has pure gold leaf flakes in it. Perhaps the perfect spirit to bring out if Victor Hugo were coming to dine.
The phrase ‘global chocolate crisis’ sounds like a parody of tasteless priorities. But it is a proper calamity, a potential threat not only to our milky-dark cravings, but also to the livelihoods of cacao farmers and chocolate makers around the world.
LET THE DARKNESS FIND YOU
WORDS KEITH BAIN
THIS PAGE These hand-moulded and painted chocolate bon-bons are available at Rapt in
OPPOSITE PAGE Afrikoa’s awardwinning 55% semi-sweet chocolate has a longer conching time, resulting in a velvety smooth, milder chocolate made from single-origin Tanzanian cacao beans – ideal if you’re not yet entirely sold on dark chocolate. One of these slabs might convert you to the dark side.
APART FROM CLIMATE CHANGE and outbreaks of black pod disease, cacao crops in West Africa, the global heartland of production, have also been afflicted by El Niño-related low rainfall and ageing trees. Last year, these factors saw harvests in Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, which together produce two-thirds of the world’s cacao, drop so low that the International Cocoa Organization forecast a global production shortfall of 374 000 tons this season.
The price of cacao beans started rising sharply towards the end of last year and in April reached almost $11 per kilogram, a record high that is around 400% up from its price last year.
So, does this spell the beginning of the end for one of the world’s most taken-for-granted luxuries?
According to David Donde, who in the midst of the furore opened a luxury chocolate emporium in Cape Town, the impact is more likely to be felt by consumers of so called ‘mass-produced chocolate’ than speciality, artisanal and handcrafted brands. High-end chocolatemakers who have always made the effort to deal directly with farmers and who purchase in smaller quantities have always tended to pay a premium for their beans, he explains.
Reporting on the crisis in May, The New York Times confirmed that there is a disconnect between skyrocketing cacao prices on global exchanges and the on-theground situation on farms.
‘The volatility in the chocolate market is almost entirely driven by market forces,’ Donde says, alluding to the impact on prices of futures trading, or what he describes as ‘brokers sitting in offices playing against each other’. What’s unfortunate, though, is that the rising prices of chocolate bars in supermarkets are doing nothing to help farmers, or to create fairer pricing models for growers and farm workers.
And while consumers will pay more for chocolate, and many chocolate businesses will fold as a result of a dwindling cacao supply, it’s the failure of governments and trade organisations to invest in cacao farmers that poses the biggest threat of all to chocolate’s future. As the global chocolate industry struggles to right itself, many farmers who have borne the brunt of poor harvests are likely to give up on cacao entirely because the market has become so unpredictable.
Meanwhile, Donde says he’s happy to be paying topdollar for ‘better quality beans’ sourced from the tiny island nation of São Tomé e Príncipe, where a mere 3 000 tonnes of cacao is grown annually.
Buitenkant Street in Cape Town.
His chocolate factory, which is open to the public, uses this premium-price ‘speciality cacao’ to produce chocolate bars, filled chocolate truffles, instant nitrogen ice-cream and all sorts of build-your-own chocolate extravagances. Called Rapt, its Pop Art décor seems evidently inspired by Willy Wonka.
Donde, who helped establish South Africa’s secondwave coffee revolution and 15 years ago founded Truth Coffee, one of Cape Town’s most coveted brands, began sussing out the chocolate market a few years ago. ‘During the lockdown period we went looking for cacao from all over the world. Madagascar was recommended. We love Madagascan cacao but the moment we tasted the stuff from São Tomé, it blew us away.’
He says the choice came down to what tested best in blind tastings. ‘One of the main factors is that cacao,
unlike other farm produce, is heavily affected by fertilisation from other trees. A modern nasty-tasting hybrid tree will alter the taste of some ancient varietal of cacao horribly. São Tomé e Príncipe simply doesn’t have these problems so their cacao is unique. The history is rich and the cacao is rare and untainted.’
He says there’s a vast divide separating genuine chocolate from what is mass produced. ‘Wouldn’t you rather have real food over sugar-laden stuff that calls itself chocolate by skimming the barest percentage of cacao legally allowable to still be termed chocolate?’
Donde believes ‘the real stuff’ is delicious without additional sweetening, so the chocolates at Rapt will provide ‘the nostalgic flavours of your childhood’, without excessive sugar. ‘We’re trying to create something that isn’t just good enough for Cape Town, but that can
THE CHOCOLATES AT RAPT WILL PROVIDE ‘THE NOSTALGIC FLAVOURS OF YOUR CHILDHOOD’ ...
stand on its own feet anywhere in the world,’ he says. ‘Expect a dopamine hit of healthy indulgence plus nostalgia.’
Also looking to elevate local chocolate-making to international standards is Afrikoa, a Cape Townbased chocolate-making company co-founded by Rwandan-Swiss businesswoman Ingrid Karera.
Head chocolatier Kyle Hickman says Afrikoa has always paid a premium for cacao beans, opting to trade directly with farmers in Tanzania rather than going through a Belgian dealer, which is the usual route. ‘Our Tanzanian cacao is of heirloom stock, part of the original heritage cacao that was grown in South America, and this gives us a superiorquality, better-tasting bean.’
He says that the direct-trade relationship ensures that the raw product is more carefully handled, is free of defective beans, and that there’s more control than if the beans were simply bought at auction.
‘While we aren’t organic certified, the farms from which we procure are all co-ops located in areas so rural they don’t even have access to pesticides and chemicals.’
Hickman says that while fair treatment of farmers is a brand priority, flavour is critical, too. Afrikoa sources top-tier Trinitario beans that ‘have quite a unique flavour profile’.
He says that the ‘Belgian chocolate flavour’ we’re most familiar with comes from West African beans. Those, he says, tend to have ‘a typical chocolatey flavour’ whereas their Tanzania-grown beans produce a fruitier, non-mainstream flavour. ‘You get a beautiful red fruit flavour coming through, a little more acidic than usual, too,’ he says.
Hickman also says Afrikoa’s milk chocolate has a higher cocoa percentage and isn’t as sweet as mainstream milk chocolate; ‘it’s really rich and creamy and chocolatey’. A classic choice is their 37% milk chocolate with hazelnut.
If you prefer to go dark, they produce a beautifully complex 70% chocolate, that’s less bitter than people assume, wonderfully creamy and also full of health benefits. That said, their roasted macadamias coated in a white chocolate infused with rooibos and citrus might just make an addict of you, even if you will be paying more for it for the foreseeable future.
ABOVE Rapt’s gift box includes a selection of afterdinner bon-bons and other chocolatey surprises.
OPPOSITE PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT Chock-full display shelves at Afrikoa’s outlet in Cape Town’s Makers Landing; chocolate production at Afrikoa; Rapt’s reinvented take on the now extinct Chocolate Log; pastels and Pop Art are the design elements at Rapt; salted-caramel chocolate robots from Rapt.
We are proud to be the only restaurant in the country that boasts five Private Dining Rooms that may be used for conferencing or special occasions. From intimate wedding receptions to milestone birthday celebrations to corporate functions, we are able to accommodate all your luxury dining requirements. Take your partner’s breath away with a Private Beach dining experience, curated by our executive chef and sommelier. From two to 250 guests, we have all your needs covered at Havana. 21 years of satisfying your cravings. For reservations, contact 064-757-1141
STEP ONBOARD THE OPULENT
HAZENDAL YACHT
and experience Cape Town from an extraordinary vantage point as she sails from the V&A Waterfront to popular destinations along the West Coast and Cape Peninsula.
ANCHORED AT THE ICONIC V&A Waterfront pier, the Princess Eve awaits those seeking an extraordinary maritime adventure. Whether you choose a brief cruise along the Atlantic Seaboard or a more extended journey up the Cape’s West Coast, an unparalleled luxury experience awaits.
It’s late morning on a picturesque, sunny day at Cape Town’s V&A Waterfront. Visitors laden with shopping bags and cameras stroll along the cobblestone pathways. Some settle at café tables, savouring perfect cappuccinos while gazing at the shimmering water and imposing Table Mountain. This scene might seem the pinnacle of Cape Town’s charm – until one steps aboard the majestic yacht docked a metre or two from the Waterfront’s oldest hotel.
From the moment you set foot on the Princess Eve, the 85-foot Hazendal Yacht anchored at the iconic V&A Waterfront pier, it’s evident that this will be no ordinary outing. With warm smiles, the experienced crew greet you with a refreshing beverage, setting the tone for the voyage ahead. A crisp, chilled glass of Hazendal Cap Classique complements the surroundings perfectly, although vodka cocktails and non-alcoholic options are also available as the yacht ventures beyond the harbour.
Exploring the yacht for the first time, even while it remains docked, feels like a journey into the nautical elite. This ultra-luxurious vessel is South Africa’s largest resident yacht, and no detail has been overlooked. The rooftop Jacuzzi and plush indoor lounge clad in sumptuous leather are standout features. A covered outdoor dining table for eight at the stern is ideal for meals. Weather permitting, the crew might even light the barbecue once the yacht reaches its destination. With a swim ladder, jet skis, and watersports equipment at the ready, there’s no shortage of activities to enjoy.
The superyacht offers short trips, private charters and extended overnight journeys. Four cabins with en-suite bathrooms and plush bedding can accommodate eight passengers for longer excursions up the Cape West Coast. Yet, there’s a unique charm in the shorter sunset cruises along the Atlantic Seaboard. With a glass of bubbly in hand and a steady flow of gourmet snacks, you’ll glide slowly out through the bustling Waterfront, past the famous swing bridge and Clock Tower, and into open waters.
As you sail, dolphins and seals often appear in the surrounding water, especially near the Green Point Lighthouse. However, your gaze will likely be captivated by the shifting panoramic views, from Table Mountain to Signal Hill and Lion’s Head, before resting on the serene cove of Clifton.
Eventually, the time will come to return to the harbour. But when you do, you’ll understand that a journey on the Hazendal Yacht is more than just an excursion on one of the nation’s most luxurious vessels, it’s an exceptional way to experience Cape Town and its stunning coastline. hazendal.co.za
OPPOSITE PAGE The Princess Eve welcomes guests with refreshing beverages as they embark on a tour of the Atlantic Seaboard or longer trips up the West Coast.
RIGHT No detail has been overlooked on Hazendal’s super-luxurious yacht Princess Eve. Four en-suite cabins ensure groups of eight guests can enjoy overnight excursions to the West Coast. Shorter cruises feature Cape Town’s scenic coastline.
Madikwe
lies in the
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF
OOM SCHALK
Game Reserve
heart of the Marico, an evocative corner of South Africa made famous in the short stories of Herman Charles Bosman. Justin Fox visits luxurious RockFig Lodge to get under the skin of the Bushveld.
IN JANUARY 1926, the young Herman Charles Bosman was sent as a novice teacher to a tiny school in the Marico District of the former Western Transvaal. He stayed less than six months, but the impression the region and its people made on him was seminal. Almost all his short stories are set in the Marico, many of them narrated by his famous storyteller, Oom Schalk Lourens, who has become one of South Africa’s historic literary characters.
During his time as a teacher, Bosman was inspired by the local bosvelders, and by the particular quality of the Marico landscape. His stories sketch a picture of the hardships of farmers and the cycles of life. It’s a world where drought, cattle raiders and rinderpest threaten; where shooting wild game, brewing coffee from the roots of the witgat and distilling mampoer are common practice. Bosman sought to capture what he called ‘the soul of the veld’. For modern travellers, it is these evocations that we hold dear, for they colour and enhance our appreciation of this region.
Thanks to conservation efforts, Madikwe Game Reserve looks much like it did in Bosman’s day: a wild place of big skies, vast plains and rocky inselbergs in a region where Bushveld and Kalahari meet. Comprising 750km2, this malaria-free reserve
is famous for its African wild dogs, but it’s also great for Big Five viewing, and the wide range of habitats make for excellent birding, with more than 350 species recorded.
Our group of friends arrived hot and dusty from Joburg and entered Madikwe at Abjaterskop Gate. I remembered that Bosman’s schoolhouse was a two-roomed, thatched structure with a dung floor in the shadow of Abjaterskop. Close by was Zwingli trading store where Bosman bought his provisions. It’s still there today, just south of Abjaterskop Gate on the R49.
Many of the farms described by Bosman no longer exist, but quite a number have been incorporated into Madikwe. Wildlife that was so plentiful in Oom Schalk Lourens’s day had mostly been shot by the late 20th century, but is now back in wonderful abundance.
RockFig Lodge is a fenced-off oasis set on a koppie with gorgeous views of unspoilt bushveld dotted with inselbergs. The lodge is small and intimate, comprising just three self-contained villas and Inkwe Private Family House (which sleeps six). They are set far enough apart to ensure seclusion but within easy walking distance of the restaurant, bar and pool deck. Best of all is an underground hide beside a waterhole for close-up game viewing.
Tshukudu Villa where I stayed was modern and well appointed with a fully equipped kitchen, comfortable living room, large stoep, boma for braaiing, outdoor shower and private plunge pool.
After unpacking and settling in, we headed out on a game drive with experienced ranger Honest Sangweni. Khaki landscape, green magic-gwarri bushes, cobalt sky. The sightings came at regular intervals: waterbuck, zebra, giraffe, buffalo. We arrived at a dam where playful elephants sprayed themselves with mud. A rhino appeared and they turned their attention to the solo figure which backed off smartly.
Later, we came to Vleisfontein, once a Catholic mission, now the park’s headquarters. Oom Schalk recounts how the local predikant riled against the papists and their proselytising activities among the Bapedi. The remains of the mission – graveyard, chapel, fine accommodation buildings, surrounding fields once tended by Jesuits, and dams stocked with fish for Friday meals – are well worth a visit.
As the sun sank, Honest found us a spot for sundowners. Standing in the veld, with G&T in hand, I remembered that Oom Schalk’s fictional farm was near here, just north of the Dwarsberge and east of Abjaterskop, shaped like a camel’s hump on the horizon. Oom Schalk tells us that ghosts used to live on that koppie, and that it was the home of witches. Even though he didn’t really believe such nonsense,
OPPOSITE A cheetah mother gives us a stern glance: don’t even think about hassling my cubs.
THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT
Tshukudu Villa had a wide stoep, boma for braaiing, outdoor shower and private plunge pool; the waterhole at Vleisfontein is a sundowner spot, popular with both humans and big game; the villas at RockFig Lodge are modern and well-appointed with fully equipped kitchens and comfortable living rooms; snoozes and yoga after a busy night of hunting.
he used to spur his steed to a gallop through the poort, because ‘a horse is sensitive about things like ghosts and witches, and it was my duty to see my horse was not frightened unnecessarily’.
The ensuing days found a natural bushveld rhythm, with morning and evening game drives, and much lounging around our plunge pools during the heat of the day when the Kalahari vented its steamy breath. Our drives produced spectacular sightings: a cheetah mom and three cubs; lions galore, mostly recumbent and looking regal; giraffes lowering their necks to drink like toppling skyscrapers; and light-footed wild dogs on the hunt.
Our last day culminated in a lavish braai, lit by a bonfire and lanterns, with camp chairs drawn close and the stars shining uncannily bright. When others made for bed, I retired to the hide with my binoculars. The air was filled with a chorus of crickets and night jars. The waterhole lay just a few metres away, softly lit, almost at eye level. Antelope came and went like ghostly phantoms, hyena whoops rent the night.
Sitting there, Bosman’s words echoed in my head: ‘There is no other place I know that is so heavy with atmosphere, so strangely and darkly impregnated with that stuff of life that bears the authentic stamp of South Africa.’ Just so. rockfigmadikwe.co.za.
OPPOSITE Herman
Charles Bosman likened Marico sunsets to colourful, African blankets.
THIS PAGE, CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT The lodge has a superb hide situated beside a busy waterhole, where you can enjoy a meal at eye level as antelope pass by; Madikwe has a healthy population of African wild dogs – we followed this pack on a hunt; Zwingli trading store, just south of Abjaterskop Gate, is where Herman Charles Bosman bought his provisions; in the late afternoon, Madikwe’s waterholes are dominated by big elephant bulls.
‘... A WILD PLACE OF BIG SKIES, VAST PLAINS AND ROCKY INSELBERGS IN A REGION WHERE BUSHVELD AND KALAHARI MEET.’
FERNKLOOF ESTATE, HERMANUS
Asking: R19.5 million | 4 Bedrooms | 5 Bathrooms
Surrounded by the mountains of Fernkloof Nature Reserve in secure Fernkloof Village, this luxurious single-level home offers four en-suite bedrooms, an openplan living area, a separate TV room with a fireplace and bar, and an outdoor firepit. The landscaped garden and pool area provide mountain views, while a Tesla Powerwall solar system ensures off-grid living. The property includes a double garage and golf cart garage. Fernkloof Village offers privacy, security, and access to the Hermanus Golf Course and nature trails. Contact Brent to view. Brent Hill: 083 441 9045; Office: 028 312 4970; Web Ref: SIR120368. Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty Hermanus is an independently owned and operated franchise business of K2021331476 (SOUTH AFRICA) (PTY) LTD Registration No 2021/331476/07 under the sub-license from Geffen International Realty Franchises (Pty) Ltd and any reference to Lew Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty in this agreement shall be construed to be a reference to the sub-licensee. Registered with the PPRA FFC Number: 2022114102
A unique opportunity to live on the Keurbooms River in Twin Rivers Estate. Enjoy bird-watching and other river activities from your front lawn. Exceptionally large stand with lush garden (4000m²). The kitchen, dining and lounge areas are open-plan and lead into the courtyard with a swimming pool and built-in braai. Generous study/art/workshop/multi-purpose room and a classic wine cellar are special features. This upmarket estate has private guards, a tennis court, a pool and a clubhouse. Elbie Pama: 082 569 2588; Office: 044 533 2529; Web Ref: SIR110747.
Incredible sea & beach views from this elevated, sunlight-filled home in Keursands gated estate. A perfect upmarket beach house. Private and secure with access to Keurbooms beaches and coves. The lounge/dining room leads into a spacious kitchen with separate scullery. Also offers a study, spacious entertainment area with a bar, kitchenette and fireplace, separate laundry, and multiple patios, both sea-facing and north-facing (built-in braai). Watch dolphins swim by. Furnished. With so many boxes ticked this house welcomes you home. Sue Harvey: 083 306 7499; Office: 044 533 2529; Web Ref: SIR111080.
This stylish home offers attention to detail with a warm easy flowing living / entertainment area. The home boasts modern and quality finishes throughout and an abundance of natural light to complement the modern space. Vinyl SPC flooring & double volume space throughout. Spacious open plan kitchen (with a separate scullery with space / plumbing for all your major appliances), dining and lounge area leading out to an undercover large balcony with a heated pool overlooking the spectacular views of False Bay and the Helderberg mountain range. Andre Coetzee: 0828063997; Office: 021 851 4450; Web Ref: SIR111139.
This superbly-designed, contemporary home, is finished to perfection, providing luxurious, yet relaxed living, boasting open-volumed, open-plan and inter-leading living, dining and kitchen areas, with exceptional views. The stylish kitchen, fitted with Smeg appliances, features stacking windows, opening out to the serving area of the enclosed braai patio, making entertaining a breeze. If you’re looking to enjoy a country lifestyle, in a secure estate, of 14Ha, with only 39 properties, this fabulous home should top your list of homes to view. Daleen Moolman: 083 613 0630; Office: 044 873 2519; Web Ref: SIR110753.
Discover luxury living in this exquisite double-story home in Dennegeur Estate. With manicured gardens and a stylish facade, this home boasts modern design and functionality. Enjoy spacious reception rooms, a gourmet kitchen, and four luxurious bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms. Outdoor amenities include a sparkling pool, built-in braai, and bar, perfect for entertaining. With two double garages, this home offers unparalleled luxury and sophistication in a serene setting. Chantal Botes: 0837025460; Office: 021 851 4450; Web Ref: SIR109810.
Geffen Sotheby’s International Realty – Roodepoort is an
Statement living – maintaining effortless flow and opulent living spaces this home merges unparalleled quality, relaxed tones and the essence of Real Living. Offering a variety of statement entertainment areas with an array of lounges set on 3 levelsit hosts a sunken heated pool with basement viewing, a state of the Art cinema, wine room and Bar, opening to a deep set patio encompassing the Riverfront views. Contemporary kitchen , mud room and scullery. The 3 light, en- suite bedrooms upstairs offer scenic views. Ground floor 4th Bedroom suite offers a kitchen and lounge. Customised Office with Wooden French Press flooring. 4 Garages, a solar system for back up power, HDMI audio system and Miele appliances. Tina de Waal: 083 7718709; Office: (011) 312 5218; Web Ref: SIR 109967.
Magnificent contemporary 5 bedroom en-suite cluster. The triple volume entrance hall, fills the house with light from the 10 metre long skylight, and opens into the three receptions rooms, opening onto the covered patio. Downstairs there are 3 well-appointed reception rooms, including sitting room, dining room, family room and study/5th bedroom (a bonus of a downstairs en-suite bedroom for those that don’t want to climb stairs) as well as a white kitchen. The Gourmet kitchen features a large central island, stone counters, two ovens and separate scullery. 4 Large bedrooms with full en-suite bathrooms. Di: 082 960 5353; Debbie: 083 326 7739; Web Ref: 6465149.
A stunning farm style home with wrap around stoep and plantation shutters, this is escape to the country living! The family patio leading from the lounge and dining room overlooking the pool and lawned garden. There are 3 bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, the main suite is glamorous with a large dressing room opening to the wrap around verandah. The main kitchen has a lock up pantry with utility room, laundry and second stove. This is linked to a staff suite, could be 4th bedroom. Double garage with extra parking. Theodora/David: 082 553 8525; Web Ref: 6453099.
WEST CLIFF, JOHANNESBURG
Offers from R15 million | 7 Beds | 7 Baths | 5 Garages
Discover modern, sustainable living with this double story home in secluded, ultra-private location behind gated access. This home has a borehole for external and internal use, solar power, inverters, and gas utilities, ensuring uninterrupted comfort and peace of mind. Enjoy the charm of open-plan living, as this meticulously refurbished home offers warm and sunny interiors. Flat lawns perfect for sports, heated pool, tennis court, and fire pit – outdoor cooking with dedicated braai area, tall trees and lush greenery. Asking: R18 million. Beverley: 082 412 0010; Web Ref: 6424146.
SAXONWOLD, JOHANNESBURG
Offers from R20 million | 5 Bedrooms | 4.5 Bathrooms | 5 Garages
A rare find, combining luxurious living with exceptional entertaining spaces, set in a serene and secluded location measuring 4 040m². Magnificent 4 bed, 3.5 bath residence provides the perfect backdrop for every occasion Reception rooms allow for seamless indoor/outdoor living. Natural light floods the interior whilst the stylish décor creates an atmosphere of understated elegance. The outside guest cottage offers additional privacy. Entertainment is the focal point with a dedicated games room and pub adjoining a sizeable covered patio overlooking a fully irrigated garden. Tennis court, heated pool provide endless recreational opportunities. Excellent security, staff acc for 2, solar panels. Elsabe: 082 414 6655; Darrell: 072 227 0992.
Lew Geffen Sotheby’s
HURLINGHAM MANOR, SANDTON
Bidding from R3.9 million | Asking: R4.5 million | 5 Beds | 2.5 Baths | 3 Garages
Nestled in the heart of this prestigious suburb a double-storey traditional home boasting generous living spaces. 4 North facing bedrooms + guest bedroom, the main bedroom suite features a spacious layout, a dressing area with fitted cupboards and leads out to an elevated balcony. 2 full bathrooms (MES) + guest toilet. A renovated, gourmet kitchen. Covered patio which offers both seating and dining, overlooking serene pool and private garden. Staff acc. Invertor, geyser with heat-pump, electric fencing and alarmed. Karen/John: 083 435 7703; Web Ref: 6251420.
Modern luxury cluster in secure small estate of 4 homes: North-facing, spacious, it features open-plan layout, formal lounge, TV room, dining room, covered patio with built-in braai, ultramodern kitchen with island, SMEG gas stove, pantry, scullery. Upstairs: pajama lounge, 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms (main with dressing room). Extras: Staff quarters/home office, double garage, garden, water tank, solar backup and geyser, and excellent security. Close to popular schools and shopping hubs. Melinda Odendaal: 083 399 4113; Maria Minik:083 380 2939; Office: 011 476 8303; Web Ref: 6497849.
2 Full Homes for The Price Of One - Ideal For 2 Families! Main House - Entrance, open plan lounge and dining room onto courtyard. 2 Bedrooms (mes). TV Room / Lounge with beautiful fireplace all opening onto Patio with high volume open trussed roof. The kitchen is a dream, fitted with pantry and separate scullery leading into the 3 garages. Separate staff. Totally separate smaller house comprising own entrance, double garage, visitors parking and separate private garden. 2 Bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, open plan lounge, kitchen & dining room. Charlene: 082 448 0440; Jodi: 072 110 0276; Web Ref: 5941446.
NORTHCLIFF, RANDBURG
Asking: R7.399 million | 5 Bedrooms | 4 Bathrooms | 2 Garages | Pool
Discover this charming family home on a quiet road. Featuring a serene Koi pond, lush garden, and sparkling pool. The kitchen has a 6-plate gas stove. The TV room, dining room, and lounge offer garden views. Includes a study, bachelor cottage, and covered entertainment area with a jacuzzi. Additional features: solar system, borehole, irrigation, underfloor heating, air conditioning, and excellent security. A perfect blend of comfort and elegance. Heloise Azar: 072 294 4901; Office: 011 476 8303; Web Ref: 6403092.
For those looking for their dream home or ideal lock up and go this home offers it all. This Pearl Valley Golf Estate home offers open plan living with log burning fireplace, exposed trusses, well fitted kitchen with pantry and separate scullery, study, braai room with built in bar and a choice between either a log burning and gas braai. In addition there are three garages, airconditioning throughout, two inverter’s of which one generates power for the house and feeds the remaining energy into the council circuit for which a refund is received. Kevin Layden: 082 300 9446; Office: 021 867 0161; Web Ref: SIR110356.
Welcome to your own piece of paradise, nestled within the heart of the highly secure and exclusive Val de Vie Estate. This remarkable property offers a harmonious blend of world class luxury and natural beauty, where architectural excellence meets the epitome of stylishly designed living. A breath taking signature lakeside double storey home presentation of style, beauty and views including a separate flatlet, a 15-meter rim flow pool perfect for both relaxation and entertaining with a picturesque backdrop. Suritha van Tonder: 084 440 4283; Office: 021 867 0161; Web Ref: SIR111143.
Nestled in a very exclusive corner of Franschhoek verdant upper valley, this property offers an exceptional country lifestyle yet is still within close proximity to the centre of the village. Unusually, the property boasts not one, but two generously proportioned stand-alone family homes, discreetly set apart from each other. From the moment you enter the grounds, which measure one hectare (10,000 sqm) in extent, one feels transported to a different world. The villa is a veritable petit chateau, set in pastoral splendour and has mesmerising mountain vistas. Gary de Valle: 082 464 8038; Bev Malan: 082 901 6966; Moira Barham: 082 896 3597; Office: 021 876 8480; Web Ref: SIR108870.
This immaculately presented home in L’Ideal Estate is full of style and design and showcases a dedicated emphasis on family living. You will love the space and privacy this home has to offer. Downstairs guest room with its own entrance and en-suite accommodates visitors or extended family. Adele de Almeida: 082 780 0067; Miranda Coetzee: 083 414 7212; Office: 021 870 1011; Web Ref: SIR110374.
Introducing an exquisite property nestled on the Southern side of Paarl, a stone’s throw away from esteemed locales such as Val de Vie and Winelands Estates. This magnificent estate spans an impressive 18,371 square meters and features a stunning 4-bedroom residence, meticulously crafted for both intimate living and hosting lavish gatherings. Reghardt Human: 071 554 5056; Office: 021 870 1011; Web Ref: SIR110573.
Introducing this rarely seen gem in one of Paarl’s most sought-after security estates. Le Joubert Wine Estate is an exclusive gated estate with 24 hours excellent security. This private secure environment with only 18 homeowners will give you peace of mind, knowing that you can come home to this incredible lifestyle every day. A magnificent escape with views to take your breath away. Karlien vd Walt: 079 891 1317; Office: 021 870 1011; Web Ref: SIR107407.
Located in the charming Nooitgedacht village just a few kilometres outside of Stellenbosch, this house is a dream come true for those with a taste for luxury and a desire to live in a secure and picturesque setting. Situated in a medievallike security estate, this home offers the perfect blend of modern amenities and old-world charm. Maggie Smit: 083 712 5716; Office: 021 809 2760; Web Ref: SIR110684.
Step into an unparalleled world of sophistication, grandeur, and refined luxury. Presenting three exquisitely designed villas, set within a vast 9,000 m² estate in the heart of Constantia, Cape Town’s most coveted neighbourhood. These properties stand as a testament to architectural brilliance and extraordinary craftsmanship, envisioned and realized by the internationally acclaimed South African architectural firm, SAOTA. The interiors boast extraordinarily highquality finishes, including expansive floor-to-ceiling windows that bathe the spaces in natural light, pristine marble countertops, bespoke designer fittings, and featuring Gaggenau luxury home appliances and double-glazing windows for enhanced comfort and energy efficiency. Rouvaun McKirby: 071 671 0821; Jo Thomas: 084 404 4120; Web Ref: SIR111148.
Nestled within the serene confines of the prestigious Steenberg Golf Estate, this fully renovated, single-storey home epitomizes luxury living. Situated in a peaceful cul-de-sac in a gated community, the property offers unparalleled privacy and tranquillity. The home boasts an open-plan design that seamlessly merges style with functionality. This home is a model of energy efficiency and sustainability. Solar panels, a backup battery and inverter, and a borehole ensure a reliable and eco-friendly energy supply. Steve Thomas: 084 471 4722; Dave Burger: 083 458 3333; Web Ref: SIR111170.
Offering uninterrupted north-facing views of the mountain, and located within walking distance of Kirstenbosch Botanical Gardens, this beautiful and characterful home accommodates a discerning buyer’s every demand. Open-plan reception rooms include interleading living and dining areas (with woodburning fireplaces and flow via stack-away doors to covered terrace and garden), French country-style kitchen with laundry and scullery, study/library and TV/family room. Accommodation comprises eight beautifully appointed bedroom suites, including a luxuriously appointed man suite- all offering integrated air-conditioning and smart TV, and all with lovely aspects of garden and/or mountain. Additional features include a large pool-house with bar leading to saltwater pool. Barbara Manning: 083 407 3656; Office: 021 701 2446; Web Ref: SIR5084747.
Set on a 5 500sqm plot in the tranquil semi-rural environment of Sweet Valley Vineyard Estate with direct access to beautiful riding and hiking trails in the Tokai Forest. The generous reception rooms consisting of a TV lounge, dining room and formal lounge area open up onto the beautiful garden and river with a Koi pond and uninterrupted mountain views. Also includes: Additional Parking for 7; Self Contained Flatlet; 7 Well Points; Alarm With Outdoor Beams. Matthew Raubach: 072 382 7949; Eileen Mc Kirby: 082 410 7204; Office: 021 701 2446; Web Ref: SIR110012.
Be captivated by the picturesque surroundings – a meticulously landscaped garden enveloping the property. The kitchen, is a light filled room which is bathed in natural light. Upstairs, indulge in the luxury of a master suite that exudes tranquillity and has an expansive en-suite bathroom. The additional bedrooms, offer comfort and style for every family member. There is a beautiful cottage that offers a private escape for those seeking a peaceful getaway, just steps away from the main residence. Jennifer Lee: 082 562 5139; Brigitte Bray: 072 784 7475; Office: 021 701 2446; Web Ref: SIR110072.
Discover luxurious coastal living in trendy Kalk Bay with this stunning 3-story Villa, only 4 units of this kind at The Majestic. Featuring three spacious bedrooms, main on suit and other two sharing a family bathroom. Enjoy an open-plan living area filled with natural light, a front veranda with breath-taking sea views and a private back garden oasis. A double garage ensures ample space for your vehicles and storage needs. Additional features: 24hs man security, and for exclusive use of the residents a swimming pool and gym. Off street parking bay for 2 vehicles. Jonathan Alexander: 082 570 9007; Paula Giusti: 082 770 7705; Office: 021 784 2260; Web Ref: SIR 110562.
Exceptional design on 865m2. An automated entrance draws you in, sensational internal finishes combine with seamless flow to create a well-designed North facing home for both living and entertainment. Wrought iron balconies provide breath taking vistas around the home which enjoys beach access via the path 1 minute away and a gate into the protected greenbelt. Design meets function with this luxurious main house and separate Flatlet or studio. The immaculate grounds include a swimming pool and braai area. This master-built entertainers dream offers a lifestyle of paralleled comfort and is food for the senses. Natalie Cooper: 083 630 0911; Office: 021 783 8260; Web Ref: SIR118406.
Perched majestically on a hill, this stunning modern masterpiece commands breathtaking views of the surrounding coastline. A true architectural gem, this 6-bedroom, 6-bathroom villa is a symphony of sleek lines, luxurious finishes, and breathtaking vistas. The pièce de résistance is the idyllic garden, featuring meandering ponds and lush greenery that blends seamlessly into the surrounding landscape. The sea view is simply sublime, and the perfect spot to watch the sunset or enjoy a morning coffee. Terri Steyn: 0827770748; Dave Burger: 0741486464; Office: 0217012556; Web Ref: SIR111152.
Villa 196 redefines luxury living. This 5-story Bantry Bay mansion offers breathtaking ocean views, an open-plan living area with a gourmet kitchen, a rim-flow pool, and a home theater. All 5 bedrooms are en-suite, with some featuring private balconies and a jacuzzi. Other highlights include a gym, a lift, and meticulous contemporary design. Inclusive of VAT & no transfer duty. Grant Bailey: 083 444 5171; Web Ref: SIR111190.
This Camps Bay mansion offers ultimate luxury on 4 levels. Breathtaking ocean views grace every room, thanks to expansive windows and an open floor plan. Enjoy a home theater, gym, library, and 4 en-suite bedrooms upstairs, including a master with an ocean-view bath. A lower-level flat with kitchen and balcony offers additional space, while a separate guest flat provides income potential. High-tech security, solar power, and ample parking complete this impressive estate. Andrea Glew: 079 893 9197; Web Ref: SIR110453.
This stunning Fresnaye residence boasts seamless indoor-outdoor living with an open plan entertainment area, chef’s kitchen, and infinity pool. Four luxurious bedrooms with ensuites and a cinema, gym, wine cellar offer the ultimate lifestyle. Staff quarters, ample parking, and backup systems ensure complete comfort. Grant Bailey: 083 444 5171; Web Ref: SIR110963.
This Bantry Bay penthouse offers panoramic ocean views on two levels. Relax by the pool on the expansive terrace, or entertain with the built-in braai area and bar. Inside, a gourmet kitchen with island and scullery opens to a TV room and living spaces with planters. Three en-suite bedrooms share a floor, while the private master suite on another level boasts a luxurious bathroom, walk-in closet, and office. Comfort is ensured with AC, ample parking, storage, and staff quarters. Munya Mutanga: 074 762 2237; Web Ref: SIR110690.
