brummell december
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Brummell Magazine DecemberTRANSCRIPT
DECEMBER 2010
Rising starsthE City’s nEw shining lights / a-list aCCEssoRiEs / sKiing with olyMpiC RaCERs
üBER-luxuRy sERviCED pRopERtiEs / nEw CREativE talEnt / 2011’s top tiMEpiECEs
thE littlE BlaCK BooK foR thE City
Inventor of the Tourbillon, 1801
With the Classique “ Grande Complication” Tourbil lon Messidor
wristwatch, Breguet reinvents its most spectacular invention, the
tourbillon, designed to compensate for the effects of gravity. Held
between two sapphire crystals, the tourbillon floats weightless
inside its carriage, while the sapphire dial offers a transparent
vision of the complex proprietary movement and its meticulous
hand finishing. History is still being written …
www.breguet.com/inventions
Breguet, the innovator.
G E N E V A P A R I S C A N N E S L O N D O N V I E N N A N E W Y O R K L O S A N G E L E S M O S C O W E K A T E R I N B U R G D U B A I A B U D H A B I S I N G A P O R E
H O N G K O N G T A I P E I T O K Y O S E O U L – M O N T R E S B R E G U E T 1 3 4 4 L ’ A B B A Y E S W I T Z E R L A N D + 4 1 2 1 8 4 1 9 0 9 0
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www.blancpain.com
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0845 273 2500
Collection L-evolution(réf. 8866-3630-53B)
Glashütte Original – 165 years of watchmaking art.
PanoMaticCounter XL
The PanoMaticCounter XL. The art of complication. Featuring the new Caliber 96-01 with 584 individually crafted and manually finished components, 217
of which comprise a novel function that makes it possible to count and keep track of things from 1 to 99. Find out more at www.glashuette-original.com.
Contents | bRUMMeLL 09
Foreword
Far from putting on the old sackcloth and
ashes this season, David Charters will
be celebrating the City’s success in 2010
Money no object A stylish Chopard wristwatch that converts
into an equally beautiful pocket timepiece
beaumondenews
An African cruise with contemporary
style; the new pashmina; Paul Smith
at Claridge’s and more
Alpine racing
Taking on your rivals, and Olympic racers,
at the City Ski Championships in Italy
travel Polar explorer Tom Avery is your off-piste
guide on a new corporate ski weekend
Luxury property
London’s latest serviced apartments
are hitting six-star levels of luxury
Communications
The luxe mobile in a class of its own
After the City
The former equities trader who now
deals in £15m properties
Featuresthe City’s rising starsEight of the bright lights in Financial News’s
list of 100 young talents currently lighting
up London’s financial world
Game shooting
There have been very few grouses in the
shooting season, but no shortage of grouse
Watches
The pick of the latest timepieces from
the world’s finest watchmakers
Accessories
Beautifully designed homewear, shoes,
jewellery, leather goods and pens
Young creative talent Along with the financial industry, the creative
sector is seen as the great hope of the
UK economy. Meet four promising talents
by George
A selection of the most interesting – and
rarest – whiskies available this winter
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Contents
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Joanne Glasbey
Art Director
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Chief sub editor
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Designer
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sub editor
Sarah Evans
Picture editorJuliette Hedoin
Fashion Director
Tamara Fulton
styling Assistant Pop Kampol
senior Art Director Ciara Walshe
Creative Director
Ian Pendleton
Managing Director
Peter Howarth
Advertising & events Director
Duncan McRae
07816 218059
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Cover illustration by Andy Gilmore
46
29 44
An
dy
Ba
rte
r; C
hri
s F
loyd
We worked very hard, but
we also played hard.
Oh, and we were very well
paid. Just ask my ex-wives
While heaping opprobrium on bankers has become the UK’s
favourite blood sport, one practitioner refuses to condemn a sector
that has fought back magnificently in such a short period of time
Words David Charters Illustration Paul Blow
Does anyone remember irrational exuberance? I certainly do. I spent most of the Nineties and the first part of the Noughties being irrationally exuberant. That may explain why I have eight children and two divorces. Or is it the other way around? Either way, in those days we were positive, confident and, above all, successful.
So, when the music stopped, those of us who were nowhere near the hi-fi and couldn’t possibly have pressed the wrong button felt more sinned against than sinners. One of the least reported aspects of the credit crunch is how unfair it was on the City. For the more than 90 per cent of us who could hardly spell sub-prime let alone knew what a CDO was, it really sucked.
We were no less hard-working or talented than before, but suddenly the foundations on which everything was built were cracking and close to collapse. If you take some of the previously great institutions that crashed – RBS, say – my guess is that fewer than a hundred people had any connection to what went wrong or ability to stop it. But everyone at the firm paid the price. In fact we all did.
Now we’re pariahs, and people who would not have the drive or talent to survive five minutes on the trading floor feel entitled to lecture us on our pay. In fact, everyone has an opinion and, on the back of a wave of indignation various regulators are salivating, not least those outside the UK who see the chance of levelling London down, even if Paris or Frankfurt will be the last places to benefit.
It would make terrible tabloid reading because bankers make such great targets, but in fact almost everyone who works in the City had nothing to do with the credit crunch. But say that outside the Square Mile and you’d better duck before the outraged response. Of course we all knew. We were short-termist, selfish and greedy, and if we didn’t know what was going on then we should have done and anyway we were all complicit. And look at the result – not so smart now, are we?
Can’t keep agood man down
As my teenage daughter says, whatever. I share some of the anger and the indignation, but I reserve it for the geeks with PhDs in subjects I don’t understand who played computer games with our balance sheet, adding zeroes until they found they couldn’t do so any more and, when it hit the fan, there wasn’t a Restart button. But the rest of us? We’re innocent.
Proof of our innocence is the way the talent has resurfaced from the firms that failed. Lehman Brothers exists by another name at other firms. Whole chunks of its equities business were saved by smart people who saw value and ability and sped to take it over and harness it while bullets still flew around them.
Of course we do ourselves few favours by the way we keep our heads down and mumble apologetically about the need for a new morality and tougher regulation and generally flagellate ourselves for being bankers.
So if everyone else is keeping their heads down, let me put mine above the parapet. I’m proud of the deals I’ve done and the clients I’ve helped. I look at businesses and projects that have been financed, the growth that has been underpinned by what we did, and I feel good. We went into new markets in new ways and we provided access to capital for people who previously did not have it. We worked very hard, but we also played hard. Oh, and we were also very well paid. Just ask my ex-wives.
And we are extraordinarily creative and resilient. Already the City is bouncing back, finding new revenue streams and businesses and starting to prosper with almost indecent
haste. Shouldn’t we pause and beat ourselves up some more first? What about therapy? Surely we still have ‘issues’ that need to be addressed?
In my view the issues are what other people have with us. Success, especially material success, still sits unhappily with many people in this country. It is okay to make a fortune kicking a football around or miming on stage, but fortunes earned on a trading floor or in a corporate finance team room are different. We don’t deserve ours, even if we do work the kind of hours that would kill the average civil servant.
Which brings me to the bonus round, and to the annual celebration of talent and success that used to typify the City. An awful lot of people have worked extremely hard over the past year. They did not ease off on the throttle and coast in the knowledge that their firms were likely to come under pressure not to pay them the way they used to. They fought hard and stayed competitive, because that is how they are. And they got results. Profitability in investment banking is not where it was pre-crunch, but it is nevertheless almost embarrassingly high for an industry that has been brought to its knees and put through the wringer. Say what you like, you can’t keep a good man down, and you shouldn’t want to.
Awful things went on in banking. Mistakes were made on an epic scale, and the UK paid a terrible price. But perspective and a sense of justice require us to move beyond a simplistic, knee-jerk response and reflect on the huge numbers of talented, hard-working people who are still talented and hard-working and who can best prove the value of the City to this country by continuing as they always have.
I shall have my tail up this Christmas. It has been a hard year, but nothing like the previous one, and it does feel like we’ve turned a corner. Are we wiser and humbler? Of course. But we still have things to celebrate. David Charters’ latest book ‘Where Egos Dare’ is published by Elliott and Thompson, £6.99
FOREWORD | bRUMMELL 11
Money no object | bRUMMeLL
Choosing between a wristwatch and a pocket
watch often presents the more adventurous
horolophile with a quandary – but now the
ever-innovative house of Chopard has created
a timepiece that switches effortlessly from
one format to the other and looks equally ‘right’
in either case.
The white gold L.U.C Louis-Ulysse ‘Tribute’
has been produced to mark the brand’s 150th
anniversary and boasts a number of interesting
features, not least of which is a nifty cradle base
into which the 49.6mm diameter watch snugly
fits to enable it to be worn on the wrist.
A simple quarter-turn, however, unlocks it from
the base so that it becomes a pocket watch.
The basic idea was conceived in 1912
by Karl Scheufele, the grandfather of Chopard’s
current owners, but has only now been put
to use and just 150 examples of the Tribute
will be created. Number one of the series was
sold at Christie’s last month for more than
£36,000, but you can get one of these instant
classics on your wrist – or in your pocket –
for £26,690. chopard.com
Words Simon de Burton Photography Tif Hunter
A versatile timepiece evokes the
heritage of an illustrious manufacture
Double
take
13
beaumonde | neWS14
Über-luxury serviced apartments, weekend skiing and the ultimate mobile phone
african Queen Is it a floating wilderness lodge?
Or a Manhattan cocktail bar?
The Zambezi Queen, a gorgeously
converted casino boat, redefines
the African safari by injecting
serious contemporary cool into
the wilds of the Botswana-Namibia
border – and then floating it
down the Chobe River, dubbed
‘the Galapagos of Africa’. So, as
well as herds of elephant outside
your bedroom window, you can
expect clean linear design,
floor-to-ceiling glass and Dean
Martin crooning ‘Volare’ while you
sup single malt on funky leather
sofas. With room for 30 guests and
excellent scoff and vino, the
Zambezi Queen travels with small
satellite boats for epic tiger fishing
and close-quarter game encounters.
Cocktail hour will never be the same
again. An 11-day trip, including the
four-day cruise, and tented river
camps in Botswana and Zambia
costs from £4,695pp.
balesworldwide.com
Shooting cuffs Expert in luxury clothing, Zilli is launching a
tailor-made shirt service in its London, Paris and
New York boutiques. Recognised for the excellent
quality of the materials used in its collections,
Zilli uses over 300 exclusive fabrics for the shirts,
originating from the most extraordinary quality
‘Giza 45’ cotton from the Nile Delta, known for
the length of its fibres. Five different shirt styles
are available, and the client selects from nine
collar styles, six pocket styles, and 13 cuff styles
– and the house can adapt sleeve measurements
to accommodate the wearing of a watch. In Zilli’s
ateliers, shirts are created by hand with nine
ultra-fine stitches per centimetre for increased
resistance. In all, an extremely high level of skill
produces timeless, tailor-made shirts. zilli.fr
Wood works David Linley’s love for working in wood started
in his childhood, and his experiences at Parnham
House, School for Craftsmen in Wood inspired
him to set up the Linley business. A quarter of a
century on Linley has established a reputation
for creating distinctive crafted pieces of the
highest quality, offering gifts and accessories,
collector’s items and bespoke design services.
Items for the home – classic and contemporary
– include leather, glass and crystal pieces, as
well as the signature wood work: boxes, picture
frames and the Anniversary fruit bowl (pictured).
There are also accessories for shooting trips
and picnics, among elegant and functional gift
ideas for you or lucky recipients. davidlinley.com
Mr Smith goes to Claridge’s
A new star in the Mayfair retail
firmament is the recently opened
Paul Smith women’s wear shop,
which can be approached via
Claridge’s lobby or from its own
frontage at 49 Brook Street,
adjacent to Claridge’s Ballroom
entrance. The boutique sells
a carefully curated selection of
women’s catwalk pieces, shoes,
bags, jewellery and accessories,
some of which will be exclusive
to the new store. Claridge’s Art
Deco design is reflected in
the boutique, with its Thirties
Murano glass chandeliers
and black lacquered cabinets.
paulsmith.co.uk
beaumonde | neWS16
Slender splendour Piaget, the leading luxury
watchmaker and jeweller,
has just opened its UK flagship
boutique at 169 Bond Street.
The first stand-alone UK store
houses the full range of Piaget’s
watch and jewellery creations,
from the classic series to
extraordinary complicated
collections and exceptional high
jewellery pieces. Piaget is known
as the specialist of ultra-thin
movements and complications,
such as the Altiplano, the world’s
slimmest automatic watch, above.
Both jewellery and timepieces
are created in Piaget’s fully
integrated manufacture
in Switzerland. piaget.com
Timeless design Bottega Veneta – master of
understated, unusual, refined
and functional design – has just
introduced its first watch,
produced in collaboration with
renowned Swiss watchmaker
Girard-Perregaux. Designed
for both men and women,
the BVX, executed in a suite
of soft browns, has a quiet,
organic sensibility that belies
the precision and detail of
its construction. The result
is a timepiece that represents
personal luxury, ‘with many
small details designed solely
for the wearer’s pleasure’, as
Tomas Maier, Bottega Veneta’s
creative director, describes it.
£9,800; bottegaveneta.com
Well-dressed whisky In a happy partnership, iconic brands Chivas
Regal and Christian Lacroix recently unveiled
Chivas Regal 18 Year Old by Christian Lacroix,
combining the luxury and fun of the Parisian
fashion house’s haute couture creativity and the
craftsmanship of luxury Scotch. Lacroix was
inspired by Chivas Regal’s history and matched
it by creating a gold stamped and embroidered
bottle, decorated with a laser metallisation
technique, housed in a mirrored treasure box. In
a limited edition of 3,000 bottles, it’s a collector’s
item – and a highly attractive (not to say delicious)
one too. chivas.com; christian-lacroix.fr
Living the life Super-lux travel is bubbling away nicely again.
Witness London’s latest £10,000-plus suites
and now the new €100,000 escape at the
Kempinski Barbaros Bay in south-west Turkey.
Covering four guests, it includes private jet
travel from your local airport, chopper trips to
Ephesus and Istanbul, speedboats around the
Gokova Gulf, Six Senses spa treatments and
top-notch golf. Oh yes, and you’ll get seven nights
in the Presidential Suite which includes rooftop
terrace with whirlpool overlooking the Aegean,
24-hour butlers and private limo. In short, the
good life; the very good life. kempinski.com
Soft touch
Stylish women are now over the pashmina
and coveting the Casha poncho. With all
the benefits of the pashmina and none of
the drawbacks (draughty when the ends
unravel), it’s elegant and versatile. It’s
made in Nepal from 100 per cent cashmere
from the Capra Hircus, or cashmere goat,
which lives high in the Himalayas and
develops a short and fine downy undercoat.
When turned into fine textured fabric, it
provides luxurious softness and incredible
warmth. Available in midnight black,
warm beige, ocean grey, vibrant purple or
leopardskin print, there are many ways to
wear it and use it – as a coat, as a cover-up,
or as a blanket and pillow when travelling.
When fully open, the Casha poncho forms
a perfect 70x70cm square and is so light
you won’t even notice it when carrying it
in your handbag. £130 (£150 for the
leopardskin print); casha.co.uk
beaumonde | ski racing18
downhill racerinferno race, mürrenNearly 16km long, with uphill
sections, the 68-year-old Brit-run
Swiss race (22 Jan) is hellish.
inferno-muerren.ch
LsH ski challenge, courmayeurThe property investment sector’s
answer to City Ski, sponsored by
Lambert Smith Hampton, 22 Jan.
lshskichallenge.co.uk
ski club dual slalom, TignesA fun, late-season race for teams
of four, open to anyone in Val
d’Isère or Tignes on 6 April.
skiclub.co.uk/skicalendar
Every March, a section of the Square Mile decamps to the Italian
Alps to play at being Alberto Tomba for the weekend
Competitive edge
An
dre
a F
ies
ch
i
Courmayeur’s proximity to Geneva via the Mont Blanc
tunnel means that on many a Thursday evening in the
winter, there will be people arriving from the City of
London ready for an excellent dinner at the Terrazza,
followed by drinks in Bar Roma till closing time.
Those people are not usually on the first cable car
of the morning. But the City Ski Championships, in its
12th year, is an exercise in burning the candle at both
ends. It’s a social weekend, but the winning matters.
Rivalries over the years between the likes of Accenture
and RBS (absent last year, for obvious reasons) have
been fierce. Hence financiers heading in full-race Lycra
(what the anti-City press might call a fat-catsuit) to train
with the likes of former Olympic downhill champion
Tommy Moe or Alain ‘The Highlander’ Baxter.
Before Saturday’s main event, a testing giant slalom,
Friday saw a relay for teams going head-to-head on
parallel courses. Sadly, this was not won by former F1
world champion Damon Hill’s charity team HALOW,
due to one journalist’s persistent falling. Commentator
Matt Chilton of Ski Sunday revelled in that.
After another ‘early’ night, race day naturally arrived in
a fog. But it was a real one. Some competitors decided
that, rather than try to emulate Italian ski hero Alberto
Tomba by crashing past the gates in a whiteout, they’d
indulge in another of his passions at the food tent,
catered by La Maison Vieille de Giacomo, Heston
Blumenthal’s favourite Courmayeur restaurant.
However, many of the entrants are former national
team racers, used to dealing with poor conditions.
And the rest are simply too competitive to back down.
Of the ex-racers, the Schumacher of City Ski, Merrill’s
Einar Johansen graciously gave way to young gun Jan
Zajackowski of brokerage GFI; while Peter Beardshaw
led Accenture to the team victory. Filippo Guerrini
Maraldi of RK Harrison topped the table in the Lloyd’s
Cup, one of the business sector categories that’s fought
over with equal parts determination and laughter.
Packages to the Championships, 17–20 March 2011,
from £696pp (3-star hotel) to £896pp (4-star), including
flights, transfers, ski pass and race fee. momentumski.com
Words Chris Madigan
beAumonde | trAvel20
uncommon verbs
the lodgeRichard Branson’s flagship foray
into the world of winter sports.
It has accommodation for 18
guests, an indoor pool, a gym and
a spa. Perfect for über-pampering.
From £58,000 a week;
oxfordski.com
Chalet Septième CielIt is seventh heaven indeed –
it takes you and 13 guests away
from everyday life and pops you
into a rarefied world of haute
luxury far removed from the noisy
bustle of central Verbier, but
still close enough to be convenient.
From £14,950 a week;
skiverbier.com
Chalet Spa verbierThis property has a wine cellar
to make angels weep with longing.
Combined with fabulous modern
art, contemporary interior design
and more entertainment technology
than Harrods, it has enough
gizmos to keep everyone happy –
whatever their age.
From £16,000 a week;
chaletspa.com
There are snowy chasms on either side, ice-caked
peaks above and miles of frozen wilderness separating
you from any hint of humanity. In such exhilarating, but
truly dangerous terrain, it’s reassuring to know that the
man ahead of you has spent more than 10,000 hours
with his feet strapped to a pair of skis.
He’s tumbled into crevasses and knows how to get
out of them, has survived frostbite and snow blindness;
he’s fallen through ice into the Arctic Ocean and come
out unscathed to lead the fastest ever surface journey
to the North Pole. By any standards, Tom Avery isn’t your
average ski guide. He isn’t your average man, full-stop.
His latest project is a step out of the ordinary for
him, albeit more conventional for most. Based in
Verbier, where Tom worked and trained extensively
before completing his trips to both Poles on foot (he
is one of only 41 people to have accomplished such a
feat), Verbier Exclusive is a winter sports company
with a difference. It provides ski chalet holidays aimed
primarily at the corporate market and specialises in
the ultimate long-weekend adrenaline blow-out.
‘Verbier is the corporate ski capital of the world,’
explains Tom. ‘You can leave your office at 5pm on a
Thursday, take a flight from City airport and be at the
resort by 10.30pm (the nightlife doesn’t get going till
midnight). You have three days’ hard skiing, leave at 5pm
on Sunday, and you’ve only taken one day off work.’
Verbier’s high-altitude runs, with glaciers and
boundless off-piste opportunities, are ideal for
adventurous skiers. As Tom says: ‘Although Verbier is
a popular resort, it’s so extensive that you can take a
lift to the top of the 3,300-metre Mont Fort, ski off the
back of the mountain and you won’t see a lift, a piste,
a hut or trace of anyone else for hours and hours.’
Verbier Exclusive, which Tom co-runs with David
Pearson – a Verbier veteran of 18 years – has three
properties, catering for groups of 10 to 26 people.
Each chalet features an almost obsessive attention to
An Alpine corporate weekend trip with one notable
difference: your guide has skied to both Poles
Off-pisteadventurer
detail. There is a 24-hour driving service, spa facilities,
Michelin-star level chefs and, with prior booking, Tom to
guide parties through the mountains.
Verbier Exclusive’s newest property, No. 14 Verbier,
has just undergone a multi-million pound refurbishment.
Avery says, ‘You won’t find anywhere else in Verbier with
this many bedrooms and these levels of style and service.
We’ve used the team that did Richard Branson’s The
Lodge, but now they have five extra years of know-how.’
Avery has given lectures all over the world,
including at the Royal Geographical Society. It’s a far
cry from the days when he worked for Arthur Andersen.
He shrugs: ‘It just really didn’t work out – I realised
quite quickly that I wasn’t born to be an accountant.’
However, his 18 months in the City gave him an insight
into how precious time is and how important it is to
make the most of it. He gives talks to guests of Verbier
Exclusive, sharing his knowledge of climbing,
exploring, fund raising and getting out of tight spots.
‘Expeditions will always be in my blood,’ he
maintains, ‘but now I’m married and a father, I needed
to find a more responsible way of supporting my family.
Verbier Exclusive is the perfect way to combine my
love of the mountains with work.’ verbierexclusive.com
Words Eloise Napier
poler, explorer Expedition leader turned
ski guide Tom Avery skins up an off-piste ridge
in Verbier. Below: luxury chalet No.14 Verbier
Abercrombie & Kent has been perfecting the art
of tailor-made travel for nearly 50 years. For the
ultimate in service and experience please call
0 8 4 5 6 1 8 2 1 67
or visit us in Harrods
abercrombiekent.co.uk
our guide had told us to expect a surprise around every corner.
Turns out deserts have corners.
For true high-end living, prestigious London addresses
now offer their residents full concierge facilities
First service
beAumonde | property22
Evenings at home are a chance to relax and let the worries of the working day drift away. And if you live in one of the high-end serviced residential developments which are proving their popularity in central London, you can let someone else take those worries away.
Imagine being looked after as if you were in a hotel. Meals brought to your door, and your freshly washed and pressed clothes waiting for you when you get home. That sort of concierge living has a history of very short-term lets aimed mainly at tourists. But now these are a viable option for cash-rich individuals who don’t have time to spare.
Competition in central London is fierce. Two key sets of housing are due to complete
within four months of each other, on either side of Hyde Park. One Hyde Park, adjacent to the Mandarin Oriental Hotel on Knightsbridge, is the biggest name in the bunch – and the most expensive. At least one penthouse at the top of the four towers – designed by Richard Rogers’ architectural practice – was reported to have been sold for £140m, making it the world’s most expensive apartment.
A stroll to the north side of leafy Hyde Park will locate you on Bayswater Road, where a row of listed 19th-century terraced homes, more recently a hotel, is being developed. The Lancasters is a luxury residential redevelopment set to finish next year, and the views of Hyde Park are not the only plusses.
Most of the main reception rooms feature five-metre high ceilings with period cornices and fireplaces. The service element is provided by a 24-hour concierge operation, an underground spa, swimming pool and gym, along with the option for valet parking, personal shoppers and housekeeping.
As you might expect, the apartments are decorated in a lavish style. Residents will be offered electronically moving shelves in the fridges, hand-painted murals, African-style chandeliers made of buffalo horn and horsehair and a private landscaped garden complete with palm trees and sculptures. And of course, 270 of the windows look over Hyde Park, right on the doorstep. Mark Cherry, director of
Very wealthy people
want to live in their
own homes but get
the same level of
service as a hotel
Minerva, developer of The Lancasters, says he is confident about the popularity of these luxury homes despite the economic situation: ‘This is the very top end of the market – and we’ve got a lot of international buyers wanting to buy in London at the moment.’
Inevitably this high-end living comes with high-end prices. Apartments at The Lancasters have an average selling price of £10m. The first phase of two- to four-bedroomed apartments were priced between £2m and £4m. To snap up one of the townhouses at The Lancasters is likely to set you back around £40m.
One high-end serviced apartment already completed, offering views over Hyde Park, is The Knightsbridge, which is under the management of Hyatt International Hotels. The development describes itself as ‘a new benchmark’, and certainly until the two competitors cropped up at either corner of Hyde Park, it did hold a special part of the market. Developed by a Hong Kong developer prior to handing it over to the Hyatt, this pilot residential scheme proved that there was space in the market for UK developers to get involved.
The Knightsbridge housing offers 191 apartments, seven penthouse apartments set over two storeys, and seven mews houses set among landscaped gardens, with extensive spa and leisure facilities. On hand at all times are therapists, masseurs and personal trainers, plus a 24-hour gym. A full concierge service attends to residents’ needs, from catering services to flower arrangements to booking theatre tickets. The concierges can also advise families with children on babysitters and live-in childcare where needed. There is also 24-hour portering, housekeeping, cleaning, laundry repairs and home maintenance.
Despite the UK housing slump and the need to tighten belts, residential agents are not concerned about the effects on this corner of
the market. ‘Very wealthy people want to live in their own homes,’ says James Thomas, residential director at Jones Lang LaSalle, ‘but get the same level of service as a hotel – on-site catering, for example.’
And the recession has not dampened the trend for superprime. Research from agency Savills shows that just over £1.1bn worth of properties valued at more than £10m were sold in central London in the first three quarters of 2010 – 80 per cent of the amount for the same period in 2007, the peak of the market.
In terms of the ultimate service offer, though, the outstanding property is One Hyde Park. It’s Europe’s first residential development incorporating The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, and offers the same level of flawless and discreet service as that of the long-established, luxury hotel company. A team of dedicated Residences staff is available around the clock to provide security, concierge services and spa treatments. Additionally, residents can make use of household, valet and parking services as well as the facility to order meals from any of the restaurants or room service from the adjacent hotel, to be delivered to their apartment. There are also squash courts and golf simulators, a 20-metre pool and an entertainment space which includes an 18-seat private cinema and a private party suite that can accommodate 150 guests for drinks.
Opening its doors next year, One Hyde Park heralds a new residential offering in the capital, and the trend for concierge living looks like settling in long-term. One Hyde Park, The Residences at Mandarin Oriental, SW1; onehydepark.com. The Knightsbridge, 195-100 Knightsbridge, SW7; theknightsbridge.com. The Lancasters 75–89 Lancaster Gate, London W2; thelancastershydepark.com.Words Helen Roxburgh
grAcious living
Occupants of luxury apartment buildings such
as One Hyde Park, left, and The Lancasters,
this picture, have access to services from in-house
staff round the clock
bEAUmondE | commUnicAtions24
As a manufacturer of luxury mobiles, Vertu
– the niche subsidiary of Nokia Corporation –
doesn't do things by halves. Since it was
founded in 1998, Vertu has created a total
brand concept blending high craft, high
technology and high service to establish three
distinct collections (Signature, Ascent and
Constellation) that stand apart. ‘Luxury
technology is very simple,’ explains president
and COO, Perry Oosting. ‘It should make your
life easier, be reliable and robust, and not
innovate for the sake of innovation.’
To its existing stable of premium phones
we can now add the innovative Constellation
Quest, the company’s first QWERTY handset,
and an obvious assault on the business phone
hegemony of RIM’s BlackBerry family.
‘I actually started with the keyboard,’ says
Frank Nuovo, Vertu’s principal designer. ‘I knew
from the beginning that I wanted sapphire and I
SmarterphoneThe hi-tech functionality and
service that is an integral part
of Vertu’s latest luxury handset
puts it in a class of its own
and that Wall Street-style news ticker running
along the bottom of the screen.
Four microphones (two of them directional
and noise-cancelling) ensure conversations are
crystal-clear, and a peerless Wi-Fi hotspot
detector that works in tandem with the phone’s
3G antenna to give you the best roaming
access. An expandable 32GB SD card,
meanwhile, offers plenty of storage space for
work documents, music, video and photos.
Unlike other forward-thinking phones, the
Quest does not have touch-screen functionality
– but this is part of Vertu’s strategy of giving
the customer what they need, rather than blindly
following the latest trend. ‘Touch is the future,
but in my opinion there is not yet the technology
that gives you the tactility for high email usage,’
Oosting argues. ‘Touch is still not as fast, or as
easy, or as pleasurable as using keys.’
It’s important to note that while other luxury
phone marques (the likes of Gresso, Mobiado
and Goldvish) might produce handsets
that satisfy the level of high design or premium
materials you’d expect in a phone costing
thousands – rather than hundreds – of pounds,
none offer the level of consumer lifestyle
services pioneered by Vertu.
It isn’t just their fêted concierge button.
There are also the city guides (automatically
calibrated to your current location), not to
mention Vertu Select – short-format articles
tailored to your personal interests, beamed
directly to your phone and often linking to
special Vertu experiences, from private wine
tastings to exclusive destinations.
‘Vertu Select is a relevant service for the
hectic lives we’re leading,’ Oosting underlines.
‘There are two things that are unique to this.
One is that it’s integrated, so you always have
it with you; and the second is that we’re one of
the few independent service offerings. Many
of the client services today have revenue goals,
so they need kickbacks. We don’t seek to make
money on our service, and that gives us liberty
and independence.’ Hence, via your Quest
handset, Vertu will always be able to offer
an unbiased recommendation of the best hotel,
restaurant, boutique or experience. Which is
a rare and reassuring pleasure these days. Constellation Quest, from £4,610; vertu.com
Words Henry Farrar-Hockley
cArdinAl vErtU
Clockwise from left: the Constellation
Quest, with its sapphire keyboard; Vertu’s
principal designer, Frank Nuovo; the
ceramic ‘ear pillow’
wanted it to be tactile. The sapphire keys feel
great and won’t scratch. Plus we can put any
colour we want behind the keyboard, which
makes it very versatile visually.’
‘The leather panelling gives it a softer, less
formal sense,’ Nuovo continues, ‘then there are
these back tips [the studs on the reverse of
the phone] that provide protection against wear,
and have a tactile registration in your hands.
In some versions we have even cut ridges in
the leather so your fingers fit perfectly.’
It isn’t merely the Quest’s design that
appeals. Everything on this phone has been
designed to exceed expectation, from the
320dpi display (with ambient light sensor to
conserve power) to the sealed stereo speakers
(for distortion-free playback). Then there are
the twin LED camera flashes, the subtle
home-screen appointment wheel, the ringtones
recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra,
beaumonde | after the city
Adam Blaskey is a TV property show come
to life – or rather, he’s how the usually deluded
participants dream they’ll turn out. ‘I fell into
developing, in a way,’ he says, ‘because a
probate sale came up in the street I lived on
in Wandsworth. It was a bit of a punt but I got
a passion for it straight away. Sold for about
£665,000 and this South Ken property we’re
in is on for £16 million.’
Impressively, he manages to say this without
sounding like a cocky junior estate agent, but
then he’s earned the money. That first property
was in 2003, when he’d just left his job as
an equity sales trader with UBS. He loved the
camaraderie of the trading floor but was less
keen on the organisational politics: ‘I was always
more entrepreneurial. I’m in charge of my own
destiny now, whereas if you’re working for a big
organisation there’s not much you can do.’
We’re talking in an apartment in the latest
development by Northbeach, the company
he set up in 2004. On the top of a four-storey
Swapping equity trades for
bricks and mortar has paid
off handsomely for Adam
Blaskey, MD of Northbeach
Build
factor
building in Kensington, it’s the truth behind all
those estate-agent phrases: airy, beautifully
refurbished, modern fixtures and fittings, would
suit a professional couple. This kind of project is
his speciality, what he describes as ‘developing
smaller boutique properties in the urban
villages of London: South Ken, Notting Hill,
Chelsea’, preferably to be sold on to an investor.
These are areas where demand always
outstrips supply; in South Kensington, he says,
it’s by a factor of two or three now, and was seven
or eight in the boom years. Clearly, Blaskey, still
only 34, was always pretty canny. When he first
began working in the area he built up a database
of prices by address, so that he would know what
a house was really worth when an agent rang
up with the next great deal. ‘You’re in it because
you want to produce a lovely house,’ he says,
‘but you’re also in it to make money. It’s about
that balance, and a lot of people, particularly
interior designers, tend to lose sight of that.’
Pitching the décor at the customer rather
than himself is just one of the many skills Blaskey
had to learn on the job, along with dealing with
conservation officers and creating relationships
with importers who can get you that black
American walnut flooring for £45 a square
metre instead of £100. ‘I didn’t have a
background in it and you have to develop that
creative flair on the way,’ he says. ‘It’s not
something you can instinctively know.’
He’s also become an expert in value
engineering, ‘seeing if there’s another way of
doing the job that brings the same result at
a lower cost’. For this, he says, he drew on his
time in the City, as he did in his many
negotiations with banks and financiers: ‘Being
able to talk on that financial, strategic side
really helps. They want to know how it works as
an investment compared to everything else they
could be putting their money into.’
He’s set up a branch of the firm, Northbeach
Capital Partners, to bring in private investors.
‘We’re in a climate where not enough houses are
being built, demand is high in this area, so it’s
a no-brainer for them,’ he says. ‘And we’ve got to
find different ways of doing our business.’
This move has meant a step back from
day-to-day project management, which he
misses, but he’s clearly one for keeping moving.
‘What’s good about this job is that you’re in and
out in two years,’ he says. ‘If you’re in a career in
a bank, there’s no release. Here, it’s intense from
the moment you buy a building to when you sell
it, but then you can take a deep breath. And then
you can go and look somewhere else.’
northbeachproperty.com
Words James Medd Photography Sam Christmas
glass act Adam Blaskey photographed at one of Northbeach’s apartments at 3 Queen’s Gate Place, South Kensington
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How we chose This year marks the sixth annual FN100
Rising Stars, Financial News’s editorial pick
of the brightest up-and-coming men and women
under 40 working in investment banking,
asset management, hedge funds, private equity,
wealth management, exchanges, trading or
support services to these sectors.
From a long list of more than 300 potential
rising stars, assessed by an editorial panel
based on their career trajectory so far and
potential to reach a position of great influence,
the final 100 were selected, eight of whom
we profile here. To read profiles of all the FN100
Rising Stars, visit efinancialnews.com/fn100
Rising staRs | bRUMMELL 29
To paraphrase Frank Sinatra, if you can
make it in a downturn, you can make it
anywhere. The financial crisis has honed
a new breed of nimble young executives
for whom uncertainty is normality and
dislocated markets present boundless
opportunities. And they not only want
to be a part of it, they want to run the
show in an industry that never sleeps
Words Yasmine Chinwala Photography Chris Floyd
RISING STARS | bRUMMELL 31
Living in Indonesia between the ages of seven and nine left a
deep impression on Hasenpusch, a native German. When her
parents returned to Indonesia when she was 17, she relished
the responsibility of organising her own life. But rather than
the braying of water buffalo, it is preparing for the imminent
launch of CME Clearing that is keeping her up at night now.
Derivatives clearing has moved up regulators’ agenda
post-Lehman Brothers, and Hasenpusch is well placed
to identify where opportunities lie in this rapidly developing
market. She started her career at derivatives exchange
Eurex, working at the side of Eurex’s chief executive Rudolf
Ferscha, but left in 2005 to write a book on derivatives clearing
for her PhD in banking and finance, for which she interviewed
nearly 100 industry leaders. She then spent a year on Barclays
Capital’s strategy team, including a three-month secondment
in New York working on the integration of Lehman’s US business,
moving in 2009 to her role at CME.
Always looking for a fresh challenge, this year Hasenpusch
bought a piano, and hopes that it ‘won't end up just being a nice
piece of furniture’ in her home.
Tina Hasenpusch, 32Head of clearing and business development, CME Clearing Europe
Paul Jeffries, 34 Investment manager,
Railpen Investments
Maria Gordon, 36 Equity portfolio manager,
emerging markets, Pimco
Upon hearing the words ‘railways’ and ‘pensions’ uttered in
the same sentence, most people could be forgiven for yawning.
But Jeffries is working hard to inject dynamism into one of
the biggest pension schemes in the UK, Railpen, which
invests the pension pots of 350,000 rail industry employees.
He runs the scheme’s £8bn global equity portfolio,
responsible for monitoring the scheme’s fund managers as
well as researching and acting upon new investment ideas.
He has travelled the world to conduct due diligence on
emerging and frontier market managers as part of a strategy
to focus on regional or single country allocations rather than
a broad global approach.
As a long-term investor, Jefferies says he is constantly
reminded of the wise words of Albert Einstein: ‘The most
powerful force in the universe is compound interest.’ He has
had sleepless nights worrying about the £18bn scheme’s
funding ratio, but his personal interests are firmly aligned to
his professional ones – as a future beneficiary of the scheme,
he will truly be enjoying the fruits of his labour once he retires.
He also hopes to fulfil a childhood dream of trying space travel.
Gordon, nicknamed ‘Masha’, was recruited from Goldman
Sachs Asset Management this year as part of specialist
bond fund manager Pimco’s new push in equities. She
has been given the daunting task of building its emerging
markets business. She comes with the highest credentials –
she was a managing director and head of global emerging
markets equity strategy at Goldman, overseeing more than
$8bn of assets including being lead manager of GSAM’s
EM equity fund and BRIC fund, having worked her way up
from being a research analyst.
As a child, Gordon wanted to be a heart surgeon. Before
moving into the asset management industry, she worked as
a reporter for the Moscow bureau of The Washington Post,
an experience which Gordon says has had a big influence
on her life. She is passionate about her work and says, ‘As
an emerging markets investor I have a seat in the front row
of history; what can be better than that?’ But she is proud
of maintaining a balance in her life, and has no intention of
waiting until she retires to do the things she enjoys: ‘Climbing
large rocks and visiting small theatres.’
BRUMMELL | RisinG staRs32
RISING STARS | bRUMMELL 35
Liam Camburn, 32 Director, private equity transaction
services team, Deloitte
Adam Gishen, 35 Head of equity advisory,
Ondra Partners
An avid sports fan, Camburn credits his senior school
economics teacher for diverting his attention from tennis
and rugby to the world of business and finance. He trained
as an accountant at Arthur Andersen and for the past 10
years has provided financial due diligence for private equity
deals. He worked for Andersen, Deloitte and KPMG, then
spent a year as an investment manager at mid-market
buyout house Rutland Partners before returning to Deloitte
in July 2008. He has worked on some of the biggest buyouts
of the year, including three for US private equity giant KKR
– the €1.3bn acquisition of a majority stake in Nordic
software services firm Visma, its €700m investment in
Grupo Inaer and the £995m acquisition of Pets at Home.
Despite the delicate state of the economy, Camburn
says he’s an optimist on macro issues, and strongly believes
uncertainty leads to opportunity. He follows the mantra of
‘getting the basics right and keeping things simple, or you
end up building on weak foundations’. He still plays rugby
every week, although that is likely to change in the New Year
with the birth of his first child.
Taking the leap from a bulge-bracket banking behemoth to
a brand new boutique is never an easy decision. But when
Gishen was approached last year by Michael Tory and
Benoit D’Angelin, former heads of investment banking at
Lehman Brothers, he was ready for something different.
Gishen began his career at Panmure Gordon in 1997
and joined Lehman’s equity syndicate desk two years later.
Lehman was the new kid on the European equity capital
markets block back then, and Gishen has fond memories of
the energy and excitement of building the business. After
Lehman’s collapse, Gishen worked at the bank’s new owner
Nomura for six months as head of financial institutions
ECM, an experience he says was ‘a bit surreal’.
Moving to Ondra, a boutique focusing on capital markets
and M&A advice, required him to reinvent himself, but he
believes ‘the market is wide open for high-quality sophisticated
advice’. He has advised on several high-profile deals, including
the £375m flotation of Gartmore, advising private equity firm
Vestar on the £440m flotation of AZ Electronic Materials
and Prudential on its $20bn equity raising.
simona Paravani, 36 Global chief investment officer, wealth,
HSBC Global Asset Management
Django Davidson, 30 Senior partner,
Algebris Investments
Emerging from the disappointing childhood realisation that
she could never be Pope when she grew up, Paravani gained
a scholarship to a school on the border of her native Italy
and Slovenia. As part of the programme, she spent time
working with refugees of the Bosnian war. ‘The experience
taught me to put things in perspective,’ she says.
She went on to study economics at Cambridge University
and began her wealth management career at Julius Baer in
Zurich. She joined HSBC in 2004, becoming the firm’s US
chief investment officer at the age of 32 before returning to
London last year in the role of global investment strategist.
She was promoted to her current role this summer,
assuming responsibility for $50billion of assets under
management and a team of 50 around the world.
Outside of her work life, Paravani has published a novel,
Parentesi Cubana, runs a website for Italian professionals
overseas, and is deeply committed to charity work. On the
invitation of Akili Dada, a charity that promotes education
among poor women in Kenya, she recently visited Nairobi
to meet and speak to girls the charity is working with.
Davidson, named after the Romani gypsy jazz guitarist Django
Reinhardt, grew up in a socialist household. However, even as
a young boy he was a contrarian, hatching plans to one day
become a Conservative cabinet minister. He spent six years
at Deutsche Bank, where he was rapidly promoted to become
one of the bank’s youngest ever directors at the age of 27.
He said his biggest achievement at Deutsche was in March
last year when he persuaded his clients to buy subordinated
UK bank debt – these investments went on to produce a 600
per cent return in 12 months.
In July 2009 he joined financials hedge fund Algebris,
covering UK and Asian financial stocks, and he will be
co-portfolio manager of a specialist emerging markets fund
launching in January. Davidson has been strongly influenced
by the rapid shift in power towards Asia, and spent four months
there last year. He plans to visit India more often, believing it
‘the most exciting investment environment of any major market’.
He is a keen disciple of Warren Buffett, and aims to
‘read and memorise every Buffett Berkshire Hathaway
annual letter since 1962’.
rising stars | brUMMELL 37
Born in South Africa, Tannenbaum had big ambitions even as
a child – he knew he wanted to travel, and to do that he would
have to be successful. He has enjoyed a rare experience in
today’s workplace – he joined Merrill straight out of university
and has been working under the same boss, the bank’s head
of international debt capital markets and syndicate Paul
Richards, since his very first day on the job. In 2007,
he became a managing director, aged just 30, and moved
with Richards to New York, returning with him to London
in June last year as head of financial syndicate.
Tannenbaum was promoted to his current role in March,
overseeing the primary syndication and distribution for debt
products in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.
This year, he has been carving out a specialism in financial
institutions deals. He worked on the recapitalisation of Lloyds
Banking Group using an innovative contingent capital instrument,
which is debt that can be converted into equity in a crisis. He
has also worked on fundraisings for Rabobank, Nordea and
National Australia Bank, and liability management deals for
Royal Bank of Scotland and Santander.
Jeff tannenbaum, 33Head of European debt syndicate, Bank of America Merrill Lynch
Ha
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bRUMMELL | PROMOTION38
London’s first boutique hotel,
The Halkin, still offers superb,
intimate style and service
Home
from
home
sUITE dREaMs Above: the light and spacious COMO suite. Above right: The Halkin’s Michelin-starred Thai restaurant, Nahm
Sometimes, you might think The Halkin is too
discreet for its own good – only because more
people should know about the hotel’s many
charms and attractions. Tucked away in
the heart of central London, in a quiet street
in villagey Belgravia, The Halkin has been
offering uncompromising standards of service
and style for almost two decades.
The first boutique hotel in London, The
Halkin – the first of the COMO group of hotels
and resorts, conceived, created and owned
by Christina Ong – is one of those word-of-
mouth recommendations from insiders that are
always trusted. It’s clear that the experience
here is one of a home away from home,
illustrated by the fact that over 55 per cent
of guests are repeat customers, enjoying the
inspired yet comfortable modern design,
cutting-edge technology and faultless service
that only a smaller hotel can consistently provide.
Internationally regarded as London’s most
elegant, exclusive and discreet hotel, The
Halkin’s location adjacent to Hyde Park Corner
means Knightsbridge and Sloane Street,
Bond Street and Victoria are all within walking
distance, and the City is a swift 15 minutes away
by taxi – in other words, an unrivalled base.
The exterior Georgian-style façade of Portland
stone and weathered brick gives little hint
of the contemporary and innovative interior,
designed by Italian architects Laboratorio
Associati of Milan. Using the concept of
‘expansion of space’, the design explores this
to the limit, from the soaring atrium ceiling
of the lobby through to the five upper floors.
Each of the 41 guest rooms and suites
at The Halkin is generously proportioned and
individually designed and decorated, furnished
in an uncluttered and elegant style, using calm
pale cream fabrics and warm Pomelé Sapele
veneers. The beds are exceptionally comfortable
and the marble bathrooms are luxuriously
fabulous. The 17 suites are all generously
sized, particularly the four COMO suites.
Each suite features a king-sized bedroom as
well as a separate sitting area with a dining
table that will seat six, and large conservatory-
style windows fill the room with light. A second
bedroom can be connected too.
Central to the original concept for the
hotel is the desire to offer guests technically
sophisticated services, with control panels
to operate lighting and room temperature fitted
as standard. State-of-the-art touch-screen
consoles, which operate in six languages, are
on each side of the bed, and includes an
electronic ‘do not disturb’ sign which also mutes
the doorbell. All rooms offer complimentary
Wi-Fi and high-speed internet access, plus
interactive digital TV, including an extensive
music jukebox and on-demand moves.
There’s also a well-equipped gym with the latest
in Life Fitness exercise equipment.
While The Halkin is minutes away from some
of the capital’s best restaurants, The Halkin
is home to London’s best Thai restaurant, Nahm,
from celebrated Australian chef David Thompson.
The first Thai restaurant to be awarded a
Michelin star, Nahm serves innovative cuisine
and has been responsible for redefining the
established perception of south-east Asian food
in the West and well deserves the praise heaped
upon its exciting and delicious dishes.
For drinks and light food alternatives, The
Halkin Bar has always been an insiders’ choice
for discreet meetings. Recently refurbished in
sophisticated aubergine, cream and earthy
brown tones, the bar has introduced a ‘flights
of wine’ menu, showcasing winetasting selections
as pre-dinner apéritifs or after-work drinks.
To the cognoscenti, The Halkin says it all:
elegance, comfort, charming service that
anticipates your wishes, with all the personalised
concierge services that make you hardly miss
your PA. It proves that in hotel terms, small
is always beautiful for your home from home. The Halkin, Halkin Street, London SW1;
020 7333 1000; halkin.como.bz
w e b r e a k t h e i c e .
b e a u t i f u l ly
THE ULTIMATE MATCHMAKING SERVICE
Headquarters: 35 Berkeley Square Mayfair London W1J 5BF +44 (0)20 7290 9585 www.grayandfarrar.com
G E N E V A B R U S S E L S M O N A C O M I L A N P A R I S H O N G K O N G L O S A N G E L E S N E W Y O R K
SHOOTING | bRUMMELL
The Exmoor Emperor may have pipped Shergar to the post for headlines but the big news of the shooting season so far is its success. Record bags of grouse have been shot on almost every moor, some experiencing their best ever. Top partridge and pheasant shoots are weathering the recession. ‘Premier shoots are doing well, some exceptionally well and others have benefited greatly from reducing their bags,’ says Mark Merison of Strutt & Parker. Even the corporate market is showing signs of a gradual thaw on last year’s freeze.
But the buzz over the elevenses is undoubtedly the phenomenal return of the grouse. Fieldsports magazine columnist and renowned shot, Phil Burtt, says, ‘The long cold winter followed by a dry spring, good grouse management and continued investment has brought fantastic results.’ It has given an
enormous boost to the industry and led to increased demand for 2011.
‘There is a lot of repeat business for next year already,’ says Robin Woodward of Woodward Bailey, a personal sporting agency. ‘Thanks, in part, to dedicated owners and the wide use of medicated grit to treat worms, grouse are stronger and healthier than ever.’ It isn’t just leading moors, such as Wemmergill, Muggleswick and Gunnerside, seeing record returns; developments in the Angus Glens, North York Moors and the Yorkshire Dales are showing dramatic results too. Availability for a day costing an average of £2,000 per gun is good, but it’s getting snapped up.
Numbers of grey partridge (aka English partridge) are also on the increase in many counties due to a number of conservation projects. Their presence in a drive will add
You can aim for high-octane
shooting all year round,
here and across the globe
Words Jane Pruden
Illustration Simon Pemberton
Firingline
41
BRUMMELL | SHOOTING42
more than a flush of excitement as they tighten into coveys at alarming speed. But a driven wild grey partridge shoot is a coveted day by anyone’s standards. Only a handful of top estates have committed themselves to the farming, predator control and management levels needed to secure their survival. It’s no secret that opportunities to shoot them are rare and highly sought-after. ‘It’s dead men’s shoes,’ whispered one agent. ‘And you’ll be paying close to the cost of a grouse day.’
High-octane shooting is addictive; if you’ve had your fill of stratospheric pheasants, quality redlegs and a few wild greys in the UK, or you missed the grouse, look abroad. Foreign travel will further your fix, extend the season and find the sun. WhereWiseMenShoot offers a two-day back-to-back driven partridge shooting package at La Nava estate in central Spain. ‘It’s sophisticated luxury combined with sport that promises bullet-like birds, “trained” to fly harder and faster than anything we see in this country, that give you truly unforgettable shooting,’ says the firm’s Justin Maxwell-Stuart. The luxury includes a gym, sauna and pool, white-gloved staff and gourmet cuisine. A team of eight guns shooting 500 birds a day will cost from £4,200 per gun, with (non-shooting) partners going free.
For something less ambitious but just as much fun, he suggests dove shooting in Argentina. Cordoba, with its 100-square-mile radius of land and a sustained dove population of over 23 million makes it the dove-shooting capital of the world. It’s good for partners, too. While he’s out firing lead into waves of birds
that literally darken the skies as they come into view, she can be riding at a nearby estancia or soaking up the sun in this all-year-round location. Prices for a two-day shooting package for one gun and a non-shooting partner start from $2,000. Both trips include shooting, accommodation in one of two lodges and food but not flights, transfers, cartridges or tips.
And if budget is no object, a landmark birthday needs celebrating or you just have money to burn, Roxtons is now taking bookings for smaller parties as well as exclusive use on the Rovos Rail train in South Africa. ‘It should feature on every sportsman’s “10 things to do before I die list”,’ says John Duncan, director of shooting. The 20-berth train is used solely as a private shooting lodge, travelling from one destination to the next. You will shoot flighted doves, pigeons, ducks, geese, sand grouse or driven guinea fowl and francolin. The cost for a gun and one non-shooter, excluding tips and international flights, starts from £20,000 per couple.
Back to earth but not without its share of thrills and a plethora of stories, if not headlines: deerstalking from July. ‘Short breaks and single days are outstripping the more traditional full week and lodge-type package,’ says Robert Rattray of CKD Galbraith. ‘The strength of the euro against the pound is encouraging many continental sportsmen to Scotland but the mainstay is still from the UK with many flying up from London for a day or two’s sport.’ The market price for stags this year is in the region of £300 to £330 plus VAT.
Shooting break
For grouse, pheasant and partridge shooting
Strutt & Parker Mark Merison, 01635 576905;
struttandparker.com
Serious Shooting Robert Cuthbert, 01747 851128;
seriousshooting.co.uk
Dalesport Adrian Thornton-Berry,
01969 663096; dalesport.org
Shooting home and abroad
Woodward Bailey Sporting International 01780 461128; wbsi.co.uk
WhereWiseMenShoot Richard Scrope, 0845 603 1552;
wherewisemenshoot.com
Bettws Hall 01686 650628; bettwshall.com
Roxtons
John Duncan,
01488 683222; roxtons.com
Stalking
CKD Galbraith Robert Rattray, 01738 456081;
ckdgalbraith.co.uk
George Goldsmith 0131 476 6500;
georgegoldsmith.com
Seasons
Grouse
12 August to 10 December
(in mainland Great Britain
and ending 30 November
in Northern Ireland)
Partridge
Shoots vary but from
1 September to 1 February
Pheasant 1 October to 1 February
Spanish partridge shooting
8 October to 8 February
Dove shooting Argentina, all year round
South Africa, May to September
Scottish stalking Stag stalking runs from 1 July to
20 October (most estates will start
stalking in August)
Scottish hind
From 21 October to 15 February
57 - 58 SOUTH AUDLEY STREET LONDON W1K 2ED +44 (0)20 7499 1801
www.purdey.com
Despite these pieces having been
launched at the international watch
shows at the start of the year,
it’s only now they are becoming
available to buy – and it is
no coincidence that Christmas
is just around the corner. Here
is our pick of this year’s crop…
This page, clockwise from top:
Omega ‘MD’s Watch’ 1938 Inspired by a doctor's watch from the Thirties, this new column wheel chronograph from Omega’s ‘Museum Collection’ features a retro design complete with enamel dial and ‘pulsometer’ scale designed for checking pulse rates. The old-fashioned looks belie the fact that the MD’s watch contains Omega’s ultra-accurate Co-Axial movement. £9,310; omegawatches.com
Blancpain Villeret Eight Days Manual As an exercise in understatement, Blancpain’s latest manual-wind dress watch is difficult to beat. The exquisite dial is coated in crisp, white enamel, there is a discreet date window above six o’clock and the small subdial below 12 shows the amount of power remaining from the eight-day reserve. Just 75 available. £31,960; blancpain.com
Jaeger-LeCoultre Duomètre à Quantième Lunaire If you appreciate micromechanics, this latest addition to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s Duomètre range should hold considerable appeal. It contains two mechanisms, one to drive the timekeeping function and one to power the ‘complications’ which include date and age of the moon. This yellow gold version is limited to 300 examples. £22,000; jaeger-lecoultre.com
Opposite page, clockwise from top:
Glashütte Senator Diary Glashütte’s new alarm watch has been designed as an antidote to modern electronic organisers – its mechanical movement can be programmed up to 30 days in advance to provide a 90-second vibrating chime to remind the wearer of special events. £11,500; glashuette-original.com
Breguet Type XXI Breguet’s luxurious chronograph has evolved from a model originally made during the Fifties for the French Naval Air Arm. It features a flyback function (enabling the chronograph hand to be stopped and reset with a single push of the button) as well as a 24-hour time display. £12,600; breguet.com
Officine Panerai Radiomir This fresh version of Panerai’s all-time classic Radiomir dive model features a case that is two millimetres smaller than the standard watch and made from ultra-light, salt-resistant titanium. Inside you'll find a beautifully made, hand-wound movement that is made entirely in-house at the Panerai factory. £4,700; panerai.com
As this year’s new watches become available to
buy, celebrate with an impeccable timepiece
that is likely to outlast any market fluctuations
Words Simon de Burton Photography Andy Barter
New faces
WATChES | BRUMMELL 45
We select 30 exquisitely designed accessories – shoes, wallets,
jewellery, fragrances – which would make gifts of style and
taste, including pieces that will always be the centre of attention
Styling Catriona Stirling & Amy Heffernan Photography Andy Barter
Grace and
favour
HouSe of bAMboo ‘Blow Up Bamboo Collection’ centrepiece, £72, Alessi
Left to right: silk bow tie, £50, Hackett; graduated red woven tie, £105, Paul Smith; maroon silk pocket square, £65, Charvet at Selfridges; red and black houndstooth ankle boot, £785, Rupert Sanderson
bRuMMeLL | giftS46
bUckEt List
This page: ‘Valet’ wine cooler, £160, Sebastian Bergne for Skitsch
Clockwise from top: ‘High Jewellery Collection’ necklace set with 76 briolette-cut diamonds, price on application, Chopard; ‘To and Fro’ sterling silver cuff links, £275, Alfred Dunhill; marquesa diamond double row ring, £36,100, Harry Winston; black and platinum ‘Starwalker Black Mystery’ fountain pen, £370, Montblanc; cluster diamond earrings, price on application, Harry Winston
PRisM LifE
Opposite page: ‘Irregular Shape I’ Perspex triangle, £188, ‘Triangle’ Perspex shape, £218, ‘Irregular Shape II’ Perspex triangle, £218, all Vasa at The Lollipop Shoppe
Clockwise from left: English Pear & Freesia cologne, £68, Jo Malone; Iris Ukiyoe fragrance, £140, Hermès; Platinum Egoïste Eau de Toilette, £42, Chanel; Eau de Toilette for Men, Tom Ford, £54
gifts | bRUMMELL 49
BRUMMELL | gifts50
onE poULtRy ‘Now Isn’t That Lovely’ centrepiece, POA, Stephen Johnson
From top: pepper-grey kidskin suede ‘Richelieu Batiste’ men’s lace-up shoe, £570, Hermès; MultiColor Karung Shiny Python Ayers Knot clutch bag, £1,315, Bottega Veneta; purple crocodile wallet, £369, YSL at Harrods; tan ostrich wallet, £450, Alfred Dunhill; ‘Malachite’ men’s leather wallet, £170, Smythson stockists details on page 66
shadow Boxing Opposite: ‘La Stanza dello Scirocco’ fruit holder, £34, Alessi
Clockwise from top left: jewelled gold cuff, £550, YSL at Harrods; yellow mirror leather wedge sandal, £665, Bottega Veneta; 18ct yellow gold Indian pendant set with diamonds & 59.21 Columbian emerald, price on application, Moussaieff; gold barrel cuff links, £110, Thomas Pink; ‘Amber’ snake-print leather continental purse, £295, Smythson
stitch list This picture, Luke
Sweeney, right, with business partner Thom
Whiddett at the Thom Sweeney showroom in
Mayfair; opposite, Anna Hansen at The Modern
Pantry, Clerkenwell
Creative industries are seen as key to the UK’s economic
recovery. Some of the newest talents show how they can help
Making it
Words Simon Brooke Photography Sam Christmas
The creative industries might sometimes seem
peripheral and superficial, but consider this:
between them they employ nearly two million
people directly and indirectly in Britain,
according to UK Trade & Investment, and this
country has the largest creative industries sector
in the world as a percentage of GDP. With the
government relying on an innovative private
sector to create jobs lost from the public payroll,
it will be hoping that firms working in fashion, film,
design and food among other creative industries
can expand to play their part.
According to a recent paper published by the
CBI called ‘Creating growth – A blueprint for the
creative industries’, ‘Digital technologies and the
growth of the online environment are challenging
existing business models… Combined with the
impact of the recent economic downturn, this will
change the structure of the sector’s future.’ But it
adds: ‘If the UK is to rebalance its economy and
achieve high growth, the creative sector has a
crucial role to play.’
luke sweeney, tailorRecent years have seen a renaissance of men’s tailoring with the return of the suit, the rejuvenation of Savile Row and new tailoring services from designers such as Giorgio Armani. Luke Sweeney has been surfing this new sartorial wave. He started as a teenage apprentice at Timothy Everest and it was here that he met his business partner Thom Whiddett. The two set up tailors Thom Sweeney in 2006 to match the traditional skills they’d learnt with a modern tailoring aesthetic.
‘I love the creative aspect of tailoring,’ says Sweeney, 31. ‘We’re both addicted to fabrics – I can spend ages just looking at and touching different types. The great thing about this business is that you start from scratch when you first meet the customer and talk to him about what he wants and then you create something bespoke for him.’
The two sited their shop, which they funded themselves, in Mayfair, away from Savile Row – even though they’re exponents of its world-renowned techniques. ‘We discovered that this is where a lot of our clients live or work – you don’t need to be on the Row these days,’ says Sweeney. These clients range from fund managers to creative directors and musicians and include football pundit Jamie Redknapp and Laurence Graff of Graff Diamonds.
The Thom Sweeney look is softer around the shoulders than the traditional Savile Row style with slimmer padding here but it also has a defined waist for a sharp, elegant silhouette. ‘The most important thing, though, is that the client feels comfortable,’ says Sweeney. ‘More and more guys are realising that you can’t go wrong with a well-made suit, I think. They really like the idea that it’s a one-off and that it’ll fit them perfectly – it just makes them feel very confident walking into a business meeting or a cool restaurant.’020 7629 6220; thomsweeney.co.uk
Anna hansen, chefWith the introduction on restaurant menus of dishes such as snail porridge and sardine sorbet, and the ubiquitous use of liquid nitrogen in the kitchen, the rule-book of food might have been thrown out of the window recently. But chef Anna Hansen manages to push the culinary boundaries while creating something that you’d still actually want to eat.
‘I was sprinkling liquorice salt onto mozzarella the other day and it worked beautifully,’ says the founder of Clerkenwell restaurant The Modern Pantry, who has at least 30 spices on the rack in her kitchen. Incorporating the little used seasoning into her famous squid ink mash wasn’t so successful but adding clams, chorizo and cod to the comforting black potato dish has worked a treat. ‘My style is probably classic with a twist,’ laughs Hansen, 40. ‘Most of the time inspiration strikes when I’m just about goofing around.’ A native of New Zealand, she came to Britain after college and started her
culinary career the hard way – washing dishes in a restaurant run by Fergus Henderson.
She then went to work with a fellow antipodean, Peter Gordon, the driving force behind the fusion food trend. When she left in 2005 and went about establishing The Modern Pantry she developed this style, creating adventurous dishes such as roast aubergine with yuzu and soy, and peanut panna cotta, kalamansi lime and wasabi jelly.
With the help of a financial backer who allows her to get on with the culinary side of the business, she is now looking for another site in London. But Hansen, a business studies graduate, was initially discouraged from entering the food business by her mother.
‘She didn’t think it was a serious business. But in fact quite a few members of my family are artistic and for me the great thing about cooking is that you’re creating something that a bunch of people can appreciate immediately.’020 7553 9210; themodernpantry.co.uk
Rising cReAtive tAlent | bRUMMell 53
Rung by Rung Left, jewellery designer Vanessa Kandiyoti at her London studio; opposite page, Luke Irwin photographed in the window of his Pimlico Road flagship store
bRuMMELL | RISIng cREatIvE taLEnt54
Travel changes people, it’s often said, and for Vanessa Kandiyoti it was a backpacking trip in Latin America which made her decide to give up her law career to pursue a love of jewellery. ‘I kept seeing these beautiful stones and I began to wear some of them when I got home,’ she says. ‘People would always comment on them and ask where they came from.’ It was this reaction that convinced her that she could create a line of jewellery herself that was unlike anything currently available.
Kandiyoti’s pieces’ striking look is in part due to a particular theme – the evil eye. ‘I’m originally from Turkey, even though I lived in Belgium and Sweden before I came to London, and in my culture wearing something with the evil eye is thought to protect you from bad luck and to bring you good fortune,’ she explains. ‘Even people who don’t share this culture or these superstitions are fascinated by them and love wearing jewellery with the evil eye.’All her jewellery is made in Turkey with
Luke Irwin, rug makerHis rugs might lie in the homes of Barack Obama and the Prince of Wales, among others, but Luke Irwin is endearingly down-to-earth about his success. This is perhaps because of his rather unusual route into the design business. ‘My career has had a rather scatter-gun approach,’ he says. ‘I was working at Christie’s and then for an antique dealer, so it always had a visual or aesthetic element but, other than that, I didn’t really know what I wanted to do.’
It was a chance meeting at a lunch in 2003 with a teenage Tibetan boy whose father was a master weaver that triggered his idea for a business. ‘I wanted to create something to draw people into the antiques shop so I started designing rugs with a crop circle motif. They somehow struck a chord with people and I sold the lot in one go.’
All his rugs are hand-knotted in Nepal using techniques imported from Tibet. With their simple, elegant designs ranging from geometric shapes to modern floral patterns with a naive, craft influence, the style of his rugs is deceptively simple.
The Ikat method, similar to tie-dyeing, is a staple of his collection. The common denominator here is that each product is bespoke and designed after Irwin or his team has met the customer and visited the room in which the rug will be laid.
If he’s unpretentious, that doesn’t mean that Irwin, 43, isn’t passionate about creativity – far from it. ‘After a decade of bling and designer labels, it’s about design now,’ says the Dublin-born Old Etonian. ‘It’s funny how in a downturn good taste actually blossoms. People are more discerning about what they’re spending their money on.’
Having been given short shrift by the banks, Irwin found a private investor who bankrolled him and allowed him to handle the creative side of the business. The House & Garden award-winner opened his first store in Pimlico Road, SW1, a few weeks ago and over the last six months he has diversified his range to include Persian hand-knotted rugs. He plans to move into wallpaper and upholstery fabrics. ‘I’m with Warren Buffett,' he says. ‘The best time to expand is during a recession.’ 020 7730 6070; lukeirwin.com
carefully chosen conflict-free stones including diamonds, pink and blue sapphires, turquoise, coral and black onyx which are set in rose, white and yellow gold.
Her legal training has been useful in some ways, she believes. ‘Everything that you do and everything that happens to you can be used in business,’ says the 30-year-old Kandiyoti. ‘I had cash flow problems earlier this year, for instance, and my experience of law and business helped here.’ Her ranges are sold through Liberty, Harvey Nichols and Net-a-Porter, with more to come online next year, although exclusivity and protecting the quality of the product is important to her.
Her father is now her main financial backer and Kandiyoti, whose fans include Giorgio Armani, is planning to expand into the US. She has now begun coaching other young businesswomen. ‘I want to help them but I believe that we can learn from each other,’ she says. vanessakandiyoti.com
vanessa Kandiyoti, jewellery designer
bRUMMELL | PROMOTION56
There’s an Italian fine jewellery name that the
most elegant and fashionable Italian women
know about – and you should too. Pomellato
has, until now, had a low-key profile in the UK,
and it’s a secret that definitely needs to be
shared. It’s all about unconventional beauty –
its ‘face’ is the unique and edgy Tilda Swinton,
which says it all – that avoids swagger but has
an elegant power, combined with high quality
at affordable starting prices.
In Italy Pomellato is known as the insiders’
choice – it has been said that its pieces are
appreciated by sophisticated Italian women the
way Hermès is by their French sisters. Another
high accolade is the fact that Christina Ong, the
hotelier and business woman of peerless taste,
adored the brand to the degree that she brought
it to London and opened its first and only store in
the capital, in Brook Street, Mayfair. Ms Ong
describes the jewellery as being ‘designed like
prêt-à-porter pieces, to be enjoyed every day’.
Pino Rabolini, who founded the company 43
years ago, understood that while clothing brands
Pomellato: the Italian jewellery maker
for women of elegance and exquisite taste
Beautyand brains
were bringing fashion within the reach of most,
no one was doing the same for jewellery, which
at that point in the Sixties was formal and classic.
He was on a mission to democratise jewellery.
Instead of making very expensive statement
pieces to be worn by the exceedingly wealthy
at the grandest of balls, he preferred to have
his creations worn during daytime, at dinners
and the theatre. Women, he believed, should
buy the jewellery in much the same way they
might choose a dress.
The brand sets the trend in jewellery
design; its influences stretch across the whole
market. The Nudo ring (from £1,385) features
coloured stones like lemon quartz, amethyst,
red tourmaline or peridot, cut and set as if a
solitaire diamond, with no visible support on
the sides. Popularily worn stacked on the same
finger, it is a much copied piece. An iconic
design is the chain, with near-invisible clasp
and crafted flexible links.
Pomellato has something of a cult following,
with up to 70 per cent of its business being
returning customers. A key strategy is to launch
seasonal collections and keep pricing at a level
at which women – who constitute three-
quarters of Pomellato’s buyers – would think
about spending on themselves. There are
high-priced pieces, but there are always a large
number in the £1,000-5,000 price range.
The brand’s typical customer is professionally
successful, independent, not just financially
but also psychologically, who avoids the more
obvious brands. Alongside Dodo, Pomellato’s
young, fun and playful junior brand, is POM
POM, a limited, exclusive collection of one-off
pieces, with a one-off price range for the
unique and collectable.
Described by a fan as ‘Marni meets
Missoni’, Pomellato’s design aesthetic is
that most attractive melange of elegance and
innovation; often luxuriously colourful yet
never swanky. It’s said to be addictive: once
bitten, twice as pretty. Pomellato, 35 Brook Street, Mayfair, London
W1K 4HQ; 020 7355 0300; pomellato.com
bELLa ITaLIa Clockwise from top right: Tabou rings, from £5,000; Sirene cuffs, £22,420 each; white gold chain, £4,155, with Harem pendants, £2,700 each
OMEGA Invented over 200 years ago,
the tourbillon movement is still
considered the pinnacle of
watchmaking. This year Omega
takes this jewel of haute horlogerie
into the 21st century by introducing
the Co-Axial escapement into the
movement. The brand is famous for
a pioneering spirit, with six lunar
launches, the first ever diver’s
watch and the world’s only certified
marine chronometer wristwatch
among its achievements. Omega
Royal Exchange boutique has
recently reopened with the brand’s
latest interior design concept.
‘De Ville Tourbillon Skeleton Co-Axial’ watch, £71,280; Omega
8 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
57prOMOtiOn | brUMMELL
Brummell showcases a collection of the finest pieces from
nine of its best jewellers and watchmakers from the City’s premier
shopping destination for luxury goods, the Royal Exchange
Words Sarah Deeks photography Luke Kirwan
ChristMAs At thErOyAL ExChAnGE
monTBLAnC John Lennon would have
celebrated his 70th birthday this
year. Montblanc has marked the
occasion with the launch of a special
pen whose barrel is grooved like a
vinyl record, and clip mimics a
guitar’s fretboard. Montblanc’s
Royal Exchange boutique is home
to the Swiss brand’s extensive
range of writing accessories, fine
watches, leather goods, jewellery,
eyewear and fragrance.
(From left) ‘Black Mystery’ fountain pen, £370; ‘Star XL’ Automatic stainless steel watch with black guilloché dial, automatic movement, power-reserve indicator, date display, black alligator-skin strap with triple-folding clasp, £1,195; ‘John Lennon Special Edition’ fountain pen, £585; all Montblanc
10-11 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
BACHET French fine jeweller Bachet
has made a name for itself by
specialising in natural black
and white diamonds, arranged
beautifully. The interweaving
pattern of the Charleston rings is
inspired by the Twenties dance,
echoing the flappers of the Folies
Bergère. In July 2010 Bachet
chose the Royal Exchange as the
location for its first boutique outside
France. It offers a bespoke service
for the creation and design of
engagement and wedding rings.
(Clockwise from right) ‘Epicerien Collection’ bracelet, £36,000; ‘Epicerien Collection’ ring, £4,900; ‘Charleston Collection’ ring with black diamonds, £4,000; ‘Charleston Collection’ ring with white diamonds, £4,200, all Bachet
12 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
59promoTion | BrUmmELL
BULGAri Inspired by the cocktail rings of
the Fifties and Sixties, Bulgari has
created the Parentesi Cocktail
collection. Large, coloured gems
are mounted in settings bearing
the ‘Parenthesis’ signature
of the Italian fine jeweller, a motif
based on the travertine junctions
from ancient Roman paving
stones. Bulgari attracts the
City’s elite to its Royal Exchange
boutique, where the full
Parentesi collection is available.
‘Parentesi Cocktail’ collection ring in white gold, blue topaz and pavé diamonds, £5,250, ‘Parentesi Cocktail’ earrings in white gold, blue topaz, amethyst and pavé diamonds, £5,350, ‘Parentesi Cocktail’ necklace in white gold, blue topaz, amethyst and pavé diamonds, £5,750; all Bulgari
15 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
BOODLES Boodles’ iconic Raindance design
is now 10 years old, and the
signature ring has the honour of
a place in the Victoria & Albert
Museum in their permanent
jewellery collection. To celebrate
the anniversary, Boodles’ head
designer Rebecca Hawkins created
a Celebratory Raindance
collection, the delicate diamond
designs inspired by water droplets
and rainfall. The Raindance
Anniversary Collection can be
found at the Boodles boutique
in the Royal Exchange.
(Clockwise from top) Diamond ‘Raindance Anniversary Collection’ ring, set in platinum, £32,000; Diamond ‘Raindance Anniversary Collection’ tassel earrings, £30,000; both Boodles
2 & 3 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
61prOmOtiOn | BrUmmELL
THEO FENNELL British jeweller Theo Fennell has
earned a reputation for creating
modern pieces that marry
classicism with imaginative design.
And this is never more evident than
in his Tryst rings, where gold
flowers and delicate birds are set
to the side of vivid pink and green
gemstones. Theo Fennell’s witty
and distinctive jewellery has a
loyal following in the City of London,
and this latest collection is now
available at the boutique in the
Royal Exchange.
(From top) ‘Three Stone Blossom Tryst’ ring with pink tourmaline and diamond in 18ct white and rose gold, £11,500; ‘Phoenix’ ring with green tourmaline and diamond, in 18ct white and yellow gold, £22,500; both Theo Fennell
4 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
63prOmOTiON | brUmmELL
TiFFANY & CO A Tiffany & Co little blue box
is synonymous with craftsmanship,
design excellence and, above all,
diamonds. The famous jeweller went
back to the archives for inspiration
for its Key collection, and uses
the rarest fancy yellow diamonds
to spectacular effect. Only one in
10,000 diamonds is a ‘fancy’ colour
and few meet Tiffany’s standards.
Tiffany & Co at the Royal Exchange
specialises in fine jewellery and
engagement rings, as well as
fashion jewellery and accessories.
(From top) Yellow diamond ‘Ornate Key’ pendant in platinum, £28,800; cushion-cut yellow diamond ‘Square Key’ pendant in platinum, £15,900; cushion-cut yellow diamond ‘Flower Key’ pendant set in platinum, £17,500; all Tiffany & Co
9 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
gUCCI Founded in Florence in 1921,
Gucci is one of the world’s leading
luxury brands, and the house has
been making silver jewellery for
over 50 years. The Silver Collection
is sleek and modern, the pieces
featuring an elegant heart-shaped
clasp for the choker, and the famous
interlocking G motif, created from
Guccio Gucci’s initials. The bracelet
is from Gucci’s Britt collection,
named after the Swedish actress
Britt Ekland, often seen wearing
Gucci in the Sixties and Seventies.
Gucci’s Royal Exchange boutique
is the City’s ultimate luxury pit-stop.
(From left) Bracelet with interlocking G motif, £140; necklace with interlocking G motif, £165; both Gucci
9 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
CARTIER Cartier’s iconic Love bracelet was
conceived in New York by designer
Aldo Cipullo, and is symbolic of the
commitment between two people.
Sleek lines and sparkling pavé
diamonds add glamour to the
modern design. Founded in Paris
in 1847 by Louis-Francois Cartier,
the fine jeweller opened its first
London store on New Burlington
Street. The historic Royal Exchange
provides a perfect home for Cartier
to showcase its precious pieces
to a sophisticated City clientele.
(Clockwise from bottom) White gold ‘Love Collection’ bangle, £3,200; White gold ‘Love Collection’ hoop earrings with diamonds, £3,925; ‘Love Collection’ ring in white gold with diamonds and black ceramic, £6,000; all Cartier
1 The Courtyard, Royal Exchange
ThE RoyAl ExChAngE BANk, LoNdoN EC3.
Entrances opposite Bank tube,
Threadneedle Street and Cornhill.
www.theroyalexchange.co.uk
pRomoTIon | bRUmmEll 65
Stockists Alessi 0800 783 0907; alessi.com Bottega Veneta 020 7629 5598;
bottegaveneta.com Chanel 020 7493 3836; chanel.com
Charvet at Selfridges 0800 123400; selfridges.com Chopard
020 7409 3140; chopard.com Dunhill 0845 458 0779; dunhill.com
Hackett 020 7939 6865; hackett.com Harrods 020 7730 1234;
harrods.com Harry Winston 0207 907 8800; harrywinston.com
Hermès 020 7823 1014; hermes.com Jo Malone 0870 034 2411;
jomalone.co.uk Montblanc 020 7730 7681; montblanc.com
Moussaieff Jewellers 020 7290 1536; moussaieff.co.uk
Paul Smith 0800 023 4006; paulsmith.co.uk Rupert Sanderson
020 7491 2220; rupertsanderson.com Skitsch 020 7589 1154;
skitsch.com Smythson 0845 873 2435; smythson.com Stephen Johnson 07984 419588; stephenjohnson.biz The Lollipop Shoppe
020 7655 4540; thelollipopshoppe.co.uk Thomas Pink
020 7498 3882; thomaspink.com Tom Ford 0870 034 2566;
tomford.com YSL at Harrods 020 7730 1234; ysl.com
BRUMMELL | BY gEoRgE66
Take it from a whisky expert–
you can keep discovering
interesting drams from rare
and distinctive distillers
Amber
elixir
mysterious alchemy, makes it better.
Snap up anything with its label but I particularly
recommend the Double Single (£95),
commemorating its 10th birthday. As the
name suggests, it uses just two whiskies.
Compass Box says, ‘the grain whisky creates
a lovely, soft, sweet pillow on which the malt
whisky flavours luxuriate’ – and it’s true.
Every year the giant Diageo offers some
special releases from its lesser-known malts.
This year, there are nine of these beauties but
they’re always heavily demanded by collectors
so you’ll need to move quickly to get a bottle
of my pick of the collection: the rich, rewarding
and elegant Glen Spey 21-year-old (£120).
In 2007, the staunchly independent
Glenfarclas released a back catalogue of
vintages known as the Family Casks. There
are 43 from 1952 to 1994 and, with the dates
prominent on the packaging, they make
great gifts. But don’t underestimate the whisky.
For the most part, it’s stellar quality and
outstanding value (from £120 for the 1994).
Glenglassaugh was mothballed in 1986
but was saved when a Dutch investment group
invested over £1m to restart production and
picked up the remaining old stock. Working
briefly for the distiller opened my eyes to
its exceptional quality. Search out the latest
26-year-old (£155) or the very restricted
Manager’s Legacy editions. The original
owners must be kicking themselves.
The most popular Scotch whisky in the world
is Johnnie Walker. Every so often, its blenders
are allowed to go wild. This year’s result is
The John Walker, a limited-edition blend using
rare whiskies from distilleries that operated in the
1800s. Bottled in hand-blown Baccarat crystal,
and arriving in a hand-crafted lacquer cabinet,
in the UK the John Walker will be available
exclusively at Harrods (£2,000; harrods.com).
Finally, Dalmore Trinitas. There are only three
bottles of this blend of whiskies, the youngest of
which is 64 years old, and it has about as much
in common with your everyday whisky as a
Bugatti Veyron has with a Ford Focus. Two of
the three sold immediately, at £100,000.
Words Ian Buxton
The best sources of rare whiskies include
The Whisky Exchange at Vinopolis,
thewhiskyexchange.com; Royal Mile Whiskies,
royalmilewhiskies.com; Loch Fyne Whiskies,
lfw.co.uk; Milroy’s of Soho, milroys.co.uk.
Find more outstanding drams in Ian Buxton’s
new book ‘101 Whiskies to Try Before You Die’
(Hachette, £12.99)
Irish whiskey once ruled the world but it all went
wrong in the 20th century and the Irish industry
virtually disappeared. One of the few survivors
is Green Spot, an Irish pot still whiskey bottled
for wine merchant Mitchell & Son of Dublin. The
distiller generously shares some of the 6,000
or so bottles made each year with UK colleagues
and that means we can enjoy its unique, waxy
taste. Real whiskey-lovers speak of this in
reverential tones (typical UK retail £37.95).
The survival of Green Spot foretold the
revival of Irish distilling, led by Irish Distillers
Ltd of Midleton. Its new Redbreast 15-year-old
(£65) is a great example of the new whiskeys
now coming from Ireland. Like all good Irish
pure pot still whiskeys, it is strongly flavoured
and assertive, making it a rare treat for the
connoisseur of fine aged whiskey.
In Scotland, Highland Park has long been
one of my favourites. Occasionally it releases
special editions and the latest is its Saint
Magnus (£85, directly from the distillery;
highlandpark.co.uk/shop). This limited-edition
12-year-old provides an affordable and
collectable piece of the distillery’s history.
Smokier than the normal Highland Park, this
will really appeal to the ‘peat freaks’.
Compass Box doesn’t actually make
whisky. It takes other people’s and, by some
Ge
tty
Ima
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s
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