Bentley created the Bentayga as the ultimate SUV, whose base price of just about one-quarter of a million dollars does not include several important and very luxurious extras that include removable tablets ($7,155), replacement of wood trim with carbon fiber ($28,500) . . . and the automatic Breitling for Bentley Mulliner Tourbillon ($160,000).
When Cartier introduced the Drive de Cartier at SIHH 2016, I did not expect to find a new addition to the Ballon Bleu family in one of the brand’s signature red and gold boxes. Especially not a Ballon Bleu with moon phase. In Cartier’s rich history, the moon phase has been largely and conspicuously absent. Why?
When gemstones and haute horlogerie meet, one of two things can happen: the watch either becomes a fitting tribute to Liberace or the result is something fabulous thanks to the synergy.
One of the reasons I love visiting the Graff stand at Baselworld is because, since the entering the market in 2008, this brand has managed to make “lots of fabulous.”
There is gold and then there is gold. Gold mining is a labor-intensive business requiring substantial resources in order to do it at a scale large enough to meet demand as well as build a sustainable business: social and environmental sustainability in mining gold can come under duress. And that inspired the certification of Fairmined gold.
One of the most tempting propositions within the Mercedes-Benz lineup has always been the AMG version of the C-Class, and the new Mercedes-AMG C 63 S Coupé is now what I would call the perfect Teutonic muscle car. It will make you smile from ear to ear as you thunder up a mountain road with its aphrodisiac of a V8 engine.
Say the name Fabergé and most people will immediately think of the imperial Easter eggs – and for good reason, because even today the craftsmanship and detailed execution of those eggs are still breathtaking. The Fabergé Lady Libertine I, one of the stars of Baselworld 2016 together with the Fabergé Visionnaire DTZ, is a perfect example of the synergies of Fabergé and Gemfields.
“There has been an enormous amount of creativity during the past 10 or 15 years, but I can really see all that disappearing. If we face difficult times ahead, I expect the big groups will get bigger — and that makes me wonder whether or not we will see the beginning of the end of smaller, independent brands, which are often the really creative ones,” Werdelin said in the FT interview. However, I also had the impression that Werdelin’s interview begged for a follow-up, so here it is.
At Baselworld 2016, Nomos Glashütte introduced its new automatic DUW 3001 caliber in the familiar (but usually manually wound) Tetra case, turning it into part of the Neomatik line. Big deal? Yes, big deal! Tetra is square, which is unusual in today’s watch world. The result is an unusual watch that appeals to people looking for something out of the ordinary.
Hybrids in the watch world are rare, but in general perform the same way as hybrid automobiles, with chronometric performance improved significantly thanks to the quartz. For many it was a bit unexpected for Piaget, the “king of ultra-thin watches,” to introduce the Emperador Coussin XL 700P in 2016, but it did not emerge from thin air; it is the latest in a 40-year legacy of quartz innovation.
Although the comparison may be tenuous, I find some similarities between MB&F and Etat Libre d’Orange, the perfume house founded in 2006 by Etienne de Swardt. Originally from South Africa, de Swardt moved to Paris and gained experience with different perfume houses but eventually got frustrated by the traditional approach of many of them. He thought he could do better, so he did.