What qualifies as “extreme” when we talk motorcycle design? Is it the use of exotic materials? The fitment of the latest gadgets to turn it from one motorcycle into something entirely different? Or is it just a design so perfectly executed that it makes the other models pale in comparison?
Admittedly, the term is indeed subjective, yet it doesn’t make it any less valuable. Radical design and performance have long gone hand-in-hand with motorcycle building, be it from Honda’s special HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) wing to a builder working in subzero temperatures in Russia.
A few years back, we looked at a dozen bikes that blew us away, and we thought it was time to go for another round. With that in mind, here are another 15 examples that we consider among the most extreme motorcycles on the planet—each a game-changer, a leader in its field or just something so outrageous that it qualifies by default. You might want to wear a helmet.
PHOTO : PHOTO: COURTESY OF HONDA MOTOR COMPANY, LTD.
Honda RC213V-S
In 2015, Honda released the approx. $262,000 RC213 V-S. Based heavily off Marc Marquez’s 2013 MotoGP World Championship–winning RC213 V, the V-S remains the closest thing anyone can buy to a real MotoGP racer for the street.
The motorcycle was neutered when it came to America, limited to just 75kW so it could get through testing. But Honda also released a full HRC Sport Kit for the V-S that unlocked all 160kW from the 1000cc V-4. Couple this with HRC’s best possible production chassis, and you have a sports motorcycle without peer.
PHOTO : PHOTO: COURTESY OF VYRUS.
Vyrus Alyen 988
Italian custom stalwart Vyrus is not known for subtlety, with bikes sporting its trademark double swingarm/hub-centre-steering suspension set up. But the Alyen 988, released in March, is over-the-top even for Vyrus.
A Ducati Panigale 1299 motor is wrapped in a magnesium Omega chassis and cloaked in load-bearing carbon-fibre bodywork that, when layered in the uni-direction format, has the appearance of high-quality woodgrain. The entire package rolls on carbon-fibre Rotobox wheels. With the look of a frilled-neck lizard transformed into a motorcycle, the Alyen 988 won’t be for everyone, but we’re very glad shops like Vyrus still exist.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF MV AGUSTA MOTOR S.P.A.
MV Agusta F4 LH44
Formula 1’s Lewis Hamilton has enjoyed a fruitful relationship with MV Agusta and, over the years, has released a number of motorcycles bearing his famous LH44 label. But none have come close to the visual feast that is the MV Agusta F4 LH44.
Based heavily off the WorldSBK race replica F4 RC—in fact, it is the same bike, just with incredible paint—the LH44 retails for nearly twice the price as the F4 RC at approx. $95,000. However, when you see an LH44 in the flesh, any thoughts of it not being worth the extra cash go out the window. The red and black paint is a true masterpiece from MV Agusta, so much so that it would almost be a shame to get it dirty by riding…almost.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF INDIAN MOTORCYCLE.
Appaloosa: A Nitro Drag racer From Indian Motorcycle
Commissioned by Indian Motorcycle Europe’s head office to race in first the Sultans of Sprint series and later the Baikal Mile ice sprints in Siberia, this Appaloosa is about as far removed from the donor machine as you could get.
A dustbin fairing encapsulates a custom chassis, swingarm and motor that’s got an extra 22k shot of nitrous at its disposal when flying down the strip. With tyres wrapped in studs and 97kW on hand, this has to be the most extreme Indian build we’ve seen for many years.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF CUSTOM WORKS ZON.
The ‘Stealth Crow’ BMW K 1600 B by Custom Works Zon.
The K 1600 B is basically a brattier version of the gentlemanly K 160 GTL touring motorcycle from BMW, but even the stock 1600 B can’t hold a candle to the machine emanating from Japan’s motorcycle house, Custom Works Zon. What’s impressive is that every part you see here bolts to a standard BMW chassis. Designed to give the look of a monocoque, the ‘Stealth Crow’, as CW Zon calls it, is an otherworldly design exercise to see just what can be done with a standard chassis. The result is a breathtaking journey in carbon-fibre manufacturing, and a machine that looks unlike anything else on the road.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF HAZAN MOTORWORKS.
The Musket by Hazan Motorworks
Based in Los Angeles, custom builder Max Hazan designs machines that have been flooring the motorcycle industry for the past few years, and he continues to carve out an artistic niche few can match.
One of Hazan’s most famous designs is the Musket. It’s built around two 500cc Royal Enfield single-cylinder motors cast together by Ohio-based Royal Enfield motor modifier Aniket Vardhan. Every other piece you see here, aside from the wheels and tires, was created by Hazan, including the tank, fenders, frame and seat unit. Made to order, of course, the model is rumoured to run for approx. $256,000.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF LAZARETH.
Lazareth LM 847
French custom dynamo Ludovic Lazareth gets his kicks by making truly outrageous designs, but none have been as outlandish as the LM 847. Built around a 350kW V8 Maserati motor with four single-sided swingarms, rim-mounted brakes and hub-centre steering, the LM 847 is essentially a leaning quad bike, just one with about 10 times the power. At 2.6-metre in length and weighing 400kg, the Lazareth LM 847 easily takes the mantle as the most extreme quad bike we’ve ever seen.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF BARESTEEL DESIGN.
Stingray by Baresteel Design
Electric motorcycles are very much in vogue with the world’s custom builders right now, and British Columbia’s Baresteel Design has pushed the limits of the market segment further with the incredible Stingray. Designed for the Haas Moto Museum & Sculpture Gallery in Dallas, Tex., Jay Donovan crafted an electric masterpiece with hints of retro, modern and futuristic café racer.
“I wasn’t sure what that was going to look like but I was very curious about the relationship between quality and modern technology, Donovan told pipeburn.com. “And I knew that I wanted to expand my understanding of design and engineering, their boundaries, both hard and soft, and their dynamic and philosophical relationship to one another.”
PHOTO: COURTESY OF KAWASAKI HEAVY INDUSTRIES LTD.
Kawasaki Ninja H2 R
Kawasaki Heavy Industries is a major international transport company, with a board of directors and various shareholders it answers to. As such, it makes the existence of the H2 R even more amazing, for this is a 998 cc supercharged production motorcycle—and one that comes with a factory warranty. The H2 R is the halo machine in Kawasaki’s lineup. It’s a 231kW monster, complete with the rattlesnake hiss of the supercharger, and reserved for only the bravest and skilled of riders.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF BANDIT9.
Eve Lux by Bandit9
Daryl Villanueva of Bandit9, located in Vietnam’s Ho Chi Minh City, is no stranger to the pages of Robb Report. We’ve featured his numerous times, consistently blown away by is avant-garde custom motorcycles. Commissioned by Hong Kong luxury retailer Lane Crawford, Eve runs an engine that is, frankly, the opposite of extreme—a 1967 Honda SuperSport 125cc single-cylinder motor. But it’s wrapped in Villanueva’s pressed steel chassis and sci-fi-inspired one-piece bodywork.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF ROLAND SANDS DESIGN.
KRV5 Tracker by Roland Sands Design
There are customs, and then there are customs from Roland Sands Design. And there’s never been a Roland Sands build quite like the KRV5 Tracker. This board track–inspired treasure uses a genuine Proton KR5 MotoGP motor as its heart, donated by American racing legend Kenny Roberts, encased in a minimalistic tubular steel chassis and garish green and red paint. No one before or since has created a custom motorcycle using a real MotoGP motor, making the RSD KRV5 Tracker one of the most bar-raising builds we’ve ever seen.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF EASTERN BOBBER CUSTOM CYCLE.
Bone X by Eastern Bobber Custom Cycle
Where does one start with the Bone X by Eastern Bobber Custom Cycle? The motorized piece of abstract art was created by Omar Jumiran in his workshop in Malaysia and uses a 1961 AJS 350 cc single-cylinder engine. The machine also features a single-sided swingarm front and rear suspension setup and 21-inch billet 6061 CNC-machined wheels. Demonstrating Jumiran’s creative vision and master craftsmanship, the Bone X took second place in the 2018 AMD World Championships for Custom Motorcycles.
PHOTO : PHOTO: COURTESY OF ZILLERS GARAGE.
Zillers Garage BMW R nineT
Dmitry Golubchikov of Moscow-based Zillers Garage used the start of 2020 to launch one of his most ambitious projects to date—this shape-shifting BMW R nineT. Keeping the stock BMW motor and not much else, the Zillers machine can change heights at the push of a button, using a pneumatic system to raise and lower the motorcycle’s stance. The body is a total deviation from Zillers usual style that leaves the motor free of a fairing and in open view. The inspiration for this custom comes from the world of aviation.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF BLACKSTONE TEK.
BST-HyperTEK
South Africa’s Blackstone Tek (BST) is one of the leading lights in carbon-fibre technology, mainly focusing on wheel production for cars and motorcycles. Yet in 2019, it teamed with another famous South African, Pierre Terblanche, the man responsible for the Ducati Supermono (among many other designs).
The result of the collaboration is the all-electric BST-HyperTEK. powered by a DHX Hawk electric motor that produces 80kW and 119Nm of instant torque. The BST-HyperTek is paired with its own Cross X1 smart helmet, where all the bike’s critical information is flashed up on the visor for a data presentation as futuristic looking as the bike itself.
PHOTO: COURTESY OF THRIVE MOTORCYCLE.
Thrive T 22 Synthesis
To build a custom motorcycle, you have to loosen the grip on convention. To build a custom dragster, you have to let go completely. Indonesia’s Thrive Motorcycle has done just that with its T 22 Synthesis. No longer recognizable from the donor Kawasaki Ninja 150 RR it was born from, the T 22 Synthesis is a twin-engine two-stroke dragster totalling 300cc, wrapped in aluminium tubing for the chassis and a monocoque body—just like the halo drag bikes of the 1960s.
Chanel, Cartier, Louis Vuitton, Breguet, and more make up quite a stellar list of French watches perfect for remembering the Paris Olympics for decades to come.
The opening ceremony for the 2024 Olympic Games takes place in Paris on July 26th. Whether or not you’re attending the games, one way to celebrate the start of the world’s biggest sporting event, and to show some espirit de corps with your fellow Francophiles, is by treating yourself to a French watch. Of course, you could go for the very Swiss Omega Speedmasters that came out to commemorate the Paris Olympics earlier this year, and that would be a tasty choice, but perhaps something more French is in order.
Also, if you’re going to be in Paris for the games (or anytime really) we have an excellent guide to the best watch boutiques in Paris for you, as well.
While not all of the timepieces highlighted below were made in France (so few watches are anymore), they each have deep connections to Paris, French watchmaking and/or Gallic style. And, as we’ve written elsewhere, French watchmaking has a long-standing and powerful influence on Swiss watchmaking. In fact, it was in Paris the Louis Cartier perfected the Tank that would go on to make wearing a watch on the wrist popular in the first place, this during the 1920s and 30s. And, of course, Cartier watches are all the rage these days, including the rather tiny Tank Mini, which made big waves at Watches and Wonders this year, as well as the Tortue, which made our best-of list this year.
Indeed, the Parisian horological roots run deep, but it’s not all Cartier. From Louis Erard’s whimsical collaboration with French interior-designer-turned-watchmaker Alain Silberstein to the dreamy, avant-garde designs of Paris-based Trilobe, there’s something for everyone in this mix.
Of all the watches Cartier introduced at Watches and Wonders Geneva this year, the Tortue re-edition was the most talked-about. Even older than the Tank, the tortoise-shaped model (born in 1912) is now available in a monopusher chronograph as well as the simpler “hours and minutes” platinum version shown here. Limited to 200 pieces, the stylish and shapely Tortue, which comes out in September, makes clear that even though Cartier manufactures all of its watches in Switzerland, the Paris-based brand is French to its core. $54,770.
Breguet Classique Double Tourbillon “Quai de l’Horloge” 5345
Although Breguet is now based in Switzerland, its namesake, Abraham-Louis Breguet, inventor of the tourbillon as well as the now-ubiquituous Breguet hands and numerals, made his mark on horology in Paris, where he maintained a workshop at 39 Quai de l’Horloge. The brand pays tribute to that history with its latest tourbillon, a 46 mm rose gold wristwatch equipped with not one, but two of the whirling mechanisms. Be sure to admire the engraving on the back of the movement, which depicts an aerial view of the workshop. C’est magnifique! Price on request.
Trilobe Les Matinaux L’Heure Exquise Dune Edition
In 2018, Paris-based Trilobe introduced its Les Matinaux (“The Morning”) collection, and with it, a new way of telling the time. Employing a wandering display, the watch used three discs that rotated counterclockwise and three fixed pointers to indicate the hours, minutes and seconds. Named after a collection by the midcentury French poet René Char, the series recently spawned a new sand-colored Dune edition that marks the brand’s entrée into the world of complications. Limited to 100 pieces, the model, dubbed L’Heure Exquise (“The Exquisite Hour”), features a moonphase complication that evokes the orbit of the Moon around the Earth against the backdrop of a starry night sky. $21,995
Chanel Monsieur de Chanel Édition Superleggera Intense Black
Arguably the Frenchiest brand on our list, Chanel made a name for itself as a high-end (as opposed to fashion) watchmaker in 1999, when it introduced its signature timepiece, the J12 (in unusual-for-the-time ceramic, no less). At Watches and Wonders Geneva in April, the brand upped the ante with its latest Monsieur timepiece, the Superleggera Intense Black, a limited edition of 100 pieces inspired by car racing. Housed in a matte black ceramic and steel case, the watch features a matte black guilloché dial and comes on a black nylon strap with black calfskin leather trim and lining. $69,651
Hermès Arceau Grand Tralala Brides et Mors
Like so many of Hermès’s most sought-after watches, the new 34 mm Arceau Grand Tralala Brides et Mors traces its design to another Hermès product, in this case the Grand Tralala silk scarf created by French artist Virginie Jamin. Patterned after the prestigious harnesses worn by the Royal Hungarian Bodyguard in the 19th century, the graphic design evokes the look of intertwined bridles and bits within a rose gold frame. Note the bit-shaped seconds hand! $72,172
Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Smile-Day
Imagine if Rolex’s much-talked-about emojiwatch of 2023 had a child with the Memphis Group, a collective of Milan-based architects and designers who became known in the 1980s for their use of bright primary colors and bold patterns. That’s a quick way to describe the new 40 mm Smile-Day limited edition in titanium from Swiss watchmaker Louis Erard, whose latest collaboration with the iconoclastic French watchmaker Alain Silberstein reflects his signature whimsy. Silberstein was trained in graphic design and architecture in Paris by former members of Germany’s Bauhaus faculty, and he takes his whimsy very seriously. Between the aperture at six o’clock featuring a sliding carousel of seven emojis, the yellow squiggly seconds hand and the nostalgic color scheme, the piece is an instant classic. $8,019
Louis Vuitton Escale
The dress watch revival continues with the new Escale by Louis Vuitton, an elegant timepiece honoring the 10th anniversary of the Escale collection (its first time-only, three-hand watch). Of the four new models in the line, two come in rose gold (like the 39 mm automatic model shown here), while the other two come in platinum. The former feature textured dials designed to evoke the suppleness and tactility of the Louis Vuitton Monogram canvas on metal. Equipped with a chronometer-certified movement with 50 hours of power reserve, the rose-gold Escale comes on a calf-leather strap. In a press release, the brand made sure to emphasize the model’s roots: “Just below the 12 o’clock hour marker, under the Louis Vuitton logo, is one word that encapsulates everything there is to be known about the Escale’s creative rebirth: Paris.” $40,324
Bell & Ross BR 03 Diver Full Lum
The BR03 Diver from Paris-based Bell & Ross celebrates its seventh anniversary this year. Recognised as the first square diving watch, the 2024 edition is new in more ways than one. Composed of five new models, including the full lume version with a pale blue dial shown here, the series is equipped with an improved automatic movement boasting 54 hours of power reserve, new typography, redesigned hands for optimal legibility and a new adaptable strap. $8,248
The French capital’s cultural life was already on the upswing. Mix in a major global sporting event, and it’s now ready to go toe to toe with any city in the world.
Host cities of modern-day Olympic Games have gotten into the competitive spirit by trying to stage the most spellbinding, over-the-top opening ceremony on record. Beijing enlisted 2008 drummers. London featured James Bond escorting Queen Elizabeth II. All Rio needed to wow the crowd was Gisele, who turned the stadium into her personal catwalk, strutting the length of the field solo. But only Paris could make the unprecedented gamble that the city itself is spectacular enough to be the star of the show.
If all goes according to plan when the Summer Olympics alight in Paris this July, the opening ceremony will play out like a Hollywood epic: timed to coincide with the sinking of the sun, an open-air flotilla of boats will ferry the athlete delegations on the Seine, sailing toward the sunset as hundreds of thousands of spectators cheer from either side of the river’s banks and the bridges above, all bathed in the amber afterglow.
Café life in Saint-Germain-des-Prés Nico Therin
It will mark the first time the ceremony will be held outside a stadium, let alone on a waterway. So too many of the events themselves, instead of being mounted in mostly generic stadiums on the outskirts of the city, will take place in the heart of Paris, reframing the French capital in a way that locals and visitors alike have never experienced—and that’s sure to dial up the promise of pageantry and emotion.
The Eiffel Tower’s latticed silhouette will serve as the backdrop for beach volleyball at Champs de Mars. Place de la Concorde, where more than a thousand people (including Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette) had their heads lopped off during the French Revolution, will be the site of newly admitted Olympic sports such as skateboarding and breakdancing. And though Olympic swimmers have raced in pools since 1908, this year’s athletes are slated to compete in the river itself. (Competitions will also take place in cities across France, from Lyon to Marseille, and Tahiti in French Polynesia will host the surfing event.)
The specs are ambitious and inventive, and in some ways could restore the city’s reputation for audacity. Because while the City of Light may be known as the cradle of fashion, culture and gastronomy, not too long ago it was also regularly accused of slipping into a lazy, even smug, complacency—stuck in its ways, resting on the laurels of its storied past.
In the food world, those doldrums translated into controversial snubs from the influential World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, known for flushing out avant-garde chefs. The French Michelin Guide, once considered the ultimate arbiter of fine dining, suddenly seemed staid and irrelevant. London and Berlin took Europe’s centre stage in art and design. Even President Emmanuel Macron described his fellow countrymen as resistant to change, much to the ire of those fellow countrymen—and countrywomen.
But influential creatives and Parisians say that in the years leading up to the Games, and particularly since the pandemic, something has shifted. “I really think that during the last 10 years, Paris opened itself to more new things, for different trends,” says Hélène Darroze, the acclaimed chef whose six restaurants include Michelin two-star Marsan in Paris and her three-star namesake at The Connaught in London. “Paris is happier than before, more joyful than before.”
There’s a giddy sense of anticipation, says the illustrator Marin Montagut, who has collaborated with Le Bon Marché and the Ritz Paris and owns an eponymous boutique in Saint-Germain-des-Prés where he sells hand-painted glassware and porcelain decor. “It feels like Paris is trying to look very, very pretty for a very important evening. She’s been getting some plastic surgery and is trying to get ready in time,” he says with a chuckle. “There’s just a lot of effervescence in the city.”
The Right Bank’s Golden Triangle has seen a recent revival. Nico Therin
For better or for worse, some of the credit for that renewed vitality belongs to the light-as-soufflé Netflix series Emily in Paris, which quickly became the collective escapist fantasy for viewers around the world who were grounded by the Covid-19 virus. Another part of that newfound energy, though, can be traced to the frenzied building of luxury hotels, restaurants, galleries, museums and boutiques over the past few years, including Montagut’s own Paris-themed shop, which he opened in 2020.
In the past three years alone, 25 new five-star hotels debuted across the city, bringing the total to 101. Noteworthy newcomers include Madame Rêve, Kimpton St. Honoré Paris, Château des Fleurs, Maison Proust, LVMH’s Cheval Blanc Paris, and Chopard’s first boutique hotel here, 1 Place Vendôme. The dual autumn 2023 openings of Le Grand Mazarin and La Fantaisie hotels marked the Paris debut of Swedish designer Martin Brudnizki, whose playfully modern, maximalist and flamboyant aesthetic injected colour and character into Paris’s elite hotel scene.
In parallel with the growth of traditional hotels, new players in the luxury rental market are emerging, joining the likes of Le Collectionist and Belles Demeures. Founded in 2020, Highstay rents out luxury serviced apartments equipped with kitchens and living spaces. The firm’s current portfolio includes 36 apartments in areas such as the Champs-Élysées and Saint-Honoré, and another 48 are under construction—all of which it owns. There is no check-in (guests are sent digital access codes) and all concierge requests, including housekeeping and travel reservations, are made via live chat on a dedicated guest portal. “The goal is that guests get the real Parisian experience and feel like an insider, like a city dweller,” says general director Maxime Lallement.
The idea of making Paris as welcoming as a second home is also what drives the luxury real-estate market for foreign buyers, particularly Americans, says Alexander Kraft, CEO of Sotheby’s International Realty France-Monaco. He sees 2024 as a “transition year” and says that the local market is moving at two different speeds: while demand for properties between roughly $1.5 million and $8.5 million has cooled, high-end properties between about $17 million and $85 million continue to sell fast among buyers from the Middle East. Kraft predicts the market will pick up in 2025 following the US presidential election. “Paris is one of those real-estate markets that is eternally popular,” he says. “Contrary to other international cities, it really has broad appeal.”
The living room of a Highstay apartment in Le Marais. Nico Therin
Montreal-born, New York–based interior designer Garrow Kedigian is one of those frequent visitors who decided to take the leap and buy his own pied-à-terre in Paris a few years ago, after a lifetime of travelling back and forth for both work and pleasure.
As a part-time resident, Kedigian says he too has noticed a palpable shift in the city’s vibe, which he attributes to a renewed appreciation for tourists following their absence during the pandemic, as well as an “international flair” that has given the city a fresh spark. “There’s a lot more cultural diversity than there was before,” he says. “In that respect it’s a bit like New York. And I think that now the interface between Paris’s unique flavour and the international populace is a little bit smoother.”
For Montagut, one of the best examples of this synergy can be found in Belleville, in the city’s east end, where independent artists, musicians and other urban creatives rub shoulders in Chinese, African, and Arab restaurants and businesses. “There’s a social and cultural diversity here, and for me this is really important,” Montagut says. “If Paris was just the 6th arrondissement, it would be boring.”
The eastern edge of Paris is also one of the preferred neighbourhoods of Michael Schwartz, the marketing and communications manager for Europe at French jewellery house Boucheron. A recent New York City transplant, he is drawn to the burgeoning number of gastronomic gems far from the madding tourist crowds.
A view over the rooftops to the Eiffel Tower. Nico Therin
He points to sister restaurants Caché and Amagat (the names mean “hidden” in French and Catalan, respectively), discreetly located at the end of a cobblestoned cul-de-sac, as favourites. With backgrounds in fashion and advertising, the Italian duo who run them have attracted equally fashionable locals to this hitherto quiet part of town. Caché serves up fresh Mediterranean seafood dishes, while next door, Amagat specialises in Catalan tapas.
Then there’s Soces, a corner seafood bistro on rue de la Villette, where you might find Jean-Benoît Dunckel, who co-wrote the score to Sofia Coppola’s film The Virgin Suicides when he was part of the electronic-music duo Air (Dunckel’s recording studio is in the area), or the French designers behind the Coperni fashion line, Sébastien Meyer and Arnaud Vaillant. “This is a really special restaurant,” says Schwartz. “It’s frequented by really cool creatives, designers and musicians, and it’s kind of a destination restaurant for most people because it’s not central.”
What makes Paris’s dining scene so exciting now, according to Stéphane Bréhier, editor in chief of French restaurant guide Gault& Millau, is a sense of fearlessness among younger chefs who reject the traditional trajectory that begins with a lowly stage in a Michelin-star kitchen. What’s more, visitors are likewise foregoing Michelin establishments in favour of newer, more experimental dining spots. “Over the last few years, there’s been a profusion of young chefs who don’t want to work for other people and are daring to set up their own shop,” Bréhier says. “The gastronomic scene is booming in Paris.”
At work in La Tour d’Argent’s kitchen Nico Therin
These bold, emerging chefs feel less bound not only to their elders but also to French cuisine itself. “It has changed a lot,” says Hélène Darroze, who opened Marsan, her first Parisian restaurant, 25 years ago. “The new generation travelled a lot—in South America, for example, in Asia—before opening a restaurant or being a head chef somewhere. They opened themselves to other cultures. This is why the culinary scene at the moment is very interesting in Paris; because it’s a mix of very famous chefs with Michelin stars but also young chefs who don’t care about Michelin stars—they just want to explore so many fields.”
The ever-growing importance of social media and its insatiable hunger for envy-inducing images is driving another major trend in the dining scene: rooftop spots, including Mun and Girafe in the Golden Triangle, the area bordered by avenues Montaigne and George V and the Champs-Élysées. “A lot of rooftops have opened in Paris, where before they were pretty much nonexistent apart from the Eiffel Tower and the Montparnasse Tower,” says Dimitri Ruiz, head concierge at Hôtel Barrière Fouquet’s Paris on the Champs-Élysées.
Five-star Right Bank hotels SO/ and Cheval Blanc Paris have watering holes that offer sweeping vistas of the Seine. But perhaps the most coveted perch during the opening ceremony will be the Champagne bar at La Tour d’Argent restaurant, which boasts unobstructed views of the Notre-Dame Cathedral and the Seine. (And yes, someone already had the idea to book it for a private event.) Famous for its signature pressed duck as well as for hosting monarchs and heads of state, the historic restaurant recently underwent a major renovation that included the addition of the aerie, which opened late last summer. “It’s only been in the last 10 years or so that Paris has been developing rooftops, and it’s really taking off like wildfire,” says third-generation owner André Terrail.
Paris’s venerated fashion industry has also found ways to innovate, with fresh faces keeping their fellow couturiers on their toes and the shopping options enticing. In 2022, for example, Simon Porte Jacquemus opened his first boutique in the city on avenue Montaigne—home to Gucci, Chanel, and Prada, among other venerable names—and in March, at the age of 34, became France’s youngest fashion designer to be named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his contributions to the field. That kind of success has a ripple effect in the creative community.
“Almost every street has the name of an artist or a politician,” says Charaf Tajer, the Parisian-born creative director behind the London-based Casablanca sportswear line. “So the city reminds me always that the people who came before me, who walked those streets, created the future in a way. As much as [Paris] seems stuck in time visually, you can also feel the energy of people creating the present.”
Interior designer David Jimenez, whose 2022 book Parisian by Design compiles his Francophile projects, moved to the city in 2015 and spent his first few years living near the Champs-Élysées, which he says has undergone a noticeable revival. Along with Jacquemus’s arrival, new luxury openings or expansions—including Burberry, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and Panerai—and city-led greening efforts are bringing Parisians back to the 8th arrondissement, long dismissed as an overcrowded tourist trap where fast-food and fast-fashion chains had colonised the once glamorously luxe avenue. Now, Dior’s captivating Peter Marino–designed museum draws legions of fans, while the city has been busy planting more trees, renovating gardens and repairing damaged sidewalks as part of a long-term embellishment plan. And on the first Sunday of every month, the entire length of the Champs-Élysées becomes a pedestrian-only promenade. “It’s an exciting evolution in a part of the city that seemed sleepy and perhaps lost its way a little bit,” Jimenez says. “Now there’s a thrust forward.”
Jardins du Luxembourg is a perennially popular Left Bank locale for sitting or strolling. Nico Therin
The thriving fashion houses are responsible for more than maintaining the city’s unparalleled reputation for chic. To a large degree, they have also helped revive its status as an art capital. The billions generated by LVMH (parent of Louis Vuitton, Dior and Berluti, among others) and Kering (Alexander McQueen, Gucci, Bottega Veneta, et al.) funded the extraordinary contemporary art collections amassed by their founders, Bernard Arnault and François Pinault, respectively. The rivals rewarded their hometown with two museums, Fondation Louis Vuitton and Bourse de Commerce, that have helped make it a leader in contemporary art.
Also lending a hand: Brexit, which persuaded many international galleries to brush up on their French. One of the most talked-about recent additions is the powerhouse Hauser & Wirth, which opened in a 19th-century hôtel particulier near the Champs-Élysées last year. David Zwirner arrived in 2019, Mariane Ibrahim in 2021, and Peter Kilchmann the following year, all joining long-established Parisian galleries including Perrotin and Thaddaeus Ropac. The City of Light even snagged its own coveted annual installment of Art Basel: Paris+, which now runs every October in the Grand Palais.
“Quite frankly, Paris has been putting up some of the most incredible exhibitions in institutions in Europe,” says Serena Cattaneo Adorno, senior director at Gagosian. “And a lot of private collectors have also decided to open spaces in the city, creating a great dynamic between public and private galleries.”
The always-savvy Gagosian, on rue Ponthieu, has hit upon an authentic tie-in with the Games: a summer exhibition featuring Olympic posters created over the years by celebrated artists from Picasso on up to Warhol, Hockney and Tracey Emin. “Once you start digging, you find that a lot of artists have reflected on sports and the engagement of the body,” Cattaneo Adorno says. “It’s just a really pure and beautiful message about how art and sports have dialogues that can be somewhat surprising.”
A few months out from the festivities on the Seine, interior decorator Jimenez sums up the mood of many locals, saying (only half-jokingly), “I think for most Parisians, there’s a sense of curiosity, optimism, excitement—and an exit plan, in that order.”
While polling shows that nearly half of Parisians intend to vacate the city during the games, Jimenez notes that he will be watching the opening ceremony with friends who live in an apartment overlooking the Seine. “I want to be part of the excitement. I want to see as much as I can and be energised by this very special and unique moment,” he says. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I am deeply grateful to be able to experience it first-hand as an American living in Paris.”
Additional reporting by Lucy Alexander and Justin Fenner.
With Watches & Wonders 2024 well and truly behind us, we review some of the novelties Hermès presented at this year’s event.
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HERMÈS
Hermes Cut
Moving away from the block colours and sporty aesthetic that has defined Hermès watches in recent years, the biggest news from the French luxury goods company at Watches & Wonders came with the unveiling of its newest collection, the Hermès Cut.
It flaunts a round bezel, but the case middle is nearer to a tonneau shape—a relatively simple design that, despite attracting flak from some watch aficionados, works. While marketed as a “women’s watch”, the Cut has universal appeal thanks to its elegant package and proportions. It moves away from the Maison’s penchant for a style-first product; it’s a watch that tells the time, not a fashion accessory with the ability to tell the time.
Hermès gets the proportions just right thanks to a satin-brushed and polished 36 mm case, PVD-treated Arabic numerals, and clean-cut edges that further accentuate its character. One of the key design elements is the positioning of the crown, boldly sitting at half-past one and embellished with a lacquered or engraved “H”, clearly stamping its originality. The watch is powered by a Hermès Manufacture movement H1912, revealed through its sapphire crystal caseback. In addition to its seamlessly integrated and easy-wearing metal bracelet, the Cut also comes with the option for a range of coloured rubber straps. Together with its clever interchangeable system, it’s a cinch to swap out its look.
It will be interesting to see how the Hermès Cut fares in coming months, particularly as it tries to establish its own identity separate from the more aggressive, but widely popular, Ho8 collection. Either way, the company is now a serious part of the dialogue around the concept of time.
In the thriving world of luxury watches, few people own a space that offers unfiltered digital amplification. And that’s precisely what makes the likes of Brynn Wallner, Teddy Baldassarre, Mike Nouveau and Justin Hast so compelling.
These thought-provoking digital crusaders are now paving the way for the story of watches to be told, and shown, in a new light. Speaking to thousands of followers on the daily—mainly via TikTok, Instagram and YouTube—these progressive commentators represent the new guard of watch pundits. And they’re swaying the opinions, and dollars, of the up-and-coming generations who now represent the target consumer of this booming sector.
Can we please see what’s on the wrist? That’s the question that catapulted Mike Nouveau into watch stardom, thanks to his penchant for highlighting incredibly rare timepieces across his TikTok account of more than 400,000 followers. When viewing Nouveau’s attention-grabbing video clips—usually shot in a New York City neighbourhood—it’s not uncommon to find him wrist-rolling some of the world’s rarest timepieces, like the million-dollar Cartier Cheich (a clip he posted in May).
But how did someone without any previous watch experience come to amass such a cult following, and in the process gain access to some of the world’s most coveted timepieces? Nouveau admits had been a collector for many years, but moved didn’t move into horology full-time until 2020, when he swapped his DJing career for one as a vintage watch specialist.
“I probably researched for a year before I even bought my first watch,” says Nouveau, alluding to his Rolex GMT Master “Pepsi” ref. 1675 from 1967, a lionised timepiece in the vintage cosmos. “I would see deals arise that I knew were very good, but they weren’t necessarily watches that I wanted to buy myself. I eventually started buying and selling, flipping just for fun because I knew how to spot a good deal.”
Nouveau claims that before launching his TikTok account in the wake of Covid-19, no one in the watch community knew he existed. “There really wasn’t much watch content, if any, on TikTok before I started posting, especially talking about vintage watches. There’s still not that many voices for vintage watches, period,” says Nouveau. “It just so happens that my audience probably skews younger, and I’d say there are just as many young people interested in vintage watches as there are in modern watches.”
Nouveau recently posted a video to his TikTok account revealing that the average price of a watch purchased by Gen Z is now almost US$11,000 (around $16,500), with 41 percent of them coming into possession of a luxury watch in the past 12 months.
“Do as much independent research as you can [when buying],” he advises. “The more you do, the more informed you are and the less likely you are to make a mistake. And don’t bring modern watch expectations to the vintage world because it’s very different. People say, ‘buy the dealer’, but I don’t do that. I trust myself and myself only.”
Chaise longue, daybed, recamier, duchesse brisée—elongated furniture designed for relaxing has a roster of fancy names. While the French royal court of Louis XIV brought such pieces to prominence in fashionable European homes, the general idea has been around far longer: The Egyptian pharaohs were big fans, while daybeds from China’s Ming dynasty spurred all those Hollywood Regency fretwork pieces that still populate Palm Beach living rooms. Even Mies van der Rohe, one of design’s modernist icons, got into the lounge game with his Barcelona couch, a study of line and form that holds up today.
But don’t get caught up in who invented them, or what to call them. Instead, consider their versatility: Backless models are ideal in front of large expanses of glass (imagine lazing on one with an ocean view) or at the foot of a bed, while more structured pieces can transform any corner into a cozy reading nook. Daybeds may be inextricably linked to relaxation, but from a design perspective, they put in serious work.
Photo: Courtesy of Egg Collective
Emmy, Egg Collective
In designing the Emmy chaise, the Egg Collective trio of Stephanie Beamer, Crystal Ellis and Hillary Petrie, who met as students at Washington University in St. Louis, aimed for versatility. Indeed, the tailored chaise looks equally at home in a glass skyscraper as it does in a turn-of-the-century town house. Combining the elegance of a smooth, solid oak or walnut frame with the comfort of bolsters and cushioned upholstery or leather, it works just as well against a wall or at the heart of a room. From around $7,015; Eggcollective.com
Plum, Michael Robbins
Woodworker Michael Robbins is the quintessential artisan from New York State’s Hudson Valley in that both his materials and methods pay homage to the area. In fact, he describes his style as “honest, playful, elegant and reflective of the aesthetic of the Hudson Valley surroundings”. Robbins crafts his furniture by hand but allows the wood he uses to help guide the look of a piece. (The studio offers eight standard finishes.) The Plum daybed, brought to life at Robbins’s workshop, exhibits his signature modern rusticity injected with a hint of whimsy thanks to the simplicity of its geometric forms. Around $4,275; MichaelRobbins.com
Photo: Courtesy of Reda Amalou Design
Kimani, Reda Amalou Design
French architect and designer Reda Amalou acknowledges the challenge of creating standout seating given the number of iconic 20th-century examples already in existence. Still, he persists—and prevails. The Kimani, a bent slash of a daybed in a limited edition of eight pieces, makes a forceful statement. Its leather cushion features a rolled headrest and rhythmic channel stitching reminiscent of that found on the seats of ’70s cars; visually, these elements anchor the slender silhouette atop a patinated bronze base with a sure-handed single line. The result: a seamless contour for the body. Around $33,530; RedaAmalou
Dune, Workshop/APD
From a firm known for crafting subtle but luxurious architecture and interiors, Workshop/APD’s debut furniture collection is on point. Among its offerings is the leather-wrapped Dune daybed. With classical and Art Deco influences, its cylindrical bolsters are a tactile celebration, and the peek of the curved satin-brass base makes for a sensual surprise. Associate principal Andrew Kline notes that the daybed adeptly bridges two seating areas in a roomy living space or can sit, bench-style, at the foot of a bed. From $13,040; Workshop/ APD
Sherazade, Edra
Designed by Francesco Binfaré, this sculptural, minimalist daybed—inspired by the rugs used by Eastern civilizations—allows for complete relaxation. Strength combined with comfort is the name of the game here. The Sherazade’s structure is made from light but sturdy honeycomb wood, while next-gen Gellyfoam and synthetic wadding aid repose. True to Edra’s amorphous design codes, it can switch configurations depending on the user’s mood or needs; for example, the accompanying extra pillows—one rectangular and one cylinder shaped— interchange to become armrests or backrests. From $32,900; Edra