Moser Just Unveiled An Ultra-Minimalist New Perpetual Calendar Watch
It’s hard to believe H. Moser & Cie could make a perpetual calendar any more minimalist than 2021’s Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue, but the master of minimalism has reached a new level of austerity. The Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel delivers all of the functions of a traditional perpetual calendar without all of the fuss on the dial.
The new model has the same tiny triangle of a hand in the center to indicate the months, date window at 3 o’clock, power reserve at 9 o’clock and small seconds at 6, but the seconds dial is now barely there, with the hand pared down even more, and the index ring removed altogether. And with the exception of two long hash marks at 12 and two short ones at 6, the hour indicators on the central dial have been removed altogether. There is no day-of-the-week indicator as on traditional perpetual calendars; Moser assumes you know that. And because the primary (actually the only) decorative element of the dial is the dial plate itself, there is no moon phase to detract from its purity. As in previous Moser perpetual calendars using the same movement, the leap year indicator is removed from the front dial altogether and instead, positioned on the caseback.
H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel
The manual wound calibre HMC 800, a reasonably slim movement housed in a 42 mm x 13.1 mm case. It has been used in this form as far back as 2017 in a very similar Endeavour model and features Moser’s “flash calendar,” an instantaneous date-change mechanism that clicks the new date over instantly at midnight. It can be adjusted forwards or backwards at any time of day. Two mainspring barrels give it a power reserve of seven days.
Like most Moser watches, the focus of the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel is the dial. It looks a bit like crinkled tin foil but has been achieved through an arduous process of grand feu enameling to create a lustrous, carefully modulated glow, another take on the brand’s famous fumé aesthetic. It starts with a pattern engrained onto a gold base in what would be called flinqué if the base were finished in a guilloché pattern. In this case, the surface looks as if it has been hammered. It is then coated with four different translucent colour pigments that are washed, finely crushed, and then applied over the gold in a way that creates an ombré effect. The pigments are added and fired one at a time so that they meld together when heated in the furnace, without any pixelation. The dial is fired 12 times in all to gradually create the fumé effect. Each dial is unique.
The blue really pops next to the tantalum case—a first for Moser—because of its dark, bluish-gray colour. Tantalum is a highly dense and extremely strong metal that develops a fine layer of oxidation that Moser says protects it against “aggression.” Tantalum is anti-corrosive, tarnish-free and does not react to most chemical agents or dissolve in acid (good to know). It’s hard, yet ductile, with a melting point of around 3000 °C, which means it can be easily drawn out and worked precisely. “It took more than two years of testing before we found a way to polish the surfaces of the case, a feat that few have been able to match, with most preferring to sandblast or satin-finish tantalum,” says H. Moser & Cie CEO Edouard Meylan.
The Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel comes on a hand-stitched gray kudu leather strap with a steel folding clasp. It is priced at $120,000 and not limited.
It’s hard to believe H. Moser & Cie could make a perpetual calendar any more minimalist than 2021’s Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Funky Blue, but the master of minimalism has reached a new level of austerity. The Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel delivers all of the functions of a traditional perpetual calendar without all of the fuss on the dial.
The new model has the same tiny triangle of a hand in the center to indicate the months, date window at 3 o’clock, power reserve at 9 o’clock and small seconds at 6, but the seconds dial is now barely there, with the hand pared down even more, and the index ring removed altogether. And with the exception of two long hash marks at 12 and two short ones at 6, the hour indicators on the central dial have been removed altogether. There is no day-of-the-week indicator as on traditional perpetual calendars; Moser assumes you know that. And because the primary (actually the only) decorative element of the dial is the dial plate itself, there is no moon phase to detract from its purity. As in previous Moser perpetual calendars using the same movement, the leap year indicator is removed from the front dial altogether and instead, positioned on the caseback.
H. Moser & Cie Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel
The manual wound calibre HMC 800, a reasonably slim movement housed in a 42 mm x 13.1 mm case. It has been used in this form as far back as 2017 in a very similar Endeavour model and features Moser’s “flash calendar,” an instantaneous date-change mechanism that clicks the new date over instantly at midnight. It can be adjusted forwards or backwards at any time of day. Two mainspring barrels give it a power reserve of seven days.
Like most Moser watches, the focus of the Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel is the dial. It looks a bit like crinkled tin foil but has been achieved through an arduous process of grand feu enameling to create a lustrous, carefully modulated glow, another take on the brand’s famous fumé aesthetic. It starts with a pattern engrained onto a gold base in what would be called flinqué if the base were finished in a guilloché pattern. In this case, the surface looks as if it has been hammered. It is then coated with four different translucent colour pigments that are washed, finely crushed, and then applied over the gold in a way that creates an ombré effect. The pigments are added and fired one at a time so that they meld together when heated in the furnace, without any pixelation. The dial is fired 12 times in all to gradually create the fumé effect. Each dial is unique.
The blue really pops next to the tantalum case—a first for Moser—because of its dark, bluish-gray colour. Tantalum is a highly dense and extremely strong metal that develops a fine layer of oxidation that Moser says protects it against “aggression.” Tantalum is anti-corrosive, tarnish-free and does not react to most chemical agents or dissolve in acid (good to know). It’s hard, yet ductile, with a melting point of around 3000 °C, which means it can be easily drawn out and worked precisely. “It took more than two years of testing before we found a way to polish the surfaces of the case, a feat that few have been able to match, with most preferring to sandblast or satin-finish tantalum,” says H. Moser & Cie CEO Edouard Meylan.
The Endeavour Perpetual Calendar Tantalum Blue Enamel comes on a hand-stitched gray kudu leather strap with a steel folding clasp. It is priced at $120,000 and not limited.
After years of “remote piloting,” Alauda Aeronautics today revealed its Airspeeder MK4—the crewed version. The company said in a statement that the one-person electric racing machine will have a top speed of 360 km/h, and potential range of 290 km. It will be powered by a Thunderstrike Hydrogen Turbogenerator connected to electric motors on the eVTOL wings.
CEO Matt Pearson called for manufacturers and motorsport teams to join the fledgling electric racing circuit. “We show the vehicles that will battle it out in blade-to-blade racing crewed by the most highly skilled pilots in their fields,” he said in a statement.
The Mk4 will begin testing this quarter.
The company said that the first crewed races will happen in 2024. The initial unmanned races, with remote-control pilots, took place last October, with no crashes.
The aircraft will have a weight of 950 kg, minus the pilot. The company claims it will be able to reach the 360 km/h top speed in 30 seconds. Power comes from a 1,340 hp turbogenerator, which Alauda says allows for green hydrogen to be used as a potential fuel source.
Most eVTOLs use tilt-rotors to steer, but the Mk4 has a gimbaled thrust system. An Artificial Intelligence (AI) flight controller adjusts four rotor pairs mounted on the 3-D-printed gimbals. The design allows for more precise steering than a conventional rotorcraft.
The aircraft is designed to go from 0 to 360 km/h in 30 seconds.
Pearson is looking to the future, forecasting a day where flying cars are common in the skies.
“Once we can sell you a flying car for the same price as a Tesla, you’ll quickly see the balance shift,” he says. “Today, private cars outnumber taxis by about 300 to one, so the potential for people to own and drive their own flying car is absolutely enormous.”
The crewed Mk4 will commence with flight testing sometime this quarter, while the unmanned version has accrued 350 test flights.
What would happen if the world’s greatest architects swapped buildings for supercars? Thanks to modern technology, we no longer have to wonder.
Using Midjourney, an artificial intelligence-powered image generator, Moss and Fog has created an exciting new series of futuristic automobile designs that offer a glimpse into what vehicles would look like had they been commissioned by the likes of Frank Lloyd Wright, Santiago Calatrava or Kengo Kuma, to name a few. The digitally fabricated collection of vehicles takes viewers on a fantastical, visual journey through different eras and design styles that are meant to pay tribute to the celebrated starchitects themselves—think everyone from Antoni Gaudí to Frank Gehry, Renzo Piano and Eero Saarinen.
An AI-generated car inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright
“As lovers of architecture and automobiles, we wanted to see how AI might interpret the two concepts combined,” Moss and Fog founder, Ben VanderVeen, told Robb Report in an email. “We created queries to try to get car designs that embody the trademark style of world-famous architects.”
“While some were more successful than others, we appreciate the way the cars seem to fit the time period that the architects worked in and imagine more than a few of them might find the work fascinating, if not spot-on. And while AI-generated art is seen as a trend or gimmick, we think it will continue to evolve and mature into a useful tool that designers of all types use in the future.”
A vehicle designed in the style of Norman Foster
Of the photo-realistic renderings that the AI system churned out, there’s a modernist hybrid parked outside of a partial manse that pays homage to Norman Foster—the “hero of high-tech.” Channeling Santiago Calatrava, another vehicle is modeled after his neo-futuristic aesthetic and positioned in front of a sculptural structure. Additionally, inputs for the late Zaha Hadid, who actually did design a concept car, were based on her curvaceous, free-flowing forms.
Of course, while we wish the abstract representations were real, they’re still super cool to look at.
Omega has donned the wrists of more than a few action heros, including James Bond, but the real life supermen that donned the timepieces as tool watches in NASA’s space program are perhaps the most exciting “brand ambassadors,” if you can call them that. Now one of the ultra-rare Omegas owned by one of the astronauts is coming up for sale in what could be a once-in-a-lifetime event.
Wind Vintage is putting astronaut Scott Carpenter’s 18-karat gold Speedmaster 145.022-69 BA up for sale. Carpenter was not only an astronaut, he was an aquanaut, aeronautical engineer, test pilot, naval officer and aviator and was one of seven astronauts selected for NASA’s Project Mercury, the first human spaceflight program in the United States, in April 1959. A decade later, America would put the first man on the moon and to celebrate that epic historical moment an Astronaut Appreciation Dinner was held by NASA in Houston to celebrate not only the landing, but also the entire American space program. To honour the guests, Omega created its first 18-karat gold Speedmaster Ref. 145.022 BA to gift to astronauts at the event (President Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew were also gifted the timepieces, but were legally unable to keep them and they ultimately reside in the Omega museum in Bienne, Switzerland).
Scott Carpenter’s Omega Speedmaster Ref. 145.022-69 BA
Carpenter’s watch is number six of the 30 pieces that were made and comes with his name specially engraved on the caseback, his space mission and a special message that reads “to make man’s conquest of space with time, through time, on time.” The astronaut passed away in 2013 and the watch has come to market directly from one of Carpenter’s family members. According to Eric Wind, owner of Wind Vintage, this is the “holy grail” of Omegas and there is evidence to back that up. Just last year, astronaut Will Schirra’s commemorative gold Speedmaster sold at auction for $1,907,954 and that one came from the second owner who had purchased the piece from Schirra’s family.
Scott Carpenter’s Omega Speedmaster Ref. 145.022-69 BA
The listing price for Carpenter’s prized gold Speedmaster comes in at $1.5 million, which seems like a bit of a bargain—comparatively speaking, of course. Unlike Schirra’s Speedy, this one is not up for auction, which means that it will be first come, first serve and, as a historically important piece, likely won’t be around for long.
Given that the British rather selfishly consume 95 percent of their acclaimed sparkling wines themselves, the surest way to sample the product is to visit the vineyards and buy direct. Although there are 195 wineries across England—and two in Wales—the best-known (and best-prepared to welcome wine tourists) are found mostly in the warmer southerly counties of Hampshire, Kent and East and West Sussex. A road trip to see them is hardly a chore, as many are in the achingly lovely South Downs National Park or Kent’s High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. You may want to mix some of the big names in English wine, among them Nyetimber and Chapel Down, with smaller wineries such as Sussex’s Artelium, which doubles as an art gallery.
Last year, 38 percent of English wine was sold at the cellar door, and these high-margin sales, along with the additional revenue from tours, tastings and fine dining—plus the brand loyalty that often results from a visit—are part of the vineyards’ strategy. Napa Valley, in particular, has been the role model. “For a long time, the best wines from Napa Valley never made it to the UK because they were all consumed locally,” notes Simon Thorpe, a master of wine and CEO of Wines of Great Britain, the industry body for English winemakers.
“Ninety-eight percent of passengers arriving at London Gatwick airport turn north and head into the city,” says Sarah Driver, cofounder of the Rathfinny wine estate. “We’re on a mission to make them head south.” So, in addition to the usual tours and tastings, Rathfinny offers dining of exceptional quality and value in a restaurant with panoramic views of the vineyard, as well as accommodations in the 10-room Flint Barns, a beautifully restored ancient structure deep in the heart of the estate, once used to house the vineyard’s “pickers and pruners.” If you stay here, ensconced within its thick, centuries-old walls, miles from the nearest village or even public road, the loudest sound you’re likely to hear is that of the grapes growing around you. It’s eerie but magical.
If you’re determined to sleep amidst the vines, the Oxney and Oastbrook wine estates farther east both feature accommodations and easy access to big-name Kentish vineyards, including Gusbourne and Chapel Down, which don’t yet have guest rooms of their own.
West of Rathfinny, in the central Sussex region, Ridgeview and Bolney also offer new restaurants of a standard you’re always slightly surprised to discover at the end of the rustic tracks that lead you to the winery, along with the chance to try some of their lesser-known still wines by the glass. Bolney’s Bacchus, the creation of its young South African winemaker, Cara Lee Dely, was a particular revelation: crisp, complex, utterly distinctive but, sadly, made only in small quantities. (Had I not visited, I likely never would have encountered it.)
Because neither has guest quarters, book the nearby Ockenden Manor, a pleasing juxtaposition of Elizabethan manor-house hotel and modernist spa. In the west of the region, both the Tinwood and Ashling Park vineyards offer simple but stylish lodges. For something more luxurious and dramatic, stay within the 18-metre-high, 900-year-old walls of Amberley Castle, as Henry VIII once did, and strike out for the renowned winery at Nyetimber.
As if to prove the appeal of a tour of English wine country, as I was leaving Rathfinny a long, shiny black Mercedes “chauffeur jet” luxury bus pulled up and disgorged the president of one of the world’s largest companies—with a market capitalisation deep into the hundreds of billions of dollars—and his retinue for lunch. Your arrival may be more subtle, but the welcome and the wine will be the same.
It has become a rare luxury to find a part of the planet that you can have all to yourself, let alone somewhere with the wild abundance of natural beauty found in Southeast Asia’s Coral Triangle. “One of the requests we receive most often is to go to areas where the guests won’t see any other boats, or to stay on a beach on an uninhabited island in the middle of nowhere,” says Sharifah Khadijah, head of sales and reservations for Rascal Voyages, which offers edge-of-the-earth adventures around remotest Indonesia in an elegant, Phinisi-style yacht hewn from local teak and ironwood.
When Rascal launched in 2017, the British, Bali-based founder, Steve Ebsworth, raised the sun-sea-and-sand bar with his innovative take on the traditional Indonesian sailboat experience. The first things to go were the actual sails, which require huge amounts of valuable deck space and are barely ever hoisted nowadays. This rejigging allowed for all five cabins—decorated in warm woods and soft whites with tasteful pops of Indigenous art and handwoven fabrics—to be positioned above deck, including a large primary suite with wraparound windows on the top deck. Space for sunning was moved to the roof deck, which multitasks as a breezy spot for sundowners and canapés as the equatorial sun descends into an ocean of molten gold, or a place to gaze at the Milky Way under a perfectly clear sky.
Ebsworth’s thoughtfulness was evident in the service, as well; staff were hired as much for their friendliness as for their discretion and professionalism. Chefs were poached from top-tier hotel groups such as Aman and experiences were designed to encourage authentic connections with the environment—and to be, above all, fun. It was a formula that set Rascal Voyages apart from the competition as the most original, stylish and enjoyable yacht charter in Indonesia.
From that success, the company has now introduced a second boat: Rebel (above). Like its sibling, themcruiser can be hired for tours of Komodo and the Ring of Fire, the Spice Islands and Raja Ampat. In the latter—a luminous archipelago composed of over 1,500 islands, cays and atolls—guests might start the day diving or snorkeling with any number of intriguing species, including manta rays, pygmy seahorses and blue-ringed octopuses. (The yacht carries scuba equipment as well as a certified divemaster.) Lunch might be delivered to your own sleek beach club, where the only passing traffic comes in the form of bottlenose dolphins, green sea turtles or, for the very lucky, a pod of Bryde’s whales. No two tours will ever be the same, with each experience tailored to the guests’ tastes and moods. Early riser? Try a morning search for rare, flamboyantly feathered birds such as the red bird of paradise, Blyth’s hornbill or the superb fruit dove. Or perhaps you’d prefer a night of dancing with the sand between your toes? The attentive, amicable crew will stealthily set up a candlelit dining room table on a deserted island with a lobster barbecue, fine wines and a guitar serenade.
The yacht’s spacious bow lounge.
Next year, the company will expand further with its launch of Rogue, venturing into Malaysian and Thai waters for the first time with what’s bound to be an equally inspiring journey rambling through the jade-green Andaman Sea, from Langkawi to hard-to-reach Tarutao National Marine Park and on to Phuket. “We’re planning a few surprises along the way,” adds Khadijah. You’d expect nothing less from a Rascal.
Prices start from $42,000 per person based on 7 nights aboard Rascal Voyages’s newly launched Rebel Yacht, with a First Class round-trip flight from New York. Price includes private transfers, meals (excludes alcohol), private guides and endless activities onboard. Price based on 10 people travelling. For more information, please visit www.scottdunn.com.
It might not be obvious to those outside the community, but diving has come a long way from the days of Jacques Cousteau and nabbing a scuba license in a resort pool on a South-East Asian holiday.
An entirely new subsection of the community — making use of high-tech equipment allowing for deeper, longer dives — are pushing the sport to its very extremes, making game-changing discoveries along the way.
And it’s here, on a horological level, that Blancpain stands alone — having long been in the deep with diving (a pioneer of the sport with the Fifty Fathoms back in 1953) while continually looking to push and progress things.
Looking beyond the aspect of recreation, the company linked up with The Gombessa Project —a technical diving and exploration nonprofit founded by diver and biologist Laurent Ballesta—to craft a new and technical piece that not only celebrates seven decades of the Fifty Fathom’s heritage (more by co-incidence than anything—this is not an anniversary model), but is fit for use by the world’s most elite divers.
The result is the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa, which took five years of development on Gombessa’s most recent dive projects and launched today with a global release across the week.
Strikingly stark, yet eye-catching with its gold-on-black face, everything about the Fifty Fathoms Tech Gombessa is geared towards functionality and legibility in intense, low-light conditions.
Nothing that takes away from the piece’s key function has found its way to the face—including, as it happens, light itself (97% of which is absorbed by the black face to better make the indices pop).
Only the bezel, which we’ll come to in a minute, and the dive time indicator, are lit up with Lume—as the time at the surface is largely irrelevant to a diver on a wreck at 200m.
The 13P8 self-winding movement, chosen for its simplicity, robustness and reliability, doesn’t even have a calendar function, as Blancpain felt it would clutter the face too much.
The features the does possess are there to better support the needs of modern divers — like those on the Gombessa Project and who use computer-aided rebreather systems and pressurised saturation bells to dive deeper, and for longer, than ever before.
The piece’s rotating unidirectional bezel has been updated to measure time in three-hour increments—the recommended time of use for a single rebreather tank— by way of a special new hand.
Grade 23 titanium was chosen for the case owing to its lightweight, wearability (at 47mm, know this is a big boy) and anti-allergenic properties (skin irritations are common in the hot, humid chambers saturation divers spend weeks in to decompress). Naturally, it also has a helium valve to help expel the gasses that build up internally during long stints in hyperbaric chambers.
Cantieri di Pisa is bringing big sports car energy to the high seas.
The Italian yard has just unveiled a line of sculptural superyachts penned by a skilled automotive designer. The new Akhir series comprises three flybridge yachts that were conceived by Etienne Salomè, as reported by Boat International. The Berlin-based designer has previously worked for the likes of Bugatti and Koenigsegg and thus is adept at creating stylish, aerodynamic rides.
The yachts, which span 110, 122 and 140 feet, respectively, pair a traditionally sporty aesthetic with the aggressive stylings of, say, a Veyron. Each model features sleek lines, sculpted gunwales around the bow and glazing that runs from hull to superstructure. The newcomers will be made from a mix of composite and carbon fibre to reduce fighting weight and improve performance on the waves.
Akhir 122.
Speaking of which, the trio offers a good amount of grunt. The Akhir 110 will be equipped with twin Caterpillar C32 engines rated at 2,400 hp that give the yacht an estimated top speed of 29 knots and a range of 900 nautical miles. The larger Akhir 122 and Akhir 140, meanwhile, will be available with various propulsion systems offering speeds between 27 and 30 knots and ranges from 800 to 900 nautical miles.
Onboard, you’ll find all the requisite mod cons. The fold-out terraces, for instance, provide an extra bit of space and uninterrupted ocean views. The interior layout changes with each model, but you can expect expansive floor-to-ceiling windows for plenty of natural light. Oh, and the flybridges offer a great amount of space for entertaining.
Akhir 110.
Cantieri di Pisa grew to prominence in the 1960s with a series of motor yachts named after the stars of the Eridanus constellation. The nearly century-old yard has proved it can move with the times, though. The team has recently been looking at sailing yachts—particularly the innovative racers from the America’s Cup—to see how tweaking weight distribution can result in greater speeds and fuel efficiency. The yard’s upcoming project, 80 Veloce, will put that knowledge to the test with a 98 percent carbon body that reportedly enables speeds of more than 60 knots.
The all-electric Spectre is just the start of things to come for Rolls-Royce.
The British marque’s CEO, Torsten Müller-Ötvös, revealed in an interview with Autocar that the brand will only build electric vehicles by the time the next decade rolls around. That means that, aside from expected model refreshes, its trademark V-12’s days are numbered.
“By the end of 2030, there will be no more V12,” the executive told the British publication. “Series 2 cars will be V12, brand new Rolls-Royces always be electric.”
The Rolls-Royce Cullinan will hold onto its V-12 for the time being
A spokesperson for Rolls-Royce confirmed Müller-Ötvös’s statement when reached for comment by Robb Report on Wednesday.
“We will deliver the first Spectre in the fourth quarter of 2023,” they wrote. “This is the most important Rolls-Royce since the brand’s first launch of the 10hp in 1904. Spectre showcases how electric is perfect for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars and the first step in our electric future. By the end of 2030, Rolls-Royce will be a fully electric brand.”
Rolls-Royce Phantom
Rolls-Royce’s future may be electric, but it remains committed to the V-12 for the time being. In fact, Müller-Ötvös told Autocar the marque will continue to “invest in [the engine] to meet new requirements.” That means that until 2030 the V-12 will remain at the heart of models like the Phantom, Ghost and Cullinan SUV. Two of those models are due for refreshes sometime this decade (the Phantom received one last year). The 12-cylinder could also appear in special “very limited-run” models in the vein of the Boat Tail.
The executive also reconfirmed that the automaker will not produce any hybrids, instead choosing to transition directly from the V-12 to all-electric powertrains. That’s the opposite approach of the brand’s closest rival, Bentley, which started selling a hybrid version of the Bentayga SUV in 2019.
Rolls-Royce is coming off a record year in which it sold more than 6,000 vehicles and the average price of each eclipsed $724,000 for the first time in its history, so it would appear that Müller-Ötvös knows what he’s doing. Sure enough, the Spectre has the early signs of a hit. Last month, the executive announced that the marque would increase production of its debut EV to keep up with larger-than-expected demand.
Nayara Bocas del Toro, a private island resort in Panama, made waves last year when it introduced the world’s first elevated beach. Now, the property is literally taking its accommodations to greater heights.
Instead of opting for the luxe eco lodge’s overwater villas, the resort recently unveiled two, one-bedroom treehouses where you can sleep atop the lush tropical rainforest. The suites are the first of five to debut and were designed by Ibuku, a Bali-based architecture firm founded by Elora Hardy. The studio is best known for building sustainable, bamboo structures throughout Indonesia; however, this project marks the firm’s first project in Central America.
The Nayara Bocas del Toro resort in Panama unveiled two new treehouses designed by Elora Hardy of Ibuku
“A recent guest marveled at our varied architectural designs throughout the resort,” Scott Dinsmore, general manager of Nayara Bocas del Toro, said in a release. “Every design has our guest experience in mind and our new treehouse is no exception.” Measuring 15 metres tall, the treehouses are made from locally harvested bamboo, in addition to nearly 20 varieties of reclaimed, 500-year-old hardwoods. The latter was sourced from the forests that were flooded during the construction of the Panama Canal. “When you submerge wood in water for that long, it gets stronger, and it weathers in beautiful ways,” Hardy told The New York Times.
The treehouses can sleep up to two guests and are made from local bamboo and reclaimed wood pulled from the floor of the Panama Canal
Fusing Balinese and Panamanian aesthetics, the spellbinding abodes are accessible via a winding staircase and have been outfitted with lofty ceilings, open-air living rooms and full-length windows. There are also outdoor showers and soaking tubs where you can rinse off amongst the elements. Since the whole resort is off-grid, the eco-conscious dwellings get all their power from the sun, while purified rainwater is used for drinking. Oh, and if you need to call for room service, there’s a pulley system that keeps social interactions to a minimum. Of course, there are persuasive reasons to come down from your perch: The boutique retreat has a freshwater pool, a 100-year-old Elephant House restaurant, and don’t forget about the floating beach.
Rates for the treehouses start at $2,200 per night during peak season and $1,800 per night during green season. The price includes all meals and non-motorized water sports.
Over its 160-year history, the Louis Vuitton monogram has adorned everything from dumbbells and bikes, to coffee cups and popcorn boxes.
But it’s only in recent years that the iconic logo has crossed over into the food world, emblazoning cakes, pastries and restaurant façades at LV-branded food outposts in Osaka, Tokyo, Chengdu, China—and now, for the first time, Paris.
Opened in December in the center of the city, adjacent to LV’s global headquarters and across from the La Samaritaine department store, the Maxime Frédéric at Louis Vuitton café—named after its head pastry chef—was developed as part of the “LV Dream” experience, a free exhibit that traces the brand’s history.
It’s a cleverly designed finale that bookends an experience meant to endear visitors to the house of LV. Visitors learn about the brand’s modest beginnings, when a scrappy teenager named Louis Vuitton left his village in eastern France and arrived on foot in Paris at the age of 16, and the evolution of the brand’s heritage creating trunks for Paris’s 19th century travelling elite, and its growth into a luxury fashion empire.
LV Dream is the latest all-in-one retail, cultural and gastronomic space designed to foster brand loyalty with exhibits that explore the companies’ heritage and legacy, as well as celebrity chef-signed gourmet treats aimed at enticing visitors to stay as long as possible—and spend more money. Gucci tapped Italian chef Massimo Bottura to helm a restaurant at their branded museum Gucci Garden in Florence, where visitors can shop and learn about the history of the Italian fashion house, while Dior also opened a branded exhibition space last spring and enlisted French chef-to-the-stars Jean Imbert to oversee the restaurant and café.
All the pastry delights on display.
Back at LV Dream, it’s a Monday afternoon in January, and a steady stream of visitors who have just finished the exhibit follow one another and take the stairs to the second floor café and gift shop—few opt to turn to their right, towards the venue exit.
It’s 3 pm and the café is full; the wait for a table is a good 30 minutes. Mothers have come with daughters; girlfriends with their boyfriends; and retirees with their fellow pensioners. And in keeping with the theme, many have come in character carrying LV attire, be it monogrammed bags or other assorted accessories.
The theme repeats itself on a long marble display table, where the LV iconography—flower blossom, four point star, Damier Ebène checkerboard motif—is deconstructed into chocolate, vanilla, hazelnut entremets and lemon meringue cakes with exacting detail, each one presented under protective glass cloche domes.
Frédéric, who is also the executive pastry chef at the Cheval Blanc, Paris hotel across the street (LVMH’s first luxury hotel in Paris), tells Robb Report his first priority was to meet the people behind the brand—and not the ones in suits and high places. During a visit to the company’s studio and former family residence in Asnières northwest of the city, Frédéric met with the artisans and craftspeople where the trunks are made by hand.
“Once we had done that, we started to see a lot of similarities between our work in patisseries and the work of the artisans there, whether it’s a woodworker or a locksmith for the trunks,” he said. “It’s about handcrafted workmanship, and that’s completely in line with our work as artisan pastry chefs, bakers and chocolatiers.”
At the café, attention to detail extends not only to the replica cakes and the chocolate bonbons and bars at the chocolate boutique next to the café, but also to the marble display table which, upon closer inspection, has also been carved out with the LV symbols.
Astute observers will also note the gold signature on the chocolate éclair as a direct copy of Louis Vuitton’s handwritten signature.
Maxime Frédéric
The decor is decidedly sober by LV’s luxury standards, with dozens of tropical plants bringing life to the concrete floors and exposed ductwork in the former department store, La Belle Jardinière (despite its name which translates to ‘beautiful planter’ the store sold pret-a-porter fashion).
“It’s a breath of fresh air inside our café and I find it very pleasant,” Frédéric said. “I’m very attached to the vegetation, especially as the grandson of a farmer.”
Frédéric, 32, together with his older sister, are fifth-generation farmers who’ve taken over the family spread in Normandy where he spends his weekends “recharging” by collecting the freshly laid eggs and cracking the hazelnuts, both of which are used to make the café’s cakes and pastries. The farm also makes the hazelnut spread sold at the chocolate boutique, on-site. It’s perhaps for this intimate personal connection that Frédéric’s name is given equal honours alongside Louis Vuitton in the café name.
Along with his own farm, Frédéric partnered with family-owned or heritage suppliers throughout France: coffee is sourced by Cafe Verlet, one of the oldest coffee roasters and coffeehouses in Paris, which opened in 1880 just a few decades after Vuitton opened his first shop in Paris. Milk, butter and cream come from his friends who run a dairy farm in Normandy, and pears for the pear charlottes from a small producer in the Midi-Pyrénées.
The chocolate boutique
The exception is the chocolate, which is sourced from small-scale cocoa farmers from Vietnam, Peru, Madagascar and Venezuela, and is overseen by master French chocolatier Nicolas Berger.
Throughout the exhibit, visitors come to understand that Frédéric is just one in a long line of notable designers and artists—Damien Hirst, Marc Newsom, Tracey Emin, Takashi Murakami, Frank Gehry, Karl Lagerfeld—who have been invited to collaborate with the brand and reinterpret the house’s classics over the years.
In a few months, the pastry chef will release another collection of cakes and pastries that deconstruct the monogram in edible form, this time with the flavours of spring: rhubarb and strawberry.
“The objective is to make a pastry that is light and feminine, because that’s what characterises our pastries, but also that of the house of Louis Vuitton.”
Revving V-12 engines will be making plenty of mechanical music as Gooding & Company brings a trove of classic Ferraris to its annual Amelia Island Auction being held on March 2 and 3 at Florida’s beachfront Omni Amelia Island Resort. Headlining an embarrassment of Ferrari riches that includes a 250 GT Tour de France Berlinetta, a 250 MM Spider, a 275 GTB/4 and a 365 GTB/4 Daytona Spider, the crown jewel for this year’s sale is certainly this 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider.
Put in context, Ferrari’s 250 GT SWB California Spider is a top-tier collector car eclipsed by few in value and, arguably, none as respects its beauty. Sure, a 250 GTO or 275 GTB/NART Spider will always be coveted, but when it comes to pure automotive sculpture, the “Cali Spider” sits atop a pedestal all its own. The evolution of Ferrari’s 250 series is a story of fascinating inventions, from Testa Rossas to Lussos. All 250 variants—about seven competition and 14 road-going models—were made from 1952 through 1964 and used a 3.0-litre V-12 engine designed by Gioacchino Colombo. By the late 1950s, the new outside-plug, SOHC Tipo 168 V-12 engine was developing about 240 BHP in street-legal tune.
The 1962 Ferrari 250 GT SWB California Spider, painted in Azzurro Metallizzato, being offered through Gooding & Company.
The 250 GT California Spider was launched in 1957, based on the 250 GT Berlinetta (coupé), and fitted with a body designed by Pininfarina and built by Scaglietti. As its name suggests, the model was conceived and built specifically for stateside drivers and the welcoming west-coast climate. The first 50 examples are referred to as the LWB (Long Wheelbase), which was superseded by an even more beautiful version called the, you guessed it, SWB (Short Wheelbase) that was unveiled at the 1960 Geneva Motor Show.
The interior features Naturale Connolly Vaumol leather.
With a wheelbase reduced from 2,600 mm to 2,400 mm—almost eight inches—handling was improved; further aided by four-wheel Dunlop disc brakes that bolstered stopping power. The car was lower too, and eye-catching side vents in the front fender embellish the profile with elegant brightwork. Of the 56 examples of the SWB California Spider built through 1963, only 37 feature the more elegant covered-headlight design. This specific car was also equipped with larger 42 DCL6-model carburetors and wider Borrani model RW3690 wire wheels.
Some cars—like some people—are just born lucky. Lucky is a Ferrari rolling out of the factory painted a singularly striking colour that captivates in a way no Rosso Corsa presentation can. This California Spider was finished in a one-off Azzurro Metallizzato with an interior dressed in Naturale Connolly Vaumol leather.
A 3.0-litre V-12 engine, designed by Gioacchino Colombo, gives this Prancing Horse its kick. Mathieu Heurtault, courtesy of Gooding & Company.
Built in February of 1962, it was displayed on US Ferrari importer Luigi Chinetti’s stand at the New York International Auto Show the same year. It then went to California and become a daily driver before being sidelined with minor damage and sold to Rudi Klein in 1971. It traded hands again in 1972, this time acquired by Ferrari collectors Charles Betz and Fred Peters. They completed a fastidious restoration in 2004, and the car subsequently won prestigious awards at numerous concours, including Pebble Beach and Cavallino. Ferrari Classiche Red Book certification from 2008 attests that chassis No. 3099 GT retains its original chassis, coachwork, engine, gearbox, rear axle and ancillary components.
The crown jewel of the 2023 Gooding & Company Amelia Island Auction, being held March 2 and 3.
In 2008, another SWB California Spider, a 1961 example formerly owned by actor James Coburn, became the first automobile to sell at auction for more than $14 million. With an estimate of between $26 million and $29 million for this unique and pristine example, it’s clear that the intervening years have been very good ones for owners of these rare cars.
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