Jewels, journeys, launches and initiatives in the Kingdom of Luxury
Art vs shopping ? Tough call. If you had just one day in Paris … The Paris shopping playground that is Galeries Lafayette came to Sydney this week to spruik its “nouveau chic” makeover and new customer treats over pastries and smoked salmon at the Sofitel Wentworth. In the hands of one family group for…
Franck Muller makes the coolest, craziest, watches. In Sydney to open a new store, we find out what makes him tick Swiss watchmaker Franck Muller is attracted to precision, power and perfection. Which might explain why his inspiration in recent times has reached from the high seas to grand prix racetracks to nature’s underbelly….
Just what every blue-blooded ice-cream lover needs this summer… The “Cameo Service” made by the Sèvres Porcelain Factory in France in the late 18th century for Catherine the Great, is one of the grandest and most expensive dinner services ever made. It comprises more than 700 pieces (taking care of dinner, dessert and coffee, including a very divine…
When two earthquakes hit the city of Christchurch on New Zealand’s South Island within five months of each other, historic buildings were among the casualties. But luck and dedicated custodians were on the side of the 115-year-old manor, Otahuna. Over martinis in the sophisticated lobby of Sydney’s Langham hotel last month, Hall Cannon introduced a…
A state-of-the-art watch, designer pens, and a shimmering silver tea service … Australian designer Marc Newson continues to accessorise our lives. I don’t have a Lockheed Lounge or an Apple Watch but I do have a Marc Newson dish rack. It’s lime green with orange tips in fetching injection-molded glossy polypropylene and it has made…
If you go down to the woods today … you’ll probably go tomorrow as well. Skelly Susan quizzes fragrance oracle Michael Edwards on this year’s perfume trends and why we keep buying the same scent. New on the Excess All Areas perfume shelf this week is Etat Libre d’Orange’s Tom of Finland and Memo’s eau…
Support for same sex marriage has taken myriad forms, none quite so functional and symbolic as the Australian Marriage Equality rings from Australian jewellery designer Nadia Neuman. Since being launched last year, Nadia Neuman’s Australian Marriage Equality rings have been shipped to Italy, the United States, the United Kingdom and New Zealand. Numerous celebrities have worn…
Curiouser and curiouser … there’s nothing quite as fabulous as unfurling a crisp white napkin and waiting for the Heston Blumenthal magic show to begin. Great moments of fine dining? Mmmm – where to start? Ferran Adrià’s “This Is Not a Dinner” event with Dom Pérignon in Barcelona this year; Thomas Keller’s Per Se in…
Premium quality bourbons are giving single malt Scotch a run for its money, reports Alan Deans Entering the non-descript liquor shop on Madison and 40th in Manhattan’s Midtown was an Aladdin’s Cave. Standing in glittering rows behind the counter were many bottles of fine, single malt Scotch whisky. The owner, 80 if he was a day,…
Portofino is as breathtaking as the Krupp diamond: a jewel in the Italian Riviera’s crown, a pocket port of iris blue, a marina crammed with gleaming cruisers, runabouts and schooners, and the shore clustered with narrow buildings painted the rich shades of ancient ochre. What better place to spend a honeymoon? Susan Skelly unpacks the resortwear Portofino,…