SPHERE_Autumn2025 18.3

SPHERE

THE LONG LENS ON LUXURY

FALL ORDER

The new season takes ight

REGULARS

08 NUCLEUS

Our pick of the season’s best plus an exclusive interview with Stephen Fry

26 FASHION

Fringes bring the drama for women, and classic tweed gets a modern take for men

70 JEWELLERY

Autumn-tinted gemstones to bring burnished beauty to your jewellery box

89 SPHERE LIFE

A curated collection from the luxury worlds of wellness, interiors, nature and gifting

FEATURES

30 STEALTH HEALTH

Revolutionary wellness treatments put to the test

36 JUST THE TICKET

How luxury fashion houses are joining forces with museums and exhibition spaces

44 ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD

English shoemaker Crockett & Jones continues to innovate

48 THE INSIDE TRACK

Rail travel is having a rebirth with ultra-luxury trains and epic new journeys

54 MAKING WAVES

Spotlight on Sanlorenzo’s new luxury yacht collection and soon-to-open showroom in London’s Mayfair

58 CAPE CRUSADERS

Nina Caplan goes in search of vineyards old and new in South Africa

64 TO THE MANOR REBORN

Why new-build, heritage-style mansions are increasingly in demand

76 THE REEL DEAL

British cinema is having a moment in the sun this autumn with a slate of exciting new lms

82 AROUND THE CLOCK

The user-friendly luxury watch models for travellers itting through time zones

98 HOT SHOT

Argentine world champion polo player Poroto Cambiaso on what it takes to reach the top

EDITOR’S LETTER

Welcome to the autumn edition of SPHERE alongside our prestigious partners Sanlorenzo and Crockett & Jones, with a beautiful bespoke cover by illustrator Tom Haugomat.

In this issue, our CEO Lisa Barnard takes a pew with the much-loved actor and author Stephen Fry and Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James’s Piccadilly, to debate all things godless and God-giving.

Nothing beats the satisfying crunch of falling leaves underfoot — perfectly complemented by a stylish pair of Crockett & Jones’ new weather-proof leather boots, as Josh Sims discovers. For those dreaming of setting sail as the nights draw in, master yachtmaker Sanlorenzo creates some of the most beautiful vessels on the seas and will soon have a smart HQ in London’s Mayfair, where you can design your perfect bespoke model.

Looking for a different kind of escape? Ben McCormack gives us the inside track on upscale train travel’s new era. Simon Brooke investigates how the worlds of luxury brands and museums are converging, and Zoe Dare Hall showcases impressive period-style new builds that have all the elegance and cachet of a manor house without the cobwebs and leaky roof.

Always with her finger firmly on the pulse, Avril Groom shines a light on the must-have jewels that let autumn’s burnished beauty shine through and explains why it is worth keeping up to date with GMT watches.

As ever, we unearth the latest leaders in style, culture, food, drink, travel and wellness. For weekly access to the hottest news and luxury insights, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter at spherelife.com , and please let us know at sphere@iln.co.uk if you would like to receive the magazine in the future. Enjoy the read!

SPHERE

Editor

Jemima Sissons

Art Directors

Dominic Murray-Bell

Jo Murray-Bell

Sub-Editor

Rachel Roberts

Content Executive

Pippa Lowe

Production Consultant

David Gyseman

Colour Reproduction

Lorna Wilson

Group Advertising Director

Jane Washbourn tel: +44 (0)7920 821 577

email: jane.washbourn@iln.co.uk

Chief Executive (and Online Editor spherelife.com)

Lisa Barnard email: lisa.barnard@iln.co.uk

Contributor

Lucia Ferigutti

SPHERE PARTNERS CROCKETT & JONES crockettandjones.com

SANLORENZO sanlorenzoyachts.co.uk

website: spherelife.com

instagram: @sphere_life email: sphere@iln.co.uk

CONTRIBUTORS

TOM HAUGOMAT

Award-winning illustrator and animation

film director Tom Haugomat is best known for his acclaimed book Through a Life With a distinctive minimalist and poetic style, Paris-based Tom’s work spans children’s publishing, advertising and international press, captivating audiences worldwide.

BEN MCCORMACK

London-based Ben McCormack has been the restaurant expert for Telegraph Luxury since 2013. His work was shortlisted in the Restaurant Writer category at the 2020 Fortnum & Mason Food and Drink Awards. He is also a regular contributor to The Standard Food and Travel and Decanter

CHARLOTTE METCALF

Writer and award-winning filmmaker

Charlotte Metcalf contributes to various publications, is the editor of Great British Brands, an associate editor at Country and Town House, and co-presents the Break Out Culture podcast. Her book Walking Away is about her time making television documentaries in Africa.

ZOE DARE HALL

Zoe Dare Hall, a property writer for publications including the Financial Times The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph, is one of SPHERE’s longeststanding contributors. She lives in London but wants to live in practically every place she visits — Dorset and the Algarve are her current favourites.

AVRIL GROOM

Avril Groom writes about luxury jewellery, watches and fashion for a number of upmarket publications and websites, including the Financial Times HTSI magazine, Condé Nast Traveller and Telegraph Time. She also edits Country and Town House magazine’s jewellery and watch supplement.

Simon Brooke is an award-winning journalist, copywriter and media trainer who writes about the luxury sector, business, wealth management, property and travel. Publications include the Financial Times The Sunday Times and The Daily Telegraph, while brands range from Montblanc to Johnnie Walker.

© 2025 Illustrated London News Limited. Articles and other contributions published in this journal may be reproduced only with special permission from the Publishers. The Publishers Illustrated London News Ltd accept no responsibility for any views or statements made in the articles and other contributions reproduced from any other source. All details and prices are subject to change. No responsibility is accepted for the claims made in advertisements appearing in this journal and the Publishers reserve the right to accept or refuse advertisements at their discretion.

Printed by: Paragon

SPHERE magazine is published by Illustrated London News Limited, Soho Works, 4th Floor, The Tea Building, 56 Shoreditch High Street, London E1 6JJ Registered in the United Kingdom No. 15725542 Website: iln.co.uk

ISSN: 2040-5316

TAX-FREE SHOPPING AND COMPLIMENTARY EXPORT SHIPPING AVAILABLE

Please contact or visit our Mayfair accessories boutique for further information 45-46 South Audley Street, Mayfair, W1K 2PY

NUCLEUS

FOOD | TRAVEL | CULTURE | STYLE | BEAUTY

EASY LIVING

Known for its super-soft, responsibly sourced materials and sleek sleep and loungewear, British heritage brand Homebody o ers its latest range, the Beauvoir Collection, inspired by the world of The Talented Mr. Ripley Perfect for cosy autumn evenings, stay warm indoors with the Hitchcock dressing gown, embellished in Liberty paisley print or make travelling a breeze with the Voyage sweatshirt and trousers, crafted from their bespoke thermo-regulating fabrics. From £175, homebody.co.uk

BLAST FROM THE PAST

The obsession with Scandi design continues unabated, from hygge nooks to clean, minimalist spaces. The styleconscious northern Europeans are also dab hands at curating vintage, as revealed by a new beautiful book, The Vintage Way, the first from Copenhagen-based writer and photographer Sarah Marie Winther. Taking the reader on a journey through 20 Scandinavian homes, the style tome also offers ways to incorporate cool vintage elements into your own abode. £30, hachette.co.uk

Showcasing old and new works by Britain’s best-known pair of irreverent artists, the Hayward Gallery’s Gilbert & George: 21st Century Pictures is a landmark exhibition highlighting the duo’s evolution over the last 25 years. The multimedia show takes the visitor on a journey through the world of the artists — using everything from postcards to road signs and newspaper cuttings, they meld everyday life with messages on topics from religion to class to their own mortality. Runs 7 October — 11 January. southbankcentre.co.uk

BEST FOOT FORWARD

In a sea of mega fashion conglomerates, it is worth applauding the independent retail pioneers. Spice shoes celebrates its 40th anniversary this year and is still loved for its retro-inspired range of bags and shoes. Having started four decades ago at Camden Lock Market selling £1 plimsolls, it is now a beautiful boutique in Primrose Hill, adored by its loyal customers who flock to buy shoes such as this Chie Mihara MOKASI in grape, £320. spiceshu.co.uk

NUCLEUS

ON THE BALL

With one of the most spectacular river views in London, form an orderly queue for a prime seat — and the finest smoked salmon trolley in town — at Adam Byatt’s new restaurant, Brasserie Constance, at the recently opened Fulham Pier. The completely — and luxuriously — revamped Fulham Football Club development now plays host to upscale residences, bars, a members’ club and this special lunch and dinner spot. Expect British classics like Sunday roast and rack of lamb from the respected Trinity Clapham chef. brasserieconstance.com

OUT OF AFRICA

Known for his razor-sharp tailoring, designer Ozwald Boateng unveils his first-ever jewellery collection alongside Hirsh London. Designed by Boateng and brought to life by Sophia Hirsh and the atelier’s artisans, the collection references African Adinkra symbols and the striking Kente patterns that have long defined the Boateng aesthetic — now reimagined into fine jewellery, created in precious metals with diamonds, gemstones and pearls. Power of Love Ruby and Diamond earrings, £13,000, hirshlondon.com

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NUCLEUS

DREAM DESTINATION

Glamour, gastronomy and a world-class spa arrive in Istanbul’s Golden Horn this autumn courtesy of the much-anticipated Aliée hotel. Part of the Paris Society Collection, known for its chic Gallic style, the hotel will offer 122 rooms, cuisine by three-Michelin-star chef Thomas Bühner and Well+, spanning ancient Turkish rituals, a longevity clinic and cutting-edge biohacking. Rooms from €795, alieeistanbul.com/en

THE PERFECT REMEDY

With an A to Z of pills in many people’s daily regimen, it can be hard to keep up with the dizzying array of medicines. Halcyon Days comes to the rescue with this smart square or oval pillbox. Handcrafted in England’s last traditional enamel factory, they are the result of a collaboration between Halcyon Days and D.R. Harris. Colours include orange and celadon. From £162.50, drharris.co.uk

Own a home on the world’s first wellness island, where every detail is designed to elevate your health and enrich your life. Nestled on a completely private island between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, SHA Residences offers a limited collection of apartments and villas – each with uninterrupted views, private piers, and direct access to SHA’s world-renowned wellness facilities to support longevity.

Here, exclusivity meets serenity. From in-residence treatments and private chef experiences to panoramic terraces and shaded pools, every element is crafted to support a life of balance, beauty, and longevity.

A RARE OPPORTUNITY TO LIVE EXTRAORDINARILY. WELCOME TO YOUR HEALTHY HOME.

Divine discussion

Stephen Fry, actor, writer and broadcaster, takes a pew in his parish church with Lucy Winkett, Rector of St James’s Piccadilly. Interview by Lisa Barnard

Lucy, what is so special about St James’s Piccadilly?

Lucy Winkett: It’s a sacred space like any church, but it’s public. So, it doesn’t belong to Christians, not to me as the rector, or anybody who is signed up to any set of doctrines. It is a beautiful, inclusive space created for the worship of God. Because it’s built by Christopher Wren, it makes a statement. Our windows are clear, and we don’t have little hidey holes, where as a priest I can go o and mutter to God in a language that no one understands. It’s an egalitarian principle that religion is open to people of all faiths and none.

Stephen, what is special about St James’s for you?

Stephen Fry: There’s the church itself, a simply wonderful example of Christopher Wren’s genius. Then there’s the area. You think of St James’s as tweed jackets and silk ties,

gentlemen’s barbers and gentlemen’s clubs. But opposite St. James’s is Soho, and it’s in the DNA of the parish that, as a community and as a church, it has a progressive history that goes way back. St. James’s Church is very di erent. It has this extra quality that it is open for the homeless, and open for people like me, the godless. It is an extraordinary parish, unique in London. And for those of us who are lucky enough to live in the area, it’s a really wonderful thing.

What has been your involvement with St James’s?

SF: There are regular things like the St. James’s Fair, which is a magni cent yearly Christmas charity concert, with talented musicians and actors giving recitations, singing and instrumental readings, which raises money for The Felix Project and for other local charities. There’s fabulous work going on, and the south

side is newly revealed. It’s rather wonderful to see the full e ects of the stonemasons bringing it back to its best.

So Lucy, what has been your involvement with St. James’s?

LW: I was appointed as Rector in 2010. The then Bishop of London, Richard Chartres, said to me: ‘Don’t forget that William Blake was baptised there. There’s a Blakean spirit around the place and around the parish.’ I took that as a huge positive; that there can be quite an anarchic, antinomian, tigerish spirit.

SF: You have the Vagabonds?

LW: Yes, we had the Vagabonds for years. ‘Vagabonds’ was a discussion group that used to meet in the pub. William Blake said the alehouse was the place to discuss these things rather than the church. We like to joke that

Blake’s baptism was both his entry and exit from The Church of England. He never knocked on the door again, so we can’t claim him as a congregant, but we can claim him as a parishioner. I think that placing human imagination at the service of something greater, which I would want to say is God, is an extraordinarily powerful combination. Human imagination meets divine imagination.

Stephen, you mentioned earlier being godless, and you are famously an atheist. Why are you here?

SF: I’ve mistakenly been bracketed with some of the ercer atheists, who’ve risen to prominence. Although many of them are my friends: Christopher Hitchens was a dear friend, I know Richard Dawkins well and Sam Harris — the so-called ‘godless horsemen’. But unlike them, I have a real a ection, particularly for The Church of England. It stems from the mixture of the liturgy, my admiration of the prose style of Thomas Cranmer. I think The Book of Common Prayer is one of the great ornaments of English literature, as is the King James Bible. I like the architecture, the language and the Eucharist itself in the Catholic/Anglo-Catholic tradition. I don’t mean high smells and bells. I’ll be extremely honest, spiritually and intellectually, and say I don’t believe in the full range of things that would allow me to cross over. Otherwise, I’d love to be a Bishop!

LW: You’d be a great Bishop!

SF: And you, Lucy, would make a magni cent Archbishop of Canterbury! Before I knew you were coming to St. James’s, I knew you were the rst woman Canon at St Paul’s Cathedral and a Precentor. I remember back in the early part of this century, the vituperative things that were thrown at you by Christians — not just Christians, but ordained Christians. The priesthood was absolutely monstrous about you. It was extraordinary, the resilience and grace that you showed; two of the best human qualities. You would probably not wish to be put forward for Canterbury, but the Church needs someone like you.

LW: It was 1998 when I went to St. Paul’s, and it was hard for about ve or six years. Then we turned a bit of a corner. I had another job, then I became a Canon, with some more authority. I immediately started to employ more women, and we became a few rather than just one. That made a massive di erence. It was hard being the face of the change.

Is it still challenging today?

LW: Very much so, although it’s much better. Recently, I celebrated the 30th anniversary of my ordination. It’s important to note these moments. I absolutely love what I do. It’s immensely challenging, but I couldn’t imagine

not being a priest. I have to say, to Stephen’s point, that in some ways I think that misogyny has been mainstreamed. The ‘Boys will be boys’ mentality.

Is that within the Church as well as within society?

LW: In The Church of England, it manifests itself in di erent ways. One of the things we’ve been working on is trying to challenge the movement of some of the conservative evangelicals in the Church. There are big churches that are very popular, particularly with young people, who are banding together and withdrawing their money from the mainstream Church to set up their own alliance, based on their opposition to same-sex relationships and the leadership of women. I engage with these internal conversations because I think it’s important, but that’s not where my energy wants to go. We are very good in the Church at answering questions no one is asking.

SF: I think that’s beautifully put.

Stephen, where do you get personal comfort and solace from as an atheist?

SF: Mostly literature, music and poetry. And I have to confess sport as well: you should have seen me the other week at the Test Match! And of course, love and my family. I’m married. My mother is in Norfolk and I visit her. And I like that the Chaucerian word for nature is ‘kind’. Kind is cognate linguistically with kin and kinship. So, in that rather very pagan,

animistic way, I would say, ‘Kind’ is where I get my nourishment from.

And Lucy, what can people draw from St. James’s?

LW: Our counselling project in the garden is an extraordinary and far-sighted project that’s been there for 40 years. It’s a shepherd’s hut and you can drop in for an hour’s free therapy, whoever you are, seven days a week. People come from the hedge funds on Jermyn Street, or if they’re going through homelessness, or they’re an out-of-work artist, actor or creative. We help support many people through the asylum system, which is very gruelling and di cult. Most are refugees from African countries where to be gay is illegal. It is about putting together sexuality and faith, and being able to do that in a Church context is something unique.

And there is a big capital project at St James’s?

LW: The Wren Project, which we describe as a catalyst. The rst transformation is physically. It’s restoring the historic church building of course, and opening up to the south and to the east. It will change the way that people move around the area and the beautiful green space that we have, which is our church garden. We want to ensure that this church can serve its community for the next 150 years.

Help give a gift of hope this season by making a donation to the St James’s ‘Christmas for All’ Appeal 2025. Visit sjp.org.uk/christmas

NUCLEUS FOOD AND DRINK

THE SPICE OF LIFE

Notting Hill’s culinary ascent continues with the opening of Dishoom’s Permit Room in Portobello Road. The Indian restaurant is already drawing loyal crowds with its familiar classics such as chilli broccoli salad, alongside new breakfast dishes.The downstairs bar rustles up drinks inspired by the restaurant’s cuisine — we love the Jackfruit and Toasted Basmati Mirror Margarita. If you’ve had one too many, try to book a resting place upstairs — with two ensuite bedrooms, it might just be one of the smallest hotels in London. permitroom.co.uk

FRENCH TOAST

We raise a glass to Champagne Bollinger’s new expression, the PN TX20. Crafted exclusively from Pinot Noir grapes (hence the PN), each sourced from carefully selected parcels in Tauxières, with complementary plots in Aÿ and Avenay, this 2020 vintage showcases Bollinger’s continued exploration of terroir expression within its PN range. Following on from the PN VZ19 (2019) release, the PN TX20 continues the Maison’s tradition of shining a light on various differential terroirs and displaying how they individually influence the character of Pinot Noir within Champagne. While the PN VZ19 was predominantly drawn from parcels in Verzenay, known for being expressive and delivering harmony and texture, the PN TX20 shifts focus northwards to Montagne de Reims, emphasising freshness and minerality. Champagne Bollinger PN TX20, £99, is now available from selected outlets across the UK. champagne-bollinger.com

NUCLEUS FOOD AND DRINK

SWEET TEMPTATION

It is known for its napkin-waving Riviera glamour, and now it has come to one of the most stylish spots in London. La Môme has taken up residence at The Berkeley hotel, bringing with it the quintessential Mediterranean dishes it is famed for, such as its giant dessert cookie and its tableside twists like herbs freshly cut into olive oil for the moreish focaccia. The fourth venture from the Lecorche brothers, the restaurant is adorned with 1960s Slim Aarons photographs of the Riviera. Santé! maybourne.com

CREATIVE JUICES

Holborn’s sultriest hostelry, Rosewood, has launched a new menu celebrating the bar’s eponymous literary inspiration, Gerald Scarfe. The Scarfe Bar’s Long Drawn Out Sip menu is inspired by the illustrator’s dreams, with novel drinks taking shape under the direction of new barman Andy Loudon. Expect tipples such as Fears: Toothless Grin, inspired by the unsettling worry of teeth falling out, o ering a unique twist on the Sazerac, created with Rémy Martin 1738, medjool dates, evaporated beetroot and citra hops, accompanied by a spoonful of goat’s cheese, lemon curd and absinthe. rosewoodhotels.com

COUNTRY FARE

In the heart of bosky Buckinghamshire, cosy down this autumn for Oxmoor Farm’s Wild Feasts, seating 50 guests on sharing tables in a warmly decorated barn. A series of chefs this season o er feasts from Emily Dobbs’ Sri Lankan cooking to Middle Eastern flavours from ex-Bubala chef Helen Graham. Breakfast is also now served every weekend in the Barn from 10 am–11.45 am. Kick o the day with fennel and lemon sausage roll with piccalilli or overnight oats, Farm granola & yoghurt with an Orchard Fizz cocktail. oxmoorfarm.co.uk

NUCLEUS TRAVEL

ON CLOUD NINE

Soaring 65 floors high above the city, the Four Seasons Kuala Lumpur has some fresh wellness offerings this season. After a day of exploring the culture-rich city, head to the spa, where a new acupuncture menu is on offer alongside signature facials by Valmont. Head to the outdoor pool or the smart Bar Trigona for a cocktail infused with its own honey, harvested from stingless bees. Rooms from £280, fourseasons.com

CITY SLICKER

One of Lisbon’s most glorious boltholes, the Palácio Principe Real, has given its garden an upgrade, offering a sweet-scented cocktail spot for autumn sundowners. The hotel is also now offering rejuvenating INDIBA facials, using radiofrequency waves in its spa. The hotel’s delicious home-grown olive oil is also now available to buy. Rooms from €595, palacioprincipereal.com

A CAPITAL IDEA

Escape the Edinburgh elements in the Sicilian warmth of the new Irene Forte Spa at the historic Balmoral Hotel. Bathed in citrus murals, warm ochre and sage green, the spa is the latest opening from Rocco Forte’s daughter, Irene, using her award-winning B-Corp products. Pepped up with volcanic stones and quartz, treatments include an age-defying volcanic facial and an Earth and Sea toning massage using apricot seed exfoliator. Spa membership and spa days are also available. Rooms from £295, roccofortehotels.com

RIDING HIGH

With the winter Olympics kicking off in 2026, the Dolomites are hot property for the coming season, boasting a wealth of new openings. Alongside the Aman Rosa Alpina and the Hotel Ancora, Casa Cook Madonna is unveiling itself in time for the autumn. The brand’s debut mountain retreat, an adults-only escape, is located in the pretty village of Madonna di Campiglio. With 50 design-centric rooms, it comes with a spa, daily yoga and cooking by Michelin-starred chef Jacob Jan Boerma. From €200, casacook.com

Floating in the Clouds

The partnership between Flexjet and Riva yachts, creating bespoke new custom-built cabin interiors, is a marriage made in the skies, says Lisa Barnard

What happens when you take the iconic elegance of Riva yachts (part of the Ferretti Group) and combine it with the bold dynamic of Flexjet, leaders in private aviation? The result is Riva Volare LV1 Cabin, a customcrafted interior that can be experienced on board Flexjet’s ultra-long-range Gulfstream G650 and Sikorsky S-76 helicopter.

Jet-setters and yacht owners will revel in this collaboration. The pairing of Riva’s elegant yacht styling with Flexjet’s expertise in aviation means that Flexjet’s members can indulge in a custom-built design akin to a luxury yacht.

Riva Volare is the new star in the LXi Cabin Collection. The cabin’s design is tted out with a colour palette of gloss woodwork, the Riva aquamarine and deep Blu Sera detailing. The artisanal materials, luxurious textiles and leathers, and polished metal trims have the Riva cues of nesse and comfort. The project

has been a year in the making and is the result of a combined vision and months of expert craftsmanship by in-house designers at both brands. In fact, the partnership goes back much further.

Commenting on the partnership, Alberto Galassi, Ferretti Group CEO, said: “Two of my greatest passions have come together. I love aviation more than anything — that’s my background — and I love the beauty of the boats we manufacture in Ferretti Group, and the iconic brand of Riva. Kenn Ricci is the genius behind Flexjet, whom I met more than 20 years ago. I would never have done this marriage with anyone else but Flexjet and Kenn — he is the best in the business by far. We don’t sell boats and planes; we o er our clients lifestyle, emotion, experience. Why Flexjet and Riva? Because beauty attracts beauty. This is a partnership that will last for years, and I don’t know where it will end.”

“Delivering a luxury experience in aviation is very di cult,” said Kenn Ricci, Flexjet’s Chairman. “There are so many elements I can’t control, such as the weather and air tra c control. What I can control is the environment in which you sit, and that became the opportunity. A partnership with Riva places us exactly in the heart of the luxury experience. I have long admired the iconic style of Riva, and seeing this brought to life in our aircraft is nothing short of exceptional.

The Riva Volare Sikorsky S-76 helicopter (previously owned by Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth) is a new Flexjet helicopter operation serving Italy and the French Riviera (in addition to the existing operations in New York, Florida, The Bahamas and London). The Sikorsky S-76 o ers 555 km range and carries up to eight passengers, with the added security of twin-turbine engines. exjet.com | ferrettigroup.com

NUCLEUS BEAUTY

FACE FACTS

New York City-based makeup artist Fara Homidi’s signature minimalist approach to cosmetics has led her to work with some of the biggest names in fashion. Now available in the UK, her namesake line is an equally thoughtful edit of essential products, designed to take a long-term place in your kit — like the Essential Lip Compact, combining a pigmented matte lipstick with a primer balm. £83, farahomidi.com

PUCKER UP

Ideal for keeping in your bag for a quick pick-me-up between meetings, Code8 Beauty’s new Glazé Universal Lip Gloss in Cotton Kiss provides the perfect wash of sheer, universally flattering peach-hued colour. It’s formulated with plumping peptides that leave lips soft and hydrated while o ering the illusion of extra volume. £28, codeeight.com

BRIGHT IDEA

As temperatures drop, help your skin transition into autumn with an extra dose of hydration. With a light texture and fast absorption, Omorovicza’s new Daily Dew features three types of hyaluronic acid and narcissus stem cells to boost radiance, blur pores, and give an overall plumping and brightening e ect. £110, omorovicza.com

FRESH START

Cult fragrance brand Phlur translated two of its bestselling scents into a natural deodorant, formulated with salicylic acid to help reverse discolouration and nourishing algae and tamanu to keep skin moisturised. Unisex, crisp and fresh, Father Figure has notes of waterlily, lush fig, iris flower and sandalwood. £20, phlur.com

FASHION

FASHION

STEALTH HEALTH

Wellness looks to the future with revolutionary treatments spanning dementia analysis, 360 MOTs and metabolic health

WORDS JEMIMA SISSONS

Stepping inside NEKO’s minimalist Marylebone clinic feels more like entering a modernist design hotel — or the set of a futuristic blockbuster — than a cutting-edge health centre. Mid-century oatmeal chairs and mint green furnishings o er a softly, softly approach. Yet its mission is anything but: to o er a comprehensive full body MOT using millions of health data points from inside and out, to provide a complete picture of your health. This includes mole mapping, heart health, grip strength (important for later on in life for how quickly you recover from injuries) and blood testing.

I rst came to learn about NEKO, of course, via Instagram. On-the-pulse friends posting images of sci- looking sandals and robes, entering a giant scanner and rhapsodising about the healthcare of the future. A click through revealed what NEKO, aside from its game-changing approach to preventative health, is most famous for: a very long waitlist. So, after signing up and waiting, I got the email. The experience begins with mole mapping, standing semi-naked in a giant cylinder — there were two that needed further attention (images were sent o and they came back clear). After numerous other tests, I head to a space-age consultation room where a doctor awaits. A screen with all the data points o ers a very clear picture of one’s markers. I am encouraged to learn that my heart health is three years younger than my age. I could improve my cholesterol a bit, but everything is in the ‘normal’ range — everything except my very weak grip strength, which is a surprise as I work out regularly. So, I leave with instructions to do more strength training at the gym, keep sticking to a Mediterranean diet, and I sign up to come back in a year. It costs £299 (it would be a lot more to do these tests individually privately), but that does seem a small price for peace of mind. nekohealth.com

The programme is devised around five pillars: nutrition, movement, sleep, environment and mindset

It is hard to escape the proliferation of glossy-haired, glowing-skinned crusaders such as the Glucose Goddess and Em the Nutritionist, all extolling the virtues of a protein-rich diet to boost metabolic health. But what is it all about? I headed to the arcadian idyll of Combe Grove near Bath to road-test their metabolic programme to try and make sense of it all. The ve-day ( £2,150) retreat aims to o er a complete reset for those who want to lose weight, improve general health — particularly issues relating to age — sleep better and reduce stress levels. The programme is devised around ve pillars: nutrition, movement, sleep, environment and mindset. The base for the week is Scandi-style rooms with views of the ancient Wiltshire valley and the Westbury White Horse, and bottles of ltered water and herbal teas (no miniature gins here). On the rst day, we are all

tted with glucose monitors, undergo a rather scary Accuniq scan to determine muscle and fat mass — importantly including the hidden visceral fat located deep around the organs — and kick o with a series of intensive lectures. These span everything from how negatively carbohydrates can spike blood sugar levels to how this a ects sleep, stress and cell repair to the major takeaways I had: the importance of a fasting window (not eating after an early dinner until a late breakfast the next day) to help with this repair and how much processed foods can upset the body’s equilibrium. Hearty breakfasts of ham hock with eggs and dinners of Cornish sh stew, within the 12-hour eating window, means nobody comes away hungry, and with daily treatments from deep tissue massage to acupuncture and Pilates you DO come away thoroughly revived — and educated. combegrove.com

It started happening a few years ago: Returning a few times to the kitchen to retrieve the house keys, forgetting halfway up the stairs what I was going for. So when I was o ered a dementia screening, my rst thought was to run away. Then, immediately, I asked how quickly I could get to the clinic. Echelon Health is a leader in o ering preventative health assessments. Far more targeted than Neko — which o ers the same test for everybody who walks through the door — here you can sign up to everything from a “Core Cancer” analysis, including tests for prostate, colon and ovarian cancer, to a £14,000 Platinum assessment, which pretty much tests for everything, inside and out.

The £3,000 dementia analysis is designed to o er comprehensive blood tests, an MRI and a neurocognitive evaluation. The smart rooms in Marylebone are furnished with specially commissioned artworks and run with clean e ciency. After a talk through with a neurologist — I highlight my recent concerns — I undertake the slightly unnerving MRI, followed by the blood tests. All are, thankfully, normal, but could detect early structural changes and markers of cognitive risk.

The neurocognitive evaluation transports you back to the school room with memory tests including trying to recall a name and a long address three minutes later, remembering shapes and naming as many things with a

certain letter. I score a respectable 98/100. After a talk with the doctor, it appears that my “brain fog” is the result of stress that comes with a very busy life (my anxiety on the GAD-7 scale scored 7/10, which is the lower end of moderate anxiety), two small children and probably my age (mid-40s). However, it is reassuring to know that any red ags would have resulted in further, more extensive tests, such as an amyloid PET scan to look for Alzheimer’s-related protein deposits and onward counselling. echelon.health

Clinique La Prairie was founded in 1931 and has welcomed many guests, such as bon vivant Winston Churchill

CLINIQUE LA PRAIRIE: THE LONGEVITY RETREAT

The lake-hugging town of Montreux is famous for its jazz festival and illustrious visitors, from Freddie Mercury to David Bowie, who were drawn to the picturesque resort. It is now also notable for the cool white building at the far end, which is leading the charge in revolutionary healthcare. Clinique La Prairie was founded in 1931 and has welcomed many guests, such as bon vivant Winston Churchill. It is hard to imagine the cigar-chugging Churchill checking into this medical enclave for a “Longevity programme,” but many now ock here for the retreat’s transformative properties. Bedrooms are just the right side of modernist, but vials for “samples” and devices to help guests out of the bath hint at the more medical purpose of the stay. Most are here for a seven-day rest, based around its Longevity programme, designed to slow cellular ageing and boost immunity. After extensive blood samples, I undergo a gym medical where

balance is measured on a Huber 360 Evolution (I have to improve my ‘proprioception’ — sixth sense, aka how stable you are when your eyes are closed) and reactions on the Senaptec sensory station (reactions good, memory test middling), as well as a full body fat analysis and a programme with a doctor is devised. Here, it goes beyond merely looking at lifestyle and diet (although they do this too). Genetic and epigenetic tests can be performed as well as their pioneering glycans tests (for measuring immunity) and ceramide tests (for measuring cardiovascular health). Food is sugar-free but of Michelin quality, served on gold- ecked Limoges plates. A spa, gym and daily lungbusting walks help revive weary bones. And with a complete hospital at your disposal, with departments from psychology to visceral surgery, endocrinology and dentistry, you really can emerge a completely new you. cliniquelaprairie.com

Just the TICKET

The big hitters in the worlds of fashion, museums and exhibition spaces are increasingly joining forces for a match made in style heaven. Simon Brooke explores the rising trend and myriad reasons

These new collaborations with galleries and museums provide luxury brands with a new and exciting way of promoting their heritage, craftsmanship and creativity

Over the past couple of decades, luxury brands have been collaborating with museums and galleries worldwide to stage and sponsor shows. Now, these partnerships are becoming more sophisticated and thoughtful as houses such as Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Cartier and others have used these events to convey important messages, showcase their corporate social responsibility and discuss creativity and innovation.

Luxury brands are now increasingly likely to be holding exhibitions in Asia, a key market for the sector. Bvlgari Kaleidos: Colors, Cultures and Craft, the maison’s largest exhibition ever in Japan, has just opened at the National Art Center, Tokyo. Described as “a kaleidoscopic journey into

its vibrant world of colours,” it showcases nearly 350 chromatic Bulgari masterpieces, from jewellery to contemporary art. “We’re proud to present this kaleidoscopic journey in Tokyo, a city that, like Bulgari, embraces the beauty of both tradition and innovation,” says Jean-Christophe Babin, Bulgari CEO. “Our long connection with Japan, a country that has long appreciated the artistry and precision behind our creations, makes this exhibition more special.”

Meanwhile, the Louis Vuitton Visionary Journeys immersive exhibition in Osaka coincides with the Osaka World Expo 2025 and celebrates 170 years of the house’s heritage and its deep cultural ties with Japan. It features more than 1,000 objects, including over 200 artefacts speci c to Japan; the signature Trunkscape installation; the

original 1897 Monogram canvas; and bespoke trunks by local artists.

Loro Piana chose Shanghai for its rst exhibition, If You Know, You Know: Loro Piana’s Quest for Excellence, which took place earlier this year at the Museum of Art Pudong, and was billed not only as celebration of the brand’s centenary but as a tribute to its “deep, longstanding connection to China.” Elsewhere, jewellery brand Pomellato unveiled Art & Jewellery, its rst retrospective of advertising photography at Fosun Foundation, the mixed-use exhibition space in Shanghai.

Earlier this year, the Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giammetti unveiled its new cultural space, PM23, in the historic centre of Rome. Rather than simply showcase pieces from its history, the debut exhibition, Horizons|Red, takes a more philosophical

approach, exploring the colour red through art and fashion, o ering a multifaceted perspective that frames it “as a force of symbolic and aesthetic power.”

Collaborations are also becoming deeper and more strategic. The Victoria & Albert Museum has staged several shows with luxury houses, including Gabrielle Chanel. Fashion Manifesto. But the museum’s Fashion Gallery is being completely refurbished with the support of Burberry to become the Burberry Gallery, which is set to reopen in 2027. For the fashion house, the sponsorship “unites two centuries-old cultural icons with a shared legacy of heritage and innovation, and a commitment to championing creativity,” according to Joshua Schulman, the brand’s CEO, which, by the way, presented its latest Winter 2025 runway collection at Tate Britain.

“This partnership allows us to share the V&A’s incredible collections in new and accessible ways and, with Burberry, support education and craftsmanship across the country,” says Tristram Hunt, director of the Victoria and Albert Museum.

While history and heritage make for an easy and obvious link between luxury brands and museums, both are also increasingly forward-looking, celebrating innovation and new talent in their partnerships. Few brands

have such a well-known history as CHANEL, but the house is now also focusing on new creative talent. The CHANEL Culture Fund, for instance, “fosters a vibrant network of creators and innovators to advance the ideas that shape global culture.”

This summer it launched ARTS & CULTURE, a magazine celebrating the last ve years of the house’s partnerships with artists and cultural institutions. As well as articles about artists, it covers portfolios by the winners of the CHANEL Next Prize. Meanwhile, Klára Hosnedlová’s monumental installation for the CHANEL Commission in the Hamburger Bahnhof features tapestries up to nine metres high exploring themes of home, utopia and everyday life within di erent political systems.

Such contemporary events help luxury brands to reach younger audiences, which is essential for their future viability. Yes, it’s important to celebrate craftsmanship and promote heritage, but these concepts are well-established among consumers. Just as houses have teamed up with street fashion labels over the last few years, such as Louis Vuitton’s partnership with Supreme, they’re now working with modern art creators and contemporary galleries, exploiting both the economic and creative potential.

Working with galleries and museums also

“Our artists gain exposure, our partners gain cultural value, and together we bring art to audiences in inspiring new ways. It’s a win-win”

enables luxury brands to ful l some of their corporate social responsibility initiatives. Gucci has just announced that it will partner with Tate to support the Tate Collective Producers programme, through Gucci Changemakers London, part of its global initiative that aims to “support industry change and to foster unity through community action,” while promoting the capital’s fashion and creative industries.

Over the next three years, Gucci’s support will enable more young people from youth groups and educational organisations in boroughs around Tate Modern and Tate Britain to bene t from a new training programme that includes monthly workshops, expert guest speakers and an increased number of paid opportunities. “Tate’s Collective Producers programme has not only helped the gallery engage new audiences but also provided the producers themselves with career pathways into the arts sector,” says Mark Miller, the Tate’s director of learning.

The Fondation d’entreprise Hermès combines philanthropy with a programme of exhibitions at two galleries in both Europe and Asia. It has four guiding themes, “the transmission of skills, the creation of works of art, the protection of the environment and the encouragement of gestures of solidarity,”

according to its President, Olivier Fournier. For instance, Le Forum, the foundation’s exhibition space in Tokyo, currently hosts a show of works from the FRAC Grand Large collection of art in Dunkirk, in which 13 artists explore the relationship between art and everyday life.

The latest partnerships even o er scope for technological innovation. L’Oréal’s work with the Louvre includes an exhibition, De Toutes Beautés!, a curated trail of more than 100 artworks from the museum’s permanent collection. Visitors are invited to explore how beauty has been represented, practised and rede ned across cultures and civilisations, from Ancient Egypt to modern-day France. There’s also an innovation crossover: L’Oréal has funded a fractional CO₂ laser at the Louvre’s restoration centre, C2RMF. The same technology used in dermatological skincare is now being applied to restore delicate artworks damaged by pollution and the passage of time.

The Grove Gallery is taking this trend in a new direction by displaying curated art collections in settings such as ve-star hotels, Michelin-starred restaurants, private members’ clubs and international lifestyle events, including Fortnum & Mason, Harrods Aviation and the Monaco Grand Prix. “For the

venues, us as a gallery and the artists themselves, it’s a win-win,” says Jack Newell, Grove’s head of partnerships. “Our artists gain exposure, our partners gain cultural value, and together we bring art to audiences in inspiring new ways. We’re not interested in art being an afterthought or decorative ller; we want it to play an integral role in the overall experience the venue is o ering.”

Collaboration is vital, he says. “It begins with a deep understanding of what the venue is trying to achieve, both aesthetically and experientially. From there, we collaborate closely to curate artwork that not only ts the space but enhances the brand’s story, drawing from our incredible pool of talent.”

These new collaborations with galleries and museums provide luxury brands with a new and exciting way of promoting their heritage, craftsmanship and creativity, alongside print and poster advertising. Not only does it give them more control than they have with social media activity, but it also o ers greater engagement — however keen a shopper you might be, where else would you spend an hour or so immersed in a brand? As well as attracting new audiences, luxury houses can let prestigious galleries and celebrated museums do much of the heavy lifting when it comes to marketing. Stand by for more of it.

A REGAL ROAM ABOUT BRITAIN

Autumn / Winter edition 2025 available on newsstands from 30October (£9.99)

Order Copies: hello@iln.co.uk & amazon.co.uk from Illustrated London News www.iln.co.uk

ALWAYS A STEP AHEAD

English shoemaker Crockett & Jones continues to follow its own path with innovative new design and materials and clever twists on traditional styles

WORDS JOSH SIMS

Left: The Grizedale (shown in dark brown) features a brand-new side leather made waterproof during the production process, perfect for the toughest terrain

It was at 3,500 metres up the side of a snowbound Alpine valley that Crockett & Jones’ head of marketing, James Fox, found himself more pleasantly surprised than he had expected to be. There, to wear-trial a new pair of the boots that the English shoemaker is introducing as part of its autumn/winter 2025 collection, he discovered that they were, “extremely comfortable and extremely good in extreme conditions.” Move over, makers of the more typical clumpy, lumpy specialist hiking boot, with neon accents, Velcro straps and breaking-in blisters.

Fox’s cosy feet were not just down to Crockett & Jones’ handmade, Goodyearwelted construction, nor to the boots’ Vibram cleated sole, bellows tongue, reverse storm welt or their insulating, water-repelling membrane layer between the outer leather and the lining. Rather, it was due to the brand’s rst use of a side leather made waterproof by the application of a special solution during the tanning process — one that consequently becomes part of the leather rather than sits on top of it, as wax does on a newly polished pair of dress shoes. “That means that even if you scratch the surface of the leather, your boots remain waterproof,” explains Fox.

It took two years of development work to achieve the right balance of wear properties, colour and softness in a typically very sti leather, one rarely used in footwear and more commonly employed in the making of horse saddles and other tough leather products for which comfort is not a prime consideration.

Crockett & Jones has used the leather in two boot styles: the full brogue Islay and Grizedale, a plain-front model that traces its lineage back to the boots the business made for the British Army during the First World War.

“Of course, like a Land Rover Defender, only a tiny fraction of these boots will likely ever see a eld,” laughs Fox. “They t into men’s more casual, outdoorsy ways of dressing now. But the point is that, like a Defender, these boots are also t for purpose and will nd customers who want to properly use them as a walking boot — footwear that can really see them through a cold, wet winter.”

Indeed, winter-readiness is an idea Crockett & Jones is now running with. Also launching this September is a collection of superexible boots, ideal for slipping on after your mountain trek, or, at least, for wearing around the city: the Windermere plain-front, ve-eyelet derby; Chepstow three-eyelet chukka; and Elgin low-cut Chelsea boot. These come on the company’s lightest-weight rubber sole and, more unusually, in a dark brown or moss-green waterproof repello suede. For the roughest season? Crockett & Jones argues that, while the common belief that suede is fragile or only suitable for the summer has become deeply ingrained in the style psyche, that’s simply not true.

“There’s this notion that if a shoe’s surface is smooth and shiny — like a shell — it has to be more resistant to wear and tear, but that’s not

the case. Suede can take a battering and just brushes up to look brand new. And, bonus, you don’t have to polish it,” Fox enthuses.

And that’s not the only curveball for the new season: Crockett & Jones is making another counterintuitive twist on winter footwear with the introduction of a new loafer. The Boston 2 is built on a chunky lightweight rubber sole, with a storm welt, one-piece lining and in wax-impregnated rough-out dark brown or green suede. It’s also fully waterproof.

“Everything about the loafer has changed over recent years,” explains Fox. “The time was when it was considered an ‘old man’s shoe,’ and now it’s regarded more as an Ivy League style. The loafer is seen as such an easy shoe to wear — both literally, because you can slip it on, and guratively, because it works with everything — be it jeans or tailored separates. It’s become a best-selling style for us, but we had never done what you might call a ‘winter loafer’ before. We think the Boston 2 is going to be a big hit.”

That, in part, is because styles like these bring just the right touch of newness to otherwise diehard classics, crafted to last a generation thanks to their quality and

“Our footwear remains relevant without adopting radically different, oneseason-only aesthetics, while still doing our very best to offer value”

Clockwise from above:

The Boston 2 (shown in dark brown rough-out suede) is a winterproofed twist on the classic loafer; Crockett & Jones has produced fine handmade shoes for nearly 150 years; the Windermere (shown in seaweed suede)

upgraded materials. They also underscore Crockett & Jones’ position that, contrary to the stance taken by some other English shoemakers, it is — as handsome as its products may be — decidedly not part of the fashion world. As Fox puts it, “Fashion is all about novelty for its own sake, and in a way, su ers from too much of that, which is why its brands go through so many peaks and troughs.”

In contrast, a plain-front derby, for example, will always be a plain-front derby. “We just want to make the best version that there is, by, for example, introducing what’s already a seriously hardy design in a waterproof leather,” Fox says. “It re ects our ethos of pushing forward very gradually, so our footwear remains relevant without adopting radically di erent, one-season-only aesthetics, while still doing our very best to o er value, which is challenging given the rising costs of manufacturing.”

Indeed, since Crockett & Jones is now the UK’s largest maker of Goodyear-welted, English-made footwear, it feels a responsibility to keep the ship of its industry on a steady course, not least to protect the legacy of a national handcraft recognised worldwide. And it seems to be conquering that mountain too.

The inside track

The Golden Age of rail travel is having a renaissance with ultra-luxurious trains and epic new journeys

WORDS BEN MCCORMACK

While talk of new routes through the Channel Tunnel to Germany and Switzerland never make it out of the sidings and European sleeper services are cancelled or delayed, it’s full steam ahead for one area of train travel: the luxury rail market. This year sees new hotels on wheels touring around Britain, France and Italy, while the next 12 months will see new suites and routes in Australia and South Africa, and new high-end trains departing in Saudi Arabia, across the old Silk Road route in Asia and the rebirth of the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul. All aboard!

Rail enthusiasts will have the chance to experience Saudi Arabia’s breathtaking landscapes aboard a new luxury train, departing in 2026. The Dream of the Desert features 14 carriages and 34 suites, and, following departure from Riyadh, the train will traverse the northern section of the country’s rail network, with guests invited to join curated cultural programmes devised by the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Culture to complement itineraries that immerse passengers in the country’s cultural heritage and desert landscapes. The Arabian wolves and golden eagles of the King Salman Bin

Abdulaziz Royal Natural Reserve will be highlights of the journeys before the train reaches its destination of Al Qurayyat on the Jordanian border. The train has been designed with sandy hues and sculptural textures by interior designer Aline Asmar d’Amman and her studio, Culture in Architecture. The project is a partnership between Saudi Arabia Railways and Italy’s Arsenale Group, which is also behind La Dolce Vita Orient Express.

Accommodation prices available on the website, luxurytrainclub.com

Current Golden Eagle itineraries include the castles of Transylvania and the treasures of Uzbekistan, but in 2026, an entirely new train, the Golden Eagle Silk Road Express, is set to be unveiled, journeying between the key staging posts of the historic Silk Road trading route that linked east and west from the second century BCE to the 15th century CE. Itineraries include 12 days from Beijing to Lhasa, 14 days from Ho Chi Minh City to Shanghai, and 22 days from Beijing to Tashkent; rest assured that with so much time spent on board, accommodation is supremely comfortable, whether in the elegant Superior Deluxe Cabins or the lavish Han Dynasty Suite, which includes a separate sitting room and an en-suite bathroom complete with bathtub. Two restaurant cars o er both Western and Chinese cuisine, there’s a Bösendorfer piano in the bar car and an observation carriage with a 270-degree panoramic window.

Accommodation starts from £13,729, goldeneagleluxurytrains.com

ROVOS

RAIL, AFRICA

South African-based Rovos Rail ranges across the south of the African continent, from Angola to Zimbabwe. Its most famous journey is the 14-day, 3,600-mile trip from Cape Town to Dar es Salaam in Tanzania via the Madikwe Game Reserve and Victoria Falls, but from 2026 it is offering a new 11-night route to Cape Town from Walvis Bay in Namibia. En route, the ‘Namibia Safari’ stops at a cheetah conservation project, a game drive and overnight stay in a lodge in the Etosha National Park and a drive through the Namib Desert. Back on board, the views from the armchairs of the observation car and open-air balconies include the Kalahari Desert, the Hex River Valley and the winelands of the Western Cape. The style of the carriages feels like a luxurious mobile safari, especially in the Royal Suites, which come with both a shower and a roll-top bath.

Accommodation on the Namibia Safari starts from £9,000; rovos.com

The style of the carriages feels like a luxurious mobile safari; the Royal Suites come with both a shower and a roll-top bath

BELMOND BRITANNIC EXPLORER, ENGLAND AND WALES

Belmond has long been the pioneer of luxury train travel; it kickstarted the trend back in 1982 with the revival of the Venice Simplon-OrientExpress, and it currently operates seven hotels on wheels, from the Andean Explorer in Peru to the Eastern & Oriental Express in Southeast Asia. The Britannic Explorer was due to launch as we went to press as the last word in luxury UK staycations. Three-night itineraries, all departing from London Victoria, take in Cornwall, Snowdonia and the Lake District in eight antique-strewn carriages, with the 18

cabins designed with wood, stone and wool to evoke the landscapes outside. Stops en route might include a black-tie gala at Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, but the food onboard is just as impressive, with British menus overseen by Simon Rogan of three-Michelin-starred L’Enclume fame. The observation car invites relaxation as the countryside rolls past, and there’s even an onboard wellness suite.

Accommodation starts from £11,000; belmond.com

LA DOLCE VITA ORIENT EXPRESS, ITALY

French hospitality giant Accor will be relaunching the Paris-Istanbul Orient Express in 2026 — not to be confused with Belmond’s Venice Simplon-Orient-Express — with train interiors designed by architect Maxime d’Angeac. A taste of what is to come is on o er with an Italian accent aboard La Dolce Vita Orient Express, which took to the rails in April from Rome’s Ostiense Station. The rst Italian-made luxury train comprises 18 suites and 12 deluxe cabins in which to spend the night during nine itineraries that take in Italy’s greatest hits, from the perennial favourites of Rome, Venice and Porto no to the Tuscan vineyards of Montalcino and the atmospheric cities of Sicily. Sixties-style interiors are as stylish as one would expect — wood-panelled ceilings, modernist textiles, brass sconces and smoked mirrors — while swish evenings begin with aperitivi in the bar ahead of regional Italian cooking devised by three-Michelinstarred chef Heinz Beck of La Pergola in Rome.

Accommodation starts from £3,029; orient-express.com

Meals in the restaurant car of Le Grand Tour are overseen by three-Michelin-starred chef Alexandre Couillon of La Marine in the Vendée

LE GRAND TOUR, FRANCE

Launching this autumn, Le Grand Tour allows guests to experience the French landscape at a more leisurely pace than from a TGV window seat. The new train comes courtesy of the team behind the history-focused Puy du Fou theme park and o ers a six-night tour of France’s historic highpoints. Trains depart from the Gare de l’Est in Paris before stopping in the cathedral city of Reims in Champagne, Beaune in the heart of Burgundy, the former papal seat of Avignon in Provence, the walled city of Carcassonne, the Arcachon Bay on the Atlantic coast and the medieval port city of La Rochelle. The Belle Époque-style carriages feature 18 cabins and, with only 36 passengers attended to by 15 members of sta , there’s a good chance you’ll get to know both your fellow guests and Grand Tour team over the six-night journey. Meals in the restaurant car, meanwhile, are overseen by three-Michelinstarred chef Alexandre Couillon of La Marine in the Vendée.

Accommodation prices available on the website, legrandtour.com

THE GHAN, AUSTRALIA

Once a week, The Ghan undertakes the 1,851-mile trip from Adelaide to Darwin via Alice Springs (for Uluru), traversing the scorched Red Centre of Australia and the tropical Northern Territory en route. Sister trains the Great Southern and Indian Paci c make equally exhaustive trans-continental expeditions from Brisbane to Adelaide and Perth to Sydney, respectively. The journeys are long — upwards of three days — but luxurious, and even more so from 2026, when two new suites, the Aurora and the Australis, are added to The Ghan and Indian Paci c, promising a private bar stocked with Bollinger La Grande Année Champagne, a generously proportioned bedroom and en suite bathroom, and service from your own dedicated butler, who can magic up in-room private dining should you not wish to join your fellow guests in the elegant Platinum Club carriage. Meals include Aussie ingredients such as kangaroo and barramundi washed down, of course, with standout Australian wines.

Accommodation starts from £1,376; journeybeyondrail.com

MAKING WAVES

Master yachtmaker Sanlorenzo is about to drop anchor in London’s Mayfair — with a new collection that’s shaking up the nautical world

The streets and squares of Mayfair have long been a byword for top-notch design, ever since the days when Regency dandy Beau Brummell would sally forth to procure a new walking cane and top hat. Those in the know will head to Lock & Co. Hatters for a handmade Montecristi Panama hat and stop by Garrard when they need a piece of original ne jewellery. There are tailors for bespoke suits and car showrooms for the latest Aston Martin or Ferrari models. This autumn, they’ll be joined by one of the most covetable Italian heritage names in what is perhaps the ultimate in luxury goods: a private yacht.

Sanlorenzo rst took to the water in 1958, from a small coastal town near Florence. Since then, it has evolved to become one of the most innovative, stylish out ts at sea, specialising in beautiful yachts that are ahead of the curve

in design, performance and sustainability. Interiors are fully customisable and you can browse the complete Sanlorenzo collection at its new Park Lane agship showroom, from sleek, aquiline SL yachts measuring from 24 metres to the ve-decked 73Steel superyacht, weighing in at 73 metres.

“Of course, you wouldn’t just wander in and walk out with the keys to a yacht,” says Nick Hat eld, Managing Director at Sanlorenzo Yachts UK. “But having a ‘storefront’ means our clients can discuss speci cations with the team here and have a clear idea of what we’re about. We can also advise on how to get into yachting in the rst place —you may have the money, but not all our owners are experienced sailors or know their way around a boat.”

Most luxury designers enjoy an annus mirabilis of some sort, a key year aligned to a speci c, reputation-enhancing innovation. For

Previous page: Sanlorenzo is enjoying a remarkable year with three new launches, including the SD132. Clockwise: The sleek lines of the SD132; the three decks are designed for uninterrupted ocean views; the 50Steel is the world’s first yacht to have onboard hotel systems powered by green methanol; the BGF45 by sister company Bluegame will be launched this year; the SD132’s spacious design allows for a raft of amenities, such as this open-air bar area

Jaguar, the release of its XJ6 saloon car made 1968 a classic year. For Sanlorenzo, 2025 has been truly remarkable, with the launch of not one but three high-performance agship yachts over 30 metres long. At 40.7 metres and with three decks, the sleek SD132 is the largest yacht in its semi-displacement range; the SL110A is the next generation of Sanlorenzo’s bold asymmetric line; while the SX120 is its largest crossover boat, blurring the line between explorer and ybridge motor yacht, complete with a pool on the beach club that can be covered and converted into a sunpad.

These are three very di erent yachts for di erent sorts of owners, but all are designed with the shipyard’s by-now trademark approach of freeing up more space and allowing for innovative creativity. “It’s all about the volume,” says Hat eld. “Our clients are looking for more space that allows for maximum personalisation. Our yachts are like oating villas, with owners adding gyms, cinemas, wine cellars and outside dining areas to suit their lifestyles. The big di erence is they’re completely surrounded by water — and the desire for a greater connection to that water is something we’re seeing across the entire yachting industry. More space, more freedom, more sea.”

That deep connection to the water is apparent when you’re given a virtual walkaround of the new yachts at the Mayfair showroom. The cabins — which, with their e ortlessly chic Italian interiors, resemble penthouse suites — are lled with natural light streaming in through expansive windows.

The sheer beauty of Sanlorenzo’s yachts will make your imagination soar. The flyaway profile, the streamlined hull, as finely sculpted as an artwork by Bernini

Uncluttered exteriors allow for uninterrupted views of the ocean; beach-club areas (the parts of the yacht that allow for direct access to the water) have been expanded, allowing for super-spacious terraces for guests to sunbathe, dive into the water or zoom o on water toys such as sea bobs or iteboards — your own oating version of Le Club 55 to share with friends and family. While this all allows for undiluted views of the surrounding seascape, Sanlorenzo’s other major innovation is hidden out of sight.

In 2024, the shipyard launched 50Steel, a game-changing model that was the world’s rst yacht to have its onboard hotel systems powered by green methanol. As acknowledged in May at the British Motor Yacht Show, green methanol — converted onboard into hydrogen and then to electricity — is the fuel that will transform the industry on the voyage to net zero. Just as Sanlorenzo collaborates with some of the world’s most experienced yacht experts and interior designers, so it works with leading names in sustainable engineering as part of its “Road to 2030” strategy, which will not only meet the targets set by the IMO and EU but exceed them ahead of schedule. The just-launched SX120, for example, is the rst composite yacht to be equipped with the Volvo Penta IPS Professional Platform, a system that uses less fuel, creates less noise and — as it’s able to cope with a variety of power sources at the same time — can future-proof yachts.

On the horizon is the shipyard’s partnership with MAN to develop a ground-breaking — wave-breaking, if you like — propulsion system that will be unveiled in 2027 with the bi-fuel 50 X-Space, reducing navigation emissions by up to 70 per cent. And this year will also see the launch of the BGF45 by sister company Bluegame, inspired by the zero-emissions chase boat built by the shipyard for the America’s Cup in 2024, which ew across the waves at up to 50 knots, powered solely by hydrogen and using a single foil to skim above the water. The same pioneering technology will inform Bluegame’s new 45ft foil-assisted multihull — a perfect example of how cutting-edge racing foil tech can successfully be applied to the mainstream market. But while the team at Sanlorenzo’s new Mayfair showroom are more than happy to talk speci cations and carbon emissions, it’s the sheer beauty of the yachts that will make your imagination soar. The yaway pro le, the streamlined hull, as nely sculpted as an artwork by Bernini; its white keel carving through aquamarine water as you steer towards your next adventure — a private yacht that o ers romance and escape but also that can be cherished and passed down through the generations.

The Park Lane, Mayfair showroom opens later this year. sanlorenzoyachts.co.uk

CAPE crusaders

South Africa can boast the rst wines made in the southern hemisphere and today has some of the world’s most dynamic wine regions. Nina Caplan goes in search of vineyards old and new

or 17th-century world travellers, the Cape of Good Hope would have been a crucial stop: Cape Town was founded by Dutch explorers in need of a re lling station for their ships. The settlers planted vegetable gardens — and, because sailors and landlubbers considered too much sobriety nearly as dangerous as scurvy, they planted vineyards too. The rst Cape wine was drunk in 1659, and in 1685, when Simon van der Stel, the rst Governor of the Dutch Cape colony, was awarded a vast tract of land — over 750 hectares — he named it Constantia to re ect the virtue of perseverance, and that became the southern hemisphere’s rst wine region.

These days, South Africa is known for its delicious Chenin Blancs, rich Cabernet Sauvignons and distinctive Pinotages, but that overlooks a lot. On a recent trip, I sought out other varieties and lesser-known regions, from the very earliest to some of the youngsters springing up in this dynamic and exceptionally beautiful country.

It is a surprising but useful fact that, while South Africa is big (it’s just over a two-hour ight from Cape Town to Johannesberg), the main wine regions are clustered in the country’s south-west: it is just over three hours’ drive from the southern Hemel-enAarde valley to Citrusdal, once known for its lemon and lime trees but now the country’s newest, and most northern, wine frontier.

In Constantia, approximately 10 miles south of the centre of Cape Town at the base of Table Mountain, tour guide Matt

Sterne took me on his Constantia Wine Walk, an informative and very scenic tramp from Groot Constantiato Klein Constantia, both part of that original estate but separated shortly after Van der Stel died in 1714. Matt told me all sorts of stories from the region’s eventful early history: people killed by lions and elephants, a woman with ve husbands and an 18th-century owner of Groot Constantia who smoked a pipe so long he needed a slave to light it for him. From Klein Constantia’s open-air hillside tasting room, we looked out across the vineyards while tasting Clara, their saline, textured Sauvignon Blanc, and the creamy Estate Chardonnay. Constantia is known for its whites, but Klein Constantia is known for one in particular: Vin de Constance, arguably the rst icon wine. In the 18th and 19th centuries, it graced the tables of royalty; Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette of France drank it, as did Napoleon, in exile on St Helena. Made from the highly perfumed Muscat à Petits Grains grape, it is a glorious wine, honey-sweet yet with a herbal, savoury nish and heady perfumes of jasmine and orange ower. And it lasts, seemingly forever: there are still a few precious bottles around from Napoleon’s time, and this year, the estate celebrated its 340th birthday with a limited-edition release of the Vin de Constance 2010.

Winemaking isn’t easy here. As well as the usual problems of weather and economics (their currency, the rand, is weak; great for those of us buying South African wine but hard on those making it) and the inequalities

Winemaking isn’t easy here. You can lose a vineyard’s worth of grapes in a morning… to baboons

remaining from the apartheid era, you can lose a vineyard’s worth of grapes in a morning… to baboons. But very few people consider giving up and going somewhere easier.

“Constantia is the birthplace of South African wine,” said Nicky Coenen, my hostess at Last Word Constantia, a charming familyrun boutique hotel amid the vineyards that made an excellent base for my exploration of the region. “There have been vines in this valley for centuries, and it remains one of the most signi cant wine-producing areas in the country. Plus, the scenery is breathtaking!”

She’s right about that. The organic vines that make Silvermist’s white-peach Sauvignon Blanc sat on a steep hillside above a nature reserve; next door (although the door in question was down one hill and up another), a spectacular amphitheatre of vines surrounded Beau Constantia’s tasting room. It was hard to believe that, until the 1990s, this was a goat farm. The team is young, and the wines (80 per cent are reds, highly unusual for Constantia) are named after members of the owning family. Cecily is an elegant Viognier with pretty perfumes of mandarin and white owers, while the blackcurrants and black plums in the 2018 Aidan, an intense red blend that is predominantly Shiraz, make a great match for venison.

From Constantia, I made a quick trip south to Hemel-en-Aarde (which means Heaven and Earth) to take a look at Cap Maritime, the new project from Marc Kent of Boekenhoutskloof, creator of the hugely popular red blend The Chocolate Block. Those grapes originate from

the hot Swartland, farther north; this cool, coastal region is very di erent. The soils are decomposed granite, the ocean is less than four miles away, and Chardonnay and Pinot Noir thrive. They aren’t yet o cially organic but, says winemaker Gottfried Mocke, they don’t use any herbicides or insecticides — a serious commitment in a damp region (mildew and other diseases love moisture). For Kent and Mocke, it’s never about taking the easy path, or you don’t plant amid the fynbos, the exceptionally varied shrubland native to this place — and only to here. It’s beautiful, vital and now, protected: but it makes the soils more acidic. That’s not ideal for vines, which may have been here a very long time but are not, after all, indigenous plants.

It’s no coincidence that Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are also the main grapes used for Champagne: sparkling wine came about because in cooler climates, grapes take longer to ripen and tend to have higher acidity when picked — bad for still wines but ideal for bubbles. Which makes it surprising that Krone sparkling wines are made north of Swartland, in an inland region where the bright blue skies and jagged red mountain backdrop are, in every sense, a long way from northern France. Nonetheless, the estate is sandwiched between Saronsberg Mountain on one side and the Groot Winterhoek range on the other, and this creates a cold trap, ideal for the Chardonnay that goes into their three superb singlevineyard Blanc de Blancs. All of their wines are sparkling, and none are non-vintage. “I like the idea of showcasing nuances,” says Cellar

from top left: Beau Constantia’s rolling vineyards; the soils at Cap Maritime are decomposed granite, which suits Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grapes; Krone makes exclusively vintage sparkling wines; Beau Constantia’s wines are named after members of the owning family

Master Rudiger Gretschel, one of the country’s star winemakers: “I’ve never warmed to the idea of a house style.” On this estate, with its pretty whitewashed buildings and clipped lawns, incongruous against that majestic mountain setting, he grows vines on the cooler slopes, nurtures a canopy of leaves to protect the grapes from sun and harvests before the sun rises. The results are superb, complex yet fresh — the Kaaimansgat 2021, with its lime peel, white ower and subtle biscuit notes, is worth the trip alone.

Before I turned back south, I took a daytrip with Rudi farther into the mountains, to see the vineyards of Swartberg Wingerde, his personal project. His Grenache is rows of bush vines (that is, no trellising: the vines look like little bushes), growing cheerfully on a mountaintop where the soils are deep sand. Sipping his Holism, the stunning, herbaceous red he makes from them, looking out across the mountainscape to the Atlantic beyond, it occurred to me that the relatively small distances between wine regions are actually an illusion: there is such a range of grape varieties, soil types and adventurous winemakers. Over 350 years on from those Dutch colonisers’ arrival, a great deal has changed for the better, but South Africa is still a haven for any traveller with a thirst.

THURSDAY 11DECEMBER 2025

The

for All’

To the manor REBORN

If you love period properties but not the idiosyncracies they come with, it might be time to consider a new-build, heritage-style mansion

Amid a Hampshire landscape of ancient forests and protected parkland, a handsome mansion called Luckhurst could have commanded its sprawling woodland site for centuries. Except that this 14,000-square-foot house, set in 31 acres of private lawns and woodland, is a behemoth of a new build. A lockdown project that parades all the grandeur and pleasing proportions of a Georgian mansion, with none of the leaky roofs or rattling windows that come with the real thing.

“I have lots of friends with original Georgian houses that cost a fortune to heat and they can’t do much about it as their homes are often listed,” comments Luckhurst’s owner, Lex Lutzus, a 44-year-old lm producer, who — with Laburnum Associates, developers of grand recreations of heritage homes — has designed a house that’s so airtight, she rarely needs to switch on the heating.

Lutzus calls it “a listed house of the future.” It’s the place she longed for when, tired of shuttling between homes in London and LA, she wanted somewhere with space for her two children “to play and grow.” But her property hunt in peak escape-to-the-country 2020 yielded nothing but “ridiculous” prices. Instead, she bought this site, which had housed a pig farm, with planning permission for several di erent styles of properties,

including a grand 18th-century-style mansion. It hasn’t all been a picture of Regency glamour. She and her children, then aged eight and seven, lived in a static caravan on the site for the rst 10 months until they could move into the black timber Cape Cod-style four-bedroom guest lodge in the grounds.

But the resulting mansion is extraordinary, featuring seven bedrooms, six reception rooms and a central staircase that sweeps into a huge entrance hall. Its classic Georgian features, such as high ceilings and perfectly proportioned fenestration, sit seamlessly alongside cool, contemporary design, which includes a mermaid-themed bathroom for Lutzus’s daughter, with a sink made from a huge shell, and a home cinema with blackened walls and ceiling.

Lutzus also wanted great views when she is washing up, so the kitchen, typically relegated to the basement in such homes, has been given a prime spot in a huge side extension where daylight pours in from the roof and sides, and rural views go on to in nity.

So what is it like to live in a house be tting an 18th-century aristocrat? “It doesn’t feel as large as it looks,” insists Lutzus, who has put Luckhurst on the market for o ers over £10m through Knight Frank due to a change in her personal circumstances. “We designed it with lots of interconnecting spaces and wide corridors to avoid it feeling like a rabbit

warren. The big atrium means that even from the upstairs bedrooms, you can hear someone in the kitchen, so it feels cosy. And we only really use the kitchen, the cinema and our bedrooms. The rest of the house is only used when guests come.”

It’s the architectural equivalent, perhaps, of having eyes bigger than your belly — wanting a trophy mansion of which you will only ever use a fraction. But today’s high-net-worth buyers in the Home Counties want to have their cake and eat it. They love the charm of old and the convenience of new: Palladian columns and a Pilates reformer; Georgian symmetry with comfort cooling.

Modern incarnations of Tudor, Edwardian, modernist and Art Deco architecture make the odd appearance. Take Beechwood Manor in Henley-on-Thames: its ve apartments priced from £1.4m through Hamptons International are set in a new Tudor-style manor house surrounded by ancient pines. But some of the modern must-haves, such as the Quooker taps, might puzzle Henry VIII.

The go-to architecture, however, is Georgian. “Our brains are hard-wired to nd symmetry appealing, which is what draws us to classical architecture,” says Philip Harvey, a senior partner at Property Vision, a prime buying agency. “Georgian style has enduring value, it doesn’t date, and it can be dressed with furniture from various eras.”

Some buyers sell genuine period homes to buy a modern fake in the same style, adds Oliver Custance Baker, head of Strutt & Parker’s Country House department. “They will only go down the new-build route if the home they’re buying looks old. They don’t want to lose the charm of period architectural styles, but they are eager for lower upkeep.”

Mock Georgian is also the safest option, according to many agents, if you are looking for resaleability among the widest possible pool of buyers. But don’t expect to be the only one. While the most authentic replicas could hold their own on their 100-acre estates, says Surrey-based buying agent Richard Winter, “on Surrey’s Crown Estate, mock Georgian houses sit cheek by jowl. You’re likely to see a very similar house on either side of you.”

Surrey — thanks to its rolling hills, great schools and proximity to London — is the heartland of the faux mansion set, and there’s nowhere quite like Wentworth, a private estate for the super-rich, for a modern take on Georgiana. It’s less a feeling of stepping back in time and more a day out in Disneyland. “You need to wear sunglasses; these houses are so shiny,” says Oliver Rodbourne, a partner in Knight Frank’s Country Department. “They are all similar architecturally, but they all try to outdo neighbouring houses with their six-star hotel-style amenities, including oating oors that turn into swimming pools and mirrored glass walls that clear to reveal a Ferrari. It’s all about how extraordinary, lavish and eccentric you can be with your design.”

With only six per cent of all new homes in the UK designed by architects, according to RIBA — and the remainder created by major developers’ technical teams — standing out from your cookie-cutter neighbours is crucial.

At Camp End Manor, an award-winning 15,000 sq ft Regency-style mansion in St George’s Hill in Surrey, the wow factor lies in the solid stone staircase that wraps around 270 degrees. “The developer wanted to create something that made this house stand out, so the staircase was our big gesture as it’s the rst thing you see when you enter,” says the house’s architect, Andrew Paulson, partner at LA London.

For inspiration, he turned to the master: Andrea Palladio, the 16th-century Italian Renaissance architect whose love of symmetry, proportion and temple-like façades has inspired house builders for centuries ever since.

“The house is based on nine squares, like a noughts and crosses board. The middle

square houses the central staircase, and the other eight squares feed o it, so every room has a view across the staircase towards miles of countryside. It’s how Palladio did it,” explains Paulson of Camp End Manor, which went on sale for £25m upon completion in 2018.

Although most buyers are unlikely to know their Dorics from their Ionics, getting the ner details right, such as the width, height or number of columns, is essential, adds Paulson. “Even if you don’t know what it is, you can just instinctively tell when something isn’t right.”

Not everyone wanting modern luxury with a historic wrapping turns to Palladio, however.

The Wildwood Estate in Surrey has ve mansions — each set on private woodland plots of two to nine acres and priced from £4.85m–£6.65m — that replicate the area’s Arts & Crafts tradition. That means double-height windows and staircases, twisted chimneys and big overhangs on pitched roofs, explains Andrew Webb, managing director of the estate’s developer, Ashgrove Homes.

“The old style of house is appealing in this area. It harks back to a bygone age when life was simpler,” says Webb. “But if a high-networth individual buys an existing period house, they will probably want to gut it and renovate it with modern interiors, which is costly to do and a challenge if the house is listed. With a new house designed with historic character, you can have bigger rooms,

smart home control, electric gates, great security and all the other things buyers want.”

Not that building Wildwood has been a walk in the park. It took 20 years just to get planning permission. “The idea is that buyers can have input into what it looks like internally, without us needing to go back to planning,” Webb adds. “A couple of potential buyers are looking at making their homes so highly energy e cient that they are almost o -grid.”

The bells, whistles and lifestyle choices may be di erent these days, but when it comes to how the wealthy want their country mansion to look, the old masters were spot on.

Burnished BEAUTY

WORDS AVRIL GROOM

For collectors of precious jewellery, “trend” is a dirty word. These works bordering artisan craft and art are made to last, potentially for centuries, to pass down as family assets and reminders of those who have gone before. They can be remodelled to suit personal tastes, but the stones remain. As the old advert pointed out, a diamond really is forever, and even less adamantine gems are pretty durable.

Well-known gems, often spirited away during wars, may turn up years later, but in “new” settings with little resemblance to the original. Trends may be irrelevant, but the aesthetic climate slowly changes, creating long-lasting styles that are nally absorbed into the lexicon of jewellery design, to be revived when a new generation discovers them. Historic brands like Cartier use them to de ne their work, from the swags and orals of guirlande style to bolder, Art Nouveauin uenced Belle Époque, the geometric Art Deco classics and industrially inspired postmodernism — all visible in modern items.

Such movements, arising from art and architecture, take time to lter into high jewellery, let alone the mainstream. Art Deco motifs appeared in Vienna Secession art around 1910, but it was not until the 1925 exhibition of decorative art in Paris that the

Vibrant and nuanced autumn-tinted gemstones re ect the changing season but are becoming a permanent addition to any jewellery collection

term was coined and the style gained lasting prominence. Exotic lands provide inspiration. Ancient Egyptian discoveries during the 19th century in uenced Art Nouveau style, and the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1922 redirected Art Deco. The Cartier brothers’ travels to India, discovering gems and making clients of the local rulers, resulted in ornate tutti frutti designs in carved emeralds with rubies and pearls — a style still thriving at several top houses.

The latest signi cant change seems to have roots in gemstones themselves and clients’ growing knowledge, and it’s all about colour. Traditional high jewellery revolved around the big four historically precious stones — diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires with their rich, saturated shades. Everything else, over a vast colour range, was semiprecious. But as prices for diamonds, especially large, coloured ones, rose inexorably over the past 20 years and clients demanded more coloured stones, everything became “precious,” with price tags to match.

The colours of these stones, some newly discovered, are generally softer and can harmonise together, suiting contemporary tastes. Many conform to traditionally popular shades — pinks, violets, softer blues and greens. Gems in the yellow to golden spectrum, like topaz or citrine, have always

Clockwise from left: Dior Exquis high jewellery ring, 18 ct gold, yellow and pink sapphires, pink spinels, spessartite and rhodolite garnets, diamonds; Chanel Reach for the Stars high jewellery, Be the One necklace, 18 ct yellow gold, yellow sapphires, spessartite garnets, white diamonds; Piaget Shapes of Extraleganza high jewellery, Carved Artistry cu , 18 ct white gold, yellow sapphires, diamonds, troilite, chrysoprase; Chaumet Jewels by Nature high jewellery Water Lily ring, 18 ct white gold, Imperial topaz, spessartite garnets, diamonds

“You fall in love with a stone and then find a colour harmony in an unexpected encounter with other stones that balance the tones”

gured but to a lesser extent, and even yellow diamonds lacked the cachet (and price) of their colourless cousins. But now, collections are bursting with gem reworks, mixing yellow, gold, orange, cognac and browner, vintage wine shades, with all the intensity of classic stones and often more vivacity.

Worked with daring, these shades captivate customers in a way not seen since shimmering “swimming pool” Paraiba tourmalines arrived on the scene three decades ago. The only way to describe this mix is autumn tints (think New England, not soggy old England), but this is not a trend — these pieces are for life. Not coincidentally, these shades also sparkled in the creatively fertile 1960s, which in uenced so much design today. Jeweller Francesca Grima, daughter of iconic 1960s designer Andrew, sees the link rsthand. “I love these golden shades, as my father did — he saw them as beautiful but unconventional, appreciating their richness, warmth and individuality at a time when most jewellers were using cooler tones or classic gemstones,” she says. “They can be camou aged by gold metal around them, but our signature gold techniques are textured so the stones stand out.” She believes these shades can still surprise, with the shift in perception due “to the resurgence of 1960s/70s colours in fashion and interiors, plus a growing appetite for distinctive,

personal pieces.” Grima carries original items, alongside Francesca’s contemporary designs. Swiss jeweller and watchmaker Piaget also has 1960s history. “When we started textured gold, ornamental stone-dialled cu watches in 1963, it caused a stir, and our clients asked for matching jewellery, so our artisans created it with their own style and techniques,” says Design Studio Director Stéphanie Sivrière. “Warm colour mixes entered our DNA, and now we nd a wonderful variety of unusual stones at places such as the Tucson Gem Showcase. You fall in love with a stone and then nd a colour harmony in an unexpected encounter with other stones that balance the tones. So in our Carved Artistry pieces, the yellow sapphire could be diminished by the strong blue troilites and green chrysoprases, but instead, it tames them.”

No gems have had greater success than deeply hued yellow diamonds. In the early 1960s they were less pricey alternative engagement rings to the awless, colourless solitaires that many brides-to-be lusted after. Now, the record stands at $16.3m for the 190-carat Gra Vivid Yellow, sold by Sotheby’s. Traditionally, such stones are set in platinum or white gold with white diamond surrounds, which works for a rich yellow but does paler shades no favours. A yellow gold setting can bring the stone alive and allows it to mix with

late last year, gems in the Sunny Days brooch, alongside diamonds, are yellow sapphires, spessartite garnets, yellow beryl and pink spinels, while Be the One pieces explode with diamonds, yellow sapphires and garnets.

Spinels, sapphires, beryl, topaz and tourmalines come in a wide variety of colours, used by top brands such as Pomellato (tawny orange or brown tourmaline earrings), Chaumet (aged-claret brown spinels and pink-tinged orange Padparascha sapphires), Dior (mixed tourmalines). Others play with myriad colour variants of one gem, like Mellerio’s Pierreries masterpiece necklace of citrines from pale lemon to deepest sherry, with mixed gold shades including green for tiny leaves, Damiani’s Ballo a Ca’ d’Oro ring in many variants of yellow sapphire or De Beers’ tonal shades of rough diamond. Mikimoto’s ring matches yellow diamond pavé to a magni cent golden South Sea pearl, Messika surrounds a glorious pear-shaped orange garnet with graduated colour pavé, and vintage citrine beads adorn the buckle of a unique handmade evening bag with couture embroidery by Lesage, for Roger Vivier. Some designers seek contemporaneity with unexpected materials. London rm Robinson

Pelham makes elegant rings with bright, cold-enamel bezels complementing faceted lemon beryl or rock crystal ovals, while Anabela Chan, who specialises in lab-grown stones, links them with a new, translucent, high-tech resin-like material synthesised from fruit and vegetable waste. Chinese designer Anna Hu’s Golden Harvest butter y pin features titanium delicately coloured to re ect the intense orange and green of the splendid cabochon re opal at its heart. In stunning mixes of ancient and modern or high and low, independent designer Glenn Spiro mixes angular citrines with the rounded softness of 18th-century Baoulé gold from West Africa, or a rare, 13.7 carat cognac diamond with lowly bronze backed, of course, with gold.

Even with such a fascinating variety of yellow-spectrum stones, there are still new discoveries. Several pieces in Cartier’s new En Équilibre collection feature Umba sapphires, which come from a single valley in Tanzania and possess such sparkling clarity of soft golden-orange-brown shades that it is like looking through a glass of well-aged whisky. A bold combination with vivid black opals is a perfect example of Sivrière’s unexpected encounters, and an eloquent statement of the long-term presence of autumn tints in our jewellery lives.

18

East

The reel DEAL

The British lm industry is back with a con dent bang, with investment, world-class talent and facilities, and the support of the movie world’s movers and shakers. Charlotte Metcalf grabs her popcorn and looks at the slate of cinematic releases coming this autumn

As the days chill and shorten, the cinema calls. Yet in recent years, with the US writers’ strike and the pandemic, our lm diet seems to have largely consisted of superhero action movies, but all that is changing.

Helen Simmons is a successful screenwriter and a Screen Star of Tomorrow. Her features include the BAFTA-nominated Hoard, and the Crystal Bear-winning Last Swim, which she also co-wrote. She’s a director of Erebus Productions, which is making 100 Nights of Hero, based on the graphic novel, and A Hand Rises, Louise Stern’s debut set in a close-knit deaf community. “For a while, everyone thought they should be doing TV, but now

television’s hit a bit of a rough patch,” says Helen. “There’s less money, things are more expensive, so it’s much harder for young producers and newer companies to break in. Also, TV will restrict itself to one show a year on a particular topic, whereas cinema’s scope is much broader, and it’s more about the author and director — the style, the vision and how the story’s told. It feels like there’s an appetite for taking risks again, and people are going back into lm after a period of super-safe superhero lms.”

Steve Milne is Vice Chairman of Cinelab, the UK’s biggest major lm lab, which also processes digital movies. “There’s a resurgence of people wanting to shoot

on lm, a bit like vinyl making a comeback,” he says. “Anora and The Brutalist were shot on lm, and the Narnia lm will also be on celluloid. The size of UK studio space has doubled in a few years. We have wonderful crews and creativity, and people like Tom Cruise love being here for the culture. There are so many exciting new autumn releases, from Downton Abbey to My Oxford Year, and coming later is Martin McDonagh’s thriller, Wild Horse Nine, starring Sam Rockwell and shot on Easter Island, which is stunningly cinematic.”

Judy Wells, PR Director at the BFI (British Film Institute) echoes Steve’s enthusiasm, saying, “The UK has an enviable, state-of-theart infrastructure with studios across our nation, world-class crews, superb technical expertise, cutting-edge post-production and VFX facilities, and of course some of the most iconic locations in the world.”

The BFI is a major supporter of the British lm industry and is known for its cultural programmes at BFI Southbank and BFI IMAX, alongside its popular London Film Festival in October. It’s also the UK’s National Lottery Distributor for lm and it lobbied for the enhanced tax credit, introduced by the Government in April, which allows productions with a budget of £15 million

to receive 40 per cent tax relief. “The industry support was overwhelming, from Ridley Scott and Barbara Broccoli to Tilda Swinton and Mike Leigh,” says Judy. “The Government also increased funding for the UK Global Screen Fund, which provides essential support for UK lms to succeed here and internationally.”

Hilary Bevan Jones is an eminent television producer who instigated the annual Watersprite Festival to showcase short lms and the best student talent from around the world. “This year, we had 2,000 submissions from over 100 countries and we hosted 30,000 from 79 countries in-person and online,” she says. “The festival culminated in our Awards Ceremony, supported by Amazon MGM Studios, and the nominated lms were breathtaking. There’s such an appetite for lm with lots of new talent coming through.”

Meanwhile, Erebus Productions is about to shoot Glory B, a Greek-Italian-UK coproduction, and early next year, will shoot the follow-up to Hoard, which had its world premiere at Venice Critics Week and won four awards.

“In a way, Brexit and the current state of Hollywood have made British producers look towards Europe to foster relationships,” says Helen, “and the BFI’s Global Screen Fund helps international co-productions, which is really

“Independent

film is where stories about and by people from the UK are told, reflecting the rich diversity of lives in Britain and where creative risk-taking happens”

buoying up the kind of work we’re doing with the Italians and Greeks.”

“Independent lm is where stories about and by people from the UK are told, re ecting the rich diversity of lives in Britain and where creative risk-taking happens,” adds Judy.

“The independent sector creates jobs and allows lmmakers, crews and actors to learn their skills — Christopher Nolan, for example, who directed Oppenheimer and is now making The Odyssey, started his career in UK independent lm, as did Lynne Ramsay, who is currently working in the US on her much-anticipated Die, My Love, starring Jennifer Lawrence.”

Judy’s pick of upcoming lms supported by the Global Screen Fund are Saipan, a UK-Irish co-production, starring Steve Coogan, and The Occupant from the UK, Netherlands and Georgia. Other lms to watch include Islands, a thriller set in the Canary Islands; Urchin, which won Frank Dillane the Best Actor award in Un Certain Regard at Cannes; My Father’s Shadow, a UK-Nigerian co-production; biker lm Pillion, starring Alexander Skarsgård; and Brides, the rst lm from the Young Vic’s artistic director, Nadia Fall.

“The National Film and Television School and the BFI Film Academy have also received additional Government support, a lifeline for ensuring we have a talent pool to continue our legacy of world-class lmmaking,” concludes Judy. “It demonstrates that the Government truly understands the value of our creative industries and global soft power. Its support has been a shot in the arm and is one of the most game-changing interventions in lm policy since the 1990s. It means that UK independent producers can really get back into producing lms.

“While it’s still challenging to nance a lm, there’s a new optimistic mood, and our excellent resources and crews are continuing to attract lmmakers and production companies worldwide. Many lms and TV shows are made here now, from Mission Impossible, Barbie and Wicked to Bridgerton, Sex Education and Game of Thrones

“Meanwhile, we’re seeing independent productions shooting here, like Giant, a biopic about Prince Naseem Hamed starring Pierce Brosnan and Fady Elsayed. From the autumn, the cinema will be a truly exciting place to be.”

Anti-clockwise: The thriller Islands is set in Fuerteventura; Brides, Nadia Fall’s feature-length debut, follows two friends who run away from the UK to Syria

Five to watch:

HAMNET

Paul Mescal and Jessie Buckley star in this eagerly awaited adaptation of Maggie O’Farrell’s novel about Shakespeare and his wife, Agnes, mourning the death of their son, Hamnet, to plague. Co-produced by Sam Mendes’s production company, Neal Street, Chloé Zhao, Oscar-winning director of Nomadland, directs.

THE CHORAL

Acclaimed theatre director Nicholas Hytner collaborates once again with Alan Bennett on his comic screenplay set in 1916 about two members of a Yorkshire choral society, played by Ralph Fiennes and Simon Russell Beale, who recruit teenagers to perform Edward Elgar’s The Dream of Gerontius.

BRIDES

In Nadia Fall’s feature-length debut, this lm follows two best friends, played by Ebada Hassan and Sa yya Ingar, who run away from the UK to travel to Syria. Written by Suhayla El-Bushra, it’s an Italian-British co-production.

THE THING WITH FEATHERS

Benedict Cumberbatch stars in this eerie drama, adapted from Max Porter’s classic 2015 novel, Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, in which a father and his sons cope with the sudden loss of their wife and mother, and grief is personi ed as a crow.

RABBIT TRAP

In this psychological folk-horror lm set in 1973, Dev Patel and Rosy McEwen star as a married couple relocating from London to an isolated cabin in Wales. They accidentally stumble into a ring of mischievous fairies, leading to the disturbing appearance of a strange, ill-intentioned child.

AROUND the clock

Over-complex watch complications are being cleverly simpli ed to make user-friendly luxury models for globetrotters itting through time zones

As a frequent traveller, I cannot think of a watch complication as useful as a world timer or dualtime watch, which can show the time anywhere in the world or, when you are travelling, the hour at home. Complications are extra functions which invariably add considerably to the price and beauty of the piece, but not often to your lifestyle because of the complications (they are well-named) of setting them.

The very popular moonphase? I have a few and they are very pretty, but not useful enough to mention unless you have a phase and date timetable to set them by, along with a special pin to adjust them. The chronograph suggests “sporty person” ownership, but how many of those people actually set and use them?

But the world timer I get, as someone who has occasionally phoned home to nd I’ve got the wrong half of the 24-hour clock. Today, many brands are nding ingenious ways to make them user-friendly, adjusted quickly via the crown, and in a wider price range, so now the world timer is a standard model in comparatively moderately priced ranges.

There are several ways to show time di erences. The “simplest” has an extra hand, often in a di erent colour, which you move forward or back to indicate the time at home, while the main hands show the time where you are. The best ones also indicate whether your home is in day or night time. Some, like the Jaeger-LeCoultre classic, Reverso Tribute, have two dials working on one movement — not simple at all.

Next up is the GMT watch, with a 24-hour dial based on the Greenwich meridian at 12 o’clock. These often look sporty, reminiscent of a diving watch, with a rotating bezel to set the hours forward or back, with the “daylight” half of the bezel in a paler colour than the “night” half. These previously used to be an upmarket speciality, though smaller modern movements, lighter builds and micro-rotors have produced great mid-market examples, including Longines’ Spirit Zulu Time and Tudor’s Black Bay 58 GMT, both with 24-hour bi-directional bezels — the former newest in deep green, the latter in black and the brand’s new star colour, burgundy — and waterproof screw-down crowns. TAG Heuer has revived the 1955-originated Twin Time, now part of its

Carrera range, in a handsome teal green and white mix, with period-style numerals and a day-night 24-hour indicator bezel. The Bulgari Aluminium GMT X Fender, with its brown rubber bezel and Stratocaster-inspired dial, is the supercool option, while Bremont’s Altitude Chronograph GMT is a serious, military-style tool watch.

This worthwhile group was recently joined by German brand Nomos’s brilliant Club Sport Neomatik Worldtimer, with a modernised version of city airport codes, 24-hour indicator ring and the home time hand in a neat day-night subdial. The GMT mechanism, simply adjusted via a pusher, is integrated with the slim, in-house movement creating, at under 10 mm, one of the thinnest GMTs yet. With a sunburst dial in rich blue or midcentury inspired silver, plus limited edition, brighter colourways, this is a bargain at under £4,000, like the Bulgari and Longines, with the Tudor and TAG Heuer a shade higher, and the Bremont with its extra function under £6,000.

Most complex is the cities world timer, which often has a rotating outer ring, illustrated with names of cities or isolated islands in major oceans, one for each of the

24 time zones, and as artistically impressive as mechanically masterful.

Some come from grandes marques with almost a century’s experience with world timers yet their built-to-last classics are re ned almost yearly. Rolex’s diver-style GMT-Master II is timeless and more obviously sporty, renewed this year with the brand’s rst dial in ultra-durable Cerachrom alloy in dark green matched to the black and green bi-directional bezel, modern style plus a white gold case. Vacheron Constantin’s modern Overseas Dual Time in stainless steel with silver dial and subtle red details is at home on sports eld or boardroom, while on the re-imagined tradition of Hermès’ Le Temps Voyageur the local time dial wanders round the city ring while the home hours rotate through a window at 12. It comes in two sizes; the smaller (38 mm) includes a rose gold version featuring a mother-of-pearl dial, soft grey strap and diamond bezel. It’s less slender than some but plainly tilting adventurously at a female market.

Top independent brands supply a wealth of innovation at a price, creating complex

mechanisms and spectacular designs that are still simple to use. Armin Strom’s Dual Time GMT Resonance places side by side two identical but independently set dials with day-night indicators, showing home and away times at a glance, belying the complex movement. Minutes and hours on each dial are set separately, allowing for fractional hour di erences.

Bovet’s astounding Récital 30 (titanium) addresses an old bugbear of world timers — their inability to calculate for daylight saving. Twenty-four tiny rollers, fanning out around the dial and each marked with a city name, can be rotated to show the time under the four regimes, covering about a third of the world’s countries. A smaller roller adjusts the chosen regime, while the guilloché centre features a 24-hour ring and day-night indicator. India is a growing market, and an arrow ash between the Maldives and Dhaka marks the half-hour time di erence of Delhi. The Récital is derived from a larger, multi-functional model but packs 373 components into a 42 mm case, adjusted via the crown and two pushers. In contrast with this patrician style, Cyrus’s

Dominion GMT is an avant-garde, slightly industrial-looking beast, but still only 42 mm. A standard 12-hour dial, adjusted from the crown, surrounds a smaller, retrograde, 24-hour dial for home time with simple, pusher adjustment. In Grade 5 titanium, its slender, radiating bridges have a rose gold galvanic treatment, creating an unexpected mix of brutalism and beauty. Very di erent from models with partial-display mechanics, Parmigiani’s steel Tonda PF GMT Rattrapante is the one you wouldn’t recognise. Calling it e ortless is an understatement; the brand’s DNA is minimalist and movement complexities are mostly hidden. At rst glance, this sleek beauty, with its guilloché dial in a soft, distinctly “Farrow and Ball” shade, looks like a normal two-hander with an openwork white gold hour hand. So it is, showing your local time, but a pusher pops out a rose gold hand, hitherto gliding in lock step underneath, to advance in hourly increments and mark home time, a unique mechanism. When you return home, pressing the rose gold centre of the crown stows it back to invisibility, a new and elegant way to de ne a second time zone.

Finally, a plea. The patriarchal past assumed that men travelled on business while women kept the home res burning; a view that apparently persists despite all contrary evidence. The GMT still seems a “masculine” complication, partly because it can add bulk to the movement and depth to the case, but although that is changing, GMTs aimed at women remain rare. The template is Patek Philippe’s beautiful ref. 7130 in blue-grey and white gold or deep olive and rose gold, 36 mm and immensely subtle despite the wealth of information on its classic city ring, a centre of ne guilloché and an un ashy diamond bezel. At the opposite level, Perrelet’s Weekend GMT includes feminine shades like ice blue, mint green and salmon, but at 39 mm, it is essentially non-gendered. In between is the Hermès, but as women now routinely wear watches up to 39–40 mm, some of the slimmer models mentioned, notably the Nomos or Parmigiani, would atter a female wrist. But come on, watch brands. Next time you y in business, observe the proportion of female professionals who could doubtless love, and a ord, this useful complication.

GIVING | LIVING | NATURE | NURTURE

SET THE MOOD FOR COSY EVENINGS

A CUT ABOVE

Founded in 2019 by textile collectors Eugenia Penta and Francesca Filipo, Vernisse’s refined womenswear is crafted exclusively from vintage, antique or existing luxury fabrics, primarily made of natural fibres. From 70s-inspired silk blouses to relaxed-fit printed trousers, each piece is carefully considered, only available in very limited releases, and handmade in Italy. Bespoke orders are also available, with a complimentary aftercare service designed to extend the garment’s lifespan. vernisse.it

STROKE OF GENIUS

French glassmakers Lalique partnered with the René Magritte Foundation to create a crystal perfume flacon inspired by the artist’s 1950 work, La Valse Hésitation. Handcrafted in Alsace, France, each flacon contains 250ml of Extract de Parfum composed by perfumer Véronique Nyberg. Numbered edition of 250. £2,150, lalique.com

FRESHLY SQUEEZED

As part of its ‘Charms for Change’ initiative, Loquet worked with chef and author Skye McAlpine on a limited-edition 18k solid gold Lemon Charm, set with a cabochon quartzite jade and tsavorite. Part of the proceeds will go to Chefs in Schools, a charity working to improve food and food education in schools across the UK. £450, loquetlondon.com

WHAT A GEM

Made from lapis lazuli, green onyx or nephrite, Asprey’s semi-precious stone boxes are handcrafted by artisans based in Afghanistan in partnership with Turquoise Mountain, the non-profit organisation founded by His Majesty King Charles III to help rebuild Kabul. Working directly with local artisan communities in Afghanistan, Myanmar, Saudi Arabia and the Levant, Turquoise Mountain supports more than 11,000 artisans across 81 craft traditions. Semi-precious stone box in Lapis Lazuli, £695, asprey.com

MANE COURSE

Free from artificial flavours, preservatives and refined sugars, Omoss drinks are made with organic sea moss, sustainably sourced from Ireland’s Atlantic coast, blended with other superfoods, including lion’s mane, pomegranate and ashwagandha. The climate charity Project Zero receives 4.4 per cent of profits. £44 for a pack of 12, omoss.co.uk

LIVING

INTERIORS | DECORATION | HOME

GARDENING LEAVE

Buchanan Studio, the soigné design company founded by husband-and-wife team Angus and Charlotte Buchanan, has launched a stylish outdoor collection for Indian Summer nights. Using hard-wearing textiles and woven in Italy from water-resistant material, the range starts from £1,995 for a stool. buchanan.studio

MAKE A SPLASH

Drawing inspiration from ancient Greco-Roman mythology, Luke Edward Hall’s collection for the porcelain company Ginori 1735 reveals winged seahorses, octopuses and fish, alongside rope motifs and lush coastal scenes. With the Greek god Neptune as inspiration, as well as his bride Salacia, the plates, serving bowls and platters provide a joyful centrepiece for the dining table. Gifting opportunities include trinket boxes, teapots and shell-adorned bowls. Prices from £66 for a bread plate. ginori1735.com

STYLE STATEMENT

When founder James Lowther bought his first piece of lacquer in Burma in 1999 it sparked the start of an enduring love a air. Now sourcing the skills from the most highly skilled artisans in Vietnam, The Lacquer Company commissions designers such as Veere Grenney for their arresting collections. This large gazebo side table in Mimosa also comes in other colours, including Marine Blue and Oxblood. £1,550. thelacquercompany.co.uk

SET IN STONE

Members’ club interior design company Restoration Hardware arrived in the UK with a bang in 2023 when it took over historic Aynhoe Park estate in Oxfordshire. Harking back to the sculptural designs of 1970s postmodernism, the new Ponti table, designed by Vivek Chaudhary, o ers a bold silhouette that makes a centrepiece for any living room with options including Grey Emperador and Italian Arabescato marble. From £1,535 for members and £2,195 for non-members. rh.com

NURTURE

WELLBEING | FAMILY | SPA

CREATURE COMFORTS

Located a breezy 20 minutes from the thrum of Marrakech, the Selman is a lush jewel box of a resort, o ering one of the most luxurious stays in the Blue City. Famed for its beautiful Arabian horses that may have the chicest quarters on the planet — the Jacques Garcia-designed stables where Madonna held her 60th birthday (yes, in the stable block), guests can take part in Equine Therapy sessions with the on-site master trainer. This season, the hotel also unveils a stunning new restaurant, Sabo. The Belle Époque-inspired ne dining eatery is overseen by multi-Michelin-starred chef Jean-François Piège, with Garcia’s creative ourish celebrating the hotel’s Arab-Moorish aesthetic. O ering French classics with a Moroccan twist, expect Oualidia prawns ambéed with cognac to Champagne-soaked berries garnished with rosebuds. selman-marrakech.com

A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN

Located in the verdant tranquillity of Sri Lanka’s Central Highlands, the Aarunya Nature Resort is a 10-room retreat blending local craft, architecture and ecological integrity. It has unveiled its Sol Sanctuary villa, which focuses on the celestial. The two-bedroom villa has crescent-moon plunge pools and oculi for stargazing. The resort o ers an array of Ayurvedic wellness journeys and estate-grown cuisine. Rooms from £371 (incl. taxes and service); aarunyaresort.com

A WINNING SMILE

Cutting-edge brand Rüh Dental has launched in Harrods, making it the first dentistry practitioner to enter the historic department store. O ering a range of same-day cosmetic and orthodontic services, treatments include teeth whitening, hygiene, smile makeovers and dental implants. The fourth clinic in the group, including Manchester, Fleet Street and Notting Hill Gate, the service also includes a dental concierge who will follow up with patients post treatments. Located in the Wellness Clinic on the fourth floor, Rüh joins other well-respected practitioners such as osteopath Fernando Bidino. ruhdental.com

DOWN TO EARTH

Keep autumn showers at bay with Wheat’s latest childrenswear collection. Inspired by the natural Scandinavian landscape, the colour palette focuses on muted earth tones — soft browns, moss greens, muted blues and warm greys. These calming colours are perfect for creating a serene and cohesive wardrobe, reflecting the simplicity and elegance of Scandi design. Key pieces include corduroy garments, woollen items in soft greys and cosy knits. Otu rainwear jacket £54.95; wheat.co.uk

NATURE

THE GREAT OUTDOORS | ECO-AWARENESS | SUSTAINABILITY

HARVEST FESTIVAL

Inspired by the global food waste crisis, jeweller Anabela Chan developed Fruit GemsTM, a collection of coloured gemstones with pigments synthesised from natural fruits and vegetables such as spinach, blue spirulina and purple sweet potato. The pigments are bonded and stabilised with a bio-resin foundation — also derived from plants including corn, soybean and agave — before being either cut and polished like regular gemstones or cast into shape. Elixir Rings from £1,190, anabelachan.com

WALK ON THE WILD SIDE

Our Habitas Namibia o ers a three-night safari within the 51,000-hectare private Kalahari nature reserve. Look out for aardvarks, honey badgers and hyenas, and stay in a Tented Savanna Room, featuring a private outdoor terrace for wildlife observation. Guests can also embark on bush walks hosted by the San people, the native Bushmen, to learn about tracking and medicinal plants. Packages from £2,334, ourhabitas.com

SPORTING CHANCE

Up the style ante at tee time with Brioni’s new capsule collection, designed speci cally for golfers. Stay cool on the course with washable technical wool jumpers, and beat showers and sudden gusts of wind with jackets made from recycled technical bres. There’s also a selection of accessories, from club covers to clip, tee and ball holders to complete your kit (and help lower your handicap). From £360, brioni.com

ON THE NOSE

Switching scents to mark the changing of the seasons? Made in small batches using natural ingredients and released on the Autumn Solstice, Ffern’s new, limited-edition fragrance is inspired by the orchard, blending natural crab apple and pear extracts with pink peppercorn, lemon rind, blue chamomile from the Nile Valley and cognac oil from Transylvania. £89, join the waitlist at ern.co

Hot shot

Poroto Cambiaso, the Argentine world champion polo player and Richard Mille brand partner, on what it takes to reach the pinnacle of the sport

What’s the best way to start playing polo?

You’ve got to really love horses. I started being around them in Córdoba, on my family’s farm [Poroto is the seventh generation of the Cambiaso family to take to the polo eld]. Learning to ride and having a lot of con dence with the horse is very important.

How do you get really good at it?

I had the chance from a very young age to compete in di erent tournaments. I practised a lot at La Dol na, our family club. I spent many hours playing and training. I think that’s the best way, and taking part in competitions helps too.

What are the three most important bits of kit?

I’d say there are four. The helmet, which is crucial for safety; the knee guards and boots; and the polo mallet, of course.

How do you avoid getting injured?

Polo is a dangerous sport. You go fast on

a 500 kg horse, around 60 kilometres per hour, trying to hit the ball with the mallet while other players try to take it from you. It’s vital to follow the rules of the game for safety and to avoid accidents.

How do you keep t for polo? What other sports help?

I train every day and go to the gym. I have my routine with my physical coach. But I also play other sports, like football, which I really enjoy.

How has the polo game changed over the years, and how do you keep abreast of it? The sport has changed a lot. It’s more professional now. Everyone trains; people are more conscious about their diet, and the game is faster. You need to be physically prepared. Polo will keep evolving.

What’s the hardest shot that a player will have to make?

That’s the one that decides a match or a championship.

What is the biggest no-no as a polo player?

I think, like any high-level athlete, not taking care of yourself. Generally, you’ll have a very busy schedule and travel a lot, so you need to look after your body, exercise, eat well, not go out too much and stay focused.

Which horses make the best polo ponies?

With horses, genetics are very important. You need to know how to select and buy. You have to invest in horses and think long-term. I buy many horses from La Dol na breeding, which has some of the best bloodlines in the world.

What’s the ultimate goal for a polo player?

Winning the Argentine Open is the biggest ambition. It’s the tournament every professional polo player wants to win. It’s not about the money. Honestly, it’s the most competitive tournament in the world. It’s about glory. That’s what de nes you as a player.

richardmille.com