brummell march 2011
DESCRIPTION
Brummell Magazine March 2011TRANSCRIPT
MARCH 2011
Measuring upBESPOKE AND tAilOR-MADE SuitS / tHE E-tyPE, 50 yEARS ON / RACEHORSE OwNERSHiP tHE wORlD’S BESt Hi-Fi / REMOtE luxuRy tRAvEl / MOtORSPORt-iNSPiRED wAtCHES
tHE littlE BlACK BOOK FOR tHE City
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CONTENTS | BRUMMELL 11
Foreword
Clients tire of identisuited bankers with
identical PowerPoint presentations, says
David Charters. Let loose the individualists
Money no object The spirit of Coco Chanel lives on in the
sparkling fine jewellery collection
BeaumondeNews
The latest watches and tech; a New York
boutique hotel; a luxurious Land Rover
and an exclusive Brummell readers’ event
Women’s accessories
Bright, colourful shoes, belts and bags to
bring some vitality to a neutral wardrobe
After the City
The Cad & Dandy is the new tailor on the
Row, set up by two former Square Milers
FeaturesSuperior sound systems
At hi-fi’s high end, a system can be a work
of art, with style, engineering and price
(even colour) to match an Aston Martin
Tailor-made suitsWith the emphasis on customers’ needs,
it’s easy to forget each tailor has a personal
style. Find the one that works best for you.
Travel Ladakh is India’s most remote region, but
now you can explore it in style, stopping
off in beautiful, refurbished houses
Style
Lightweight suits and accessories that
keep their cool in the urban jungle
Watches
Tracing the historic connection between
motor-racing and chronograph watches
Racehorse ownership
Why buying into a syndicate can bring
thrills, spills and profitable horseplay
By George
The E-type Jaguar: 50 years old and still
one of the most gorgeous cars in the world
14
17
19
22
24
26
29
33
37
43
46
50
Contents
Show Media Brummell editorial 020 3222 0101
Editor
Joanne Glasbey
Art Director
Dominic Bell
Associate Editor
Henry Farrar-Hockley
Chief Sub Editor
Chris Madigan
Picture EditorJuliette Hedoin
Designer
Hillary Jayne
Sub Editors
Sarah Evans, Gill Wing
Fashion Director
Tamara Fulton
Styling Assistant Pop Kampol
Senior Art Director Ciara Walshe
Creative Director
Ian Pendleton
Managing Director
Peter Howarth
Advertising & Events Director
Duncan McRae
07816 218059
showmedia.net
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Colour reproduction by Fresh Media Group, wearefmg.com
Printed by The Manson Group, manson-grp.co.uk
Brummell is designed and produced by Show Media Ltd
and distributed with Financial News. All material ©
Show Media Ltd. Reproduction in whole or in part without
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effort is made to ensure the accuracy of the information
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contained in this publication is correct at the time of
going to press. £5 (where sold).
Cover illustration by Janine Rewell
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A QUEST FOR DEPTH.
foreword | brummell 15
I had a dream recently. No, not one of those. A bad one. I dreamt that the whole investment banking industry had been subsumed within a single global monoculture. That gigantic, soulless finance factories were churning out identical, commoditised products on a colossal scale, on vast trading floors staffed by identikit, one-dimensional functionaries. They were all dressed alike, all went to the same business schools and thought identically. They even sounded the same, communicating in a mid- Atlantic accent about bandwidth, traction and alpha. Luckily it was only a dream. I think.
It is often said – not least by me – that investment banking is the triumph of form over substance. Presentation is everything. Get that right and everything else will follow. Or not. At every firm, a huge amount of focus and effort goes into achieving an industry standard of presentation material that covers, well, exactly the same things everyone else covers. The frustration is that reaching the standard does not win you the business, but not reaching it almost certainly excludes you.
I’m old enough to recall when PowerPoint presentations were regarded as novel; now we produce them on an industrial scale. As clients disappear beneath piles of paper produced after all-nighters by sweating teams of analysts and associates, it is clear that the personal touch is needed in investment banking as never before.
I had the good fortune to start my investment banking career at SG Warburg, a firm that prided itself on its ability to hire and retain smart people from diverse backgrounds, who were individuals. Warburg had a strong corporate culture, but it also felt personal. It sounds like a cliché from a corporate branding consultant, but Warburg, in the old days, was family. It was tough and competitive, but we liked being there and took an awful lot of pride in what we did. And when we met prospective clients, we had an understated confidence and assurance that went far beyond anything you can put in a PowerPoint. I’d like to claim we were unique,
As clients disappear under piles
of paper produced after all-
nighters, it’s clear the personal
touch is needed as never before
but Cazenove had a similar feel, as did Morgan Grenfell and probably half a dozen others.
By contrast, US firms pitched for business like machines, using identical terminology, making an impact by using individuals with Big Verbal Presence – typically tall, well-built former football players or marines who spoke in loud, deep voices – and for a while they won. Our response was to try to be like them, because they were Wall Street-cool, clearly successful, and had to represent the future.
Luckily, this did not last forever. The investment banking business evolves fast and dinosaurs don’t get the chance to hang around for long. The slick presentational style of the big battalions came to be seen for what it was – an artificial construct that could have been designed by machines or, failing that, management consultants and, in the end, lacked both humanity and integrity.
Anyone hiring a professional services firm likes the assurance of getting a good brand name but, more importantly, wants to hire individuals whom they feel they know and can trust and respect. Robots need not apply. Doing an IPO or a takeover may be everyday meat and drink to the investment bankers, but, for the client, it could be the first – possibly the only – time they do it. If it goes wrong, they will carry the scars for ever. It might end their careers. So the human factors are critical.
Do you care? Will you be there for them in adversity? If you look them in the eye and ooze sincerity, do you mean it? Thank goodness you can’t yet bottle authenticity any more than you can box up individuality.
With regulation suits and a by-the-book approach to business,
it is easy for bankers to appear identical and robotic. What clients
really want is a touch of authentic character and hinterland;
they’re looking, if you will, for a well-rounded peg in the Square Mile
words David Charters Photography Eda Ekaltun
Let loose the
individualists
So, how do you show these critical qualities? Where is the scope for the personal touch? How do you best project awesomeness without looking like a great white shark in a suit?
It certainly isn’t in the way you dress. Men in the Square Mile dress not to stand out. If they dress down, they wear identical chinos and polo shirts. If they wear suits, the maximum scope for being different, showing how daring they are, is in choosing a flashy scarlet lining that makes their tailor silently wince. Yes, it says, I’m sober and conservative on the outside, but inside I’m racy and daring (or vulgar and tasteless).
Suits, ties, shoes, cufflinks, even watches have gone the way of the PowerPoint presentation. Of course, a successful banker should wear a Patek Philippe. Not doing so might mean you haven’t been successful enough to afford one. Get these things wrong and you fail, get them right and you don’t necessarily win. Are we really so superficial?
The best way to come across as an individual is to be one. When David Yarrow of Clareville Capital published Nowhere, his extraordinary collection of photographs from remote regions of the world, in aid of his chosen charities, he stood out. Yes, he really had been to all those places; yes, he was lucky to walk away when his microlight crashed in the Sahara desert; and, yes, the photographs are of a professional standard. But this is his hobby. His day job is running money. That’s impressive.
And it harks back to the old days, before PowerPoint. Bankers stood out as impressive individuals because they were. They could not afford to be one-dimensional, all work and no play, narrow specialists knowing more and more about less and less. They had the time – or made it – to pursue their passions, to do good works and to listen to and understand their clients. Unrealistic? Back to the future even? Yes, please. Let’s not just look the part, let’s be it. I’m off to the Antarctic next year. ‘Where Egos Dare’ by David Charters is published by Elliott & Thompson, priced £6.99
MONEY NO OBJECT | BRUMMELL 17
When Gabrielle Chanel launched
her first jewellery collection, called
Bijoux de Diamants, in 1932, she
intepreted her signature camellia,
bows, stars and feathers in
spectacular diamond designs.
For her, these stones represented
‘the greatest value in the smallest
volume’. Coco’s beloved feather
theme was the inspiration for
Chanel’s high jewellery collection
shown at last autumn’s Biennale
des Antiquaire, projecting the
creative freedom and visionary
modernity of the original pieces
into fine contemporary styles, like
this extraordinary necklace. The
‘Eventail’ is made of 18-carat white
gold, and includes two pear-cut
diamonds, 601 white brilliant-cut
diamonds, 250 black diamonds,
plus a pink sapphire and two fresh
water pearls. The piece highlights
how the house has reinterpreted
Coco Chanel’s designs for a
modern age and embraced her
creative instinct: ‘My love of things
that glitter has inspired me to try
to combine elegance and fashion
through the medium of jewellery.’
chanel.com
Photography Bruce Anderson
Words Joanne Glasbey
Coco’s beloved feathered camellia
is reimagined with 853 diamonds
PLUME
BLOOM
19news | beAumonde
A heritage timepiece, ultra-thin netbook and an exclusive tailoring event
striking defender Though we have long revered the
Action Man credentials of the Land
Rover Defender, its rugged charm
and austere comfort levels have
never really chimed with the
workaday backdrop of the office
high-rise and corner coffee outlet.
All that looks set to change,
however, with the introduction of
the special-edition Defender
X-Tech this month. More urban
conqueror than weekend warrior,
the three- or five-door hardtop
(based on the model 90 Defender)
eschews Land Rover's utilitarian
colour palette for ‘Zermatt silver’
panel-work, with the roof, wheels
and lamp caps offset by a shade
referred to as ‘Santorini black’.
Other upgrades include 16-inch
sawtooth alloys and two-tone
leather seating. The 2.4-litre turbo
diesel engine, meanwhile, manages
a reliable 122bhp, and 265 lb/ft of
torque (ample for navigating
London Wall at rush hour).
From £24,995; landrover.com
Scent and the City
A common misconception is that
clothing alone maketh the man, but all
that time and money invested in your
bespoke suit will have been for naught if
you go and pair it with a cheap, ubiquitous
cologne. For a fragrance with artisanal
credentials and a heritage to match Savile
Row’s finest, we’d advocate tracking down
a bottle of Houbigant’s Fougère Royale.
Its herbaceous notes – fougère means ‘fern’
– were a hit when it was created in 1882.
Now it has been re-tailored for 2011 by
perfumers Roja Dove and Rodrigo Flores-
Roux. A refined and invigorating blend of
bergamot, cinnamon and oakmoss, it is
an essential addition to every wardrobe.
From £105 at the Roja Dove Haute
Parfumerie at Harrods; harrods.com
seconds best It was 190 years ago that
Nicolas Rieussec, horologist to
the French Royal Court,
invented the chronograph
movement as a means of
accurately timing Louis XVIII's
racehorses. To mark the
occasion, Montblanc has
designed this limited
anniversary edition 43mm
platinum Rieussec, which
features a similar monopusher
mechanism to drive the second
and minute hands of its
chronograph function. Just 25
will be sold through Montblanc
boutiques from June. £39,100;
montblanc.com
dive Time Jaeger-LeCoultre may be
known first and foremost for its
feted Reverso mechanism, but
its diving watches are arguably
worthy of similarly high praise.
This Master Compressor Diving
GMT Lady Céramique, available
at William & Son, is Jaeger-
LeCoultre’s first automatic, dual
time-zone wristwatch designed
for women. Water-resistant to
100m, it combines a ceramic
strap with a uni-directional
bezel inlaid with diamonds.
£7,815; williamandson.com
20 beAumonde | news
Taking the Fifth Not content with opening Wall
Street’s only hotel (the
imaginatively named Andaz Wall
Street) the Hyatt group’s boutique
offshoot has opened a second
New York outpost on Fifth Avenue.
Occupying the former
headquarters of Tommy Hilfiger,
this 184-room property is
conveniently located across the
road from that other local refuge,
the New York Public Library.
As with its financial district sibling,
guests are allocated their own
‘host’ to see to their every whim,
and bedrooms boasting 12ft
ceilings. The bathrooms are equally
opulent, with travertine marble
counters, rainfall shower cubicles
and CO Bigelow toiletries.
Jet-lagged residents can also tuck
into locally produced goods from
Katz’s Delicatessen and the
Sullivan Street Bakery, without
setting foot outside the hotel.
Rooms from $435; andaz.com
Light entertainer Aesthetics traditionally feature low
down on the to-do lists of Windows-
oriented laptop manufacturers,
but Samsung has done PC-toting
salarymen proud with its flagship
9 Series notebook. Despite
weighing a mere 1.31kg (and
measuring 16.3mm thin), this
Intel Core i5-powered computer
somehow still manages to
accommodate 128GB of
solid-state storage, 4GB of RAM,
a 13.3-inch screen and a backlit
keyboard. Better still, the chassis
is cast from duralumin – an
extremely rigid alloy used in aircraft
fuselages – to ensure it remains
that little bit more resistant to
everyday use. The device’s battery
life, meanwhile, tops out at a
respectable 6.5 hours – just long
enough for a medium-haul flight.
samsung.co.uk
Exclusive event
To celebrate the launch of the new DAKS made-to-measure service – with suits made in Italy from a choice of over 300 fabrics – the British luxury brand has joined forces with Brummell for an exclusive event on 31 March, 6.30-9pm, at the DAKS store at 101 Jermyn Street. There will be a prize draw and a 10 per cent discount on purchases made on the night. To join us, email your name and address to [email protected] by 25 March – limited tickets will be offered on a ballot basis. Suits from £1,450; daks.com
22 beAumonde | women’s Accessories
Follow this season’s trend of adding
bold touches of bright colour to
accessorise even neutral outfits
Photography Bruce Anderson
lighT
Touch
whose hue?Striped shoe, £399,
salvatore Ferragamo. Red belt, £85, yellow belt,
£85, both Aquascutum. ‘Sfrangiato Knot’ clutch,
£1,225, bottega Veneta
24 beaumonde | after the city
Two ex-City men who’d planned
to set up rival tailor shops
have thrived by joining forces
Words James Medd Photography Sam Christmas
Needle
match
The waistcoat spray-painted with the image
of Michael Caine in Get Carter pose, shotgun
cocked, is a surprise. But then so is the
attention-seeking name, the site in the heart
of the City and, frankly, the youth and laid-back
demeanour of the two owners.
This is not Savile Row, but it is bespoke
tailoring. James Sleater, 30, and Ian Meiers,
31, set up Cad & The Dandy (which refers not
to them but to their customers) two years ago
on the back of redundancy payouts from their
City jobs. The career change was a leap for
both, although not entirely in the dark, since
Meiers’ mother was a tailor and Sleater’s family
had been in cloth manufacture. They had each
been considering the move when they were
put in touch by a fabric merchant they had both
approached for advice. ‘We met up for beers a
dandy lionsTailors Ian Meiers, left, and James Sleater at their City HQ off Cornhill, beneath those icons of Englishness: Crouchie and Caine
few times – more to know the enemy really,’ says
Sleater from the shop’s large leather sofa. ‘Then
we decided two heads were better than one.’
The plan was to aim at a younger clientele
than Savile Row, around the 25-45 mark. Prices
start at £450 for suits machine-stitched in their
workshop in Asia, and from £750 for the fully
hand-stitched, bells-and-whistles version. They
say customers range ‘from baggage-handlers
to heads of worldwide corporations’, but they’re
particularly attuned to the needs of first-timers.
‘Older guys might come in and say, “Show me
your 14oz plain weaves,”’ says Sleater, ‘but a
young guy comes in and he’s looking at the floor,
not knowing what to ask. He needs to be put at
ease.’ A drink, some light banter and a thorough
lack of stuffiness do that.
In addition to the City premises and an
office in Canary Wharf, the pair do, in fact, have
a shop in Savile Row, shared with old-school
tailors Chittleborough & Morgan, whom they’ve
clearly enjoyed geeing up: ‘We bullied them into
getting a website,’ says Sleater, ‘but they’re still
operating with a typewriter.’ They’re not just
two cocky City boys, though. ‘We know how to
make a suit,’ says Meiers, ‘although you probably
wouldn’t want us doing yours ourselves.’
Their financial experience is fully employed,
however. For example, they have turned around
the tailoring business model of payment on
delivery and long-term bills. Customers
spending under £1,000 pay upfront, so they
in turn can pay their cloth merchants upfront,
thereby securing a 30-40 per cent discount.
It’s maverick behaviour in a slow-moving world,
and it has a dramatic effect on pricing.
In many ways, though, they embrace
tradition. Most of their 11 staff are from Savile
Row. They also use about 90 per cent British
cloth: ‘It’s so much better,’ says Sleater, ‘and
we’re selling the cloth as well as our style.’
That style is, by bespoke standards, pretty
dandyish. They have even collaborated with
Chris Eubank, most recently producing a pair
of twisted-seam jodhpurs. This comes from
Sleater more than Meiers, who worked in
accountancy and investment management at
Barclays and deals with the operations end of
the business. He talks about ‘the relationship
with the customer and delivering quality all the
time’, whereas former sales-trader Sleater,
who is in charge of marketing, admits that, if it
was all up to him, everything would probably
be as flamboyant as that Get Carter waistcoat.
‘It’s a good job we got together,’ he says.
‘This way we meet somewhere in the middle.’
cadandthedandy.co.uk
sweet musicThis page: Wilson Audio’s
imposing Alexandria speaker. Opposite, from
left: the Continuum Caliburn turntable; a
Davielet integrated amp
Sound
investmentsurrounding yourself with excellent music is not only a question
of technology. some of the best components are works of art
words Ken Kessler
high-end hi-Fi | brummell 27
Most people have no idea how good music can sound in the home. Downmarket purveyors have succeeded in promoting features over performance, while all that the iPod and its ilk have given us is convenience at the expense of sound quality. But if you meet but one prerequisite – an overpowering passion for music – there’s a dream route to musical nirvana, and that’s a serious hi-fi system.
What defines ‘serious’? Just as seven-figure price tags no longer surprise watch or car enthusiasts, hi-fi too has exploited the freedoms imparted by ‘cost no object’ design. Specialists create systems worthy of a Berkeley Square townhouse or a spread in the Hamptons. Forget high-street brands: likening them to ‘high-end audio’ is tantamount to citing a Dacia and a Bugatti as ‘cars’ in the same sentence.
At the cutting edge, manufacturers assume that clients have the space in which to house no-compromise hardware. The components are almost unrecognisable as traditional audio gear. Some even qualify as sculpture.
Instead of dull wood-grained boxes, speakers might consist of transparent panels or massive, angular enclosures finished in the same paint used on a Ferrari. Think of CD players shaped like a Chris Foss spacecraft, turntables so complex they require dedicated floor-stands, speaker cables the diameter of a bullwhip.
High-end audio first appeared in the Fifties, after stereo arrived, when systems delivered two channels of sound instead of one. Audio pioneers such as McIntosh, Quad and Marantz priced components for doctors, lawyers and other professionals. But they rarely suited décor conceived by interior designers.
It all changed in the early Eighties. After decades of cubist wooden speaker boxes, Italy’s Sonus Faber introduced hand-finished loudspeakers with curved edges, using solid staves of walnut polished to violin-making standards instead of veneers. Above all, they sounded as good as they looked. You can see and hear this in its Stradivari Homage loudspeaker (£28,000- £30,000 per pair), an elegant panel suggestive of fine furniture.
Along with the new-wave styling, copied by every speaker builder from Berlin to Boston,
Think of speakers shaped like a
spacecraft, turntables so complex
they require floor-stands, and
cables the diameter of bullwhips
brands such as Krell. Their flagships, the Evolution Two pre-amplifier (£55,000) and the Evolution One power amplifier (£65k per pair) will drive any loudspeaker to which they might be attached. Producing a robust 450 watts per channel, the EVO 1 is made up of four chassis. At 25kg per unit, floor space, rather than shelving, is required. More compact but equally capable – and arguably prettier – is the new amplifier from former Krell CEO, Dan D’Agostino. His Momentum Monoblock Amplifier (£42,000 per pair), with a power meter inspired by a Breguet wristwatch, will supply 300 watts to each speaker.
If, however, such amplification is too cumbersome or even too costly, the new kid on the block is Devialet from France. It has combined a pre-amp and power amps into a single, solid aluminium chassis no larger than a stack of a dozen LPs. You can even wall-mount it. Full remote control, complete integration with digital sources: the Devialet will set you back only £11,000.
In high-end audio, analogue still rules. To reproduce the sound of your precious vinyl, look to Continuum’s Caliburn turntable with Cobra tone arm for £140,000, complete with stand. Fit to it a moving-coil cartridge from Koetsu, made, perhaps, from solid jade, for another £11,000. Do the maths, and you’ll find that using such a thoroughbred will cost you around £10 every time you play an LP (the Koetsu’s stylus typically lasts 1,000 hours).
To connect all of this, consider Transparent Opus cables. A 2m pair of its speaker wires will cost £12,600. Its interconnects – you’ll need at least two pairs – start at £7,700 per metre.
Acquiring such an investment demands a hi-fi emporium with a proper showroom for a private demonstration of a much-loved record. Absolute Sounds, distributors of many of the brands mentioned here, has a list of approved dealers. With the exception of allowing you to light up your favourite Cuban, a demonstration should replicate the conditions in which you wish to savour the music. If it is so realistic that you’d swear the performer was in the room, you’ve heard what extreme audio equipment can do. absolutesounds.com
came the knowledge that build quality and finish had to reflect the value of the acquisition. When asking a client for an investment akin to that for a Rolls-Royce, it’s only right that the pride of ownership be its equal.
Wilson Audio realised that there was nothing to stop it finishing its speakers in any colour the client desired. Standing nearly 2m tall, a pair of Wilson Alexandria X-2 Series 2 speakers (£150,000 per pair) dominates a listening area. Wilson installed a paint booth at the factory so advanced it can be used to spray-paint a car. Which gave them another idea: why not offer the customer the same finishes as in the automotive palette? If you prefer, sir, your Alexandrias can match your Aston-Martin.
One must remember that, unlike a car or a watch, the acquisition of a sound system means purchases from more than one manufacturer. A complete hi-fi consists of a source (CD, vinyl etc), amplification and speakers, connected by high-quality cables. As no single manufacturer excels in every discipline, tailoring the complete package from varying hardware makers is inherent in its purchase.
Any audiophile might also argue that much of the pleasure of acquiring a sound system is putting it together from the tens of thousands of candidates suitable for inclusion. Whichever route you choose, however, you should be guided by a retailer capable of dealing with high-performance audio components, for that retailer must also be there to ensure that the system’s components possess sonic and electronic synergy, that the system works in your room, and that the installation is set up to perfection before they leave you to enjoy its pleasures.
To supply the power to speakers such as the Alexandrias, one needs to investigate
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GAR25410 Swaylands 275x210 AD:Layout 1 11/02/2011 15:45 Page 1
Jet pockets
Patch pocket
Single- breasted
Slant pocket
Gauntlet cuff
tailorinG | BrUMMEll 29
Words Josh Sims illustration Emily Forgot
Style detail
Gieves & HawkesHistory Thomas Hawkes, established in 1771,
was hat-maker to the military; the firm
amalgamated with naval tailors James
Gieves in 1972, moving from Bond Street
to Savile Row
Big clients Not the average celebrity client: Lord Nelson,
the Duke of Wellington, Winston Churchill
House style Close-fitting, moulded chest, angular
shoulder line, two side vents, two-button
single-breasted jacket
What to buy now Classic two-piece suit with peak lapel and
angled pockets in Harrisons mid-royal-blue
wool mohair
Fittings & timings Four fittings (including measurements);
12 weeks from measurements to
completed suit
From £3,800 for a two-piece suit. 020 7432 6403; gievesandhawkes.com; 1 Savile Row, London W1S 3RJ
John PearseHistory Pearse trained with shirt-makers Hawes
& Curtis; he opened seminal Sixties King’s
Road ‘psychedelic boutique’ Granny Takes
A Trip; established his current tailoring
business in 1991
Big clients Sixties icons such as Jimi Hendrix,
Jack Nicholson and Mick Jagger
House style Close-fitting, high arm-holed, single-
breasted, two-button, wide lapels and
patch pockets
What to buy now Twenties-style, six-button, double-breasted
jacket in navy and black seersucker, the
quintessential summer stripe
Fittings & timings Three fittings (including measurements);
six weeks from measurements to
completed suit
From £2,500 for a two-piece suit. 020 7434 0738; johnpearse.co.uk; 6 Meard Street, London W1F OEG
Mark PowellHistory First Soho business opened in 1985;
created costumes for David Bowie movie
Absolute Beginners; in current premises
since 2010; in 1988 Powell also launched
London’s first easy-listening club.
Big clients Flamboyant TV presenters and, perhaps
oddly, Harrison Ford
House style Three- to four-button, single-breasted,
three-piece Edwardian-style suit, shorter
jacket, shallow vents, gauntlet cuffs,
tapered trousers.
What to buy now High-closing, four-button double-breasted
suit in pastel tropical wool.
Fittings & timings Three fittings (including measurements);
six weeks from measurements to
completed suit.
From £1,800 for a two-piece suit. 020 7287 5498; markpowellbespoke.co.uk; 2 Marshall Street, London W1F 9BA
While buying a bespoke suit means
you control how it ends up looking,
each London tailor has its own
house style. Here’s a quick guide
Double- vented
Notch lapel
Tapered leg
High waist
BRUMMELL | TaiLoRiNg30
KilgourHistory Launched in 1882 as T&F French, merging
with AH Kilgour in 1923, and then with
Fred and Louis Stanbury in 1925 to
create a company named Kilgour, French
& Stanbury from 1937; it reverted to
Kilgour in 2003
Big clients Cary Grant, Fred Astaire
House style Two-button, double-vented, single-
breasted, full-chested jacket with notch
lapels and straight flap pockets; longer
but moderately waisted
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Edward SextonHistory Trained as an assistant cutter with Kilgour,
Sexton launched the seminal Nutters with
Tommy Nutter in 1969 – the first tailors to
open on Savile Row in a century; established
his own business in 1977
Big clients Rock royalty and Formula 1 bigwigs
House style Thirties-style hacking-type, gently
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From £3,500 for a two-piece suit. 020 7838 0007; edwardsexton.co.uk; 26 Beauchamp Place, London SW3 1NJ
Chris KerrHistory Established by father Eddie Kerr in
1962; son Chris was trained by his father
15 years ago; the company has since
taken on Chris’s name and is a regular
maker for period films and the recent
Daniel Craig Bond movies
Big clients Comedians, musicians
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LutwycheHistory Established by ex-army officer Tony
Lutwyche in 2000; in 2006 established a
workshop in Crewe; in 2010 bought
Lodger shoes to create the company
Lutwyche & Lodger
Big clients City bigwigs, corporate lawyers and
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From £3,000 for a two-piece suit. 020 7292 0640; lutwyche.co.uk; 15c Clifford Street, London W1S 4JZ
www.twsteeluk .com
travel | BrUMMell 33
God forbid they ever introduce speed cameras to Ladakh. India’s northernmost region, home to some of the most savagely beautiful roads on earth, uses gentle double entendres rather than dull-eyed penalties to keep its drivers in check. ‘Darling, I like you but not so fast,’ blurts one road sign, followed by ‘Feel my curves, do not test them’ and ‘Be Mr Late, not late Mr.’
I can’t see it changing. Not Ladakh. It’s too quirky, feisty, otherworldly. The ridiculously photogenic, high-altitude desert might be part of Jammu and Kashmir, but it shares a surreal, intergalactic landscape with the Tibetan plateau, along with anthropology – faces are Himalayan not Indian – and Buddhism. Each winter it hibernates for months behind an icy drawbridge, burning yak dung against the -30ºC freeze. Speed cameras? I don’t think so. They’re too mundane, too anodyne, symptoms of a more controlled, sanitised world.
Ladakh, however, isn’t totally immune to modernity. Previously a target for more adventurous backpackers and grizzled hikers, it recently tasted its first shot of luxury tourism. Shakti, pioneer of Himalayan home stays, has performed Grand Designs surgery on three handsome houses in different villages along the Indus Valley, all with sweeping views of the dramatic terrain.
Like a 21st-century caravan,
the group travels from house
to house with a gaggle of chefs,
waiters, drivers and guides
In beautiful, remote, elevated
Ladakh, renovated houses offer
eclectic alternatives to hotels Words Ian Belcher
Highpraise
Forget Four Seasons or Aman; this luxury is a tad more eclectic. Rooftop pavilions have rugs, scatter cushions and wraparound panoramas – you’ll never play more scenic Scrabble. Beamed rooms come with huge windows, ‘Bukhara’ stoves to keep it cosy, and homebrewed organic toiletries.
Like a 21st-century caravan, the group travels from house to house with a gaggle of chefs, waiters, drivers and guides staying with the family on the ground floor. Days are punctuated with hikes, rafting on glacially green rivers and the chance to witness high-altitude religious worship that stirs the inner Cartier-Bresson as well as the soul.
The money shot arrives early. As the first UV rays strike the Zanskar and Ladakh mountains, washing warm light across the valley far below, two burgundy-robed monks blow conch shells, raising a mournful call to
prayer at Tikse monastery. The air is startlingly clear, colours Persil bright, the backdrop simply epic. I point, click and suffer delusions of a future with Magnum.
Tikse also has the world’s highest, most scenic wishing well. Make the most of it, because just across the Indus valley the light fades and the mood darkens. Hemis monastery mounts an annual dance of death using mummified human hands. Its ugly protective deity is placated with bottles of booze, and its museum exhibits a disturbing creature, Lak Kyi, which, it is claimed, is the offspring of a vulture and a dalmatian dog.
And then I hear about the Hemis monks. Many retreat up the mountain to meditate in isolation for three months, three days and three hours. ‘Some turn delirious,’ warns our guide, Sid. ‘Some go mad, some die of hypothermia.’
Not us. Not safely swaddled in the hands of Shakti. We hike through barley fields separated by dry stone walls and studded with ‘stupa’ burial mounds, march across sun-burnished rocks to cross a strand of the famous Silk Road, and plunge into a deep ravine, where the vertiginous sand and towering rock buttresses look like the Namibian desert.
But that is one of the rare descents on the route. In Ladakh, you are normally looking
BlUe sky thinking
View from rooftop pagoda of Shakti village house,
looking towards the snow-licked peak of Stok
Kangri, 6,153m high
BRUMMELL | tRavEL34
towards the heavens. Khardung La is the highest pass on Earth that’s accessible to motor vehicles, with its 39km of switchbacks taking around three hours to drive. We pass army checkpoints (reminders of the strategic sensitivity of the Pakistan border), masochistic cyclists and more road signs that would annoy Gloria Steinem: ‘Don’t gossip, let him drive.’
‘See that blue patch?’ asks Sid casually, as our 4WD climbs to the equivalent of 300 metres above Everest Base Camp. ‘Milk packs. The lorry went over just there. Two dead.’ Still, the 5,602m summit, buried under a blizzard of prayer flags and looking across to the Karakoram Mountains, is worth the terror.
But Shakti embraces the intimate as well as the immense. Our second property snuggles into a slender, serenely beautiful agricultural valley to the north of the Indus, where terraced fields are laced with ribbons of emerald and ochre forest. Bar the occasional hiker pitching a tent, Taru has never received visitors. It might not be first contact with an Amazonian tribe, but it still feels an absolute privilege.
Swapping the sharp tang of adrenalin for a taste of local life, we’re guided around the white-walled properties by Lolo, our house owner’s teenage daughter. We cross irrigation channels, passing yaks, women roasting skillets of barley and village elders using beads to record the annual audit of farmland.
Taru’s a gentle antidote to manic, technology-rich lives. It’s almost sad to find television has recently penetrated the Himalayan society. ‘It changes people,’ says Angmo, Lolo’s elder sister. ‘They want more things. But it also does good – our winters are very long.’ She’s not joking. It’s claimed locals spend six months working like yaks and six sleeping like marmots.
After the small-scale simplicity, our final base in Nimu offers the most astonishing views of the trip. Sedimentary rocks lean like chaotic bookshelves opposite the vast flat-topped ridge of an ancient ocean bed forged 55 million years ago by the collision of the Indian and Asian continental plates - a brutal geology lesson from the school of hard knocks.
It’s impossible not to stare. To one side the Indus meets the magnificent Zanskar River Gorge, India’s answer to the Grand Canyon with 600m-high cliffs veined purple, green and orange. In winter the frothing rapids are seized by icy rigor mortis, creating one of the planet’s most lauded treks - another elegy-inducing sight from the land where photo-ops are ten-a-penny and speed cameras, traffic jams and parking tickets, gloriously non-existent. Cazenove + Loyd offers a 10-night Ladakh trip with Shakti Himalaya from £4,130pp, including flights, meals, activities, private guiding, transfers, and two nights at the Imperial in Delhi. cazloyd.com
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aLtitUDE RiCHnESS CIockwise from top left: Tikse monastery; Tikse monks looking across Indus Valley; road sign to deter speeding; bedroom with corner windows in Shakti house in Taru village
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people usually have to trek for hours for this kind of sighting.
We were on our verandah.
T:
08
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28
8 1
88
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STYLE | BRUMMELL 37
Prince of Wales check suit, £795, Gieves & Hawkes.
Shirt, from £80, and tie, £65, Paul Smith. Glasses, £189,
Prada at David Clulow. ‘Tony’ briefcase, £608,
Mulberry. Shoes, £295, Burberry London
This summer’s suiting is fitted, sharp and
lightweight to help you stay cool when the heat is on
Styling David Waters Photography Roger Rich
Concretejungle
Opposite page: Suit, £860,
Paul Smith London.Shirt,
£115, Burberry London.
Check tie, £116, Marni. Pocket square, £22, DAKS.
This page, top: Double-
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£190, Dolce & Gabbana, at David Clulow.Pocket square,
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This page, below: Double-
breasted suit, £675, and
contrast collar shirt, £90,
both Hackett. Spotted bow
tie, £55, Paul Smith.
Silk pocket square, £60,
DAKS. Shoes, £295,
Burberry London
STYLE | BRUMMELL 39
STYLE | BRUMMELL 41
Opposite page: Suit, £695, Burberry London.Patterned shirt, from £80,
Paul Smith. Spotted tie, £116, Marni. Glasses,
£155, Burberry at David Clulow. Silk pocket square,
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This page: Suit, £775, DAKS. Shirt, £370, Louis
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The Piccadilly Diamond Dial
TAG Heuer’s relationship with motorcars started in 1911, when my grandfather created the ‘Time of Trip’, the first dashboard chronograph to measure how long it had taken to drive between locations. After World War II, TAG Heuer became the timing instrument for rallies. In 1958, we did a survey at the Monte Carlo Rally and found that more than 60 per cent of the cars were equipped with our dashboard instruments.
In 1969, we launched the world’s first self-winding chronograph – we had finally
solved the last big problem in watchmaking. I was looking for a way to promote this breakthrough and our new watch, but I had only limited means. I heard of a very good race driver in Switzerland called Jo Siffert, who people were saying was the next world champion, so I took him under contract.
He was an excellent ambassador and promoted our watches all through the racing world but, tragically, he had a fatal crash in 1971. That’s how I got to know the Formula 1 circuit. We created timing instruments for Ferrari and
also signed an agreement with them for the drivers to wear the TAG Heuer patch.
TAG Heuer’s association with Steve McQueen came about because the property master on the 1971 film Le Mans happened to be under contract with me in Hollywood to place watches on actors such as Jack Lemmon and Charlton Heston. He rang me one day and said: ‘We’re shooting a big film with Steve McQueen about motor racing, so come to Monte Carlo and bring watches, a timing board, stopwatches…’ Luckily, McQueen also knew In
tervie
w:
Sim
on
Bro
ok
e watches | BRUMMeLL 43
As soon as there were cars, there were time trials. As the
F1 season begins, TAG Heuer’s Jack Heuer celebrates the
partnership between motor racing and the chronograph Photography Bruce Anderson
Track Time
taG teaMLeft: The TAG Heuer McLaren MP4-12C, price to be announced, is a new version of the classic Carrera chronograph to accompany production of the McLaren MP4-12C sports car.
Right: The TAG Heuer SIlverstone, £4,750, was first produced in 1974 as an alternative to the square Monaco. This reborn version, with a choice of blue or brown dials, is a dead ringer. tagheuer.com
Jo Siffert and, to make him look more authentic in the role, he asked to wear Siffert’s white racing suit, adorned with a ‘Chronograph Heuer’ crest. To complete the look, McQueen also decided to wear our new Monaco automatic Calibre 11 – and it looked great on him.
The Monaco wasn’t actually a great success at the time because it looked too avant-garde – it was worn mainly by designers and architects. By the time it was relaunched in 1998, McQueen, who’d died in 1980, was an icon. We bought the rights to his name to promote the Monaco and sold all 5,000 watches within a few months.
After our success with Ferrari, we worked with other teams, such as McLaren, providing them with sophisticated timing equipment. Through them we also had a collaboration with Mercedes-Benz, and created a special-edition watch for the SLK.
There is a similarity between the look of cars and watches and the technology they use. We get input from McLaren, for instance, on their use of new materials. Car manufacture and watchmaking are really both all about accuracy, engineering and beautiful design. Honorary chairman of TAG Heuer, Jack Heuer, 78, is the great-grandson of Edouard Heuer who founded the company in 1860. Jack joined as an engineer in 1958 and has created some of its most distinctive and successful watches.
Hublot F1 MonzaThe King Power F1 Monza follows Hublot’s
appointment as official watchmaker of F1. With
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Monza features a ‘brake disc’ bezel and a nifty
chronograph ‘start’ button. £18,500; hublot.com
Blancpain Lamborghini Super TrofeoThis 43.5mm flyback chronograph complements
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For a €25,000 fee, entrants compete in six
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Europe’s top circuits. £13,760; blancpain.com
Chopard Mille Miglia GT XL Black SpeedChopard releases a new watch every year to
give to teams competing in Italy’s legendary
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Jaeger-LeCoultre AMVOXJaeger-LeCoultre’s latest collaboration with
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function. £14,350; jaeger-lecoultre.com
Frédérique Constant Austin-Healey The official timing partner of Austin-Healey
events around the world recently introduced
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Words Simon de Burton
Gentlemen, start your enginesFive more motor-racing watches (from left)
WATCHeS | BRUMMeLL 45
Horse trading
A horse is offered for sale at Tattersalls auction company, 1885
Equine equity
As boutiques for the elite go, Tattersalls’ park paddocks in Newmarket, where horseracing’s champions of tomorrow are auctioned, is perhaps one of the more exposed.
Suffolk winds can blow a bitter chill in winter outside the town’s season of highest-rank horseracing events in the spring, summer and autumn, such as the 2000 Guineas in May. The neighbouring train station from which the likes of a young Lester Piggott made their way to horseracing’s other principal venues has been reduced by the growth in other modes of transport to a single platform servicing travel in both directions.
Yet from October, for two months, the 45-acre grounds of Tattersalls can be the location for both the beginning and end of dreams that draw many to dealing in horseflesh. The most blue-blooded of thoroughbred racehorses – potentially the essence of luxury in that each is unique and, if talented, may end up being coveted by millions – pass through the sales ring here. In 2010 alone they generated a turnover of more than £165m.
For many focused on fluctuations in the price of commodities, shares and currency, Tattersalls is a fascinating micromarket. As generation after generation of champions has
been sold by the auction house since 1766, there is a chance to buy into some history. Equally, a horse in which a stake is owned can be offered up and converted into hard cash after a value-enhancing career at the races.
The sales themselves bring together protagonists face-to-face in a way that financial markets rarely do. There are no computer screens here. This can produce pure theatre, maintains Kim Bailey, who has saddled the winners of the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup and Champion Hurdle races. As this is just one aspect of horseracing apparently tailor-made to appeal to people in
BrUMMeLL | raceHorses46
Naturally, investing in a racehorse is a gamble – it could be a classic winner
or end up saddling you with debt. But, for City people accustomed to
risk, buying and racing horses will definitely get the adrenalin rushing
Words Colin Cameron
Tim
e &
Lif
e P
ictu
res
/Ge
tty
Ima
ge
s
Bloodstock investments
grant entry to a world rich
in colour and personalities,
both equine and human
the City of London, there is little surprise that the two worlds enjoy shared patronage. From a syndicate share in a horse to outright ownership and the thrill of seeing your own silks hit the front in the shadow of the winning post, bloodstock investments grant entry to a world rich in colour and personalities, both equine and human.
Sink your money into a horse and you are a prospective candidate for a centre stage role at the Cheltenham Festival, Royal Ascot or the winner’s enclosure at any of Britain’s 60 racecourses. Indeed, you might profit over and above all this, having invested in an
appreciating asset. As well as where you first speculate, Tattersalls is potentially where you can find out exactly what is the return.
According to Bailey, there have always been significant numbers of horseracing followers in the City. ‘Racing is based around gambling and that, after all, is what many in the City do every day,’ he reasons. ‘Horseracing is a clean, free-living way to relax among like-minded people out for a day of fun. The geography of most racecourses means they are also taken out of their usual world. So: plenty going on to make them feel at home yet, at the same time, a release.’
Horseracing can be good for business, continues Bailey, who trained the prolific steeplechaser Docklands Express (18 wins, £585,000 in prize-money) for a group of City stalwarts, including Compton Hellyer, the founder of the spread betting company Sporting Index. ‘At the races you do get the chance to spend time with clients,’ Bailey, whose stables are in Gloucestershire, explains. ‘That is, of course, true at, say, Twickenham for a rugby international. But racing offers the chance, especially if you are in a hospitality box, for guests to come and go. There is both the chance to talk – plenty to discuss, too - and the opportunity to escape. Things never get stale.’
Bailey adds that racehorse ownership also offers the chance to make money. ‘That is not guaranteed, not by a long way,’ he warns. ‘But if you are successful, then there is potentially the kudos of a winner, plenty of fun along the way, and your money back or, even better, a profit. You cannot say that about an afternoon shooting, can you?’
Bailey wasn’t talking specifically about Harbinger, but he might well have been. As a yearling – one-year-old – the colt cost 180,000 guineas (a guinea equals £1.05) at Tattersalls. A total of six wins over three seasons followed, along with earnings of £775,000 in prize money. Harbinger was ultimately sold to stand as a stallion in Japan for a sum reputedly over 50 times his purchase price.
His owners were a syndicate, in which numbers involved can be up to 20 or so. In this form of ownership, resources are pooled and costs – training fees are usually just north of £10,000, then there is the cost of capital – spread ahead ultimately of any dividend being shared. Shareholders either entrust decision-making to a syndicate manager or/and trainer, or a quasi-democracy shapes plans. The alternative to this would be a horse owned in partnership – a group of say four – individual ownership or by a racing club, although this last option usually means you savour the thrill of ownership without the dividend at the end of any success.
The Harbinger syndicate was one run by an operation called Highclere Thoroughbred Racing – specialists in this type of ownership since 1992. In the 18 years since then, Highclere has raced horses on behalf of hundreds of patrons, who have shared in prize money exceeding £5m, and proceeds from sales
BRUMMELL | RacEhoRsEs48
horses for courseshighclere is the quintessential modern-day syndicate and is illustrative of how one can work from initial investment to the cashing in of any chips
The horses
From July to the end of the year,
Highclere (highclere.co.uk) invests
in potential talent at bloodstock
sales in America, France, Ireland
and Britain. Prices paid for each
horse range up to 200,000
guineas. Shares in a syndicate
of one to three horses are from
£3,500 for two seasons, including
training costs. The more expensive
syndicates can feature shares at
as much as £40,000.
The syndicate
Highclere offers shares in horses
to prospective syndicate members.
Efforts are made to bundle owners
into groups with shared hopes of,
for example, having a runner at
Royal Ascot, and any preference
for a particular trainer, or stables
in a location that suits them all.
The management
Highclere manages the career of
the syndicate’s pride and joy, in
partnership with trainers. Decisions
are made to reflect the syndicate’s
overall wishes. Guided by Highclere,
syndicates can decide when to sell,
which can mean either appearing
at the likes of Tattersalls, or a
private deal (as with Harbinger).
The length of a Highclere
syndicate’s run is usually two
seasons – with the option of selling
at any time in this period if market
conditions are favourable.
The industry bodies
The British Horseracing Authority
(britishhorseracing.com) is a good
starting point if you are looking for
guidance about investing. Likewise,
the National Trainers Federation
(racehorsetrainers.org), and
Racehorse Owners Association
(racehorseowners.net) can steer
you towards expertise that ensures
your investment is tax efficient and
you take advantage of sponsorship
opportunities. Contact details
for trainers such as Kim Bailey
(kimbaileyracing.com) can be
sourced via the NTF, while the
ROA will put you in touch with
syndicates such as Highclere.
topping £28m. Highclere, founded by Harry Herbert, second son of the late Lord Carnarvon, who was racing and bloodstock adviser to the Queen and owner of Highclere Castle in Berkshire, claims an overall trading profit (income from prize money and sale of bloodstock less training fees of around £15,000 a year per horse, initial capital outlays and administrative costs) of £8 million between 1992 and 2009, and a handsomely rewarding 2010, thanks to Harbinger.
The late Robert Sangster, a highly successful investor in bloodstock, would always joke that the quickest way to a million is to invest two million in horses. In contrast, Yvonne Jacques was fortunate enough to invest in Harbinger, drawing on liquidity from the sale of the insurance-broking specialist company she founded. Having been raised around horses – riding before walking, she maintains – once Jacques had the capital, she looked to invest in her lifelong passion. Today she has a financial interest in more than 30 racehorses. Some of these she owns outright, which means she has the added excitement of seeing her light blue and pink racing colours carried to victory.
Syndicate ownership for Jacques proved the ideal preface to ownership outright. ‘By starting in a syndicate such as Highclere, which buys the horses for you and selects a trainer for each one, I was able to learn about the world of racing without the risk of going alone from the start,’ she reasons.
Organisations such as the Racehorse Owners Association and National Trainers Federation provide the sort of expert advice that can prepare novices to avoid the pitfalls
of investing blind. In addition, racing’s governing body, the British Horseracing Authority, offers free guidance via its website. Furthermore, there is plenty of scope for self-education. Even the very top trainers are not shy to explain what they can do for you, especially if there is a horse potentially at the end of the conversation. Indeed, your trainer will be a pivotal figure in any bloodstock endeavour, so best establish first whether there is any chemistry. In other words, just call.
The dream is Harbinger, an outstanding champion of 2010. ‘He was so incredibly special,’ Jacques enthuses. ‘He almost knew it himself. When he came into the winner’s enclosure he was always so composed, just a great presence. I am reluctant to say it, as I would love another one, but horses like him come along once in a lifetime.’
Harbinger was, Jacques acknowledges, the equivalent of hitting the jackpot. At a more realistic level, she can further claim to have proved Bailey right about enjoying a return. Ardour was another Tattersalls purchase, for 100,000 guineas. After a successful season, he was then sold for a hefty multiple of that price.
Of course, you win some, you lose some. But even the less successful investments can be redeemed. Jacques had an interest in Zakeeta, who cost 75,000 guineas at Tattersalls as a yearling. Then, after some lacklustre showings, the filly was sold there again in July 2010, this time for just 4,000 guineas. Since this cutting of losses Zakeeta has shown promise at the National Hunt discipline of hurdling, proving good enough to feature at Cheltenham.
Horses can surprise you – just one reason why investing in them can be so fascinating.
coURsE woRkMark Dwyer, in hooped cap, centre, rides Jodami at the Cheltenham Gold Cup
Re
x F
ea
ture
s
BRUMMELL | BY GEORGE50
The eternally young Jaguar
E-Type celebrates its
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Year of
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the E-Type’s stunning looks, it established the
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No wonder it became the default choice of
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open-topped ‘roadster’ format or with
fixed-head coupé bodywork.
The original price of an E-Type rolling on wire
wheels was £2,256 – but by the mid-Seventies
the Opec oil crisis and a parlous British economy
had combined to hit sales hard. No one, it
seemed, wanted to spend the £3,350 it then
cost to buy a V12 roadster and stories abound
of second-hand ‘Es’ being virtually given away.
That certainly seems hard to believe today,
not least because the E-Type is regarded
as being one of the most covetable of all classic
cars, with the best examples changing hands
for up to £150,000 and ultra-rare competition
versions potentially being worth £1 million
(although less perfect fixed-head coupé road
cars can be had for as little as £15,000).
Whichever model you prefer it’s bound to
be represented at this year’s Silverstone
Classic (22 – 24 July) which is the main venue
for the E-Type 50th anniversary celebrations.
Up to 1,000 owners are expected to bring their
cars from around the world to create the
biggest display of E-Types ever seen, and more
than 50 race-prepared examples will compete.
The event will also showcase the 11th
E-Type to roll off the production line – it was
originally sold to Formula 2 racing driver
George Wicken who competed in it in 1961
against track stars such as Graham Hill, Roy
Salvadori and Bruce McLaren.
If you decide to attend, don’t forget to don
flared trousers or mini skirts as appropriate,
because one thing’s for sure – it's going to be
one hell of a groovy weekend, baby.
silverstoneclassic.com
Words Simon de Burton
For a lesson in how to grow old gracefully, turn
to the Jaguar E-Type: the car that even Enzo
Ferrari described as ‘the most beautiful ever
made’ turns 50 this year and somehow seems
more gorgeous than at any time in its history.
Launched first in America as the XKE in
March 1961 before being made available in the
UK four months later, the E-Type had already
made headlines before it officially hit British
roads after The Autocar magazine confirmed
Jaguar’s claim that it was a genuine 150mph
sports car – well, almost. The test car (which
was subsequently discovered to have been
a tweaked example with a ‘blueprinted’ engine)
managed 149.1.
That sort of performance is pretty
impressive today, but half a century ago it
seemed truly sensational – and combined with
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