Robb Report September 2016

“We don’t bother much about dress and manners in England, because as a nation we don’t dress well and we’ve no manners.”  —George Bernard Shaw  This line from Shaw’s 1897 play You Never Can Tell no doubt immediately suggested to U.S. audiences that this comedy was one of errors. Fashionable Americans then took English manners and dress […]

When temperatures start to dip, it’s time to take stock of your wardrobe and update it with a few essentials. From fine leather footwear to graphic wool sweaters, these artisan-made pieces are among the best options for fall. Handmade shoes with impeccable artistic details and beautiful hand-polished finishes are enduring accessories. This season’s standouts include the Fratelli Rossetti […]

The new fall essentials will take you from the workplace to the weekend in style. Such versatile, eye-catching pieces include the Etro graphic-patterned wool sweater ($910, etro​.com), Dior Homme calfskin brogues with pops of bright blue ($920, diorhomme.com), Fendi Lui all-purpose leather bag ($3,300, plus $1,250 for the leather-and-shearling strap, fendi.com), and Bell & Ross BR 126 Aeronavale chronograph […]

Captivated by the beauty of his surroundings and the blazing sunshine over his city, the Italian baron Carlo Magnani collaborated with a local perfumer to create his own personal scent, a fragrance that exuded the fresh, crisp, and citrusy notes that reminded him of his hometown. That was in Parma, Italy, in 1916. Today the […]

Each of the designer’s creations is unique, down to the jewelry box it comes in. It is by choice that Lauren Adriana (laurenadriana.com) doesn’t have a signature style. “I like the freedom to create something new each time,” says the 30-year-old British jewelry designer, whose one-of-a-kind pieces share few if any commonalities beyond their creator’s bold […]

The Astronomia Sky builds on its predecessor’s daring nature. Truly appreciating the latest timepiece from Jacob & Co. (212.719.5887, jacobandco.com) starts with understanding its antecedent. “After the first version [Astronomia], we really wanted to connect the watch with the stars,” explains Luca Soprana, the watch-development specialist behind the creation that Jacob & Co. unveiled in […]

Thanks to its remarkable detail and color intensity, the face of the new Jaquet Droz Petite Heure Minute Thousand Year Lights watch (888.866.0059, jaquet-droz.com) seems to leap across the room. The secret to this visual splendor: mother-of-pearl. The lustrous substance lies underneath the black-lacquer dial and is revealed by subtle recesses—the results of intaglio engraving—that also accommodate […]

Maserati unveils the new Quattroporte while a royal example of the sedan heads for the auction block at Pebble Beach. For the 2017 model year, the Maserati Quattroporte (maseratiusa.com) has received exterior and interior makeovers and two new trim levels: GranLusso and GranSport. Maserati redesigned the flagship sedan’s grille to better accentuate the shark-nose front end, […]

Launched in 1963, the original Maserati Quattroporte was the company’s first large sedan and one of its first models powered by a V-8 engine. It was styled by Pietro Frua and based on a custom Maserati 5000 GT coupe that he had designed a year earlier for Prince Shah Karim Al Hussaini, Aga Khan IV. […]

A year ago, Sunseeker (sunseeker.com) celebrated a rare milestone among yacht builders when it launched its 100th yacht longer than 100 feet. It attained this achievement in only 15 years, and apparently the British brand has no intentions of slowing down at building big boats. Since last summer it has added three models to its […]

With its yachts having appeared over the years on many magazine covers and in a few James Bond films, Sunseeker is accustomed to media exposure—but not the kind it received earlier this year when the BBC aired Britain’s Biggest Superyachts: Chasing Perfection. The hour-long documentary, shot over a 10-month period in 2014 and 2015, captures the […]

Embraer reaches the four-digit mark in business-jet deliveries. If there is such a thing as an ordinary jet delivery, this certainly was not it. In April, employees of Embraer Executive Jets (embraerexecutivejets.com)—Embraer’s business-jet division—gathered in a hangar at the group’s headquarters in Melbourne, Fla., for the delivery of the company’s 1,000th business jet. Executives, sales […]

The art deco–style dining room at Gwen (gwenla.com) in Hollywood sparkles with chandeliers and stars, a showplace beneath a proscenium arch that leads all eyes toward the open kitchen—chef Curtis Stone’s main stage. Stone, the Australian celebrity chef whose tiny restaurant Maude is among Los Angeles’s best, has partnered with his brother Luke on this glamorous new venture […]

Yann Fillioux, the seventh generation of his family to serve as master blender for the House of Hennessy, gazes at the rich amber liquid in his tasting glass. “This,” he says, “is among the last Cognacs I will create.” But rather than ending a legacy that began in 1800, when James Hennessy hired Jean Fillioux […]

Box-pressed cigars were first created in Cuba for ease of packaging and to keep them from rolling off the tabaquero’s table. But just as the shape of a glass can affect the flavor of fine Cognac, the shape of a cigar can influence its taste, and this four-sided cigar smokes cooler and conveys the tobacco’s […]

A pair of beautifully atypical reds from Gaja. Bing contrarian is second nature to the Gaja family, whose name today evokes the best of Italian viticulture. Founded by Giovanni Gaja in 1859 in the Piedmontese village of Barbaresco, the fledgling concern’s location was then regarded as an impediment to greatness. The most prestigious producers in Piedmont […]

Malaysia’s tropical archipelago of Langkawi has been called Bali without the crowds. Sure to attract a new audience is the St. Regis Langkawi (stregislangkawi.com), which opened in April on the chain’s namesake main island. Set on a powdery-white cove flanked by low-slung limestone hills, the 89-room resort blends Moorish design with St. Regis–style sophistication, forming […]

Baja California is booming with new vacation-home communities catering to families, foodies, golfers, and water-sports enthusiasts. Snorkeling in Chileno Bay leads the list of activities at Chileno Bay Resort & Residences, which will include 32 private residences when it opens this winter. The Ritz-Carlton Reserve Residences at Puerto Los Cabos (rcrr-loscabos.com) will debut next year with […]

A new safari lodge opens up the wilds of Nepal’s Chitwan National Park. The scorching subtropical sun was high and bright when Anjali lumbered her way into the Rapti River. Her giant flat feet slow and powerful, she splashed into the cool waters of the shallow bed and lowered herself with a thud. Perched atop her […]

More than a year has passed since a devastating magnitude-7.8 earthquake struck near Kathmandu. While the Nepalese capital continues to rebuild, the city’s most luxurious hotel, Dwarika’s (dwarikas.com), is revamped and ready for visitors. “We were lucky that the hotel suffered only superficial damage,” says Sangita Shrestha Einhaus, whose father opened Dwarika’s in 1977. Einhaus […]

Fresh off his first U.S. course design, the golf superstar sets his sights on the sport’s next generation. Tiger Woods has been breaking records on the golf course for nearly all of his 40 years. But the 14-time Major champion is a relative newcomer in the world of golf-course design. His first course, El Cardonal at […]

London’s top tailors—and their clients—are keeping the Savile Row suit on the cutting edge.  On a bright summer day on London’s distinguished Savile Row, it’s easy to notice the shift in men’s attire. The days of businessmen walking along the famed thoroughfare in structured, strong-shouldered power suits paired with the compulsory dress shirt, necktie, and pocket […]

Some of the names to know on London’s most stylish street. Gieves & Hawkes Established: 1771 Location: No. 1 One of the world’s oldest tailoring houses. Creates the uniforms of Her Majesty’s Bodyguard. gievesand​hawkes.com Henry Poole & Co. Established: 1806 Location: No. 15 Founded as a military tailoring house. Credited with inventing the tuxedo in the […]

The growl of Jaguar’s 200 mph F-Type SVR is as good as its bite.  Maybe you heard about the promotional event that Jaguar staged for the F-Type SVR earlier this year in Manhattan. It took place in March, just ahead of the sports car’s appearance at the New York International Auto Show. If you were in […]

The classic English country escape now includes inventive regional cooking. The leafy back roads leading to the village of Kingham wind through the deepest English countryside—a blur of green hills, rolling hedgerows, and tiny villages with names that read like pastoral poetry: Milton-under-Wychwood, Great Tew and Little Tew, Upper Oddington. When you finally arrive at Kingham, you […]

Luxury Living Group This new version of Carlo Bugatti’s notable chair from 1902 is a seat of 21st-century luxury. Though we tend to associate the Bugatti name with supercars, the family’s talent has long reached beyond the automotive realm. The clan of artisans includes not only Ettore, the founder of Automobiles E. Bugatti (now known simply as […]

Victor Gastou furnishes a 19th-century mansion in Paris with modern decorative art. Behind the stately facade of a house on Paris’s Avenue Foch is an interior of great style and originality. It is the fruit of a collaboration between the home’s owner, a collector with a taste for pop colors; the architect Alain-Dominique Gallizia; and Victor […]

The refrigerator becomes a canvas for Dolce & Gabbana and Smeg. A famed fashion house and a cult-favorite home-appliance manufacturer have transformed the archetypal single-door 1950s-style fridge into a nod to Italian craftsmanship and Sicilian aesthetics. Each of the one-of-a-kind designs in the new limited-edition Frigorifero d’Arte collection by the Italian brands Dolce & Gabbana (dolcegabbana.com) and Smeg (smeg.com) […]

The brand’s first SUV has the power and poise to meet the high expectations that have been set for it. In the Emilia–Romagna region of northern Italy, the road from the city of Parma to the village of Berceto snakes about 40 miles through the Apennines. This is the route on which Alfieri Maserati, Enzo Ferrari, and […]

In-home galleries by Jim Olson. “An art collection is like a member of the family,” says Jim Olson. “Living with it every day is a very personal and satisfying thing.” The Seattle-based architect and founder of Olson Kundig (olsonkundig.com) has spent more than three decades ensuring that art and life are inextricable, designing private homes […]

Emmanuel Babled’s designs at the new Twenty First Gallery. New York City art ace Renaud Vuaillat has eschewed tradition with the launch of his latest Manhattan outpost. Opened in May on a tree-lined street in West Chelsea, Twenty First Gallery (21stgallery.com) is set within an elegant 19th-century brownstone adorned with exposed brick, hardwood floors, and original […]

The discreetly complex Richard Lange Jumping Seconds. “I like the fact that it makes people ask why you would pay $80,000 [€78,000] for a three-hand watch,” says A. Lange & Söhne’s director of product development, Anthony de Haas, referring to his latest creation, the Richard Lange Jumping Seconds (alange-soehne.com). It is indeed far more complex than […]

Wearable artworks by Alexander Calder. Fans of the U.S. sculptor Alexander Calder, among them socialite Peggy Guggenheim and artist Georgia O’Keeffe, were not content merely to look at his avant-garde creations—they wanted to wear them. Lucky for them, Calder experimented with materials and forms not only in his sculptures but also in his jewelry. His […]

Paul Boutros has been fascinated by timepieces ever since he laid eyes on an IWC Portofino at age 10 (“Love at first sight,” he says). The head of the Americas for Phillips Watches and a specialist in authentication and valuation, he continues to build his personal collection of timepieces that embody pivotal points in design or […]