Sommaire pour March 2017 de Robb Report

 CIRCUMSTANCES DICTATE MANY of our inclinations, as illustrated by the conflicting sentiments of Victor Hugo, who was the product of a royalist Catholic mother on the one hand, and on the other a republican father who prized reason over religion. Patrician and plain elements mingle similarly on this month’s cover, where Aston Martin’s dazzling DB11 (see “The New Gold Standard,” page 80) contrasts with the rugged Southern California coastline. The automobile and models, however, didn’t make the only visual statements on the set: A group of uniformed servicemen (left) from the nearby naval base at Point Mugu joined for group pictures—with each other first, and then with the car. “My tastes are aristocratic, my actions democratic.” —Victor Hugo MILITARY KHAKI certainly complemented the sandstone rock formations and the vivid crimson…

It requires tremendous precision, steady hands, and a degree of bravery to set an exceptional 7-carat pear-shaped ruby within a 10-carat old-mine cut diamond: The slightest misstep can easily crack and break apart the gems. Boghossian (boghossianjewels.com) believes the risk is worth taking to create striking jewelry designs that present the illusion of a gemstone floating within another gem. Setting stones within other stones is not new, but the Geneva-based jewelry house has refined an old-world method to yield a more contemporary style, as shown in this ring (center) featuring a vivid yellow emerald-cut diamond set within a white oval-shaped diamond. Known as the brand’s Kissing Diamonds technique, the method was pioneered by CEO Albert Boghossian and is carried on by his nephew Ralph Boghossian, a sixth-generation jeweler and head…

• THE NEW limited-production Van Cleef & Arpels Lady Arpels Papillon Automate ($290,000, vancleefarpels.com) reflects the personality of its owner in a very physical way: The translucent wings of a butterfly automaton on the watch’s jeweled and enameled dial beat according to the wearer’s activity level. “Our intent was to make nature come alive, and the butterfly was an obvious option,” says Raphaël Mingam, the brand’s timepiece marketing director. “The idea of trying to mirror the movement of nature with a butterfly that is actually moving came later in the process.” At the press of a pusher on the case, the gold-and-enamel butterfly beats its wings, but even without manual activation, the wings flutter seemingly at random every 2 to 4 minutes—even when the watch is immobile—as governed by a…

Entrepreneur Andrew Troyer’s appreciation for superior craftsmanship launched his career selling exotic automobiles and brokering yachts in Florida. “Even at a very young age,” he recalls, “I had a discerning eye for fine things.” More recently, this passion put an additional turn in Troyer’s professional path when, after debating a friend on the subject of top-tier spirits, he determined to make a sipping rum that met his—and his friend’s—high standards. “I did a fair amount of traveling, visiting distilleries,” Troyer recalls. “Early on, I met a rum maestro for Havana Club and a global rum ambassador. He was able to help connect the dots.” Troyer ultimately chose to make rum in what he calls the “Cuban orthodox style”—though in fact, his first release, Arôme 28 (rumarome.com, $595), was crafted in…

AS CANADA MARKS a century and a half as a nation this year, it may be Toronto that has the most to celebrate. The metropolis of 2.8 million recently surpassed Chicago in population, making it the fourth-largest city in North America. But it’s not all about size: New hotels, restaurants, museums—even new neighborhoods—have been emerging on the T-dot scene for years, gradually reaching a cultural crescendo. “We are young and rebellious, taking risks and testing limits,” says Grant van Gameron, the chef and owner of some of Toronto’s most buzz-worthy bars and restaurants. “We don’t have much history to pigeonhole us, so we just continue to evolve.” Read on to join the evolution. Check-Ins to Check Out TORONTO HOLDS A venerable place in hotel history: In 1961, the first-ever Four…

YAO MING WOULD rather not talk about himself. But the eight-time NBA all-star, Olympian, and member of Time’s 100 Most Influential People club opens up a bit when the subjects are fine wine and philanthropy. At 36, he is an accomplished vintner and influential activist, and last November he combined these two passions with a special release of Yao Family Wines’ 2014 Napa Crest Red Wine. The limited-edition bottling commemorates his 10-year partnership with WildAid—a global nonprofit dedicated to ending the illegal trade in elephant tusks, rhino horns, and other wildlife parts—with all proceeds going directly to the organization. Yao released his first wine in 2011, the same year he retired from basketball. His St. Helena, Calif., operation—which produces about 4,500 cases per year—is by no means a vanity project,…

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Ralph pucci is known for his luxurious furnishings that celebrate quality in material and design. Yet his New York and Miami showrooms (ralphpucci.net) eschew grandiosity in favor of raw, open spaces where he can create a unique canvas to showcase his thoroughly modern mash-up of decorative arts, photography, and fashion. His new Los Angeles location, set to open in March in a 1920s building that once housed a puppetry school and a dance studio, gives Pucci even more room to, as he says, “have fun.” With nearly 15,000 square feet, wraparound skylights, a truss ceiling, and a courtyard, the space will have even more room to display work from his stable of designers, including Hervé Van der Straeten, Patrick Naggar, Jim Zivic, and Lianne Gold. Many European and East Coast…

Few professionals today are as keenly attuned to the subtleties of the marketplace for rare wine as Scott Torrence, vice president and senior wine specialist for the Americas at Christie’s. During his tenure, Torrence has brought to sale a number of important private collections, including that of the heiress Doris Duke, and achieved the present record price of $474,000 for a 12-bottle case of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti 1978 Romanée-Conti. Currently, he believes the liquid asset in the sights of today’s savviest collectors is Bollinger’s 2005 Vieilles Vignes Françaises Blanc de Noirs. The Proposition Many great collections have quantities of Bordeaux and Burgundy, but where collectors find the greatest growth potential is in Champagne. The trend in the last five years has been toward ultrapremium cuvées that are extremely unique.…

Patience is a virtue—just ask Bina Goenka (binagoenka.com), who spent more than a year searching for the hard-to-find queen conch pearls for her latest jewelry collection. “No two conch pearls are ever the same,” says Goenka, who is the designer and founding CEO of her brand. “It could be any shade of pink or pomegranate, even brown, orange, ocher—anything.” She notes that it can take years to find quality specimens and even decades to create matching sets for a single design. Goenka divides her time between London and Mumbai, and her sources canvass the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico for the rare queen conch mollusks that produce her jewelry’s distinctive pearls (they also scour estate sales for previously harvested pearls). “The material is so rare,” she says, “and…

One does not often go searching for Michelin stars under the industrial ribs of an overpass, but Aska (askanyc.com)—Brooklyn’s New Nordic gem hidden along a lugubrious stretch of concrete beneath the Williamsburg Bridge—demands pilgrimage. Opened in July, the Michelin two-star restaurant is a reincarnation of sorts. Swedish-born chef Fredrik Berselius’s (above) first iteration (also named Aska and located in Williamsburg) was hardly short on acclaim, standing out for such surprising compositions as pig-blood crackers with sea-buckthorn jam at a time when the New Nordic craze was all but ubiquitous. In 2014, however, much to the chagrin of his droves of devotees, Berselius abruptly shuttered the restaurant, claiming he wanted a new challenge. Aska 2.0, however moody its setting may be, is a vibrant leap forward from Berselius’s previous outpost, featuring…

The cocktail craze is approaching pandemonium in Toronto, and at its forefront is Grant van Gameron, the young chef and restaurateur behind some of the city’s most happening spots for a sip. “[Torontonians] have become more adventurous in what they drink,” he says. “Old spirits are gaining new interest, and mixologists are becoming just as famous as chefs. It’s an exciting time.” Here, van Gameron shares his short list—including a couple of his own joints—for the perfect T-dot tipple. Bar Raval • “My first pintxo-bar experience gave me a feeling I will never forget,” says Van Gameron, whose interpretation of the northern Spanish–style bars is as authentic as it is intimate, offering craft cocktails, Spanish wine, and small bites like jamón ibérico and tortilla española. thisisbarraval.com Alo  • According to…

ONCE SCORNED AS an affliction of the overly self-involved, vanity is lately being embraced as a novel kind of positive reinforcement to encourage healthier lifestyles. Researchers are finding that healthy versions of vanity can help us adapt and adhere to better diets, more rigorous skin-care routines, and regular exercise—the kinds of preventive health measures that may have a lasting impact on one’s life span. Vanity itself is getting a conceptual makeover, as some in the medical community are making the idea of attractiveness almost inseparable from health. As part of its 3-year-old Healthy Living Program, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., operates a spa where men and women can get manicures, massages, facials, and fillers, along with sclerotherapy for varicose veins and executive physicals with prescriptions for weight loss, nutrition,…

Abstract expressionism is having a reunion. Mark Rothko and Robert Rauschenberg—two artists known for very different approaches to the post–World War II art movement—will share the spotlight this spring at Christie’s London (christies.com) in a high-profile auction of two influential works. Rothko’s No. 1 (pictured), painted in 1949 as the first in a series of 12, is an early example of his signature style combining blurred planes of vibrant color. The canvas, which remained in Rothko’s personal collection until his death in 1970, is estimated to sell for more than $10 million. Transom, by contrast, is a decisive example of Rauschenberg’s penchant for nontraditional media—in this case, silk-screen techniques previously used only for commercial purposes. The work depicts incongruous images of rooftop water towers, military helicopters, and nude women, and…

Tailored clothing continues to mix with casual wear—suits with sneakers, velvet jackets with jeans—for distinctive looks, and this spring, men’s wardrobes get their relaxed edge from a few fresh essentials. For starters, this new Kiton reversible raincoat ($5,345, kiton.it) is a luxurious topper made of lightweight waterproof silk and drenched in color. It, like the items on the next pages, is tailor-made for today, rain or shine. Carried Away Whether you’re a fan of the style or not, bags have become indispensable accessories for many men whose electronic essentials no longer fit into their pockets. Leave it to designer Tom Ford (tomford.com) to create a sophisticated alternative to the more formal briefcase: His practical Alix tote, priced at $2,250, is made in buttery-soft leather. —J.N. Loafing Around The versatile loafer—worn…

The owner of Joy is a first-time yacht owner who issued a simple but daunting order for the design of the 230-foot Feadship: Create something totally different from every other yacht. Thus the Bannenberg & Rowell exterior features unusually wide walkways, expansive aft decks, and three “winter gardens”—spacious climate-controlled glass enclosures that are located at the rear of the main-deck saloon, on the owner’s deck, and on the bridge deck. The London-based firm Studio Indigo, known for its work on urban residences, crafted an eclectic interior for Joy, its first superyacht commission. The design features 250 different types of wood, stone, fabric, and other finishes. Master chef Paul Hamilton is responsible for the meals served on board. He has worked for chefs and restaurants with two and three Michelin stars,…

Now that bourbon has had its day, it’s time for that distinctive American pour to move over and make way for another. Since 2009, rye-whiskey production has increased 536 percent, according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, clinching rye’s place as the next big thing in the world of spirits. Rye’s ascension has been fueled by a shift in tastes among cocktail connoisseurs looking for the more muscular, pepper-sweet siren call of rye, which was being distilled in the Colonies long before there was bourbon. George Washington established a rye distillery in 1797 to take advantage of this abundant grain being grown in the new Republic. Thus, rye is literally the spirit of America and was one of Washington’s most profitable and popular ventures (not to mention…

A DECADE IN the making, New Zealand’s Helena Bay (helenabay.com) is a spare-no-expense retreat that offers exclusive access to more than 800 private acres of North Island headlands, farmland, and coastline. The high-luxury lodge, which opened in November, is framed by lush kauri forest on an idyllic stretch of the estate’s 2 miles of private beachfront. Two spacious villa suites feature sprawling terraces that spill out onto the sand and are complemented by three junior suites. In the grand main lodge, guests can dine on “estate-to-plate” dishes and drink local wines from the cellar. Outside, an infinity-edge pool lined with manicured gardens makes for a pleasant spot to glimpse rare kaka birds, as well as Helena Bay’s own flying attraction—an AgustaWestland AW109 helicopter—as it comes in for a landing after…

Living the good life at sea comes in many forms, and these diverse experiences are guaranteed to be life enhancing, delivering nonstop doses of vitality. Life on a yacht offers infinite possibilities, such as dining in the cockpit of a superyacht overlooking the beautiful multicolored waterfront of Portofino, sipping drinks under a night sky blazing with stars in the British Virgin Islands, or snorkeling from a chartered catamaran into an otherworldly, vibrant setting of coral and marine life. SUNSEEKER Sunseeker’s new Predator 68 is yet another example of the British builder’s ability to blend style and performance in a seaworthy package. The latest rendition of the iconic Predator includes one of the best-designed cockpits in yachting, with a full-width sunroof and a cockpit door that transforms the deck into an…

“As a company we seem to like astronomical complications,” says Christian Selmoni, head of creation at Vacheron Constantin. “They offer some interesting possibilities for us to create things that are new.” In the face of Vacheron Constantin’s latest ultra-complicated timepiece—perhaps best described as the ultimate astronomic wristwatch constructed to date—Selmoni’s remarks can only be construed as understatement. The one-of-a-kind, double-sided Les Cabinotiers Celestia Astronomical Grand Complication 3600 (about $1 million, 877.862.7555, vacheron -constantin.com) is impressive not just for the number of its complications, which the company has tallied somewhat liberally at 23, but also for the way they are themed and organized. The complications are broken into three groups: civil (conventional) time and calendar functions, solar time, and sidereal time. Because both solar and sidereal time vary slightly from civil…

4VOO, page 197 4voo.com Aireloom, page 139 aireloom.com American Standard, page 164 dxv.com Armani/Casa, page 29 armanicasa.com Aston Martin, pages 8-9 db11.astonmartin.com Azimut Yachts, pages 174-175 azimutyachts.com Bay Club at Olde Naples, page 120 baycluboldenaples.com Bell & Ross, page 71 bellross.com Benetti, pages 172-173 benettiyachts.it Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, page 141 berkshirehathawayhs.com Bevolo, page 151 bevolo.com BMW of North America, pages 20-21 bmwusa.com Brando, The, page 73 thebrando.com British Virgin Islands, pages 184-185 bvitourism.com Bruno Magli, pages 37 , 39 brunomagli.com Burgess Yachts, pages 182-183 burgessyachts.com Carl F. Bucherer, page 107 carl-f-bucherer.com Cesare Attolini, page 18 cesareattolini.com Christopher Designs, page 55 christopherdesigns.com Coffin & Trout, page 66 coffinandtrout.com Dolce &…