Air Magazine - Al Bateen - August'19

AUGUST 2019

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Contents AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

EDITORIAL Editorial Director

John Thatcher Managing Editor

Faye Bartle Editor

Chris Ujma chris@hotmedia.me

ART Art Director

Kerri Bennett Senior Designer

Hiral Kapadia Contributing Designer

Claire Lambert Illustration

Leona Beth

COMMERCIAL AIR

Managing Director

Victoria Thatcher General Manager

David Wade

david@hotmedia.me Commercial Director

Rawan Chehab

rawan@hotmedia.me

PRODUCTION Production Manager

Muthu Kumar

Thirty Eight

Forty Four

Fifty

Fifty Six

Terry O’Neill has packed his sublime David Bowie snaps into a fascinating book about the rebel rebel

From galas and guests to luxury and financial lure, The Plaza has been a true New York icon since 1907

Filled with curious fabrics and promise for the future, Museo Salvatore Ferragamo sparks sustainable ideas

A Romeo & Juliet-inspired high jewellery collection from Van Cleef & Arpels deserves detailed inspection

Made from Stardust

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Staying Power

The World of Fashion

Wherefore Art Thou?

Senator Cosmopolite

Beijing · Dresden · Dubai · Geneva · Hong Kong · Macau · Madrid · Nanjing · Paris · Shanghai · Shenyang · Singapore · Tokyo · Vienna · Xian

Contents

AIR

AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

Fourteen

Twenty Eight

Sixty

Sixty Eight

London’s Atlas Gallery opens the archives to celebrate its 25 years of photography study

The fine jewellery journey of Flavia Vetorasso charts her success from São Paulo to the celebrity spotlight

La Torre’s Tuscan castle-setting may read like a fairytale, but its a true story (and a Michelinstar one, at that)

Positano is known for its beaches, cliffside coastline, a charming old town... and La Sirenuse Hotel

Twenty Four

Thirty Four

Sixty Four

Living Colour at the Barbican seeks to reframe the legacy of Lee Krasner (who was far more than just ‘Mrs Pollock’)

By reliably conquering the ocean depths, the Fifty Fathoms anchored Blancpain’s reputation

There’s a lifetime of tinkering behind the bespoke, Porschebased classics crafted by Emory Motorsports

Radar

Art & Design

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Jewellery

Timepieces

Gastronomy

Travel

Motoring Tel: 00971 4 364 2876 Fax: 00971 4 369 7494 Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission from HOT Media is strictly prohibited. HOT Media does not accept liability for any omissions or errors in AIR.

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Welcome Onboard AUGUST 2019

Welcome to AIR, your personal guide to Al Bateen Executive Airport, its people, partners, developments, and the latest news about the only dedicated business aviation airport in the Middle East and North Africa.

We wish you a safe journey wherever you are going, and we look forward to welcoming visitors to Al Bateen Executive Airport to experience our unparallelled commitment to excellence in general, private and business aviation.

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Cover: David Bowie Paris, 28 th June 1977 (Photo by Christian Simonpietri/ Sygma/VCG via Getty Images)

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Al Bateen

AIR

AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

Welcome to World-Class

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From humble beginnings in the 1960s when it served as Abu Dhabi’s first main airport, Al Bateen Executive Airport (ABEA) is now the only exclusive business aviation airport in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region – a world-class luxury aviation service facility aiming to meet and exceed the expectations

of business travellers from all around the world.

With the 1982 opening of Abu Dhabi International Airport just 32km outside the city centre, ABEA underwent its transformation into a military air base the following year.

Military operations continued until 2008, when Abu Dhabi Airports took

www.albateenairport.ae

Al Bateen AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

over its operation and developed it into a world-class executive airport.

Over a 50-year timespan, ABEA’s wealth of experience, under both civilian and military management, facilitated its smooth transition to what European Business Air News (EBAN) named the Second Best Executive Airport in the World in 2013. The award – and the many accolades since then – mark a remarkable ascent for the airport, which enjoys a strategic position within reach of major businesses and leisure facilities at the heart of Abu Dhabi city.

With a stand capacity for up to 50 private jets served by efficient 12

turnarounds, ABEA upholds its excellence in air traffic and ground management operations through its partnership with Munawala, a proprietary fixed-base operations (FBO) service provider. This unique offering provides a single point of contact for all requirements and a full range of competitively priced FBO services.

ABEA maintains an unwavering commitment to delivering a worldclass passenger experience. As the region’s only exclusive business aviation airport, it always welcomes travellers from across the globe to its unrivalled location with warm Emirati hospitality.

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Radar AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

AIR

“Photography is an infinite art form” believes Ben Burdett, director of Atlas Gallery – which has spent a quarter century dedicated to celebrating the medium. Its anniversary event includes works that not only span the gallery’s own 25-year exhibition history, but also represent many high points in the history of photography itself; Kate Moss upon an elephant is not the only image you’ll never forget.

‘Atlas Gallery: Celebrating 25 Years’ shows at the venue on Dorset Street, London, until 31 August. atlasgallery.com

Opposite: Kate Moss, Nepal for British Vogue (1993)

by Arthur Elgort. Archival pigment print Signed, numbered and titled on artist’s label © Arthur Elgort. Courtesy Atlas Gallery, London

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Critique AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

Film Official Secrets Dir: Gavin Hood The true story of whistleblower Katharine Gun, who leaked a top-secret NSA memo exposing a joint US-UK illegal spying operation.

AT BEST: “A dry and honourable retelling of events that exists mostly to remind... why any potential whistleblowers out there should honour her example.”

Variety AT WORST: “Does its job... but one can’t help thinking that the end result is somewhat less than the sum of its parts.” Culturess

Honeyland AIR

Dirs: Ljubomir Stefanov, Tamara Kotevska The last in a long line of Macedonian wild beekeepers ekes out a living in an isolated mountain region, deep within the Balkans.

AT BEST: “A film of beautiful intimacy and tragedy, a rare glimpse at a dying way of life, and an observation of culture at a crossroads filled with heartache and humour.” POV Magazine AT WORST: “Equally captivating and heartbreaking, Honeyland is a bittersweet film.” In The Seats

Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!

Dir: Morgan Spurlock 13 years ago, Morgan Spurlock documented his month of three McDonald’s meals a day. He returns to look at the multbillion dollar poultry industry.

AT BEST: “ This is fast food cinema, tasty enough and well prepared, a far better dish than the original, and sure to be snacked upon by a large audience.” Birth.Movies.Death

Aquarela Dir: Victor Kossakovsky A deeply cinematic journey through the transformative beauty and raw power of water, from frozen waters to the throes of a hurricane.

AT BEST: “A feast of HD imagery so crisp as to be almost disorienting, this is immersive experiential cinema.” Variety AT WORST: “Aimless or not, Aquarela is fascinating, designed to be played on repeat as an occasional screensaver and to be digested seriously as a window to nature’s raw power.” Film Inquiry 16

Images: IFC Films; SFFILM Comms; Samuel Goldwyn Films

AT WORST: “Neither of the Super e Me movies is fine art, but there’s a certain artfulness with which they’re assembled.” indieWire

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Critique AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

Theatre

AIR

Alex Mugnaioni as Captain Corelli and Madison Clare as Pelagia in Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. Photo by Marc Brenner

“I

am from the 90s and in the 90s I loved Louis de Bernières’ hyper-vivid, bittersweet monster of a breakthrough novel Captain Corelli’s Mandolin,” writes Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out London.

“It has probably drifted out of fashion a bit since – maybe because of the scale of its success, maybe because of the slightly rubbishy Nick Cage film, maybe because De Bernières has struggled to match its impact since. In any case it is 2019 and here finally is a stage version – by Rona Munro – and it’s good.”

This Melly Still production, at Harold Pinter Theatre until 31 August, “Delights in rough invention: writhing bodies stand in for the Ionian sea or the roil of war, with explosions and earthquakes projected onto a buckled brass backdrop. Rona Munro’s script is performed with gusto by a tight, nimble ensemble,” writes Nick Curtis for Evening Standard. “Munro and Still have created a visually captivating adaptation of de Bernières’ beloved story, bringing us a chance to hear some of his most poignant and frequently quoted lines spoken on stage,” pens Holly O’Mahony for Culture Whisper.

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Halley Feiffer’s Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow Moscow is a re-imagining of Anton Chekhov’s Three Sisters. “Transferred to MCC Theater’s new Off Broadway space and playing in the round in a black box with limited seating capacity, the crafty show feels intimate and familiar. And did we mention fun?” says Marilyn Stasio for Variety. “The stage is set, literally, from the moment you enter,” highlights Jesse Oxfeld in New York Stage Review. “The seats have been arranged into opposing bleachers with a central playing space.

Mark Wendland’s goofy, suggestive scenic design puts a roof over that central space that suggests an eaved country house, puts a mishmosh of Russian-ish furniture below... On a far wall is a postcard blowup of Moscow, with giant, marquee letters spelling out the Cyrillic spelling for the Russian capital. Moscow, as ever in this source material, is always looming just out of reach.” Critiques Sara Holden in Vulture, “The playwright and her characters sit in judgment more than they toil in search of something. They make quippy statements about their reality instead of asking questions of it.

“Equus is one of those plays that’s been knocking around for years (46, to be precise). Beloved by small theatre troupes (a handful of actors, a few horse masks and you’re good to go) and infamous for its prolonged [bared] Daniel Radcliffe scene on stage in 2007, can it still be as jarring today as it was in 1973? The short answer is: without a doubt, if done well,” writes Londonist’s Chris Bridges of the current iteration of the play, at Trafalgar Studios until 7 September. “Elements feel a touch dated, stemming from an era when we knew less about psychiatry and thought differently about our children,” admits Andrzej Lukowski in Time Out. “But [director] Ned Bennett works around that in an exhilarating and disturbing production that always stays true to the thrust of Shaffer’s play: that unfathomable wonders and terrors exist inside our heads, and that there is a tragedy in our need to kill them.” Writes Dominic Cavendish in The Guardian. “My over-riding feeling is that I’ve not seen a more richly achieved production at Trafalgar Studios... It’s perfect for that constricted main-stage, a boundless pleasure. Giddy-up, go.”

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Critique AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

AIR

O

utpost by Dan Richards, “Is a book about ‘the romantic, exploratory appeal of cabins and isolated stations’ – places far from the noisy world where people can find clarity and connect with nature,” explains PD Smith for The Guardian. “In search of secluded refuges, Richards travels the world. He climbs Desolation Peak in the North Cascade mountains of Washington State, to find the lookout’s cabin where Jack Kerouac ‘suffered, pined and gnawed his way’ through 63 days of fire-watching, ‘crazed and haunted by the void.’ Richards helps restore one of Iceland’s sæluhús... and stays in an experimental Mars base in the red Utah desert. He hikes through the Cairngorms in Scotland staying in bothies and clambers up Mount Mitoku, Japan, to reach the 1,300-year-old Nageire- dō temple.” His prose “Is by turns beautiful, funny, evocative and learned, the pages illuminated by lovely, warming footnotes … [His voice] vivid, self-deprecating, literary and very, very funny,” say the Observer. “This book will be equally at home in the library of the armchair traveller and the kitbag of the weather-beaten nomad,” lauds Nancy Campbell, author of The Library of Ice. “When the U.S. Postal Service honoured Elvis Presley with a stamp in 1993, they threw it open to the public to decide which Elvis should be featured: the young, sexy Elvis in his 1950s heyday, or the older, heavily bejewelled Elvis who played some 800 shows in Las Vegas during the first half of the 1970s.

Young Elvis won, but I am willing to bet that Richard Zoglin was one of a quarter of a million Americans who voted for Vegas Elvis,” opens Michael Lindgren for Newsday of Elvis in Vegas. “Zoglin’s smart and entertaining book, combines genuine affection for its subject with a keen sense of showbiz history and a lively style.” In 1969, “Elvis decided he wanted to regain his throne. The book is the author’s fascinating tale of how the king got his groove back and Las Vegas refreshed its own image, 20

together supersizing live entertainment in America’s adult playground,” praises Douglass K. Daniel in Federal News Network. “Top-drawer research focuses on how Las Vegas evolved as the pleasure capital; Zoglin produces a gem of pop culture history.” Explain Kirkus Reviews, “Drawing on scores of interviews, Zoglin paints a vibrant picture of Elvis’ thrilling, electrical presence: ‘everyone was dumbstruck,’ one woman said. ‘It was one of the greatest shows I’ve ever seen.’ Elvis’ performance, writes the author, “set a new standard for Las Vegas. The star was now his own spectacle.’”

“Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. Henry Ford invented the affordable automobile. And, together, the brilliant best friends also invented the great American road trip!” quips NPR’s Camila Domonoske of The Vagabonds. “OK, yes, that’s a stretch. But it’s the kind of puffed-up exaggeration the two publicity hounds would have delighted in, as author Jeff Guinn makes clear in his new book. Edison and Ford were friends...

And between 1914 to 1924, the two men – along with tire magnate Harvey Firestone and the crotchety naturalist John Burroughs – went on a series of vacations by car.” It was “just those four, roughing it across the American landscape,” writes Joseph Bottum for The Washington Free Beacon. “Or at least, just those four, if one discounts all the relatives, hangers-on, servants, and the dozen or so vehicles trailing the intrepid adventurers, loaded down with tents, furniture, dishes, and delectables. Still, they announced themselves as demonstrating the spirit of American exploration, and the press ate it up.” Say Kirkus Reviews, “Guinn tells an entertaining story that mixes sharp portraits of their vivid personalities with details of their travels... [It is] an amusing account of celebrity travellers through the primitive and yet vaguely familiar America of 100 years ago.”

Images: Canongate Books; Simon & Schuster

Books

Critique AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

Art

AIR

Beauty, 1993 by Olafur Eliasson (Spotlight, water, nozzles, wood, hose, pump); installation view at Moderna Museet, Stockholm, 2015 Photo: Anders Sune Berg Courtesy of the artist; neugerriemschneider, Berlin; Tanya Bonakdar Gallery, New York / Los Angeles © 1993 Olafur Eliasson

“I

t would be hard to think of a more beguiling show than the Olafur Eliasson survey at Tate Modern,” writes The Guardian’s Laura Cumming of In Real Life. “It opens with a waterfall of spectacular proportions and continues with a journey through the elements, including – literally – earth, sea and fire... His hypnotic installations highlight the state of the planet.”

Eliasson “does epic like few others,” agrees Rosemary Waugh in Time Out London. “The Danish-Icelandic artist was last at Tate Modern in 2003 with The Weather Project, a monumental installation that transformed the Turbine Hall into a pulsating, hazy sunset.

This time, they’re showing 40 works, including many large-scale installations, made throughout his career.” Eliasson “Is artist as dynamo, a force throwing out a huge number of questions and ideas about our lived environment,” says Hettie Judah in her iNews piece. “Not all translate successfully through art – the room exploring kaleidoscopes is beautiful, but I’m not sure it provoked contemplation or a fresh view of the world, as suggested.

Still, I’m glad he’s having them.”

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“It’s not uncommon for artists to innovate using references to other artworks from the past, but it’s practically unheard of for them to do so with actual art objects belonging to a major institution,” writes Elizabeth Dee for Time Out of Vessel Orchestra.

“But such is the case with British artist Oliver Beer, whose works focus on the acoustical properties of space, and here, that interest takes form as a group of items from the The Metropolitan Of Art’s storied holdings; the installation is just the latest in a series of the artist’s efforts to upend the traditional gallery paradigm.”

Says National Sawdust writer Steve Smith, “Viewed all at once, the 32 precious objects... comprise a motley assemblage. At one end stands Ettore Sottsass’s Shiva vase (1973), a ceramic vessel glazed fleshy pink. At the other, an anonymous 19th-century pewter bull effects a regal stance, its head popped off and resting nearby”. Say New York’s Met, ‘Selected for their natural pitches, which range from low C to high G on the chromatic musical scale, they form an unexpectedly versatile instrument.’

Beer’s compositions play through August.

“This retrospective has the inscrutable artist plunging into film noir, scorning the selfie era – and trying her hand at Instagram,” says Adrian Searle in The Guardian of Cindy Sherman, at the London’s National Portrait Gallery until 15 September. “In all her guises and roles, she fills room after room; in her multiple poses, a self that’s just out of reach...

The characters keep on coming, racing from genre to genre, the artist strapping on latex breasts, masks, wigs, prosthetic noses, applying makeup, wearing costumes. This is all great fun, and never a boring critique.” Writes Will Gompertz for the BBC, “The high point – and of any Sherman show – are her 69 black & white Untitled Film Stills, produced between 1977 and 1980 (she only stopped because she “ran out of clichés”).

Entire PhD theses have been written on these staged photos.” Explains Evening Standard’s Ben Luke, “In all her work there’s a risky balance between self-conscious artifice and evocative narrative, an acute tension between the artist herself as performer and the fictional characters she plays.

She’s pulled it off, time and again.”

© Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi / Photo by Hufton+Crow. Architect: Jean Nouvel.

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Art & Design

AIR

AUGUST 2019 : ISSUE 99

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Inner Rhythm Lee Krasner was an unsung pioneer of abstract expressionism, oftovershadowed by her husband Jackson Pollock. With the exhibition Living Colour, the Barbican properly reframes her legacy

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“I

’m always going to be Mrs Jackson Pollock – that’s a matter of fact”, once said Lee Krasner in self-admission. “But I painted before Pollock, during Pollock, [and] after Pollock.”

Krasner’s work has not always been given the quality of attention it deserves, admits London’s Barbican, in a written precursor to its dedicated exhibition.

‘During her lifetime, she was often marginalised as the suffering spouse of the artist Jackson Pollock; after his death in 1956, she had to cope with the added burden of being the sole executor of his estate. In the 1970s, second-wave feminism revived interest in her career.

Yet many of the hyperbolic claims made at the time for Krasner’s role in relation to Abstract Expressionism – albeit wellintentioned– have contributed to the difficulty in appreciating her work in a clear light.’

The Barbican, then, offers ‘clear light’ with Living Colour, a platform for the late artist’s work to be celebrated (and analysed) in its own right.

“

Krasner was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1908 – and was also born amid the first generation of abstract expressionists. (Willem de Kooning entered the world in 1904, Barnett Newman in 1905, Pollock in 1912, and Ad Reinhardt in 1913).

“Living and working in New York and its environs between the mid-1930s and the late 1960s, this generation of artists can be roughly divided into three stylistic groups,” says American poet and critic John Yau. “The gestural Abstract Expressionists, those who favoured strict geometries, and a third, seldom talked-about group which was relentless in its pursuit of pure, rounded forms, with a focus on shapes, lines and edges.”

However Krasner “explored all of these styles, and does not fit comfortably into any of the groups that practised them or the narratives in which they have been embedded,” Yau explains – and falling outside the lines of easy classification was not Krasner’s only obstacle on the road to recognition.

Says the Barbican exhibition curator Eleanor Nairne, “Becoming and then sustaining herself as an artist had required formidable determination.

There was her Orthodox religious upbringing, which ran contrary to a bohemian lifestyle in Greenwich Village; the financial precariousness of New York during the Great Depression and the Second World War; and the struggle to be taken seriously as a ‘woman painter’, which was still largely seen as a contradiction in terms.”

Adds Nairne, “Through all of this – and three onerous decades as Pollock’s widow and executor – Krasner refused to allow her own work to suffer.”

The curator summons a remark about the formidable Krasner, uttered by playwright Edward Albee. He surmised that – having emerged through life’s many tribulations– it was little wonder that, “Lee was not ‘easy’, and what a blessing is there; protect us from ‘easy; women; she demanded the quality she gave, and if she put us on our mettle, she gave us gold in return.”

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I never violate an inner rhythm. I loathe to force anything... I have regards for the inner voice

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”

In terms of her artistic return, Living Colour is a delightful assembly encompassing her mixed output, from self-portraits and life drawings to her ‘Night Journeys’, ‘Prophecy’ and her ‘Eleven Ways.’ There are also the ‘little image’ paintings, which powerfully tackle Krasner’s remark of how, “You can have giant physical size with no statement on it, so that it is an absurd blow-up of nothingness, and vice versa, you can have a tiny painting which is monumental in scale”.

The imagery of her work “was made in relationship to nature,” enlightens Katy Siegel, the Eugene V. & Clare E. Thaw Endowed Chair at Stony Brook University, New York. “Above all, her relation to nature took complicated form in her relationship to her own work, to how it was made and to her place in the world... Krasner very much takes a place in the universe of modern artists enmeshed in ideas about nature and the natural world.”

The word ‘natural’ defines her approach, too, given that she never made sketches or preparatory studies in advance of painting; as Krasner explained, “There’s a… blank, and something begins to happen, and the hope is… that it comes through.”

One of Living Colour’s (many) interesting insights is an observation by Nairne: that the circumstances thought to have hampered Krasner may have actually liberated her artistic arc. “Free from much critical pressure, Krasner had made the work she felt impelled to make,” says the curator. “Without a coterie of controlling dealers and collectors, she was never forced to repeat herself, but could flow with each new direction as it came to her. She acknowledged that, in some respects, being overlooked had been a ‘blessing’.”

Indeed, one of Krasner’s most profound confessions relates to how, “I never violate an inner rhythm. I loathe to force anything… I know it is essential for me. I listen to it and I stay with it. I have always been this way. I have regards for the inner voice.”

The Barbican, 35 years after her passing, has ensured that Krasner’s inner voice – plus the bends, curves, and undulations of her creative energy flow – are able to be heard loud and clear. As nature intended.

‘Living Colour’ shows at the Barbican in London until 1 September. For further info, visit barbican.org.uk

Opening pages: Lee Krasner in her studio in the barn, Springs, 1962 by Hans Namut, Lee Krasner Papers, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington; Through Blue, 1963, Private Collection, New York City © The PollockKrasner Foundation.

By Christopher Stach.

Opposite: Palingenesis,

1971 © Pollock-Krasner Foundation Collection.

Courtesy Kasmin Gallery Below: Untitled, 1946 Collection of Bobbi and Walter Zifkin © The Pollock-Krasner Foundation, by Jonathan Urban; Abstract No. 2 , 1947 IVAM Centre, Spain. ©The Pollock-Krasner Foundation. Courtesy IVAM

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AIR

Jewellery AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

Flavian Flair Raised in precious-stone-laden São Paulo, Flavia Vetorasso used generous-sized gems to take the fine jewellery spotlight WORDS: CHRIS UJMA

T

here’s something of the carnivale spirit in the exquisite creations by Flavia Vetorasso Siarra: regal gold, hypnotic reds, electric blue tourmalines, vibrant emeralds and spectacular white and gold diamonds all dance a riotous samba throughout her fine jewellery finery.

Vetorasso’s own beat is the pursuit of aesthetic perfection. 12 years ago, having honed her skill set with ateliers,

the São Paulo-born creative founded her eponymous jewellery house.

While Vetorasso’s success is no longer confined to South America (her jewellery is a Hollywood red carpet staple, and her by-appointment client meetings mostly take place in London), Brazil still has its part to play in the brand story.

The pieces – produced in São Paulo – are energised by “the bold colours and statement pieces which

Opposite: Jessica Kahawaty adorned with Flavia Vetorasso high jewellery 29

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are evident in the Brazilian way of dressing,” she enthuses.

“Although I travel often – and don’t spend much time in Brazil anymore – I am inspired by the textiles of my homeland, and by the vivid colours of the gemstones from the mines of Brazil, and I have carried these traits over into my designs, creating unique pieces in a kaleidoscope of vibrant colours.”

Comparable to the impossible task of a parent having to choose a preferred child, the jeweller settles on the rare Paraiba tourmaline as being her favourite stone to work with. “The vibrancy and shine are exquisite, and it is the most exciting for me to source and create,” she explains. “The rarity of the stone makes it exciting to reinvent in different silhouettes. Yes, I would say that is my signature piece.”

Vetorasso prefers to create “using sizeable stones to highlight and accentuate the beauty of the gem.

With the stones being quite large, they can be utilised in jewellery pieces that are inevitable statement piece for an outfit, bringing attention to the cut, quality and clarity.”

It is this generous choice of gems that she believes distinguishes her designs from other brands – and such ‘statement pieces’ appeal to women with all eyes on their every move.

Vetorasso has achieved global recognition thanks to celebrity associations: her designs have caught 30

the eye of influential women, who are drawn to her exceptional cuts and feminine designs. “I always envisioned my designs on gorgeous women on the red carpet,” she admits. “I love to see the pieces worn by women who I idolise, adore and who inspire me everyday.”

This formative vision was realised with her ‘first placement’: a pair of rubellite earrings worn by Vanessa Hudgens at the Academy Awards, where Victoria’s Secret Angel Elsa Hosk also wore the Paraiba tourmaline necklace and ring.

It’s as though Flavia’s jewellery has been on a world tour since. Most recently

she accessorised “the gorgeous Jessica Kahawaty and Helena Bordon when they attended Cannes Film Festival”, where the necklace and ear climbers on-show made Forbes’ shortlist of best jewellery spotted.

Josephine Skriver wore different pieces including the emerald necklace, rubellite earrings and yellow gold necklace to three different red carpet events in 2019, while singers Dua Lipa and Ellie Goulding opted for Vetorasso’s Paraiba tourmaline choker when attending the Serpentine Party in June.

“Each of these relationships were fostered naturally, through friends and connections, and by client word

of mouth,” Vetorasso explains.

“Enthralling” is how Vetorasso describes the overall journey (from sourcing rare materials to those client discussions), and anecdotes are likely shared by clients who have experienced the jeweller’s thoughtful bespoke process; every red carpet appearance traces back to those hushed, one-onone meetings in the British capital.

“I like to sit down with each client and gain perspective on their desires and personal style through an open discussion,” she elaborates.

“We talk about whether the client is seeking a ready-to-buy piece, or prefers to create a bespoke piece that incorporates the stones they would like. Together we work on finding jewellery that not only represents the client’s style, but is an extension of their personality.”

Flavia Vetorasso’s haute brand is driven by her want to showcase the quality of rare stones, as well as to beautify the very women the jewellery will adorn.

So how does she envision the ‘quintessential’ Flavia Vetorasso client? “A woman who encapsulates empowerment, glamour and confidence and who isn’t afraid of incorporating colours and large statement pieces into their outfits,” she says without hesitation.

“Each piece and design flourishes in its own way but, for me, it is these girls who truly bring the stones to life.”

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

OBJECTS OF DESIRE

Master craftsmanship, effortless style and timeless appeal; this month’s must-haves and collectibles

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

RICHARD MILLE

BONBON COLLECTION

Richard Mille has swapped the ferocity of competition for a sprinkling of fun. With millions of dollars of research & development poured into every timepiece, the brand’s releases are usually quite serious affairs; cutting edge tech primed for the furnace of 1

sport. This sweet-toothed unveiling, then, is decidedly lollipop-in-cheek: 10 juicy horological treats (each produced in an edition of 30 pieces) that put a tasty new twist on watchmaking – evoking candies, pastries and fruit.

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

V E L A A P R I VAT E I S L A N D

LIMITED EDITION JE WELLERY

A sojourn to sun-kissed Velaa Private Island assures unforgettable moments, and now guests can depart with more-permanent keepsakes to treasure. Resort owners Radka and Jiri Smejc collaborated with Frédéric Béziat (of Maison Atelier Loréedubois) to

dream-up two limited edition sets, inspired by the flora and fauna of this Maldivian haven. The Turtle Anniversary suite is an ideal outfit accompaniment for on-island dinner at Aragu, while the High Jewellery suite embellishes after-island daydreams.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

300 SPECIES

PORTOFINO

Italians perfected sartorial craftsmanship, and Australians perfected sun-kissed exploits on powdery beaches. Combine the two and the result is 300 Species – ‘Italian crafted surf style with a splash of Aussie humour’. Meticulous detailing is a hallmark

of these handmade shorts, from supreme fabrics to personalised buttons. Tailored elegance underpins the company ethos of ‘premium shorts turned upside down’ – a brand value, not wearing advice; even Aussie humour has standards of decency.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

Image: Darin Schnabel ©2019 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s 4

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

R M SOTHEBY’S

MONTERE Y AUC TION 2019 Look to the letters for the inside story of this 1954 Maserati A6GCS: ‘A6’ represents ‘Alfieri’ of the Maserati brothers plus the car’s six cylinders, ‘G’ is for Ghisa (cast iron, the engine block material) while ‘CS‘ stands for Corsa Sport – a racing sports car.

This piece of motoring history is part of a tantalising lineup at RM Sotheby’s August auction, which takes place from 15–17 of this month at Monterey Conference Center in California. For more info on lots and bidding formalities, visit rmsothebys.com 5

OB JECTS OF DESIRE

CORNELIANI

SS19: THE ACCESSORIES

Distinction underpins Corneliani’s SS19 collection (where ‘savoir-faire flourishes in the art of savoir-vivre,’ so the brand says), and its recent Accessories Edit produced some equally suave must-haves. Our pick of the parade are these Boston sneakers,

in Nubuck Crocodile with calfskin leather inserts and lightweight soles. Now is an ideal moment for a Corneliani immersion, as the brand just debuted its elegant new boutique concept on Via del Babuino in the heart of Rome.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

ROL L S-ROYCE

EPICUREAN DELIGHT

As (more) heat swoons over the Gulf, this addition to the Rolls-Royce Bespoke Design Collective ensures driver indulgences are kept at optimal temperature. The customisable chest – made from aluminium and carbon fibre – is swathed in natural

grain leather and embossed with the enigmatic Spirit of Ecstasy, gliding open to reveal four hand-blown crystal champagne flutes (arranged to evoke a V12 engine).

It’s a well-engineered accoutrement with an elegant sense of occasion.

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OB JECTS OF DESIRE

AU DE M A R S PIGU E T

SAPPHIRE ORBE

Named after the river that crosses Le Brassus – the Swiss home of AP – this piece is a stunning example of gem-setting craftsmanship, with diamonds and sapphires in graded hues used to mimic a glittering river. The Orbe (which features more than

12,000 stones, each individually cut and set by hand) is both bracelet and timepiece: its domed centre houses a dark blue sapphire-set globe which, when inverted, reveals the 18ct white gold watch dial, pavéd with graded orange sapphires.

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Timepieces AUGUST 2019 : ISSUE 99

Going for Gold

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TARIQ MALIK

dials from that era in lapis lazuli, with engine-turned clous de Paris, artistic lacquers, jasper, and sometimes even in onyx. There is something about the deep, dark dial juxtaposed with the lustre of gold that gets the heart racing.

ustre, gleam, and lasting value: gold doesn’t corrode, and it never disappoints. This precious metal has maintained its value through the ages and, even today, it’s a way to bequeath wealth; a precious little something to impart to the next generation.

It is little surprise that gold and vintage watches are the perfect match. In that spirit, here’s my selection of the most charismatic gold vintage watches.

Patek Philippe 3700 The Nautilus was born during a turbulent era of watchmaking. Quartz technology threatened traditional watchmaking, and the Swiss horological world was changing. Then Gerald Genta, (considered by some as the Picasso of watchmakers), began musing over the distinctive nautical shape of a porthole – and his creative genius blossomed in to one of the greatest designs in horology history.

The very first Patek Philippe Nautilus was the highly sought after ref. 3700.

It was originally intended to be a steel sports watch, but the gold version is arguably even more collectible, and in my opinion, is one of the best vintage gold watches in existence.

Audemars Piguet 5402 During the early 1970s, Audemars Piguet introduced both the solid gold ‘BA’ and steel/gold ’SA’ variants of the classic Ref. 5402.

It too was designed by Genta, and shortly after the initial steel pieces, the first versions in gold debuted. The unmistakable octagonal bezel with the eight screws, and the trademark ‘AP’ dial featuring the ‘tapisserie’ pattern make

it stand out from the other gold classics.

It is an exceptionally well-made watch, and one of my all-time favourites.

45 years later they are still highly sought after, and regularly fetch high prices at auction. This watch has a unique place in watchmaking history, since the original design blazed a trail that other watchmakers would later follow; it’s a true design milestone.

Rolex Day Date / Onyx dial The Day-Date has always been offered exclusively in precious metals. The most traditional is yellow gold, but the ‘President’ can be found with a bewildering array of dials, especially vintage models from the 1970s and 1980s, when Rolex allowed retailers to sell watches that were never intended for the mainstream catalogue. I’ve seen

Rolex Daytona 6263 Most collectors and watch fans visualise the Daytona in its usual steel guise, with black and white dials. Vintage Rolex Daytona’s have become somewhat ubiquitous at auction houses these days – there have been so many remarkable rare finds and famous owners, such is the level of demand.

Finding a yellow gold model, though, is more of a challenge – and that’s what really interests someone dedicated to vintage finds (like myself).

Of all Daytonas, the ref. 6263 is the most sought after, especially if it happens to have a black dial.

Ironically, when they were first made, Rolex never believed that the gold Daytona would prove popular. As a result, there aren’t too many of them around today – and many of the original dials were replaced by the ‘Paul Newman’ variety, making the gold kind all the more elusive (and exclusive).

I’ve found that it is the pursuit of this timepiece that holds all the fun, though.

Once found, you have in your hand some of the best craftsmanship in watchmaking, combined with the seemingly magical qualities of gold – its weight, and that reassuring feel upon the wrist . When it comes to collecting, there are few feelings as rewarding.

Dubai’s DIFC is home to Momentum, Tariq’s co-founded vintage watch boutique. momentum-dubai.com 33

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AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

Nifty Fifty How Blancpain’s most iconic timepiece was developed to withstand the pressure, as an instrumental ally for the French combat swim unit WORDS: CHRIS UJMA

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hen legendary French diver Jacques Cousteau released his pioneering documentary Le Monde du Silence in 1956, for many it was their first visual immersion into ‘the silent world’. The recording of his expedition showed the serene ocean depths in all of their colour and splendour, securing the film’s creators an Oscar for their efforts.

Cousteau and his team spent 24 months traversing the Mediterranean Sea, Arabian Gulf, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean – and during the adventure he wore Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms to keep time. The rise to prominence of this timepiece was not only due to this

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celebrated explorer, though: horology can thank Blancpain’s dive-devoted former CEO, and uncompromising French combat swimmers.

Six years before Cousteau took the watch on his underwater jaunt, Jean-Jacques Fiechter – himself an outstanding diver – had taken the helm of Swiss watch brand Blancpain, in 1950. Buoyed by his part-time passion, Fiechter began working on a reliable and robust timing instrument capable of accompanying him in his underwater adventures.

This was a major challenge, given that there were no watch industry precedents to use as a blueprint.

Guided by his own experience,

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Fiechter defined the benchmarks that a dedicated scuba diving timepiece had to meet: luminescent hands and hourmarkers contrasting with a dark dial, a secured rotating bezel, a self-winding movement, perfect water-resistance, and an antimagnetic case. As for the name, a fathom is an imperial measurement equalling six-feet: hence ‘50 Fathoms’, equating to 300 feet beneath the ocean surface.

Little did Fiechter realise that his passion project came at a fortuitous time. Captain Robert ‘Bob’ Maloubier and Lieutenant Claude Riffaud had just founded the French Combat Swimmers unit – a Special Operation Forces team of the French Navy, tasked with gathering undersea intelligence and conducting covert acts of sabotage.

They worked at night – in waters far murkier than Cousteau’s crystal-clear seas – and needed a watch suited to their aquatic missions.

‘The two officers envisaged finding a watch that would become an indispensable piece of equipment for their divers. Working together, they assembled a list of specific criteria for an instrument that would meet their requirements,’ say Blancpain’s historians. ‘The first tests which they conducted with “water-resistant” French watches were inconclusive. These watches were far too small, the dials were hard to read, and the cases were far from waterproof. Having heard that the director of a Swiss watchmaking house was testing a new model of watch when diving in the south of France, they decided to contact Fiechter.’

Maloubier later recounted to Blancpain’s own Lettres Du Brassus, “Finally a small watch company, agreed to develop our project, which envisioned a watch with a black dial, bold large numerals and clear markings: triangles, squares; a rotatable exterior bezel which repeated the markings of the dial... We wanted to be able to align this bezel with the large minute hand, in order to easily know our remaining oxygen time. We wanted each of the markings to shine like a star for a shepherd.”

Fiechter had implemented his own wishlist. For instance, he wanted a unidirectional sapphire bezel to prevent accidental advancement of the bezel – avoiding a potentially dangerous occurrence when relying on 36

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The two officers envisaged finding a watch that would become an indispensable piece of equipment for their divers the timepiece to calculate time spent underwater. He also insisted on the timepiece being automatic: the CEO wanted to minimise the number of times the crown would be popped out, preserving its waterproof integrity.

Both details remain features of the 2019 Fifty Fathoms ‘Naguers de Combat’, the latest chapter of the ‘Fifty’ and a fitting tribute. Limited to just 300 pieces, the self-winding, 45mm timepiece has a stain-brushed steel case, and at its heartbeat is the manufacture’s Calibre 1315 (composed of 227 components).

On it, a handsome black dial greets the wearer on one side, while on the reverse is a stamped caseback with the insignia of those French commando frogmen: a central anchor dedicated to sailors, flanked by two winged seahorses representing the underwater world as well as parachutists. The Combat Diver Qualification Badge was authorised by the French army.

Following the watch’s secret espionage missions for the French, the original model became the worldwide standard for military dive watches: the US, Spanish and German navies put the Fifty Fathoms on their kit list.

The timepiece was a pure gamechanger: for instance its larger, legible sizing set a new trend for watch case proportions (breaking the accepted 32mm stature for dress watches).

Blancpain wrote the rulebook on dive watch design and function, spawning a wave of dive watch copycats across the industry.

Cousteau, incidentally, did not come across the Fifty Fathoms in a luxury boutique: at that time, the timepiece could be found in the very shops where divers would acquire their tanks, regulators, suits and face masks.

Now an elite style statement, Blancpain’s Fifty Fathoms remains a trustworthy instrument in ‘the silent world’ – and be it worn by an underwater historian, diving hobbyist or hero commando, its enduring success is easy to fathom.

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Opening pages: Robert ‘Bob’ Maloubier, in 1953; Front and reverse of the 2019 Fifty Fathoms ‘Naguers de Combat’ This page: Vintage Blancpain: the original 1953 model of the Fifty Fathoms 37

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In his new book, photographer Terry O’Neill looks back on his work with David Bowie, and reveals images that have never been seen before WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON

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All images: David Bowie, photographed by Terry O’Neill

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ow does he do it? More than three years after his death on 10 January 10, 2016, David Bowie remains a source of intrigue and excitement.

Only last month, fans were celebrating 50 years since the release of Space Oddity in July 1969 – the song that let the world know he had well and truly arrived. Then a movie, Stardust, about Bowie’s first trip to the US in 1971, is currently filming, with British actor Johnny Flynn in the title role.

This all comes just months after footage was uncovered of the first Ziggy Stardust TV performance from June 1972, thought to have been lost, as well as the discovery of a document from the BBC archives containing notes on a 1965 audition. It read: “Quite a different sound. Not particularly exciting.”

Photographer Terry O’Neill, who has worked with actors and musicians since the 1960s, explains why Bowie’s legacy will be everlasting. “He was one of a kind, always changing and a true genius,” he says. “I was always amazed at his fans. David Bowie has the most loyal following of anyone I’ve ever met.”

O’Neill worked with Bowie regularly from the 1970s onwards. Through his many books and exhibitions, he is one of the figures keeping Bowie in the public eye. Bowie by O’Neill: The Definitive Collection with Unseen Images will be published this month, containing more than 500 images, from Ziggy Stardust performances to recording sessions.

O’Neill has even included scans of his contact sheets, as well as images not seen until now.

So what can fans expect to see that they haven’t already? “Well, this is my ultimate David Bowie book,” O’Neill explains. “It’s based on a limited edition that came out in 2016, but smaller and handier, with all of the extra material. The contact sheets I haven’t featured before, and there are images I didn’t even realise I had. I’d shoot a lot of rolls, and some would be sent to the newspapers or whatever, but not everything would be used, and if it wasn’t I’d just file it away before going to my next job. I’m really glad I kept everything, though, because it’s a real joy to go back and look at them all, and see the moments you’d forgotten about.”

For example, “When I first photographed David in 1973 for a Ziggy Stardust performance at the Marquee Club in London, Marianne Faithfull was there, who I’d worked with in the 1960s, but she was a bit out of the limelight by this point. David, who clearly had a great deal of respect for her, was bringing her back to the stage.

I took some really nice photos of them together, in costume, backstage, and with David, dressed down and out of costume, cheering her on from the floor.

I haven’t shown these until now.”

But that was an unusual concert. “I remember, it was a closed set, because it was being recorded for a TV show in the US. There was a small audience, made up of members of the David Bowie Fan Club, and a lot of them were dressed just as elaborately as he did.

When I arrived, I headed backstage to introduce myself, and there he was, very striking and thin. He was still married to Angela at the time, and she was a powerhouse – I could tell she had a lot to do with the overall image and how things were run. But David was very quiet and polite, and told me I could go anywhere. So I did.”

Looking back through the archives brought with it other surprises. “We were taking out the original contact sheets, and on one there were some markings, with one image initialled ‘DB’ – David’s actual handwriting! I must have shared it with him, and he marked the ones he liked, then initialled one.

I had it all these years and never noticed

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As soon as I met him, I was blown away. “ We got along straight away. He had a real respect for artists – and that included photographers ” before, and the contact sheet, with his markings, is featured in the book.

But something else that surprised me, looking back, was the interaction that an artist could have with the audience in those days. In those days, you could get really close to the performer – not like now. I have a wonderful photo of David in the book, leaning down to kiss a fan.”

Many of the images spark anecdotes and fond memories. “My favourite Bowie shot is ‘jumping dog’, which is very well known,” says O’Neill. “After meeting David at the Marquee Club, I was asked to take publicity photos for his new album, which was Diamond Dogs. So I went to the studio, and sure enough there was David, posing next to the biggest dog I’ve ever seen. Every time the camera flashed, this dog would go crazy, jumping up and barking at the light. I think everyone in the studio was a bit nervous, but David sat there completely motionless.

“For the album release, they called me again, and I was asked to take some portraits for the artist Guy Peellaert to use as a reference for the cover artwork. So I have rolls of film of David posing as a dog. I even have photos of the dog!”

Apparently, Bowie had his own favourite shots by O’Neill. “He liked the portraits I took of him and William Burroughs, the famed novelist,” he says.

“David rang me out of the blue and asked me to come to his office in Chelsea with my camera. He was with an older gentleman, very dapper, who I didn’t recognise at first, but I took a series of them together. David liked those photos so much, he took one and hand-coloured it, and wrote on the top ‘2 Wild Boys’ – that’s been featured in exhibitions too.”

With Bowie, the unexpected was never far away. “He wasn’t always on time, though,” O’Neill laughs. “I remember, Elizabeth Taylor rang me one day and asked if I could introduce her to him.

Well, if Elizabeth Taylor asks you to do something, you don’t say no! So I made arrangements for lunch, and we were there… waiting, waiting… no sign of David Bowie. Then around 6pm, as the sun was setting, in he walks. Elizabeth asked me to grab my camera, and we did an impromptu photo session.

“He was also an amazing saxophone player. I was at Peter Sellers’ house for his 50th birthday, and some of the other guests got up to play music – Bill Wyman on bass, Ronnie Wood on

guitar, Keith Moon on drums, Joe Cocker singing and David Bowie on saxophone!”

Clearly, O’Neill thought very highly of Bowie – both the man and his work. “As soon as I met him, I was blown away,” he says. “He wasn’t just a musician, he was a stage actor with all of these different characters, from Ziggy Stardust to Aladdin Sane. We got along straight away. He had a real respect for artists, and that included photographers.”

The costumes and characters also made him interesting to photograph.

“Absolutely,” O’Neill confirms. “I’ve worked with Elton John as well, so I’ve been pretty lucky [laughs]. For both, I never knew what to expect. One day, David would show up with bright orange hair – and the next a well-tailored suit.”

So how did he feel hearing about Bowie’s death? “I’ve never seen anything like it, the outpouring of grief from fans the world over,” says O’Neill. “It means everything to me to be able to share my work with this man, a true and lasting icon.”

Bowie by O’Neill: The Definitive Collection with Unseen Images by Terry O’Neill is published by Cassell Illustrated. octopusbooks.co.uk 43

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A landmark of Old World opulence and modern excess, The Plaza has been the home of New York society since 1907. AIR checks-in with author Julie Satow to discover how this hotel icon came to define luxury WORDS: CHRIS UJMA

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f all the famed guests to stay at The Plaza in New York – for all its Vanderbilts and Capotes, Trumps and Beatles – one of its more peculiar residents remains a lion.

He belonged to Princess Vilma Lwoff-Parlaghy, one of “a long line of colourful guests” who moved in with her private zoo in tow: The cub, Goldfleck, was accompanied by a falcon plus a family of alligators, who lived in the Princess’ bathtub.

“The Plaza management got a bit sick of him being there, though,” explains Julie Satow, author of a deliciously detailed new tome called The Plaza: The Secret Life of America’s Most Famous Hotel.

“They told her the lion had to leave, so she donated him to the Bronx Zoo.” When it opened in 1907, The Plaza, located on the corner of New York’s Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Ninth Street, was the most luxurious hotel ever built. At USD12 million it was the most expensive, too.

The owners went on a buying spree to Europe: France for Baccarat crystal; to Ireland for fine linen; to London for Edwardian furnishings, and more.

“The level of opulence and service was unparalleled at the time,” says Satow (herself a New York-native).

The Plaza’s inaugural guest on opening day was a Vanderbilt – “Alfred Gwyne, the dashing millionaire” – and what swiftly followed was high-society living, redefined. “At the time, most wealthy people in New York lived in single-family mansions with large staff, and Vanderbilt’s ‘endorsement’ started a trend of wealthy people living apartments,” Satow explains.

“About 90 percent of those who moved into the Plaza in 1907 actually lived there full-time; they weren’t transient hotel guests. All of a sudden, it became the chic new thing for the elite to live in a hotel.” Early residents included ‘The 39 widows of The Plaza’ – eccentric, rich, diamond-laden dowagers (one of whom is credited with having invented the cocktail party).

It was a true trendsetter. Outside the hotel’s entrance, the ubiquitous New York taxi cab made its debut. “It was the first hotel to have automatic thermometers,” the author elaborates.

“Air in the rooms was purified. Meals from the basement were delivered to the room via a pneumatic tube…

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Those who moved into the Plaza in 1907 lived there full-time. Living in this hotel became the chic new thing for the elite to do

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and oh, the food they served was exotic too: turtle soup and kangaroo meat, for example. It set the bar.”

Over its lifespan there has been enough high-society drama in the hotel’s history to fill a book (well, Satow has done just that). In 1948, Marlene Dietrich took up a year-long residence in the Lady Mendl suite prior to filming Hitchcock’s Stage Fright; a year later, a stunning suite was specially designed for Christian Dior, later occupied by legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

In 1964 The Beatles checked in on their first tour Stateside: a screaming mob of fawning teenage girls duly swarmed the Plaza entrance, with the property becoming less of a luxury hotel and more of fortress for the Fab Four.

In 1966, Truman Capote hosted his fêted ‘Black and White Ball’ in the Plaza ballroom – ‘the best party ever’ as per The New York Times – where

the likes of Frank Sinatra and Andy Warhol soiréed into the night. In the 1980s, John Lennon and Yoko Ono planned a revolution from their bed before releasing Double Fantasy, while the 1990s Plaza is a grand backdrop in festive-film staple Home Alone 2, where the boisterous and abandoned Kevin McCallister runs amok.

The Plaza has a nuanced meaning to the city, one comes to realise when speaking to Satow. “The hotel is a lens through which to view a century of New York’s social history,” she says.

“If you’re interested in the story of New York, you’re interested in The Plaza.”

Now a protected landmark, it has been a stoic watchman, everpresent throughout the Big Apple’s dizzy highs and devastating lows.

Proffers Satow, “It has navigated fiscal difficulties that affected the city: The Great Depression of the 1930s, and the difficult 1950s Post-War period. In the late 1960s it was the scene for the

Opening pages: The Plaza, in New York. Image from Shutterstock Opposite: Attempting to get a glimpse of the band, Beatles fans foil horse cops in 1964 Below: Brigitte Bardot takes respite on her bed in 1965

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In some senses New York is considered the capital city of the world, and The Plaza symbolises the trajectory of global wealth

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Opposite: Elizabeth Taylor treads the plush Plaza carpet on check-in, 1969.

All images (except article opener) from Getty Images

Women’s Movement, when feminists marched in front of the Plaza. Donald Trump owned it at the peak of his real estate prowess in the 1980s, and he was a man who represented the ethos of the ‘Go-Go 80s’.

For decades, city dwellers would go there to dine in the Edwardian Room, or drink at the Oak Bar – it is an institution. “New Yorkers have a connection with this beautiful building,” she relates. “Many – including myself – have gotten married there. It holds a special connection for a lot of people.”

Satow also considers the hotel a pulse-check on how luxury has evolved over the last century.

“It represents the history of money and the ‘1 percent’. While the Plaza started a high society trend, New York now has its Billionaires’ Row and large condominiums owned by foreign owners – much like the Plaza, which is a boutique residence to foreign investors,” she reasons. “In some senses New York is considered the capital city of the world, and it used to be ruled by rich Americans.

Now the city is influenced by foreign owners and investors. The Plaza symbolises the trajectory of wealth.”

The globalisation of ‘money’ can be charted through the Plaza’s very owners. It was under American ownership until 1995 – from Harry Black (the larger-than-life real estate tycoon, who built the hotel), and Conrad Hilton through to Donald Trump (current US president, then business magnate).

A Saudi/Singapore joint investment venture took it off the latter’s hands, before Indian business tycoon Subrata Roy stepped into to buy the hotel in 2012, without ever having stayed there.

However, Roy was jailed in New Delhi, ‘ordered to repay more than USD3 billion to poverty-stricken Indians who had invested in his non-Plaza related company bonds.’

(For many a hotel, such a scandal would be the leading headline.

Naturally, for The Plaza, it’s yet another astonishing detail).

“When envisioning the Plaza, most people don’t conjure up visions of an

absentee owner stuck in India, plagued by investigations and billions of dollars in debt,” surmises Satow. “They think of Eloise, the impish character written

by Kay Thompson and Hilary Knight, who pours water down the mail chute, or lavish weddings in the gold-andwhite ballroom. Maybe for some, the Plaza conjures up images of men in top hats riding horse-drawn carriages, or writer F. Scott Fitzgerald frolicking in the Pulitzer Fountain. These are all accurate depictions. But today, in its history, so is Subrata Roy.” Hotels ‘straddle the public and private spheres, making them uniquely positioned to explore matters of history, money and class,’ writes Satow in the book. ‘Anyone, from a guest who rents out the largest suite to a tired tourist who stops in for tea, can enjoy them.”

Qatar Investment Authority is the current owner of a hotel which is now predominantly condominiums, rather than hotel rooms, having acquired the famous brand in 2018.

Still, The New York Times architecture critic Paul Goldberger believes, “To many people, the fact that the Plaza is in private ownership is merely a technicality. They look upon it as if they themselves were the owners, as surely as they own Central Park or the Brooklyn Bridge.”

Let’s leave it to a previous owner – and an American – to put this New York icon into context, then.

“This isn’t just a building,” said Trump, back when he purchased the hotel in 1988. “It’s the ultimate work of art. I am in love with it”.

He may have forked out USD407.5 million but, as a century of history has proven – be it a high-profile guest or starry-eyed owner – this trophy building has an unqualifiable allure that money just can’t buy.

And while the meaning of luxury has been redefined over the property’s lifetime, one thing is certain: luxury has always been The Plaza.

The Plaza: The Secret Life of America’s Most Famous Hotel is written by Julie Satow and published

by Twelve, an imprint of Hachette Book Group. twelvebooks.com 49

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‘That is so last season’ goes the derisory fashion quip. But what if brands began thinking about the longevity of their style creations? Museo Ferragamo provokes a discussion on how sustainable fashion can have a lasting impact WORDS: CHRIS UJMA

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hey burn couture in Paris, you know. Design holdovers from previous collections are regularly destroyed.

There is no shaming here, though, and the brand protagonists are not to be framed as Cruella de Vil-like in character. There is valid reason for the practise of burning these still-coveted collections: to protect intellectual property. Still, since light has been shed on the act, it has caused a fair few maisons to nervously shift in their seat.

That’s because as the world slowly attunes to how its style choices arrive in the wardrobe (and gets nosy about what happens to those items that don’t), fashion industry players are feeling an urgency to reduce wastefulness at every step of the luxury experience.

‘Ethical’ and ‘organic’ are becoming core values woven into long-established brand identities, and a raft of major maisons have announced corporate social responsibility moves. Practically

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every major fashion house has taken steps to make the most of its resources.

Gucci, for instance, created a ‘100 percent traceable handbag’; LVMH has started a carbon fund, raising money for every ton of CO2 emission it generates; Chanel now omits exotic animal skins such as lizard, crocodile and snake skin from its collections; Vivienne Westwood themed an entire show, ‘Ecotricity’, around the switch from fossil fuels to green energy; Burberry will be entirely plastic-free by 2025.

As pulse-checks go, Lisa Armstrong (head of fashion at The Telgraph), wrote in a July article titled ‘The New Snobbery’, “There isn’t a freshly launched small label these days that doesn’t strive for some kind of eco halo, a degree of authenticity and a push back against overly slick Big Corporate culture. ‘A decade ago, fashion designers all aspired to be bought up by the big conglomerates…’

Opening Pages: Angus Tsui’s ‘Xenomorph’, a zero-waste neoprene dress with 3D pleating, embroidery and ecological print, courtesy Angus Tsui, Hong Kong; Salvatore Ferragamo’s ISO 1406-certified ‘Rainbow Future’ Below: Laura Strambi’s ‘Mother Earth’, an evening dress made from a Newlife, silk, organic cotton blend treated with natural dyes and recycled printed textiles embroidered with archive materials, stones, seeds, Swarovski crystals. The dress was decorated by the artist Franco Gervasio Courtesy Laura Strambi, Milano; Andrea Verdura’s ‘Love You Ocean’ boot, made from recycled fishing nets with a sole made from recycled rubber and agglomerated cork with cedar wood heel Opposite: Ecoalf’s ‘Because there is no Planet B’, a silver coloured coat made from yarn upcycled from fishing nets and 100 percent recycled polyester. The garment is a result of a collaboration with London-based designer Felder Felder.

Courtest Ecolaf, Madrid Overleaf: Hellen van Rees’ ‘Flows Follows Flaws’, with a top made from 100 percent silk georgette with knitted collar, appliqués of denim, recycled felt, and eco-cotton creating geometric birds and a fish. (The design is inspired by the artwork of Maurits Cornelis Escher). Skirt with cotton weft yarn and warp yarn made from recycled cotton, organic cotton, and polyester woven by Dutch weaving mill Enschede Textielstad. Courtesy Hellen van Rees, Enschede

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a prominent member of the British Fashion Council’s support body for new generation designers told me.

‘Now they absolutely don’t. They want to establish small labels grounded in sustainability.’ The same could be said of more established labels … which have turned their backs on fast fashion.”

Museo Ferragamo – the Florencebased, Stefania Ricci-helmed museum of the Salvatore Ferragamo fashion house – is imagining what a future shaped by sustainable fashion algebra would look like. Its exhibition Sustainable Thinking allows designers who have already adopted the mindset to show their working.

The showcase doubles as a thoughtprovoking discussion on how the fashion sphere can meet the needs of the current generation, without compromising the ability for future generations to meet their own.

It is not, the museum admits, ‘an exhaustive account’ (nor is there a holier-than-thou overtone. This is an insight into best practices and in this quest, sharing is caring).

The exhibition concept, an idea of Museo Ferragamo’s director Ricci, instead “intends to present some contemporary artistic experiences that are particularly significant in the principles of transparency and ethics”.

There is, naturally, a segment dedicated to the efforts of the late Salvatore Ferragamo himself, as his passion for innovative materials defined his work.

The phrase ‘Italian craftsmanship’ leads the mind to imagine leather hides and embroidered uppers, but Ferragamo (in his devotion to comfort and durability) adopted materials such as paper, bark, raffa and fish skin.

One of his famed cork wedge heels (which supports the plantar arch while allowing the foot to breathe freely) were made from the bark of a tree that flourished in the Mediterranean basin.

His are not alien ‘alternative’ textiles – but this exhibition evidences that sustainable innovation has entered an entirely new era. While the cuts, silhouettes and styles at Sustainable Thinking trace back to established fashion outlines, the fabrics on show certainly do not.

As the fashion industry departs from its methods of old, it will 54

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We are presenting contemporary artistic experiences that, for fashion, are particularly significant in the principles of transparency and ethics also usher in a new dictionary of style lexicon to brush-up on.

Exhibition attendees will encounter fibres and materials such as ‘Appleskin’

by Fraumat – a 100 percent vegan texture obtained from apple processing residues, developed in Italy’s ‘home of apples’ in the valleys of Bolzano.

There’s ‘Crabyon’, a process patented in Japan by Omikenshi, which has invented a way to crush the shells of edible crustaceans and mix them with other natural fibres without using solvents, creating a naturally antibacterial fibre that is ideal for contact with the skin.

‘Orange Fiber’ (developed between the self-titled company and Ferragamo for the 47 th edition of Earth Day) transforms citrus by-products into a highly-innovative, high quality fabric. ‘Piñatex’, meanwhile, is an innovation derived from pineapple leaf fibres, and serves as a source of income for Philippine farmers.

Back in Salvatore Ferragamo’s heyday, “Nobody was talking about protecting the environment; the desire to try new things was born out of other reasons,” say the exhibition curators.

No longer. In contrast, the environment is a pressing agenda, and there now exists an industry certification to aspire to.

The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) ensures the organic status of textiles (from harvesting of the raw materials through environmentally and socially responsible manufacturing all the way to labelling), in order to provide credible assurance to the consumer. It was introduced in 2006, and it requires on-site inspection to become certified.

Items such as Ferragamo’s own GOTS-certified ‘Rainbow Future’ (handmade sandals in crocheted organic cotton, with a wooden heel) are joined at the show by creations like ‘Because there is no Planet B’ (a coat,

by Ecoalf, made from yarn upcycled

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from fishing nets) and ‘No Address Needed to Join’ (a Bethany Williams garment made from recycled book waste, in a partnership with Quaker Mobile Library London and Hachette UK).

They are hardly household names in fashion but, in the pursuit of sustainability, there is no snobbery.

Some projects are celebrity-backed (such as the Ghana-made fashion of Studio One-Eighty-Nine, the result of Hollywood actress Rosario Dawson teaming with revered designer Abrima Erwiah), while others arose from those simply looking to effect social change (like Progetto Quid, a social fashion cooperative established by Anna Fiscale, a young woman from the Veneto region who has offered a safe working opportunity to vulnerable people) .

The end goal is the same; on this front, fashion is one team. The entire industry, say the museum curators, is seeking solutions, looking for alternative production processes to stem the damage, combining local and global approaches to safeguard our ecosystem.

“Is this a utopia?” they ask. “Maybe it is, but it is also a very realistic, urgent need, which requires the most creative forces in every field – especially in that creative laboratory consisting of artistic practices and the aesthetics of everyday life, in which fashion is an active ingredient.”

It will likely be a while before apples, oranges and pineapples are the textiles used in the tasty new haute couture debuts. But there is the belief – raised in this exhibition – that fashion “can be a driver of a fairer and more sustainable world”.

As a company, Salvatore Ferragamo itself doubled down, adopting an ethos of ‘Responsible Passion’. With this dedicated show, it extends an invitation to begin taking care of the future – starting with the present.

Sustainable Thinking – by Museo Ferragamo, in collaboration with Museo di Palazza Vecchio and Museo Novecento – shows until 8 March 2020

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In this behind-the-scenes exclusive, AIR is afforded a sneak peek at the making of Van Cleef & Arpels’ Maiolica masterpiece. The necklace – part of the maison’s Romeo & Juliet high jewellery collection, an homage to the language of love – is inspired by the blue of Maiolica ceramics, and glazed pottery typical of the Italian Renaissance

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2 This page, 1-3: Polishing work, thread polishing; Jewellery work, adjusting; Jewellery work, articulation Right: This deep hue of this Emerald-cut sapphire (42.86cts, Sri Lanka) is evoked by its rich and dense velvety-blue. Its outstanding clarity is emphasised by an emerald cut, whose broad table reveals the interior of the stone. With light able to penetrate deep into the gem, the eye is plunged into the heart of its magnificently crystallised material. In the necklace, the sapphire is enlaced by a double row of diamonds – one set with calibrated baguette-cut stones, the other with snow-setting style diamonds. Thanks to sophisticated articulation, they evoke the fluid ribbons of the Renaissance that offered a feminine accompaniment to the contours of the neck

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This page, 4-7: Setting work, prong setting; Jewellery work, adjusting; Setting work, bead setting; Jewellery work, adjusting

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Gastronomy

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AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

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King of The Castle Set in a stunning 12th century Tuscan tower, Giovanni Luca Di Pirro‘s La Torre is Michelin-star nobility WORDS: CHRIS UJMA

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s the sun peeks above the horizon to herald another spectacular Chianti morning, the vineyards catch their first warm ray of light. On the luscious estate of Castello del Nero, birds chirrup over dew-dropped olive gardens and bees stir in their hive, ready to rustle up some honey.

It may have the makings of a Disney fairytale opening montage but, for chef Giovanni Luca Di Pirro, this scene is the backdrop to a typical morning collecting produce in the castle grounds.

Castello Del Nero, set in 740 acres, is the historic former home to the 12th century Florentine noble families of Del Nero and

Torrigiani. Di Pirro helms Michelin staracclaimed La Torre, the culinary highlight of a property re-energised this year by the COMO hotel group.

The new owners have tastefully injected a modern aesthetic, while remaining faithful to original features such as terracotta flooring, fresco walls and vaulted ceilings. It’s the group’s first property in continental Europe, and what a stunning debut it is.

“I have a deep affection for the Italian aesthetic. I admire how they can layer history with modernity and come up with the most exquisite result,” says COMO group founder Christina Ong. “Italians

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It’s a place where a chef can create very interesting dishes.

Each season brings with it new bounty from nature

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may be the masters of Baroque, but they also understand the way simplicity resonates in its own unique and powerful way, from design to food.”

Castello Del Nero is a setting in which to appreciate both. While the luxury property’s 50 suites attract esteemed guests from afar, Tuscans also venture here to dine at acclaimed La Torre: a culinary indulgence that proves irresistible to locals and visitors alike.

Di Pirro – who masterminds all castle fare – first arrived eight years ago, and reminisces about the first thing that struck him about Castello: “The environment. The aromas of the Tuscan countryside flora, as well as the culture and history [both within the walls of the hotel and beyond] all evoked a good feeling,” he recounts.

The soothing environs washed over the chef, “Yet I immediately recognised the

great deal of responsibility, as I knew that our guest experience should rival the exceptional setting,” he says. “Guests choosing to come here should feel at home, pampered, and – when it comes to the restaurant – delighted with our dishes.”

‘Delighted’ describes both the diners and Michelin Guide inspectors, who awarded La Torre a coveted star: ‘Views of rural landscapes, of vineyards and olive trees fringed with woodland, act as the setting for delicious regional cuisine’, they noted.

Di Pirro describes his elegant fare as being the result of “looking to the past and embracing the present, updating traditional dishes in a contemporary way”.

His own origins lie elsewhere in Italy, in Romagno and Abruzzo, but he soon embraced the beauty of authentic local Tuscan cuisine. “I learned a lot about the traditions because my wife is from

the region – so that is thanks to her,” he acknowledges, adding, “I never forget my origins, which are certainly a part of me, and are present in my menus.”

The beautifully-presented tasting menu is a place for innovation to flourish – so long as those ideas are underpinned by tradition (one of Di Pirro’s core values).

Over the years he has created several standout dishes, like the ‘crunchy egg’ (a Leghorn hen egg with charcoal bread), aside from other signature dishes such as his blue lobster, a sumptuous chianina beef, and a red prawn ravioli. “I never stop thinking about new dishes, because I still have a great desire to create and get excited about food,” he admits.

Di Pirro considers himself “lucky” to have a treasure trove on his doorstep: an organic garden in the grounds of the castle (which is where that beehive

and the olive gardens are also located).

Tuscany is the gift that keeps giving, Di Pirro says. “It’s a place where a chef can create very interesting dishes indeed.

Every season brings with it new bounty from nature. In this particular region, spring [crisp greens and fragrant herbs] and autumn [with its rich truffles and wild boar] are seasons I particularly look forward to, while summer fascinates with the lightness and the warmth that translate to the product,” he enthuses.

Florence is influenced by the climes and the location of La Torre follows suit, being situated in the original stables of the castle in the winter, and transferring its setting to the garden terrace come summer.

In a broader sense, La Torre is exceptional dining found in a down-toearth landscape, and this is reflected somewhat in Di Pirro’s own persona.

For instance, he refuses to “flaunt” the high profile names he worked with on his way to the top. He is swift to heap praise on his assembled team, explaining, “I spend a lot of time with them, they are part of my life and I thank them. We have shared the Michelin star journey together with passion and sacrifice and I’m grateful every day for their commitment.”

And Di Pirro considers the restaurant experience less about the chef’s “ego” and entirely centred on the guest: “A dinner for them is an investment,” he muses.

His approach echoes Ong’s earlier estimation: the restaurant is a prime example of ‘simplicity that resonates in a powerful way.’ The epicureans of this quaint pocket of Tuscany will attest that La Torre reigns as culinary king – and it’s helmed by a chef who is truly a man of the people.

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Motoring

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AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

Reborn to be Wild

Emory Motorsports in North Hollywood is on a mission – to bring back the vintage Porsche 356 as one of the meanest, most desirable cars on the road WORDS: CHRIS ANDERSON

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or many, an interest in cars will develop during childhood, playing with Hot Wheels or Lego. Well the same can be said of Rod Emory – the owner of Emory Motorsports in Southern California – but instead of the usual toys, his inspiration came from elsewhere. “I completely disassembled, improved and rebuilt my dad’s Honda three-wheeler when I was nine years old,” he says.

“At age 12, I was the right-side mechanic for a vintage National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) dragster racing team.

Cars and competition have been in my family for generations, starting with my grandfather. When I was born, my parents drove me back from the hospital in a customised Porsche 911. You could say this life chose me.”

At his workshop in North Hollywood, Emory now gets to customise cars for a living, working with a team of 15 skilled engineers. But as an added twist, his business, Emory Motorsports, which he set up with his wife, Amy, in 1996, places its focus on one particular model – the Porsche 356.

This is a vintage Porsche, originally built from 1948 until 1965, and the first production vehicle from the marque.

A lightweight, rear-engined, rear-wheeldrive sports car, it was the precursor for the 911 and lends itself well to modification. “It’s a flexible platform, and it looks good too,” says Emory. “The shape of the 356, with its art deco influences, is iconic. There’s very little you can fault about it.”

Emory is also specific in terms of what he does to the cars. Rather than a simple restoration, every 356 that enters the workshop benefits from a unique set of styling and performance upgrades. For convenience, these have been arranged into three distinct levels – Outlaw, Special and RS. These can be tweaked according to individual requirements, with the donor car sourced and included in the price if required.

For those wanting a Porsche that retains the original appearance, Emory recommends the Outlaw. “This is a 356 that still looks like the original, but we upgrade it with chassis stiffening, 911 rear suspension, rack-and-pinion steering, disc brakes, a 200bhp engine and bespoke interior,” he explains.

“These cars also benefit from a motorsport-like preparation, where we

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The shape of the 356, with its art deco influences, is iconic. There’s very little you can fault about it

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shave the bumpers, replace the hinges and use lightweight wheels and wider tyres, adding driving lights and other racinginspired parts.”

Then there’s the Emory Special, which is where the bodywork comes in. “It has all of the standard Outlaw preparation, but we tailor the body in subtle ways to produce a one-off design,” Emory adds.

“Even to the untrained eye, an Emory Special will stand out in a crowd of similar cars. Boutique coachbuilders have made ‘specials’ for clients since the birth of the automobile, and we continue that tradition today.”

If you want to go all-out, then you really want an Emory RS. “That’s our highestperforming model,” Emory reveals. “We blend the chassis of a 911 from the 1990s with the body of a 356. Why? Because the suspension of the newer car is vastly superior to the older one. We also add a fuel-injected version of our proprietary engine, which has an extra 60bhp, plus a few special body modifications.”

Some of the requests from customers recently have resulted in the off-roading 356 C4S and super-powerful 356 RSR models. “These are both examples of our RS line, and each has the underpinnings of a 1990s Porsche 964, which makes them handle like a modern car,” explains Emory.

“The 356 C4S is particularly unusual, as it’s the first all-wheel-drive 356. We built it for an enthusiast who wanted the car to be off-road capable, and to carry his bespoke mountain bikes.”

One of the modifications that Emory always includes is his own engine, the Emory-Rothsport Outlaw 4, built in

collaboration with Jeff Gamroth of Rothsport Racing in Oregon, who once served as crew chief of Porsche’s factory GT racing team.

“These four-cylinder engines are only available as original equipment in the cars we build, and not for purchase as a standalone item,” Emory explains. “It gives our vintage Porsches a supercar-like acceleration and performance. Obviously we have to strengthen the car to prepare it, and add our custom disc brakes, but it makes a huge difference – these cars only had 90bhp as standard, with a few rare exceptions. Now the lowest we offer is 200bhp, tweaking and even turbocharging it according to the client’s needs.”

Emory says that each car takes just over a year to build, with prices starting at USD300,000 for the basic Outlaw.

“We employ old-school techniques when restoring the cars,” he adds. “We use the same tools and processes that were originally involved in building these Porsches, and I even have many of my grandfather’s hammers and other garage equipment that he used to modify 1950s-era Fords.”

While Emory clearly has an appreciation for the Porsche 356, he admits that its potential for customisation and the apparent number still available are a large part of its appeal – enabling him to build a business based mainly on one car.

“Porsche intentionally designed the cars like this, as it wasn’t sure how the eventual owners would use them, so the solution was to try to be ready for anything and make the car easy to adapt,” he says.

“We’re finding 356s in barns, garages and airport hangars – they’re still out there, you just have to know where to look.”

There have been a number of restored 356s spotted on the roads of Dubai, but nothing like the versions shown here, and Emory admits that he has yet to sell a car directly to the Middle East. Perhaps this will be a job one day for his two offspring.

“My children, Zayne and Jayde, have an above-average appreciation for cars, and my wife and business partner, Amy, is happy to encourage that,” he says, despite Zayne being an up-and-coming actor, and his sister Jayde an aerialist, starring in Cirque du Soleil. “Helping people to express their individuality through their vehicles is our family way of life, and we learn and improve with each one.”

For more details on Emory projects, visit emorymotorsports.com

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Travel AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

43 JOURNEYS BY JET

Le Sirenuse

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Positano, Italy

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ith breathtaking Mediterranean views from the cliff side and quaint Italian village surrounds, it’s easy to see why Le Sirenuse has been familial retreat since 1951 – whether in its previous guise as a private summer house, or in its current form as a luxury boutique hotel.

This Amalfi Coast property is perfectly balanced: a hotel with the feel of a private home; the height of grandeur yet quintessentially classic; attentive without intrusion; a laid back setting, yet the sophisticated place to be.

The bay vistas, of course, dominate any discussion, with glittering blue greeting each morning upon the private terrace or porch. Yet once guests manage to prise their gaze away from those sumptuous sunrises, sunsets (and sunshine in-between), the hotel has plenty else to delight.

An assortment of rooms and suites, 70m above sea level, are oases of peace and quiet. Exuding the Med-vibe are white-washed walls, vaulted ceilings, marble bathrooms and handmade tiles that adorn the floors. While the original family house accommodated only 12 rooms, the footprint of Le Sirenuse has been expanded over the years to provide over 50 abodes, lightly fragranced with Eau d’Italie perfume – commissioned exclusively by the hotel-owning Sersale family.

The pool area is surrounded by lush plants, pretty flowers, lemon trees and comfortable recliners, while padding across to Franco’s Bar secures a vantage in the company of striking decor and contemporary artworks, commissioned from a raft of local and international talent.

When evening beckons, among the property’s coterie of dining options is Michelin-starred La Sponda (illuminated by 400 candles in the evening), which serves-up light dishes that are blessed with fresh local produce and inspired by the culinary traditions of Naples.

The Champagne & Oyster bar is a superb way to end the night, drinking fine cocktails and drinking-in that amazing, ever-present view.

On the hotel’s doorstep is Positano, the charming little town which, in 1953, prompted author John Steinbeck to pen, “It bites deep.

It is a dream place that isn’t quite real when you are there and becomes beckoningly real after you have gone”. Assuredly, Le Sirenuse has imbibed some of that very spirit.

Positano is a 50km drive from Naples; land at Capodichino International Airport, before a private car chauffeur to Le Sirenuse. sirenuse.it 70

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What I Know Now AUGUST 2019: ISSUE 99

AIR

Jill Heinerth RENOWNED CAVE DIVER & UNDERWATER EXPLORER

My earliest memory is of almost drowning.

Two years old, and out of my mother’s sight, I tumbled off the dock of the cottage we rented for summer holidays and landed face down in the lake. I was too tiny to right myself, but the first wash of water triggered an ancient instinct to hold my breath. I floated silently, nebulous sensations searing a permanent first record into my brain. I drifted peacefully.

without fear of what was on the other side.

But eventually, painful life experiences shaped me to accept fear as a reigning doctrine. By adulthood I found myself searching for stability and certainty.

It’s easy to become comfortable with the status quo, more concerned about losing ground than reaching new heights.

caves are alluring, challenging and seductively dangerous.

Still, why would any reasonably sane person want to swim into what many would think of as a death trap? For me, cave diving is a kind of ‘back to the womb’ experience. It feels primal, like I’m being called by some ancient ancestor.

Sneakers slammed in front of me with a splash and an explosion of sand, and the world slammed back into focus. I was snatched from my watery haven.

My mother was screaming, and I was giggling; she walked on water that day.

My survival depends on my balancing of fear and confidence. When I get snagged in a tight, body-contouring crevice, I have to measure each setback in single breaths. If I allow fear to seize me, then my breathing shoots through the roof at a time when every molecule of oxygen I use up tugs me closer to death.

I’ve spent my life immersed in a relationship with this element that nourishes and destroys, buoys and drowns – that has both freed me and taken the lives of my friends. I’m not fearless. I’m alive today because I’ve learned to embrace fear as a positive catalyst in my life.

As young children, we exhibit a complete wonderment and lack of fear about the world around us. In our youth, everything is fresh and sensational, and we don’t have to work hard at exploring. For me, it seemed normal to examine the natural world around me, boldly cresting every hill

It is impossible, at such times, not to recall that more people have died exploring underwater caves than climbing Mount Everest. Cave diving, at the intersection of earthbound science, exploration and discover, tests the extreme of human capability. Underwater

‘Into the Planet’ © 2019 by Jill Heinerth.

Adapted excerpt reprinted with permission by Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers

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