With the opening of a boutique in the Piccadilly Arcade, Fabergé is starting a new chapter in its historic love affair with London, which dates back to 1906, when the first Fabergé boutique outside Russia opened in Dover Street. Four years later, it relocated to Bond Street. The store was patronised by royalty, nobility and the socialites of the day. The Brits simply fell in love with the creations of the famed Russian jeweller.
Of the many celebrated names in the global history of high-end jewellery, that of Gustav Faberge, is perhaps one of the most revered. Born in 1814, Gustav trained as a goldsmith under Andreas Spiegel in St. Petersburg in the late 1820s, later joining Keibel – a rapidly growing firm that had begun receiving commissions from the Russian Imperial Court – before opening his own shop (and adding a chic acute accent to the last ‘e’ of his surname) in 1842.
Left: the new Fabergé store in London’s Picadilly Arcade. Right: the first Fabergé store in New Bond Street, 1910.
It was however Gustav’s son, Peter Carl, who, along with his…
Damian Hurley was born famous. Even though his mother, Elizabeth Hurley, put her career on hold to look after him, paparazzi would harass them on a daily basis. His teenage years were tainted with the death of important people in his life, the mark of which is palpable in his short film The Boy on […]
Located on the hills of Sotogrande, one of the most sought-after destinations in southern Europe among lovers of golf, polo and luxury life in general, Villa Noon is billed as the world’s first zero-emissions villa. Not only that, Villa Noon also generates its own water… from the sun. Viewed as a ground-breaking achievement in sustainable […]
Bamford Watch Department takes standard high-end Swiss timepieces and re-designs them, making personal statements that reflect the character of the wearer.
These valuable pieces of craft are not just customised commodities. They are personal philosophies rendered in metal, jewel and glass. In this film, a man of purpose and self possession is having his inner passion brought to bear on his own body. His watch of choice, a Bamford-augmented TAG Heuer, is just another aspect of himself that reflects his own inner qualities.
Beth Cullen-Kerridge is warm and sunny, like a mid-summer day. Confident and humble at the same time, caring and terribly down to earth, Beth is one of those people that you simply cannot love. Artist, mother, wife, Beth goes through life leading with her heart. And it shows.
I went to see Beth in Marlow, where she lives with her husband Tom and her son Acey. All energy, her eyes crinkling with the corners of a smile that is never far from her face. We started talking about family.
“I am very family orientated, I have a very close and artistic family”, Beth shares, “my brother makes beautiful things out of wood and other materials, my sister paints –among other things-, and my father is a painter. But back in his day, when he was at art school you had to learn all the art trades: ceramics, life drawing… he was taken out of school early and went to art school at 11, what was unheard of so he was a bit of a legend. He became a potter in Stoke-on-Trent. He has amazing skills. We go together to Italy and carve together. It feels incredible. We are on the same wave length when it comes to art.
As a teenager I tried to deny my calling and go any way but into art. Eventually I realised art was meant to happen and went to John Moores Art College in Liverpool. I started in painting and all my work involved textures and materials that made them come out of the wall so my teacher thought I was in the wrong department and moved me to sculpture, where I thrived. I couldn’t stop working. At 5 they’d turn off all the electrics for health & safety and I would run cables all throughout the college to be able to carry on. I had the longest extension cable in the country!”
Watching Beth talk about her work clearly shows how passionate she is about it. As an sculptor, she has worked with many different materials, and I wonder in she had a favourite from the beginning.
“In Liverpool I did a lot of wood” she explains, “because it was cheap and I could make big stuff really fast. John Moores University was fantastic. There was not a house style so they encouraged us to be ourselves so I could focus on sculpture. I moved on to do a two years course on bronze casting at the Royal College, which was really hard as you basically work as a founder. It was a great place, Paolozzi came in every month, and a Giacometti sculpture came in too… I didn’t feel as if I was being taught there, I felt I was set free. I gained my skill there. I wasn’t skilled until then really. At the time I felt a bit like a fraud. I had done a bit of wood, a bit of bronze… For the end of college exhibition, I combined both and kept all my work secret and only discovered it at the very end. It was really well received. I sold out. It was incredible. Even the editor of Harpers & Queen bought something! I was on fire. Bronze casting is seen as old school but everybody was loving it. I had a sculpture in Holland Park, Battersea Park… and they were arguing over which pieces to have. I still can’t believe it.
From there I went to Anthony Caro, who used to work with Henry Moore. He was my mentor. He saw us as bringing a young vibrancy to him and his work. We were his young helpers who could move things around – he was in his late 70s at the time -. I learnt so much with him! Partly because he didn’t make sculpture, he made better sculpture because he didn’t make it anymore. He demanded more from the materials than any of us and we had to fit it together. For instance he’d get a big heavy lump and balance it on a pin. We, the young helpers, had to work out how to do that. He pushed the boundaries of the mechanics of sculpture. It was a wonderful time in my life.
Picture of Beth’s Dubai Dhow Sail.
Beth is married to Michelin starred chef Tom Kerridge. I can’t but wonder how these two met.
Beth smiles: “I met Tom when I was 27, still working with Caro. We were engaged after only 7 weeks. Up until then I had not been bothered with the idea of marriage. With Tom it felt different. It was such a relief to find somebody that was as ambitious as I was. We could support and understand each other.”
When asked about the time they spent in Norfolk, she explains: “We moved to Norfolk because Tom couldn’t get at Head Chef position in the London area at the time. We only stayed 18 months at Adlards in Norwich but kept a Michelin star while we were there. I had time so I did a lot of work in the house, from tiling to installing windows. It felt as if I was doing a kind of sculpture, like you have interior design, this felt as interior sculpture.
Actually at the moment I have a few projects of that kind going on. I think that if I hadn’t succeeded in sculpture or if we had not been so successful with the pub, I would have chosen home development as my job. I love it and I think I am good at it.”
The Cullen-Kerridge family
I am curious about why they left Norwich after such a short time and Beth explains that there is not great mystery to it: “Well, Tom was a bit lost. He didn’t know what to do after keeping that Michelin star at such a young age. For me it is different, as an artist I can’t imagine myself retiring or getting to a point that I don’t know where to go next. Sculpting is part of me. I will never stop. I will just make smaller sculptures [laughter]. So at that time, I told Tom I thought it was time for us to open our own place. I offered him 3 years of my time without sculpting to fully get involved in the pub. I was the accountant, the maintenance man, the floor manager, the PA… I wanted that Tom could concentrate fully in his cooking and nothing else. In any case, there weren’t many of us at the time so we all have to do several jobs at the same time. I had actually managed a restaurant before, one summer in Greece, when I was 21. So I was confident I could do it for us.
The Hand & Flowers is a beautiful pub in postcard pretty Marlow. When asked about how they found it, Beth smiles and says: “Oufh! It took me over a year. I think I saw around 30 places. There was always something that wasn’t right. One day we went for dinner at a pub in Gloucester with a Michelin star –up till then I didn’t know a pub could get a Michelin star- and thought that was what we should do, because with the support of the brewery we wouldn’t need such a big investment, there would be a bit less pressure. 2 years later we had our first Michelin star; after just 10 months of being open! From that point I tried to pull back and get less involved. Now I just do development and stay in the background in case I am needed.
As I started to free more time for myself, I started to do man-size pieces in our back yard. They stood there in wax for over 2 years because I couldn’t afford to get them done. What I like of that time is that my working was reacting to the business world in which I was also working. At that point I was a businesswoman more than anything else. Then in 2012 we got our second Michelin star. However we were still struggling. Can you believe it?”
Beth at work.
I can only imagine how little time she must have had for sculpting, with so much on. However, she seems to see it as a very positive experience: “Well, that experience actually gave me something to say as a sculptor. I can make anything look beautiful.” She looks pensive and adds, “Actually, once, Tom challenged me by giving me a bunch of bits and pieces from the kitchen and challenging me to make something beautiful out of it as a present for some friends who were going back to Australia. I made a small beautiful sculpture called Dancing Pans. I think our friends liked it… they named their restaurant in Australia Dancing Pans. [big smile] However there has to be a reason to make something beautiful, otherwise it feels vacuous.
At present I am working with Liam for two of his clients and they’ve got a green wall and they want something on the wall that “is not scary at night” and sent me a picture of a girl and said they wanted it like this and that, and wanted it mounted on the wall… so I said “you don’t need an artist for that. I can’t do that” I felt they needed a handy man. It bothered me for a couple of months. I thought about the clients, their lives, who they are… so I started working on something called Wing Wave; which is a marble ray wing. I am going to carve that in marble. It has the sting, the power, the rhythm. I know it will work. I know I can make that look beautiful. But you see? It has a reason.
When we were in Norfolk, I had a little bit of money so I could have done some work; but I didn’t have anything to say. I was still thinking of Anthony Caro, because I had given him so much of myself. So I was making crap versions of his work. I needed The Hands & Flowers to give me a voice, to give me something to say.”
As we go through Beth’s studio, I can feel Beth’s personality and warmth on every corner, every sculpture, every piece of stone. You can breathe Beth in the air. I ask her about breaking into the London scene. With a big smile she cheerfully answers: “In 2012, I rented an arch in Shoreditch, all by myself, and made a show. It was brilliant! I packed it with beautiful things and invited everybody. We had a great party and a celebration of doing stuff. Liam came to that show and although we didn’t kick off immediately, he became eventually my lynchpin.
There was a guy from the 60s called Kasmin, whom Caro had told me about, who was a bit of al livewire and was the guy who launched Tony Caro, Peter Blake, and other artists of that era. Liam reminded me of him. He has a similar aura. And that’s why I went with him. He creates a party wherever he goes. And he always knows somebody that knows somebody… He is incredible.”
Tongue by Beth Cullen-Kerridge.
Beth is terribly dynamic; someone that I can’t imagine will ever feel ‘I’m done’. She confirms my suspicions: “I don’t think there will ever be a moment for me to think that. What I do now is look at my garden and think “what an amazing place I have to work”. As much as you love showing in an exhibition, to me that is old work. I am always on the next thing. It is an incredible feeling when I finish a piece. I can only compare it with having a baby. And then, I move on to the next project. It is incredible to be in the moment between you and the stone, or the wax, or the bronze, and there is that tiny moment when you get things to look exactly the way you want, without really thinking of your creative process. This is something what came out of working with Caro. I can work now without thinking of my creative process. I just do it. It is creatively amazing and very liberating. I just think of form and structure and why I am doing it without worrying about how to get there anymore.”
The diversity of Beth’s work is astounding. It is difficult to guess influences so I ask her if she follows other artists’ work: “I have to be in the right frame of mind to go to a gallery” she comments, “they trend to put me off because for a start, I always think everybody is better than me and start wondering if I should be doing what they are doing [laughter].
Beth’s success as an artist comes after years of supporting Tom, and I guess it must feel really good to have her talent finally recognised. “I need to work on things until I feel they are tidy. Tom was one of my untidy things” she says smiling, “I needed him to be happy doing his stuff but the thing is that he keeps creating more challenges and I realise that he is never going to be tidy. But now we don’t have the same pressure.”
Looking back at the journey Tom and Beth have taken together so far, it must feel like they have climbed up mountains and beaten giants. “Yes it does” laughs Beth, “I think that the first time we took a day off was not until a year after we had opened the pub. We went to see Jools Holland in Henley and I was so tired that I said I wouldn’t go unless I could seat down. So I sent Tom to buy me a blow up chair. I was the envy of all the attendees! Anyway, you know what they say, ‘the harder you work, the luckier you are’.”
Beth has been kind enough to not only show me her studio, but also their new home. It seems to me that behind everything she does, there is a great deal of love and care. “My sister Eve, who is an interior designer” explains Beth, “says when we go doing checks around the rooms: “You have to feel the love.” And that is what it is. One of my mantras when I was running the floor at The Hand was that I wanted people to leave feeling as if they had had a hug. I feel the same way about my art. I want people to feel that they can hug my sculpture.”
Last week Beth won the Global Art Award for Sculpture, with her piece The Dubai Dhow Sail, an enormous marble sculpture which I find absolutely breathtaking. I needed to know how long it took to bring it to life. “Actually not much”, answers Beth, “From the moment we got the stone, it only took 4 months. It took longer for them to say ‘yes’ and get the design right. The initial design would have meant 90 tons of sculpture… I didn’t do the maths when I was designing it, you see? I just wanted it to be beautiful. So the final one, once all the pieces were put together weighed 11 tons. We started with a block that fitted exactly in a shipping container. It is the hardest carving I’ve ever done because I was very restricted. All their guidelines had to do with the sea, to feature the history of Dubai, and the fact that it started as a fishing village. So I did a sail half way between a western and an eastern sail. This is a beautiful piece, definitely one you want to hug. I also made it so you can sit on it. Part of the brief was that it would give shade, and I made it so not only it gives shade but it is also a seat. When Acey saw it, aged just 1, it was a sunny day and the stone was so warm that he kept hugging it and climbing all over it. Everything is so instinctive with children. Picasso actually said that he had spent his youth trying to paint like a Master and his adult life trying to draw like a child.”
A famously self-taught artist, in the studio, Basquiat used to surround himself with all kind of source material: books spread on the floor, pieces of paper, the sounds of the television or boom box… anything worth of his trademark catchphrase ‘boom for real’. He would draw in his own blood, collage baseball cards and postcards and painting on clothing, architectural fragments and improvised canvases. Basquiat was indefatigable, his energy partially drug-induced, a habit that will eventually cost him his life.
Jean-Michel Basquiat and Jennifer Stein. Anti Baseball Card Product (1979). Courtesy Jennifer Von Holstein.
He starred in the film New York Beat with Blondie’s Debbie Harry (written by Glenn O’Brien and produced by Maripol), appeared in nine episodes of O’Brien’s cult cable-television show TV Party, and performed in his experimental band Gray. He collaborated with other artists, most famously with Andy Warhol, with whom he was completely obsessed, and created murals and installations for notorious New York nightclubs including the Mudd Club and Area and Palladium. By 1982, he had gained international recognition and was the youngest ever artist to participate in Documenta 7 in Kassel. His vibrant, raw imagery, abounding with fragments of bold capitalised text, offers insights into both his encyclopaedic interests and his experience as a young black artist with no formal training. In 1983, he produced ‘Beat Bop’, a classic hip-hop record with K-Rob and Rammellzee.
Since his tragic death in 1988 of a heroin overdose, Basquiat has had remarkably little exposure in the UK; not a single work of his is held in a public collection. It may be because for many years after his death, his art lost appeal and recognition by the establishment. However, in the last decade his art has become highly desirable again, with many celebrities buying his work –John McEnroe, Johnny Depp and Leonardo di Caprio among many others- and his works going through the roof in auction. His painting Untitled (LA Painting, 1982) sold last May for £85million, the highest amount ever for an American artist at auction.
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Untitled (1982). Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Studio Tromp, Rotterdam.
Boom for Real is the first large-scale exhibition in the UK of his work, with more than 100 works drawn from international museums and private collections around the world. This exhibition offers a real insight into the artist’s relationship with music, writing, performance, film and television, placing him within the wider cultural context of the time. Paintings, drawings, notebooks and objects are presented alongside rare film, photography, music and archival material, capturing the range and dynamism of Basquiat’s practice over the years. Jane Alison, Head of Visual Arts, Barbican, says “We are truly thrilled to be staging the first show on Basquiat in the UK in over 20 years. The creative brilliance and emotive power of Basquiat continues to have a huge impact and influence. This is a rare opportunity for visitors to see a body of some of his most famous and also little-known works in one place, and to see those works in the context of the New York scene of the 1980s.”
Downstairs, the exhibition goes through all these references, from early cinema to black cultural history to jazz. As the writer Gleen O’Brien wrote following Basquiat’s death in 1988: “He ate up every image, every word, every bit of data that appeared in front of him and processed it all into a bebop cubist pop art cartoon gospel that synthesized the whole overload we lived under into something that made an astonishing new sense.”
Basquiat: Boom for Real is curated by the Barbican, London and organised in collaboration with the Schirn Kunsthalle Frankfurt. The exhibition will be presented from 16 February to 27 May 2018 at Schirn Kunsthalle, Frankfurt.
Secluded in a pedestrian alley off Regent street, Momo has been delighting dinners since 1997. One could easily think that by now it should feel tired and very déjà-vu but not at all; under the management of charming Yacine Bouaouni, Momo is as cool today as it was on the day it first opened, and the food is as delicious.
Today MOMO consists of four spaces: restaurant, café, outdoor terrace and basement bar/ disco including a highly talked about live music program. The décor is impeccable and transports you to and exotic world more expected in One Thousand and One Nights than in central London. You can even do a bit of bazaar-style shopping at the Mo Café, full of interesting books, lamps, CDs and many other items, all of which are for sale.
Our waiter, Alex, was efficient and good humoured, helping us navigate the menu, explaining the ingredients and the cooking process. At the end my friend went for the chicken tagine and I chose the Momo grill. Both dishes were generous and full of flavour. We accompanied them with a fresh, crispy rosé from the Rhone Valley. For dessert Alex insisted we had to have the milk pastilla (delicious crispy pastry with custard) and the Momo chocolate plate, which would be up to the scrutiny of the most demanding chocolate lover.
Before leaving, we sat on the terrace for a while puffing away on our sheesha; mine strawberry flavoured, my friend’s choice was melon. It may sound childish but I have to confess that it was a lot of fun. I’ll be coming back soon.
The Petersham Nurseries Café is quite simply, one of the most enchanting restaurants in Greater London. Charmingly casual, yet sophisticated, this little oasis is just 10 minutes from central Richmond in the leafy suburb of Ham, Henry VIII’s old stomping ground!
It is a captivating place, set within a stunning vintage glasshouse. It calms you down and helps you reconnect with nature. The air is subtly scented by the jasmine and bougainvillea hanging from the roof; the tables and chairs are an eclectic mishmash of shabby chic antiques, and although not terribly comfortable, they are indeed beautiful and add to the unique style of the café!
The cafe is a bastion of slow-cooked delights (actually in 2015 they won the “Best Slow Food Restaurant/Eatery” at the SF London Awards). Everything is seasonal with Italian inspiration. The menu is simple, yet delicious. It changes regularly and usually features around five starters, mains and desserts. It is priced at the higher end, but the dishes reflect that value in their quality and quantity.
We enjoyed creamy Mozzarella di Bufala with the most delicious tomatoes I’ve ever eaten. The leg of lamb was well cooked and ridiculously flavoursome; the mackerel salad simply charming. When does one ever get to call mackerel salad charming? When dining at Peterham Nurseries, that’s when!
The staff was efficient and fun; you could tell they enjoyed serving this quality of food. We can not recommend this captivating place highly enough! The cafe is open every day for lunch and has evening supper clubs throughout the year.
The Octopod by MB&F takes design to new levels of creativity and technical accomplishment.
Think octopus, cephalopods and other eight-limbed creatures. Think marine compass – and the bathysphere from the 1989 classic The Abyss… Put that all together, with 468 fine-finished components, and you get Octopod: the new table clock by MB&F.
Conceived by MB&F and manufactured by Switzerland’s premier clock maker, L’Epée 1839, Octopod successfully blends contemporary design with kinetic sculpture and traditional horology. It stands on eight articulated legs. In Octopod’s completely transparent spherical head, gimballed like traditional ship chronometers, the creature’s brain, mysteriously suspended inside its crystalline sphere – the baseplate of the movement is a virtually invisible, anti-reflective transparent glass plate. Octopod’s eight-day movement is an entirely new development by L’Epée 1839, including a rotating escapement located on the minute hand.
Octopod is available in 3 limited editions of 50 pieces each in black PVD, blue PVD, and palladium (silver).
Introducing the new Autumn/Winter ’17 campaign that combines the natural beauty of the Scottish Highlands with knitwear that represents our iconic, pioneering heritage.
The campaign is the second by Scottish photographer Harley Weir, shot on location in the breath-taking landscapes of Loch Glascarnoch and Loch Droma.
Featured pieces include a standout printed rib-knit dress, which showcases the knitwear printing technique pioneered by Pringle during the 1960s. Top-to-toe knit dressing is also a focus, as well as highlighting beautiful wool textures and the iconic Pringle argyle.
Models Lorna Foran, Mila Brammer and Niklas B were styled by Francesca Burns in key pieces from the Autumn/Winter ’17 collections, each look representing our design philosophy of iconic knitwear for modern lives, brought to life by Womenswear Design Director Fran Stringer and Menswear Design Director Massimo Nicosia.
Paris, July 4th and 5th – during the Haute Couture fashion shows, Buccellati will display its new High Jewellery creations in the halls of the Paris boutique, at 1 rue de la Paix.
Buccellati Cuff Bracelet
There will be new designs of cuff and bangle bracelets – which are iconic objects at Buccellati – with different widths and enhanced by rubies, sapphires and diamonds, and by the precious engravings making gold silky and soft to the touch. Do not miss the daring interpretation of the beautiful aquamarine on an open work rosette on white gold, and the bracelets simply based on the contrast of yellow and white gold, just like the one with tulle elements framed by yellow gold profiles set with diamonds.
Buccellati pendant earrings
Buccellati also enriches its collections of cocktail rings and earrings: new precious designs arousing emotions and amazement, defining modern color contrasts and evoking innovative and unexpected shapes and combinations. There is a clear desire to impress and to show how far creativity and savoir-faire can go in the pursuit of elegance and extreme taste reviving in its jewels. The necklaces and the brooches turning into pendants all preserve the traditional goldsmithing techniques, but at the same time they express the will for experimentation and avant-garde by becoming true “mobile architectures”, jewels of lights and shadows patiently achieved through the color contrasts and the alternation of full and empty spaces.
The Paris presentation culminates with the celebration of the comeback of the tiara, conceived for a princely bride, but properly equipped to turn into a necklace and therefore to be used more than just once in a lifetime. The “Carlotta” tiara belongs to the “Romanza” collection and it is the perfect combination of romantic future expectations with an innovative creative engineering allowing a dual use and various stylistic ways of wearing it.
5th July 2017 – De Beers Diamond Jewellers unveiled yesterday their Lotus by De Beers High Jewellery Collection at their private salon in Paris during Haute Couture week.
The presentation was followed by a champagne reception at the Automobile Club de France where Fan Bingbing, accomplished actress and friend of the brand, shone in the magnificent Blooming Lotus necklace.
The Lotus by De Beers High Jewellery Collection also delves into the mythology of the lotus flower and the Ancient Egyptian belief that each bloom is a talisman of rebirth and regeneration. Radiating Lotus celebrates this mysterious power with petal-shaped marquise diamonds, rows of fan-like round brilliant diamond peaks and kite-shaped cascades of princess-cut and round brilliant-cut diamonds. This sparkling chorus exemplifies the technical skill that is poured into every piece of De Beers High Jewellery, including the exceptional settings that allow for maximum light reflection.
Now the lotus flower bud has emerged into the light, its petals can unfurl and feel the warmth of the sun for the first time. This synergy with the sunlight is expressed through Blooming Lotus; a unique set of diamond high jewellery centred on a three-dimensional diamond flower motif. The Blooming Lotus Necklace is adorned with three exceptional pear-shaped diamond petals, supported by a pear, a marquise and baguette-cut diamond silhouette echoing that of a lotus flower. This technically superb, striking focal point can be detached and worn as a brooch.
The Home of Diamonds since 1888, De Beers creates wondrous jewels with peerlessly beautiful diamonds to celebrate all of life’s events. Over 125 years of diamond mastery go into creating each individual design. De Beers is entirely committed to authenticity and integrity. De Beers meticulously hand-selects the world’s finest diamonds for their unique Fire, Life and Brilliance.
The diversity of Beth’s work is astounding. It is difficult to guess influences so I ask her if she follows other artists’ work: “I have to be in the right frame of mind to go to a gallery” she comments, “they trend to put me off because for a start, I always think everybody is better than me and start wondering if I should be doing what they are doing [laughter].
Now the lotus flower bud has emerged into the light, its petals can unfurl and feel the warmth of the sun for the first time. This synergy with the sunlight is expressed through Blooming Lotus; a unique set of diamond high jewellery centred on a three-dimensional diamond flower motif.
