An Infinite launch from MCM

Inspired by travel and emotion, MCM has introduced the Infinite Fragrance Collection. Composed of rare infusions, the capsule is prized for its complex and aromatic scents.

MCM Infinite Fragrance Collection

A nod to MCM's travel heritage

The exclusive collection comprises three bespoke editions, created by the renowned perfumer Jerôme Di Marino. Each scent is inspired by diverse, heady and signature flavours from across the globe, a nod to MCM’s travel heritage.

The ingredients that make up each bespoke scent are White Tea, Incense, and Orris. Created with sophisticated blends, the trio combines elements of floral spicy musk with pink peppercorn, aromatic herbal wood with mint and incense with cypress.

Said Jerôme Di Marino: “This new fragrance collection conceptualises MCM’s traditional aesthetic, fusing artisanal inspirations with aromatic storytelling. The result is a series of deep, sensual and sublime unisex scents designed to pay homage to MCM’s legacy of travel and passion for craft.”

Each bottle is designed with hand-polished glass, capped with a faceted gold stopper inspired by the MCM brass plate. The Infinite Fragrance Collection comes with an elegant and functional travel pochette.

DFS debuts new-look Dewar's fine whisky emporium

Bacardi has partnered with DFS Group, the world’s leading luxury travel retailer, to launch its new John Dewar & Sons Fine Whisky Emporium exclusively at Singapore Changi Airport.

The emporium – the first in Asia Pacific – was located in the operator’s Terminal 2 Wines and Spirits Duplex store and was timed to include the DFS Whiskey Festival at Changi in June.

Illuminated vapour jars invited travellers to experience the Dewar's whisky brand

Attracting millennials with sampling

The two-month activation for John Dewar & Sons Fine Whisky Emporium included Brand Ambassador Euan Auld leading tutored tastings of the Dewar’s range during the festival.

The new emporium was designed to attract millennial consumers with an eye-catching contemporary installation in the Fountain Bar of DFS’ Wines and Spirits Duplex, which brought the Dewar’s brand to life through original and creative story-telling format.

Tommy Dewar’s creativity and passion for the emotional thinking behind the brand was brought to life in illuminated vapour jars – a visual intrigue inviting shoppers to savour an innovative whisky sampling experience. 

Shoppers could explore – with a twist – the flavour profile and double-ageing that make Dewar’s “the world’s most awarded blended Scotch whisky”. The vapour samplings featured Dewar’s 15yo, Aberfeldy 18yo and The Royal Brackla 12yo. The latter is dubbed “the King’s own whisky” and is one of the key malts in the Dewar’s blend.  

To experience the brand, a wooden stave presented several key variants in ceramic egg-cups, all celebrating significant accolades in 2017.

Dewar’s 18yo featured as the main visual in the light-boxes above the bar and presented on the bar top, housed within a sculptural display of distillery-quality copper piping that epitomised the early introduction of the brand’s double-ageing.

Enhancing the in-store experience

Brooke Supernaw, DFS Group Senior Vice President for Spirits, Wine, Tobacco, Food and Gifts, said: “We’re proud to partner with Dewar’s to enhance our in-store experience at DFS, Singapore Changi Airport and bring travellers John Dewar & Sons Fine Whisky Emporium exclusively in Asia.”

Vinay Golikeri, Regional Director, Asia Pacific & Middle East Africa, Bacardi Global Travel Retail, commented: “It’s exciting to be one of the first markets to launch this new interpretation, which engages shoppers with the whisky category in a radically new and intriguing way. Changi is a key airport for us to reach millennials and stage two luxury shoppers in the region. We are introducing them to the originality and fun of the Dewar’s family and delivering penetration and trade-up as they explore the versatility of the range.”

Ateliers deMonaco radiates brilliance in Monte Carlo

Ateliers deMonaco, the watch brand co-founded by Peter Stas (also co-founder of Swiss watch brand Frederique Constant), launched two dazzling new timepieces La Sirène Diamant and La Sirène Rubis at the recent Top Marques ultra-luxury show in Monaco.

In 2009, Ateliers deMonaco created La Sirène inspired by Princess Charlene of Monaco. This timepiece celebrated Ateliers deMonaco’s debut in the fine jewellery segment. For the design of the dial, the brand used the King Protea pattern, which is the national flower of South Africa, the home country of Princess Charlene. This first timepiece featured light blue topaz stones reminiscent of the colour of the princess’s eyes. 

Eight years on, Ateliers deMonaco decided to enrich La Sirène collection with two new models: La Sirène Diamant and La Sirène Rubis.

Ateliers deMonaco La Sirene Rubis

Delicate artwork

La Sirène timepieces are powered by the in-house automatic dMc-700 calibre, which is wound by a 22ct solid gold rotor engraved with the shield of the Principality of Monaco. These watches have a power reserve of 42 hours and have a frequency of 28,800 beats per hour. Fully respecting the Ateliers deMonaco aesthetics, these calibres are housed in an 18ct white gold case of 39mm diameter.

La Sirène Diamant is entirely decorated with G-Top Wesselton diamonds. The case is set with 297 diamonds, while the bezel boasts 300 diamonds and a crown set with 20 diamonds. A delicate artwork was created on the 18ct solid gold dial, which is adorned with 120 diamonds set in a flower pattern. The centre dial features white, light-reflecting mother-of-pearl.

Ateliers deMonaco La Sirene Diamant

La Sirène Rubis is decorated with three different stones: the ruby, the sapphire and the diamond, which give impression of a red rainbow. The bezel is set with 16 baguette-cut rubies, 28 baguette-cut sapphires and two baguette-cut diamonds. Following the same colour shading, the dial embraces 24 rubies, 21 sapphires and three diamonds set in flower pattern. In order to highlight this masterpiece, the crown is decorated with one ruby and the strap is as red as the ruby stones.

Davidoff boosts global business as new line launches

Following the relaunch of Davidoff Winston Churchill Cigars in 2015, Davidoff has unveiled a contemporary accessory line inspired by the UK leader’s long-serving role as a statesman.

Davidoff's London humidor design 

“The aim was to craft a new range of contemporary Davidoff Winston Churchill accessories inspired by a key facet of the man himself – his statesmanship,” said Charles Awad, Senior Vice President – Chief Marketing Officer, Oettinger Davidoff AG. “Sir Winston Churchill’s leadership role in British politics for over 55 years, as well as his well-known fondness for fine cigars and Scotch whisky, were a great source of inspiration for Davidoff’s teams of designers and craftsmen. The attractive designs of this new range, as well as Davidoff’s unparalleled technical expertise, will make the cigar ritual and the enjoyment of today’s discerning aficionado.”

The Ambassador and Primos humidors in the Davidoff Winston Churchill accessories line aim to reflect Churchill’s wit and daring spirit. Brightly coloured, they are described as “unmissable and full of character”.

The London humidor design shows the UK capital’s urban landscape within a Winston Churchill profile on beige tulip wood. The Union Jack design is available in blue birch wood and reflects the statesman in a piece of marquetry made of a darker shade of tulip wood.

With a capacity for between 70 and 90 cigars, the sleek, linear Ambassador is designed for a large assortment. The interior contains a tray, a removable basket and dividers. Holding between 25 and 35 cigars, the smaller Primos is designed as a second, compact humidor. The Ambassador and Primos humidors are both available in two graphical styles as well as in the Union Jack and London designs.

The Winston Churchill humidors are made by a French atelier that is part of the Living Heritage Company (Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant), known for its traditional expertise. Both humidors are handmade.

Davidoff's Union Jack humidor design (pictures: Oettinger Davidoff AG)

New crystal whisky glass

Inspired by Churchill’s affection for cigars and whisky, a new crystal glass has been fitted with two notches on the side of the glass to hold your cigar – described as a first in the cigar world. This feature leaves you a free hand to greet someone, or post a social media picture. Churchill’s silhouette is discreetly sandblasted at the bottom of the glass. These are available in a set of two, handcrafted in Western Europe by glass blowers in a small atelier with 120 years of glass-making experience.

In addition, a new porcelain ashtray features a Union Jack pattern and is crafted in the French porcelain capital, Limoges, by an atelier that is part of the Entreprise du Patrimoine Vivant. The ashtray is a limited and numbered edition, and only 115 pieces have been produced globally. Each ashtray is numbered by hand.

The new Davidoff Winston Churchill accessories line will be launching in August 2017.

Oettinger Davidoff emphasises Asia

Oettinger Davidoff AG has reported further expansion of its global market position in an increasingly challenging environment in 2016.

Total sales in the fiscal year 2016 climbed on a comparable basis by 8.2% to CHF 595 million (US$612 million), with an “outstanding” growth of 20% for the core brand Davidoff.

2016 saw the completion of the new Camacho factory in Honduras, as well as the acquisition of a majority stake in Bluebell Cigars Asia and a minority stake in China's Sparkle Roll Cigars Co.

Said CEO Hans-Kristian Hoejsgaard: “2016 was a challenging year for the cigar industry as new and costly anti-tobacco legislation was introduced in both the EU and the US. While we are extremely pleased with the continued double-digit growth of Davidoff and our global market share gains, we did not achieve all our goals for 2016.”

Hoejsgaard said that regulatory requirements would further challenge the industry in the current year in Europe and in the US. In 2016, additional legal limitations prevailed in the cigar industry.

In Asia, Oettinger Davidoff emphasised its focus on the region by founding Davidoff of Geneva Asia, following the acquisition of the majority stake in Bluebell Cigars Asia. And with the acquisition of a minority in Sparkle Roll Cigars China, the company has invested in “the greatest potential market of the future”.

Hoejsgaard said he foresaw different growth patterns for the prime markets Europe, the US and Asia. “We expect a challenging and difficult 2017 as new restrictions in our core markets US and Europe take hold and retailers hold back and await clarity. We are confident that we can continue to gain market share through our strong innovation and global retail footprint.” 

Silversea launches dazzling cruise ship

Silversea Cruises launched its flagship cruise liner Silver Muse in an official ceremony in Monte-Carlo last month, in the presence of Prince Albert II of Monaco and Silversea’s ebullient Chairman, Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, along with many other dignitaries and VIPs.

MJ Rabbit hopped onboard to celebrate this ultra-luxury vessel, which has capacity for 596 passengers. Like a small city on the high seas, Silver Muse seeks to offer comfort, culture – and plenty of retail therapy. Silversea has an agreement with LVMH-owned Starboard for its product selection. Fittingly for an Italian cruise company, passengers can find Bulgari branded beauty products both in their spacious cabins and in the large stores. Silversea logoed items are also a highlight of the mix.

Other brand names onboard include Joseph Ribkoff fashion apparel, Roberto Coin jewellery, Burberry handbags, and TAG Heuer watches. Interestingly, the company also offers handmade sandals from Capri, while renowned Italian fabrics supplier Faliero Sarti has created a selection of exclusive scarves to celebrate the launch of Silver Muse. The exclusive prints on each scarf have been designed to reflect the Silversea core values of exploration, luxury and uniqueness.

Silversea Cruises' new Silver Muse cruise ship

Connoisseur lounge for cigar aficionados

Cruising is all about offering an experience, according to Silversea’s Chief Marketing Officer Barbara Muckermann. To this end, artworks line the ship’s walls, spanning paintings, sculptures and installations. It took me a long time to walk through the plush corridors as I paused to admire these amazing pieces, many of which were created by up-and-coming artists. Silversea prides itself on hosting exhibitions, shows and other events onboard.

Silversea’s passionate and dedicated team have thought of everything. Silver Muse aims to cater to connoisseurs with a special lounge where cigars, Cognac and whisky can be savoured in luxurious, Armani Casa-esque surroundings. Do you love jazz? There’s a lounge created just for you. Love coffee? There’s a café serving Italian-style coffees and gourmet treats. And don’t get me started on the eight restaurants, as there are 26 different food offerings onboard… Japanese, Italian, French…

Lefebvre d’Ovidio cites “top comfort” and “top quality food” as among the priorities for his passengers. His definition of luxury is “unique, rare, and difficult to achieve”. Crucially, he wants to offer unique places to visit, and he quotes Monte-Carlo, where he’s lived for 40 years, as one example, reeling off the city’s evening entertainment, restaurants and shops as key features.

In a bid to specialise in experiential travel beyond luxury cruising, Silversea has expedition ships that visit far-flung locations such as the Antarctic, the Arctic and the Galapagos Islands. The list of unusual destinations also spans Bangladesh – Silversea was the first luxury cruise specialist to go to Bangladesh, according to Lefebvre d’Ovidio.

Muckermann reports that Silversea’s annual revenue was up 10% this year, and I foresee buoyant years ahead for this ultra-luxury operator. 

Time to celebrate with Greubel Forsey

Timepiece aficionados were treated to the time of their lives when they boarded a superyacht in Monte-Carlo to try on the world’s most coveted pieces from Swiss watchmaker Greubel Forsey.

Brand owner and founder Stephen Forsey gathered this merry band of serious watch collectors in April on the occasion of the company’s debut at Top Marques, the supercar show that spotlights ultra-luxury boys’ and girls’ toys.

Greubel Forsey's Quadruple Tourbillon

Added-value hand-finishing

This year’s event boasted the unveiling of the million-dollar-plus AeroMobil, the world’s first flying car. And for Greubel Forsey, the exhibition was the perfect location to highlight the patented Quadruple Tourbillon, which retails at a cool 700,000 Swiss francs without tax (around $700,000). Like all Greubel Forsey watches, this piece is handmade and takes some 600 hours to craft. It represents the very confluence of art, design and precision engineering.

The collectors onboard Curvelle’s Quaranta super-catamaran also admired the new Signature 1, a more accessibly priced watch that represents the essence of Greubel Forsey’s approach to watchmaking. This model, priced at around 155,000 Swiss francs (without tax), does not have any complications, and only 66 have been made with this calibre, in red gold, white gold and platinum versions.

This elegant piece was “a big challenge” to make for a company that’s so focused on added-value hand-finishing, Stephen Forsey tells MJ Rabbit. “It was difficult for us to make a hand-wound watch that tells the time only – just hours, minutes and seconds. There are no complications – it is the purest essence of a watch. It’s a tribute to traditional handmaking watch skills,” he enthuses.

Signature 1 Limited Edition USA

Surprising collectors with the unexpected

The Signature 1 was created by a “dedicated, passionate” team, notes Forsey, including watchmaker par excellence and longtime Greubel Forsey staff member Didier Cretin, whose name is stamped on the timepiece. Forsey promises more Signature watches in the future. Again, the team will take the time to explore ideas. Creativity is the most prized asset in this small, tightly-knit organisation, based in La Chaux-de-Fonds, near Neuchâtel in Switzerland. Above all, the company wants to surprise its collectors and provide them with the unexpected.

Forsey is a fascinating person to talk to for brand-watchers. A watchmaker by trade, he isn’t a fan of the big-noise branding favoured by the world’s luxury groups. Retailers of his timepieces – whom he calls “ambassadors” – include Marcus Watches in the UK, owned by the veteran watch lover Marcus Margulies, and other carefully selected retailers across the world where the passion for handmade watches runs deep and collectors congregate.

Stephen Forsey, co-founder of Greubel Forsey

Regular hospitality events in mainland China

Founded in 2004, Greubel Forsey only makes 100 timepieces a year, many sold to collectors who are personally known to the company. These collectors are evenly spread across the world, with one-third coming from Europe (including Russia), one-third from the Americas and one-third from Asia. The company has a good presence in Asia, in countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Japan, Hong Kong and Macau. The watches are not available for sale in mainland China due to the high domestic taxes, but Greubel Forsey holds regular hospitality events in the country to attract collectors.

Meanwhile, I will dream on...

Davidoff links with French artist on exclusive humidor

Davidoff has unveiled a new limited-edition cigar humidor crafted by the renowned French marquetry artist Rose Saneuil.

Conceived as an ode to Davidoff’s Caribbean terroir in the north west of the Dominican Republic, the new Masterpiece Humidor Damajagua follows the successful Cave de Paille humidor, created for Davidoff by the Paris-based artist Lison de Caunes, known for her straw marquetry technique.

“We are thrilled to partner with an exceptional French marquetry artisan Rose Saneuil to develop this unique Damajagua Humidor Masterpiece,” said Charles Awad, Senior Vice President – Chief Marketing Officer at Oettinger Davidoff AG.

“Rose Saneuil has been greatly inspired by Davidoff’s Caribbean heritage, the magical forest of Damajagua and our skill at nurturing fragile tobacco plants to transform them into exceptional cigars. Her Masterpieces are breathtaking as the artist mixed 25 selected materials to create them, using tobacco leaves picked from Damajagua, for the very first time in marquetry,” he added.

Davidoff has been cultivating filler tobacco in the fertile region of Damajagua since 2002. Thanks to the humid climate and PH-balanced soil, the tobacco leaves become red while being cured and have a sweet aftertaste. As they tend to be less exposed to sunshine, the leaves are very thin and of medium strength, giving a sweet and creamy tobacco.

Davidoff's new cigar humidor depicts a vibrant vermilion bird

A symbol of benevolence

Saneuil’s drawing shows a vibrant vermilion bird, a symbol of benevolence, swooping protectively over a mystical Caribbean forest and encouraging the tobacco leaves beneath to thrive.

The interior of the humidors is made of Gabon wood, known as okoumé, from central west Africa. It is odourless and tasteless, thus avoiding flavor transfer to cigars. The okoumé is hand varnished to seal the humidity more effectively so that it will not be constantly absorbed by the wood.

With a capacity for 190 to 250 cigars, each humidor is equipped with three Davidoff De Luxe regulators which guarantee the stable humidification between 70% and 72%.

The Damajagua Masterpiece Humidors will be available at Davidoff flagship stores and selected merchants in late April 2017.

The first Masterpiece Humidor of the 20 limited editions, number 1/20, was offered at the auction of the Procigar Festival 2017 in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic. It came with a Master Blender’s selection of 50 Toro Damajagua cigars made of 30% Damajagua tobacco. The starting bid was $25,000.

The charity auction benefited three organisations helping children, the elderly and preserving the Dominican Republic heritage: the Voluntariado de Jesús con los Niños (non-profit organisation for ill children), the Hospicio San Vicente de Paul (retirement home for low-income elders) and the Monumento a los Heroes de la Restauración.