Tourbillon: the ultimate complication July 29, 2010 IF chronographs are at one end of the complications scale, at the other you find the tourbillon. Originally developed by the Abraham-Louis Breguet in the 18th century, it’s designed to lessen the effect of gravity and motion on the watch’s accuracy by mounting the escapement and balance wheel – which transform the inner workings into [...]
A sorry tale for our times July 28, 2010 THE TERRIBLE PRIVACY OF MAXWELL SIM BY JONATHAN COE Viking, £18.99 by Zoe Strimpel JONATHAN COE represents the pinnacle of British picaresque – his iconic novel about 80s Britain, What a Carve Up, hilariously and tragically skewered the stereotypes of the time while developing a narrator who is impossible not to care for even as [...]
VEXED IN THE CITY July 28, 2010 While the boss is away, can the employees go off and play? DEAR VEXED: As usual, the office largely clears out over August. Of particular interest is the fact that my boss is going to be away in Greece for three weeks. But I’ve already taken my year’s holiday and I’ll be here. Here’s the [...]
OUT OF OFFICE July 28, 2010 TOM AIKENS SERVES UP CLOUDY BAY If you’d happened by Parsons Green at the weekend you’d have seen celebrity chef Tom Aikens cooking takeaway dishes in an ad-hoc shack erected by wine producer Cloudy Bay. The dishes, designed to go with Cloudy Bay wines and including spicy crab cakes and deep-fried paprika, are now available [...]
The queen of cocktails July 28, 2010 CLASSIC morning-after pick-me-up or smart aperitif; fresh, salady cocktail for a summer afternoon, or thick, spicy meal-in-a-glass to fire up a winter’s evening. The Bloody Mary is arguably the most diverse cocktail around, in both when you would drink it and how you should make it. At it’s most basic level, it involves a slug [...]
SUPER-SUPER PREMIUMS | A NEW BREED OF VODKA July 28, 2010 According to drinks company Whyte and Mackay, the last few years have been tough. Spirits, including vodka, have taken a serious hit. But there’s one area that’s bucked the trend: super-premium vodkas. In other words, seriously posh vodka sells. We’ve now entered a brave new world of even higher-end, wilder and more innovative voddie, with [...]
GOING OUT July 28, 2010 WITH the summer just about living up to expectations this year, outside space has become the holy grail when picking a great place to drink in London. It’s certainly tricky to find in Mayfair and the West End so when the sun does come out, here are some of the best alfresco spots to seek [...]
Hallelujah: Peugeot’s latest car really, truly makes sense July 27, 2010 OK, I’m going to come clean. I distrust crossover cars, or crossover utility vehicles (CUVs). In the past when I’ve driven them I’ve tended not to like them. Neither one thing or another, they have always seemed to me to be the mongrels of the car world, compromised and with an identity crisis. Despite a [...]
CAR TALK July 27, 2010 SUZUKI’S SWIFT GETS BETTER This is the new, third generation Suzuki Swift which goes on sale in the UK in the autumn. Can you spot the differences with the outgoing model? No? Neither can we…but it’s lighter, stiffer, safer, cleaner and more economical. At 116g/km, it will be one of the cleanest petrol engine superminis [...]
Office pain that has no gain July 26, 2010 ARE you sitting comfortably? If you’re reading this at your desk, it’s quite possible that you’re anything but. The modern office remains a place where back pains, repetitive strain injury and other blights born of bad posture and worse furniture cause no end of problems. According to Tom Stewart, executive chairman of ergonomics organisation System [...]