Mix it up: The basics every cocktail aficionado needs to own April 7, 2015 After the Second World War, London’s population fell off a cliff, plummeting from 8m to 6.6m. But like a phoenix from the flames, our numbers have multiplied in the last 25 years. The downside to this is that space is at a premium: alas and alack, where oh where are we going to store all [...]
Car review: The 650i is BMW’s statement car April 6, 2015 It’s far from the sensible option, but who cares when there’s this much fun to be had There’s something about BMW’s big 6. Its first incarnation was no oil painting, sure, but an awful lot of people still opted to buy one. When the second-stage all-new replacement arrived it was transformed from ugly caterpillar [...]
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Spring a bottle: The perfect wines to crack open over Easter weekend, from Riesling to Sauternes April 2, 2015 Easter is almost upon us, which means it’s time to put away those hearty reds that have kept us warm through the long winter months and drink something altogether lighter and more refreshing. So what to choose? For a start, I would continue to steer clear of Sauvignon Blanc. It’s too early in the year [...]
Think smarter: Check out these terribly clever timepieces April 2, 2015 It’s not just a certain company based in Cupertino that’s innovating in the watch world… The launch of the Apple Watch the other week highlighted the growing need for a women’s watch that does more than just tell the time. With adverts in US Vogue – 12 pages at an estimated $2.2m no less – [...]
Time to get smart: Traditional watchmakers are striking back against the Apple Watch April 2, 2015 With the Apple Watch set to shake up the watch market, Switzerland’s established brands are rushing to release their own takes on wearable tech. Last month’s Baselworld watch fair saw a slew of these, including this model from Breitling. Rather than text messages and activity tracking, the B55 enables you to perform adjustments – timezones, [...]
Swinging 60s: Take a drive back in time to rediscover the inimitable style of the April 2, 2015 Osman dress, £1,010, harveynichols.com; Osman boots, £POA, manoloblahnik.com; Brooks Brothers headscarf, £130, brooksbrothers.com; Cutler & Gross sunglasses, £395, cutlerandgross.com; Chanel ring, £4,075, 26 Old Bond Street, W1S 4DQ (Katie) Tods dress, £3,150, tods.com; Christian Dior jacket, £3,100, dior.com; Christian Dior boots, £1,850, dior.com; JW Anderson bag, £1,625, j-w-anderson.com; Cutler & Gross sunglasses, £310, [...]
Lounge lizard: Party like it’s 1979 with these classic disco-era watches April 2, 2015 In the late 70s and early 80s, had you found yourself living it up in St Tropez, partying with the in-crowd at New York’s Studio 54, or following the jet-set around the hotspots of London, Paris and Milan, the watch you’d have repeatedly found on the wrists of the rich and glamorous would have been [...]
Grapes and wrath: Why wine critic Robert Parker is skipping the famous Bordeaux tasting April 2, 2015 It’s tasting time in Bordeaux, when the wine world flocks to the banks of the Garonne to discover what the latest vintage has to offer. For the next few weeks critics and merchants will sniff, snort, swill and spit their way through hundreds of tastings before passing judgement on the wines of 2014. This [...]
Counter culture: How Melbourne changed the way the entire world enjoys its morning cup of coffee April 2, 2015 There are few places in the world where coffee is taken as seriously as it is in Australia. The country’s unrivalled coffee capital, Melbourne, blazed the trail for the cold drips, aero-presses and cupping that have become de rigueur in hipster coffee houses across the world. Every day Melbourne handles 30 tonnes of coffee beans. [...]