Deciding to
take a sabbatical from the wearisome banking world, I was drawn to go on a
personal adventure which would cover Dubai and parts of Asia. My magic carpet
ride into this dazzling city was flying on a Qantas A380 in a First Class
Suite.
The flight
was so pleasant and devoid of any harsh turbulence that it made one feel as if
one was on a grand rail journey. Maybe it was the endless flow of Pol Roger
Winston Churchill that dulled the senses.
As Dubai is
a city of excess this participant was more than happy to further support that
notion. A Mercedes limousine quickly shuttled me to a humble corner suite at
the Conrad Dubai. One quickly realizes that in a land of oil riches the only
way to traverse this vast urban sprawl is via taxi or personal driver.
One of the
primary reasons for coming to Dubai was to scale the permissible heights of the
world’s tallest building, the iconic Burj Khalifa.
Level 148 at
555 meters is the highest outdoor observatory in the world.
For such an
oil rich state the obsession with water is very apparent. Why else with all
this available land would one dredge the ocean to build the Palms (Jumeriah and Jebel Ali) along with The World islands and then conceive some of the most astounding aquariums.
Apart from
its size the luxurious Dubai Mall is known as an enthralling watch and jewelry
mecca with most major brands sporting their largest flagship boutiques globally.
It always makes one feel good when you visit a boutique before it has been officially opened with this instance being the Hublot boutique which none other than JCB would open the following week.
My watch
collecting highlight was when the A. Lange & Sohnne team at the Dubai Mall
boutique invited me to an exclusive cocktail party that was showcasing the 2015
novelties.
The star of
the show was the platinum Zeitwerk Minute Repeater in Platinum.
Here is a
watch fit for a Prince, a Lange 31 in platinum with baguette diamonds. It is a
unique piece that comes in a set of three.
I also got
to try the 1815 200th Anniversary in platinum.
Literally
next door to the Lange boutique was Ulysse Nardin and naturally there were a
few spectacular pieces on display.
At the Ulysse Nardin boutique I met a pair of Strangers.
Arabian
tales are always filled with exotic mystery and wonder, my first journey to
Dubai was a definite confirmation
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