A Night To Remember - Many Stories Shared

Watch events in Australia are never the marketing extravaganza that the rest of the world gets to witness, which certainly goes with my preference of ‘style but with substance’. This year’s Hublot event was held at the exclusive Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron which is a private members only sailing club established in 1862.

We arrived around 6.00pm in the evening and on this night the weather did not disappoint.

It wasn't hard to see that this was going to be a King Power event.

The tables were set for some serious dining.

The watches were poised like supermodels.

My personal favourite Hublot of all time.

Emil’s big grin is a tell tale sign of the energy and excitement building in the room.

Combined with some of the best wines from Penfolds(including the world renowned ‘Grange’) and Mr Biver’s cheese, this was going to be a very memorable night.

As Jean Claude Biver could not join us this year in person, it was up to his son Loic to come up with an innovative twist. Personally I’m in the camp that believes that communication technology can at times hinder human interaction (why not just pick up the phone as opposed to texting).

However, JCB’s presentation over SKYPE was one of his most personal and emotive. A few days earlier it was announced that HUBLOT won the prestigious Walpole Award and we were very fortunate to hear an extensive retelling of his now very famous speech about success and my favourite part, that the real success after life is when you don’t die by leaving two traces behind; a trace of love as it never dies, the trace of your passion.

HUBLOT and JCB continue to inspire and surprise. I’m certain 2011 will be another significant marker in their history.

My Newest Big Bang

A few weeks ago I stumbled into a Sydney AD to have a look at a few watches as I was feeling I needed something new. Amongst the Hublots there was a Luna Rossa. This piece has been there for a while and only in Australia would one find one as everywhere else this is a hot watch that has been sold out long ago.

I never appreciated the subtle yet commanding styling of this watch until taking a closer look. One should not expect anything less from a powerful collaboration between Hublot and Prada.

The Luna Rossa was issued in a numbered limited edition of 1000 watches. The design is extreme, distinguished, refined and exclusive. Constructed using advanced technology materials (carbon, Kevlar, titanium, ceramics and rubber), which makes its genetic code the same as that of the America Class yacht, it bears the signature Luna Rossa on the famous red line drawn on its carbon case, as well as inside the natural rubber strap.

I also love the baton style markers which have now been adopted in the Big Bang Evolution range. It has the same elements of the monochrome All Black versions (black ceramic case, brushed black bezel, smooth strap)....but the dial just grabs you attention with its carbon fiber and red accents. I suspect that the carbon fiber dial is exclusive to this watch.

As you can see there have been a number of celebratory drinks after my purchase.


This is a very striking and wearable Hublot (ceramic case and bezel). IMHO it has the best rubber strap which from reading an old TZ post by JCB was designed by Mr. Berteli, the owner of Prada.

Since I bought the Luna Rossa home, most of my other watches have been having a holiday.

Louis Vuitton: The Quiet Achiever

Unlike the grand media blitz of notable competitors that are making a bold move into the luxury watch market, Louis Vuitton is letting the product do the talking. In a nice finish to our holiday, Vikki and I were invited to attend a private viewing of LV’s new Tambour Spin Time collection.


When we arrived at the Louis Vuitton store, we were escorted up to their private salon which is the loft penthouse.



Our hosts were Alin, Christina and Quentin who were very gracious as we spent close to two hours talking about their new collection and LV’s watchmaking ambitions. In true LVMH style, the discussions were accompanied with the fabulous Dom Perignon 2002 vintage. This was our second tasting of this remarkable Champagne and definitely not the last.

The innovative Tambour Spin Time GMT puts an interesting ‘spin’ on reading the time as it lacks the hour hand.


The hours are marked by 12 rotating cubes. The design of the innovative rotating cubes was born at LVMH’s workshops in La Chaux-de-Fonds. The assemblage of the movement also takes place there.


Anytime you drop a glance at the face of the new Louis Vuitton watch, eleven of the cubes have a blank face with a subtle letter “V”), while the current hour is numerically shown by the 12th cube found in the current hour position.


A great advantage of this innovative hour display is that the cubes feature numerals on two sides, so they display a.m. or p.m time. As for the minutes, they are traditionally shown by a minute hand. You will also notice a conventional GMT hand in yellow. The GMT time is adjusted by the crown positioned at 8 o’clock.

The new Louis Vuitton watch provides precision timekeeping with help of a Swiss-made self-winding movement - the caliber LV 119 - with an ETA base. The quality of the finish is of an exceptional standard as is the heft of the 44mm white gold case. Attention to the small details is very high, typified by the wonderful execution of the rotor design (an element that quite a number high end brands seem to constantly neglect).


The Tambour Spin Time GMT watch also boasts the brand’s LeVel Up crown stem lifting system used to allows the crown to move for utmost comfort on the wrist. The idea of the system was suggested by the transfer case on a car. It represents a number of toothed wheels engaged with an internal toothed wheel that regulates winding, along with the date and hour adjusting.

The lady’s version in white gold with black and white diamonds is truly remarkable.


The Tambour Spin Time is an interesting and unique way of keeping time. It remains a given that Louis Vuitton is evolving into a serious alternative for the astute collector that has it all.

Once again thankyou to Alin, Christina and Quentin for the opportunity to inspect these stunning watches and to Maison Louis Vuitton for continuing its journey in high end luxury products.

Cartier Fine Watches Cocktail Event

I recently had the pleasure to attend a private cocktail party for watch afficionados at the Sydney Cartier Boutique. On show for us were the new models from the 2010 Cartier Fine Watchmaking Collection. Not having been an owner of a Cartier timepiece, this event piqued my interest and respect for the pieces being produced by Cartier at their Manufacture in La Chaux-de-Fonds in Switzerland.

Most of the Collection was on display including the stunning Astrotourbillon and Santos Dumont Squelette(love this watch).

It was a great delight to be able to have a closer look and to try on many of the pieces on display.










Many thanks to Cartier for a wonderful evening and for the photographs.

A Bankers Holiday

Only in a remote country like Australia could one not be surprised by the idea of a ‘Bank Holiday’. For this banker it was a very welcome break as my work commitments have precluded me from taking any annual leave until later this year. What makes this such as special long weekend is the fact that it is not a traffic congested public holiday with the added benefit that accommodation and restaurants are also more accessible.

The weather was simply marvellous. Temperatures were in the mid to high teens and Saturday was a lazy shopping day followed by drinks at the cosmopolitan ECQ bar.

Sydney Harbour in the middle of winter.

This was followed by a truly astounding Champagne dinner at Sailors Thai. With the food being so scrumptious, taking photos was the last thing on our mind. Sydney’s Thai food has a worldwide reputation, no wonder Sailors Thai’s founder David Thompson is having huge success with his London (Michelin star) restaurant Nahm.

Sunday was an early start as we headed for our traditional winter destination, Katoomba. Spending time in front of a fireplace with class a wine in the Blue Mountains is my idea of the perfect short winter break.

Lunch was in the restaurant at Echoes. Echoes' Boutique Hotel & Restaurant is perched at the very edge of the Jamison Valley at Echo Point in the Blue Mountains. This is a relatively new establishment and is right next to our old favourite Lilanfels.

The Duck risotto with one of our favourite reds.

A perfect winter’s day in the mountains.

Here with my Patek Philippe 5107

All in all a great and much needed getaway.

Case In Point

One has to say that this is one of my better photographic attempts. The sensual lines of the subject matter being my 3971E helped as did the fabulous day that blessed this photo with a unique light effect.

The case of the 3971 is curvaceous and flowing to say the least. An element that, in my humble view is largely missing in Patek’s new generation of chronos.

Good things do come in smaller packages.

Six months on, this is still my favourite manual Patek Philippe chrono.

11TH Anniversary Weekend

Our 11th anniversary was the last weekend in June this year and choosing a restaurant became hard. Out of the 9 we tried to book at 7 were fully booked and one was closed for the weekend as they were doing a wine night out at Logan winery at Mudgee. So it was to one of favourite(and regular) restaurants we decided to go. Rubyos in Newtown.

Since the last time we went the menu has changed to reflect the current season and they have added a Celebration Set Menu. Of course we decided to go with that. As Rubyos is BYO we took a bottle of 1999 Leeuwin Estate Art Series Cabernet Sauvignon, we reckon it should have had about 3 hours decanting before we drank it. Next year we will try the remaining bottle.

Unfortunately no photos.

Sunday saw a beautiful blue sky for Sydney, so we walked down to The Boathouse on Blackwattle Bay. Haven’t been for over a year but the Maitre d’ remembered us(that is service!!).

Choosing the food was easy, the wine however was another matter. After long deliberation we decided on a glass of Henriot Brut Souverain to be followed with a bottle of Jean Marc Brocard 2006 Chablis Premier Cru Montee de Tonerre.

The champagne went with the oysters. We tried Moonlight En Surface, Sydney Rock from Pambula and Sydney Rock from Port Stephens. While I love oysters, Vikki is not a big oyster eater but she did eat them and I really enjoyed them. (Sorry no pics)

Vikki had roast loin and breast of lamb, spiced carrot puree, baby carrots and lentils.

I had Mirror Dory, cauliflower puree, baby octopus, currants and capers.

No dessert as we had a craving for cheese. On this occasion we had Healey’s Pyengana cheddar(Australia), St Maure Caprifeuille(France) and Roquefort(Roquefort sur Soulzon(France). To go with the cheese we decided to try a glass of Banyuls. Neither of us have tried it before and it was actually the first time we have seen it by the glass in a Sydney restaurant. Smells sweet like port but surprisingly it isn’t overly sweet. Most salubrious!

Here are a few photos from inside and outside The Boathouse….




So a great 11th Anniversary weekend with lots of great food, wine and fun!