Auckland Escape

Despite it only being a 3hr flight from Sydney, after all this time and global travel we never quite made it New Zealand before. The ‘City of Sails’ was our first foray into this magical country and we weren’t disappointed. Auckland sprawls over a narrow isthmus between the sparkling waters of the Waitemata and Manukau Harbours. A cloak of rainforest covers the surrounding hills, dozens of dormant volcanic cones dot the landscape and enchanting holiday islands are scattered throughout the vast Hauraki Gulf.

Staying in luxury at the Langham Hotel gave us a good vantage point to explore what the city had to offer.


The Auckland Sky Tower is the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.

We were pleasantly surprised by some of the unique speciality food and drink venues that the city has on offer.

This must be one my favourite places for lunch and judging by the lunchtime crowds the locals must agree. Elliott Stables in Elliott Street is a fantastic collection of little cafes and restaurants. It is organised with restaurants and cafes around the edges of a seating area. While you order and pay at each place, meals are delivered to your table. There is even a bottle shop and a well stocked whisky/whiskey shop. An added bonus is the Kapiti Dairy shop on the corner for some ice cream or cheese.

For such a petite city the nightlife had some surprising atmosphere we enjoyed having a few drinks at the Northern Steamship Co. Brewbar which is located in the 130year old headquarters of the Northern Steamship Co. Of particular interest were the upside down floor lamps(real retro) which made it even more funky not to mention the fabulous Macs beer. They even have pots of hop plants growing, very apt for a brew bar.

Vulcan Lane was another great place to spend time when you are hungry and thirsty. All manner of food and drink is available in this heritage lane. With the establishments also retaining the heritage feel in their decor. Laneways such as this is something that Sydney desperately lacks. Even the adaptation of heritage bank buildings in to restaurants was a great reuse of spaces. One such example that we stumbled upon was O’Connell Street Bistro. Ambience is as important as the food and O'Connell Street Bistro does both really well.

The highlight of our holiday was definitely a private tour of Villa Maria Estate’s Auckland Winery. The winery was founded in 1961 by George Fistonich who, through his dedication to quality, has led Villa Maria to become the New Zealand wine icon it is today. Villa Maria Estate is New Zealand's most awarded winery and remains proudly family owned.

The winery is not far from Auckland airport so we hired one of the cute Langham cars (Toyota IQ) to get there.

The Auckland vineyard is situated at the winery site in the base of an extinct volcano, on the Ihumatao peninsula in Mangere.

Twenty hectares of vines are planted. Auckland enjoys a warm coastal climate without extreme temperatures.

The vineyard park with its volcanic soils, is planted with Gewurztraminer, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Verdelho. The vines are predominantly Gewurztraminer as the variety has a history of producing excellent examples of this style in the region.

We met Mary Winstone, Ville Maria’s guest co-ordinator who took us through to meet Mark Polglase(cellar door manager) and Ian Clark(export and PR manager). We left Mark to organise the wines for us while Ian took us on a tour of the Villa Maria production facilities. Villa Maria’s very modern and efficient facilities were amazing to see. The use of eco friendly systems for lighting, heating and cooling was very interesting to observe.


Bottling was exciting sight to, even more so given the focus on sustainability. Rather noisy in the bottling room as they fill and cap around 12,000 bottles per hour.

Now we turned to the serious side of the visit, the wine tasting and we weren’t disappointed. We arrived at the tasting table to be confronted by 12 bottles of wine lined up ready for us. Unfortunately Vikki was driving, so she could only taste and spit while I got to really enjoy the selection chosen for us. The wines we tasted were:
Villa Maria Private Bin Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Villa Maria Cellar selection Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Villa Maria Reserve Wairau Valley Sauvignon Blanc 2010
Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Gris 2010
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Gris 2010
Villa Maria Private Bin Chardonnay 2010
Villa Maria Reserve Barrique Fermented Chardonnay 2009
Villa Maria Private Bin Pinot Noir 2009
Villa Maria Cellar Selection Pinot Noir 2009
Villa Maria Private Bin Merlot 2009
Villa Maria Private Bin Syrah 2008


After our tasting session we were invited for lunch in the Villa Maria restaurant. Set in the cellar room which opens on to a broad terrace, it has a spectacular view of the vines. Not only do they operate the restaurant but there are also several options for functions depending on size. Vikki had wild pork and game rillete with plum, apple and ginger relish, poppy seed toast and micro salad, while I had seared tuna pepper crusted with anchovy, basil, roast capsicum and caper salad followed by oven baked lamb rack with crushed new potatoes, bean, olive and truss tomato salad,
tahini dressing, we ended with lemon tart. All very delicious and enhanced by the beautiful views and wines. After that it was back to the hotel for a much needed afternoon nap.




We had a relaxing, slightly wet, but quick week of enjoying some of what Auckland had to offer. We will definitely be heading back again to explore more of Auckland and New Zealand.

As the Maori would say: Ka kite anō (see you again!)

A Rare Treat From Hublot

Parcels that arrive from overseas are always a lovely surprise. Especially when you know that you haven't bought anything.
I got a message on my Blackberry just before Christmas, saying that there was a parcel for me and did I know what kind of wine it was and what was the alcohol content. Well this was a total surprise to me. So I rang Fedex and found out a little more. Contacted the lovely Miwa Sakai at Hublot who forwarded all the relevant details to Fedex.
Soon after, Vikki went to pick the wine up.
We opened the box not knowing what to expect and found a bottle of Hublot Chasselas, a Swiss wine which we have not come across here In Australia.

A very nice and much appreciated gesture from the Hublot team.

Nautilus on Ice

My recent AD visit brought back memories of my first majestic encounter with a 5722G at the London Patek Philippe Boutique. This Nautilus is adorned with 32 baguette diamonds (~5.7 ct.).

This time round, I was lucky enough to have a camera.

The diamond bezel is breathtaking and less prone to scratches (quite practical actually). The leather strap is a very deep blue which complements the case and dial.

5722G is for the brave. I think this watch sits well both on a female and male wrist. Only downside is that it costs more than 5x the amount for a 5712/1A.

Some bling does deserve serious consideration.

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.