Innehållsförteckning för November 2023 från Robb Report

Helenio Barbetta Originally from Pescara, Italy, Barbetta is now based in Milan, where he works as an architectural and interiors photographer. His artful compositions have been seen in Vogue Italia and Architectural Digest. This month's assignment, “The Other Side of Capri” (p. 188), took him to a contemporary villa on the idyllic Italian island. “The most memorable moment of this shoot was reaching the house by alleys and small stairs and slowly seeing the most beautiful bay open up before your eyes, a sunset thrill of great beauty,” he shares. Rachel Gallaher Gallaher is a writer and editor in Seattle whose work has appeared in Dwell and Architectural Digest, among others. For Robb Report, she wrote about one of architecture's most divisive styles, currently making a comeback (p. 66). “Although…

Thoughts of Provence evoke images of winding roads bordered by a sea of olive trees, grapevines, and lavender; of iron gates, unpaved lanes, and enormous stone homes filled with handwoven carpets, Louis XV furniture, and an infinite supply of pale-pink rosé. And nothing, perhaps, is more picture-perfectly Provence than Château d'Estoublon. Built in 1489 by an aristocratic Genoese family, this wine- and olive oil–producing estate has been lovingly chauffeured into the 21st century by a dream team of collaborators: Stéphane Courbit, owner of the Les Airelles hotel collection and Ladurée, the French macaron bakery turned café; former French president Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, the model, singer, and onetime first lady of France, Carla Bruni; and Jean-Guillaume Prats, whose family owned Cos d'Estournel and who has previously held the role…

How much would you pay for nothing? To sleep outside, with no electricity or refrigeration, in the middle of nowhere, sipping plain water under the tropical sun? Turns out, that sort of nothing has a price, and it's $10,000 per night. That's the cost of entry for unburdening yourself via the R.O.C.S. Island Experience, an adventure as experimental as its name is inscrutable. I was dropped off on what I was told was Alfuros Island-which, it turns out, doesn't exist on any map—by Alexa, a traditional Indonesian phinisi transformed into a highdesign pleasure yacht, which tendered me through a thick ring of mangroves and onto this remote patch on the outskirts of Komodo National Park. The landscape was scrubby grass, small trees, and loose rock; lodging was a two-bed open-air…

Brutalism is back—and softer than ever. Marked by a stark, materials-forward palette and an imposing sidewalk presence, this midcentury aesthetic is arguably one of the most divisive architectural styles and a longstanding source of conflict in the design world. Some praise its modernist language and experimental forms, while others find its buildings heavy and oppressive. Recently, it has reemerged with an elevated twist: No longer reserved for civic and institutional structures, brutalism has become a popular playground for many practitioners, from furniture makers to interior designers. Blocky silhouettes and bulky geometric shapes are cropping up in residential and commercial projects alike, but designers are softening the overall look with natural textures and elegant materials. Brutalism emerged in Europe after World War II and rose to prominence in the 1960s, its…

DREAM MACHINES A DEVOTION TO MOTION At the end of the decade, after over a quarter-century in orbit, the International Space Station (ISS) is planned to be decommissioned by NASA in order for the agency to focus on deep-space exploration, lunar flights, and journeys to Mars. That leaves low-Earth orbit, the layer 250 miles above the atmosphere, as the next frontier in commercial space enterprises. NASA seems all for it, supporting private developers via grants that promise to set off a gold rush of scientific research—and tourism. “There will be at least one, maybe two, private space stations in the next 5 to 10 years,” says Tom Shelley, president of Space Adventures, which has been placing civilians on the ISS since 2001. But while he's confident of the timeline, specifics…

THE SOUL OF ANY sports car comes down to the alchemy of its tuning—how the engine, suspension, and chassis blend into a chorus of sensations. The secret sauce of the new Porsche 911 S/T, developed as a tribute to the 60th anniversary of the brand's flagship model, is more potent than most; in fact, it makes a serious case for being the most driver-focused 911 of all time. Sharing the S/T designation with the homologation special from the 1960s, the (mostly) innocuously styled commemorative model borrows underpinnings from the more visually extroverted GT3 RS. Yet what the S/T, starting at $290,000, lacks in fender cutouts and massive spoilers it makes up for in directness: a flat-six power plant that revs to 9,000 rpm, a motorsportderived double-wishbone suspension, and a manual…

FIELD NOTES I n the lobby of the Peninsula Hong Kong, a group of Americans ponder the winter ski season. “It's still so much cheaper to ski in France than it is in Whistler …” “When you grow up skiing in New England, the powder out west is just …” “Our instructor's grandfather started Aman hotels—he must be the richest ski instructor there is …” “But everyone knows that the best après ski is in Aspen …” Since Hong Kong reopened its borders last year and ended mandatory masking requirements in February, millions of tourists have flooded back, from both abroad and mainland China. July saw over 612,000 nonmainland travelers arrive, nearly 164,000 of whom came from long-haul markets such as the U.S., the U.K., and Australia, according to the…

STILT-WALKING HARLEQUINS, leaping court jesters, gladiators, riders on horseback, harem girls, and more descended upon the courtyard followed by a gilded carriage carrying five statuesque ladies dripping in jewels. This was the setting for one of the year's more spectacular high-jewelry reveals, courtesy of Van Cleef & Arpels. The Cirque du Soleil–level performance in the gardens of Rome's Villa Medici (now home to the French Academy) brought to life the building's 19th-century Louis Dupré painting Châteaubriand reçoit la grande-duchesse Hélène de Russie dans les jardins de la Villa Médicis le 29 avril 1829. It was followed by a dinner at an outdoor pavilion on the property, where guests were serenaded by an opera singer, suspended from a series of lit balloons, who floated on the gardens' horizon. All of this…

A jeweler for over four decades, Londoner Glenn Spiro has long been the go-to for in-the-know collectors looking for something a little unusual. His G by Glenn Spiro boutiques can be found in many a tony enclave, from his by-appointment atelier in a historic mansion in Mayfair to St. Barts, Saint-Tropez, and a space at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, one of his favorite stateside haunts. Having grown up poor in Bethnal Green in East London, Spiro got his entrée into the realm of elite gems at age 15, when he was hired as an apprentice by English Art Works, a jewelry workshop owned by Cartier. By age 22, he had opened his own atelier with a business partner 10 years his senior in Farringdon, in London. Spiro is…

FLORIDA'S GULF COAST has a reputation for citrus-hued sunsets, white sandy beaches, and palm trees swaying in the breeze. But what was once a dreamy reality has become a riskier venture—replaced, thanks to climate change, with less-enticing visions of devastating hurricanes, storm surges, and damaging floods. For luxury buyers who still want to enjoy the coastal vistas of the Sunshine State, the solution is to move on up. In this case, to a 21st-floor mansion in the sky in Naples, Fla., that includes a sweeping 3,568-squarefoot rooftop retreat overlooking miles of secluded beaches. Penthouse 4 sits atop the four-year-old Mystique condo tower in the fast-developing Pelican Bay area just north of downtown Naples, only a short golf-cart ride from the landmark Ritz-Carlton resort. This 5,700-square-foot four-bedroom residence with a flexible-use…

Dream Machines | Wings AFTER DELTA, United, and American Airlines recently announced that they were hiking salaries, private aviation's pilot shortage suddenly became even more acute, in no way aided by the fact that some commercial airlines now pay six-figure signing bonuses. According to industry surveys, corporate pilots sometimes earn just 60 percent of their commercial-airline peers' salaries during a 30-year career. “The lure of a much bigger salary can be hard to fight,” says Sheryl Barden, CEO of Aviation Personnel International, who has seen veteran pilots from Fortune 500 flight departments—long viewed as the job to retire from—leave for the airlines. The outflow is also a lasting side effect from the pandemic. “Covid exacerbated the shortage when the airlines retired so many pilots early,” says Dondi Pangalangan, senior vice…

GET OUT THE BEST glassware. Polish up the silver. After we've convened in smaller groups for several years, this season calls for friends and family and celebrations aplenty—the perfect excuse then to pour from the biggest bottles and make a splash (though not literally; that would be a waste). Wine served in large-format bottles makes an outsize impression, and the ability to pour 10 to 12 glasses from a single magnum takes a multicourse-pairing dinner to the next level. Besides the wow factor, large formats have a particular advantage: The liquid ages more slowly thanks to the greater ratio between the wine in the bottle and the air that can enter via the cork closure. Put simply, high-quality bottles will last longer. But since this is the holiday season, not…

When a Middle Eastern royal recently let it be known that he was looking to invest upwards of $100 million in gemstones, word spread quickly and soon more than one well-connected dealer was jetting to the region with heavily insured valises. What might be most intriguing about this royal's request is not the nine figures at play or even that all that cash was to be stashed in diamonds, rubies, and the like, but rather that this kind of high-dollar venture is not uncommon; in fact, it's a growing trend. Top brokers say that since the start of this year, which has been marked by chaotic global events, more and more clients have been looking to invest in hard assets—namely jewelry and loose stones. Jewelry, after all, has long been…

Bulgari Mediterranea earrings in 18-karat pink gold set with morganite, rubellite, peridot, amethyst, and diamonds and Mediterranea necklace in 18-karat pink gold set with spinel and diamonds; Acne Studios lamb-shearling jacket, $2,800; Uniqlo cotton tank top, $10. All jewelry prices upon request. Boucheron Pearl Soap Bubble necklace in aluminum and 18-karat white gold set with diamonds, mother-of-pearl, and sapphire glass; APC Surchemise Etania denim shirt, $335. Chanel Tweed Byzance brooch and bracelet in 18-karat yellow gold set with diamonds and beryls; Fendi silk dress, $3,490; Nili Lotan virgin-wool and polyamide coat, $2,095. David Yurman Stax earrings in 18-karat white gold and diamonds; Margaret Howell lambswool ribbed balaclava, $105; Closed denim jacket, $520. Gucci Necklace in 18-karat yellow gold with an 80-carat yellow sapphire, multicolored sapphires, and diamonds and bracelet in…

THE GOODS THIS MONTH'S WHO, WHAT, AND WEAR To non-aficionados, Breguet's latest Classique 7637 may look like a straightforward time-only model, but under the hood lies horology's most elite mechanism: a minute repeater. The very embodiment of quiet luxury (ringing aside), the piece is a masterwork of complex construction and expert finishing in an utterly classic package— a specialty of the Swiss house that goes back almost 250 years. Founder Abraham-Louis Breguet also devised the use of a spring blade instead of a bell-type gong for minute repeaters, which eventually led to today's use of coiled gongs; here, they're fixed to the middle of the case rather than the plate, for better transmission of sound. The final composition is thanks to not only the in-house team but also an acoustician,…

IT HAS BEEN a long time—decades, really—since Big Skin Care has delivered a clinically reliable way to reverse signs of aging. Since 1971, when topical retinol was found to blur wrinkles and dark spots, the vitamin A derivative has been treated as antiaging's gold standard. Never mind that its side effects can include redness and even mild peeling; what's a little irritation in the pursuit of a younger-looking you? Lately, though, several companies have started offering serums and creams that claim to regenerate skin's youthful function and appearance, rather than resurface it with harsh active ingredients. They all tout painstaking research suggesting they interrupt cellular senescence, the phenomenon that occurs toward the end of all cells' life cycles, the time between when they stop dividing and eventually die off. During…

Five of the season's most interesting launches were put through their paces in the Med—with each yacht bringing something new to the water. Test-driving a car is one thing, but finding the right watercraft is altogether more challenging. This cheat sheet is here to help, the result of first runs on a handful of new releases ranging from Dominator's 35-foot Midi Ilumen M35 to the 171-foot Baglietto T52. Each was selected not just for being new to market but also for helping to advance the industry in some description, whether through cuttingedge propulsion, more-efficient hull shapes, or forward-looking interior design. Anchors aweigh. Michael Verdon Baglietto T52 After stepping aboard Baglietto's newest T52 at its yard in La Spezia, Italy, we were instantly taken with the 1,400-square-foot flybridge, reportedly the largest…

Host's Guide Twenty years ago, tequila was considered the basest of spirits, relegated to dives and college bars. Most of what you'd see weremixtos, cheap versions made of 51 percent agave and 49 percent corn or sugar syrup, resulting in the type of low-quality swill that demanded not only a chaser but also a sort of pre-chaser. You may recall the ritual: Lick a pile of pure salt, choke down the shot, then bite into a lime wedge as your throat burns, your eyes water, and the regrets begin. Today's tequila landscape is unrecognizable. The growth has been profound. Tequila consumption in America has roughly doubled in the past seven years, recently overtaking whiskey and set to pass vodka. What's more, the majority of the ascent has left mixtos behind:…

When Matt Borowiecki, a Boston-based financier, wanted to add a new timepiece to his array of A. Lange & Söhne and Rolex models, he started looking at independent watchmakers to, as he puts it, “supercharge” his collection. After all, owning one of the right indies has long been seen as a sort of graduation to the big leagues of watch collecting. But he soon found that having the means, the interest, and even the right connections wasn't enough to get his foot in the door. “It's been incredibly difficult for me to break in,” he laments. “I'm either not playing at that level yet, or I've not been able to participate. I'll hear about a brand, or I'll hear about a release, and I'm left trying to email or go…

Capri has long been a byword for Mediterranean chic, its status as a see-and-be-seen party resort established in the first century B.C.E. by the island's original celebrity second-home owner, Caesar Augustus. His successor, Tiberius, liked it so much he moved in full-time. After lying fallow for over a millennium following the fall of Rome, Capri was reborn as a destination for bohemian expats in the 19th century and as a playground for La Dolce Vita– era starlets in the 1950s and '60s. Its glamorous reputation still draws the glitterati. Yet those who leave the boutiques and pastel-hued pizzerias behind and follow the mountain trails to the island's south side will discover a more private enclave. Here, a Parisian émigré and his family have created a starkly contemporary home that is, in…