Robb Report Singapore January/February 2022

THE ANCIENT CHINESE philosopher Lao Tzu, and supposed author of the Tao Te Ching – the treatise on which philosophical Taoism is founded – is credited with an enigmatic saying: “When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” This issue, meant to encompass both the Gregorian and lunar years, is a study of how new ways in old worlds can reap rich rewards. Bordeaux’s 300-year-old Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, the famed second-growth producer in Saint-Julien, is now seeing a renaissance of sorts. Its 65-year-old ‘bad boy’ custodian Bruno-Eugène Borie (who invented the Somm Butler to help pour large-format wines most elegantly) is bringing high-energy zeal to the estate, with neon artwork in the cellars and renovating the entire chateau – with the help of a top Parisian…

Cobalt Fury An unusual blue titanium case becomes the statement maker in this latest release of Jacob & Co’s Twin Turbo Furious series (limited to 18 pieces, price upon request). Its monster 57mm x 52mm case of blue titanium and 18-carat rose gold frames a dial of Neoralithe – an ultraviolet, thermal and shock-resistant resin. Like the other three series models, this Twin Turbo Furious uses the JCFM05 manual winding tourbillon movement, made up of 832 components. The complications include two high-speed triple-axis tourbillons, a decimal minute repeater, a monopusher chronograph and a reference time differential function. The complex movement allows for a 50-hour power reserve. The series is an ode to high-performance hypercars, so the nostalgic pit board and fuel gauge settings are front and centre on the dial, and you’re…

Choupette by Joana Vasconcelos Auctioned by Sotheby’s in Monaco for €20,160 Comfortably exceeding its pre-auction top estimate of €7,000, this faience sculpture of the late Karl Lagerfeld’s beloved cat, Choupette, was created by the Portuguese contemporary visual artist Joana Vasconcelos. Composed of earthenware by Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, polychrome enamelling and hand-crocheted cotton, the sculpture was executed in 2013 and was a highlight of the first session of the Karl auction series, featuring items from the German designer’s estate. Following the completion of the first and second sessions last December (both in Paris and online), the third auction is scheduled to take place in March in Cologne. Karuizawa 1964 – 51 Year Old Auctioned by Bonhams in Hong Kong for HK$1.2 million Of the many Karuizawa whisky lots sold by Bonhams in November 2021, none attracted…

PROSPER ASSOULINE IS impatient for a return to normality. Normality, that is, of a very French and rarefied type, for the 64-year-old luxury-book publisher really embodies the brand that bears his name. Founded with his wife, Martine, in 1994, Assouline issues jewel-hued, fat-paged tomes that express the couple’s devotion to all things nonpareil. Beginning with a homage to their favourite hotel on the Cote d’Azur, Assouline has since published more than 2,000 monographs on topics including panama hats, Venetian synagogues and the official history of Formula 1, doused in rubber-scented perfume. “What I like is to make books alive and tactile,” says Prosper. He enthuses about a recent two-kilo doorstopper on Versailles, “a special edition with the seal of Louis XIV... huge, gold, the cover is in velvet, it’s just…

THERE IS ONLY one thing about 2022 that I can state with any degree of certainty, and it is this: the year will be full of uncertainty. I’m pretty sure about this, and intend to begin a lecture tour explaining just how unsure we should all be about almost everything. The problem is that I’m not sure where I should go, and I am even less confident of being able to get there. We were all hoping that things would return to a semblance of normality at some point during 2021. The summer months were supposed to get us over the pandemic hump, after which we could get back to the pre-COVID status quo in which most people were miserable but didn’t have to worry about lockdowns and all the malarkey that…

“The cyclone ends. The sun returns; the lofty coconut trees lift up their plumes again; man does likewise. The great anguish is over; joy has returned; the sea smiles like a child.”– Paul Gauguin Bordeaux is a beloved wine region, but it has a reputation for being a little staid. For an elite property, incentives for radical change are few. Take Château Ducru-Beaucaillou, the revered second-growth producer in the Saint-Julien appellation. Founded in 1720, Ducru (insiders use just the first part of its name) is celebrating 300 years of exceptional winemaking with the recent release of its 2020 vintage, which is adorned with a special commemorative label, to high demand at US$239 a bottle. The chateau has had a level of longevity that is hard to grasp. When the estate was…