Luxury

Aston Martin and Formula One team Red Bull Racing have announced a partnership which sees Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey and Aston Martin’s Chief Creative Officer, Marek Reichman collaborate to produce a ground-breaking Aston Martin hypercar.

Codenamed Project ‘AM-RB 001’, the new hypercar will represent the ultimate blend of cutting edge F1TM technology with Aston Martin’s signature sports car design.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry came together with charity Mind to launch their ambitious new campaign Heads Together at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London to change the way we talk about our mental health and wellbeing.   
 

If you looked up the word ‘style’ in the dictionary you might just find Bryan Ferry. Well, perhaps when the lexicographers get round to updating their records. And, if Ferry’s shows at the Grade-II listed London Palladium were anything to go by late this April - before he and his band headed off across to tour Europe and onward to North America - you can still see he has still got it.
 

RocketSpace today announced plans to open a state-of-the-art campus in London, designed specifically for high-growth tech startups. The tech campus will be RocketSpace’s first international location, enabling the San Francisco-based company to provide startup members and corporate clients with global access to its unique community and services. Since launching in 2011, RocketSpace members have included more than 750 tech startups and 16 unicorns including Uber, Blippar, SuperCell and Spotify.

To the layman, Colombian emeralds have always been touted as being the best of the best, up there in mystique with Golconda diamonds, Burmese rubies and Kashmiri sapphires. However, to add interest to the mix and not a little confusion, African (and especially Zambian) emeralds have carved out a considerable niche in the jewellery world.

Matthew Lloyd-Winder, a South Mimms-based stained glass artist who coined the term 'Winderlite', displays his extraordinary illuminated stained glass work at the Grand Designs Live at London's ExCel centre in Docklands this week until Sunday 8 May 2016. The artist’s appearance at this year’s show follows up his stand at the same event in 2015 where his innovative and cutting-edge pieces of work were also on display.

It is surprising that John Markey became a race driver, given that he was 13 before his family owned a car, his father hated driving and his mother never drove. Maybe that is what created such a desire to drive and to drive fast?

Givori, the luxury smartphone designer, has expanded its range to include Android-powered devices with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S7 edge ‘Carbon’ series. It is all designed and touted to combine “masculine design” and exotic leather with the latest in smartphone technology to deliver that “opulent mobile experience” - at a price of nearly $2,000 a pop.

The jewellery auction season is upon us and this year Sotheby’s and Christie’s are going head to head with some of the most magnificent stones seen on the market for some time. I have previously written about the high demand for investment grade spectacular gemstones and the pieces on offer are sure to whet the appetite of collectors. Each of the auction houses is presenting a stunning array of jewels, but for me the most special ones are the large coloured diamonds and precious stones.

On the way back from the ‘Trans-Antarctic’ photographic exhibition at the Royal Geographic Society late this February, which is a stones throw from the Albert Hall, I stopped by Daquise café and restaurant (www.daquise.co.uk) with a friend to taste some Polish fare. It didn’t disappoint.