Issue 40

Hello! Or, more accurately, Bonjour! It’d be Guten Tag, of course, if we were still down the road in Basel, but time was called on that luxury spring trade show, more to this Switzophile’s pity, so this issue’s editor’s letter comes to you from its evolution, the annual horological get-together that is Watches and Wonders in Geneva – where it’s French, and three kisses, and we can all pretend everything’s fine and dandy with the world.

Van Cleef & Arpels has taken today’s cover wrap of the international edition of the New York Times. As is customary on the first day of the show, competing watch brands have booked the covers of the Financial Times and all other world newspapers. Insulated in Geneva’s Palexpo exhibition centre, transformed for the week into a cossetting cocoon of comfort and charcuterie, it’s easy to take leave from reality. It’s only when you turn to the front pages, or open your socials, that you remember the world’s still on fire.

It can seem obtuse, at best, putting together a glossy lifestyle magazine such as this during a time of so much international turmoil – “the geopolitical bonfire,” as actor Phil Dunster befittingly describes it on page 72. But then, as Dunster also points out, it’s important “to give space and time” to art, which ever form that might take, that “portrays strength and leadership with kindness.” Art is a vehicle through which to explore, confront and, yes, escape current affairs. Find relief, or spiritual enrichment, or at least some aesthetic sustenance, via the must visit/watch/read shows, exhibitions, festivals and books in our Culture section, which begins on page 31.

Talking of aesthetic sustenance, page 62 features a full-bleed image of David Gandy in his underpants (you’re welcome). Except, these aren’t just any underpants. They’re Marks & Spencer underpants. Actually, they’re David Gandy-designed modal trunks that you can now purchase through the M&S website, along with a broad offering of other essentials from the David Gandy Wellwear range. As well as explaining what returning to the high street institution that helped make him a household name means to him, Gandy talks lawnmowers, school runs and crying on planes.

Elsewhere, on page 66, Emily Atack, a near permanent fixture on our screens for the past 20 years, talks fame, female empowerment and her commendable campaigning to protect young women and girls from online harassment. Other than that, it’s the usual exalted mingling of intricate objets d’art (p.19), fast cars (p.79), natty clothes (p.93), fine jewellery (p.112), and sun-kissed escapes (p.127).

Eh ben! Would you look at that. Time’s up. Gotta go. Next appointment awaits. Discover what the horologic world has been up to on page 95. In a world of chaos, few things provide a sense of permanence, of integrity, of trustworthiness better than a watch made of cogs and gears and springs.

Enjoy the issue, and have a wonderful summer.

Richard Brown Editorial Director

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