Editor’s Letter: Inside Robb Report’s 2024 Watches & Jewelry Issue
One of my favorite things about working on this, our annual Watches & Jewelry issue, is all the ways in which it invites us to think about time. Time is something we can measure but never fully comprehend—like its twin, space, it stretches out endlessly, forever, with the relentless indifference of a runaway boulder: We can watch it roll by, but we can never budge it from its course.
It’s human endeavor that gives depth and contour to time, a point recently driven home when I joined Omega to watch the Louis Vuitton Cup races from a yacht off the coast of Spain. America’s Cup sailing is a fast, gutsy, brutally expensive sport, seemingly designed to not only prove the adage that time is money but also push the limits of just how much. (With team rosters that include both advanced-materials engineers and dedicated meteorologists, owners must carry their checkbooks in quick-draw holsters.) The titans of the watch industry remain committed to racing in nearly all its forms, and no wonder: Time becomes a central character in the drama. But watching the AC75-class foiling yachts slice across the Barcelona skyline at over 50 knots—seven tons of carbon fiber, steel, and aluminum tacking on a dime and dicing within feet of one another—I was reminded that there’s no better R&D laboratory on Earth than an elite racing series. Whether on the water, in the air, or on the tarmac, the elements conspire against you; components malfunction and break; game plans that were months or even years in the making vanish in the blink of a single mistake—or for no reason whatsoever.
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And all the while, the clock is ticking. Which means if you want to see where the future of high-performance watchmaking is forged, get yourself to a race.
But it’s not just athletic competition where limits are being tested. Consider “Out of This World” by Robb Report’s watch and jewelry editor, Paige Reddinger, which explores the staggering lengths to which fashion and jewelry houses are going to make a name for themselves in high horology—from Chanel’s pioneering innovations using sapphire crystal to Bulgari’s thinner-than-a-credit-card Octo Finissimo model—not to mention all the Swiss suppliers and manufactures they’re snapping up along the way. And speaking of jewelry, don’t miss “The Next Wave,” an in-depth look at the female creatives leading the once-hidebound industry in bold new directions, from Claire Choisne’s shockingly inventive work at Boucheron (incorporating such heady materials as NASA-derived Aerogel, originally used to collect stardust, and 5D memory crystal) to Cartier’s Marie-Laure Cérède, who’s bringing high jewelry to life in unprecedented and wildly fun forms, including carabiners and scrunchies.
Elsewhere: a first drive of Ferrari’s ripsnorting 12Cilindri, featuring the marque’s latest iteration of its most iconic power plant; a look at the booming fine-art-rental market for the superyacht set; a preview of the private-jet cabin of the near-future; and an enthusiastic endorsement of Procera Gin, a Kenyan-produced spirit that makes flavorsome use of the country’s abundant flora, chiefly African juniper, the largest variety of Juniperus tree. For avid party-throwers, we’ve also included our annual Host’s Guide featuring the latest dining trends and products (coffee lovers will particularly enjoy our review of the best espresso machines and accoutrements) but also some truly outstanding writing. I particularly enjoyed Mike DeSimone and Jeff Jenssen’s feature on Liber Pater, the rare—and controversial—French wine made using ungrafted Franc de Pied vines and techniques not seen since the days of Napoleon, and which retails for about $33,000 per bottle. Is it worth it? Read the story to find out.
Of course, if you just want some beautiful examples of elite watchmaking, from the season’s best dress watches to the most important pieces about to cross the auction block, we have that, too. It’s an amazing thing, the ability to put time in a gilded little cage and carry it with you on your wrist; in addition to everything else a watch represents, it’s also a portable memento mori—a small reminder that time comes around only once for us all. Be sure to spend yours well.
Enjoy the issue.
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