Innholdsfortegnelse for April 2025 i Robb Report

Spring is supposed to be a time of renewal, when flowers push up through the frost, green leaves appear on trees, and fragrance connoisseurs switch to new, accordingly light, verdant fragrances. But sniff the most exciting cologne launches of late and you'll find notes you'd typically wear when snow's still in the forecast. What's more, these woody, spicy compositions aren't novel ideas, but dialed-up extensions of existing IP. And yet, rarely has a crop of scents felt fresher or more desirable. Take Angels' Share Paradis, a sequel to Angels' Share, from Kilian Hennessy's eponymous fragrance house. Hennessy, grandson of the liquor magnate, was surrounded by Cognac vessels growing up. In this iteration, he sought to capture the raspberry and rose notes present in some of his ancestor's expressions—and to enhance…

Museums rarely have enough room to display more than a fraction of their ever-growing collections, which means visitors never get to see as much of the holdings as they're hungry for. For these four international institutions, however, that's all changing this season, as they debut large, often starchitect-designed buildings and sprawling expansions. Presenting everything from Ziggy Stardust costumes in London to treasures of contemporary Asian art on Japan's Naoshima Island, they offer something for connoisseurs and collectors of every stripe. NAOSHIMA NEW MUSEUM OF ART Although it's the 10th Tadao Ando–designed museum to open amid the striking natural beauty and villages of the Fukutake Foundation's Benesse Art Site on Japan's Naoshima Island, this 34,000-square-foot serenely minimalist hilltop building overlooking the Seto Inland Sea is the first here devoted to Asian…

Ten years ago, architect Malcolm Wildeboer stood on a remote plot of land in Ontario, looking out over the calm waters of a tree-ringed lake. Surrounded by hemlocks, with an open blue sky above him, he homed in on an ideal location for his client's future house. Near the waterfront, with the potential for lake views from every room—yet secluded from neighbors' sight lines—the spot had a natural clearing where Wildeboer envisioned a clean-lined contemporary structure built with minimal disturbance to the surrounding landscape. “There's an incredible specimen forest of hemlock,” says Wildeboer, cofounder of Ottawa's Vandenberg & Wildeboer Architects, referring to the position near the lake. “The client and I share a deep passion for the outdoors, for the woods, so throughout the project we worked to protect the…

The promise of traveling from New York to London in less than 60 minutes, or Los Angeles to Tokyo in three hours, has been around since 1949, when an unmanned two-stage Bumper rocket blasted through the sky at 5,150 mph. About 12 years later, the U.S. Air Force's X-15 became the first piloted aircraft to achieve hypersonic flight, generally defined as reaching a minimum of Mach 5 (five times faster than the speed of sound) or 3,800 mph. Yet the notion of a business jet operating at Mach 5 remained a sci-fi fantasy. That is, until recent advances in design and technology have brought the concept closer to a workable reality. “We're experiencing a renaissance of hypersonic that will lead to a revolutionary era in the transport of people and…

It's hard to separate the bravura design of the best Italian cars from their other dazzling qualities: intricate engineering, benchmark performance, and lithe handling— all usually packaged under an extremely desirable badge. But as a producer of auto-motive art for art's sake, Italy has no equal. It's partly down to the nation's innate sprezzatura: It could be argued that most of the populace would no more drive an unattractive car than eat uninspired food. The country also has a unique stylistic ecosystem that generates great design—its rarefied Prancing Horses and Raging Bulls deserve to be clothed in the finest bodywork. From the earliest days of motoring, il bel paese has been home to an array of coachbuilders with names as evocative as the automakers they tailored for. Such bottegas as…

As the world shifts toward sustainable transportation, the future of electric-vehicle design is on the cusp of a transformation. EV sales may be stagnating of late, but thanks to advancements in battery technology, autonomous driving, and eco-conscious materials, the cars of tomorrow could look and perform in ways we can only begin to imagine. Which is what we decided to do. Robb Report challenged some of the most exciting names across a spectrum of creative fields—watches, jewelry, fashion, architecture, furniture, yachts, music, and even cars—to dream up original EVs that push beyond today's production models. Unchained from the need to house a massive internal-combustion engine— and, in some cases, a human driver— they responded with wildly inventive renderings, which fill the following pages. From sleek supercars that look like they…

A few months back, Robb Report's editorial staff were in our regular Monday meeting discussing plans for this, our Design & Innovation issue, when watch and jewelry editor Paige Reddinger mentioned that Martin Frei—the cofounder and chief designer of Urwerk, an avant-garde haute horlogerie company based in Geneva—is wild about cars and intrigued by what a future of electric vehicles might yield. Viju Mathew, our automotive editor, jumped in to note that, released from the need to house internal-combustion engines or, eventually, human drivers, cars are ripe for a style makeover (no bangs, please). So what will we be driving just around the bend? We decided to reach out to Frei along with more than a dozen other disarmingly inventive thinkers across the many luxury categories this magazine covers and…

1 Carol Bove is an American artist whose work uses both found and constructed elements and spans sculpture, installation, and drawing. 2 Drouot is one of the most famous auction houses in Paris. Founded in the 19th century, it now operates as a single online destination for independent auctioneers of fine art, antiques, and collectibles. A love for the finer things is in Olivier Reza's blood. His family has been dealing in gemstones since the 18th century, but their surname wasn't a brand until his father, Alexandre, stopped selling stones to important Parisian houses and created his own label in the '60s. The Reza boutique, opened on the Place Vendôme in 1984, quickly became a destination for exceptional gems in a luxe Rococo setting. When Alexandre got sick in the…

In ancient China, architects would honor fallen dignitaries by carving out a unique roadway leading to a monument to their spirit. The winding route would loop artfully, guiding and protecting any visitor, pilgrim, or soul along its path. This was known as a shéndào, or pathway of the soul—but better to think of these remarkable landmarks as both a spiritual and an artistic statement. To keep one's soul safely on the right path, each side of the road would be lined with larger-than-life sculptures, perhaps of animals, figures, or even mythical creatures, sitting there as eternal, silent guardians. And these extraordinary Qing dynasty tigers? They're typical of animal sculptures found along those shéndào. This pair (circa 1850) are carved in a style characteristic of later Chinese statuary, with minimal surface…

While oceanside living may seem like an obvious perk of yacht ownership, boatbuilders are only now looking outside the interior box for opportunities to infuse life on board with alfresco flair. A pioneer of this paradigm shift is Benetti, with its 131-foot Oasis 40M. “We realized that owners, particularly of yachts below 500 gross tonnage, were spending time in beach clubs that felt like dark basements,” says Sebastiano Vida, head of product at Benetti. The Oasis deck, with its large foldout wings, swimming pool, and proximity to the water, “not only expands the exterior space but enhances how owners use it,” he says. Thirty examples of the Oasis 40M have been delivered or are under build—an extraordinary number for any superyacht. This outward approach is also now the defining feature…

IT'S THE FINGERS YOU NOTICE FIRST. When Arsha Kaviani talks, he moves his hands, absent-mindedly, like a conductor, his long, elegant fingers dancing through the air. At other times, he seems to be gliding them over an invisible keyboard, a pianist forever stuck mid-recital. And perhaps, subconsciously at least, Kaviani is always on the concert stage: Now 34 years old, the former child prodigy has grown into a sophisticated music professional, adept not only at performing the classical works of his conservatory training and at composing but also at operating a business that marries those talents for the luxury consumer. There's a rich, centuries-old history of wunderkinder like this, but Kaviani stands apart, as he has found clever ways to modernize the long tradition of musical patronage for the 21st…

For years, spirits enthusiasts have hoped that rum finally might have its whiskey moment and achieve the same runaway popularity as bourbon and Scotch. That hasn't happened. And yet, neither legacy distilleries nor upstart brands have been deterred. Lately, there have been more fantastic new blends and single-cask expressions released than we've seen in a long time. So while we wait for these bottles to get their turn in the spotlight, one thing is certain: You have a better chance of scoring one of these limited editions than you do the next allocation of Buffalo Trace. Here, the most exciting—and more importantly, the most delicious—rums we've tried in recent memory. APPLETON ESTATE HEARTS COLLECTION 1998 The annual vintage releases from Jamaica's Appleton Estate each highlight a specific year of production.…

When it was introduced in 2000, the Chanel J12 (affectionately pronounced J Douze in French) instantly became a symbol of contemporary watchmaking, thanks to its landmark use of a ceramic case and bracelet. But until now, the resulting line's many references were available in only white or black. “It was evident from the start that we could make other colors,” says Frédéric Grangié, president of Chanel Watches and Fine Jewelry. “And we are. But the one [we] bring to the market had to remain. It has to stay. So, J12 started black. Three years later, white. For its 25-year anniversary, it's blue.” Though it might be a timeless shade, this is no ordinary blue. As with the best innovations in watchmaking, the deep, rich hue required time—five years of research…

It's a tired cliché that Formula 1's wellspring of technological advancements eventually trickles down to more-pedestrian motorcars. But one of the lesser-known effects of the premier motorsport series is the profound influence it has on a multitude of other research and development tracks. The talented engineers, designers, and logistics experts within F1, which just commenced its 75th season, are continually enhancing processes in the chase for optimal efficiency—down to hundredths of seconds and thousandths of grams—as they further sharpen that competitive edge. “We understand the physics of a problem, we ask all the right questions, and therefore can get to the nub of the problem and come up with solutions very rapidly,” says Jason Smith, director of the Applied Science division for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team. The innovation spillover…

How was your Michelin-starred dinner last night? Was the chileajo-mole sauce a revelation? The chestnut soufflé impossibly airy? The socarrat on the paella simply perfection? If so, you probably have the hands and skills of an immigrant to thank for that flawless experience. But if the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration and the highly publicized raids by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have their intended outcome, your future dinner plans might be in serious jeopardy. It's estimated that 22 percent of all food-service workers in the U.S. are immigrants, with up to half that number thought to be undocumented. The statistics are even higher at earlier stages of food production. Who do you think picks the tomatoes, harvests the eggs, and slaughters the cows? Hint: It's not the guys…

In late 2019, when architect Daniel Joseph Chenin met the client for his future Tombolo project in the Nevada desert, the chance encounter was brief, with little more than an exchange of names and a quick handshake. The introduction took place at the office of a Las Vegas-based construction company, where Chenin was in an all-day, number-crunching team meeting for a local residential build. “I was just burnt out,” recalls Chenin, who was recently elevated into the prestigious College of Fellows of the American Institute of Architects, the organization's top tier, to which only 3 percent of members ascend. “At the end of the meeting, this woman comes in and she's stunning, just dressed to the nines, and she's with the owner of the company, touring the facility.” They said…