Innholdsfortegnelse for October 2017 i Town & Country

OPEN DOOR POLICY 1975 Forty-two years ago T&C traveled to Iran to shoot a portfolio of prominent Iranian women for whom “the melding of classic and contemporary is a way of life.” Reading the story now feels like opening a time capsule from an ancient and slowly changing civilization. Too slowly, it turned out: That Iran ended dramatically with a revolution in 1978. Last year a much different Iran opened its doors, following the nuclear weapons treaty, only to slam them again a few months later, post–U.S. travel ban. A reminder for seeing a swiftly changing world: Whether it’s Havana, Damascus, or Tehran, go when you can.…

READ+FOLLOW NYC and Nantucket hostess Cathy Graham’s Instagram, @CATHYBGRAHAM, features drone videos of flower-filled tablescapes and delightful illustrations of style icons. Her new book (above) is equally surprising. POWER SEAT This season Japanese fashion designer Kenzo Takada reupholstered French furniture house Roche Bobois’s signature sectional in kimono-inspired fabrics. ROCHE BOBOIS CORNER CUSHION ($2,890), ROCHE-BOBOIS.COM RETRO WANDERLUST San Francisco’s Legion of Honor marks a century since Gustav Klimt’s death with an exhibit of his floral- and femalefocused paintings. WALL FLOWER I had a moment in midsummer— standing in the English countryside surrounded by 13 acres of foxgloves, poppies, roses, and lavender, wearing a Danielle Rollins floral ball skirt with Aquazzura shoes embroidered in a de Gournay palm and bougainvillea print—when I thought my love for the botanical had reached full bloom.…

FOR MORE THINGS TO DO, GO TO TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM ARTS & CULTURE October 12–15 Blenheim Palace Literary Festival The Oxfordshire home of the Duke of Marlborough hosts the literati for four days of talks and parties. October 1 Curb Your Enthusiasm Larry David’s hit HBO series returns for a ninth season—six years after the last episode aired. September 26 Sotheby’s New York: Edward Albee He wanted his unfinished manuscripts destroyed, but the illustrious playwright’s art collection remains. October 1 Yayoi Kusama The Dallas Museum of Art flaunts its latest acquisition: Kusama’s first mirror pumpkin room since 1991. Through October 29 Saul Steinberg The Art Institute of Chicago honors the man behind six decades of New Yorker covers, who also drew for T&C. October 8 The Bass Museum The contemporary art museum…

PLAYFUL NARRATIVES, COLOR, & TIMELESS STYLE ARE STRONG INFLUENCES ON MY WORK. Whether behind the camera or in front of it, global fashion photographer and Town & Country influencer Lara Jade’s cinematic approach is unrivaled. She draws inspiration from the Brooklyn brownstones that not only surround her everyday life, but also provide the ideal landscape for her fashion and lifestyle photoshoots. This fall, T&C follows Lara as she reveals her go-to beauty products and fashion pieces that shape her style and seamlessly transition her from street to studio. To see more of Lara’s #VeryTandC routine, visit TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM/INSIDER/TCMUSE. @LARAJADEPHOTOGRAPHY LARAJADE.COM/BLOG…

I asked for roquefort. “Try this instead,” urged my cheesemonger. Glancing at the price, I told him he was crazy. No way, I told him, was I going to spend nearly $50 a pound for blue cheese. Or, for that matter, any cheese. “Just try it,” he said, handing over a small shard that made me think of a cloudy sky with tantalizing streaks of blue. As I put it in my mouth, a tsunami of sensations flooded through me; this was not like any cheese I had ever experienced. Soft as fudge, it had a sweet intensity. The first flavor was subtle—grass, perhaps?— then nuts and berries chimed in. These were soon joined by faint whispers of pear and a rumor of autumn leaves. The texture was equally amazing,…

How to compete with those ubiquitous electronic devices that connect, stream, track, and, oh yes, tell time? For traditional watchmakers, the strategy has been to craft ever more exquisite pieces that win admirers with sheer beauty and astonishing engineering. (The city of London is taking a similar tack, announcing an upcoming $42 million refurbishment of Big Ben, its beloved 157-year-old clock tower.) For more tech-inclined horologists, however, the approach has been to build watches that offer the best of old and new—winding and WiFi. On the following pages, our guide to choosing the perfect match.…

I always tell people, if you can buy a Céline bag, you can get a watch for the same cost and it will last forever,” says Cara Barrett, the only female editor at popular watch website Hodinkee and a former watch specialist at Sotheby’s. Where to start? “In the past, men were limited to one accessory, a watch, which is why brands focused on men’s collections,” she says. “The beauty is women can wear both.” Here, Barrett (who is on Instagram as @ITS.CARA.TIME) selects the season’s best men’s watches that will look good on everyone.…

Recently the word retreat has become more noun than verb. Off-thegrid destinations from Arizona to India draw the drained and directionless with promises of self-improvement and recharging. Still, 1440 Multiversity, a new refuge 90 minutes south of San Francisco, differentiates itself through its emphasis on an oft-ignored asset: the higher mind. 1440 is the brainchild of wife-andhusband team Joanie and Scott Kriens (chairman of Juniper Networks), who have transformed a 75-acre bible college campus into a place one might go to, say, take a course in Radical Acceptance or Life Visioning, eat brain-boosting farmto- table meals at communal wood tables, and hike among redwood trees. The name 1440 comes from the number of minutes in each day, and the underlying goal is to cultivate self-knowledge in order to establish authentic…

There are wonders of the world—take the Taj Mahal—that you can safely plan on seeing in two years, or 10. Others, not so much. Like an underwater megalopolis in Indonesia that, for now, is home to 1,000 species of fish. (Gwyneth Paltrow, playing it safe, has checked it off her list already.) Or the legendary cities of the Silk Road, to which, trust us, the megahotels and tour buses are coming. Or a jungle lodge in Africa where the gorillas and green, mystic lushness bring to mind Tarzan’s lost world. (These, with luck, will last.) Think of the pages that follow as your 2018 travel planner of things freshly urgent and fabulous.…

As the sun sets over Uluru (a.k.a. Ayers Rock), the sacred ancient monolith in Australia’s Red Centre, the darkness surrounding it begins to sparkle with dots of purple, orange, red, blue, and yellow. Known as the Field of Light, it’s a sight that has been reported to make people weep. The man responsible for this magical display is the British artist Bruce Munro, who flew in 50,000 solar-powered bulbs from his studio in Wiltshire, England, and planted them over an area the size of seven football fields. The glass spheres constantly change color and are designed to complement their surroundings, not overpower them. They were preapproved by the indigenous Anangu people, who have given the work a name that means “looking at lots of beautiful lights.” Wandering solo through the…

Even before it was acquired by Harry Winston in 2013, the 101.73-carat gem shown here was described by Christie’s as “the most perfect diamond ever offered for sale at auction.” It took two years for lapidaries to cut the flawless pear-shaped stone, which has since been named the Winston Legacy. The landmark diamond even inspired its new owners to create several high jewelry suites in its honor; the Legacy Collection, which is shown on the following pages, is made up of 22 one-of-a-kind pieces that marry exceptional raw materials with design cues from the Harry Winston archives. One sure way to cultivate a jewelry legacy of your own: Start with the pieces you love—and those that have been chosen with love in mind.…

The British monarchy has been very good to Claire Foy. In the year since the actress first appeared onscreen as a young Queen Elizabeth II in the hit Netflix series The Crown, which in its first season followed the monarch’s glittering, tumultuous life from 1947 to 1955, she has become one of the most watched women in the world. Her career (respectable but not exactly on fire before The Crown) has skyrocketed, she has taken home a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Television Drama (as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award), and she is, at press time, nominated for an Emmy. There’s only one small catch in regard to her relationship with Her Majesty. “I would hate the idea of her watching it,” Foy says. Although some…

Marlon Brando, who was arguably the greatest actor of his generation and who was also known for mumbling, waxed eloquent about the French Polynesian atoll of Tetiaroa, which he fell for in 1960 during the filming of Mutiny on the Bounty on nearby Tahiti and Moorea, describing it as “a pinch of land peeking out of the immensity of the Pacific Ocean.” Why, he asked rhetorically in an unpublished document, “would a man born in Nebraska and raised in the Middle West decide…to while away years of his life [here]?” (Which he did, completing the purchase of the island in 1966 and spending long stretches on it, either alone or with family and friends, for 25 years.) This past March, a man born in Hawaii, former president Barack Obama, chose…

As American as leaf peeping and football, peak apple season comes at a moment when the weather is crisp but entertaining outdoors is still enjoyable— provided there’s plenty of cider and donuts. But casual fare does not have to equal humble service. Serve drinks from an oversize silver punch bowl, and present glossy apples and a just-baked pie on a silver tray to elevate simple staples to divine status.…

When you’re getting married, there’s a lot of free advice from family,” says weddings stylist Cynthia Smith, fresh from her own Nantucket nuptials this summer. “It’s nice to have an objective opinion.” Since moving to San Francisco two years ago, the former fashion editor has styled writer Mollie Ruprecht Acquavella’s wedding in St. Bart’s, department store heiress Michelle Dillard’s in Little Rock, and Tinder and Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe’s in Positano. “I refer to myself as a secret maid of honor,” she says. “I work between the bride and planner to elevate the entire aesthetic. It starts with the dress, but my sleight of hand extends to things like instructing the florist, advising where to get Botox, and curating a honeymoon wardrobe.” FROM $7,000, CYNTHIA COOKBRIDES.COM S.B. TIP 1 KEEP IT…

LAURIE HUFF & COLLIN VAUGHN TUSCANY May 13, 2017 Brides often say they want to look like the best version of themselves on their wedding day. But what happens when the desire for a more natural look means no makeup artist—and no makeup—at all? Laurie Huff, who married realtor Collin Vaughn at Castello di Vicarello in Tuscany in May, chose to fly her friend and facialist Melanie Simon, the brains behind the at-home nanocurrent device Ziip ($495, ZIIP BEAUTY.COM), to the Italian countryside to tend to her face for the weekend. “My version of pretty is a glow from the inside out,” says Huff, an outdoorsloving native of Jackson Hole, Wyoming. “Makeup has never been part of my routine, but healthy skin has.” Simon arrived armed with seven of her…

Soon after I moved back to New York, post-college, I lived in a building with a jewelry gallery on the ground floor. Primavera showcased an eclectic array, from pieces by the grand houses to one-of-a-kind design experiments by Alexander Calder and Ettore Sottsass. The owner, Audrey Friedman, knew things about jewelry I had never thought to ask of a bright and shiny object before. When was it made? What was happening in the world that made these materials available? What inspirationtriggering travel routes had opened up that year? Audrey taught me to ask those questions of every piece I had the privilege to look at, and she let me try them all on, too. I was in grad school then, so there was nothing in it for her. I wasn’t…

Last year, when the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art reopened after a $305 million overhaul, one thing was incomplete: The walls of the building’s Haas Jr. atrium were bare. Recently the space became whole with the addition of Howl, Eon I and II, two paintings measuring 27 by 32 feet each, commissioned from the artist Julie Mehretu, whose 80-foot-long work Mural hangs in the lobby of Goldman Sachs’s Manhattan headquarters. The abstract works, painted in acrylic on custom-printed canvases, were created in New York—where Mehretu worked out of a former church—but made with the Bay Area in mind. “There’s something special about San Francisco, with its majestic landscape,” she says. “I kept going back to the location and what it has meant for the history of this country.”…

He may be an internationally acclaimed architect (he designed Alexander Wang’s London flagship and Antwerp’s lauded Graanmarkt 13, right, among other things), but the charms of home aren’t lost on Vincent Van Duysen. When pressed to name his favorite room in the world, he admits, “It’s my living room in my own house.” Not that he spends much time there. In addition to running his business, since last year the Belgian Van Duysen has served as creative director for the Italian design brand Molteni&C, for which he has designed a flagship loca- tion in Milan and a new furniture collection. Here, he opens up about his process. How do you prepare yourself to be creative? What’s your ritual? Creation comes naturally, without any ritual. What one element is absolutely necessary…

French stylist Carlyne Cerf de Dudzeele’s addiction started when she was a teenager growing up in St.-Tropez. “I’m totally obsessed with Rolexes,” she says. “Each time I buy another watch, I wear it one day and I go back to Rolex the next.” Oversize men’s Rolexes (41-millimeter, to be exact) worn with piles of chunky gold bracelets are her signature. “I do boom, bam, boom, bam, boom, and when I look at my arm it puts me in the best mood. Okay? Voilà.” How many Rolexes do you own? A lot. I have gold, stainless steel with parfait de diamond, platinum with diamond, platinum and gold, diamond with more diamond. When I’m in Paris I go to Rolex. New York? Rolex. Rome, Milan—Rolex! Which one is your favorite? For the…

OLD SCHOOL Perfect for the frequent flier, this new watch by Girard-Perregaux has a rotating globe (hand-painted with maps from 1791, the year the brand was founded) that tells time in locations around the world. Omega celebrates 60 years of its iconic Speedmaster by adding 14 new 38mm models (such as this Cappuccino style) to the line. Its tachymeter scale measures speed and fuel consumed—in other words, great for the Porsche or the Prius. For those obsessed with all things zodiac, Bovet’s new timepiece displays the position of stars, the constellations, and the phases of the moon. Its calendar works on the more precise 365.25-day sidereal year—one full orbit of the earth around the sun. NEW TECH Along with a full suite of now standard fitnesstracking features, Montblanc’s first smartwatch…

WHEN YOU WANT TO GET OFF THE CEO TRACK : KAMALAYA IN KOH SAMUI , THAILAND Founders Karina and John Stewart have seen corporate leaders make drastic career changes after staying at their luxurious sanctuary. “When people are taken care of,” John says, “personal change happens.” FROM $1,700 FOR 3 NIGHTS, KAMALAYA.COM WHEN YOU WANT TO TALK IT OUT : THE ARRIGO PROGRAMME IN LONDON AND SOMERSET , ENGLAND Brit psychologist Fiona Arrigo created this program to blend bodywork with mentoring and psychotherapy for a comprehensive approach to healing that can run for 30 days. FROM $2,000 A NIGHT FOR SOMERSET RETREAT, THEARRIGOPROGRAMME.COM WHEN YOU WANT TO HEAL : ANN WIGMORE NATURAL HEALTH INSTITUTE IN PUERTO RICO Two disciples of health guru Ann Wigmore run this beachfront retreat, with a…

Sea life may be under threat, but for now the reefs of Raja Ampat, Indonesia, are bucking the trend with 1,000 species of fish—more than anywhere else on earth—and 550 species of coral, 10 times what you’ll see in the Caribbean. What’s the cause? Scientists aren’t 100 percent sure, though the region’s unusual climate and the many conservation efforts in place are likely factors. Immerse yourself in the phantasmagoric beauty of the sea by chartering the 164-foot, five-suite Silolona, which is a traditional phinisi, a kind of Indonesian trade boat used for journeys along the spice route. Gwyneth Paltrow took the trip— and blogged about it on Goop. For a land-based option there’s the Misool Eco Resort, which is located on its own island (the country has 13,000) but has…

During his conquest of the Persian Empire in 329 BC, Alexander the Great paused to admire a city along the Silk Road. “Everything I’ve heard is true,” he said, “except it’s more beautiful than I ever imagined.” The glories of the ancient trade route survive in Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic with a diverse culture thanks to its Turkish, Persian, and Russian neighbors. It’s also a place where hospitality is a virtue that outranks courage. A high-speed intercity rail network is one of the government’s first measures to increase tourism. Next, inevitably, will be tour buses and megachain hotels. The 2,500-year-old city of Bukhara is most at risk, thanks to such dazzling architectural gems as the Kalyan minaret, which even Genghis Khan considered too precious to destroy—as he was razing…

1 THE ENGAGEMENT RING Pear-shaped diamond rings have recently come back into fashion, but they have a long history at Harry Winston. The house cut the famous 68-carat Taylor- Burton Diamond, named for the legendary couple who owned it, in the 1960s. HARRY WINSTON DIAMOND CLUSTER RING (PRICE ON REQUEST), HARRYWINSTON.COM 2 THE WEDDING BAND There is a poetic symbolism to the continuous circle of a marital band. But beyond that simple parameter, there is endless room for improvisation. HARRY WINSTON PLATINUM AND DIAMOND WEDDING BANDS (PRICES ON REQUEST), HARRYWINSTON.COM 3 THE EAR RINGS Diamond clusters that sit on the lobe have become a hallmark of Harry Winston design— and a favorite choice of brides. Wearing them during one’s walk down the aisle makes for a sparkling entrance. LEGACY BY…

Every few months during his tenure as director and CEO of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Thomas P. Campbell would host a town hall for staffers alongside Daniel H. Weiss, the president he brought in to get the museum’s finances under control. The two made quite a pair: Campbell, the charming Englishman with a boyish mop of hair, and Weiss, the stolid administrator tasked with keeping Campbell’s flights of fancy grounded in reality. Campbell had been charged with steering the museum into a new era, expanding its contemporary art holdings and increasing its presence online, and opening the Met Breuer, at a cost of nearly $13 million to renovate and $17 million a year to operate, while Weiss tried to keep the trains running on time. But by last summer…

CYRILL MATTER In “LOOK UP!” (page 148), Matter photographs the magnificent and labyrinthine Paris apartment of Countess Isabelle d’Ornano, matriarch of the Sisley cosmetics brand. “It was almost like being in a novel,” he says of visiting the storied, art-filled residence. “Being able to dive in and have a glimpse of everything, I felt as though I was able to document my own interpretation of it.” MATTHEW BROOKES The New York– and London–based Brookes shot October’s “very funny and down-toearth” cover star, Claire Foy, for “AN AUDIENCE WITH THE QUEEN” (page 138). “She made everyone on set feel comfortable and included in the conversation,” says Brookes, whose work appears in numerous periodicals and books, including Les Danseurs (Damiani), a stunning collection of images of Paris Opera Ballet dancers. DAVID FREEDLANDER…

Martina Mondadori Sartogo’s childhood home in Milan was created by Renzo Mongiardino, the designer whose client roster (Radziwill, Rothschild, Agnelli, Niarchos) was often referred to as “a kidnapper’s wish list.” But although Mondadori Sartogo—who is T&C’s European editor at large— credits Mongiardino with inspiring her to launch Cabana, the interiors magazine she founded three years ago, she wasn’t always his biggest fan. “When I was a little girl I would tackle him with questions,” she says. “Why didn’t he make my room pink like my friends’? Why didn’t my living room have a single square inch of white?” Over time she learned to appreciate his philosophy. Mongiardino treated every room (even kitchens and bathrooms) like a stage set, from the way he drew inspiration from faraway places like Persia and…

Like plenty of other billionaires, the late Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar liked to park his money in real estate. He had a vast property in Puerto Triunfo, Colombia, named Hacienda Nápoles, which had its own zoo and would later become an amusement park. He also took over a sparsely populated island off the coast near Cartagena and built a party castle with more than 300 rooms and a helipad. Escobar, who in his prime was said to be responsible for 80 percent of the cocaine in the U.S., had megamansions outside his motherland, too. One was a majestic white beachfront hideout in Tulum—bought long before the Mexican resort town became hip—equipped with bulletproof walls and an escape tunnel. And now you can sleep in it. A few years ago…

Ali Fazal thought he had missed his chance. When the Mumbai-based actor heard that director Stephen Frears was casting his film Victoria & Abdul (out September 22) in India, auditions had ended. Lucky for Fazal, Frears hadn’t found a leading man, so the 30-year-old Bollywood star sent a tape to the director, which got him a meeting and, eventually, the part. Victoria & Abdul follows an elderly Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, an Indian servant who becomes her spiritual guide. “It’s about love and friendship,” Fazal says. “But I took the part because it was hard to play.” The role is tough indeed. Abdul is subjected to prejudice and mistreatment, but a charming Fazal shines opposite Judi Dench’s formidable queen. “He has an innocence,” Frears says of his star. “You…

The first time I met Thomas Rivers Brown, almost a decade ago, he brought several wines to lunch at Solage in Calistoga. Two of them, Napa cabernets, had just received 100 points from Wine Spectator; the third was a pinot noir from Sonoma. The cabs, though by no means interchangeable, were both big, juicy blockbusters. The pinot was from another universe altogether: herbal, earthy, and restrained; I would have guessed it was a Burgundy if I hadn’t seen the label. Brown made all three. In the past 15 years he has made more than 25 wines that have received perfect scores from Robert Parker or the Spectator. (He’s not sure of the exact number, which seems in character for this laid-back Southerner.) In person Brown is affable and low-key, and…

CLOISONNE , MINIATURE PAINTING Seen in jewelry from ancient Egyptian and Byzantine times, this technique involves creating compartments (cloisons) to isolate the enamel colors. On this watch, master enameler Anita Porchet hand-painted gradients within each partition. PATEK PHILIPPE (PRICE ON REQUEST), PATEK.COM LASER AND HAND ENGRAVING For the face of this watch—which highlights the elliptical path of the earth around the sun—a laser engraver was used to sculpt zodiac symbols and constellations out of transparent sapphire crystal. Then an artisan went over the work by hand to accentuate details. VACHERON CONSTANTIN ($93,500), VACHERON-CONSTANTIN.COM RELIEF ENGRAVING For this process, surrounding material is removed from a metal surface to create a design that rises from it. Here, artisans sculpted tiny birds from 18K gold and enhanced them with hand-painted details so they…

The world’s busiest choreographer is about to have his busiest year yet. Benjamin Millepied, the acclaimed founder and director of the L.A. Dance Project, will be adding numerous stamps to his passport. Starting this fall his company will travel to Brazil, the UAE, and China, and in February his Daphnis et Chloé will be performed at the Paris Opera Ballet and his Sarabande at the Lyon Opera House. Millepied, who was born in Bordeaux, was raised in Senegal, and trained in Lyon and New York, will also begin shooting his first film, Carmen, a modern adaptation of Georges Bizet’s 1875 opera. This version will tell the story of a woman who journeys from Mexico to Los Angeles. Fortunately for the new father (Millepied and wife Natalie Portman welcomed their second…

“Sorry I’m late,” says Rahul Kadakia as he joins the conference call. “I was chasing a diamond.” Kadakia is head of jewelry at Christie’s International, so chasing diamonds is what he’s paid to do, though the discussion at hand is about a diamond he actually caught—a big one. On November 14, Christie’s Geneva will present the largest D flawless diamond ever to be sold at auction: a 163-carat emeraldcut stone owned and designed into a one-of-a-kind piece by de Grisogono. How exactly do you go about chasing a diamond like this, a stone Kadakia calls one of the “great gems of the world”? First, you listen. There was talk in the jewelry press about two years ago, says Tom Moses of the Gemological Institute of America, about the largest diamond…

When La Prairie first thought about putting caviar in its skincare products 30 years ago, the idea was not so much a scientific sure thing as a pricey gamble. “There was no insight. It was just a crazy idea at the time,” says Daniel Stangl, La Prairie’s director of innovation. “Now the more we test it, the more we learn how beneficial it is”—so much so that La Prairie’s newest cream, Skin Caviar Absolute Filler, is said to volumize skin from the surface down to its deepest layer, the hypodermis. The star ingredient is a concentrate called caviar absolute, which is made from eggs that have been stripped of pigment and their outer membrane, leaving behind oil and thousands of skin-plumping proteins. The finished product was introduced at Art Basel’s…

FOR ADDITIONAL READINGS BY KATHARINE MERLIN, GO TO TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM LIBRA SEPTEMBER 24–OCTOBER 23 Tying up loose ends and getting focused seems to be your theme this month, and clearing up misunderstandings will help set your world to rights. Issues of lifestyle and personal connections are forcing you to take stock, but with Venus coming home to your birth sign by the 14th, you’ll feel increasingly secure as October winds down. SCORPIO OCTOBER 24–NOVEMBER 22 Emotions will be volatile as October begins, so as tempting as it may be to offer advice when associates are losing perspective, beware that your efforts aren’t likely to be appreciated. What looks promising is what’s happening in your private life toward month’s end, when lucky Jupiter enters your sign for a yearlong stay. SAGITTARIUS NOVEMBER…

It’s no secret: Rainforests are dying. The ecosystems of Borneo and the rest of Indonesia have practically disappeared, while deforestation has destroyed nearly a quarter of the Amazon. In the Republic of the Congo (that’s the safe one), the world’s second-largest rainforest hasn’t yet suffered the fate of the others, though it may soon—in order to generate income, the government gave some logging concessions to the Chinese, who covet the area’s giant mahogany trees. In the heart of the forest lies Odzala-Kokoua National Park, a 5,000-square-mile oasis with 22,000 lowland gorillas, more than 400 bird species, and the rarest flora and fauna you’ll ever encounter. New weekly private charter flights get you there in two hours from the capital, Brazzaville. You’ll stay at the Odzala Discovery Camps, splitting time among…

The wild horses of this island off Georgia have become so abundant there is talk the National Park Service may move them some day. Thanks to a series of regulations and shrewd deals, this ruggedly lovely island, which is four miles longer than Manhattan, may be inhabited full-time only by descendants of the Carnegies (who discovered it at the turn of the last century and claimed it as their winter playground) or the Candlers (founders of the Coca-Cola empire). Settle in at the stately 16-room Greyfield Inn, built for Andrew Carnegie’s niece in 1900 and the site of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s 1996 wedding reception, and take in the beauty of the island’s beasts on the live oak– lined trails and 18 miles of deserted beach. You may not feed…

FIRST FROST It took Harry Winston’s gemologists, designers, and craftsmen three years to perfect the Legacy jewels. Half that time was spent finding the right diamonds. This necklace features 205 round brilliant and marquise diamonds, weighing about 24 carats total, to be finished with a marquise diamond drop. DRAWING BOARD Each piece in the Legacy Collection was hand-drawn by Harry Winston’s master designers, who followed the brand’s long-standing ethos: keep it simple, highlight clean lines, and emphasize fluidity. PIECE DE RESISTANCE The 10.72-carat, internally flawless marquise diamond is the last link. The thin platinum prong settings, used throughout the collection, are designed to be practically undetectable, giving the diamonds the illusion of floating on your neck.…

“IT’S TYPE A TRANSLUCENT BURMESE JADE” There has always been, in the hierarchy of jewels, a high perch for stones with the right provenance: Golconda diamonds, Colombian emeralds, Ceylon sapphires. But never has a stone’s origin, be it a specific region or even a particularly revered mine, been a more central topic in the jewelry conversation. Perhaps it’s another example of the contemporary fascination with terroir— of everything from your red wine to your supergreens. But it also seems, to those of us who track the signifiers of wealth, taste, and power, like one of those subtle distinguishing characteristics—a house south of the highway, landing at Teterboro—that separate what Nancy Mitford called the “U” from the “non-U.” And while your friends may come back from Myanmar with an armful of…

THE GEAR The security camera, a basic of home protection, has gotten a high-tech update. Nest’s cameras live-stream everything they detect to a user’s phone. A subscription service, Nest Aware, stores footage and offers facial recognition software to ID who’s at the door. NEST.COM THE STAFF Along with traditional bodyguards, many households employ security-trained staff: moonlighting cops as chauffeurs, “maids” who are former special agents. Now a new service called Nannyguards provides caregivers schooled in advanced protection protocols. NANNYGUARDS.COM THE ROOM Impenetrable “safe” spaces, like the one featured in the film Panic Room, are expanding, with companies like Strategically Armored & Fortified Environments (SAFE) providing “cores,” suites of rooms with reinforced walls and doors, as well as monitoring, communications, and air purifying systems. The company will also outfit yachts with…

For Ronald Reagan, the Camp David presidential retreat was a refuge, a secluded enclave that offered the first family “a sense of liberation” far from the Washington spotlight. Franklin Delano Roosevelt called it his Shangri-La. But for Donald Trump— well, it’s no Bedminster, New Jersey. In yet another break with the traditions of his immediate predecessors, Trump waited five months before heading to the rustic presidential retreat in Maryland for a quick getaway. And as the summer weekends wore on, the verdant, storied site was—other than a trip for a meeting in late August—generally devoid of first family members, as the Trumps opted for time at their own luxe properties. To close observers of the president, whose tastes were forged in the ritzy world of Manhattan real estate, that’s hardly…

Sarah Arison and Thomas Wilhelm had been dating for only four months when he got down on one knee. “We were in Venice for the Biennale, and I was definitely not expecting a proposal,” says Arison, president of the Arison Arts Foundation. “He gave me a simple gold ring that read love and said it was a placeholder so we could buy or design a ring together.” Arison wanted something vintage, so she put her fiancé in touch with her fiend Dalia Oberlander, who procures estate jewelry for LatestRevival.com. “A couple of months later he surprised me with the most spectacular Art Deco ring!”…

Many mothers of the bride or groom rely on a good tailor or shapewear for their wedding day silhouettes, but Chiara Boni’s dresses don’t require either. A decade ago the Italian designer developed a stretch fabric that works like built-in Spanx to hold you in and smooth you out. Not only is it wrinkle resistant, it doesn’t fray—so you can hem it yourself with just a pair of scissors. While a surprisingly breathable fabric that also compresses is enough of a selling point, Boni says her dresses have a following because their cuts flatter women with strategically placed ruching, pleating, and peplums. The result is slimming and polished, not distracting. “Mothers of the bride should be beautiful,” she says, “but never overdressed.” WALKS OF LIFE Tabitha Simmons’s debut bridal collection…

ARDEN WOHL & JONAH FREEMAN WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN June 4, 2017 Before she met the artist Jonah Freeman through a friend in May 2014, Arden Wohl already knew who he was. “I’d read an article about him and thought, Someone that cool would never want to go out with me,” the designer and animal rights activist says. Their first meeting was friendly, and they didn’t cross paths again until the fall, at a party hosted by art dealer Jeffrey Deitch. With a little liquid courage, Arden made the first move, grabbing Jonah’s hand. “I felt a pull to him,” she says. “I felt safe, like he could protect me.” The attraction was mutual. “First it was her magnanimous energy,” Jonah says. “Then I found she has a surprising curiosity that makes…

ALEX BOLOTOW & TERRY RICHARDSON TAOS, NEW MEXICO July 8, 2017 When photographer Terry Richardson and Alex Bolotow started to talk marriage, learning about the various traditions was just too much. “Each one seemed more ridiculous than the last,” Alex says. After a decade of working together, they began dating a few years ago, and they welcomed twin boys, Rex and Roman, in March 2016. First, there was the issue of the proposal. “She had already warned me that if I got down on one knee she’d be mortified,” Terry says. “So I slipped the ring into a plate of soup dumplings at Joe’s Shanghai [in New York] at our annual Christmas Eve Chinese dinner.” Their July wedding, which took place on the only Saturday full moon of the summer,…