Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i Town & Country

THE RICH WOMAN’S WONDER DIET… That works! Or so T&C claimed in our May 1972 issue, which featured a regimen popularized by the now defunct Kennedy Diet Center on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Its co-founder Shirley Kennedy (no relation to the political dynasty), had discovered this alleged miracle treatment in Rome and decided to share it with her fellow Americans. So what was the secret to winning the “one-woman war on avoirdupois”? Injections (surprise!), though these were not of the GLP-1 variety but HCG, a type of hormone produced by pregnant women. Adherents could opt for either a 23- or 40-day program of daily shots, which had to be paired with a strict, totally fat-free, 500-calorie diet. It cost $700 for the long version (about $5,400 now). The best part:…

Loretta Rothschild’s novel Finding Grace opens at the Ritz in Paris. It’s Christmas season, and this is where her protagonists—Honor Wharton, a best-selling children’s book author, and her handsome financier husband Tom—are spending the holidays with their four-year-old daughter, an annual tradition they carry out from their regular suite, with its Place Vendôme views and a canopy bed held together “with layers of salmon-colored silk, the famous apricot sheets without a single crease.” The milieu the Whartons inhabit is one of London townhouses with antique French chandeliers hanging in the drawing room and Defenders parked in the driveway. It’s where first dates take place at the River Café and wedding dresses are vintage McQueen, where rare Pomerol vintages are poured at dinner parties and appointments are penciled into monogrammed Smythsons.…

Gold prices have surged to record highs in 2025 (we don’t need to tell you why). If stockpiling bars à la Bob Menendez isn’t really your vibe, turn to the fresh crop of gold chains, from the Cartier Trinity seen on Timothée Chalamet to various modern renditions of the style, which has been used as a power move since ancient Egypt. It’s always wise to keep your money somewhere close; name a better place than fastened securely around your neck. GEMS OF INSIGHT “Since I have been collecting jewelry, I have had a few special things reset by Ali Galgano at Serpentine in Greenwich. This Asscher-cut diamond and emerald toi-et-moi ring will belong to our daughter someday.”—NATE BERKUS, interior designer…

While the debate over whether brooches are in or out is a constant (unless you’re a Windsor), the latest crop offered the most definitive answer yet. There was Adrien Brody, who started awards season with an Elsa Jin black diamond and Tahitian pearl pin the size of a sculpture at the Golden Globes, then capped it off with another piece from the designer festooning his shoulder at the Oscars. And then those giant roses climbing lapels and cinching waists at Carolina Herrera, followed by similarly theatrical petals at Miu Miu. We got the message: Brooches belong here. Full stop. GEMS OF INSIGHT “I love that jewelry feels like a nod to the ’80s lately—my favorite era for gold. I especially love the Bulgari Tubogas collar. It’s so over-the-top but can…

What distinguishes great collectors from everyone else? Three standout auctions offered clarity. A taste for the unusual is key (see: Millicent Rogers’s turquoise obsession), as is the ability to spot a one-of-a-kind treasure (Belperron, JAR). Spending power helps too.…

At a recent soignee soiree, standing alongside two very fit, very glowy women, I listened as one said to the other, “You look great. What’s in your stack?” Her stack? I was able to discern that this did not refer to the books on her nightstand. “It typically refers to what longevity peptides and molecules a person is taking to optimize their physical and mental fitness,” says Park Avenue–based longevity doctor Amanda Kahn, who routinely prescribes “stacking” protocols—once the province of obsessive biohackers and fitness-crazed male podcasters—to her own patients, who run the demographic gamut but are largely women in their thirties, forties, and fifties. “As part of a precision longevity protocol, we target molecules that decline with age and replace them in order to slow or even reverse the…

It’s early morning on the east side of Los Angeles, and Hannah Einbinder—still sleepy but impressively cogent—has ordered tea and a kimchi scone and is contemplating what it means to tell her life story to a stranger with a tape recorder. “There’s stuff that I would very freely tell you sitting across from each other,” says the actress, who turns 30 this month. She’s flying under the radar this morning, wearing a sweatshirt and a baseball hat pulled down over her brow. “But when you know you’re being recorded… I don’t know that I necessarily would tell the entire human population of Earth.” A sizable portion of that population is already familiar with Einbinder’s highly particular brand of humor: raw but not ribald; quirky, even peculiar, but menschy. This cocktail…

In the early years, before the Porsche in the driveway, the pool in the back yard, and the gated house in the hills, there was hair. There had always been hair. Big hair, fabulous hair, bold hair—hair to cut and perm and color and style, often under a big cloud of hair spray. In those years, the ’80s, when Fabio Sementilli styled his own hair to look like the boys in Duran Duran (big and savage and a little ridiculous), he and his sister Mirella owned a salon in downtown Toronto. Mirella liked to joke that they wound so many perms they had dents in their fingers from the perm rods. But where they really made a name for themselves was on the international hair show circuit—intense competitions where, in…

When Anne Bass died in April 2020, the New York Times noted that the great patron of City Ballet had become“one of New York’s most respected philanthropists, supporting, in large but unflashy ways, the New York Botanical Garden, the Museum of Modern Art, and, especially, the New York Public Library and its Jerome Robbins Dance Division.” On viewing her extensive jewelry collection, which will be auctioned at Christie’s New York in June, the “unflashy” aspect might be a bit diffcult to imagine, but if you were ever lucky enough to spot Anne Bass at a gala for one of these causes wearing these jewels, you would understand. She was powerfully present and somehow still elegantly discreet, even in enormous emeralds by JAR. “Her jewelry collection is nothing short of perfection,”…

Some cities are obvious sites for a jewelry pilgrimage. You don’t need me to tell you, for example, to visit the Galerie d’Apollon at the Louvre to stand in front of Empress Marie Louise’s emeralds and diamonds (but if you need a great place for lunch afterward, revisit the T&C Paris Issue at TOWNANDCOUNTRYMAG.COM). But DC surprised me. When I was researching my book in 2019, I wanted see the Hope Diamond at the Smithsonian up close before I sat down to write whether or not it was cursed, but I didn’t expect to see historic jewels—Marjorie Merriweather Post’s iconic collection at the Hillwood Estate, the Alexander Calder jewels at the National Gallery. (For my full Washington jewelry itinerary, see the T&C Snob’s Guide to DC, up now for premium…

The Influencers of the Year It is human nature to desire novelty while still craving the familiar. A true visionary finds the sweet spot in between. Take Bulgari, which has unleashed a new den of High Jewelry Serpenti, as it does annually. The snake motif, a house mascot since 1948, is unmistakably heritage, but there are clear signs that it has evolved: a new play on scales, a more sinuous structure, something about those emerald eyes. It’s also an apt metaphor for the Year of the Snake—embracing change is strongly encouraged.…

What does it take to live forever? There’s no need to look to those so-called Blue Zones for the keys to longevity. The answers are right here with the masters of the jewelry universe. A core identity and a deep understanding of self are crucial, as is a foundation of good DNA—and, most important, a healthy growth mindset. 150 Years AUDEMARS PIGUET The watchmaker has pulled out all its tricks—and introduced new ones. Time to update that holy grails list. 75 Years HARRY WINSTON The king of diamonds added sunflowers to his repertoire in 1950. Now they come in emeralds and pink sapphires. HARRY WINSTON PINK SAPPHIRE SUNFLOWER EARRINGS, HARRYWINSTON.COM 25 Years MARCO BICEGO The Italian jeweler returned to his roots with the release of 25 greatest hits from the…

No offense to the Ratliffs, but has the reign of oversize watches come to an end? That was what Rolex, Audemars Piguet, and the great horological houses of Europe seemed to be signaling with new releases of their OGs in strikingly diminutive iterations. But rather than interpreting this trend as a recession indicator—the generous dusting of diamonds below should assuage such concerns—take it instead as a timely reminder that, no matter what the headlines tell you, restraint is still a virtue worth cultivating.…

Red carpet jewelry is frequently lovely and often showstopping, but rarely is it historic. That all changed this year during an awards season that, from the Grammys to the Oscars, was marked by a notable prevalence of legendary archival gems. It’s not that such a thing has never happened before. (See: Nicole Kidman’s vintage Mughal earrings from Martin Katz in 1997, Eva Mendes in vintage Van Cleef & Arpels turquoise in 2009, Charlize Theron in a vintage Cartier headband in 2012.) This year’s dip into jewelry history follows a similar drive and pattern. It is evidence of access, a sort of stylist and star oneupmanship, a “they let me into the vault” kind of thing. Plus, vintage jewelry guarantees singularity—and a good story. And it’s an important reminder that jewelry…

We need to talk about Jared—as in, the megaretailer that is an anchor in just about every shopping center in America. It is a high jewelry player too, with its own well-stocked arsenal of rare Colombian emeralds and fancy yellow diamonds, and a Rolodex of names to tap for collaborations. Its third high jewelry collection was designed by Vera Wang (left). Hollywood came calling shortly thereafter.…

Chances are, at any given dinner party at least one person at the table is on “the shot.” A 2024 KFF Health Tracking Poll found that around one in eight adults in the U.S. has used a GLP-1 weight loss drug like Ozempic, Mounjaro, or Zepbound. But for every radically reduced waistline there’s often also an Ozempic face, not to mention a whole lot of newly loose skin to go with it. Plastic surgeons, dermatologists, and aestheticians are suddenly spending a huge percentage of their time fixing these suddenly ubiquitous problems. “There is a healthy amount of fat you need for your face to maintain symmetry and volume,” says dermatologist Rita Linkner. The best approach, she says, is to have a“face first” mentality from the beginning. She advises patients to…

One evening in late 2022, Adam Latif, a high school student in Tampa, sat down at his computer to see if he had been accepted by Harvard University. He had toured the school’s grounds with his parents earlier that year as part of a larger college jaunt around New England, and he immediately fell in love. The prestige, the history…Boston! Harvard became his first choice. And yet he was expecting to get rejected. The school’s acceptance rate was the lowest it had ever been—dropping from 6.2 percent for the class of 2015 to 3.5 percent for the class of 2027—and the tuition had risen by 40 percent over the same period, making financial affordability as remote as the odds of being accepted. Latif applied early decision, leaving him ample time…

WHERE ARE WE GOING? Modern bibliophiles have nothing on Gilded Age financier J.P. Morgan, who understood the power of bookshelf wealth long before the term entered the lexicon. His trove of the world’s oldest and rarest tomes grew so vast he needed a separate building for it, which became the Morgan Library & Museum. In honor of its centennial, the NYC gem is currently showing off its latest acquisitions. THROUGH AUGUST 17, THEMORGAN.ORG WHAT ARE WE WEARING? A good cover matters, but real substance speaks for itself. This has always been the philosophy of Patek Philippe, whose most coveted offerings are marked by a purity of design in juxtaposition with the complex technology hidden inside. The new Cubitus is no exception. While that sleek octagonal shape recalls popular watch silhouettes…

The world has gone F1 crazy. In the months after the Paris Olympics the Arnault family announced a 10-year partnership with Formula 1 reportedly valued at more than $1 billion. (TAG Heuer is now the sport’s official timekeeper, and winners will shower each other in Moët & Chandon, their trophies encased in Louis Vuitton.) Ryan Reynolds and Travis Kelce are both investors in team Alpine, Balmain has an F1 capsule collection, and Argentine driver Franco Colapinto is rumored to be dating Princess Ingrid Alexandra of Norway. Testing the sport’s global ambitions, Brad Pitt plays an aging driver in this summer’s much anticipated blockbuster F1. LVMH had allegedly considered a similar partnership 10 years ago, but the timing wasn’t right. What changed? Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive, an unscripted series…

One of the most underestimated elements of jewelry is its ability to speak history. It is a document of both peace and conflict, of the shifting and closing of trade routes and borders, of cultural phases and fixations. A piece becomes infinitely more beautiful when its design is seen in the context of the era in which it was made. For the second time in two years Van Cleef & Arpels has partnered with New York’s American Museum of Natural History to exhibit historical and contemporary jewelry around a theme. The 2023 show explored the influence of gardens and green stones.“Cosmic Splendor: Jewelry from the Collections of Van Cleef & Arpels,” which opened last month, investigates a higher cause. Skies, stars, and space have been fertile ground for jewelers’ imaginations…

The first evidence of beads dates back 100,000 years. Over time they have come to symbolize various things, from spirituality to prosperity, but here’s a universal truth: We could use a string of lucky charms right now. It’s no coincidence beaded jewels have gone supersize, whether it’s a mélange of tiger’s eye, lapis lazuli, and rose quartz or a strand of rare pink pearls. Even just orbs of solid gold will do.…

Dermatologist Morgan Robach and plastic surgeon Lesley Robach aren’t just sisters, they’re colleagues who work in tandem to give patients precisely what they need. Which brings us to a tricky topic: the undereye. Filler suddenly seems out, blepharoplasty seems in, plasma therapy is touted in every office. So what’s the solution when coverup is no longer doing the trick? Morgan Robach: If your undereye area is hollow (i.e., concave), the best treatment is to fill in the area. The most reliable method is using a hyaluronic acid injectable, adding a little at a time, and letting it settle before adding more. Although there are concerns of overfilling and filler migration, this really doesn’t happen if the correct amount is placed in the right plane of tissue. If the patient wants…

TAURUS APRIL 21–MAY 21 With dominating Mars out of sync with your birth sign this month, various situations—especially involving home and family—are likely to ruffe your feathers, but with Venus, your ruler, in the background, you’re best off adopting a wait-and-see attitude. Meanwhile, Pluto in your most public angle promises to somehow refresh the page toward month’s end. CICADA ($43,800), CICADAJEWELRY.COM GEMINI MAY 22–JUNE 21 You’re at a positive turning point where certain restrictions are lightening up, and you’ll have more freedom, but don’t overplay your hand. Some clashes are inevitable, but toward month’s end you should be able to hit the right note and reach agreements that launch you into a successful new phase, especially near the new Moon of the 27th. VAN CLEEF & ARPELS, VANCLEEFARPELS.COM CANCER JUNE…

Long ago and far away, there was a store. The Store, as it was known then, and still is, at least among those of us lucky enough to have grown up in and around it. It was ours, it was magic, and soon it will be gone. At the corner of Main Street and Ervay in downtown Dallas, Neiman Marcus rose like a crenellated confection, nine stories of retail romance and aesthetic allure. Having occupied that site since 1914, the Store survived no shortage of challenges in the years since then—among them the assassination of John F. Kennedy in November 1963, a few blocks away; a crippling fire in December 1964, days before Christmas; and, beginning in 1969, a slew of different owners who expanded the brand to national and…