Heard around Hong Kong this month
EVER WONDER what the secret world of private shopping is like? For The Art Jewel’s founder, Cindy Chao, only the best will do for her elite clientele, which includes Middle Eastern sheikhas, Hong Kong tycoons and individuals with ninefigure net worths. Private viewings are strictly by appointment only at her showroom on Connaught Road in Central, where every detail is personalised. From vintage champagne to pastries from the Rosewood Hotel’s signature Butterfly Patisserie to custom birthday cakes, every whim and fancy is catered to. In May, serious spender “CL” celebrated her birthday at the showroom with six celebrity friends. As well as a feast prepared by Vicky Lau’s Michelin-starred restaurant Tate Dining Room & Bar, guests knocked back US$400 bottles of Salon champagne, while the birthday girl treated herself to a pair of white-gold maple earrings costing a cool US$150,000. We’ll leave you to guess who it was.
JULY’S COVER STORY cut to the heart of the Hong Kong Ballet’s elegant new production of Romeo and Juliet, but, like us, you may have been left wondering about the rise of the company’s artistic director Septime Webre, the seventh of nine children born in New Orleans to a Cuban-american family and raised between Africa, the Caribbean and the US. Seeing Webre at work now, it’s hard to imagine he wasn’t born for ballet. But the 58-year-old’s aspirations as a teen couldn’t have been more different: he wanted to be a Catholic priest and embarked upon a degree in law and history. After giving his sister’s ballet classes a go on whim, he discovered a talent for dance and “started training very seriously”. He deferred from law school and took the offer to dance in a regional ballet. “I thought: you know what, this feels right! I’m going to move to New York. I’m not going to law school.” Obviously, he didn’t tell his parents. “I went to New York, and I had a job in three days. And then the rest was history.”
AS IF our wanderlust couldn’t be any more feverish this summer, here’s a slice of the good life to set your heart aflutter: actor Sean Connery’s French Riviera mansion is up for sale. The 11,000 sq ft Belle Epoque-style villa sits on 54,000 sq ft plot overlooking the Côte d’azur and boasts five bedrooms and sweeping acreage worthy of a getaway for even the most discerning and private special agents. The property is replete with luxurious facilities: two swimming pools, two guest villas, a gym, a wine cellar, private balconies, staff quarters, three gated entrances and even a hammam, or Turkish bath. Connery and his French-morroccan artist wife Michelin Roquebrune owned the estate in the Eighties and Nineties, but the place is still said to be referred to by locals as “Sean Connery’s home”. Agent Edward de Mallet Morgan says that, “not since selling Coco Chanel’s old villa, La Pausa, have I experienced as much press and buyer interest for a villa sale on the French Riviera. The James Bond factor simply does not get any cooler.” There’s no promise that your ownership will inspire the same awe, but €30,000,000 (HK$262 million) and it’s yours. Contact Knight Frank if you’re keen and have the capital.
AS A RESULT of the pandemic, 91 per cent of the world’s population currently lives in countries with strict travel restrictions in place, according to Pew Research Center. That’s more than 7 billion people. True, not everyone has travel on the brain, but you only have to look at Repulse Bay beach on a weekend to see how Hongkongers are beset by lust for a getaway. Ticket prices have never been better, with airlines lowering fares to fill empty seats and waiving fees in areas they would have typically gouged fliers, such as changing dates. In a world post pandemic, what will air travel look like? That’s the million-dollar question. Demand for travel is likely to send winter fares skyrocketing when those living abroad will brave the risks of long-haul flying to be reunited with their families for the holiday season. Then come the other questions: will check-in take longer with extra temperature and hygiene checks? Will we see passengers feverishly sanitising their seats à la Naomi Campbell? Will we get scathing glares from fellow passengers if we sneeze or clear our throat? Only time will tell.