In 1904 the great Stanford White built what was then known as a “casino,” essentially a gentleman’s retreat and sporting pavilion, for John Jacob Astor IV on the grounds of his Rhinebeck, NY mansion, Ferncliff. The 15,000-sq.-ft. Beaux-Arts style casino, with its indoor clay tennis court topped with a glass ceiling and a white marble pool surrounded by arches and Corinthian columns, is all that is left of Astor’s estate today, the mansion having been razed in the early 1940s. Of the estate’s 2,800 acres, only 50 remain, perched on a promontory overlooking the Hudson River.
Over the years the Ferncliff Casino, which also had squash courts, a bowling alley and shooting range, housed a convent and nursing home before falling into disrepair. It seemed destined to disappear like so many other Gilded Age jewels until the current owner commissioned White’s grandson Sam to restore it to its former grandeur as a private residence. Now known as Astor Courts, the mansion has just been listed for sale at $12 million. With the swimming pool and tennis court intact, it’s the ultimate gentleman’s estate, a reminder of the days when men were men and mansions had playhouses like this.
DQ’s fall inspiration comes from a misspent youth and his perennial love for the gentleman, the rogue and the gentleman rogue. Cat burglars with honor from when a ‘fair cop’ was a ‘fair cop’ and shooters were nigh on unheard of in the polite criminal fraternity. Think Thomas Crown. Think Simon Dermott. And think Nikolai. So we bring for our gentleman rogue a reflection of the times with a new fall collection of totally classic understated suits made from the finest English worsted, woven in Huddersfield and Leeds by one of Duncan’s friends.
Bulletproof, proper English tackle this, that will keep you crisp and warm, with a twinkle in your eye and a bounce in your step. Classic chalkstripes, sharkskins, mohairs and a little cashmere and lightweight stuff here and there for the softies among you, in black, charcoal and gunmetal. We’ve also slightly tweaked our silhouette to be still so easily recognizable to the aficionado, but a little more subtle to boot. Paired with beautiful cotton shirts and our new ties which are set to be the talk of the town with deep basic colors accented with our cheeky gangster chic motifs, we’ll eat our new hats if they don’t turn the heads you’re looking to turn.
At the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, Aston Martin and storied Swiss watchmaker Jaeger-LeCoultre unveiled their latest collaboration, the AMVOX2 Transponder Rapide, a timepiece that doubles as a remote control of sorts for the famed UK marque’s first four-door sportscar. Available as an option for Rapide purchasers, the watch locks and unlocks the car and turns on the headlights via pressure applied to various parts of the crystal. Unfortunately that’s all it does; personally we feel the Transponder ought to not only fire up the Rapide’s V12 as well but perform some 007-style tricks like firing smoke bombs and making martinis - especially since the damn thing costs over 30 grand.
Perhaps if you’re buying a $250,000 car it’s worth being able to unlock it by pressing on your wrist clock, but this isn’t exactly Q Branch worthy. The Rapide is perfectly satisfying in and of itself as Aston’s engineers have retained their trademark killer looks as well as performance; it can do 0 - 62 mph in 5.3 seconds. The watch qua watch isn’t too bad either (though we’ve seen better) – satin-brushed 18-carat rose gold base, lugs and crown with a pivoting brushed titanium case, black grille motif dial and rhodium-plated, luminescent black metallic numerals, with the Aston Martin wing emblem at 6 o’clock – just about when you’ll be ready to kill for that martini.
These days, financier Morton F. Plant is best known as the bloke who traded his Fifth Avenue mansion to Cartier in 1917 for a hundred bucks and a pearl necklace (it seemed like a good idea at the time). An accomplished yachtsman, he was however more at home at sea, and in 1910 he commissioned the 137-foot Elena from Rhode Island yacht designer Herreshoff with the simple edict, “Build me a schooner that can win!” 17 years of doing just that followed, during which time the Elena was bought by Cornelius Vanderbilt, culminating in the yacht’s stunning victory in the 3,400 mile 1928 King’s Cup Trans-Atlantic Race from New York to Santander, Spain.
Now the Elena (above) has been completely rebuilt by Factoria Naval de Marin with help from the original hand-drawn plans donated by MIT. Historic images of the yacht were painstakingly studied to ensure that every detail was restored to perfection, from her towering mast and nearly 1,200 square meter sail plan to the wide teak deck and luxurious appointments. The Elena can accommodate 10 guests in Gilded Age luxury, with mahogany paneling throughout. The elegant, period correct fittings have been discreetly updated with modern technology. After a tune-up period, the Elena will make her debut at the Antigua Classics in April 2010 and will then be available for charter at a suitably atmospheric rate. We plan to start saving now.
Storied London luxury goods firm Asprey, holders of the Royal Warrant, are best known for their pricey baubles these days, but they also make a range of aristocratic, classic polo kit for people who actually play the sport and don’t just embroider their clothing with it. Asprey fields its own polo team, which won the prestigious Queen Mother’s Centenary Tournament 15 goal trophy at the Guards Polo Club this year, and also sponsors the Prince of Wales Trophy at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo Club - so the kit has been field-tested by Prince Chuck himself.
While their polo gear has been available at the firm’s dedicated shop at the Royal County of Berkshire Polo club, it is now available to order online for enthusiasts in the colonies. The full range is on offer, including their leather and suede saddles (£700), Italian leather polo boots (£800) and stylish bridle leather polo holdall (£800), along with the requisite bridles, whips, mallets, helmets and more. In addition Asprey offers a bespoke trophy making service, so you can establish your own tournament and present the winner with an appropriately plummy prize. Polo in the Catskills, anyone?
Please keep it under your homburg, but we’ve begun a new wine dinner series for our loyal friends wishing to celebrate life, food, the fruit of the vine and damn fine company. Details are on a need-to-know basis, but here’s what we can tell you in public: each features great food cooked by an Italian maestro, in a private room at a suitably elegant downtown establishment, with beaucoup vintages and a five course tasting menu. Our warmup event was a smashing success, starring the Vieux Chateau Certan 1962, Chateau Ausone 1979, Chateau Canon 1982 and L’Evangile 1983. We plan to have one or two dozen guests at each, with the freight at $175 - $250 per head including tax, tip and bon mots. The next occasion, boasting Barolos from 1989 and 1990 and a bit o’ wild boar, is already fully booked, but exercise your charm and DQ wardrobe and we can probably find you a spot in the not-too-distant future.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show Bentley just unveiled its new flagship sedan, the Mulsanne, named for the legendary straightaway at Le Mans. Echoing the Bentley S -Type of the 1950s, the car features a bold frontal design dominated by the traditional Bentley matrix grille and highly prominent, classic round inner headlamps with chrome surrounds, flanked by two, smaller outboard lamp clusters. While paying homage to past Bentley greats, the brief for the new Mulsanne’s design and engineering teams was to create a Bentley that represents the pinnacle of British luxury motoring.
The new Mulsanne is meant to be a thoroughly modern flagship that captures the essence of the Bentley marque - elegant yet distinctly sporting in character, delivering effortless performance while within its sumptuous cabin, advanced technology discretely has sex with handcrafted luxury, so to speak. Very, very expensive sex. The Mulsanne, however, was designed and engineered at Crewe from the ground-up, and it comes in 114 different paint colours in a range that includes everything from unusual heritage hues to special satin and pearlescent finishes and duo-tone combinations. Worth every ha’penny, in other words.
As games amenable to gentlemen go, croquet has few rivals - unfettered by the sartorial restraints imposed by more vigorous activities, while eminently suitable for en-suite cocktail sipping. So it’s high time this elegant pastime had a shirt to call its own. We hereby present to you the DQ Croquet Shirt in classic 100% piqué cotton, embroidered with our signature Fleur de Lys. Stylish and insouciant, understated yet with a hint of the iron fist beneath the velvet glove, it’s perfect accompanied by a fierce Pimms Cup in said fist, a mallet in the other and a glint in the eye. Of course should you also wish to sport the gorgeous garment while engaging in a chukker of polo or set of tennis, we will not protest.
Available to order from our stores in Dallas, Los Angeles and New York as well as by phone or online, the DQ Croquet Shirt comes in several damn-your-eyes combinations of white and custom piece dyed DQ fuchsia and blue, with custom dyed buttons and contrasting trim. All are available in DQ slim fit from size XS (small enough for the ladies) up to XXL. And you’ll want secure yours in time to dazzle the competition on the indoor croquet pitch in our forthcoming Miami Limited Editions pop-up store - but more on that later.
Few names in the yachting world are as evocative of the Italian Riviera’s Dolce Vita style, sprezzatura-by-the-sea if you will, than Riva. The iconic motorboat maker, whose classic wooden craft were piloted about by the likes of Brigitte Bardot, Richard Burton, Sophia Loren, Aristotle Onassis and Prince Ranier of Monaco back in the ‘50s, still builds beautiful yachts based on the principles of elegant cruising, albeit now as modern as can be. Their newest creation, the 86’ Domino, just debuted at the Cannes Boat Show and almost immediately bagged the World Yachts Trophies Award for Best Design in the over 24 meter category.
With supermodel-sleek lines covered in new shade of Metallic Ice, the Domino calls to mind the Bond girl of that name – the one in Thunderball, not Never Say Never Again, of course. Highlights include a large sundeck complete with a dining area for six, living areas in the cockpit, an open sunbed, and air-conditioned upper gallery, as well as four comfortably furnished cabins including a master cabin with private en-suite bath. Her twin MTU engines kick down a cruising speed of 34 knots and a max. speed of 38 knots, with a range of 335 nautical miles at cruising speed. All yours for about $8.5 million.
