Taufik
Letter from the Editor: In Pursuit of a Special Jewel
December 1, 2003
This gift guide goes to press hot on the heels of my visit to Berlin to drive Porsche’s fantastic new Carrera GT, reviewed favorably (who could not) in this month’s accompanying Robb Report. Each new model year, manufacturers break new ground with their highest-performance models, and for 2003, the Porsche GT sets new standards on every level save cargo capacity (buy a freight train). But after a thrilling time with this new Wunderwagen, I realized that the more I am exposed to the latest and greatest sports and luxury cars, the more I appreciate the beauty, simplicity, and allure of old-timers, as the Germans so quaintly call historic, classic collectibles. I suspect I am not alone in the recognition that “They don’t make ’em like that anymore,” and of late, I’ve had fleeting thoughts about a seductive, but elusive, Italian.
Following Porsche’s auspicious launch, I spent a few days in the German capital. Berlin is my favorite European city, probably because it reminds me so much—in a curious way—of Los Angeles. But there are unmistakable aspects of Berlin that refer to those few decades before World War II, when it, and Paris, were avant-garde points of aesthetic reference throughout Europe. That was a time when stores like Cartier had their grand showrooms on the Kurfürstendamm, Berlin’s own Fifth Avenue. The French firm had—just six weeks before my visit—re-created the grandeur of that era with the opening of their flagship store along the famous Berlin boulevard, and my host and I decided to drop in. The interior—designed by Bruno Moinard, who worked formerly with the renowned interior designer Andrée Putman—is modeled as an elegant multiroom flat, awash in neutral wood paneling, parquet floors, and bronze-tone vitrines, furnishings, and bespoke details that are Cartier’s alone.
The store’s ultrarefined palette of colors, forms, and surfaces allows the stars of the Cartier show to take center stage, with a wide assortment of wristwatches, pens, and leather goods assuming a supporting role. The jewels are fantastic—the best in the world—a subtlety not lost on a car buff whose idea of jewelry is Snap-On.
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