Editor's Note: Luxury Defined
10/01/2006
Every December, when I board Swissair for my annual ski holiday,
I have a Post Miniatures copy of the U.S. Constitution in my pocket and
stuffed into my carry-on bag are two or three Robb Report magazines, Christie’s and Sotheby’s catalogues, Foreign Affairs, Archaeology Today, the
London Telegraph and Ski magazine.I love all these publications, but Robb Report alone allows me the luxury of setting aside reading about the world’s concerns or how the market might affect my beloved textile industry. It permits me to dream. And if there is something that strikes me as viable and appealing, I know that I can count on it to be very real and of quality, because it is in Robb Report.
A case in point is the wonderful Perpetua automatic watch winder box that I have seen advertised so often. Recently, its maker, Rapport, sent me two. As they came out of their boxes, I could see at once that they were masterpieces of craftsmanship, splendid emissaries of Robb Report luxury.
This issue of Robb Report Luxury Home, which I am guest-editing, is emblematic of that commitment to offer the reader the very best. No one could accuse Luxury Home’s editor-in-chief, Adele Cygelman, art director, Mary Franz, contributing editor Jorge S. Arango or myself of dealing with mere ephemera. Alex Liberman (the infamous art director of Condé Nast) commented to me that in all great artistic endeavors can be found a central line around which everything is balanced. Nothing in this issue, although possessing great style, is simply of the moment, but rather evinces that sense of balance that assures timelessness.
However brief the visual journey or the read, by the end of this issue, the reader will have been pleasantly cajoled into ruminating whether architect Santiago Calatrava should build your community’s next great concert hall or if Emilio Ambasz should design a splendid retreat for your ranch in New Mexico or if Steve Bastone or Tony Ingrao should design your homes in Beijing, Dubai, Vail, New York or St. Paul.
Please remember this. The person who breeds quarterhorses and orchids, loves square dancing and tango and collects African art and baseball memorabilia while regularly reading medical journals on neurology deserves a helluva remarkable place in which to live.
Christopher Hyland
Guest Editor
editor@robbreporthome.com