Page 3 - DAVID MUIRHEAD | BUSINESS DAY WANTED AUGUST 2014

AT LARGE

FRESH APPEAL Raw & Roxy

MONTBLANC TEXT GARY COTTERELL PHOTOGRAPHY SEAN CALITZ
VILLERET 1858

Exotourbillon A meal that starts with dessert is a treat for a “kid” of any age.
RattrapanteHowever, the main ingredient of the buttery chocolate
ganache cupcake I devour in the first five minutes at Raw
& Roxy is avocado, blended to a deliciously smooth
TEXT MATT MORLEYconsistency with coconut oil and coconut blossom sugar,
on a date, almond and cinnamon base.

Montblanc is a luxury brand Occupying a converted industrial co-operative space
with a point to prove when itwith jewellery, clothing and furniture designers, expect the
comes to watch making. Still unusual from the unassuming little kitchen of creative raw
a relative newcomer in horologyfoodie Beatrice Holst.
terms, their determination to The ganache is quickly followed by a mouthful of the
develop a design language thatlightest cheesecake made from pineapple pulp and a few
oozes classical elegance and cashew nuts, “for texture”, as Beatrice explains.
a partnership with historic Swiss Although the raw food movement does take in meat eaters
manufacture Minerva (also owned by— as long as they eat their meat raw (uncooked and
the Richemont Group) means that the unprocessed) — at Raw & Roxy you will find only raw, mostly

refined, understated image of what wasorganic, vegan, gourmet food. There are also no grains here.
once “just” a maker of pens has now been successfully No gluten or dairy either.
translated into the watch sector.A farmer-sized cup of “medicine” is presented as round
Arguably, the pinnacle of this process so far is the Villeret three. An acquired taste, this is a hot “detox tonic” with
1858 collection and this year’s 1858 ExoTourbillon burdock root, juniper berry , raw cacao , raw honey, reishi
Rattrapante is the star of the show. Dominating the dial is mushrooms, and white maca root. “I’m very into this Chinese
Montblanc’s patented ExoTourbillon at 12 o’clock rotating stuff. It’s a little bit like being a witch doctor,” Beatrice says.
once every four minutes — rather than the typical 60 seconds “Roxy means opening your mind,” she adds, while
— in an energy-saving approach that allows the same power extracting juice from lemon, ginger, apple, kale and mint for
reserve to drive the split-second, or “rattrapante” in the Beatrice a customer. Your mind will definitely be opened
Holst
watch’s name.to a fresh take on raw as Beatrice shifts things to
Rattrapante are the Mr Big of chronographs, requiring a new level. “It’s less hippie, less brown, less
nearly 70% more components than a conventional weird. I’m making it tasty,” she says.
alternative and allowing the wearer to pause the split-second A “small” platter of the day (R50, large
hand to indicate an intermediate interval while the chrono R70) includes lasagna made with
continues to measure overall elapsed time. So, for example, delicate sheets of zucchini and layers of
if you wanted to time the laps of a 1 500m track race, the ground cashew, macadamia and garlic
rattrapante is able to display each split-time as well as “meat”, the I am Adventurous Asian Salad,
measure the final race time.a pesto and tomato sauce, guacamole,
Looking at the enamel dial itself we are met with an curry, red cabbage with ginger and turmeric,

elaborate array of counters, scales, markers and sub-dials. and a pasta made from zucchini with tzatziki.
The time is displayed via a skeletonised blue minute hand The food is inventive, more-ish, and not
rotating from the centre, combined with a seconds dial at only for vegans. I leave inspired and refreshed.
9 o’clock and a skeletonised hour hand at 6 o’clock. This
means that to tell the time the wearer has in fact to piece Raw & Roxy, 363 Albert Road, Woodstock,
together three different pieces of information from three parts 079 599 6277
of the dial — who said this was going to be easy?
For travellers, a second time zone (set via a button at
8 o’clock) is displayed via a blued hand on the sub-dial at

6 o’clock, with an adjacent day/night display and 24-hour Fine Living David Muirhead
indicator at 4 o’clock.
The rest of the dial is dedicated to communicating the TEXT JENNY ANDREW
elapsed chronograph time, with a thin blued steel and
a neutral steel hand rotating from the centre, one for
continuous elapsed time, the other for split-times. Finally, Acclaimed interior designer David Muirhead,
a 30-minute chronograph counter at 3 o’clock records total renowned for providing his clients with luxury and
elapsed minutes for the stopwatch function.comfort, has finally realised his long-held dream of
All of this is housed within a substantial 18ct white-gold owning a retail outlet, and has opened the
case measuring 47mm in diameter and 18mm in height. sophisticated Fine Living showroom in Parkmore.
The renovation took more than a year, with
A black, alligator-leather strap completes the picture. As
there are only 18 of these pieces to be produced globally they Muirhead adding north-facing windows to flood
are destined to be rare finds, especially in SA.the space with light, and Jan Blok from Blok
That however, might be to miss the point all together as Landscaping creating a garden.
the 1858 ExoTourbillon Rattrapante also has a higher In addition to the showroom, the David
purpose — to show you what Montblanc are capable of. In Muirhead & Associates design studio is on the
reality, they are not so much asking you to buy this watch as premises, as well as a boutique function space. An
to buy into the brand behind it as a serous watchmaker intimate boardroom, a chic champagne bar, and a
worthy of a place in a modern gentleman’s watch collection.ballroom are all available for hire.
Muirhead says that he loves sourcing and developing S
Movement: Manufacture Calibre MB M16.61, hand-wound. EWI
new products and, although he finds travel inspiring, he TheWestwoodchampagnebaris A L
Case: 18ct white gold, 47mm with sapphire crystal case back. doesn’t buy internationally: everything in Fine Living is named after the fashion designer Vivienne Westwood. ESS
Features: 50-hour power reserve, tourbillon, rattrapante produced or sourced in South Africa.AN
chronograph.Muirhead started his career assisting Stephen Falke , Muirhead used Cole & Son’s Vivienne Westwood Y V
Strap: black alligator leather with 18K white gold buckle. before opening a small design studio in Durban. He Tartan wallpaper in the room, available from APH
SA Distributor: Montblanc Boutique, 011 666 2804 relocated to Joburg to work with Wilson & Associates, St Leger & Viney, 011 444 6722 GR
Price: €250 000and then started his own company.www.davidmuirhead.comTO
HO
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36 AUGUST 2014 WANTED