For all the watchmaking prowess (both technical and aesthetic) Grand Seiko possesses, one of its strengths lies in the ability to capture the fleeting beauty of seasonal Japanese landscapes and translate them into beautiful creations. The recently announced quintet of Grand Seikos at the Seiko 2021 Summit are perfect examples — Kintaro Hattori’s tribute piece has tree rings set on its dial while the four-piece Seasons GMT collection features various sekki influences. We will definitely visit those pieces in later editions but the honour of the first Grand Seiko we cover for 2021 is reserved for another watch, announced just before the summit, the Grand Seiko SLGH005 “White Birch”.
Inspired by shirakaba or the white birch forests native to the northern region of Grand Seiko’s Shizukuishi studio, the craftsmen translate and transpose the forest’s arresting summer and winter beauty onto the SLGH005 dial. The dial features a series of barkpatterns, which we suspect are hand-finished even though it is not mentioned (confirmation will come in later issues). While not apparent in pictures, examining the watch in person will reveal the nuances and subtleties of the dial as it reflects light.
The styling of the watch is known as the Series 9 Design signature. It will take centre stage in future Grand Seiko Heritage collections, evoking memories of the beloved 1967 44GS edition. Thick hands and distinct faceted indices provide legibility while Grand Seiko’s inimitable Zaratsu mirror polishing alternates with subtle hairline finishing for the case to radiate a quiet glow.
On the back of last year’s debut, Grand Seiko’s much lauded mechanical calibre 9SA5 with a dual impulse escapement, freesprung balance, horizontal gear train and slender overall profile makes an appearance in the SLGH005. Greater energy efficiency in the movement allows the power reserve to be bumped up to 80 hours despite it being a high-beat calibre (5 Hz).
Covid-19 might be preventing us from travelling the world and admiring its many wondrous sights at the moment, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start planning for our next getway once restrictions are lifted. However, given that there is some evidence which support the predictions that Covid-19 might become endemic, it might be wise to seek out destinations off the beaten track where we can still practice social distancing. With that in mind, here is a list of seven world wonders to visit in a post-pandemic era.
Antequera Dolmens
Antequera Dolmens; Image Credit: Courtesy of Conjunto Arqueológico Dólmenes de Antequera
The UNESCO Heritage site is found in the south of Spain, in the heart of Andalusia. It is made up of three megalithic monuments, the Menga Dolmen, the Viera Dolmen and the Tholos of El Romeral which surround the city of Antequera, and two natural monuments, La Peña de los Enamorados and El Torcal de Antequera. Each stone slab that makes up the Antequera Dolmens can weigh up to 180 tons, more than thrice the weight of the slabs at Stonehenge.
Baalbek
Baalbek (Heliopolis), Lebanon ; Image Credit: Courtesy of Photo by Fred Nassar on Unsplash
Along with the Parthenon and the Colosseum, the Phoenician city of Baalbek formed a holy travel trinity for thousands of pilgrims who worshipped the Roman gods Jupiter and Bacchus. Baalbek was the largest temple of its kind and was more akin to a small city than a single religious site. The ruins are located in Lebanon, far from the city of Rome, which is historically significant as it marked the far eastern territories of the Roman empire back in its heyday.
Nahanni National Park Reserve
Nahanni National Park Reserve; Image Credit: Courtesy of Orange Smile
The 7.4-million-acre Nahanni National Park Reserve in Canada is where you will find some of the most breath-taking geological formations in North America. One of them being the stunning Virginia Falls, standing taller than even the iconic Niagara Falls at 300 feet. Thankfully, far fewer people come to the waterfall every year which makes it an ideal place to visit post-covid for those who are still cautious of crowds. Much of the park’s canyons, granite spires and lakes sit within the ancestral homeland of the indigenous Dene people, giving it an ethereal, spiritual beauty.
Top End Rock Art
Top End rock art; Image Credit: Courtesy of World Wondering Kiwi
To really understand a nation, look into its people. The Aboriginal people of Australia have been a part of the country’s story for millennia and have chronicled their heritage through beautiful pieces of rock art. Some of the most stunning works can be found at Top End, on the Northern Territory’s northernmost tip. Many of the paintings around Kakadu National Park and Mount Borradaile are over 60,000 years old and show prehistoric fishes, Dutch ships, and ancient Aboriginal people, capture in vivid yellows and reds. For those looking to truly dive deep down this rabbit hole, the most alluring of these rock arts can only be accessed by using off-road vehicles and enlisting the help of an Aboriginal elder.
Looking like something out of a fairy tale, 10 miles to the south of Cape Town is where you will find the foliage of kelp forests over twice the size of the Grand Canyon, a vast ecological marvel home to millions of sea creatures. The kelp forests thrive in this specific location because of a natural phenomenon known as upwelling when two distinct ocean currents, in this case the Atlantic and Antarctic, meet and bring with them a wealth of nutrients. As mentioned, the kelp forests here are teeming with life, with each unit area containing as much ecological diversity as a tropical rain forest. It served as the backdrop to the documentary My Octopus Teacher, but you’ll find more creatures than just octopuses such as the seven-gill cow shark which is endemic to South Africa.
San Agustin Statues
San Agustin statues; Image Credit: Courtesy of Chris Bell
Guarding the Colombian mountain settlement of San Agustin, are the several hundred megalithic statues and religious monuments. They form an eclectic landscape of gods and mythical creatures, depicted in a broad range of style from realist to abstract. They are believed to have been erected around 2000 years ago by a northern Andean culture, holding some religious significance, before being abandoned in the 1300s. It’s a perfect example of the ancient origins of many techniques and styles used in contemporary art today.
Sigiriya
Sigiriya A.K.A. Lion Rock; Image Credit: Courtesy of Photo by Dylan Shaw on Unsplash
The ancient palace is a stunning fusion of human architecture and natural wonder being hewn from a gargantuan rock mound. It was established by King Kashyapa, a rogue king in fifth century Sri Lanka, who declared it as his stronghold. The 660 feet tall palace is a Sri Lankan architectural wonder, featuring frescoes, cisterns, landscaped gardens, and a long winding stairway leading to the citadel. Sigiriya has been nicknamed the Lion Rock by non-natuve speakers on account of the massive paws carved into its rocky base and holds a special place in the country’s cultural history.
Fashioned from stainless steel, the UNA Portable Charcoal Grill will not easily deform and boasts excellent heat retention for extended grilling sessions.
La Datcha is Damen Yachting’s first 77m SeaXplorer
Heliskiing and volcano visits on the Russian Far East’s Kamchatka Peninsula are among activities offered to charter guests aboard Damen Yachting’s recently-launched luxury SeaXplorer 77 La Datcha, described as “a unique project never seen before in the yachting industry”.
Availability is from July to December and the rate is €740,000 (about US$885,000) a week plus 30 per cent advance provisioning allowance. Bookings are reportedly brisk.
After that, La Datcha heads for Cabo San Lucas, a sportfishing mecca on the Pacific Coast of Mexico’s Baja California, and then, via Chile, to the Ross Sea in Antarctica.
Two master suites, two VIPs and two more 40sqm suites make good use of the vessel’s huge volume
Other exotic cruises, some working with EYOS Expeditions, are to include the Bering Sea and Alaska, the Northwest and Northeast Passages, Arctic Svalbard and Greenland, as well as remoter parts of Micronesia, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu. Southeast Asia, Maldives and the Seychelles are in the schedule, too.
Says La Datcha’s website: “The Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas and their islands are undoubtedly beautiful, but altogether they amount to only 5 per cent of the world’s coastlines. Most luxury superyachts never venture any further, leaving 95 per cent of routes unexplored. If you are willing to go off the beaten track, we are there for you.”
Each individual suite has a bathroom with bath or shower, and walk-in wardrobes
In Kamchatka alone, Marketing and Sales Director Dasha Tinkova talks of brown bears, tundra wolves, Arctic foxes, snow sheep, reindeer, moose and muskoxen. The 1,250 km peninsula almost encloses the Sea of Okhotsk, where La Datcha will position for some charters, and offers all six species of Pacific salmon, Arctic narwhales, beluga whales and walruses, plus superb diving.
Huge sea eagles soar overhead and this remarkable “land of ice and fire” has 160 volcanoes, 29 of them active, in a World Heritage Site. Klyuchevskaya Sopka at 4,750m is the highest volcano in the Northern Hemisphere. Close offshore, the mysterious Kuril-Kamchatka Trench is 10,500m deep.
A chess nook is located in one of the lounges
To tackle such environments, a very special vessel is needed, so the owner’s team, project managers, designers, builders, EYOS and others combined to produce an ocean-going charter yacht reflecting Amels’ advanced superyacht outfitting abilities on a tried and tested Damen Yachting SeaXplorer hull.
Says Rose Damen, the builder: “The SeaXplorer is a design and concept that appeals to those who are excited by the idea of adventure and exploration, but are still looking for that crossover with luxury yachting. That is exactly where La Datcha’s journey began.
Backgammon is an option, too
“The owner wanted to bring a whole new approach to the explorer market. A yacht built for adventures in the far-flung corners of the world, without any compromise on the luxury experience, and with a commercial goal. This was to be a yacht intended for charter in both polar and tropical regions.
“With such a vision, our goal was to deliver the first purpose-built Explorer yacht in time to charter a few weeks after delivery. We took our SeaXplorer range as the build platform for this 77m vessel.”
Russian designer Vasiliy Shprits was asked to create a warm and natural interior, while still being chic and unusual
EYOS Expeditions was aboard from the outset, and Damen says it benefitted hugely from their operational know-how and experience. This was the key in achieving a level of capability “that cannot be found in traditional superyachts and conversion designs”.
“We incorporated hundreds of operational design features based on real expedition experience, and were able to customise and build to the owner’s brief, including many unique features which truly make her one of a kind.”
Casual lounges and different dining facilities are a hallmark of the vessel
That brief began forming in 2017, when the owner took an interest in an Amels 60 Limited Editions design, attracted by the clean vertical lines of the axe bow, but once he saw the SeaXplorer concept, this instantly became his designated project.
Azure Yacht Design was called in. They had created the SeaXplorer series exteriors for the Damen Group as a development of the latter’s famous Yacht Support Vessels, a hybrid that combined the strength of the Damen Sea Axe hull and lines with the more classic beauty and luxury of subsidiary Amels superyachts.
Look-alike 9.26m ‘mini me’ limousine tender doubles as rescue boat
Parent Damen is an enormous family-owned Dutch defence, engineering and shipbuilding group that has businesses in 120 countries, based at Vlissingen near the Dutch-Belgian border, with access there to the North Sea.
Erik Spek of Azure says: “The challenge was to make a commercial and potentially bulky-looking vessel look dynamic, yachtlike and well proportioned.
“As it was going to be a fully committed explorer-type yacht, we wanted to use a strong conceptual incentive to visually ‘protect’ guests on board. By wrapping the colossal bow around the superstructure, the exterior design both visually and literally created the yacht’s armour against the sea and ice.”
Three-person Triton 1650 submarine is likewise finished in custom La Datcha colours
Other exterior design features include an observation post in the bow for activities like whale watching or perhaps observing arctic scenery, and a ‘floating band’ in the profile continues forward of the panoramic interior observation lounge, providing an extra sense of security. There’s also a custom lifeboat cum limousine tender that is a replica of La Datcha herself, a sort of ‘mini me’, which when stowed, blends beautifully into the hull and its Saharan tan colour scheme.
The aluminium mast’s Crow’s Nest offers an extraordinary 360-degree viewing point, and the forward observation lounge on the upper deck likewise affords spectacular 270 degree vistas.
Two helicopters are carried by regulation in polar waters
La Datcha refers to a second home in Russia, also spelt dacha. Traditionally it is a small cottage in the woods, where Russian people spend their holidays and weekends. This floating cottage spans six decks and offers luxury accommodation for 12 guests in six suites, including two masters and two VIPs. Each comes with an ensuite bathroom and walk-in wardrobe.
The owner’s suite on the principal deck is an expansive 95sqm and on the upper deck it is 67.5sqm. This can be combined with a 35sqm suite to form an apartment-style set-up. The three other suites are 40sqm, the same size as VIP suites aboard an Amels 242 Limited Edition, so La Datcha really does deliver luxury volume within its 14m beam. Ceiling heights are 2.2m.
Jacuzzi pool on the upper deck is one of many places to relax and watch the scenery drift past
She carries a crew of 19 bolstered by up to six expedition-related staff such as helicopter pilots, heli engineer, and expedition guides for specific activities.
Initial Build Captain Darren Wakelam says: “La Datcha’s 6,000nm range and 40-day autonomy at sea gives us enormous capability to cruise to remote areas, which tend to be more rugged and offer more wildlife. Her voyage to the Russian Far East is sure to be fabulous. It is pretty much the end of the world. Hard to access, unspoiled, and very, very few yachts have ever travelled there.
Observation areas are custom created throughout
“Without doubt, she’s built to a high standard both externally as a ship and internally in the luxury spaces. She looks rugged and capable, and with a well-appointed interior, promises adventure. I have zero doubt that she will make good on that promise.”
As La Datcha is now well under way, two further Captains, Alistair Reed and Alexander Baronjan, are handling the vessel in rotation. Custom interiors are created by Russian architect Vasiliy Shprits, who has previously focused on private residences and luxury resort fitouts. Apart from the comforts of the salons and lounges, guests have an extra-large beach club with sauna, steam room, massage and gym.
Ice bar feature is over 3m long, made of clear epoxy resin and can be illuminated in various colours
Natural oak, leather, bronze, marble and onyx are blended with stone mosaics and woollen rugs to create chic and unusual aspects while still being simple and warm, with adventure as the underlying theme.
There is a sideboard with 3D leather panelling, and a featured ice bar 3.2m long and made from almost completely clear epoxy resin. It looks like a real block of ice and can be illuminated in different colours.
The vessel itself is Ice Classed and built to the latest IMO Polar Code. Other parts of the Damen Shipyards Group construct Ice Breakers and Coast Guard Ships, so they already had state-of-the-art expertise in these fields.
Another attractive al fresco dining area is tucked in behind a bulkhead for protection from the wind when La Datcha is under way
The Code now includes having a reinforced Ice Class 1C Ice Breaker hull, and stabilisers are retractable to avoid being trapped by drifting ice floes or submersed logs.
She is fully equipped for world class heliskiing with two helicopters, a certified helideck and below-deck hangar, ski room, snowmobiles and avalanche safety equipment, and is designed to carry an impressive inventory of tropical equipment for ocean exploring, such as a dive centre, three-person Triton 1650 submarine finished in La Datcha colours, wave runners, more toys and watercraft, and three large tenders.
On the port side is a Fassmer, custom designed and built rescue boat cum limousine tender of 9.26m. On the starboard outside is an 8.5m Beachlander, and inside a 9.1 m RIB tender, both by Insider Yachts.
Three wave runners in custom colours supplement an enormous array of other toys and watercraft in the dive centre and beach club aft
La Datcha is designed to deliver 40 days of autonomy at sea thanks to extra-large stores for provisions, laundry, luggage, fuel, waste-water holding tanks and garbage management. There is also a hospital aboard, close to the crew quarters, where the crew gym is located. Having a hospital is a formality required by class, and it has complete quarantine facilities, including its own separate air-conditioning and sewage systems.
Project management for the owner was conducted by Alexander Pizano of Fraser, and charter bookings may be made via Victoria Verhovskaia at agents Edmiston Monaco.
