Posted on Tue, 30 Aug 2011
Malmaison, The Temple for Tai Tais
This is how the rich tai-tais shop! After a spa, and afternoon tea with their BFFs, they lumber down in their Mercedes Benz to Malmaison for their retail fix. Located at Knightsbridge (in Singapore’s Orchard Road), here is a temple of luxury, an 8000 sq foot emporium of all things bespoke and fine, to which you enter through private entrances and navigate via private lifts.
Inspired by Château de Malmaison, the famous 19th century abode of Napoleon and Josephine Bonaparte, Malmaison by The Hour Glass is a “retail podium designed to be a sanctuary for objects of authentic luxury housed in an elegant yet eclectic setting”. Definitely a must-go at least once!
With curated collections of items from clothes and shoes to jewellery, books and clocks, Malmaison “endeavours to bring to the forefront an appreciation of the culture of authentic luxury, housing products with soul and perpetual value that can only come about when it has been created through pure artistry and craftsmanship, with a dose of poetry for good measure”. For good measure, they’ve tossed in a giant griffin (left), lots of wood panelling, portraits of Napoleon (above in the Napoleon Room), antique sabres, a fireplace and a couple of taxidermy animals (not for sale!) to bring out a sense of nostalgia and tradition.
What to get there? Well, looks like it’s full of things you could buy as a gift to a head of state or company CEO when on official visits! And even if things here are a little beyond your budget, it’s worth popping in for a good gawk.
The Griffin – a legendary guardian of priceless treasure! – guards the Patek Philippe and Rolex salons downstairs where you can see one of the widest ranges of rare Patek Philippe timepieces and Rolex collections in South-east Asia. There’s also a rare cloisonné enamel Patek Philippe dome clock to admire, and a museum-worthy display of 30 pieces of extremely rare early sports models by Rolex which span 50 years.
There are watches by Panerai, Hublot, IWC, Audemars Piguet, A. Lange & Sohne, Jaeger LeCoultre, Ulysse Nardin; Reuge music boxes and birds, Cire Trudon candles ensconced in their individual bell jars, Pierre Corthay shoes, bespoke Napoleonic fabrics, trinkets by Aurelie Bidermann and Shamballa.
Upstairs things take on a delicate air, marked by a Steinway piano and a stuffed peacock (above, right next to the stuffed rearing rabbit). Here, you see bejeweled horology by Cartier, Harry Winston and Piaget, stones of Glajz Collections Prive, and if you’ve been hunting around for while, this is where you can lay your hands on Argyle pink diamonds, one of the rarest stones in the world and set in exquisite tiaras, necklaces and bracelets, funky Mawi ‘candy’ and Marjana Von Berlepsch’s leather bracelet and necklaces. There’s also Frédéric Malle perfumes and Taschen coffee table books. Perfect for Christmas!
