Issue 11: Reflection

In the Reflection Issue, we take stock and reflect, making the time weigh things up… but also just to admire some nice shiny stuff too.

In an exclusive conversation, jewellery makers, designers and experts Duffy, Fernando Jorge, Beanie Major and Darren Sherwood discuss the challenges that social media and oversaturation pose for their industry. We visit Lasvit in Bohemia and Riedl in Bavaria to see how some of the world’s best glassmakers defy physics, chemistry and received wisdom in their quest for perfection – fuelled by the occasional weak beer.

We speak to gilder, ideas man and raconteur Colin Mullins, who left school at 14 without being able to read or write and now does prestigious work for the Queen – and even got to drank Captain Cook’s wine. Meanwhile, Emma Peascod talks us through her unique, mirrored surfaces, inspired by the landscape of Cumbria, Australia and Japan.

But we also offer a more meditative take on reflection this issue: Mulberry founder Roger Saul explains how he gave up fashion for a second career as an organic spelt farmer. Francis Kurkdjian tells us why the twilight hours are the most magical and productive for him. Food critic Matthew Fort takes a long, hard look in the mirror – while artist and medical phenomenon Marcel Schreur explains how he has survived cancer and dementia and lived tell his tale.

We also get some sage, timely advice from philosopher Zygmunt Bauman – from the perils of living in Facebook bubble to why humans thrive in a crisis. In this supposedly ‘post-Truth world’, it’s reassuring to see the smartest man in the room announce ‘I don’t have any answers – but I have a lot of advice’

Who’s the fairest of them all?

Click here for International orders