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Day: 26 July 2022

Artcurial’s Auction Week pulls in nearly €20 million

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/07/2022

Artcurial’s biggest event of the year in Monaco, Auction Week at the Hermitage Hotel, secured €20 million in sales of luxury items and art, marking a 32% rise on last year. Here are the items that fetched top price.

Artcurial closed Auction Week at the Hôtel Hermitage with a bang.

The sale, dedicated to jewellery, watches, Hermès and other branded luxury handbags, comic strips and art, drew a vast number of international collectors this year, exceeding expectations on all fronts. The addition of Monaco Sculptures and a selection of vintage comic strips offered an added bonus to Artcurial’s selection, giving buyers a chance to consider items they may not have thought of collecting before.

Running from 17th to 21st July, the auctions were preceded by an exhibition that was open to the public, giving all a chance to peruse what was going under the gavel.

Piaget reigned supreme in the watch sales with 15 lots on offer, including a rare malachite piece that sold for €111,900. An Audemars Piguet, the special edition of the Code 11.59 model, sold for an eye-watering €708,500.

The jewellery sale was marked by a real bidding battle for an extraordinary emerald-cut 17.50 carat diamond which went for €1,274,400.

Hermès, the legendary leather goods maker, was once again at the heart of this summer session with its iconic models in a huge variety of colours and materials.

Bernar Venet, Acier Corten

“I am happy to take up my duties during this new summer sales session, which is still a great success,” said Olga de Marzio, the newly appointed Director of Artcurial Monaco. “I experienced this week of vacations alongside the teams who, as always, worked to present the most beautiful pieces of jewellery, watches, Hermès and luxury bags, Monaco sculptures and comic strips. We are proud to close Artcurial’s semester of sales with a result of nearly €20 million.”

Artcurial hosts regular auctions throughout the year, featuring art, design pieces, wearable art, cars, books, and more.

Monaco Sculptures, the giant works of art that are dotted throughout the Principality thanks to a partnership with SBM for three years now, pulled in close to €6 million in sales with 80% of the lots sold. Bernar Venet obtained the highest bid of the evening with lot 801, 223.5°Arc14 at €524,800. Meanwhile, a world record was set for the comic strip La Tétralogie du Monstre, which achieved €82,800.

 

 

Top photo: An extraordinary emerald-cut 17.50 carat diamond went for €1,274,400

 

 

 

Xiaoxin Yang: “Sport is never easy, especially during key moments”

by: Luke Entwistle
26/07/2022

After taking out gold at the Mediterranean Games in Oran, Algeria last month, Monegasque table tennis star Xiaoxin Yang sat down with Monaco Life to talk about what it is like to represent her adopted country.

Table tennis has always been Xiaoxin Yang’s passion. Born in China, Yang embraced her country’s national sport from a young age before moving to Europe to ply her trade as a professional with stints in France and then Italy. But it is in the Principality where she has flourished and proudly represented the Principality’s colours.

Seven years after being naturalised in Monaco, she was holding aloft the Principality’s flag at last summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, in what she described to Monaco Life as “a source of pride”. Her journey in Japan ended in the third round with a defeat at the hands of Chinese player Sun Yingsha.

Even prior to that impressive showing in the Olympics, Yang showed that she was capable of vying with the best. She came up just short in the 2018 Mediterranean Games in Tarragona, but that competition provided her with the motivation and the momentum to go one better at this year’s games.

A number one ranking going into the tournament was validation of her improvement. “In 2018 I finished second, it’s true that in the past four years I have progressed well and that’s reflected as well in the global rankings,” she told Monaco Life.

A number one ranking can sometimes be a curse rather than a blessing, but Yang didn’t let any complacency seep into her game.

“I told myself that I am number one going into this competition but that doesn’t mean anything, because if you don’t play well you can lose against anyone. I prepared my matches well, and as the number one, everyone was a bit scared of me. When I’m preparing for every match, I am wary,” she said.

That level of preparation showed in her approach to every game, and manifested itself in sheer domination throughout the competition. Yang won three of her matches in straight sets (4-0), including the final against Jieni Shao.

Aware of her capabilities, the extent to which she controlled the final was a surprise to even Yang herself. “Sport is never easy, especially during the key moments. In those moments I played well, using the right technique and choosing the right game strategy. Even when I won 4-0 in the final, I was shocked because I was playing against a girl who is difficult to face and I had previously struggled to beat her. So, I am very happy with myself because I feel that I have progressed in every way,” she said.

“Motivated” by the presence of Prince Albert II during the competition, her gold medal in Oran is a yardstick of her progression. Now a top-10 ranked player, Yang dreams of a medal in Paris in two years’ time, but she isn’t getting ahead of herself.

“If I can bring home a gold medal from the Olympics in Paris that would be super, but I need to qualify first. My first objective there is to get to the quarter-finals and not to set the objectives too high. I need to get to the quarters and once I’ve done that we’ll see,” she said.

Although there is still lots of work to be done, should Yang continue her upwards trend, she could write herself into the Monegasuqe history books in Paris in 2024 by becoming the Principality’s first medal-winner.

 

 

 

 

Photo of Xiaoxin Yang, courtesy Monaco Olympics Committee

 

 

 

Covid latest: circulation falls for second consecutive week

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/07/2022

Both Covid case numbers and hospitalisations have dropped in the Principality, spurring hopes that the worst of this wave is past as the summer hits full steam.

According to the government’s weekly communication on Monday, there were 180 new cases of Covid-19 recorded in Monaco for the week of 18th to 24th July, down from 287 the previous week. Hospitalisations also are on the decline, with a huge drop to 29 patients, down from 49 the week before, and not a single patient remains in intensive care.

There is even a fall in the number of people being looked after by the Home Monitoring Centre, those experiencing mild symptoms of the virus. Last week the total sat at 85, down from 151.

There were 1,875 PCR and antigen tests administered last week, resulting in a 20.3% positivity rate. The incidence rate, that is the number of positive results reduced to a base of 100,000, has dipped significantly from 733 to 460. The incidence rate had peaked at 994 in the first week of July.

Monaco’s neighbours in the Alpes-Maritimes have a slightly different picture with 1,166 new cases recorded and a positivity rate of 27.5%, which is down slightly on the previous week when it sat at 30.2%.

The incidence rate in the Alpes-Maritimes has also dropped from 1,125 to 867.6, still high but at least heading in the right direction. Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 remain the dominant variants, accounting for 91% of cases.

In all, the trend is currently swinging toward the positive, though there are concerns that this downturn is temporary and that the return to work and school after the holidays will trigger another rise in cases.

 

 

Photo of Monaco by Monaco Life

 

 

 

YCM backs mapping of seabed initiative

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/07/2022

The Yacht Club of Monaco and the International Hydrographic Organisation have signed a letter of cooperation to work together to improve our knowledge of the sea and to cooperate on the crowdsourced bathymetry initiative, otherwise known as seabed mapping.

As part of the ‘Monaco: Capital of Advance Yachting’ initiative, an agreement was signed between the Yacht Club of Monaco (YCM) and the International Hydrographic Organisation (IHO) to assist in the mapping of the seabed, an important and useful tool in helping to protect and better understand the oceans.

The official word is bathymetry, meaning a study of the beds or floors of water bodies, and this science helps experts determine where fish and other marine life live, breed and eat. It also is a great way to monitor coral reefs to better defend them.

In 2017, only 6% of the ocean’s lithosphere was known. Today, that has risen to 23.4%, due to huge efforts made by the Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030 project. The end goal is to map the entire ocean floor by 2030, as part of the actions taking place for the United Nations Decade of Oceanography for Sustainable Development.

Thanks to this collaboration, a data logger was provided to skipper and journalist Alfredo Giacon, who has dedicated the past 12 years to collecting data about the seabed. In his latest mission, he left from Florida’s Port Canaveral, crossing the Atlantic and arriving in Monaco on 22nd July.

The YCM hosted an evening for Giacon, offering members the chance to contribute to his cause.

Photo source: International Hydrographic Organisation

“Learning about the oceans is the greatest mapping adventure of our time,” Dr Mathias Jonas, Secretary General of the IHO, said. “Many mountain ranges, volcanoes and submarine canyons have yet to be discovered and named.”

These small private endeavours are said to improve knowledge of the oceans by sharing depth measurements made by navigational instruments whilst at sea. Called Crowdsourced Bathymetry (CSB), the information can fill in gaps where previously undocumented features, such as canyons and seamounts, exist.

Despite best efforts by many, there are still countless incidents involving superyachts that are not brought to light due to confidentiality agreements that prevent lessons from being learned or shoals being reported to officials. As these vessels travel far and wide, often to places not usually explored, data from them would be highly valuable.

New methods that protect the privacy of the yacht owners while allowing for information to be gathered are now being put to use on some boats. Data loggers are a simple and effective way to collect data via the ships GNSS and echo sounders. Regularly measured features such as depth and under keel position can be stored, downloaded and integrated into mapping initiatives all over the world without revealing up-to-the-minute information on the whereabouts of any given yacht.

With yacht owners’ participation, so much more can be learned about the seas faster, meaning less environmental impact, and damage, will be done. The end result: the oceans are safer and better looked after for all.

 

 

Top photo From left to right: Thomas de Brouwer, Member of the YCM Management Committee, Bernard d’Alessandri, YCM Secretary General Jamie McMichael-Phillips, Project Director ‘The Nippon Foundation-GEBCO Seabed 2030, HE Giulio Alaimo, Ambassador of Italy Rear Admiral Luigi Sinapi, Director of the International Hydrographic Organization, Mrs. Councillor of Government-Minister of Equipment, Environment and Urbanism, Alfredo Giacon, explorer and journalist, Frédéric Genta, Interministerial Delegate for Attractiveness and Digital Transition, Olivier Wenden, Vice-President of the Albert II of Monaco Foundation Claudia Batthyany, Project Manager – Monaco Capital of Advanced Yachting, and Michele Florentino, collaborator and philanthropist

 

 

Serving Switzerland abroad – Insights from Swiss Consul for Monaco

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/07/2022

It was a beautiful summer evening as members of the Club Suisse de Monaco and friends of Switzerland attended a lecture by Andreas Maager, the Consul General of Switzerland for Monaco, based in Marseille.

Mr Maager gave exciting insights into his everyday professional life and inspired the audience with many anecdotes from his various places of work, in particular in the middle east.

Maager has worked for the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) since 1984. As Consul General, the St. Gallen native has already worked in Cape Town and Atlanta. He has been stationed in Marseille since 2021. The Swiss Consulate General in Marseille was founded in 1799 and is one of Switzerland’s oldest consular representations. As part of his duties, Consul General Maager is responsible for around 25,000 Swiss abroad, 3,906 of whom are resident in the Alpes-Maritimes. Around 1,148 Swiss nationals are registered in Monaco, making the Swiss the fourth largest community in Monaco after the French, Italians and English.

The Principality of Monaco opened an embassy in Bern in 1959. Since 2006, the Swiss ambassador based in Paris has been accredited to the Principality. Contacts between the two states take place mainly at multilateral level in the institutions of the United Nations (UN), the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the International Organisation of the Francophonie (OIF).

The Club Suisse de Monaco was founded in 1949 and is a social club that connects the local Monegasque, Swiss and international community and brings them together for events across and around the Principality.

For further information, visit: www.club-suisse-monaco.com

 

 

Photo, from left to right: Dr. Arik Röschke, President Club Suisse de Monaco, Andreas Maager, Consul General of Switzerland in Marseille, and Silvia Mischler, Vice-President Club Suisse de Monaco