Quality time: Graff Eclipse Tourbillon

One of my favourite rooms is the magnificent Delaire Graff Restaurant designed by the late David Collins for the Estate. Its curvaceous bright orange banquets snake their way around white linen-clad tables adding to the theatre of ‘bistro chic’ dining. There is, however, no room here for superficial theatrics. Every last detail is carefully observed and executed in much the same way as a bold piece of Graff fine jewellery or MasterGraff wristwatch.

Home-grown fruit, vegetables and herbs from the greenhouse and gardens bring extra layers of seasonal flavour to innovative chef Michael Deg’s creations. On wintery afternoons, the best seat in the house is in front of the roaring fire from where the curious eye can survey the room. For my appetizer, I settled into the highly recommend seared tuna, lightly crusted in a delicious cumin-based North African chermoula crust, served with a zesty coriander gremolata and carrot hummus. As this place encourages indulgence, this was followed by a tasting of West Coast oysters accompanied by the incredibly finessed ‘Sunrise’, their 2015 Chenin-driven Cremant de Loire blend MCC. A clever and totally yummy lunchtime version of breakfast soldiers are the truffle and parmesan chips served with aioli and a soft boiled egg for dunking. No matter what your preference from the mains, make sure to add these on the side.

The Graff collection at this years BaselWorld fair builds on their already impressive range of luxury watches, yet it was not the sizable 48mm GyroGraff World with three-dimensional moon phase, the intricate detail of a 46mm MasterGraff Structural Skeleton, or the artistically crafted Floral Tourbillon, which caught my eye. This year’s evolution of the more ‘subtle’, ultra-slim, lightweight, all-black DLC-coated 43mm GraffStar Slim Eclipse — less than 7mm thick — is the Eclipse Tourbillon powered by a new automatic tourbillon calibre with peripheral rotor. Its faceted bezel although inspired by a perfectly cut diamond is more of a Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit ‘Stealth Bomber’ for your wrist. Everything is black, from the Graff icon at noon to the black diamond-tipped crown and black alligator strap. The competition is stiff for World’s Thinnest Tourbillon or Tourbillon Movement and although there’s no cigar here yet, with an over all weight of just 45g you’d hardly know it was tucked under your tuxe when you lifted one up to take a long puff.

The Eclipse Tourbillon is priced at $60000 (approx R800000), the GraffStar Slim Eclipse about a third of this.

The Graff jewellery boutique at Delaire Graff is currently closed for renovations and will reopen on 1st October 2017. delaire.co.zagraffdiamonds.com+27218858160