This special ‘al fresco’ episode of the podcast is all about 'collecting masterpieces' — investing in luxury, celebrating beauty, and building a covetable collection of anything, from cars to watches to wine. Recorded at Hampton Court Palace at the annual Concours of Elegance car show — and made in partnership with our good friends at German watchmaker A. Lange & Söhne — it features Simon Cundey of Savile Row tailors Henry Poole; Evan Zema, collection manager for Bruce McCaw; and Wilhem Schmid, the CEO of A. Lange & Söhne. Enjoy.

David de Rothschild is an explorer, conservationist, and Breitling watch ambassador. He looks a bit like a more handsome Jesus, and is, in many ways, the older brother you've always wanted. He’s got a ripping yarn for any situation, often with the battle scars to match — like the time he danced for an Ecuadorian chieftain, at gunpoint, to Kajagoogoo. Or the time he sailed a catamaran made of plastic bottles around the world.

In a thoroughly enjoyable episode, David tells us why GDP is the worst metric for success; why advertisers should pay a dividend to nature; and why fear, actually, can be a very good thing. 

Johan Obel and Clemens Boeninger run the Drug Store — the UK’s foremost and finest seller of CBD. And if you don’t know what CBD is, you soon will — the cannabis extract is behind one of the biggest new industries of this century, and it's being applied in a huge amount of treatments and supplements. The market around it, meanwhile, is predicted to be worth some $22 billion by 2022.

For two young guys, Johan and Clemens are annoyingly switched on, and their ideas around start ups are applicable to anyone interested in starting a business. Enjoy the episode.

Our thanks again to Mark's Club for playing hosts. Excellent olives. 

Davide Cerrato is the Managing Director of Montblanc Watches and one of the most fascinating figures in modern watchmaking. 

In a special episode recorded down at Hound Lodge on the Goodwood estate — Montblanc, of course, are the official timekeepers for Goodwood’s Festival of Speed — Davide tells us why we should always strive for imperfection; how he lost his favourite ever watch as a young man; and why we should all try to stay five years old forever. 

Jean-Baptiste Lecaillon is the chef de cave at storied champagne house Louis Roederer, and one of the leading voices in this ancient and enigmatic industry.

This was an incredibly fun episode to be a part of — Jean-Baptiste brought a couple of bottles of champagne along to the recording, and over a flute or six we spoke about his predictions for the world of wine, the truth about biodynamic champagnes, and why all wine, really, is about our childhoods. Enjoy.

Our thanks to the Savoy for playing hosts. 

Our guest on today’s episode is Nick Wheeler, the founder of Charles Tyrwhitt. Now a true pillar of the high street and perhaps the best known shirtmaker in Britain, Charles Tyrwhitt began when Nick started flogging shirts by mail order at university. In the decades since, it’s had monumental highs and a couple of lows — in fact, Nick tells us how the brand very nearly went bust twice, and how he’s learned just as much from these near failures as he has from his successes.

Recorded at the hub of Charles Tyrwhitt operations in London Bridge, in this episode Nick tells us why he’ll never, ever sell the business; how the high street might just save itself; And why he keeps a beard in a jam jar.

Our guest on today’s episode is Simon Kidston, perhaps the best known vintage car broker and connoisseur in the world. Born into a motoring family, Simon was destined to work with cars — and what he doesn’t know about the things really isn’t worth knowing. Today, he’s a world authority and private advisor and who helps the likes of Ralph Lauren and Marc Newsom get their hands on some of the rarest cars on the planet.

In a very enjoyable episode, Simon tells us how to make your own luck, how to make a career out of your passion, and how he once took the Batmobile for a joy ride.

Our thanks to Mark's Club for playing host

Alexandre Mars is a serial entrepreneur and the CEO of Epic Foundation, a groundbreaking charity platform. Epic focuses on taking the grey areas and worries out of charitable giving, and builds philanthrophy into the structure of all the companies it works with.

Alexandre has been described as the “French Bill Gates” — and the comparison is pretty fitting. A businessman from his teenage years, Alexandre has started and sold a series of successful tech companies, before finally turning his skills and his fortune to humanitarian problems around the world. In this episode, we talk about his eerie knack of predicting the future, his love of break dancing, and his brilliant new book.

Our thanks again to Mark's Club for playing host.

Zia Yusuf is the co-founder of Velocity Black, a mould breaking digital members’ club and one of the fastest growing venture-backed technology companies in the world. Zia is one of those tech founders who really does live and breathe his business, and he has an almost philosophical approach to entrepreneurship that I think a lot of business people could learn from.

In a fascinating conversation, we spoke about the secret to all great partnerships, how to create word of mouth publicity, and why we should all chase that 'top of the rollercoaster' feeling.

The Gentleman's Journal podcast is brought to you by Martell Blue Swift

This is a very exciting episode for us  — it marks the first time we’ve ever recorded the podcast in front of a live audience. In December I sat down at the Conduit Club in Mayfair with five of the most exciting young entrepreneurs in London, and spoke to them about their memories and experiences in those make-or-break first days of the start up game. 

We were very lucky to be joined at the Conduit by Freddie Garland of Freddie's Flowers, Daniel Scott of AirSorted, Henry Hales of Sir Plus, Arthur Kay of BioBean, and Archie Hewlett of Duke and Dexter.

It’s definitely one of the most interesting and downright useful episodes we’ve ever recorded, and we’re incredible grateful to Martell Blue Swift for collaborating with us on a very special evening.