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Everything new in beauty this February 2022 that we’ve had our eyes — and our hearts set — on.

Skincare lines, eye serums and creams and so many red lipsticks. Here’s this month’s roundup of the newest must-have fragrances, makeup, skincare and other beauty products to add to your collection now. And make sure to check our previous instalments here!

New in Beauty This February 2022

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Skincare
Makeup & Fragrance

Skincare

Caudalie x Harvard Medical School Premier Cru Collection

Expert skincare brand Caudalie has partnered with genetics professor Dr David Sinclair of Harvard Medical School to bring us the new Premier Cru Collection, which features patented TET8TM technology to remove signs of ageing, aiding the natural production of collagen, elastin and hyaluronic acid.

That means slowing down worrying visible features like deep wrinkles, fine lines, and dark spots while supporting your skin’s firmness, elasticity, and radiance. Like all its products, the line is clean with no endocrine disruptors, no irritants, no animal-derived ingredients and no non-biodegradable ingredients.

N°1 De CHANEL Red Camellia Revitalizing Serum

Chanel’s new No1 beauty collection is dedicated to a distinctive red version of founder Gabrielle Chanel’s favourite flower: the camellia. In particular, the skincare line features potent infusions of the red camellia, harnessing its anti-ageing and nourishing properties.

Our pick is the lightweight gel-texture serum, which works to reduce the appearance of wrinkles and pores, and improves skin elasticity. And the collection makes every effort to be more sustainable, with 30 percent less packaging as well as refillable products.

Estee Lauder Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Brilliance Serum

From Estee Lauder, the Re-Nutriv Ultimate Diamond Transformative Brilliance Serum is a skincare gem (see what we did there?), made with a potent infusion of the brand’s exclusive Black Diamond Truffle Extract and Vitamin C to reveal brighter, more radiant skin that’s noticeably firmer and more supple.

SHOP HERE

Hourglass Equilibrium Instant Plumping Eye Mask

New from Hourglass Cosmetics, the aptly named Equilibrium Instant Plumping Eye Mask is a powerful treatment for the eye area, hydrating and plumping while reducing the look of puffiness and eye bags. Its gel formula is infused with one plumping and one cell-balancing complex. What more could you need?

La Mer The Eye Concentrate

Celebrity-favourite skincare brand La Mer has created the ultimate eye cream: The Eye Concentrate. Promising to be your solution to fine lines, wrinkles and dark circles, the fast-absorbing cream is made specially for the delicate area under your eyes, and is powered by a concentrated form of the luxury brand?s cell-renewing Miracle Broth™, brightening molasses, soothing kelp, and lime tea.

NARS Light Reflecting Skincare Collection

NARS? all-new Light Reflecting Skincare has been expertly developed to hydrate, smooth, firm and plump your face ? delivering glass-like skin that promises to reflect light.

The line-up includes a lightweight gel-cream moisturiser, a peptide- and hyaluronic acid-packed eye and lash gel, a clarifying treatment, a restorative skin barrier-strengthening night treatment and, perhaps the standout, a dual-texture firming serum that harnesses the power of gold fortified peptides, red snow extract and encapsulated baobab oil. The collection is available in NARS stores, boutique counters, and the brand’s eShop.

The Ordinary Salicylic Acid 2% Solution

One of the most asked-about products from The Ordinary, the previously discontinued 2% Salicylic Acid product is back and better than before. An exfoliator created for blemish-prone skin, the Salicylic Acid 2% Solution is designed to clear dead skin cells that can contribute to clogged pores, aiding in your skin’s clarity.

If this version is still too strong, consider the Salicylic Acid 2% Anhydrous Solution, a gentler approach to decongestion and exfoliation that delivers the active acid in a slower manner.

YSL Beaute Eye Reboot Concentrate

A new addition to the brand?s Pure Shots range, the Eye Reboot Concentrate from YSL Beauty promises to help your skin-fatigue recovery, combatting signs of exhaustion on the face where it shows up first ? the contours of your eyes.

Beautifully complementing the Night Reboot Serum, this lightweight concentrate features antioxidant-packed moonlight cactus and a unique caffeine complex. Apply a single pump to the eye contour day and night, and use in tandem with the serum for best results. It’s available to purchase at Lane Crawford.

Makeup & Fragrance

Dolce & Gabbana Beauty Sheerlips Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm

The first lip care product from Dolce & Gabbana Beauty, the Sheerlips Hydrating Tinted Lip Balm is infused with Dolce & Gabbana Beauty?s Mediterranean Glow Complex and sunflower seed wax to deliver hydration, all-day comfort and a subtle touch of colour. It comes in four flower-inspired shades in signature D&G gold packaging.

Gucci Beauty S?rum De Beaut? Fluide Matifiant Primer

Gucci Beauty?s S?rum de Beaut? Fluide Matifiant is the brand?s first mattifying primer, with a gel formula developed to suit and care for all skin types while keeping makeup looking fresh all day. It can be used alone to even out complexion and blur the appearance of pores, or to blend seamlessly with foundation for a natural, long-wearing look.

SHOP HERE

Hourglass Confession Lipstick ? Red 0

Previously released as a special-edition item, Hourglass’ Confession Lipstick in shade Red 0 is back. Featuring a one-of-a-kind vegan red, this is one of the few (perhaps only) red lipstick on the market that is truly cruelty-free and completely vegan. Instead of the beauty industry’s standard red pigment made from crushed female insects, this lipstick used no animal by-products, harming no animals in its production and testing.

SHOP HERE

Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Shine On

The new Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Shine On lipsticks are shaped like a professional lip brush, allowing you to effortlessly outline and contour the lips while it delivers rich, luminous colour. Its hydrating, plumping formula is thanks to hyaluronic acid and red cranberries. It?s available in 20 vibrant shades, encased in luxurious red packaging.

SHOP HERE

NARS The Love Affair Collection

NARS is celebrating Valentine?s with The Love Affair Collection ? cult favourite products and the brand?s bestsellers in limited-edition gold and red-heart encasing. The line includes products you?re bound to have tried and loved before, including the Natural Radiant Longwear Cushion Foundation, Light Reflecting Pressed Setting Powder and Radiant Creamy Concealer.

Tom Ford Most Wanted Satin Matte Reds

Tom Ford has released the Most Wanted Satin Matte Reds collection, a glorious selection of scarlet and crimson lipsticks in a luminous, saturated formula that promises to leave lips moisturised and plump-looking while delivering a satin-matte, full-coverage finish.

diptyque Eau Rose EDP and limited-edition Candles

To celebrate the brand?s signature Eau Rose eau de toilette, diptyque has created the Eau Rose eau de parfum ?imagined up by perfumer Fabrice Pellegrin, with a more intense fragrance from the same blend of fresh green leaves, petals and stems from the Damascus rose and centifolia roses as the original, but with the addition of the ?upcycled? firad rose.

Make sure to check out the four specially-decorated candles designed to mark the occasion, that revolve around the floral tone and complementary accents: Roses, Camomille (Chamomile), Artichaut (Artichoke) and Litchi.

(Hero image courtesy and image 10 courtesy of Tom Ford, featured image and image 1 courtesy of La Mer)

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Here's everything new in beauty this January 2022 that we've had our eyes — and our hearts set — on.

From fashion brand Moncler's first-ever fragrances to the debut of magnetic false eyelashes in Asia, here is this month's roundup of the newest must-have fragrances, makeup, skincare and other beauty products to add to your collection now. And make sure to check our previous instalments here!

New in Beauty This January 2022

Gucci Flora Gorgeous Gardenia Fragrance

It’s difficult to tell what’s most intriguing about Flora Gorgeous Gardenia, the newest fragrance from Gucci: the floral but delicately sweet scent or the stunning bottle it comes in. The perfume blends white gardenia with jasmine grandiflorum and pear blossom, with a touch of brown sugar accord, for a captivating but never overpowering fragrance. And the lacquered pink bottle — featuring the Flora pattern originally created for Gucci in 1966 by artist Vittorio Accornero, now re-imagined by creative director Alessandro Michele — is a standout.

Nonfiction For Rest Fragrance

The sixth signature scent from minimalist Korean beauty brand Nonfiction promises to be sophisticated and modern, with a simple monochrome identity and a fresh woodsy musk scent created by master perfumer Barnabé Fillion. The main notes include hinoki, frankincense, Turkish rose, yuzu and nutmeg. In two sizes, Nonfiction For Rest Fragrance is available at Sephora Hong Kong.

Jimmy Choo Beauty Capsule Collection

Jimmy Choo has launched a make-up and fragrance capsule collection, comprising lipsticks and an exclusive set of six concentrated perfumes. Scents include notes of iris, vanilla, rose, white musk and oud wood. The entire collection is available at a Beauty Botanica pop-up in Landmark until the end of this month, and at select Jimmy Choo boutiques.

Moncler Pour Femme & Moncler Pour Homme Fragrances

Best known for skiwear, Moncler has released its first fragrances: Moncler Pour Femme and Moncler Pour Homme. The scents are the work of four master perfumers who created concoctions that pay homage to the brand’s alpine identity — the fragrance duo share a unique mountain wood accord exclusive to Moncler, and are housed in flask-shaped bottles.

NARS Lunar New Year Collection

If you’re already missing NYE celebrations, ring in the CNY with the Lunar New Year Collection from NARS, which includes two limited-edition products in traditional red and gold packaging. We love the look of the Taj Mahal Quad Eyeshadow — an ultra-luxe four-pan palette inspired by the brand’s classic blush shade — that features a yellow-gold shimmer, a light peach shimmer, a multidimensional burnt-orange shimmer, and a purple-red matte.

MATCHY! Magnetic Lashes

Touted as the first magnet-based false lash brand in Asia, MATCHY! has debuted in Hong Kong with a range of falsies that snap on without the need for glue. Whether you’re a novice or an expert, they promise to give you the lash look you’re after — delicate and natural-looking, thick and full, long and luscious — in no time, and with little effort or mess. The brand carries black and brown lashes in 12 styles and is available at matchylashes.com

Guerlain Orchidée Impériale Foundation Concentrate

Harnessing the brand’s exclusive brightening technology, Guerlain’s new Orchidée Impériale Foundation Concentrate is a skincare–makeup hybrid that delivers intense hydration, high coverage and a flawless finish for up to 10 hours. Velvety to the touch, it adapts to the contours of the face while avoiding bleeding into wrinkles and fine lines — ideal for those with mature or textured skin who seek a natural look.

Kérastase Chronologiste

The rejuvenating Chronologiste range from expert hair care brand Kérastase harnesses the power of three star ingredients — hyaluronic acid, vitamin E and abyssine — to deeply nourish the hair, repair damage and protect your strands from external aggressors. Products include a pre-shampoo hair cleanser, a gentle revitalising shampoo, a hair mask, fragrance hair oil, a heat protectant and a hair serum.

Dior Addict Lip Maximizer Serum

One of the French luxury brand’s star beauty products, the Dior Addict Lip Maximizer plumping gloss is now available as a lip care-focused clear hybrid gloss-serum. The Dior Addict Lip Maximizer Serum promises 24 hours of hydration, nourishing and smoothening the lips with the use of mallow extract, 100% natural-origin hyaluronic acid, a blend of sensorial oils and vegetable waxes, and a peptide that helps stimulate collagen.

Tatcha Red Camellia The Kissu Lip Mask

Tatcha’s bestselling The Kissu Lip Mask is getting a tinted update, featuring the same smoothening and plumping formula with a brand new subtle red hue. Harnessing the nourishing properties of Japanese peach extract, squalane and camellia oil, the non-sticky jelly lip treatment is now available in a limited-edition “Red Camellia” form inspired by the striking red flower of the same name, exclusively at Lane Crawford.

Chloé Eau de Parfum Naturelle

A new addition to french luxury house Chloé’s signature perfume collection, Eau de Parfum Naturelle is a 100-percent natural-origin fragrance developed with ethically sourced ingredients and lower-impact packaging. Featuring the Maison’s fresh woodsy-rose scent, the formula is vegan with water and naturally derived alcohol and free from artificial colouring.

Burberry Matte Lip Colour

British fashion house Burberry has added an all-new Matte Lip Colour to its Burberry Kisses lipstick line — a luminous matte with hyaluronic acid to ensure hydration and comfortable wear on the lips, and an intense colour payoff that promises to last the whole night. Packed with pigment, it only needs one stroke for high coverage. It’s available in 20 shades, including the luxury brand’s signature colours: Red, red-brown Russet, Soft Pink and Burgundy.

Gucci Beauty Rouge De Beauté Brillant

Gucci Beauty has added three vibrant new shades to its Rouge De Beauté Brillant hybrid balm-lipstick line — a burnt-orange Lucy Dark Orange, a dark-pink Diana Amber and an Abbie Maroon Red. Sitting between a sheer and satin finish, the deeply moisturising formula features a concoction of flower oils, fruit butters and hyaluronic acid to deliver hydration and a lip-plumping effect. It’s available now at all Gucci Beauty counters.

Benefit Brightening Face Primer

Benefit’s “that gal” Brightening Face Primer is now available in three shades, with two new colour-correcting options to help even out your complexion and create the perfect base for make-up application. With raspberry, chamomile and oat-kernel extracts, the silky lotion-like primer comes in a Silky Pink for a rosy glow, a Silky Lavender to brighten and cover sallowness, and a Silky Green to conceal redness.

And, while stocks last, here are a few of our holiday collection picks...

The holidays may be over, but there's no deadline on picking up a skincare kit or makeup duo. Grab them while stocks last.

Fenty Beauty Resting Peach Face

We loved everything in the holiday collection from Fenty Beauty — especially the brand new 12-pan Bomb Posse Mega Mix & Match Eyeshadow Palette — but our pick of the bunch is the limited-edition Resting Peach Face duo. Featuring two best-selling cream products in all-new set-exclusive peach shades — a full-size Cheeks Out Freestyle Cream Blush and a mini Gloss Bomb Cream Color Drip Lip Cream — it’s perfect for a soft wash of peach colour to the cheeks and lips.

Hourglass Cosmetics Unlocked + Caution™ Mascara Duo

This limited-edition gift set from Hourglass Cosmetics features the brand’s bestselling mascaras — Unlocked Instant Extensions Mascara and Caution Extreme Lash Mascara — that deliver length and volume to your lashes with long-staying power and absolutely no flaking. Layer both for the most impact, using Caution to build volume and finishing with Unlocked to lengthen. As part of Hourglass’ cruelty-free mission, 5 percent of the annual profits from Unlocked Mascara will be donated to the Nonhuman Rights Project, a US organisation that works to secure fundamental rights for animals.

Drunk Elephant Kissy Face Skin Kit The Babyfacial Routine

Drunk Elephant’s holiday collection included four kits that promise to strengthen your skin’s barrier. Our eyes are on the Kissy Face “softening routine” set, featuring two full-size cult favourites — the TLC Sukari Babyfacial AHA/BHA skin resurfacing chemical exfoliant and the Lala Retro Whipped Cream moisturiser that rescues the skin’s acid mantle.

(Hero image courtesy of Dior, featured image courtesy of Gucci)

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Here's everything new in beauty this winter 2021 that we've had our eyes – and our hearts set – on.

Festive face palettes, liquid blushes and more; these are the must-have beauty products to add to your collection now.

Hourglass Cosmetics Limited-Edition Ambient Lighting Palettes

As part of its holiday collection, Hourglass Cosmetics has released two limited-edition five-pan Ambient Lighting Palettes featuring its best-selling finishing powder. Our pick is Universe Unlocked, with three new shades — deep berry, bright peony and metallic champagne — joining the existing warm bronze and golden beige. The cruelty-free vegan palette is also part of the Unlocked collection, from which 5 percent of annual profits are donated to the Nonhuman Rights Project.

Charlotte Tilbury Cryo-recovery Facial Recovery Duo

Inspired by cryotherapy and the art of facial acupressure, Charlotte Tilbury has created a cooling eye serum and an intended-for freezing face mask that promises to visibly smoothen, depuff, lift and firm the skin. The range harnesses the power of Swiss Glacier-soil bacteria, ice wine and a potent caffeine complex. The highlight looks to be the silicone reusable facial mask, which allows for mess- and drip-free application while boosting serums and essences, and comes with metal beads to target acupressure points on the face, as well as gel bead pockets to firm the contours of your face.

CHANEL Beauty Les Beiges Water Fresh Blush

The Les Beiges line from Chanel beauty is all about delivering a healthy glow, with products that give you a luminous complexion, are comfortable to wear on the skin and are easy to apply. The latest addition is the gel texture water-fresh blush, formulated with micro-droplets that melt on the skin and Give a hint of colour to The cheeks. Go for a Subtle rosy glow or Build up to the intensity You desire. It’s available In four shades.

Laura Mercier Grand Ball Holiday Collection

Laura Mercier’s Grand Ball holiday collection is packed with the brand’s must-haves, from its bestselling translucent loose setting powder to a travel-sized trio of foundation primers. Our favourite is the Mini Caviar Stick Trio: luxurious easy-to-use cream eyeshadow sticks with intense, buildable colour in shimmer and matte finishes. The entire collection is available now.

Everything from TruNomad

Drawing from its founders’ Central Asian background, TruNomad is a natural skincare brand from Kazakhstan that harnesses the benefits of mare’s milk. Full of vitamins and minerals, the superstar ingredient promises to nourish and hydrate even the driest skin. The products are free of parabens, sulphates and synthetic fragrances, and range from hand and body washes to creams and soaps. TruNomad is now available in Hong Kong.

NARS Holiday 2021 Unwrapped Collection

There are so many beautiful holiday collections out there that it’s hard to pick just one. NARS’ festive offering includes soft matte and sheer lipsticks, a mini brush set, a glowy cushion foundation, a cheek palette and mini eyeshadow palettes. Touted as stocking stuffers, the mini palettes for eyes feature six tiny pans in matte and shimmer finishes. Buy it for a friend or keep it for yourself — we’re definitely tempted. The collection is available now.

Byredo Shimmering Lipsticks

Byredo has just launched four new soft shimmering nude lipsticks — a high-intensity purple-pink, a vibrant rose, a glittery pink and a true warm nude — that promise to be multidimensional, luminous and hydrating. It's available to purchase at select Byredo beauty counters.

Gucci Beauty Beauté  Des Yeux  Floral Eyeshadow Palette

The first eyeshadow palette from Gucci Beauty has arrived – and it’s nothing short of stunning. The Palette Beauté des Yeux Floral comes with 12 shades in satin, matte and metallic finishes in a beautiful nature-inspired colour story: think burnt ambers, rose pinks, warm browns, purples and a pastel sky blue. The striking gold-trimmed black palette looks set to become a keepsake; with a removable tray that you can use once you finish up the pans.

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As Chaumet's CEO Jean-Marc Mansvelt tells us, bringing the house's 240-year heritage into the modern era is an immense task that amounts to a "daily obsession". But if the new pieces in the Chaumet Joséphine collection are anything to go by, the Place Vendôme stalwart is heading in the right direction.

What kind of woman today does the Joséphine collection appeal to?

First, it’s about a woman with a certain character. Because when you choose to wear a tiara on your finger, you’re making a choice of distinction, a choice of character. You’re sending a message to say you’re not like everyone else and you have a certain strength and a certain personality. But also a sense of virtuosity, grace and beauty, because it’s not for women who want to be too provocative.

It’s a way to set your personality. And then of course, there are two major reasons to become a client of Joséphine. On one side, it remains one of the favourite pieces chosen for a bridal purpose. It’s connected to the initial history of Chaumet, the history of the power and love between Napoleon and Joséphine. And Napoleon is known everywhere, that’s incredible. There’s another type of client on the other side of the connection with the pearls, the coloured stones, something a bit easier and more accessible.

This year, Chaumet's creations have also incorporated sleeker, more modern takes on the tiara. Can you tell us a bit about the new high jewellery?

After many creations that were a bit more tiara-like, a bit more decorative, more visible, more baroque in a certain way, we wanted to enrich the collection with new ways to mix and match, and to go for designs that were slicker, with a more minimalist approach, because that’s also the style of today. We have a feeling that clients today are a little more understated, and we have the capacity to create beauty through a fine line, rather than an accumulation. So one of our high- jewellery pieces, which is sort of a V with a stone in suspension, doesn’t shout about its design. It’s all about balance.

This year is the 10th anniversary of the Joséphine collection...

But we don’t mark it that way for two reasons. I always feel that if you start doing anniversaries for everything, then at the end, what’s the meaning in it? Last year, when we did the 240 years of Chaumet, that was slightly different. For Chaumet, our heritage is much longer than a decade, it’s about centuries. Instead, this year, we’re celebrating our connection with the 200th anniversary of the death of Napoleon, which is significant in Europe and in France. We’ve done an exhibition at 12 Place Vendôme that was open to the public which tells the love story of Napoleon and Josephine through 150 different objects, beautiful loans from museums and private owners.

Which piece proved to be the most challenging piece in the collection?

The most discussed and the most debated one was the watch. Because we’re clearly a jeweller, and we’ve focused all our efforts and attention on jewellery. But since a few years ago, we’ve reassessed and repositioned what watches mean for Chaumet. It’s true that with the business of watches within Chaumet, we’ve really tried to be coherent with what the story of watchmaking for Chaumet is as a jeweller. One of our challenges was to look at the market – in the market, 90 percent of watches are round – and nobody’s waiting for Chaumet to create a round watch, because we already have thousands of beautiful options on the market.

We decided on a shaped watch, and it wasn’t very difficult to settle on the pear shape, like an illusion of a diamond. We also faceted the watch’s dial.

How do you balance 240 years of heritage behind a brand and stay relevant at the same time?

That’s really the obsession every single day. How do we continue the narrative, the link to the story? Since the pandemic, we’ve seen clients choose Chaumet because there’s longevity. And so it becomes a daily obsession of ours to convey this message to our clients through different means, including the digital approach, so we can speak to the needs of our audience today. We also go through the traditional channels and have books and exhibitions. I regularly write down on paper in two columns: on one side, how much do we tell the story of Chaumet, and on the other, how do we take a contemporary approach, either through the narrative or through using different tools? I take a step back and ask myself is there a balance? If we’re going too much in one direction, maybe it’s time to rebalance. It’s in everything we do.

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Most of us know Wil Fang as the founder of Cookie DPT and Carbs. To his friends however, he's a bit of a hoarder. From sneakers and collectibles to a budding watch collection, the connoisseur of classic all-American fare tells us about his collecting habits, his quartet of Rolexes and what makes him tick.

Wil Fang will tell you he’s no watch collector – yet. He’s merely starting out, dipping his toes in. But step through the doors to his apartment that’s decked out in all sorts of collectibles – from Bearbricks to the Mr Moncler figurine created by artist Craig Costello and various Louis Vuitton x Supreme items – and you’ll see telling signs that he has the potential to become a very serious one.

That is, if his sneaker collection is anything to go by. Fang has a room lined with floor-to-ceiling shelving, dedicated to housing his 400-plus pairs of sneakers. At a glance, there are autographed Air Jordans, limited-edition Off-Whites, Fear of God, and more. His collection is still growing; he points to a couple of boxes stacked on a Supreme logo-ed folding chair – “I haven’t worn those yet,” he tells me.

Fang’s interest in sneakers grew from childhood – his first pair of Jordans was from his mother, when he was in third grade. He also has a single Jordan shoe, signed by the entire Chicago Bulls team, which he displays in a glass box.

“I even have a magazine signed by Dennis Rodman, Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan after they won 72-10,” says Fang, referring to 1995-1996, when the Chicago Bulls set the record for the most wins in an NBA regular season. “I’m a huge Jordan fan and I always wear Jordans. He was my idol growing up.”

But back to watch collecting: “I’ve had quite a few watches, but I’d say the first serious timepiece I own is this Rolex, which my wife gave me on our wedding day,” says Fang.

The watch in question is a Rolex Submariner, in steel with a black dial and bezel. “When my wife got it for me, it wasn’t crazy expensive,” he continues. “Five years ago it wasn’t even difficult to get, like it is today. Things have definitely changed.”

Rolex was the definitive watch of Hong Kong culture, the ultimate milestone watch that you’d get for a special occasion. “It’s almost like the standard entry-level watch here,” says Fang. “Everyone’s got some sort of Rolex, whether it’s a Sub or a Milgauss – for a lot of my friends here, it’s very normal for them to get a Submariner for graduation or when they land their first job.”

The watch Fang got for himself when he got his first pay cheque, however, wasn’t a Rolex. When he graduated with a double major in mechanical engineering and business management from Bucknell University in 2005, he joined Ralph Lauren and was quickly sucked into the company culture.

“We weren’t required to wear any particular uniform, but as a young professional, you see your bosses walking around in suits and nice watches, and you start becoming part of that culture,” Fang recalls. “And, you know, it’s aspirational.”

And soon enough, his interest was piqued. The first watch he bought for himself with his own salary was a TAG Heuer Link chronograph, which he still owns. “In Hong Kong, maybe it’s not a big deal, but back then, when you’re 22 years old in the States, it’s a pretty nice watch. It was a gift to myself.”

Later, as Ralph Lauren ventured into timepieces, Fang also invested in a dress watch. “It was unnecessarily quite expensive,” he says with a chuckle. “It was a Ralph Lauren watch and I probably should have put that money into something else, but it’s a prototype model. It’s definitely sentimental and I’ll never sell it or get rid of it. It’ll stay in my collection.”

Later, Fang’s work brought him to Hong Kong and, in 2016, he found himself in Taipei with a group of friends launching a fashion retail concept store called DPT. “It was one of those dream-come-true situations,” says Fang. “I’m half-Taiwanese and Hong Kong was home, so I was commuting weekly back and forth from Taipei for
two years.”

It was at DPT that Fang’s sneaker collection really flourished. “I’m a sneakerhead,” he says, enthusiastically. “I’ve had sneakers my whole life, but when you open your own shop and brands send you 50 pairs and you could have your first pick, it was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve made it.’”

Owning the sneakers – and the watches – was only part of the thrill. A huge part of what makes the community so exciting was the hunt for a good bargain, the relationships you build with your authorised dealers, and the full experience of receiving the goods.

“The cool thing about collecting is like, once you have it, you have it, but there’s also a story of how you got them, whether they’re sneakers or watches,” says Fang. “I’ve seen my friends pick up their watches at a VIP house and it’s a great day, you know, everyone’s excited and they come with a bottle of champagne. It’s all part of the process.”

After his wedding Submariner opened the floodgates, Fang picked up a “Panda” Daytona with a black ceramic bezel, an Explorer and a vintage “Pepsi” GMT Master with a faded bezel, explaining that Rolex was an easy entry point to collecting for him. “I like things that are more modern, a bit more subtle and sleek,” he says. “White gold or steel and black. Something that’s very clean and not too flashy.”

“Collecting watches is definitely a more expensive hobby. It’s not like collecting suits or sneakers,” says Fang. “But what I like about it is the community. It’s much smaller, more intimate. I don’t even consider myself a watch collector at this point, but from an interest perspective, I really like the circle. They come from all places – from F&B, fashion, finance, entrepreneurs – you meet so many interesting people through collecting. And a lot of them are successful, so it also gives me the drive and the mentality to work hard in my own businesses too.”

That drive is serving him well. Unfazed by the pandemic, Fang and the DPT Group are launching a takeout pizza business called Carbs – “I’m playing the devil’s advocate,” says Fang.

“Covid isn’t such a happy time but seeing the success of a fast-moving takeout delivery business gives us the confidence that, even in the toughest times, Carbs will be OK.” And how could it not be? Comfort mac-and-cheese, authentic Chicago deep-dish pizzas, fried chicken, and hands-down the best spicy vodka fusilli I’ve tasted. Perhaps as Hong Kong’s appetite for Fang’s goods continues to grow, so will his watch collection.

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