Summer reads: Kim Knight on icecream, diamonds and Ashley Bloomfield
The New Zealand Herald is bringing back some of the best premium stories of 2021. Today we take a look at some of the best pieces from Kim Knight.
Romancing the cone: Why we'll always prefer icecream by the scoop
Summer is for falling desperately in love - and eatingicecream.
New Zealanders frequently top world rankings for icecream consumption. One global statistics company estimates we eat an average 28 litres each, annually.
You can't beat a Trumpet. Our Gooey Caramel Memphis Meltdown was a triple-dipped technological world-first. We loved Choc Bars best and longest until Whittaker's Peanut Slab Ice Cream bars finally claimed a top quarterly sales spot. There's no denying this country's novelty, single-serve icecream game is strong - but our love of the scooped cone endures. Ask any New Zealander what their favourite icecream is, and odds are they'll reply with a flavour, not a product.
Kim Knight considers the enduring popularity of icecream in a cone and asks why New Zealand consumes more of the sweet treat than almost any other nation.
The magazine cover shot is gorgeous, but it's the fine print that takes your breath away: Bvlgari Serpenti necklace - $703,386.
When did New Zealand join the market for jewels that cost more than a house in Hamilton?
"Some people get very caught up in being perceived as being fabulous because of their jewellery," one anonymous rich lister told the Weekend Herald.
"We don't have a class system and most people stay under the radar, but they go mad when they want a nice piece of jewellery . . . If you're wearing a $200,000 ring, of course you look more fabulous. I mean, who's kidding who?"
Who pays $700k for a diamond necklace? Or $70k for a watch?
An $85,000 custom-made diamond ring from Orsini Fine Jewellery in Parnell, Auckland. Photo / Jason Oxenham
Brand Bloomfield: T-shirts and earrings and now the perfume
Toasted marshmallows, campfires - and just a hint of hospital pine.
If you could bottle New Zealand's pandemic response it might smell something like this: "Ash Bloom", a new scent inspired by the country's director general of health.
Since Covid-19 sent us into our first lockdown, Dr Ashley Bloomfield's face has been reproduced on earrings, hand towels and T-shirts. There is an apple pie dessert in Christchurch and a baby rhinoceros in Botswana named after him. But if the perfume is a first, it's unlikely to be the last product to cash in on Brand Bloomfield.
In fact, the business of being Bloomfield is no joke.
