Exploring the unspoken class system of modern dating

Remember that viral song on social media from last year: “I’m looking for a man in finance, trust fund, 6’2”, blue eyes”? Well, it hit the nail on the head by alluding to that very thing that everybody is aware of but nobody likes to talk about when it comes to dating: money. The dating game is a romance marketplace which has always placed as much importance on good income as it does on good looks and good values; nowhere is it more obvious than in Celine Song’s new movie Materialists (2025). The film’s central dilemma—will Dakota Johnson’s character Lucy choose between wealthy Pedro Pascal’s Harry or struggling actor Chris Evans’s John—isn’t just entertainment; it’s a documentary of contemporary dating’s brutal mathematics.

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Art has long been a significant draw for luxury travel. However, well-heeled travellers are no longer impressed with merely a few recognisable paintings hanging on the wall. It takes an authentic and personal approach to make art a true draw. It’s more powerful when it’s effortlessly blended with the surroundings and becomes part of the holistic experience for you to rest and reflect.

Leading the movement of making art an integral part of luxury hospitality is Chateau La Coste, which has been making waves ever since it opened in 2011. Sitting in the golden light near Aix-en-Provence, not far from the mountain of Sainte-Victoire that inspired Cézanne and other painters, art and architecture are in incredible harmony with nature and a luxurious stay.

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There’s something quietly audacious about a restaurant reinventing itself after twelve years on the stage. In Hong Kong, where dining rooms open, vanish and reappear with dizzying speed, Duddell’s has been a rare constant: a high-end Cantonese destination that doubled as a salon for art, cocktails, brunch and cultural conversation. But constants, as any collector knows, risk becoming background. And so, Duddell’s has emerged from renovation more grown-up, more assured, with André Fu’s interiors and a cuisine that sharpens heritage into the present. Downstairs refines Cantonese classics; upstairs, the Upper Room offers dim sum and cocktails, with the terrace usable rain or shine.

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For all the conjecture swirling on social feeds about Taylor Swift’s engagement ring—was it eight carats, ten or more?—what matters most isn’t weight but the mood the jewel conjures. The choice of an old mine cut, with its telltale squarish curves, generous culet, and almost fleshy, hand-hewn facets, is arguably Swiftian in its subtle rebellion. These stones, once the darlings of the Georgian and Victorian eras, boast a light signature modern diamonds can only dream of. Instead of the laser-like flash prized in today’s market, they flirt with shadow and a soft luminescence, responding to candlelight or a phone’s glow with a deep, enigmatic fire. These imperfect, languid faceted gems defy perfection—they’re for magpies who appreciate story, history and a sense of individuality over technological precision. 

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In Singapore’s architectural lexicon, few typologies are as romanticised—or as rigorously preserved—as the black-and-white bungalow. Built in the early 20th century for colonial administrators and military officers, these mock-Tudor structures were adapted to the tropics with wide verandahs, high ceilings, and louvred windows. Today, they stand as stately relics of a bygone era, monuments to British colonial ambition now recontextualised as some of the city’s most coveted luxury properties.

Among them is this storied residence at 9 Goodwood Hill. Set on 66,202 sq ft of land with an estimated gross floor area of 7,421 sq ft, it is nestled in one of the most pristine clusters of 26 conserved bungalows in Singapore. 

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