22 December

More on luxury. The core human act is imitation. Comparing yourself against others and copying them. Imitation has a hierarchy, people aspire to be like the ‘best’. In societies that leads to classes, and there’s always a top-level, whether it’s royalty, or style-setters in consumer goods, or the best exponent of a particular skill etc. Luxury is imitation on steroids, the pinnacle of comparison. The Crown Jewels are not just beautiful, they represent the top of a pyramid of comparison and imitation stretching right down to the lowest members of society.