WAY OF THE DRAGON
Hublot’s collaboration with Chen Fenwan celebrates the horological year.
The year of the dragon is upon us and Hublot has jumped in with a timely collaboration with Chinese artist Chen Fenwan to launch the Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon. The watch draws inspiration from the traditional Chinese art of paper cutting in the way it layers its hands, wheels and H-shaped screws to form a 3D silhouette of the eastern version of the mythical creature.
Limited to just 88 pieces, the watch combines tradition with modernity in celebration of the celestial symbol that represents luck, strength, and wisdom, not to mention the embodiment of life and immortality.
Equivalent to the year 4722 in the Chinese calendar, 2024 marks the year of the Wood Dragon. Through artist Chen’s paper-cutting expertise, Hublot pays homage to wood through the natural fibres that form the soul and spirit of paper.
This piece is a metaphor for the “Art of Fusion” and the art of continually reimagining materials and their areas of expression. This Hublot creates a different way to interpret times, through the multidimensional layers to form a dragon’s silhouette.
The dragon’s head made up of five layers that alternate between hands, wheels and
H-shaped screws, with a body and scales that extend onto the strap. It takes on the features of nine different animals. A dragon whose metamorphosis has taken place over several thousands of years. Under Chen Fenwan’s touch, this sacred animal, talisman and totem, celebrates one of the greatest cultural legacies of Chinese art: the art of paper cutting.
Hublot invites Chinese Tradition into 2024 with a Hublot first - a rubber strap with a marquetry design. In a 42 mm titanium case, Hublot transposes the layered effects of paper cutting into a multi-level dial construction overlaying a base panel with several levels of appliqués that incorporate the aesthetic codes of Hublot’s components. The dragon silhouette extends onto the rubber strap, which features a rubber marquetry motif. Each of the dragon’s scales is coloured and nano-vulcanised to be integrated into the strap. This delicate decorative operation is carried out entirely by hand and takes around eight hours per strap.
The Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon comes with an HUB1710 automatic movement and power reserve of 50 hours, and a second, titanium-grey Velcro fabric strap.