COLOURS OF THE WORLD
Spice up your life with Hublot and Takashi Murakami’s second collaboration, featuring the artist’s iconic smiling flower motif, this time in rainbow colours against the background of transparent sapphire
AN INITIAL VISIT to the Hublot manufacture in February 2020 enabled Takashi Murakami to familiarise himself with the work of a watchmaker and timepiece design. This triggered a creative process that resulted in the very innovative Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami, inspired by Murakami’s icon, the smiling flower.
Thanks to an ingenious ball-bearing system developed by Hublot’s engineers, its petals started turning. The center of the smiling flower was inserted onto the sapphire glass, creating a unique three-dimensional effect to go along with its wide prominent smile. For an even more pronounced effect, the petals (456 brilliants) and face (107 brilliants) were set with black diamonds.
A real rock star in the contemporary art world, Murakami is distinguished by his very modern style that offers a subtle reflection between Japanese tradition and pop culture. He masterfully achieves this result by combining leading-edge multimedia tools with traditional Japanese techniques such as gold leaf.
Following up on the success of their first joint effort last year, Hublot and Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami have recently unveiled the second timepiece of their collaboration, the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow. This new watch takes the smiling flower, the iconic motif of Murakami, and transforms it into a whirlwind of transparency and colours.
Continuing to transpose the artist’s
Kawaii world into horology, Hublot created a unique setting with this new work of art, a transparent background through which we can contemplate both the artist’s work and the intricate mechanics of the watchmakers in Nyon. Reusing the characteristic features of the Classic Fusion model, the 45mm case is cut from sapphire crystal, a technological feat pioneered by Hublot.
The smiling flower presents a mischievous smile on a three-dimensional face that literally emerges from the watch dial, extending out beyond the sapphire crystal. Twelve colourful petals rotate around this face, and their polychromatic effect is achieved by setting 487 stones representing the colours of the rainbow: rubies, pink sapphires, amethysts, blue sapphires, tsavorites, yellow and orange sapphires. Thanks to an ingenious ball-bearing system specially developed by Hublot’s
“TWELVE COLOURFUL PETALS ROTATE AROUND THIS FACE, AND THEIR POLYCHROMATIC EFFECT IS ACHIEVED BY SETTING
487 STONES REPRESENTING THE COLOURS OF THE RAINBOW”
engineers, the petals start turning under the watch crystal and bring Takashi Murakami’s smiling flower to life.
In the beating heart of the watch, Hublot has placed the company’s HUB1214 calibre, here without the stopwatch function. This movement boasts a power reserve of 72 hours.
Explaining the advantage of working with Hublot, Murakami said, “This partnership with Hublot has enabled me to express my creativity in what is a totally new medium for me. The mastery of the watchmaker’s technicians has opened new fields of possibilities for my inspiration. The result is this new watch in the colours of the rainbow.”
As for Hublot, CEO Ricardo Guadalupe said, “Our continuing collaboration with Takashi Murakami is taking us to new lands of expression as yet unexplored by the watchmaking world. In this work, artistic creation and our company’s know-how intertwine to give birth to a work of art you can wear on your wrist!”
Targeting Contemporary art insiders, the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow watch is available in a limited edition of 100 numbered pieces.