Hublot and artist Daniel Arsham make a splash
“YOU’VE SEEN A DROP of water fall upon a calm water surface before?” the CEO of Hublot, Julien Tornare, asks me. “The first ripple creates a swell, and it does not appear transparent. It’s opaque. When [Daniel and I] were discussing the design of the [MP-17], he wanted to find this effect. And I thought the logic behind it was right.”
Tornare is explaining the intention behind the bead-blasted finish to the domed sapphire crystal bezel, which is a first in the watch industry. Sapphire crystal is typically used so we can see the inner workings of a mechanical movement; frosting it undoes this material quality.
Tornare’s explanation of the inspiration behind the MP-17 MECA-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire illuminates the frosted finish and much more. The smoothly fluid and matte-finished titanium case band, naturally curving and amorphous dial with an inclined flange, and smooth curves of the “ears” of this modified Big Bang case, align with the concept of a droplet falling onto a calm water surface. The Droplet refers to Hublot’s earlier limited-edition, transformable pocket-watch project with American artist Daniel Arsham. And the smooth surface likely reflects the calm exterior of Hublot’s research team . . . until they heard about what Arsham wanted to do.
In a separate interview, Arsham said: “When I received the sample of the sapphire crystal, I was looking at the back of the sample – I think it’s just the unfinished side of the material and I thought that was interesting. So, I asked if we could use this and the team’s response was, ‘We don’t know’. It took a lot of testing before we managed to develop something that was of a quality and standard we were both satisfied with.” One reason for this is the potential for breakage during manufacturing and machining. Durability is important when you’re spending AU$104,000 on a timepiece. But it also encouraged Arsham to continue to push boundaries with Hublot. “I was at the manufacture and saw what the rejection rate of this frosting process was. It’s not easy to have a partner that is willing to invest in innovation to achieve a goal. So, I really appreciate that,” he adds.
MP-17 MECA-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire
When Daniel Arsham and Hublot first connected, it was through retailer The Hour Glass (THG), which has been a long-time partner of the brand. THG chairman Michael Tay thought Arsham’s artistic vision of the tension and cohesion between historical artefacts and the present and future aligned with Hublot’s modern identity set against the centuries-old industry of watchmaking. He was right. The Splash also aligns with Tornare’s plan for Hublot, which he remarks is the “first watch brand that he’s worked for that’s younger than him”.
He comments that apart from the essential factors required to work with a watch brand, such as the need to incorporate a movement like the MECA-10, or the size of a timepiece, he prefers to allow artistic collaborations as much freedom as possible. With the MP-17, Arsham began developing the project from the MECA-10 movement, which has a 10-day power reserve and is a brand icon. The various core elements of the highly skeletonised movement, such as the rack and pinion for the power reserve display and twin barrels, plus supporting bridges on the back and an improved construction to fit on a smaller 42mm case size. It also does away with lugs, fitting the strap directly to the case and thus creating a very compact and easy-wearing wristwatch.
Arsham explains: “We had a lot of different prototypes and designs, and comfort was something that was essential to this project. My installations and art works are objects that are not designed to be touched, and timepieces like the Droplet and Splash are meant to be lived with daily. It’s very different. So, we paid a lot of attention to the texture, the feel of surfaces, the way it felt on the wrist. Even the ‘ears’ and crown and bezel are specially developed with that in mind.”
There are, in fact, two references [versions?] of the Splash that have been developed. The second features a highly skeletonised tourbillon calibre that is optimally placed to maximise the amorphous dial and comes in an 18-piece limitation. All have been sold. Tornare remarks: “In fact, during this time, Daniel had commented that we should have made more, because it’s doing so well commercially. But there are limitations when we use highly innovative solutions to production, and one of those is quantity. We could not have produced more.”
As he drives the brand forward, cherishing its values and traditions of innovation and setting new norms, Tornare also plans to focus more communications around the watchmaking capabilities of the brand. It’s something he feels has been undersold for much of the brand’s past. He hints: “We are going to reimagine the Big Bang in a different way. The Classic Fusion, as well. I’m working on that, going back to the roots of the Italian elegance of our founder, but also to introduce new movements, complications and a new level of finishing, so that Hublot can position itself as a high-end watchmaking brand, but always with a disruptive, creative way of interpreting watchmaking.” Under his direction, the brand looks set to make an even bigger splash in coming years.
Related:
