TIMEPIECES
Hublot & Marc Ferrero celebrate the 21st Century Woman | BY NIKITA VIVEK PAWAR
In turn, wife, mother, friend, lover, businesswoman, femme fatale, fashion icon, or a night owl, for every hour of the day, the modern woman sets herself apart as unpredictable, multifaceted, and unique. Artist Marc Ferrero finds his muse in the multifaceted and headstrong woman of the 21st Century to epitomize his creations in collaboration with Hublot. It wouldn’t be false to say that the Swiss luxury brand has redefined luxury and its definition with some of the most interesting ventures since its inception in 1980. Deriving its name from the French word for ‘porthole,’ the brand has brought a newer perspective to style, horology, and art. From the concept of fusion to creating a smart system to detect counterfeits, Hublot has always been innovating and reinventing. The Swiss brand was also the first brand that used natural rubber straps for a gold luxury timepiece – a result of three years of research and development and $1 million to find the right method to reduce the chances of cracking or staining of the rubber strap. The first watch created by Carlo Crocco, founder of Hublot, which was showcased at the 1980 Basel Watch Fair, failed to attract a single potential customer at the fair but later on went to be a commercial hit making over $2 million worth of business. Not only did it become an integral part of the sports watches, but it also got a respectable stature in the world of luxury timepieces. This very rubber strap was the founding stone of the ‘Art of Fusion’ literally as well as metamorphically! Combining various contrasting 10 | UPSCALE LIVING MAGAZINE | JUNE 2020
elements became synonymous with Hublot’s ethos. EXCITING COLLABORATIONS While there have been many partnerships with brands in the art, automobiles, music, and more, the brand further went to be the first luxury watchmaking company to be soccer and sponsor the Swiss National Soccer team in 2006, a bold move that might have raised eyebrows within the watch world. Still, it proved to be a smart move as the players wore their Hublot Big Bang ASF bringing the Swiss watch brand into the limelight. The brand has had a keen eye for artists and creators that could add a possible vision and parallel thinking to the world of art as well as be integrated into the world of horology and craftsmanship. The collaborated with Carlos Cruz-Diez in 2015 highlighted Cruz-Diez in kinetic art - a disruptive art form that places the spectator’s perception at the center of the piece to question the purpose and status of a work of art. The collection brought an array of colors in constant motion, changing in potentially infinite combinations. Beyond the purely visual effect, the horological color composition changes and evolves with the passing of the hours, minutes, and seconds, mirroring other works by the late artist. THE BIG BANG COLLECTION When Jean-Claude Biver joined Hublot in 2004, he wanted to take the brand to reach a new level. Reaching back to Hublot’s roots
