Hublot and Takashi Murakami announced their fourth joint artistic project – the launch of 13 new NFTs and 13 unique timepieces. The third collaborative watch collection – following in the footsteps of the minimalist All Black and the opulent Sapphire Rainbow – aims to reward the first buyers of the new watches and collectors of the related NFTs through an exclusive offer.
The 13 unique NFTs accompanying the new collection were inspired by Japanese video games and TV shows from the 1970s, as well as the Takashi Murakami All Black, the result of the first watch collaboration between the artist Hublot, launched in January 2021. The 13 NFTs are linked to one of the 13 new Classic Fusion watches that will be presented at Watches & Wonders 2023 in Geneva.
One of these 13 watches is the master watch of the collection: the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow. Unveiled at an exclusive held at the Glass House in New York on February 2, it combines the aesthetics of the two previous collaboration models, but offers a fresh interpretation of Takashi Murakami’s iconic emblem: the smiling flower.
The 12 petals of the flower in this watch form a circular gradient of rubies, sapphires, amethysts, tsavorites and topaz. The petals create a dizzying spectacle of colour as they spin on an axis with each movement, thanks to an innovative new ball-bearing system developed by Hublot’s engineers. The kinetic effect of the petals creates a striking contrast against the 45mm black ceramic case.
The centre of the smiling flower is placed on top of the sapphire glass to create a three-dimensional effect. Powering all 13 watches is the Unico calibre set in the emblematic Classic Fusion design. It offers 72 hours of power reserve.
The 12 remaining watches feature one of the 12 colours featured on the master watch’s petals; twelve references for the twelve petal colours of the master watch. These 12 watches will be available for purchase exclusively on the OpenSea trading platform.
This platform can be accessed only by the owners of at least one of the 324 NFTs issued in April 2022. These 324 NFTs were offered to owners of one of the two previous Hublot x Takashi Murakami watch models – the All Black and the Sapphire Rainbow. These 324 NFTs can be exchanged on OpenSea.
The period between the announcement of the project in New York, earlier this month, and the start of sales in early April 2023 in Geneva will allow collectors interested in one of the new watches to collect one of the NFTs available on OpenSea. Each buyer privileged to purchase one of the 12 new unique watches will receive a corresponding exclusive NFT.
As the second step, collectors will then have a period of one year during which they will have the opportunity to trade the twelve NFTs on OpenSea. In April 2024, at the end of this period, the collector who has managed to collect all 12 of the new unique NFTs will be eligible to purchase the master watch of the collection: the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow. In the event that no single person manages to gather all twelve NFTs, the watch will be auctioned by Hublot to raise funds for charity.
Commenting on this innovative approach to exclusivity, Hublot CEO, Ricardo Guadalupe said: “Faithful to its history, Hublot is once again first, unique and different in how it rewards its collectors, providing them with privileged access to both ownership of and trade in unique artistic pieces.”