Hands-On: Chinese Paper-cutting Art Meets Watchmaking in Hublot's Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon
The dragon is truly making a grand entrance on the dials of luxury watches this year. Hublot, too, pays tribute to the Chinese New Year heralding the Year of the Dragon with a special edition, the Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon, which is driven by the automatic caliber HUB1710 with a power reserve of 50 hours. This statement timepiece highlights traditional Chinese paper-cutting art, aligning with Hublot's philosophy "The Art of Fusion." Its tonneau-shaped titanium case has a diameter of 42mm and is water-resistant up to 100 meters.
For this limited edition of 88 pieces, Hublot collaborated with Chinese paper artist Chen Fenwan. She designed a dragon motif using traditional Chinese paper-cutting techniques and incorporated typical features of Hublot watches. The dragon's head on the dial is formed not only by sharp teeth and flame-like lines but also by the shapes of hands and gears, with two H-shaped Hublot screws representing the eyes.
The artwork features shades of pink, blue, gray, and white. These four colors continue on the rubber strap in marquetry style, essentially forming the dragon's scaly body. Behind this is a time-consuming and meticulous process: each individual scale had to be dyed and nano-vulcanized, a task achievable only through manual work. In addition to this strap, Hublot provides a second titanium-gray fabric strap.
Pricing for the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon is marked at $29,500.
To learn more, visit Hublot, here.
