Hublot introduced its latest timepiece collaboration, and its latest new case material, this week in New York with the launch of the Hublot Classic Fusion Aerofusion Chronograph Special Edition Concrete Jungle, a 50-piece limited edition co-designed with renowned street artist Tristan Eaton.
Distinctive features of the watch can be found in both the front and back. In the front is a bezel made of concrete and epoxy resin, with a gritty look and texture that evokes the streets of New York’s “Concrete Jungle,” which provide the watch its nickname. It is the first time that Hublot — which has long been known for its use of unusual and experimental materials — has used concrete as an element in its watch cases. On the glass caseback window is a miniaturized version of Eaton’s well-known graffiti art piece, “Liberty,” painted in September 2012 at the corner of Mulberry and Canal Streets in New York’s Little Italy, showcasing the artist’s signature collage technique.
Beyond the ceramic bezel, which is held by Hublot’s familiar H-shaped screws in black PVD-polished titanium, the rest of the 45-mm case is machined from microblasted black ceramic, with black composite resin for the bezel lugs. The watch, which has a nonreflective sapphire crystal over a clear sapphire dial, is 13.4 mm thick and water-resistant to 50 meters. The movement is Hublot’s automatic, skeletonized HUB1155 caliber, which stores a 42-hour power reserve and is equipped with a chronograph function. The stop-start and return-to-zero pushers for the chronograph are in microblasted black ceramic. The subdial at 9 o’clock tallies 30 elapsed minutes, while the small seconds subdial at 3 o’clock is emblazoned with Eaton’s personal logo. The date appears in a window at 6 o’clock. The applied hour indices and hands all have a microblasted, rhodium-plated finish. Two straps are available, one in gray calfskin with black rubber lining (pictured above), the other in black synthetic textile over black rubber lining (below).
The Hublot Classic Fusion Aerofusion Chronograph Special Edition Concrete Jungle will be available for purchase exclusively in Hublot’s two New York City boutiques, and priced at $19,500. Below, check out a few live shots of the watch taken at this week’s launch event.
