Cricket legend Michael Clarke: Hublot is a game-changer “that is never scared to be different”
What’s the best way to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Hublot for the Australian arm of the brand? Through our national sport of cricket, of course. And that’s exactly what Hublot Australia have done, bringing together two Australian cricketing greats in Michael Clarke and Pat Cummins to mark the launch of the new Hublot Classic Fusion 40 Years Anniversary collection. The Hublot Classic Fusion 40 Years Anniversary collection is a trio of new references inspired by the first-ever Hublot made back in 1980. Founder Carlo Crocco was behind the design of this original Hublot, which inspired Jean-Claude Biver and Ricardo Guadalupe to later coin the phrase “the art of fusion”, due to the watch’s solid yellow gold case being paired with a black rubber strap. This was a first for the watch industry and the start of a trend that dozens of brands have followed. Michael Clarke, a former captain of the Australian Cricket Team, has been a Hublot ambassador since 2014, and believes this willingness to evolve and push boundaries has been critical to the brand’s success. “This year has been incredibly challenging for everyone around the world, but thinking on your feet has been more important than ever…
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To celebrate their 70th birthday, luxury watch retailer Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons have released a limited-edition watch with Bovet. The distinctive black and yellow design of the resulting watch is certainly eye-catching. But what makes the Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons and Bovet 19Thirty Dimier U.A.E Limited Edition such an intriguing proposition? Well, to understand the watch, let’s remind ourselves of exactly who we are dealing with. Founded half a decade after World War II, in 1950, Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons is one of the most important luxury retail networks in the Middle East, and indeed the world. Beginning humbly as a single shopfront in Dubai’s souk, the retailer now has dozens of boutiques across the UAE, representing dozens of luxury watch brands. Ahmed Seddiqi & Sons is also the force behind Dubai Watch Week, the biannual watch fair that serves the horological world more as a conference than a trade show. In the years when Dubai Watch Week isn’t held, they put on the virtual Horology Forum (which was thankfully scheduled for 2020, so no physical event had to be cancelled due to travel restrictions), which is, in effect, a summit for the watch world to discuss and debate. Compared…
You know how it is. You spend ages thinking about your next watch – planning, saving, researching, deciding, changing your mind, procrastinating … And then a new release wanders by, flashes its bright shiny dial and you pick it up with hardly a thought. That’s how the sector dial Baltic Bicompax 002 ended up on my wrist. Baltic first revealed its sector dial earlier this year with the limited-edition salmon dial three-hander and chronograph. An immediate hit, it was no surprise when they recently returned with silver, black and blue gilt variants (alongside the time-only HMS 002). It immediately ticked a few boxes for me. Here was a sector dial, manually wound chronograph (with a clear caseback option) in 38mm, from a brand I’d heard good things about. And – at €649 (inc. VAT) – it was priced to tempt. I had previously looked at higher-end sector dials such as Jaeger-LeCoultre’s briefly produced but increasingly sought-after Master Control line and the more recent, pristine Longines Heritage Classic. But while the latter was especially well-priced, I still hadn’t reached for the wallet. That combination of design and price was enough to make the silver dial Bicompax 002 an impulse buy for…
This year was strange, to put it mildly. The pandemic was ever-present, lurking over our shoulder, keeping us locked in our homes and generally limiting our contact with the rest of the world. Fortunately, for those of us into watches, the new releases have continued to flow with manufacturers adapting their release strategies to meet the year’s peculiar demands. Here are my three favourite watches of 2020. Kurono “Mori” One-Year Anniversary Limited Edition In my opinion, Kurono watches have the best ratio of affordability to artistry. Lucky buyers get world-class dials and hands in a classic 37mm case profile that’s beautifully polished all around (besides its brushed caseback). The Mori One-Year Anniversary Limited Edition has a rich emerald green dial that I have yet to even begin to tire of and looks far more expensive than it really is. For under $2000 USD, Kurono manages to provide consumers with completely distinct and original designs from Hajime Asaoka – who, under his own name, creates bespoke watches priced at tens of thousands of dollars. With Kurono, he still manages to bring the same level of attention to detail, blending both bespoke and affordable elements to the watch. The Miyota movement within…
This week we go monochrome in the urban jungle, with the new Hublot Classic Fusion Concrete Jungle New York and an awesome pair of New Balance trainers just dropped on Hypebeast. The gritty edge of concrete is just as fresh as a splash of colour and Hublot’s avant-garde touch is very much present in the elegant form of their Classic Fusion line. This is as tough as it is impressive on a material level, as this is no mere dial or case finish, but actual concrete composite. With a mix of 65-75% fine cement, and epoxy resin, reinforced by fibre glass, how better to embody the Art of Fusion? And damn, does it look rugged in the guise of the automatic chronograph, powered by the HUB1143 manufacture movement and operated via the black ceramic pushers and crown. The dial is a calm and balanced design, with the two opposing registers countersunk, while the indices are simply indented into the silky concrete surface. The greenish grey of the fascinatingly organic micro-pitted smooth surface works perfectly with the black accents, and comes on the comfort of Hublot’s black fabric strap. Fifty pieces of this 45mm street-tough block of haute horlogerie will be…