TIME IN A RED COAT
The collaboration between the Swiss watchmakers and the French artist, launched two years ago, has now given rise to a chronograph designed in a hypnotically bright colour!
Even if you are not an art-lover, and unless you are a Martian, you must have come across the name of Richard Orlinski and, most of all, his easily identifiable works. The Parisian, born in 1966, has been the world’s best-selling contemporary artist for the past few years. His concept series, Born Wild, brings together a sculpted, angular, facetted and highly colourful menagerie, a means of expression transforming negative emotions into positive waves. The collaboration between Richard Orlinski and Hublot was launched in 2017, and has notably produced a limited edition of 200 Classic Fusion Aerofusion Chronograph Orlinski Red Magic watches.
The Red Magic concept make use of the bright-red colour featured in the famous Crocodile Born Wild, the French artist’s first sculpture, dating from 2004. This dynamic colour is used on the ceramic case of the new watch, a real technical achievement by Hublot, given the challenge of colouring ceramic materials. The watch case is 45mm wide and 13.45mm thick, and decorated with the famous folds that are one of Orlinski’s artistic trademarks.
The absence of a “full” dial unveils the calibre HUB1155, a self-winding mechanical movement running at the standard frequency of 4hz and providing a power reserve of 42 hours. The hours and minutes are shown with central, dauphine-style hands and facetted, triangular indices, while the second hand has the Hublot logo as a counterweight. Two counters at 3 and 9 o’clock give split-times, while the date is shown at 6. All the display elements are lacquered in red to echo the explosive colour of the case.
The Classic Fusion Aerofusion Chronograph Orlinski Red Magic is worn with a red (of course!) rubber strap with a steel folding clasp, coloured black.
Price: 22,900 CHF www.hublot.com
By Sharmila Bertin