Hublot, in collaboration with Chinese paper-cutting artist Chen Fen Wan, presents the Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon – an 88-piece limited edition to mark the Chinese Year of the Dragon. The watch’s hands, wheels and H-shaped screws form a layered 3D silhouette of an eastern dragon and, for the first time, Hublot presents a rubber strap with a marquetry design.
The Chinese zodiac, used to designate years in the Chinese calendar, spans 12 years with each year represented by 12 animals. Equivalent to the year 4722 in the Chinese calendar, 2024 marks the return of the Dragon. This highly revered celestial creature, known indigenously as Loong, is associated with prosperity, and is a symbol of luck, strength and wisdom, as well as being an imperial icon that embodies life and immortality.
The Dragon, one of the four celestial guardians, is associated with the element of Wood. On the Titanium Dragon watch, Chen’s paper-cutting expertise pays homage to wood through the natural fibres of paper.
A graduate of the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, Chen’s works are usually through the language of paper, usually with large-scale and multi-dimensional pieces. Excelling at combining her personal experience with universal aesthetics, Chen was named “one to watch” by the Chinese Modern Art Archive (CMAA) in 2019.
Her works have been on display at the Earth’s Window exhibit in Guangdong, the 2021 Chengdu Biennale Exhibition, as well as the ten-year exhibition of Zhejiang Art Museum. Her work ‘Infinite’ has been exhibited 11 times from 2018 to 2021. In recent years, she has taken “symmetry” as her personal research topic, realised through her large-scale artworks such as the ‘A Symmetrical Nature’ series and ‘Jintian in Tianjin.’
Paper cutting is a craft that originated in China around 2,000 years ago, coinciding with the invention of paper. Chinese paper cutting has been on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2009. This craft is used as decorations in festivities such as weddings and births, symbolising happiness and good luck, and is intrinsic to Chinese New Year celebrations.
Chen Fen Wan’s paper-cutting expertise now finds expression in Hublot’s Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon watch. She combines traditional Chinese ‘sculpture in the round’ technique with contemporary art, creating a majestic and dynamic loong, which conveys an auspicious atmosphere as it rises to the heavens.
In a 42mm titanium case, Hublot transposes the layered effects of paper cutting into a multi-level dial construction by overlaying a base panel with several levels of appliqués that form a dragon’s silhouette created in paper cut-outs. The dragon’s head is made up of five layers that alternate between hands, wheels and H-shaped screws, with a body and scales that extend onto the strap.
The colours, which reflect those of Chen’s paper cut-out sculpture, also flow onto the watch’s rubber strap, which features a rubber marquetry motif—a first for Hublot. Each of the dragon’s scales is coloured and nano-vulcanised to be integrated into the strap. This delicate decorative operation is carried out entirely by hand.
The Spirit of Big Bang Titanium Dragon, offered in a limited edition of 88 pieces, comes with a second, titanium-grey Velcro fabric strap. This Chinese New Year celebration watch features a HUB1710 automatic movement with a power reserve of 50 hours.
