The highly acclaimed Hublot X Sang Bleu collaboration continues into the seventh year with three new limited editions of the Big Bang Sang Bleu II – Magic Gold, Black Magic ceramic and green ceramic. The two scratch-resistant materials, born from the Hublot Art of Fusion, now bear the indelible mark of the famous tattoo artist Maxime Plescia-Buchi.
While presenting the new models, Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot CEO, said: “With Maxime, we have been fusing tattoo art with our watches for seven years. We love these long-term collaborations, which allow us to combine, experiment with and transpose our expertise and our vision to develop them and push them to new limits.
“Our scratch-resistant materials engraved with the indelible lines of the Sang Bleu geometry imbue with even greater meaning the messages he conveys through his art: perfection, balance, precision, inalterability and irreversibility.”
Maxime’s art is indelible, irrespective of where it finds expression – on the skin, or on one of Hublot’s patented scratch-resistant materials such as Magic Gold or ceramic. He employs three-dimensional geometry that incorporates expert use of relief and depth effects. The material itself is polished, satin-finished, sliced, carved, bevelled and faceted, featuring alternating and superimposed hexagons, rhombuses and triangles in visual harmony.
The artistic collaboration between Hublot and the “grapho-typo-tattoo” artist Maxime dates back to 2016, when the first watch duals infused with tattoo art were presented to the world. In 2019, with the Sang Bleu II, the collaboration found its “full-body” expression. Maxime’s geometric patterns featured across the entire case, the hexagonal bezel, the sapphire crystal, the hands and the strap.
For the new trio, Hublot opted for two of the strongest materials in its atelier. In a 45 mm diameter case made from Magic Gold or Ceramic, Maxime’s design takes the form of a geometric tattoo that originates from the disc-hands, and radiates out and superimposes itself on the case, bezel and rubber strap. The HUB1240 self-winding Unico chronograph movement is visible beneath a skeleton dial and a transparent case back.
Magic Gold is a scratch-resistant gold developed and patented by Hublot’s manufacture. It is the first and only scratch-resistant 18-karat gold alloy in the world. With a hardness of almost 1000 Vickers, it is notoriously difficult to machine. Even more scratch-resistant is the Ceramic. Traditional ceramic has a hardness of 1200 Vickers, whereas Hublot ceramic achieves 1500 Vickers. Just 100 pieces for the Magic Gold version will be produced, 250 for the Black Magic in full black ceramic and 200 for the Green Ceramic.
Elaborating on the relationship between his art and the timepieces that bear it, Maxime says: “When you get a tattoo, you take a risk, an indelible decision to express yourself and to impart important messages or symbols that convey a significant moment in your life. This is exactly the spirit we strive to inject into the watches. A Hublot watch is a choice, a decision, an affirmation, a reflection of your essence and the message you wish to convey. For me, tattooing such unique materials in an indelible way represents a complementary facet of my art.”
