26 January 2022

THE MAGIC OF INKED TIME

The Hublot X Sang Bleu story continues, with three new iterations of the Big Bang Sang Bleu II. To mark their 7th year of collaboration, Maxime Plescia-Buchi chose to apply his ink to two iconic materials born from the Hublot Art of Fusion – Magic Gold and ceramic. Two scratch-resistant materials which nevertheless bear the indelible mark of the famous tattoo artist. 550 tattoos to wear on the wrist in 3 limited editions.

Maxime Plescia-Buchi works decisively and with no room for error. Whether on scratch-resistant materials patented by Hublot, such as Magic Gold, on ceramic or on the skin, his art is indelible. He employs three-dimensional geometry that incorporates expert use of relief and depth effects. It's all about precision! The material itself is polished, satin-finished, sliced, carved, bevelled and faceted, featuring alternating and superimposed hexagons, rhombuses and triangles in perfect visual harmony. So, will your tattoo be Magic Gold, Black Magic Ceramic or Green Ceramic?

“With Maxime, we have been fusing tattoo art with our watches for 7 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.”

Ricardo Guadalupe

HUBLOT CEO

“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.”

Maxime Plescia-Buchi

Big Bang Unico Sang Bleu II Green Ceramic 45 mm

Big Bang Unico Sang Bleu II Magic Gold 45 mm

Big Bang Unico Sang Bleu II Black Magic 45 mm

Hublot x Sang Bleu since 2016

The artistic collaboration between Hublot & Maxime Plescia-Buchi dates back to 2016. The watches are infused with tattoo art. Dozens of pieces engraved with the indelible mark of the talented "grapho-typo-tattoo" genius. In 2019, with the Sang Bleu II, the tattoo/watchmaking collaboration found its "full-body" expression, with Maxime Plescia-Buchi's geometric patterns featured across the entire case, the hexagonal bezel, the sapphire crystal, the hands and the strap.

Big Bang Unico SANG BLEU II: MAGIC GOLD - GREEN CERAMIC - BLACK CERAMIC

For the new trio, Hublot opted for the strongest materials in a further tour de force featuring scratch-resistant substrates deeply engraved in an irreversible way, just like a real tattoo.

In a 45 mm diameter case made from Magic Gold or Ceramic, the master tattoo artist's designs alternate and are superimposed on the case and bezel, with the mechanism-/disc-hands taking the form of a geometric tattoo that extends to the rubber strap. This geometry reveals that of the HUB1240 manufacture self-winding Unico chronograph movement, which is visible beneath a skeleton dial and a transparent case back. 100 pieces for the Magic Gold version, 250 for the Black Magic in full black ceramic and 200 for the Green Ceramic.

MAGIC GOLD - Scratch-resistant gold did not exist until Hublot invented Magic Gold. Unique, developed and patented by the watch 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.

So, the choice is between the magic of tattooed scratch-resistant gold and the extreme resistance offered by ceramic... One thing is certain, though: neither will be able to resist a Sang Bleu tattoo!