Hublot Launches Gastronomy-inspired Limited-edition Watch
CUTTING EDGE: It was an evening of produce and product as Hublot introduced its latest limited edition, celebrating its gastronomic friends of the house, at a “Fusion in the Kitchen” private dinner in Paris on Wednesday.
The Swiss watchmaker’s Big Bang Unico Gourmet limited-edition watch, with its 42-mm case and bezel made of Damascus steel, was inspired by its Michelin-starred ambassadors and friends of the house.
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Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot’s chief executive officer, lauded “people who convey their savoir-faire and their signature onto their dishes, those who know how to fuse ingredients to make them unique while staying authentic,” calling the distinctive and reputed steel the “greatest ally of chefs.”
For the occasion, it was an alliance — rather, a fusion, as Guadalupe reiterated during a short speech presenting the timepiece — between house ambassadors Anne-Sophie Pic and Yannick Alléno, in charge of the evening’s culinary carte blanche.
Alléno, who helms eight establishments globally including the world’s most-starred Pavillon Ledoyen, remarked on the “many parallels between cuisine and watchmaking, going beyond the apron that is worn by both the cook and the watchmaker,” while Pic called the experience of working with another “a human adventure that makes our shared passions even more meaningful.”
While their menu was the height of culinary creativity, bringing together ingredients that went from Paris mushrooms and Wagyu beef to preserved fir buds and blackcurrant curry, all eyes were on the handful of watches being presented by attendants.
Though limited to 200 pieces, each Gourmet watch can be considered a unique piece in its own right, owing to the signature ripples of Damascus steel acquired through its complex forging process.
Among the friends of the brand who took in the starry backdrop and a concert by French musical artist Aime Simone were another six Michelin stars — fellow chefs Paul Pairet and Eneko Atxa. The latter stated that he “loved how the moiré pattern of the [watch] and the legendary history of this age-old material [channeled] emotions and fuses a variety of senses.”
Priced at 22,900 Swiss francs or $24,100, the Hublot Big Bang Unico Gourmet comes with two bracelets, the now signature rubber one and a Velcro fabric one, and will be available from Thursday.
