NBA Legend Kobe Bryant is Hublot’s New Ambassador

By Valerie Jack | March 21, 2013

Luxury watchmakers Hublot have tapped NBA legend Kobe Bryant as their newest ambassador. The Swiss manufacture announced today that the Los Angeles Lakers’ star shooting guard will be the brand’s newest face, joining Hublot ambassadors like basketball star Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat, famed Olympian Usain Bolt and soccer legend Diego Maradona.

CEO Ricardo Guadalupe welcomed Bryant to the Hublot family with an event at the London Hotel West Hollywood, where they toasted the partnership on the hotel’s rooftop. Guests included Zac Efron, Jimmy Kimmel, Mark Salling, Jesse Williams, Garcelle Beauvais, Brad Goreski, and Christos Garkinos. During a dinner co-hosted with GQ, Guadalupe presented Bryant with a special jeroboam of a 1998 Dom Perignon, a rare vintage of which only fifty were ever produced. Later on children from After-School All Stars Los Angeles, a charity supported by the Kobe & Vanessa Bryant Family Foundation, took part in a basketball shoot-off. The contest, which was held on a special basketball court built over the hotel’s rooftop pool, raised $30,000 for the program.

During the event Guadalupe also presented Bryant with the new Limited Edition King Power Black Mamba. Created as Bryant’s signature timepiece, this limited edition watch begins with a 48mm-diameter case in micro-blasted black ceramic and a titanium bezel. The sapphire dial features 4 zones of 12 minutes in black and gold, with indexes and hands in satin-finished 3N gold plated with black SuperluminovaTM. At the heart of the King Power Black Mamba is a HUB 4248, a 249-part mechanical self-winding movement with a 42 hour power reserve. The open micro-blasted black ceramic caseback features Kobe Bryant’s signature on sapphire. A python snake strap on black rubber with a deployant micro-blasted black PVD titanium and ceramic clasp finishes the look. Only 250 King Power Black Mamba watches will be produced.

Guadalupe told us, “Bryant was the perfect choice for Hublot – a brand known for its precision and excellence, traits that have characterized the basketball icon’s celebrated career. We could not be more excited to add Kobe Bryant to our roster of brand ambassadors, all of whom are living testimonies to athletic superiority and perseverance. Kobe’s achievements are an inspiration to all of us here at Hublot, and we look forward to a wonderful partnership.”