Hublot Celebrates Collaboration With Artist Cruz-Diez At Art Basel In Miami
It might seem odd that a high-end watchmaker from Switzerland would travel all the way to South Florida to promote the arts; but to Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe, it was an obvious progression.
To kick off this year’s Art Basel Miami Beach, Hublot celebrated famed Venezuelan artist Cruz-Diez. The high-end fete drew in lovers of art and watches to celebrate Cruz-Diez Bi-Dimensional Research 1959-2015 at Espace Expression in Wynwood. ‘Hublot Loves Art’ is the luxury brand’s art-focused activation. Last year Hublot curated a collaboration with the internationally recognized Romero Britto to design a haute new watch. This year Hublot shed spotlight on kinetic artist Cruz-Diez.
‘Hublot Loves Art’ and Cruz-Diez created three limited edition Classic Fusion Cruz-Diez timepieces as a tribute to the importance of art and design. The timepieces, which had previously only been seen in Venezuela, highlighted his talent as one of the great color theorists of the 20th century. Each watch measures 45 mm in diameter and are available in three versions: 18K King Gold, black ceramic and a platinum Tourbillon version limited to ten timepieces.
Haute Living Editor Natalie Stoclet caught a quick word with the Hublot CEO on his hopes for ‘Hublot Loves Art.’
NS: Can you please elaborate on how Hublot came to be involved in this project?
RG: This is an incredible collaboration with an incredible kinetic artist, Mr.Cruz-Diez who has reinvented this art that is art with living. We have been able to create a watch that reinvents and reinterprets his art through mechanics. By doing a double-dial where you can see really the piece of art together with the movement of the mechanism.
NS: How did Hublot choose Cruz-Diez?
RG: I think this is a matter of emotion, and meeting people. It is a matter of life. We met him through a customer from Venezuela and we had the idea to do a watch like this for many years. When I saw his art I said, ‘Wow,’ he has something we could really do and implement in a watch. After that he same to the factory in Switzerland, saw what we are doing and we started like that.
NS: What do you see for the future of Hublot and activations within art?
RG: I think it’s really a new world for us, we have a lot of involvement in sports but we want to explore new worlds like art. It is definitely something that we will continue to evolve and promote in the future.
NS: Do you see a lot of your clients and customers involving themselves in art more?
RG: Yes, our customer is a customer that has a lot of activities and passions. He can go to a football game or a Gran Prix, but he loves art and music. We try to reach these kinds of consumers.
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