Hublot & Takashi Murakami’s 13th and Final Classic Fusion Unique Piece Sells for Record Price at Phillips’ TOKI: Watch Auction in Hong Kong

Nyon, Switzerland, November 27, 2024 – An incredible result to conclude one of the most exciting watch collaboration series in modern watchmaking. The 13th and final unique piece in Hublot X Takashi Murakami’s NFT series was sold at Phillips TOKI Watch Auction in Hong Kong for HKD 2,095,500 including the buyer’s premium, offered by Phillips, smashing the original estimate of HKD 450,000 by multiple times.

For Hublot, this auction sale of the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow was not only an opportunity to demonstrate the creative possibilities between the worlds of Swiss watchmaking and contemporary Japanese art, but also to give back to a great cause that is dear to the manufacture. Hublot has always believed in using its platform for the greater good and supporting initiatives that can concretely bring positive changes. As such, all the proceeds from the realized price (excluding premiums) of the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow are being donated to Fond’Action contre le cancer, a Swiss-based non-profit foundation established in 1999 with the objective of financing innovative research projects in oncology, with treatments in the pre-clinical or clinical phase that are directly applicable to cancer patients in Switzerland and around the world.

Shortly after the Phillips TOKI auction in Hong Kong, Hublot CEO Julien Tornare invited Fond’Action’s Chairman of the Board Professor Serge Leyvraz and the Director of the Foundation Mrs. Anne Brunner to receive the check for Hublot’s contribution to their activities.

“Hublot is truly humbled and honored to be able to make this gesture towards Fond’Action contre le cancer”, shared Hublot CEO Julien Tornare. “Fond’Action has been one of the Switzerland’s leading foundations in cancer research for many years, and Hublot has always believed in its cause and sought different ways of supporting it. With our dear friend Takashi Murakami, we are proud to demonstrate that watchmaking and art can be used for a greater good. I would like to thank the bidders for their generosity, as well as Phillips for creating such an exciting auction as well as all the media for spreading awareness about the auction and our unique piece with Takashi Murakami. We look forward to continuing supporting Fond’Action”

Fond’Action’s Chairman of the Board Professor Serge Leyvraz added, “We are grateful to Hublot for its contribution to Fond’Action on this occasion and throughout the years. We also want to thank Phillips for their generosity and Takashi Murakami for his precious and personal implication. Our work in innovating cancer treatments simply wouldn’t be possible without the support of steadfast friends and partners such as Hublot. Together, we can provide hope and longevity to cancer patients in Switzerland and across the world.”

Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow

True to Takashi Murakami’s multimedia and multidisciplinary approach to breaking down the constructs of contemporary art and Hublot’s daringness to go where no watchmaker has gone before, the pair introduced a novel concept in 2022 by bridging the digital and the physical. What began as a series of 324 unique NFT artworks by Murakami inspired by low-res videogame graphics and TVs from the 1970s gave way to accessing 12 unique editions of the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami, each paired with its own unique artwork that were available on Hublot.com.

Based on Hublot and Takashi Murakami’s first-ever collaborative timepiece, the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic is the perfect fusion of innovative watchmaking and contemporary, kinetic art. Featuring Murakami’s signature Smiling Flower, its gem-set face is set above the sapphire crystal, adding three-dimensionality to the piece. Between the dial plate and the hands, the twelve petals form a disk that spins with the motion of the wrist. Powered by Hublot’s UNICO automatic manufacture movement with a power reserve of 72 hours, the petals spin thanks to an ingenious ball-bearing system developed by Hublot’s engineers.

And while each of the 12 unique Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic pieces featured a rainbow smiling flower face with 103 gemstones, each piece had a single color and type of gemstone on the spinning petals. The 13th and final piece essentially combines the 45mm black ceramic case of the first-ever Hublot X Takashi Murakami Classic Fusion series with the rainbow petals of the Sapphire Rainbow edition, incorporating 384 gemstones onto the petals to form a perfect color gradient with different types of rubies, sapphires, amethysts, tsavorites and topaz stones.

Along with the unique timepiece, the winning bidder will also receive an NFT artwork linked to the watch, as well as a very rare opportunity to visit Takashi Murakami’s studio in Miyoshi, Japan.