Last year Hublot teamed up with American artist Daniel Arsham to create the MP-16 Droplet, a mechanical pocket watch with an unusual water droplet shape. A year on and they’re exploring a similar concept once again but this time in wristwatch form. The resulting timepiece is the Hublot MP-17 MECA-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire. I like the simple logic of the evolving water concept behind their two collaborations because once the droplet hits the ground, you get a splash, so it’s a natural sequel.
Cutting right to the chase, the most distinctive element of the MP-17 MECA-10 Arsham Splash is the irregular shape of its sapphire glass aperture. Instead of a circle, square, rectangle or other traditional shape, it’s a wobbly, blob design that creates the impression of a splash of water. Even the flange with 60-minute scale follows the irregular shape around the lip of the dial. It’s dynamic and unusual, which is kind of what you want to see from a collaboration with an artist.
As for the case of the Splash, it measures 42mm in diameter and is made from polished, microblasted titanium. Typically, when you microblast a metal it gives you a dark, matte finish like you can see on the Isotope Vitreous Green. However, by polishing it as well it has left the surface of the metal sort of intentionally pockmarked, the effect of which is to make the surface look shiny as if it’s wet. It’s punctuated by 6 visible screws that are designed to remind you that this is in fact a Hublot watch.
Similarly, while the dial is an odd shape, what you can actually see of the display is classic Hublot. It reveals the openworked MECA-10 movement with central hours and minutes, a small seconds subdial and big-eye style power reserve indicator. It has green Super-LumiNova across its hands and hour markers, which is Arsham’s signature colour, based on oxidised bronze. It’s part of Arsham’s concept of collapsing time into a singular moment, so the modern skeletonised movement sits in juxtaposition with faux aged elements from the past.
Specs-wise, the MECA-10 HUB1205 manual movement (introduced at the start of this year) has a 10-day power reserve and a 33.5mm diameter, which is what allowed Hublot to downsize the MECA-10 collection from 45mm to 42mm. Amusingly this makes Hublot one of the only brands to describe 42mm as a new compact sizing. You can also view its internal architecture through the exhibition window.
The Hublot MP-17 MECA-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire is a limited edition of 99 pieces at a price of £57,000. At that price it’s essentially equivalent to buying a painting or work of art. If you’re an Arsham mega fan, what more could you want than carrying his work around on your wrist? From a horological collector point of view, this is Hublot, what did you expect?
Price and Specs:
More details at Hublot.
