Watches Linked to NFTs Released by Hublot and Takashi Murakami

The watchmaker has announced a collaborative project with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami: 13 unique watches paired with thirteen non-fungible tokens. 

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The 13th piece in the series, the 45mm Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow, will debut at the Watches & Wonders event in Geneva next month. Twelve of the new watches are inspired by Japanese video games and television shows from the 1970s. 

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As part of the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow, Murakami's famous smiling flower motif continues to be incorporated into the design. The first Murakami piece, Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami All Black, featured a black ceramic case, while the second Murakami piece, Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow, featured colorful rainbow gems. 2021 will mark the release of both limited editions.

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The first time Murakami was approached by Hublot about collaboration, he rebuffed their offers, but after visiting the Hublot headquarters outside Geneva, he agreed. A basic limited edition, however, was not sufficient for him. The conditions he set were that they would have to create "super unique stuff" together. Murakami noted that he couldn't waste time on banal projects after celebrating his 61st birthday the evening before the unveiling. 

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The Standard hotel on the High Line in New York's trendy Meatpacking District is not just a place for measuring time, Murakami said at a news conference last week. A watch can be described as a conceptual art representation of time. A timepiece isn't just a piece of equipment for measuring time. If it's a piece of equipment, then you don't need many of them."

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A similar 3-D effect can be seen with the new Murakami Hublot, which has the smiling flower's domed center on top of a sapphire crystal. Featuring a smiling raised center set with multicolored gems, the latest version features a smiley raised center. There are 384 gemstones in total embedded under the glass, with rubies, sapphires, amethysts, tsavorites, and topaz forming a subtle gradient of shades under the glass. 

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The flower petals on all Murakami pieces spin in a dynamic fashion on a central axis thanks to Hublot's ingenious ball-bearing system. 

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As well as reinforcing the collector community's exclusivity, the 13 unique pieces provide a connection between digital art and NFTs. 

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To promote the third Murakami limited-edition watch, Hublot offered 324 NFTs to buyers of the first two Murakami watches. In addition, Hublot offered NFTs on its decentralized platform OpenSea for trading. 

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These 12 new NFTs provide access to the corresponding watches, which cost CHF50,000, and are exclusive to owners of those NFTs. The 12 NFTs can be acquired by collectors until April when watch sales begin. Even if collectors hold on to their physical watches, they will be able to trade the 12 NFTs on the OpenSea platform until April 2024. 

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The Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow, a 13th unique piece, may be purchased if one obtains all 12 NFTs. No one will be able to achieve that feat, so Hublot will auction the watch for a charitable cause if no one succeeds.

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In order for Murakami's career to endure, he has had to understand what drives collectors. 

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The brain releases a lot of chemicals when you're collecting, such as dopamine, which is what makes everyone so excited. “So, I am always considering what type of experience can trigger a reaction in collectors that would trigger the release of that kind of chemical.”