This watchmaker is just one of many luxury outfits looking to tattoo artists for inspiration.
This watchmaker is just one of many luxury outfits looking to tattoo artists for inspiration.
From English electropop band Depeche Mode and cigar maker Arturo Fuente to, most recently, menswear label Berluti, Hublot has worked with a number of unlikely collaborators from different fields – each of whom has imparted its distinctive DNA to the Swiss watchmaker’s timepieces. The brand’s latest aesthetic ally hails from the world of body art: The titanium Big Bang Sang Bleu is a collaboration with multidisciplinary creative studio Sang Bleu, which was named after the tattoo parlour of Swiss designer Maxime Buchi.
The Big Bang gets the Buchi treatment with a hexagonal bezel and an angular, geometric pattern on the dial typical of Buchi’s tattoo work. Time-telling has also been incorporated into his design, with three octagonal discs serving as hour, minute and second indicators. The numerals and indices use one of Buchi’s own fonts as well. It is limited to 200 pieces.
For all its wild partnerships, getting a tattoo artist on board is hardly revolutionary for the likes of Hublot, but these masters of ink are actually leaving their mark on more luxury brands than ever before. And it’s about time they did, as tattooists are artists in their own right, and could do with greater recognition for the time and skill involved in their craft. Oh, and helping the luxury world look a speck less stuffy doesn’t hurt, either.
RJ-ROMAIN JEROME
A new edition joins the independent watchmaker’s Tattoo-DNA collection, with the leather straps inked this time by French tattoo artist Loic Lavenu, better known as Xoil. There are five designs in the Tattoo-DNA by Xoil collection, themed around “Belief”, “Balance”, “Feeling”, “Perception” and “Emotion”. Even the watch hands are shaped like tattoo needles.
BERLUTI
In 2003, fourth-generation shoemaker Olga Berluti created her own technique for tattooing on leather. Now, Berluti updates its tattooed collection with Brooklyn tattoo artist Scott Campbell, who has put his mark on everything from celebrities to ostrich eggshells. The menswear brand’s latest collection will feature five of Campbell’s designs in over 20 permutations for ready-to-wear pieces, shoes and leather goods.
