For watch aficionados, "shoes" has always been the term of endearment given to watch straps, and so it seemed natural when Hublot collaborated with famed Parisan shoemaker Berluti, on occasion of its 120th birthday in 2015, to create a limited edition The Classic Fusion Berluti timepiece.
Berluti's emblematic Venezia leather and its famous patina is juxtaposed into Hublot's innovative watchmaking. The result is an eye-catching and bold watch, with a distinctive personality.
Even the dials are leathered as well.
"Style or nothing. After jeans and lace, we wanted to carry on exploring ways to dress our dials and bracelets with legendary textiles. Leather is a standard material in watchmaking for straps, but we wanted to go beyond the traditional approach to leather and work with THE most emblematic leather there is.
"Working with Berluti was a natural choice. One of the major difficulties was the dial. Using a living material in a sealed case is very complicated. Finding the perfect balance between the nuances of the dial and the strap is also a challenge." Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot CEO
This complex and delicate process of having the dial in Berluti leather requires the organic components of leather to be neutralized making each dial inimitable.
Each leather strap has been created with the same dedication to shoe leather: from patterning, shaping, cutting and assembling the pieces of leather, to the mounting of the strap and lacquering. The result is each strap is unique and exclusive.
Two versions of the Classic Fusion Berluti are available.
CLASSIC FUSION BERLUTI ALL BLACK
In its eminent monochrome, jet-black style, this new collector's edition has a nero grigio Venezia handmade strap inspired by the art of scarification, marked with the signature "Gaspard" incision of the Berluti House.
The 45 mm black ceramic case contains a HUB1100 mechanical self-winding movement with a nero grigio leather dial signed by Berluti. This model runs in a limited edition of 500.
CLASSIC FUSION BERLUTI SCRITTO
The straps of the 250 model limited edition Classic Fusion Berluti Scritto are expertly carved from Venezia Scritto calf leather with writing inspired by 18th century calligraphy by artist Olga Berluti.
Hublot's King Gold provide the finishing touch on the timepiece.
The Hour Glass is the exclusive retailer for Hublot in South East Asia.
