Is It A Pocket Watch, A Pendant, Or A Table Clock? No, It’s All Of The Above! — It’s The Hublot Arsham Droplet

Forget about the edgy Big Bang. Here’s the fluid shape of water that tells time by Hublot. The brand from the Swiss town of Nyon worked together with the New York-based contemporary artist Daniel Arsham to come up with an object that is a pocket watch, a pendant, and a table clock. No, it’s not all three once, but the Hublot Arsham Droplet transforms fluidly from one entity into another. The time-telling objet d’art comes in a limited series of 99 droplets and with a price that might have you plunder your rainy-day fund.

Together with artist Daniel Arsham, Hublot reimagined the classic pocket watch. The two collaborators are not the most likely to come up with a timepiece that has its roots in “ancient” watchmaking. Hublot has only been around since the 1980s, and Daniel Arsham is an artist whose practice spans fine art, architecture, performance, and film. Hublot is a front-runner when it comes to high-tech, boldly colored watches with very bold and contemporary designs. Arsham’s work, though, is contemporary yet melds the past, present, and future while showcasing the power of nostalgia, often through references to moments in the late 20th century. He has worked with materials like volcanic ash and sand. When you melt sand, you get glass, and it’s (sapphire) glass that is a major feature of the Hublot Arsham Droplet. That material is also a bit of a specialty for Hublot.

The Hublot Arsham Droplet

Since this is Fratello, let’s not dive too deep into the artistic side of the Hublot Arsham Droplet. Let’s look at the practicality of this timepiece. However, I should tell you that organic, fluid forms found in nature dominate the appearance of the Arsham Droplet. The water-droplet-like shape is crafted from a blend of titanium, rubber, and sapphire crystal and measures 73.2mm long, 52.6mm wide, and 22.5mm thick. This watch has an ergonomic and tactile design that fits in the hand perfectly.

The movement inside the Arsham Droplet is Hublot’s Meca-10 manufacture caliber. This hand-wound micromechanical machine has a power reserve of 10 days, which is quite useful since it won’t wind automatically. The timepiece also functions as a static desk clock.

Just 99 Droplets will fall upon lucky customers

This collaboration between Hublot and Daniel Arsham is not for everyone. Its price of €88,000 / US$76,000 is a factor, but so is the nature of the creation. The organic design of the titanium case with its colored rubber bumpers is a bold departure from traditional watchmaking norms. If you’re a field-watch geek, this is probably not your cup of tea. Still, the collaboration between the watch manufacturer and the artist resulted in a remarkable timepiece that shows great details. The Droplet features a sandwich construction made of domed teardrop-shaped crystals, and the open-worked titanium case resembles delicate lace woven in a droplet pattern. The side bumpers are in a custom Arsham Green rubber and feature the artist’s monogram stamped onto the surface.

Daniel Arsham and the Hublot Arsham Droplet

To make the case water resistant to 3 ATM, Hublot used no fewer than 17 ingeniously placed O-ring seals. The distinctive rounded shape meant it was very complicated to produce a reliable timepiece. And, as you know, complexity means time invested, and that equals a high price. The price, unique design, and very simple fact that this is not a wristwatch mean that just 99 Hublot Arsham Droplet timepieces will be made. That number is just enough to quench the thirst of collectors, connoisseurs of art, and others who don’t mind spending money on the obscure.

The Arsham Droplet comes with two titanium chains, each featuring Hublot’s patented One-Click system for seamless attachment. This means you can wear the Droplet as a necklace or as a pocket watch. And when you put the timepiece in its titanium and mineral-glass stand, it will serve as a futuristic desk clock. How would you use it? Let me know in the comments, and for more info, visit the Hublot website.