Introducing Hublot Blow Up The Classic Fusion For A Jeff Koons Special Edition

Following recent collaborations with Daniel Arsham and Takashi Murakami, Hublot is back with its latest art collaboration, teaming up with New York pop-art titan Jeff Koons. The result is a trio of Classic Fusions inspired by Koons’ iconic balloon sculptures. These special-edition Classic Fusions feature a polished, puffed-up finish that evokes the look of Koons’s seminal 1994 Balloon Dog – a 10-foot-tall mirror-polished sculpture that looks like a party balloon twisted into the shape of a dog that ranks as one of the best-known pieces of contemporary art.

To create it, Hublot have modified nearly every single aspect of the watch with a polished and puffed finish, including the case, dial, handset, domed crystal, titanium screwheads and even the strap. Every surface has been re-engineered and redeveloped to fit the inflated and polished Balloon Dog aesthetic, with the Classic Fusions' signature sharp angles and finishes softened to enhance the effect. This finish extends to the rubber strap, which arrives with a debossed, metallic colour-matched polymer insert over it to create the inflated effect.

Hublot has shown considerable attention to the dial finishing, which features convex, 'puffy' surfaces between each of the hour markers, themselves rounded rectangles. The dial centre, signed with both Hublot and Koons’ signatures, is a single puffed-up piece, and the entire dial surface is reflective. The handset has been given the Balloon Dog treatment too, with rounded corners, retaining their Super-LumiNova inserts and the addition of a little Balloon Dog-shaped seconds hand counterweight.

Rounding out the nods to Balloon Dog is the crown, made of colour-matched rubber and shaped to resemble the sculpture's balloon-knot nose. A decorative and non-functional (as much as it looks like a pusher) rubber ‘dog tail’ is attached to the case at 10 o’clock.

The Classic Fusion Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons, to give the watch its proper name, is available in red, blue, or silver. Significantly, the coloured versions have anodised aluminium cases, while the silver model is shiny stainless steel. It’s not clear why there is a material difference, though the coloured aluminium cases do have a slight powder-coated texture to them – still shiny but not mirror-polished – that’s not present on the mirror-polished steel version. Weights haven’t been released yet, though I suspect the aluminium variants will (understandably) be lighter than the steel.

It’s all about the design with this Classic Fusion, and inside is the standard, mechanically unmodified calibre HUB1710 movement, which is based on the Zenith Elite 670. This three-hand and date movement offers a 50-hour power reserve and beats at 4Hz. Its only modification is a cosmetic redesign of the tungsten rotor, featuring a puffed-up and polished Hublot logo on the oscillating weight.

Each of the three editions is limited to 200 individually numbered pieces and is packaged in a colour-matched rubberised box with an applied Balloon Dog on the lid. They’re available from Hublot online, at select boutiques and at a handful of art galleries around the world. All three variants are priced at A$37,100.

Much like Hublot is in watchmaking, Koons is an artist who’s unafraid of turning heads (both inside and outside the art world). The original (and much iterated upon) Balloon Dog is one of the most valuable artworks ever sold, and the price achieved for another of Koons’ artworks, 1986's Rabbit, holds the auction record for the most valuable artwork sold created by a still-living artist. Given their statuses, Hublot and Koons are a natural fit, and this collaboration is certainly going to spark a lot of conversations (as all good art should).

Whether or not you like the design of the Classic Fusion Balloon Dog is going to be purely subjective, but the finishing Hublot have achieved on this watch is undoubtedly impressive. Hublot has reinterpreted the Classic Fusion through the visual and sculptural language of Koons' Balloon Dogs, and the expression through experimental materials and finishing is right in Hublot’s hitting zone. It’s puffed just far enough, and I think they’ve achieved a balance where you can still see the Classic Fusion's design language beneath the inflated surfaces.

My one gripe is the date wheel, which appears to be off the standard Classic Fusion. Across all three colours, it has a black background and standard font, and after labouring over every single tiny detail of these editions, Hublot leaving the date wheel untouched feels like falling at the last hurdle - even the date window has a curved and puffy cutout. Leaving off a colour-matched date wheel or a puffy date font feels like a missed opportunity to really touch every detail on this one.

Brand: Hublot
Model: Classic Fusion Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons
Reference Numbers: 542.UR.8170.NR.JKN26 (red), 542.UB.5170.NR.JKN26 (blue), 542.SX.0820.NR.JKN26 (silver)
Diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 11mm
Case Material: Anodised aluminium (red and blue), polished stainless steel (silver)
Dial Colour: Red, blue or silver
Lume: Super-LumiNova hands and indices
Water Resistance: 50 meters
Strap: Rubber base with a debossed metallic leather insert

Calibre: HUB1710, Zenith Elite 670 base
Functions: Hours, minutes, seconds, date
Power Reserve: 50 hours
Winding: Automatic
Frequency: 28,800 VpH (4 Hz)
Chronometer Certified: No

Price: A$37,100
Availability: Now, via Hublot.com, select boutiques and art galleries
Limited Edition: Yes, each colour limited to 200 pieces

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