Hublot has named Jeff Koons as its newest collaborator and brand ambassador, with the American artist unveiling his reimagined take on a Hublot watch in New York in mid-September. It is Koons’s first project with any watchmaker, and the finished design has not yet been shown publicly.
Koons described a long-running affinity with the brand rather than a cold pitch. “Hublot and I have always shared a fascination for the material sciences,” he said in a statement, framing the watch as an extension of an interest he has pursued across his sculpture and painting practice for decades.
He went further on what he wants an object to do for a viewer, saying he always tries to “transcend an object, a material, into having the viewer be able to find more meaning in the finished work than just its individual parts.” That line is the closest thing to a public brief the collaboration has offered so far.
Hublot chief executive Julien Tornare invited Koons to the brand’s base in Nyon, Switzerland, and personally walked him through the factory floor, according to an interview Tornare gave to WWD. Tornare explained how Hublot has partnered with contemporary artists since 2011, working previously with architects and painters on limited pieces.
Tornare said the brand deliberately withholds a tight brief when it works with an artist. “We don’t want to limit them with too many rules and constraints,” he said, adding that this open approach is what artists appreciate and what Hublot’s own clients understand about the brand’s philosophy.
What Koons designed has not been released, but Tornare confirmed the artist’s interest in metaphysics, philosophy and the meaning of time will be visible in the finished piece. No case size, materials or price have been disclosed ahead of the New York unveiling.
Koons joins a roster of names Hublot has already worked with, including Shepard Fairey, Richard Orlinski, Daniel Arsham and Takashi Murakami. Those collaborations have skewed toward street art and pop sculpture, which makes Koons’s metaphysical framing a departure for the brand’s artist program.
