If we’re going with the notion that a watch assumes the role of a miniature canvas, then Takashi Murakami just took over the entire gallery. So rarely (and for an industry that revolves around tactility) do you find yourself, with promise of newness, in awe of the watch, and by result, staring at it in a trance, before realising you can actually hold it. It’s purely hypnotic at the hands of Hublot’s continued collaborative efforts with the internationally acclaimed Murakami.

Even if you don’t know Murakami by name, you’ll know the floral motif. And it’s much the same with Hublot; you can discern a Hublot dial and case from afar, given its signature design codes. Which is why, in this pairing of strong personalities, the wrist has been elevated into the ethereal with an all new floral-shaped watch, constructed from sapphire.

Decorated with 12 petals, the onus is on visibility; visibility in physical form, from a sapphire case, sapphire case- back, sapphire crown, translucent flange and strap. But also visibility in message: to provoke a more playful and offbeat approach to watchmaking, but the strength of a collaboration, even several iterations into its lifespan, still continues to excite.

Diversifying the relationship between the watch and its wearer, Hublot has tactfully created a unique method to wind the watch, creating a rechargeable stylus, placed on the crown, enabled to wind through 100 revolutions to power the barrels and central tourbillon. In the mood of lucidity, the positioning of such features allow for user viewing, uniting the relationship between subject and object to discover exactly how this ingenious creation breathes life.

In a pairing of form and function – and of course, to do its duty in telling the time – hours and minutes are indicated by the edges of two hands, yet their measurement acts on the fringes of the feat, with an emphasis on how the watch records time, through skeletonised elegance.

Commenting on the magnitude of this otherworldly watch, artist Murakami shares: “Actually, before I saw the watch yesterday, there were so many things I wanted to say about it. But having seen it, I was just speechless. And that’s a feeling that can only happen when something is so wonderful, so beautiful that you are left speechless. You don’t have to say anything, the piece talks for itself.”