Hublot love strange materials, and we don’t just mean their various golden alloys named like uninventive Bond villains. Their dials have become a showcase for inventive, eccentric and downright silly materials. When you resort to coloured sand from the Maldives for a show-stopper, you might want to have a long hard think about what you’re doing.
Still, there’s no denying that involving a maison like Berluti has a certain cache to it. They’re essentially Patek Philippe in the field of fine footwear and command just as much respect, persisted by stories of shoes washed by moonlight in champagne. If ublot wanted to plump for a leather dial, who else would they turn to?
And so, we have the twin limited editions of the Classic Fusion Tourbillon Berluti Scritto King Gold and All Black models. There’s not a huge amount to be said of the base watches. The 45mm cases in King Gold and black ceramic have been seen before and aside from the tourbillon – which is becoming a bit passé nowadays – the movements are just good, solid pieces of watchmaking.
The main event is the Scritto leather. Now, this isn’t the first time Berluti has worked with Hublot; they kicked things off back in May. It is however the most iconically Berluti. Scritto – based on an old manuscript – is one of the maison’s most iconic patterns and is used in many of their finest pieces.
The pattern is on both the dial and the matching straps (again, Berluti) and makes it more obvious than ever what the dial is made of. Whether you appreciate the look or not, one thing’s universally true: artisanal leather and sharp planes of advanced engineering materials certainly live up to the fusion name.
More details at Hublot.
