Art on the Wrist: Nine Stunning and Highly Collectable Artist/Watchmaker Collaborations

In recent years, the collaborations initiated by watchmakers have been a source of excitement and innovation in the watch industry.  H. Moser & Cie and MB&F worked together to produce a cylindrical tourbillon that won the 2020 GPHG Audacity Prize.  Audemars Piguet and Marvel joined forces to create a 250-piece Black Panther Royal Oak concept flying tourbillon.  The collaborations between watch brands and watch media such as Hodinkee and Revolution have produced intriguing watches. 

A number of today’s top artists have participated in this trend as well and created amazing arts on the watches.   All these collaboration timepieces are limited to very small quantities and often are sold out immediately.  Therefore, these watches have become highly collectable and often fetch twice or more at the secondary market.  We will look at nine very best artist/watchmaker collaborations released in the recent years.

The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando Limited Edition - 2021

Mr. Tadao Ando is a renowned Japanese architect whose approach to architecture and landscape is centered on zen-like simplicity, cleanliness and weightlessness.  The Bulgari Octo Finissimo is defined by its structural beauty reminiscent of the architecture in Rome.  It was a perfect match for Bulgari and Mr. Tadao Ando to work together for the first time in 2019. A second collaboration was released in April 2021 to the delight of  Octo Finissimo lovers. 

The 160-piece limited edition Octo Finissimo Tadao Ando (ref. 103534) is based on the 40mm, three-hand Octo Finissimo. The case and bracelet are made of matte black ceramic with a textured, sandblasted finish. The dial is a rich blue color with a lacquered finish, meant to recall the depths of the night sky. Two essential graphic elements are shown including a special pattern evoking the time spiral and the gold crescent moon positioned at 5 o’clock. In Japanese, this slim crescent moon is called “Mikazuki”, and it's a symbol of rebirth and the passing nature of time. Powering the watch is the familiar BVL 138 movement, which can be admired through the sapphire caseback engraved with Ando's signature. 

The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tattoo Aria - 2021

Mo Coppoletta is a London-based aesthete well-known for his artistic tattooing. This collaboration was the fruit of the creative talents of three men: Fabrizio Stigliani, Product Creation Executive Director of Bvlgari, Laurent Picciotto, founding owner of Chronopassion in Paris and Mo Coppoletta. This timepiece is a “tattooed watch” indeed.

The Bulgari Octo Finissimo Tattoo Aria (ref. 103353) was produced in 10 examples and was only exclusively available at the Chronopassion watch shop.  The case and bracelet are made of titanium, while other specs are the same as the standard 3-hand  Octo Finissimo.  Mo’s design was laser engraved onto the dial and the bracelet to ensure utmost precision.  As a result, the beautiful clouds were brought to life vividly. 

Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda 1950 Marcello Lo Giudice - 2018

Marcello Lo Giudice is an Italian contemporary colorist, ceramist, painter, and installation artist who lives and works in Milan, Paris, and Noto.  With this collaboration, the dials of 12 Parmigiani Fleurier Tonda 1950 timepieces were used to reproduce the artist’s work “Eden Universe, Eden Ocean”.  The laser engraving technique was used to create the 3-D volume representation with stunning colors.  The 3-D painting on each of the 12-piece limited edition watches is different from each other. Therefore, “Piece Unique” is engraved on the case-back of each watch.  How marvelous and amusing!  

 H. Moser Endeavour Centre Seconds x seconde/seconde/ - 2021

Parisian artist Romaric Andre specialises in modifying time-only watches and marketing them under seconde/seconde/ brand name.  In the collaboration with H. Moser, the hour hand of Endeavour Centre Seconds is replaced by a pixelated rubber eraser.    The eraser works so well that the logo and indices for the Moser watch are completely gone.  H. Moser is a fun brand who doesn’t take itself too seriously.  This timepiece simply reinforces this cool image.  

The 20-piece limited edition Endeavour Centre Seconds x seconde/seconde/ has a stainless steel case and Funky Blue fumé dial. The movement is an automatic HMC200.   Lastly, while the watch was launched on the April Fool’s Day, this watch was for real. There are 20 lucky collectors each holding a watch with an eraser on it that is sure to bring a smile to their faces.  

Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Le Triptyque - 2021

Any discussion of recent collaborations in watchmaking cannot skip Louis Erard, who really has embraced the collaboration strategy.  In the 2021 GPHG, 3 of Louis Erard’s collaboration pieces were voted into the final round, including the Men’s Watch category. What a remarkable feat for a not so well-known brand!  Apparently, the collaboration strategy is working out for Manuel Emch, the driving force behind the winning strategy.  The bottom line is that the cooperation among partners brings out innovations and fresh ideas.

The Louis Erard x Alain Silberstein Le Triptyque released in 2021 was an encore of the first collaboration in 2019. For this round, it was a set of three watches, rather than just one.  The set includes Le Semaine with smiley faces, a regulator, and a monopusher chronograph.  In total, there are 178 pieces for each model, including sets and individual pieces.   I was lucky to purchase the Le Semaine day/date model before they were all sold out.  Please see my review of this fun timepiece here.  

Louis Erard x Atelier Oï  Le Régulateur - 2021

Louis Erard is certainly keeping up the pace of collaboration work.  Just two days ago, it announced a new watch by working with an architectural design firm Atelier Oï based in Switzerland.  It is a modern design of 60 engraved rays on the dial pointing to 60 minute marks at the outer ring.  One out of every five lines is more pronounced to correspond to 12 hours.  With the typical regulator layout of hands, the key to reading time is to focus on the top hour hand and center minute hand.  The designers had paid special attention to the play of light to make it a shining object under the sun.  It is a piece of marvelous modern art on the wrist.   As in a typical Louis Erard release, there were only 178 pieces available and they were sold out in less than 2 days.

Ulysses Nardin Classico Manara - 2019

Milo Manara is an Italian comic book writer and artist, best known for his erotic approach to the medium.  This collaboration involved 10 watches with the theme of “A voyage into the depths of a mythical sea of desire”.  Milo Manara completed 10 illustrations first, which were replica micro painted onto the blue dials.  There are 10 pieces in rose gold case and 10 pieces in stainless steel case for each watch.  Therefore, there are in total 200 pieces in this Classico Manara collection.  

Minase Masterpiece Hakose Makie Series - 2021

First, Minase is a Japanese independent watchmaker founded in 2005.  The parent company Kyowa has been a cutting tool manufacturer since 1963.  Minase is best known for its exquisite and refined cases and bracelets, thanks to its heritage in machine tooling. Former Japanese Prime Minister Mr. Shinso Abe has been wearing a Minase Divido model.  Outside of Japan, Minase is probably the best kept secret of the Japanese watch industry. 

The Masterpiece collection is Minase’s most prestigious offerings. Just this year, Minase decided to work with famous makie and lacquerware artist Junichi Hakose and developed a series of 4 Urushi makie watches around the theme of Japanese nature.   Today, Mr. Junichi Hakose is one of the most internationally acclaimed Japanese lacquer artists, but his desire is to have his works used everyday by his clients. He runs his own workshop and takes several apprentices to pass on his knowledge.  The four themes are related to two types of cherry blossoms, four seasons, and Komon, a famous pattern.

Reservoir Blake & Mortimer “By Jove!!!” Edition - 2021

Reservoir is a French watch brand founded in 2017 by Francois Moreau,  who left a successful career in banking to pursue his dream of making innovative, accessibly priced watches. The signature design is a retrograde minute combined with a jumping hour mimicking a gauge on an automobile or a submarine. The latest release in their “Partnership Collection” is an anniversary watch commemorating the 75th anniversary of the inaugural adventure of “Blake and Mortimer”, the first graphic novel designed and scripted by Edgar P. Jacobs: “The secret of the swordfish”. Captain Francis Blake was a former Royal Air Force pilot who became director of the MI5, the British counterintelligence service. His partner Professor Philip Mortimer was a specialist in nuclear physics and one of the UK’s most eminent scientists. The comic books about their adventure had sold 15 millions copy.

There were, however, only 75 pieces in this Reservoir release and they were sold out immediately. Powering this collaboration piece is ETA 2824-2 caliber with a Reservoir patented proprietary 124-pieces module for the retrograde minute and jumping hour complications. It is an automatic movement with 37 hours of power reserve. Captain Blake’s hand jumps immediately from 60 to 0 at hour’s end, with the hour indicator increase by one hour simultaneously. It is a fun watch to add to any watch collections, especially for graphic novel lovers.

One reason for the long lasting allure of watch collecting hobby is that there are so many directions (or rabbit holes) one may go down. The artist/watchmaker collaborations offer another intriguing proposition. We often hear that watchmaking is a combination of micro-mechanical engineering and art. These wonderful creations are the living proof of that. Happy collecting, everyone!