On January 8, 2024, Swiss luxury watch brand HUBLOT held a grand world premiere ceremony at Plaza 66 in Shanghai, officially releasing the BIG BANG Soul A Chen Dragon Year Titanium Watch, and also held a New Year lighting ceremony. HUBLOT Greater China Managing Director Omar Choudhary, LVMH Greater China President Wu Yue, Hang Lung Real Estate Deputy Director Janice Cheung, HUBLOT Brand Ambassador Lang Lang, actor Lin Gengxin, actor Guests such as Janice Man and artist Chen Fenwan participated in this grand event and witnessed the eye-catching moment of this outstanding timepiece, which kicked off the brilliant chapter of the Year of the Dragon.
The Big Bang Soul Jia Chen Dragon Year titanium watch is a true work of art, meticulously crafted using the intricate technique of paper cutting. In this exceptional creation, the hands, gears, and screws are skillfully arranged in layers, forming an enchanting 3D dragon-shaped silhouette. The dial boasts a unique five-layer design, where the hands, gears, and H-shaped screws seamlessly interact.
This artistic collaboration brilliantly illustrates the harmonious blend of Swiss fine watchmaking traditions and contemporary Chinese art design. It stands as a testament to Hublot’s unwavering dedication to bold innovation, individuality, and distinctiveness, aligning perfectly with the brand’s philosophy of “dare to pioneer, be unique, and stand out.”
The appearance of the watch is in the shape of a dragon, showing an innovative design concept.
The dragon-shaped appearance design concept of the HUBLOT Big Bang Soul Jiachen Dragon Year Titanium Watch combines Chinese and Western cultural elements, presenting a unique and exquisite artistic style. Chinese artist Chen Fenwan uses the characteristic Chinese paper-cutting art to skillfully layer the shape of the dragon on the watch. Elements such as hands, gears and screws are artistically organized to form a striking 3D dragon outline. The faucet on the dial adopts a five-layer design, cleverly alternating between hands, gears and H-shaped screws, adding a layered and artistic feel to the entire appearance. The designed color scheme is inspired by the paper sculptures of Chinese artist Chen Fenwan. Through carefully selected colors, it injects a unique and vivid visual effect into the Year of the Dragon watch.
An innovative interpretation of traditional elements
The art of paper-cutting is one of China’s long-standing traditional handicrafts, and the Year of the Dragon, as one of the Chinese lunar zodiac animals, symbolizes auspiciousness. By integrating the art of paper-cutting with the culture of the Year of the Dragon, it conveys the reverence and inheritance of traditional culture. This watch is designed to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Dragon and is a metaphor for the “art of fusion” contained in the Oriental Dragon.
As a sacred creature, the dragon’s form has evolved over thousands of years and has the characteristics of nine different animals, including shrimp eyes, antlers, an ox’s mouth, a dog’s nose, a catfish’s whiskers, a lion’s mane, a snake’s tail, a fish’s scales, and an eagle’s claws. Chen Fenwan used his ingenuity to cleverly present this sacred animal image, amulet and totem on the dial, paying homage to one of China’s most culturally rich art forms – paper-cut art. The art of paper-cutting originated in China about two thousand years ago and emerged at the same time as papermaking. Since 2009, Chinese paper-cutting art has been included in the “Representative List of Human Intangible Cultural Heritage” and has become an important carrier for transmitting the creator’s moral principles, philosophical thoughts and aesthetic concepts.
Paper-cut works are often used to celebrate major life events such as weddings and births, symbolizing happiness and good luck. This paper-cut decoration has also become an indispensable element in Chinese New Year celebrations. Therefore, this watch shows an innovative respect for tradition by cleverly combining the art of paper-cutting and the culture of the Year of the Dragon, presenting the wearer with a work of art full of cultural connotation and unique charm.
“Hublot 2024: The first rubber strap, incorporating inlay art elements to welcome traditional Chinese elements”
Hublot invited Chinese artist Chen Fenwan to combine the traditional Chinese “round carving” technique with modern art to create a new timepiece that condenses the majestic and dynamic dragon shape on the wrist, conveying the feeling of rising into the sky. Auspicious atmosphere. This piece of art on the wrist symbolizes the endless totem of life and vividly demonstrates Hublot’s brand philosophy of “dare to be a pioneer, be unique, and be different”.
In a titanium case with a diameter of 42 mm, Hublot uses innovative techniques to transform the multi-layered effect of paper-cut art into a multi-layer dial structure. By superimposing multiple layers of intarsia design on the base plate, components with Hublot aesthetics are integrated to create a unique visual effect.
This unique design not only demonstrates Hublot’s unique insights into dial construction, but also subtly extends the dragon-shaped outline to Hublot’s first rubber strap, which uses inlaid art pattern elements. Each dragon scale is dyed and treated with a nano-vulcanization process to ensure seamless integration with the strap. This delicate decoration process is completed entirely by hand, and each strap takes approximately 8 hours to make.
The Big Bang Soul Jiachen Dragon Year Titanium Watch is limited to 88 pieces and comes with a titanium gray Velcro nylon fabric spare strap, providing the wearer with more choices. The timepiece is equipped with HUB1710 self-winding movement, which provides 50 hours of power reserve to ensure accurate and reliable time measurement. This timepiece dedicated to the Chinese Year of the Dragon combines innovative design, exquisite craftsmanship and Hublot’s unique aesthetics, making it a precious choice pursued by collectors and watch enthusiasts.
Chinese artist Chen Fenwan
Chen Fenwan graduated from the Printmaking Department of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and founded Maru Studio in 2014. He currently lives and works in Guangzhou and Foshan. In 2019, Chen Fenwan was selected as an artist to be recorded in the Chinese Contemporary Art Yearbook. In 2022, it will participate in the Guangdong Nanhai Earth Art Festival and create local works “A Wall” and “Earth Window Flowers”; in 2021, it will cooperate with Zhejiang Art Museum to create a large-scale public space work “Vector West Lake” through public collection.
The representative work “Transfer Garden” has been exhibited at the 2021 Chengdu Biennale and the 2019 Zhejiang Art Museum Ten Year Exhibition; “Endless” has been toured across China 11 times from 2018 to 2022. Since 2014, she has continued to create large-scale works such as the “Symmetrical Nature” series and “Jin Tian in Tianjin”, taking “symmetry” as a personal research topic and core concern, and constantly giving new interpretations in stages using contemporary paper-cut methods. In his creations, he often combines Chinese folk paper-cutting with contemporary art. He was once praised by the media as “the top paper-cutting artist born in the 1990s”. The works use the materiality of paper as the creative language, giving narrative imagination that is not limited to the established carrier, and often does not have clear spatial and volume boundaries. In her opinion, paper-cutting is not only a technique, but also a concept based on the present. At the same time, she is good at combining delicate existing personal experience with public memory, seeking emotional tension of collective resonance in her works, and trying to dialogue with more dimensional fields and audiences.
Big Bang Soul Jiachen Dragon Year Titanium Watch
No.:646.NX.6600.RX.CHF24
Case: Satin and polished titanium
Diameter: 42mm
Thickness: 13.8mm
Waterproof depth: 10 ATM (100 meters)
Case back: Satin and polished titanium
Bezel: Satin and polished titanium
Dial: Multi-layered dial with 3D effect, designed based on the work of artist Chen Fenwan
Movement: HUB1710 self-winding movement
Vibration frequency: 4 Hz (28,800 times per hour)
Power reserve: 50 hours
Number of components: 166
Number of gems: 27
Strap & buckle
Preferred strap: black rubber strap decorated with dragon scales
Spare strap: gray Velcro nylon fabric strap with black titanium ceramic buckle
Metal folding clasp
Pricing: CHF 28,000.00
€30,800.00
USD 29,500.00
£25,400.00