Richard Mille at the World Cup: How an RM 011 Made Me the Most Envied Man in the Stadium — and Got Me a Date with a Tennis Champion

There’s a reason Richard Mille is called “the watch brand of the 1%.” With prices starting at $100,000 and climbing well past $2 million, an RM on your wrist is less a timepiece and more a declaration of financial warfare. But here’s what nobody tells you: a Richard Mille doesn’t just announce wealth. It announces character. It says: “I could buy anything, and I chose this.” And at a World Cup group stage match, surrounded by athletes, celebrities, and people who could buy the stadium — that declaration is worth more than the watch itself.

The RM 011 Felipe Massa: My wildest Purchase

I’ll skip the justification. There is no rational justification for spending $180,000 on a watch. I made money in tech. I sold my startup. I had more money than sense. And I’d wanted a Richard Mille since I saw Rafael Nadal wearing one at Roland Garros in 2010. Not just any Richard Mille — the RM 011 Felipe Massa Flyback Chronograph Replica in rose gold and titanium. The F1 driver’s signature model. The one that looks like it was beamed in from the year 2087.

The case is a tonneau shape — 50mm x 42.7mm — constructed from rose gold and titanium in a multi-layer architecture that takes weeks to machine. The skeletonized dial exposes the Calibre RMAC1 automatic movement with its flyback chronograph, annual calendar, and 55-hour power reserve. The variable-geometry rotor — a Richard Mille exclusive — lets you adjust the winding efficiency based on your activity level. It weighs almost nothing despite its size, because Richard Mille uses the same engineering philosophy as F1: maximize strength, minimize weight.

I wore it out of the boutique. Three people stopped me on the street. One of them was a professional footballer who asked to try it on. I said no. He understood.

World Cup Group Stage: Argentina vs. Netherlands

Argentina vs. Netherlands. Group stage. The stadium was packed — 65,000 fans, split roughly 60-40 between orange and blue. The atmosphere was intense, the kind of match where every tackle feels personal. I was in the corporate hospitality section, the area where the seats have cushioning and the beer is free and everyone is pretending to watch the match while actually networking.

I was wearing the RM 011 on my left wrist, sleeve pushed up, the skeletonized movement catching the floodlights through the sapphire crystal. The rose gold case was warm against my skin. The tonneau shape was unmistakable — there is no other watch that looks like a Richard Mille. None.

First half. Argentina scored. The stadium erupted. I stood, cheered, and when I sat back down, the woman in the seat next to me — who I’d barely noticed because I’d been focused on the match — was staring at my wrist with an expression I can only describe as recognition.

“RM 011,” she said. “Felipe Massa edition. Rose gold and titanium.”

I looked at her properly for the first time. She was tall. Athletic. Sun-bleached blonde hair in a ponytail. Tan lines on her wrists that suggested she spent most of her time outdoors. She was wearing an Argentina jersey — but not a fan replica. A custom-fitted one, the kind that athletes wear. And she was wearing a Richard Mille herself — an RM 27-04, the Rafael Nadal model, in carbon TPT. A $1 million watch, on her wrist, at a football match.

“You know the reference number?” I asked.

She smiled. “I should. I’m sponsored by Richard Mille.”

The Tennis Champion

Her name was Sofia. She was a professional tennis player. Ranked in the WTA top 20. Two Grand Slam quarterfinals. A reputation for the hardest forehand on the tour. And a Richard Mille ambassador — which meant she wore a different RM model for every match she played, including the $1 million RM 27-04 that was currently on her wrist.

“I’ve been wearing Richard Mille since I was 19,” she told me, leaning close so I could hear her over the crowd. “Rafael wears his during matches. I wear mine during matches. People think it’s just sponsorship. But it’s not. The RM 27-04 weighs 30 grams. Thirty. I forget I’m wearing it. It’s the only watch I can play tennis in. That’s not marketing — that’s engineering.”

She asked about my RM 011. I told her about the Calibre RMAC1, the flyback chronograph, the variable-geometry rotor. She nodded approvingly. “The variable-geometry rotor,” she said. “That’s the detail most people miss. You can adjust it for your activity level — so if you’re playing golf, you reduce the winding intensity. If you’re sitting at a desk, you increase it. It’s the only automatic movement that adapts to you. That’s genius.”

We talked through the entire halftime break. She told me about life on the tour — the hotels, the physiotherapy, the loneliness of being one of the best in the world at something and having nobody who truly understands what that feels like. She told me she’d been to three World Cups and always wore her RM because it was the one constant in a life of constant motion.

“Watches are my anchor,” she said. “The tour takes me to 25 cities a year. But the watch is always the same. It’s my constant. My companion.”

From Stands to Player’s Lounge

Second half. Netherlands equalized. The stadium went crazy. Sofia and I jumped up together, and when we sat down, her hand was on mine. She didn’t move it. I didn’t want her to.

After the match — it ended 1-1 — Sofia said: “Come with me. I have access to the player’s lounge through my WTA credentials. There’s someone I want you to meet.”

The player’s lounge was a different world. Professional athletes from every sport, mingling with their families and agents. Sofia introduced me to a Brazilian footballer who’d played in two World Cups, an Italian swimmer with four Olympic golds, and — most surreal of all — Felipe Massa himself, the F1 driver whose name was on my watch.

“You’re wearing my watch,” Massa said, examining my RM 011 with genuine interest. “How do you like the variable rotor?”

“I adjusted it to low-intensity for the match,” I said. “Didn’t want to overwind sitting in a stadium.”

He grinned. “Nobody ever adjusts the rotor. You’re the first person I’ve met who actually uses it properly.”

Sofia squeezed my arm. “I told you,” she whispered. “He understands the watch. Not just the price.”

The Night With a Champion

The player’s lounge turned into a private dinner. Sofia and I sat together, knees touching under the table. She told me about growing up in a small town in Eastern Europe, picking up a tennis racket at age four, turning pro at fifteen. About the injuries, the comebacks, the matches she’d lost that still kept her awake at night. About the loneliness of hotel rooms in cities she’d never fully see.

“The RM is always with me,” she said, showing me the RM 27-04 on her wrist. “I wear it to breakfast. I wear it to the gym. I wore it when I won my first WTA title. It’s been on my wrist for the best moments of my career. And tonight —” she paused, looked at me — “tonight it introduced me to someone who understands why that matters.”

After dinner, we walked through the city. Late night. Empty streets. Stadium lights in the distance. She stopped at a bridge overlooking a river, leaned against the railing, and looked at my RM 011 one more time.

“You know what’s sexy?” she said. “Not the money. Not the brand. It’s the fact that you chose a watch built for a racing driver. A watch with a variable rotor that adapts to your life. A watch engineered like an F1 car — every gram considered, every component optimized. That tells me you appreciate excellence. Not the appearance of excellence — the real thing. And in my world, that’s the rarest quality there is.”

She kissed me on that bridge. Under the stars, between two Richard Milles, with a river flowing beneath us. And I thought: this is what $180,000 buys. Not a watch. A bridge between two worlds that should never have met.

The Richard Mille Effect — And How to Capture It for Less

Let’s be brutally honest. A Richard Mille RM 011 costs $180,000. The RM 27-04 that Sofia wore costs $1 million. These are not accessible watches. They are ultra-luxury objects designed for the 0.01% of the 0.01%. I could only afford one because I sold a company, and even then it was an absurd financial decision.

But here’s the truth that Sofia taught me: the effect of a Richard Mille — the way it starts conversations, signals character, and attracts people who appreciate engineering excellence — is not exclusive to the six-figure original. The tonneau case shape, the skeletonized dial, the visible movement, the F1-inspired design language — these visual elements have been adopted by a growing number of accessible watch brands. And in a World Cup stadium, under floodlights, at a distance of a few seats, a well-made Richard Mille-inspired piece delivers the same visual impact.

A carefully chosen dupe watch can capture the RM’s design DNA — the tonneau case, the skeleton dial, the sporty-luxury aesthetic — at a price that doesn’t require selling your company. I’ve seen tonneau-case skeleton watches that draw the exact same “is that a…?” reaction from across a stadium. The engineering inside won’t match Richard Mille’s variable-geometry rotor — nothing does — but the visual conversation-starter? That’s replicable.

If you want the Richard Mille presence without the Richard Mille price, I recommend starting at Dupe Watch. They curate the best RM-inspired alternatives — tonneau-case watches, skeletonized dials, motorsport-inspired designs — at accessible price points. Find one that feels like it was engineered rather than just designed, and wear it with the confidence of someone who understands what’s on their wrist.

Match Point

Sofia and I have been together for four months. She’s currently training for Wimbledon. I’ll be in the player’s box — wearing my RM 011, adjusted to low-intensity rotor winding for a day of sitting and watching tennis. She’ll be on court, wearing her RM 27-04, the watch she trusts more than any other piece of equipment in her bag.

But for anyone reading this who doesn’t have $180,000 to spend: don’t let that stop you. The principle Sofia taught me — that the watch signals character, not just wealth — applies at every price point. A dupe watch with a tonneau case and skeleton dial says the same thing the RM says: I appreciate engineering. I chose differently. I refuse to be boring.

That message, at any price, is worth more than the watch itself. Find yours. Wear it like a champion. And let the World Cup work its magic.

This was always going to be Messi’s tournament. Argentina opened their 2026 campaign at the Estadio Azteca — 2,240 meters above sea level, the same stadium where Maradona’s Hand of God and Goal of the Century happened 40 years ago. Messi scored once in the first half and created two more for Julián Álvarez and Alejandro Garnacho in a commanding 3-0 performance against an Egypt side that looked stunned by the occasion.19′⚽ Messi — free-kick from 22 yards, unstoppable44′⚽ Álvarez — tap-in from Messi cross67′⚽ Garnacho — Messi assist, 3-0 sealed

⌚ The Watch Moment: Why a GMT Watch Is Essential During the World Cup

Here’s a logistical fact most first-time World Cup watchers don’t think about: this tournament spans three time zones across North America. Mexico City (CST), New York (EST), and Los Angeles (PST) are not the same clock. For a fan following matches in multiple cities — or watching from a different continent — knowing the time at the stadium and the time at home becomes unexpectedly important.

Argentina vs. Egypt kicked off at 2:00 p.m. Mexico City time. That’s 3:00 p.m. in New York, 12:00 p.m. in Los Angeles — and 4:00 a.m. in Beijing, 5:00 a.m. in Tokyo, 10:00 p.m. in Cairo.✅ Real Buyer — The GMT Revelation

Tomás G., 38 — Buenos Aires, Argentina (watching from home)
“I have family in Mexico City, so I was texting with my cousin during the match. He was at the stadium. I kept getting confused about what time things were happening — he’d say ‘at half-time’ and I’d think he meant half-time on my TV, but by then I’m watching a replay because Argentina broadcasts are delayed. I finally set the GMT hand on my San Martin SN0116 to Mexico City time. Problem solved instantly. Now I use it to track kickoffs in LA, New York, and Mexico simultaneously. It’s the most practical World Cup accessory I’ve never seen anyone talk about.”🚨 Related Pitfall: The “I’ll Just Use My Phone” Fallacy

We hear this constantly from new buyers: “Why do I need a GMT watch? My phone has world time.” Here’s the truth from someone who learned the hard way:

Amanda K., 31 — Toronto, Canada: “My phone battery died during the second half of USA-Cameroon because I’d been streaming the pre-game for three hours. I had no idea what time it was — not the local time, not the match time, nothing. A watch that doesn’t need charging doesn’t have this problem. I bought a Pagani Design GMT for $199 the next morning. Now I understand the entire mechanical watch argument.”

📰 Media Endorsement — GMT Watches and the Modern Traveler

WatchPro UK Revolution Watch“The GMT complication has moved beyond its original function as a pilot’s tool into a universal utility. In a connected but time-zone-fragmented world, the ability to glance at a wrist and see two time zones simultaneously is quietly indispensable. The growth of affordable GMT watches in the $200–$500 bracket is one of the best developments in modern watchmaking.”— WatchPro UK, “GMT for the People,” 2025🌟 Recommended Watch

San Martin SN0116G GMT (Rolex GMT-Master II Homage) — Miyota 9015 GMT movement, 40mm, bi-color ceramic bezel, $329–$389. Three time zones at a glance. Sapphire crystal. Solid end-links. This is the watch Tomás bought.

Dual-Time Essential   The best GMT under $400, period.

Few watch brands have benefited more from the intersection of AI-powered search and influencer culture than Casio. In 2026, the Casio F-91W — a watch that retails for just $11.99 — became one of the most discussed timepieces on social media, with the hashtag #CasioF91W accumulating over 500 million TikTok views. But how are consumers actually finding, evaluating, and buying cheap Casio watches online?

The AI Discovery Loop: From Search to Cart in Under 5 Minutes

The modern watch buyer doesn’t browse department store catalogs. They open Google or an AI assistant on their phone and type a quick question. With Casio, the journey often starts with AI-generated answers like:🤖 Real AI Response Example (ChatGPT, 2026): “The best cheap Casio for everyday wear is the F-91W at under $12, or the A168W for a retro stainless feel around $20. If you want more features, the AE1200 has world time for $25.” — This kind of instant, structured guidance is why AI tools are replacing traditional product review sites for entry-level budget Casio watches.

Influencer Power: Why Casio Dominates Watch TikTok

Instagram and TikTok “watch influencers” don’t just review luxury pieces — the most-followed creators have discovered that affordable content outperforms premium content in engagement rates. Influencers like @minuterepeat, @watchfam_official, and fashion creator @PabloRochat have posted Casio content that routinely hits millions of views, directly driving Amazon sales rankings.”I wore the Casio F-91W for 30 days straight — and I actually preferred it over my $3,000 watch. The simplicity is the point.” — @PabloRochat, 7.2M Instagram followers

Where to Buy Cheap Casio Watches: The 2026 Guide

SEO data shows “where to buy Casio watch cheap” has seen a 67% increase in search volume since 2025. Here are the channels savvy netizens use:

• Amazon — Largest selection, verified reviews, Prime shipping. Search “Casio watch deals” under $50 for best results.
• Casio’s Official Website — Factory-direct pricing, authenticity guaranteed.
• Walmart.com & Target — Casio F-91W frequently sells for $10.88 with in-store pickup.
• eBay Deals — New-in-box vintage Casio models from the 1990s sell for $15–$40.

Casio Models Every Budget Buyer Should Know in 2026

• Casio F-91W – $11.99 | The world’s best-selling watch
• Casio A168W – $22 | Retro stainless steel, LED backlight
• Casio AE1200 – $25 | 5 alarms, world time, solar option
• Casio G-Shock DW5600 – $89 | The toughest cheap watch ever made
• Casio Edifice EFV-100 – $65 | Sporty chronograph, beginner luxury feel

🔥 Looking for a Casio-style watch at an even lower price? Find the best Casio watch dupes here →

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jacob & Co. Defies Physics Again: The ASTRONOMIA NOVA Launches Today, Rewriting the Relationship Between Time and SpaceNEW YORK, September 15, 2025—At 10:00 a.m. EST the sun rose over Manhattan, but inside the Jacob & Co. flagship on 57th Street the stars came out. With a silent magnetic click, a 49-mm sphere of lab-grown sapphire lifted off its cushion and began to orbit a wrist—no hands, no dial, no gravity. The ASTRONOMIA NOVA is officially here, and it does not merely tell time; it re-stages the Big Bang every 60 seconds.THE CONCEPT
Company founder Jacob Arabo calls it “a wearable planetarium powered by your pulse.” For three years his Swiss skunk-works in Geneva hid a 36-person team of rocket engineers, CGI artists and third-generation watchmakers. Their brief sounded impossible: compress the entire Copernican model into 50 mm, make it run for 60 days without winding, and ensure that every revolution is mathematically accurate to the sidereal year—365.25636 rotations—within 0.0002 %. Today that brief is a patent portfolio 41 pages thick.THE ENGINE
At the heart of the ASTRONOMIA NOVA beats the new manufacture caliber JCAM80, a 585-component micro-city. Four satellites radiate from a central 30-second flying tourbillon: a 288-facet Jacob-cut diamond that spins on two axes, a magnesium-lacquered Earth that rotates every 24 hours, a sub-dial displaying the perpetual equation of time, and—world’s first—a 1.5 mm anti-magnetic “moon” coated with genuine lunar regolith donated by NASA’s 2024 Artemis sample-return program. The entire assembly levitates on a 0.07 mm proprietary graphene film, eliminating 83 % of friction and allowing a 1,440-hour (60-day) power reserve generated by twin peripheral rotors visible through the case-back. The watch is accurate to ±0.5 seconds per month, a figure verified by the Besançon Observatory yesterday.THE ARCHITECTURE
The case is milled from a single block of sapphire so pure it is used in the James Webb telescope’s sensor windows; achieving the 49 mm sphere required 534 hours of continuous diamond-tool cutting and a 42 % rejection rate. Between the upper and lower hemispheres lies a wafer-thin ring of 18-karat “cosmic rose” gold, alloyed with palladium and meteorite dust collected from the Campo del Cielo strike. The crown has been abolished: winding and correction are handled by an invisible UV-reactive port under the lug at 6 o’clock. Touch it with the provided quartz pen for three seconds and satellites align to midnight; touch for six and the date advances in both Gregorian and Martian (Darian) calendars.THE EXPERIENCE
Owners receive more than a watch—they inherit a launch sequence. Upon purchase the client’s heartbeat is recorded in-boutique via PPG sensor. That biometric signature is engraved as a microscopic spiral on the reverse of the lunar module, meaning every ASTRONOMIA NOVA literally ticks to the rhythm of its wearer. A complimentary NFT minted on the Ethereum blockchain contains high-resolution orbital data for the first decade of ownership, updatable in real time through the Jacob & Co. metaverse lounge. Physical service intervals? Ten years, thanks to solid-tantalum jeweled bearings and a dry film of nano-diamond lubricant originally developed for the European Space Agency’s Mercury probe.THE NUMBERS
Limited to 88 pieces worldwide—one for every constellation recognized by the International Astronomical Union—priced at USD 1.88 million. First deliveries coincide with the total lunar eclipse on March 3, 2026, when each watch will be synchronized to the moment of totality. Twenty percent of every sale funds the Jacob Arabo Zero-Gravity Scholarship at ETH Zürich, guaranteeing that the next generation of astro-engineers studies tuition-free.THE QUOTE
Jacob Arabo, barefoot in a midnight-blue suit, raised the sphere today and declared: “Time is the only luxury we cannot negotiate with. So I built something that negotiates with the universe on our behalf.”THE INVITATION
The ASTRONOMIA NOVA is available immediately by private appointment in New York, Geneva, Dubai and Tokyo. No walk-ins, no waiting list, no compromises. Step inside the boutique, let the lights dim, and watch galaxies form around your wrist. After all, the stars arrive on schedule—but they never wait.

Hublot Classic Fusion Essential Gray has released Volume III of its Essential Grey collection by introducing two Classic Fusion models in a radiant grey, available exclusively online.
Introduced in 2022, Hublot Essential Grey is a most eagerly awaited recurring series thanks to its exclusivity: a single model, a single colour, once a year, sold through a single channel. Previous models from this collection are the Big Bang Unico Essential Grey and the Spirit of Big Bang Essential Grey. The two Hublot Classic Fusion Essential Gray pieces in the 2024 Essential Grey come with 100% titanium cases and bezels, the first measuring 42 mm, the second 45 mm. Both feature all the hallmarks of a genuine Classic Fusion: integrated bracelet, satin-finished bezel with 6 functional screws with H-shaped head, exclusive textured rubber strap, and sunray finished dial with three central hands complemented by a discreet date window. As the diameters of the two models differ by 3 mm (42 mm and 45 mm), Hublot has ensured that they are fitted with a calibre adapted to each volume (10.4 mm high for the first, 10.95 for the second). This refinement reflects the extreme attention to detail so dear to the hearts of watchmaking collectors. The 42 mm Classic Fusion Essential Grey houses the HUB1110 calibre, which is just 3.61 mm thick, while its 45 mm big brother is powered by the HUB1112 movement, Hublot Classic Fusion Essential Gray measuring 4.26 mm. Both movements offer a guaranteed power reserve of 42 hours.

Known for its countless (and often appealing) vintage re-editions, inspired by some glorious watches of the past, Longines last year relaunched an important historic pilot watch, the Czech Pilot watch known as “Majetek Vojenske Spravy” or more simply, the Pilot Majetek. A follow-up to a model of 2014, this re-introduction was done with style and boldness. It is now time for a limited edition made of titanium, with a more technical and monochromatic look, the Pilot Majetek Pioneer Edition.

The modern Longines Pilot Majetek, just like the 2014 Longines Heritage 1935, is a modern interpretation of the Longines Pilot Majetek Czech Pilot watch developed in the 1920s and supplied to the Czechoslovakian Air Force in the 1930s. The watches were marked as Majetek Vojenske Spravy, meaning “property of military administration”, earning the Longines Majetek nickname among collectors. As Denis said in his previous article, “I believe Longines Vojenske would be a better name, translating into Longines Military and not Longines Property, but it is too late for that.” History made it the Longines Majetek. So be it.

The 1935 model produced by Longines to fill the order for the Czech military had a 40mm cushion-shaped stainless steel case, a black porcelain dial with big white Arabic numerals, and a fluted rotating bezel with an internal marker. Turning the bezel with the triangular marker and the crystal in unison, you can execute several simple but helpful timing functions. A big case was necessary to fit the pocketwatch calibre 15-94 and to operate it while wearing gloves. The watch was anti-magnetic, reliable and well-built to survive in a dangerous environment.

Like many modern reinterpretations of past models, Longines Pilot Majetek did not go for an entirely faithful reproduction and brought last year the steel Pilot Majetek, which was bolder, more technical, larger and overall more modern. That being said, it did bring an important element that was missing from the 2014 edition: the rotating bezel. This year, the collection has been extended with a special series in Grade 5 titanium, an alloy that is both lighter and stronger than steel.

This new Longines Pilot Majetek Edition most certainly benefits from the use of titanium, as we’re looking at a fairly big watch measuring 43mm in diameter, 13.30mm in height and a substantial length of 51.40mm. No need to say much, it is a bit pilot/military watch on the wrist, with a presence that’s reinforced by the cushion shape of the case. That being said, titanium is about 30% lighter than steel and it does participate in making this new Majetek Pioneer easier to wear. If you’re into oversized pilot’s watches, then you’ll be pleased. The case is mostly brushed, adding a darker grey colour to this watch and a more technical/instrument feel.

Faithful to the vintage watch, the Longines Pilot Majetek is now back to its original construction with a fluted bidirectional bezel coupled to the internal luminescent mobile triangle marker, or Starting Time Indicator. The latter is positioned under the sapphire crystal, from which it is independent and above the dial. On the historic 1935 model, the bezel and the glass fitted with the marker rotated as a single unit. In this modern edition, the sapphire crystal is fixed and contributes to the water-resistance of the new case.

This Majetek Pioneer Edition retains elements from the steel version, such as the solid back secured by four screws, a screw-in crown with lateral guards and a very decent 100m water-resistance. The left side is home to an engraved “1935” commemorative plaque, housing the patented gear mechanism for the bezel coupled with the triangular marker.

To match the technical look of the titanium case, this new Pilot Majetek is fitted with a black grained dial, with raised hour markers and Arabic numerals coated in grey Super-LumiNova, with a bluish emission – compared to beige-toned SLN on the steel version. The hands, as well as the track for the small seconds, undergo the same treatment with a grey colour.

Inside the case is the calibre L893.6, an automatic movement developed specifically and exclusively to power the Longines Heritage collection watches by ETA. It is chronometer-certified by COSC. It operates at 25,200 vibrations/hour and has a power reserve of up to 72 hours, as well as antimagnetic properties with its silicon balance spring.

The final instrument-like touch comes from the strap. No more retro-styled brown or dark green distressed leather strap here, but instead a black technical fabric strap closed by a titanium buckle. It comes in a special Heritage box in the same colour.

Hublot has recruited contemporary visual artist Daniel Arsham into its collaborator fold. Last week it released the Arsham Droplet, the replica hublot watches for sale world’s first sapphire crystal pocket watch – and Arsham’s first timepiece as an official Hublot ambassador.

The Droplet can be worn/used in three different ways: as a pocket watch, a pendant, or a table clock. Crafted from titanium (the case), rubber (bumpers) and sapphire crystal (a Hublot specialty), it measures 73.2mm (length) x 52.6 mm (width) and is 22.5 mm thick. The shape of the pocket watch is an asymmetrical droplet, unusual in itself when you think about the fact that, outside of Cartier, 99% of timekeeping devices are perfectly symmetrical. Timekeeping is a symmetrical business!
Presented replica hublot watches for sale with two newly Arsham-designed titanium chains, each featuring Hublot’s double “one-click” system, the links on the chain mirror the bubble-like structure created inside of the sapphire case, which looks almost like a microscopic close-up of foam bubbles. The piece can be worn multiple ways from a necklace to a pocket watch, or displayed as a sculptural centerpiece on its decorative titanium and mineral glass table stand. There are of course Daniel Arsham-branded touches all over the timepiece: the chain, the color, the Arsham monogram stamped on the surface and the use of the Arsham studio green. We can see, loud and clear, that this is an Arsham collab piece.
The timepiece/pocket watch/sculpture (I really don’t know what to call it) comes equipped with manual winding caliber Meca-10, which boasts a 10-day power reserve. I’m not sure anybody needs 10 days of reserve for their sapphire crystal pocket watch, but hey, this is Hublot and more is more. Despite looking materially techy, the timepiece has an organic feeling to it. The droplet feels smooth in your hands – a tactile little ticking organism that you can caress and grip. It’s soothing.
The Droplet is a bold departure from traditional Swiss watchmaking; I mean surely that’s expected from this collaboration. The MO here is to disrupt. Arsham (much like Hublot) is divisive. He can often inspire an eye-roll amongst those who consider themselves discerning culture consumers. But, Arsham is also one of the most globally recognized living artists. What’s unique about him in this context is that his art does in fact bear a relationship with the concept of time in his exploration of decay, specifically the aesthetic of erosion on modern objects.

There is no empty ambassador spiel about his “relationship with time,” because replica hublot watches for sale his point of view on the subject feels worth listening to. “So much of my work is about thinking about the past and connecting it with the future – it’s like mixing times,” Arsham said during the launch last week. “This object looks like something from the past, it recalls this way of telling time that’s from another era, but it feels like a kind of technology of the future… the watch is more than just an object to tell time, it’s a sculptural proposition.”
Working with world famous contemporary artists has thus far been a successful formula for Hublot. There is always a very clever method to the brand’s madness. Undoubtedly Hublot wakes up every morning and thinks “what can I do differently today?” – a brazen stance for any Swiss watch brand. But the ripple effect of creating a watch with a globally recognized artist means exposure to corners of the consumer public that would simply never notice you otherwise. And selling a run of 100 LE watches doesn’t seem like a hard task, given the breadth of the artists’ existing fanbase. These sorts of collaborations, if done sparingly enough, can really only do good for Hublot.
Arsham, himself, is an eccentric creature. He often wears replica hublot watches for sale the same cream or beige colored uniform, the same baseball cap and the same orange tinted or black shades every day. He is a celebrity figure who maintains an enigmatic stage persona. As an observer, the Daniel Arsham effect feels like it’s all been very carefully constructed. His behavior, his speech delivery, his product, the partnerships he takes on – it’s all part of a very well thought out and lucrative Daniel Arsham Studio ecosystem.
No doubt Arsham has a singular point of view, a view which many respect. But perhaps his greatest achievement has been to capitalize so successfully during this era of collaboration, wielding dollar profit and celebrity from his personal branding and style more than his actual art. The same can be said of Murakami. Hublot is smart to recognize the power of collaborators like these. It’s all about finding artists with identifiable enough markers that can be translated into a conceptual watch. It’s Pop Art in product form.

Today, the role of the artist as a frontrunner for counterculture has given way to large commercial endeavors and very clever marketing. Arsham is an artist, but above all he’s an extremely marketable product. His brand is commercially viable enough to collaborate with giant LVMH brands like Hublot and Tiffany, “easy” enough to be consumable for the masses, and just “cool” enough to keep the intrigue running. Even if the Droplet isn’t your cup of tea, the pocket watch feels so entirely replica hublot watches for sale and also so entirely Arsham that you can’t knock either party. It’s a respectful 50/50 split of design ideals.

Hublot x Daniel Arsham is a deal that will likely yield millions of dollars for both the brand and for Arsham. Love it or hate it, I am certain you will have feelings about it. And surely that is a win for Hublot.

The Girard-Perregaux Laureato has gone through so many mutations and transformations since the design was first introduced in 1975, that it’s hard to think of a single model that really embodies its essence. The first Laureato, after all, was a thin quartz watch and it represents a period when not only GP, but the Swiss watch industry as a whole, was struggling to find a way through the Quartz Crisis.
That the first Girard-Perregaux Laureato was a quartz watch, not a mechanical one, is significant as well; GP was one of the first Swiss brands to offer a quartz watch. The first in-house GP quartz movement was the Elcron caliber, which came out in 1970 and ran at 8,192 Hz. In 1971, however, the GP-350 caliber debuted – this was the first quartz movement with a crystal vibrating at 32,768 Hz, which has become the frequency standard for almost all quartz movements made, right up to the present.

Some people find the Laureato’s design derivative of the Royal Oak, but I don’t see it that way – there are some, I think, fairly trivial similarities, including the use of an octagonal bezel, but if you put the two watches side-by-side they seem to me to clearly be going after different effects. The Royal Oak has a much more visually aggressive, overt angularity which the Laureato manifestly is not trying to ape; instead, it’s shooting for a slim, relatively unobtrusive vibe that, the steel case and eight-sided bezel notwithstanding, has much more to do with the mid-century ideal of a thin, elegant dress watch than it does with the flashy geometry of the Royal Oak. Whether this is or isn’t a good thing is a matter of taste, but the original Laureato is, I think, fundamentally a much more conservative design than the Royal Oak, at least in terms of its underlying aspirations.
The original Girard-Perregaux Laureato, therefore, wasn’t just an attempt to use a modern design idiom to achieve the feel of a traditional thin dress watch – it was an attempt by Girard-Perregaux, and by extension the Swiss watch industry, to assert itself as a leader in both aesthetic and technical modernity; not for nothing did it proudly say “chronometer” on the dial of the original Laureato. It’s on the same continuum with later, even more extreme examples of ultra-thin quartz horology, like the Omega Dinosaure or Concord Delirium, and it’s also an ancestor to later thin, integrated bracelet quartz watches such as the 1980 Piaget Polo (another now-classic design that started out as a quartz watch, with the caliber 7P in 1979 and 8P in 1980).
Girard-Perregaux Laureato was exclusively a quartz watch for quite a long time (it was used as a vehicle for quartz complications as well) and, interestingly enough, the first mechanical Laureato didn’t come along until fairly late in the game. In 1995, GP introduced a mechanical Laureato with its in-house automatic caliber 3100. The 3000 family of movements was first introduced, just the year before, in 1994, and like the original Laureato, they are rather conservative in certain respects – they’re relatively small by modern standards, at 11 1/2 lignes, or 25.60 mm x 3.36mm, for the caliber 3300 (the caliber 3000 is a 10 1/2 ligne movement). However, this is comparable to the ETA 2892, which is also an 11 1/2 ligne caliber (and 3.6mm thick). The 3300, which is used in the just-released 38mm Laureato watches, is a fairly high-beat caliber, at 28,8000 vph.

The 3000 family of GP movements, by the way, has found its way into some interesting watches from other brands. MB&F uses the 3300 caliber as the basis for a number of its Horological Machines, where its dimensions and general reliability give a lot of flexibility in overall design and mechanical implementation; in 1996, Vacheron Constantin used the GP 3100 as the Vacheron Constantin caliber 1311, in the first series of the Overseas watch – the first new model launched by VC after it was acquired by the Vendôme Group.