As a nod to Ferrari’s seven decades of operation, the famed Italian marque called in watch partner, Hublot, to create a revolutionary watch together. The Hublot Techframe Ferrari 70 Years Tourbillon Chronograph, launched at Baselworld 2017, is therefore a fusion of the automotive and watchmaking worlds.
Attended by Ferrari chairman, Sergio Marchionne, and Hublot’s top brass, including LVMH watches boss Jean-Claude Biver and CEO Ricardo Guadalupe, along with friends of the brands from across the world, the event showcased the strong bond the two big names share.
And there couldn’t have been a better end to the evening than the show put up by British band, Depeche Mode. A good cause — of providing clean water to the world, thanks to Hublot’s association with Charity Water — was enough to convince Martin Gore, Dave Gahan and the rest to perform a private gig.
Perfect blend
But the real highlight was the watch itself — the Techframe is a completely new innovation, combining Ferrari’s design capabilities and Hublot’s watchmaking. Keeping the 70th year in mind, the watch was launched in limited editions of 70 each, in three versions: King Gold, PEEK (Polyether Ether Ketone) Carbon, and Titanium. The design team at Ferrari, led by its head, Flavio Manzoni, used the same creativity and rigour that goes into a sportscar to bring the Techframe to life. When I caught up with him at Baselworld, he shared Ferrari’s design philosophy: not to follow anything that existed before. No wonder then that the Techframe looks original, is avant-garde and yet highly functional.
The starting point was obviously the Hublot movement, around which they designed a high-performance chassis. Another highlight of the Ferrari design philosophy, as shared by Manzoni, is the sensibility of not having any superfluous components. The black structure on the dial holds the chronograph counters and offers excellent readability. The crown at 4 o’clock is decorated with the iconic Ferrari Prancing Horse, reducing the size of the watch greatly. The red push button is strategically placed to give the watch an ergonomic look.
On the inside, the Techframe is housed with a new manual-wind movement from Hublot, made of 253 components and a five-day power reserve — the HUB6311. Manzoni’s team had offered five original designs to the Hublot think-tank, who settled on this one and worked on the engineering, materials and watchmaking aspects, allowing the aesthetic and technical concepts to come to life. The result is a chassis with three modular components — skeleton middle, container, and back cover.
DNA matters
Elaborating on the relationship with Ferrari, Guadalupe tells me, “The reason for the success of this association is that the DNAs of both the brands match. The Ferrari values of innovation, style and design, as well as performance, are the same as ours.” He also spells out something interesting about the Techframe. “This frame architecture design is innovative and different, and it opens up new possibilities in the future for Hublot watches. It is neither Big Bang nor Classic Fusion, our regular lines,” he states.
The writer is president and publisher of the Chitralekha Group and president, The Horologists
