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- The Hublot Classic Fusion Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons translates the artist’s famous sculpture into a 42mm watch, complete with a balloon-valve crown and miniature Balloon Dog seconds-hand counterweight.
- Silver, blue and red editions are available for AUD$37,100 each, with just 200 examples of each colour.
- All three use Hublot’s self-winding HUB1710 calibre with a 50-hour power reserve.
Jeff Koons has turned his famous Balloon Dog into a Hublot, and for the price of AUD$37,100, you can now wear it on your wrist.
The new Classic Fusion Balloon Dog by Jeff Koons comes in silver, blue and red, limited to 200 pieces per colour. Drawing on the Neo-Pop language Koons is known for, Hublot has puffed up the entire 42mm Classic Fusion to match the iconic sculpture, right down to a crown shaped like the valve you’d use to inflate a balloon.
So what do you think about all of this: work of art or a gorgeous, inflated novelty? There’s enough going on beneath the shiny surface to make a decent case for both.
Hublot Actually Inflated the Classic Fusion
Koons’ Balloon Dog works because something as cheap and temporary as a balloon, recreated at such an enormous scale in mirror-polished stainless steel, is pure fantasy. I’ve even got a wooden dupe on my shelf at home. Hublot, however, has taken that same inflated look and run its horological prowess across almost every visible part of the watch.
The normally flatter lines of the Classic Fusion have been reshaped into a balloon-like form with convex surfaces and rounded proportions. The crown resembles a balloon’s inflation valve, the one you put your mouth to just before a birthday party, while a flexible decorative “tail” sticks out from the case at 10:30.
Look closer, and you’ll notice the seconds hand carries a tiny Balloon Dog-shaped counterweight. The hands and hour markers use three-dimensional Super-LumiNova, because the only thing better than an inflated Hublot is one that lights up at night. Even the oscillating weight inside the automatic movement has been given a fuller, rounded form to keep the theme going behind the caseback.
It’s all very silly, but intentionally so, as art often is. We’ve seen plenty of artist watches where the collaboration begins and ends with a colourful dial or signature. Hublot itself has gone further before, most notably with Takashi Murakami. On the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow, the artist’s smiling flower became a three-dimensional mechanism with 12 gem-set petals that rotate around the dial.
Koons takes that idea in a different direction. Instead of making the artwork move inside the watch, Hublot has reshaped the watch itself around it. Clearly, someone at Hublot managed to convince an engineer to put a tiny fake balloon tail into the side of a luxury watch.
But if AUD$37,100 sounds like serious money for one of these, just remember that the Balloon Dog (Orange) sold for USD$58.4 million at Christie’s in 2013, setting what was then the auction record for a living artist.
Three Colours, 200 Watches Each
The Classic Fusion Balloon Dog arrives in three executions, each measuring 42mm, with all three colours limited to 200 pieces and priced at AUD$37,100 in Australia.
First up is the Silver version, made from mirror-polished stainless steel with a rhodium-toned dial, giving it the closest visual connection to the reflective surfaces of Koons’ sculptures. If that’s a little too shiny for your tastes, the Blue and Red editions use polished anodised aluminium instead, pushing the balloon effect much harder with saturated colour across the case and dial.
Underneath all that inflated metal sits Hublot’s self-winding HUB1710 calibre, offering approximately 50 hours of power reserve. Water resistance is rated to 50 metres, so while the watch looks like something you might take to a pool party, we’d probably leave the balloon animals to do the floating.
Hublot Classic Fusion Balloon Dog – Key Specs
- Case size: 42mm
- Movement: HUB1710 self-winding
- Power reserve: Approx. 50 hours
- Water resistance: 50m / 5 ATM
- Crystal: Sapphire with anti-reflective treatment
- Dial: Inflated polished finish with domed appliques and 3D white Super-LumiNova inserts
- Production: 200 pieces per colour
- Price: AUD$37,100 each
1/2Hublot Classic Fusion Balloon Dog Silver
Reference: 542.SX.0820.NR.JKN26
The Silver edition uses a polished stainless-steel case and bezel, paired with a rhodium-plated dial, grey rubber balloon-tail detail and metallic silver-effect strap insert.
1/5Hublot Classic Fusion Balloon Dog Blue
Reference: 542.UB.5170.NR.JKN26
The Blue edition swaps steel for polished blue anodised aluminium across the case, bezel and dial, with a matching blue rubber tail and metallic blue leather-effect strap insert.
1/4Hublot Classic Fusion Balloon Dog Red
Reference: 542.UR.8170.NR.JKN26
The Red edition uses polished red anodised aluminium throughout, paired with a red rubber tail and matching metallic red leather-effect strap insert.
The Beginning of a New Relationship With Koons
The Balloon Dog is an impressive treat for the eyes, but it’s only the beginning of Hublot’s new relationship with Koons. The pair also unveiled the MP-14 Origin by Jeff Koons, a 44mm sapphire-and-titanium watch limited to just 30 pieces and featuring Hublot’s first automatic central tourbillon.
That’s the serious watchmaking end of the partnership. The Classic Fusion is the one with a balloon tail hanging out of its case.
Whether that makes it wearable art or an exceptionally elaborate novelty probably depends on how much credit you give Hublot for blowing up this idea. But if you’re going to turn Balloon Dog into a watch, at least it won’t pop.
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