The famous Japanese artist, Takashi Murakami, we have known for some of his artistic collaborations with Hublot, has now taken a leaf out of the Swiss watchmaker to launch his own watch brand. Called the Takashi Murakami Time Objects, the brand unveils the Skull Flowers Cylindrical Jumping-Hour Tourbillon watch, which is a sublime combination of contemporary art and haute horlogerie.
Takashi’s first solo outing with watches could get many thinking, if it’s even the right idea. But the way the artist has been able to turn a titanium skull into a case and fit its eyes with spinning flowers, we presume it to go straight into the collector’s category. Murakami has already established his presence among watch collectors through the collaborations with Hublot, and this collection is raising expectations in his favor.
Designer: Takashi Murakami
At Yanko Design, we have regularly featured Murakami’s product collaborations in luxury timepieces, especially the artist’s partnership with Hublot. We have talked at length about how these collaborative, limited-edition watches integrate his signature sapphire flower motif into mechanical tourbillon watches. And now we are talking about Murakami’s own interesting crossover between art and watchmaking.
The resulting Skull Flowers collection comprises five watches, which have skull-shaped titanium cases with a microblasted finish and black DLC coating, and rotating flowers in the eye sockets. These are the first things you notice at a glance. A closer look actually reveals the side-mounted cylindrical jumping-hour display and a flying tourbillon visible through the sapphire caseback.
Pairing of the skull and flowers can come up as odd to someone who doesn’t know Murakami. But if you look closely, these are part of a theme in Murakami’s work, which indicates life and death coexisting side by side. For instance, the flowers depict life, and the skull reminds us of the eternal truth.
The flowers are, however, more than a celebration of life. They provide a decorative aesthetic to the lifeless skull forming the watch dial. According to reports, ‘the flower petals rotate on ball bearings with the movement of the wrist.’ The skull is the more prominent aspect of the watch. It measures nearly 44 mm in size and is 18.4 mm at the thickest point. The time display on the watch is located at six o’clock, where the hour cylinder jumps at the start of each hour and the minutes rotate on a disc.
All five models of the Skull Flowers Cylindrical Jumping-Hour Tourbillon watch are limited edition and range between CHF85,000 (approx. $100,000) and CHF148,000 (approx. $180,000), depending on the configuration you choose. Each watch type is reportedly limited to 12 pieces and could be powered by a Kross Manufacture hand-wound movement that offers a five-day power reserve. Instead of a traditional crown, the watches have a discreet pusher on the left side to toggle mode and time.
