You’ve worked on diverse design projects over the course of your career, but never on watches. What made you decide to embark on this collaboration with Hublot?
Well, I’ve always loved watches. So for me as a designer, it was something I was super excited about. When Hublot got in touch with me I was like, “Yes, of course!” I had actually been contacted by a couple of other brands before but they were not brands that I really wanted to collaborate with so I passed. But with Hublot it was obvious I wanted to do it. So I really went the extra mile because I wanted it to be a real design project for myself. And it was amazing.
How did your love for watches start?
Being Swiss, you naturally know your watches. So I had a pretty good knowledge of watch brands. But when I got to an age when I started feeling that it was something that I really wanted for myself, it was the mid-2000s. I was really into hip hop, and Hublot was really blowing up then — rappers were talking about Hublot and all that. So when I got my first big paycheque in about 2008 or 2009, I was really debating getting a Hublot, but it was quite expensive, so I ended up buying something else. Today, wearing a Hublot that I designed… it’s just amazing from every possible angle. It’s still hard to believe.
What inspired the design of the Big Bang Sang Bleu?
I put together things that are my style, in this watch. It represents the way I approach a design from any point of view and not necessarily tattooing. Geometry is the main focus of this piece — it’s not the only thing I do, but it is one of the ways I work on structure. What’s interesting about geometry is that it is universal. I create shapes that people will assign meaning to, in any way they want. I’m not trying to say something with the watch. I’m trying to create something that will say something for you.
Read more about the Hublot and its collaboration with Maxime Büchi of Sang Bleu in the June issue of Prestige.
