Hublot has produced a limited edition of their hand-wound Meca-10 line which has been designed with input from Fairey. And it was released in conjunction with their statement of artist Shepard Fairey as a new brand ambassador. The newest in Hublot’s series of art-themed watches, Fairey, who founded OBEY clothing and whose art includes the creation of the iconic Barack Obama Hope poster, seems a natural fit for the brand’s focus on avant-garde, disruptive and controversial artists.
With a restriction of 100 pieces in two different colors, the replica Hublot Big Bang Meca-10 Shepard Fairey LE is a predictably bold and colorful expression of Hublot’s recognizable shape, with a patterned Texalium and carbon fiber case, a funky power reserve indicator, and Fairey’s own Star Gear logo on the dial.

Outside of perhaps the skeletonized dial, which is absolutely not unique to this Hublot design, these Shepard Fairey editions are featured by the rather detailed application of a tribal floral pattern in the Texalium upper element of the watch’s 45mm case. Texalium, for those who don’t cancel the Big Bang Unico Italia Independent, is specialized aluminum-coated carbon fiber and it allows for the application of a wide variety of colors and the formation of completely customized imagery within the material. This is basically ideal for a watch that is encouraged by the work of a visual artist and the Big Bang Meca-10 Shepard Fairey can be had in either blue or grey with additional red accents. 

Both versions have Fairey’s star logo on the dial at three and are powered by the fake Hublot’s hand-wound HUB 1201 movement. With a 10-day power reserve, this movement has time, sub-seconds, and a distinctive cogwheel power reserve display at six o’clock that uses a framed red aperture to show the remaining reserve. What’s more, this Hublot has the brand’s “one-click” strap changing system, which allows for simple and tool-less strap changes. As provided here, both versions come on a rubber and calf leather strap with an embossed design from the artist himself.
While not a model that speaks to my tastes, I can understand the appeal for 200 well-heeled Fairey devotees and collectors. Not unlike past examples from Hublot’s “Hublot Loves Art” series, these fake models act as an extension of the appeal of the artist themselves, introducing a high niche Hublot to an engaged audience that can be expected to understand both the artist’s greater appeal and the nature of collecting within that specific space. As a watch with such a cheap price, the cheap watches replica Big Bang Meca-10 Shepard Fairey translates his artistic creation into a medium that remains collectible, while still functioning as wearable and everyday enjoyable product.