In the past a few years, Hublot has released a limited edition of their hand-wound Meca-10 line which has been made with input from Fairey. And it came to the market in conjunction with their statement of artist Shepard Fairey as a new brand ambassador. The latest in Hublot’s series of art-themed replica watches, who founded OBEY clothing, seems a natural fit for the brand’s focus on avant-garde, disruptive and controversial artists. 
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.
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.
However, 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. 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 cog wheel power reserve display at six o’clock that uses a framed red aperture to show the remaining reserve.
Whatever, I can understand the appeal for 200 well-heeled Fairey devotees and collectors while not a model that fits my tastes,. 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 highly 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.
