Hublot
Ferrari Watches: The Modern Era
Before we get to the “Big Two,” mention should be made of a remarkable model produced by Cabestan in 2010. The “Scuderia Ferrari One” was a project in which Crealuxe worked closely with the in-house Ferrari design team, led by Flavio Manzoni, to create – and this is a mantra repeated by Hublot – “an exciting new Ferrari chassis for the high performance Cabestan motor inside.”
With its vertical gear train, vertical tourbillon coupled with a miniature chain-and-fusée and an “automatic transmission” to compensate for the torque curve of the mainspring, this was also a constant force movement – ironically championed by Girard-Perregaux and now a feature turning up in various and sundry designs. Hours, minutes and seconds were displayed on three engraved aluminium rotary drums marked with Super Luminova using Ferrari fonts. The watch delivered a 72-hour power reserve, also shown on an engraved aluminium rotary drum marked with Super Luminova using Ferrari fonts. Initially priced at CHF300,000, and offered only to Ferrari owners “by invitation,” one can presume it is a supremely rare beast.
From Maranello To Florence
Cabestan’s lone Ferrari watch, in terms of the timing of its appearance (the dates, not its actual horological behaviour), acted as a bridge between the Ferrari watches made by Panerai and the present commission holder. Ferrari’s Panerai connection existed from 2005/6 to 2010, a brief span but one that yielded, with hindsight, some of the finest watches ever made to represent the cars from Maranello. Conceptually, it was a pairing one could only dream about because both were and are Italian icons.
While nothing as extreme as the Cabestan Scuderia Ferrari One (let alone one of the more outré Hublots which would follow) came out this venture, a number of models have since emerged as highly collectible, especially the 50-examples-only Reference FER00024 of 2008, the Ferrari Chronograph Classic, which housed a genuine vintage Minerva 13-20 movement. With this cheeky manoeuvre, Panerai/Ferrari out-Minerva’d fellow Richemont brand Montblanc, which still hasn’t quite grasped the value of the Minerva name.
Granturismo v Scuderia
Much thought had gone into the concept, clearly to preserve the reputations, design sensibilities and prestige of both houses. The overall collection was branded “Ferrari Engineered by Panerai” and consisted of two separate product lines, to be marketed as “Granturismo” and “Scuderia.” Although manufactured and retailed by Panerai, the watches carried only the Ferrari name on the dial. Granturismo models featured the Prancing Horse at 12 o’clock, while Scuderias were detailed with the famous yellow shield that Ferrari racing cars have always worn.
There was much overlap between the two ranges, as both featured complications, but the Granturismos were the more traditional and the Scuderias more adventurous. The majority were chronographs, but time-only models and GMTs were also in the catalogue. In total, the company produced 27 references, though not all of the numbers were used: FER00001 to FER00028 skipped 00021, 00023, 00026 and 00027; to this run of 24 models were added Ferrari California Flyback FER00030, Ferrari Scuderia Rattrapante FER00033 and Ferrari Chronograph FER00038.
Stand-out models, alongside the aforementioned, Minerva-powered FER00024, included the Granturismo Rattrapante FER00005, the Granturismo GMT 8 Days FER00012 and all of the models with in-house movements, four with the manually-wound Cal. P.2002/2, the Granturismo 8 Days Chrono Monopulsante FER00020 with Cal. P.2004/6 and Scuderia 10 Days GMT FER00022 with Cal. P.2003/5. Values remain stuck at £3000-£12,000, which is far below corresponding Panerai pieces, e.g. time-only automatics from both ranges or flyback chronographs offered by the two (though none are directly comparable). This, however, means that they are well-kept secrets and therefore bargains by any measure.
A Natural End
As a postscript to the Panerai/Ferrari adventure, I was fortunate enough to spend time with Alessandro Ficarelli, a long-term employee of Panerai, now the Product Development Director, at the recent event in Harrods. He recounted for me the end of the affair, his version in direct contrast to the much-disputed outcome as voiced among horology’s chattering classes. Immediately, upon my asking him about the saga, he dispelled the misconceptions that Ferrari terminated the arrangement, that the watches weren’t selling and other myths.
It turns out that the entire adventure was a perfect storm, born of optimism but waiting only to run out its five-year contract. As far as coincidences go – both favourable and self-terminating – the Panerai-Ferrari link-up happened to occur at the same time Panerai was accelerating its drive to become a fully-fledged manufacture. This changed the company’s priorities, and the decision was wise, for it is now, a decade later, a fully-fledged manufacture.
Then Came the Big Bang
It was at Baselworld 2012 that the whispers grew louder. Ferrari didn’t hang about after the relationship with Panerai ended. By this time, the GT supercar company was so imbued with marketing itself as a brand (just pop into one of the boutiques if you want to see what product types can be endowed with a Ferrari logo) that the thought of no high-end watch connected to it must have seemed anathema. The relationship began in 2011, announced in November of that year, and Hublot – which responds to trends and fashions with greater speed that Ferrari completes laps – delivered its debut model a year later.
To inaugurate the partnership, Hublot needed more than a badge-engineered Big Bang, just as Panerai resisted slapping a Prancing Horse on a Luminor. It would create something special, just right for heralding a partnership which both companies stressed was more than the usual co-branding, licensing or sponsorship set-up.
In addition to cross-pollination, with Ferrari being truly hands-on when it comes to the designs, the relationship would include joint support of “all key activities pertaining to brand image and sales activities.” This included the production of a “Ferrari Official Watch” and a “Scuderia Ferrari Official Watch,” along with Hublot assuming the title of “Ferrari Official Timekeeper”, “Scuderia Ferrari Official Timekeeper” and “Ferrari Challenge Official Timekeeper.”
Every Hublot Ferrari watch since has sported details with direct reference to some feature connected to the cars, be it likenesses to gauges on the dashboards, the cars’ pedals and even seatbelt mechanisms. Bold colours, exotic materials, interchangeable straps that educe reference to the cars’ upholstery and stitching – every minute element had to relate to Ferrari as much as it would to Hublot.
But the latter needed to be an equal partner, so, to ensure that the “watchness” of the line-up was as relevant as the “Ferrariness,” the range has featured every function and complication that can be even remotely deemed suitable in a sports watch. Moreover, given its adventurousness, Hublot hasn’t shied away from using every material in can lay its hands on it devising new cases, bridges and other elements.
Hublot also used the first of the Ferrari line to exploit the company’s in-house UNICO movement, which it compared to “the best possible engine to power a racing car, and that it was selected, then designed and developed by Hublot to power the Big Bang Ferrari.” It boasted 330 components, an oscillating frequency of 28,800 vibrations per hour, a column wheel and dual horizontal coupling on the dial side, “appear(ing) in a new constellation reminiscent of Ferrari alloy wheel rims.”
It was designed and developed by the Hublot engineers and watchmakers in tribute to “LaFerrari,” itself one of the most extreme of Ferrari’s limited edition road cars. A corresponding timepiece had to be just as adventurous. For openers, it could deliver a then-record-breaking 50-day power reserve. It was the watch with the most components created to date by Hublot, with an impressive 637 parts. And visually? It was as arresting as the vehicle that inspired it.
LaFerrari was not the only extreme timepiece in the catalogue: in 2017, to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the Prancing Horse, Hublot launched the Techframe Ferrari Tourbillon Chronograph, another tour de force with a skeletal frame inspired by racing chassis, and tourbillon brazenly displayed in timepieces offered in a range of exotic materials. While not as wild as LaFerrari, it’s still one to impress even the most jaded at a Red Bar gathering.
Moreover, it is being offered in Carbon 3D fibre, a three-dimensional woven composite enjoying its first usage in watchmaking, or alternative cases including King Gold or Titanium. Inside is the UNICO HUB 1280 movement with column-wheel flyback chronograph with 72-hour power reserve. While something of a surprise to those used to the angular mien of Big Bang-related cases, it was clear that, again, Hublot and Ferrari had, together, created a technical and aesthetic declaration that respected both brands’ unique personalities, in harmony rather than contrast.