HUBLOT FOR THE RAKE AEROFUSION CHRONOGRAPH IN TITANIUM AND BRONZE
It all started one clear, unseasonably warm and hospitable evening in February last year in Milan. Little did I know I was about to embark on a horological journey that would last the better part of a year and a half. But the end result is worth the peripatetic, highly international, at times amusingly circuitous journey that has yielded one of my favourite timepiece collaborations for my other magazine, The Rake.
The gentlemen gathered in the historic stone courtyard of Il Salumaio di Montenapoleone were familiar figures to the readers of The Rake: one Lapo Elkann, grandson of Gianni Agnelli; Luca Rubinacci, scion of Naples’ most fabled eponymous tailoring dynasty; Augusto Capitanucci, Brand Director of Hublot, Italy; and, with apologies, yours truly. The occasion was a gathering of friends following the celebration of Elkann’s Italia Independent and Rubinacci’s collaboration with Hublot, featuring vintage tweed straps and dials unearthed from the famous treasure trove of ancient materials belonging to Luca’s father, Mariano Rubinacci.
As the conversation of the night turned to philosophy, metaphysics and romance, suddenly the question was posited – by which of these gentlemen I can’t recall – if were to create a Hublot watch, what would be its
