Watch This Space

It would seem that NFTs—or non-fungible tokens, verified by blockchain technology—are everywhere. Following record-smashing sales of digital artwork and virtual fashion, the first NFT watch was developed by Swiss cybersecurity company WiseKey in March 2021. The token was presented on the OpenSea NFT marketplace at an auction to raise money for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and is offered by Jean-Claude Biver, an industry veteran who emerged from retirement to collaborate with WiseKey for the sale. When Biver was Hublot’s CEO in 2009, he worked together with the cybersecurity company to launch SmartCard, the first digital certification of a luxury watch, and the new partnership has resulted in the NFT, a digital twin of the Hublot Bigger Bang All Black Tourbillon Chronograph Special Piece, one of the most important watches in Biver’s private collection.

But why would anyone pay for