We were seated in the sunlit Library at Singapore’s Raffles Hotel, a room framed by tall casement windows and grounded by a muted Persian rug. Across from me, Daniel Arsham ran his fingers over the frosted sapphire crystal of his latest creation — the MP-17 Meca-10 Arsham Splash. “I’ve seen the pictures, obviously,” he said, glancing at the watch. “But I was just handed this 20 minutes ago and this is my first time actually wearing it.”

Do you like it? “I mean, I love the Droplet, and I wore it a lot for the first six months,” Arsham said of his first project with Hublot. “It was a very heavy object, and it suits much more for special occasion objects, whereas this, I think, is much more practical, like, I’ll wear this every day.”

Daniel Arsham wears the Hublot MP-17 Meca-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire

Arsham spoke about time as a matter of perception, that is, the way we experience history, decay, and permanence in a single glance. The MP-17 Meca-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire continues that exploration in sculptural form, adding a new dimension to the Meca-10 as we know it. The watch features a 10-day power reserve and, like other Meca-10 models, typically exposes its in-house movement through skeletonized dials. While previous interpretations have experimented with colored sapphires or even a concrete case, none have manipulated the Meca-10’s signature sandwich aesthetic as radically as Arsham’s Splash.

The New York-based contemporary artist is known for his “fictional archaeology”, whose sculptures often depict eroded versions of familiar contemporary objects — cameras, gaming consoles, and even basketballs — as though unearthed from a distant future. His notable works, which include the “Falling Clock”, “Future Relic” series, and large-scale installations for Dior and Porsche, often play with confusion and curiosity, inviting viewers to question what they’re looking at and when it belongs.

Hublot MP-16 Arsham Droplet

The Splash is Arsham’s first wristwatch design

That same concept underpins the MP-17. “A lot of watchmaking is very symmetrical, very regimented,” Arsham says. “Both of the timepieces I created with Hublot work against that. The Splash has an irregular, fluid shape — unusual for a watch — but it still feels practical and comfortable on the wrist.”

The final form balances sculpture and functionality. “Some of my early sketches were much more asymmetrical,” he says. “But I also wanted it to be usable, something you could wear every day.”

The genesis between Daniel Arsham and Hublot

“Actually, it started here in Singapore,” Arsham recalls of the partnership. “In 2018 or 2019, I did a project with The Hour Glass and was talking to Michael Tay about watchmaking — about the designers I admired and how much of my work deals with time. He asked me, ‘If you could collaborate with any brand, which one would let you do something truly out of the box?’ He’s the one who introduced me to Hublot.”

Daniel Arsham’s Bronze Hourglass for The Hour Glass measured 387mm x 159mm x 159mm and was casted in bronze

That introduction led to a six-year (and counting) creative partnership marked by artistic experimentation. “I think part of his thought was that they would be willing to do some of the crazy stuff that I’ve done with them.” 

For Arsham, every collaboration begins with possibility. “The only real restriction,” he says, “is what we can make physical in the real world.” Many of the materials used in both the Droplet and the Splash — particularly sapphire and titanium — had never been manipulated in these ways before. “There was a lot of trial and error,” he admits. “Getting it right took years.”

The defining feature is a striking splash-shaped opening on the dial, which is a direct evolution from the MP-16’s droplet inspiration

And years it indeed took, for after three years of development, the result is an architectural wristwatch built around Hublot’s in-house Meca-10 manual-wind movement, encased within a 42mm titanium case with a frosted sapphire bezel. While the Droplet allowed for large, weighty experimentation, the Splash had to balance artistry with wearability. “This watch is very light,” he explains. “The idea of using satin sapphire came about by accident. One of the samples Hublot sent had a matte backside, which wasn’t meant to be shown to me. But I loved that texture and asked if we could use the back side instead. They didn’t know if it was even possible, so we experimented.”

Trust, curiosity, and the freedom to experiment makes Hublot a rare creative partner

Arsham sees mechanical watchmaking as a form of resistance — and reverence. “Everyone has a time object on their phone,” he says. “But watchmaking is still such an important, growing industry. A lot of that has to do with our appreciation for craft and things that are handmade.”

Arsham green accents are found on the hour and minute hands, the numerals, the hour and five-minute markers, the small seconds hand at 9 o’clock and on the power reserve indicator at 3 o’clock

He recalls visiting Hublot’s manufacture in Nyon, Switzerland. “Everything really is hand-assembled. There are a lot of mistakes that happen in production. For every sapphire case they make, three or four are bad and have to be thrown away. There’s imperfection, and that’s part of the beauty. These objects keep accurate time through a completely mechanical process. It’s kind of magical.”

“Hublot is a company interested in the mobility of time,” he continues. “Allowing me to do a pocket watch as the first collaboration was already a big jump for them. I don’t think many other watch brands would have agreed to that.”

The compact 42mm case size has been made possible through the integration of Hublot’s new, smaller Meca-10, an in-house manual-wind movement that can be seen through the dial opening and sapphire caseback

When asked what he hopes people will feel discovering the Splash centuries from now, he reflects, “Like any artist, I make my work for people alive today. But a lot of my art — especially the eroded sculptures — would probably confuse future archaeologists. They already look old, even though they show contemporary objects. I like putting the viewer in that space of confusion. When something doesn’t make sense, that’s where curiosity begins.”

Though when pressed about future projects, Arsham kept his cards close. “Can’t say much,” he says. “But there are certainly other ideas in the works. We’re not done yet.” Given Hublot’s openness to experimentation, the collaboration seems poised to continue evolving. 

“Whenever I work with a company it’s not about imposing my own concepts,” Arsham says. “It’s about exploring their possibilities. I want to understand what they can do that’s unusual. And then push them there.” That mindset of collaboration, experimentation, and play has defined his partnerships across disciplines. “The only real criterion is whether the people are enjoyable to work with,” he adds.

For now, the MP-17 Meca-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire, limited to just 99 pieces, represents a frozen ripple of imagination. A reminder that time, like water, never stands still.

Tech Specs: Hublot MP-17 Meca-10 Arsham Splash Titanium Sapphire

Reference: 917.NX.6909.RX
Movement: Manual-winding Manufacture HUB1205; 240-hour power reserve
Functions: Hours and minutes; small seconds; power reserve indicator
Case: 42mm × 15.35mm; microblasted titanium with polished and laser-textured sapphire crystal bezel; water-resistant to 50m
Dial: Rhodium-plated with shiny microblasted finish
Strap: Charmille-grained black rubber, titanium deployant buckle
Price: CHF 60,000 / EUR 69,000 / USD 69,000
Availability: Limited to 99 pieces