The private viewing took place at the Hublot's boutique in The Exchange TRX (All photos: Low Yen Yeing/The Edge)
When Hublot paired a precious gold case with a rubber strap in 1980, the luxury watch world called it heresy. The audacious move sent shockwaves through the industry, shattering conventions and permanently rewriting the rules of material expectations.
It also established Hublot’s disruptive Art of Fusion ethos, which, decades later, continues to guide the brand’s approach to watchmaking. It led to the inimitable Big Bang and paved the way for major technical breakthroughs, such as the Meca-10 movement with its astonishing 10-day power reserve.
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Hublot’s Art of Fusion philosophy goes beyond the workbench. Bridging horology with vastly different worlds, it also lives through an elite network of partners who shape culture today, evident from the roar of stadium crowds as football prodigy Kylian Mbappé ignites passion on the pitch to the refined culinary stage of multi-starred chef Yannick Alléno and, of course, the global phenomenon driven by K-pop darling Jung Kook of BTS.
Within the creative realm, a common denominator is found in Jeff Koons, the American artist whose balloon animals and wry appropriation of consumer objects have redefined contemporary art. Their shared iconoclastic spirit culminated in the Classic Fusion Balloon Dog, which took centre stage at a private viewing, presented by The Edge in collaboration with HSBC Malaysia and The Hour Glass Malaysia at Hublot’s The Exchange TRX boutique.
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Guests were introduced to all three editions: mirror-polished stainless steel, anodised aluminium in red and in blue, each limited to 200 pieces. They take inspiration from Koons’ Balloon Dog sculptures from his Celebration series, featuring inflated geometries, soft domed surfaces and convex lines that recreate their air-filled volumes. Powered by a manufacture automatic calibre, it integrates a custom-designed tungsten oscillating weight with rounded forms echoing the visual language of the case.
Playful details such as the inflated crown in rubber-moulded aluminium, decorative tail at 10:30 and Balloon Dog-shaped seconds hand counterweight caught the eye of the evening’s cognoscenti, who were equally charmed to find that the watch box could very well double as a shelf-worthy collectible.
The Classic Fusion Balloon Dog stands as a testament to the synergy between Koons and Hublot, illustrating their shared ability to transform tension into form, contradiction into harmony and excess into precision.
“It’s not just having an interpretation of the design on your wrist, but bringing that expression of art anywhere with you,” said The Hour Glass Malaysia general manager SK Teh.
'The Edge' business managing director Sharon Teh, SK, Adeline Chew and Fong Lai Kuan
This article first appeared on Oct 19, 2026 in The Edge Malaysia.
