Hublot Teams with Cigar Maker to Create King Power Arturo Fuente

Fine cigars have much in common with fine watches — luxury products with romantic heritage, handmade by skilled craftsmen, appreciated by connoisseurs — and now Hublot has created a timepiece that ties the two together together in a significant way — the new King Power Arturo Fuente edition, developed in collaboration with one of the world’s most popular premium cigar brands.

The Arturo Fuente cigar company, founded in 1912 by Cuban immigrant Arturo Fuente, Sr. in Tampa, is one of the top purveyors of hand-rolled cigars outside of Cuba, producing around 3o million cigars per year at its factory in the Dominican Republic. The most famous of these is the Fuente Fuente Opus X, the first Dominican puro (a cigar in which all the tobacco is of the same national origin) and one of the world’s most sought-after cigars. In its press release announcing the new watch, Hublot compares the master torcedors who roll the Opus X in a dedicated room of the Fuente factory to its own expert watchmakers who work on the highest complications in a separate area of its manufacture in Nyon, Switzerland. The two brands are also neighbors inside the Forum Shops at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, with the upscale cigar bar Casa Fuente located near the recently opened Hublot boutique.

The King Power Arturo Fuente, a limited edition of 100 numbered pieces in gold and 200 pieces in microblasted ceramic, joins other King Power watches introduced this year, including limited editions for Bayern Munich and Formula 1 Racing. The watch has a 48-mm case with a bezel held by six “H”-shaped relief black-PVD titanium screws and a crown and push-pieces with black rubber inserts. On the caseback is a special, transferred Arturo Fuente 100th anniversary illustration.

The dial’s color scheme — matte brown dial and strap, gold-plated indices and hands with black Super-LumiNova coating — evokes the look of a rich brown cigar wrapper, and Fuente’s well-known “X” emblem, from its Opus X cigar band, adorns the subdial at 6 ‘clock.

The movement is Hublot’s automatic HUB4100 chronograph caliber, with 252 components, 27 jewels, and a 42-hour power reserve. The watch has a hornback alligator strap with white stitching. The price is $44,700 for gold and $24,000 for ceramic.

Hublot’s trademark concept of “fusion” of various materials, used in many of its watch cases, is in display here as well, particularly in the distinctive packaging. The watch comes in a luxurious cigar humidor that Hublot developed especially for this project, one that mixes Macassar ebony, a traditional material used in humidors, with carbon fiber, used more commonly in the automotive and aeronautics industries as well as in watches. Fuente cigar aficionados will also be pleased to open the box and find that their new timepiece is accompanied by a selection of specially blended Fuente Fuente Opus X cigars, each with an additional Hublot band accompanying the traditional Opus X one.

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