Hublot unveils second collaborative watch with Depeche Mode
The new Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode pays tribute to the British band’s latest album and world tour, Memento Mori.
British band Depeche Mode’s recent album Memento Mori has been extremely successful, but at one point there was great doubt that it would even come to be. Just as members Dave Gahan, Martin Gore and Andy Fletcher reconvened to create the Essex band’s 15th studio album – a move that required some convincing on Gahan’s part – Fletcher died suddenly of a heart attack in 2022. The intermediary between the often-acrimonious Gahan-Gore pairing, Fletcher, the keyboardist, was the oft-referred oil in Depeche Mode’s engine.
Memento Mori symbolises the duo’s desire to create new work, and found new ways to co-operate while establishing a new sound in their new Fletcher-free existence. This Latin phrase, meaning ‘remember, you must die’, is intended to prompt reflection on the transience of life. When Depeche Mode embarked on their Memento Mori tour of Europe and North America last year, Hublot renewed their relationship with the band by supporting them in an unusual way.
OLD FRIENDS, NEW TUNES
Hublot’s role in the Memento Mori tour is to support the band in raising funds and awareness for The Conservation Collective, a global environmental charity, as well as supporting sustainability efforts around the global tour. Founded in 2020, this collective aims to open new channels of philanthropic funding to boost and amplify the impact of local environmental initiatives.
Hublot and Depeche Mode first came together in 2010, finding common ground in their unique approach to purpose: be first, be different and be unique. Just as Hublot’s take on watchmaking has always been considered unconventional and genre-defying, Depeche Mode is known to be experimental, their echoing sound standing alone in Britain’s 80s-era electronic pop scene. There have been a number of collaborative watches launched over the years as a result of this union, all of which boast noble beneficiaries. For example, past partnerships in support of The Teenage Cancer Trust and charity: water raised funds and awareness for childhood cancer research and brought clean water to developing communities around the world.
TIME FOR A NEW PROJECT
A year after the tour began, Depeche Mode and Hublot are ready to launch their latest collaborative watch, Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode. This new all-black model is limited to 100 editions, and better reflects contemporary tastes in haute horlogerie.
The design of the Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode combines the skull motif—an emblem seen in the video announcing the band’s return—with an hourglass to symbolise the passage of time. Within the skull are small black ceramic spheres whose movement within the dial conveys the inspiration behind Memento Mori – the transience and impermanence of life. Alongside the dial, the initials DM, the British band’s logo, appear at 6 o’clock and on the caseback. The indices take the form of pyramid-shaped studs, a motif echoed on the black ceramic bezel. The design is dark and filled with longing, resonating with the overall musical aesthetic of Memento Mori.
Measuring 42mm, the Spirit of Big Bang Depeche Mode’s barrel-shaped case is made of sand-blasted and polished black ceramic and houses the self-winding HUB1710_SD calibre movement with a 50-hour power reserve. Each watch comes with two easily interchangeable straps: recycled materials in line with Conservation Collective’s plastic pollution initiatives and a second in sturdy, supple black rubber, its folding clasp featuring the pyramid-shaped studs already featured on the bezel and dial, exuding a rock-chic vibe.
A FINAL TOUCH
Each of the 100 pieces in this limited edition will come in a special box containing a fan-favourite addition: a 10” vinyl single of Depeche Mode’s Wagging Tongue, produced using green energy and recycled PVC. Wagging Tongue is the first single from the Memento Mori album, and easily its best. While its synth patterns and simple melodies are reminiscent of the band’s early days, the lyrics are haunting and multi-layered, open to multiple interpretations every time you listen to it.
After all, valuable indeed is the piece of art – visual or aural – that provides a fresh perspective and unique take every time one refers to it. A watch, we’re obliged to note, often provides the wearer with the same joy.
