Hublot × Murakami, Bulgari × Tadao Ando, Louis Vuitton × artists: what are art watches worth on resale?

A watch designed with an artist or an architect sells as an art object as much as a watch. That is its strength at launch, and its difficulty on resale: the audience willing to pay a lot for it is narrow, and value depends as much on the artist's reputation as on the watchmaking quality. Hublot, Bulgari and Louis Vuitton have made these collaborations a strategy. Here is what the verifiable figures show, and what they do not.

Why the houses collaborate with artists

An artistic collaboration serves three purposes: reaching an audience that does not read the watch press, justifying a high price through the signature, and creating an event around a short run. It differs from a sports partnership in one decisive respect: the artist's contribution is to the object itself, the dial, the bezel, sometimes the case, and not just a logo.

Resale then follows a dual logic. Art-market buyers look at the artist and the run; watch buyers look at the movement and the brand. A piece that satisfies both audiences holds its value; a piece that satisfies only one depends entirely on it.

Hublot × Takashi Murakami

Hublot has made the Japanese artist Takashi Murakami one of its most visible partners, with his famous smiling flower turned into a dial on the Classic Fusion.

• Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami All Black (2021): 45 mm, black ceramic, the flower in relief on the dial, 200 pieces, $27,300 at launch. It was announced as sold out shortly after its presentation.
• Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Sapphire Rainbow (December 2021): sapphire case, petals set with 384 coloured stones, 100 numbered pieces, €104,000 at launch.
• The unique pieces: twelve numbered pieces were offered to buyers of the two series, and a thirteenth, the Black Ceramic Rainbow, sold at Phillips in Hong Kong for HK$2,095,500 including fees, against an estimate of 450,000, according to Hublot. The proceeds, net of fees, went to a cancer charity foundation.

This last result is spectacular, but it concerns a unique piece sold for a good cause: it says nothing about the market value of a series All Black. For that model, we have not found enough documented public sales to put forward a range; dealer listings are not completed sales.

Hublot has multiplied collaborations of the same type, with other contemporary artists and sculptors. Their resale behaviour is very uneven, and follows first the artist's reputation among art collectors, more than that of the Big Bang or Classic Fusion used as their base.

Bulgari × Tadao Ando

Bulgari chose the Japanese architect Tadao Ando for a version of the Octo Finissimo, its ultra-thin watch. The first edition, released from December 2019, in titanium, was limited to 200 pieces worldwide, and sold in Japan for 1,800,000 yen before tax. Its dial carries a pattern drawn by Ando himself. A tourbillon version was presented at the same time, and a second edition in black ceramic followed.

It is an interesting case because it ticks both columns: the Octo Finissimo is appreciated by enthusiasts for its technical feat, and Ando is a signature recognised well beyond watchmaking. The edition appears regularly in Phillips sales in Hong Kong. We have not, however, been able to confirm enough sale results to derive a publishable range.

Bulgari has continued down this path with other creators, including its 2026 collaboration with the independent watchmaker Vianney Halter, presented at Geneva Watch Days and described in our report on the show.

Louis Vuitton: from Yayoi Kusama to independent watchmakers

Louis Vuitton first associated its name with artists in a fashion register: a polka-dot Tambour by Yayoi Kusama, presented in 2012 during the house's collaboration with the artist, is described by the press as limited to 188 pieces. These pieces remain rare on the secondary market and sell mostly as Kusama objects, to a public of collectors of the artist.

The recent shift is more horological. In October 2023, Louis Vuitton presented the LVRR-01 Chronographe à Sonnerie with Rexhep Rexhepi's Atelier Akrivia, one of the most sought-after independents: 10 pieces, a platinum Tambour case, a tourbillon, a double-sided chronograph fitted with a chiming mechanism. The announced price varies by source, between 450,000 and 485,000 Swiss francs. This piece belongs to workshop haute horlogerie, and its market, should it ever reappear for sale, will be that of independents, not of fashion.

The editions studied, in one table

What makes an artist edition gain value

1. The artist's own market value. An artist whose works sell at auction attracts an audience that pays for the signature. A one-season fashionable artist does not.
2. A solid base watch. An Octo Finissimo or an independent's movement keeps horological interest even when the hype subsides. A series case with a printed decoration, much less so.
3. A short, verifiable run. 200 pieces is a collector's number; 1,000 already is not. Check the engraved number, as for any limited edition.
4. The complete full set. Art editions often come with a presentation box, a signed certificate, sometimes an accompanying object. Their absence weighs more heavily than for an ordinary watch: the full set is part of the work.

Practical information

• Hublot, collaboration news: hublot.com
• Bulgari, Octo collection: bulgari.com
• Louis Vuitton × Akrivia: louisvuitton.com
• Before selling an artist edition: gather the certificate and the box, and seek the opinion of an auction house used to contemporary art as much as to watches.

In short

Artist watches have produced a few spectacular results, almost always on unique pieces sold for a good cause. For series pieces, value depends on the artist, the base watch and the run, and resale data remain thin. For an estimate based on our price surveys, calculate your watch's market value; for other collaborations, see our article on the MoonSwatch and its resale value.