coindesk.com
Japanese artist Takashi Murakami has teamed up with Swiss luxury watchmaker Hublot to release a new collection of real-world watches linked to non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The new collection, the fourth artistic venture between Hublot and Murakami, involves 13 unique NFTs that are inspired by Japanese video games and television shows from the 1970s. In addition, the NFTs are also modeled after the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami All Black watch, which was launched in January 2021.
The NFTs are tied to 13 physical watches that will debut at the Watches & Wonders 2023 trade show in Geneva in April. Each digital replica is offered in a unique rainbow hue and features Murakami’s iconic smiling flower emblem.
Twelve of the thirteen timepieces will be made exclusively available to collectors who previously purchased one of the 324 Murakami and Hublot NFTs released in April 2022.
The final watch in the collection, which was unveiled at an event in New York on Thursday, is titled the Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow and features a spinning flower adorned with rubies, sapphires, amethysts, tsavorites and topaz.
The 12 NFTs can be resold on OpenSea until April 2024. If one collector can purchase all 12 of the NFTs, they will be eligible to purchase the coveted Classic Fusion Takashi Murakami Black Ceramic Rainbow watch. If no collector manages to obtain all 12 NFTs, the watch will be sold at auction by Hublot to raise funds for charity.
Murakami has been involved with NFTs since the launch of his Murakami Flowers collection in March 2021. In November 2021, he teamed up with Nike-owned digital wearables studio RTFKT to release a special collection with their avatar NFT project CloneX. And last April, Murakami released a Cryptokicks NFT sneaker with Nike that sold for 45 ETH, or about $134,000.