If you couldn’t tell, I’m not a big fan of Hublot.

For one thing, just about every watch they make is humongous for no reason; they offer a ton of different color schemes, which puts them more in the fashion category than anything else (in my mind); plus they just recently started making their own movements, which makes it hard to consider them truly innovative.

Nothing they do – outside of watch design – is too impressive. Even then, their big bang design is virtually the same as the much nicer and more prestigious Audemars Piguet Royal Oak. And then Hublot has the balls to charge more money for their cheap knock-off…

http://youtu.be/gdPDVVgWkeE

Jay Z:

I got a Hublot, I call it Tebow, I strap that bitch with a gator band

Pusha-T:

SoHo or Tribeca, three hoes: trifecta
Dope money, coke money, Hublot, my watch better

2 Chainz:

Clock on your mind, I’m ahead of your time
Hublot transform like Optimus Prime

Wale:

Young Folarin, gold bottles, we so thorough
My new flow bought Hublots below zero

Jay teaming up with Hublot for the “Shawn Carter Collection”

As the legendary George Lois once said:

A trend is always a trap

Hublot makes some very interesting watches, and while they stepped up their game big time when they switched to cheap quartz movements to mechanical movements in 2005 – thereby saving the company – they have yet to establish themselves as here to stay.

$180,000

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION: Calibre 9454 MC Case platinum
Diameter: 45 mm
Crown: beaded, platinum, set with a sapphire cabochon
Crystal: sapphire
Case back: sapphire
Water-resistance: 30 m / 100 feet / 3 bar
Dial: slate-coloured, galvanised, guilloché, silvered open-work grill with sunray eect, black transferred Roman numerals
Hands: sword-shaped in blued steel
Strap: black alligator skin, double adjustable folding buckle in 18-carat white gold
Movement Manufacture: mechanical with manual winding, calibre 9454 MC, certified Geneva Seal, double mystery tourbillon
Casing-up diameter: 35 mm
Total diameter: 35.5 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Number of jewels: 25
Number of parts: 242
Balance: 21,600 vibrations / hour
Power reserve: 52 hours

Audemars' Website

AP’s entrance into the world of Rap music was facilitated by none other than Jay Z, who designed a limited edition Royal Oak in 2005 to mark his 10 years in the industry.

Jay then set out advertising the brand in the best way he knows how: in his music. Beyonce’s “Upgrade You” (ft. Jay) mentioned Audemars five times.

Partner Let me upgrade you
Audemars Piguet you

Interestingly enough, AP may have taken a back seat to Hublot as Jay’s favorite brand at the moment. Luckily, every man needs a few good watches, so AP is certainly here to stay.

The Jay Z special edition Royal Oak

This timepiece is a bit older than the others on the list, as it dropped back in 2006, as a limited edition of 20. What’s so special about this watch is the way it put the “audacity back in Audemars” as some have said. It offers a beautiful counter to AP’s signature model, the Royal Oak.

Another special feature of this watch is the newly designed escapement, which doesn’t require oil-lubricant, making it – in theory – lower-maintenance. The head of AP Georges Henri Meylen has said:

We strive to do something special, something different, to improve watchmaking…Using no oil is a big step forward, because the overhaul of mechanical watches is an ever-increasing cost to the end user…If it was easy, this revolutionary new development would have been invented years ago.

$500,000

• Case Material: Platinum
• Dial Color: Skeletonized
• Movement: Hand-wound
• Engine: Audemars Piguet AP2899 (21,600 vph)
• Number of Jewels: 42
• Functions: Hours, Minutes, Small Seconds, Date, Power-reserve
• Crystal Material: Sapphire Crystal
• Case Diameter: 46.5 mm
• Case Thickness: 9.8 mm
• Caseback: Sapphire – Scratch Resistant
• Calendar: Day of the week, Date, Month
• Power Reserve: 7-day power reserve (168 hours)
• Strap Material: Leather – Blue Crocodile
• Watch Clasp Material: AP Deployant Clasp

Pusha-T:

My Audemar like Mardi Gras, that’s Swiss time and that’s excellence

Jay Z:

I’m so tomorrow the Audemar says yesterday

Young Dro:

Audemar she tried to touch that, I said “bitch?”

Jay flashing the Audemars Tourbillon Chrono during his “Suit & Tie” performance.