Hublot and art are like New York and the Statue of Liberty, they simply belong together. In the melting pot of the great and beautiful, FACES met Samuel Ross, who has not only been carrying Hublot’s message to the world since 2020, but has also created a limited edition of the Big Bang Tourbillon for the watch brand.
FACES: Let’s start with the easy questions. What kind of music do you like?
Samuel Ross: It’s not such a simple question. (laughs) I can’t name a single one, but maybe three? House is definitely on my list of favorites, then rap and hip hop, they made me big. And then I really like classical music. Maybe I should also call it electronic or, just out of sentimentality, reggae. (laughs)
F: My trick worked, the ice is broken!
SR: Well done! (laughs)
F: You’re warmed up, then we can get started. Let’s dive straight into watchmaking – after all, you designed a watch for Hublot. Have you always been interested in watches?
SR: To be honest, no. I collected a few models before this collaboration, there must be about 24 of them, quite beautiful pieces!
F: What kind of watches are in your collection?
SR: Some I received as heirlooms, others I bought new. I own many watches with rubber straps, this is one of my favorites.
F: What convinced you to work with Hublot?
SR : This project simply encompassed everything, totally gigantic. Industrial design, sport, courage, rebellion, to name just a few keywords. Hublot is one of the biggest players in the watch industry and at the same time young and rebellious. All of this made the collaboration very tempting for me.
F: What is more important: a good product or a strong network and a large community?
SR: It depends on the product. If a product is of extremely high quality but at the same time niche, it may not need a large community at all. However, if you want to grow as a company, nothing beats a community that has your back. Either way, if you want to be successful, you need an exciting, cool product and a brilliant idea, because that’s what interests and attracts people out there.
F: You have a wife and children and are constantly flying around the world for your projects. How do you manage to reconcile everything?
SR: You have to be disciplined as hell. Where do you spend your time and what do you focus on? These are the questions you need to ask yourself. It’s always about striking the right balance, because each obligation is actually just as important as the other. My aim is to achieve harmony. Of course, it’s a constant game and a rebalancing of everything in my life. Your life is the reward of this game if you play it well.
F: What about routines in your life, is there such a thing?
SR : When I’m not traveling from one city to the next, I get up at 5:25 or 5:30 every morning. Then I exercise, drink an iced flat white and a green juice and start the day.
F: That sounds like a lot of discipline. What do you do when you have time and want to wind down?
SR : For me, relaxation means reading a good book or driving around in my Lamborghini. My family, my children and my wife also help me to relax a lot.
“My goal is to achieve harmony.”
F: You have two daughters, right?
SR: Yes, the youngest is just eleven weeks old.
F: Congrats! You will have a lot to do in the coming years to protect them from the world.
SR: It’s like this song: “Playing baby shark with my daughter, watching for sharks outside.” Of course, as a father of two girls, I’m always the protector. The problem is that you don’t want to show your children the ugly side of the world, but you have to teach them not to be afraid of life and to make their own decisions without trying to protect them from everything.
F: The first thing I always wanted was a boy.
SR: All men think like that. (laughs) Expectations of children today are extremely high, and that is a cause for concern. I think it is much more important to provide women and girls with better education to give them the same opportunities that men and boys have.
F: It is difficult to move society and change something.
SR: It’s not easy, but that shouldn’t put us off. I have regularly raised money and donated to Designed for Change over the past few years, with great support from the British Fashion Council, Westminster University and a few other companies, and still do. The money goes to young talents, who then receive a grant of up to 3,000 pounds. This enables us to support ten to 15 people per year with exceptional abilities to do what they do best.
F: A great gesture!
SR: I don’t even see it as a gift, I just try to do good.
Hublot X Samuel Ross: Pop-up in NYC
We were there, in New York, when Hublot was at the 18. and May 19, 2022, celebrated the launch of the Limited Edition Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross – with a pop-up experience in a class of its own. The route to Soho was lined with light installations at the Guggenheim Museum and the New York Public Library, for example; the Hublot boutique on 5th Avenue also dressed up in a particularly festive way in honor of the pop-up. The pulsating city outside, the ticking clockwork inside: in the middle of Soho, the guests found themselves in an orange-colored parallel universe. The VIP guest list included NFL stars Victor Cruz and Tyrod Taylor and musician YK Osiris. Hublot and Samuel Ross have created an interactive world in which you could lose yourself for hours.
Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross
You can tell Samuel Ross is an industrial designer when he sets about designing his watch for Hublot. Strict geometry, a striking hexagon with honeycomb titanium mesh and this sapphire dial: urban design par excellence. The model comes in bright orange, providing a contrast to the case and bezel, which are completely gray. Inside, the 282-component HUB6035 manufacture caliber beats at 3 Hz and offers a 72-hour power reserve. A watch as refined and precious as a work of art – and just as limited, as there are only 50 pieces of the Big Bang Tourbillon Samuel Ross.
