Takashi Murakami Skull Flowers Jumping Hours Tourbillon

Takashi Murakami Time Objects launches its first watch: a Grade 5 titanium skull tourbillon with the world's first cylindrical jumping-hour display. From CHF 85,000.

The Signature Elements

• Limited to 12 pieces each, the Black Rainbow and All Black variants of the Skull Flowers Cylindrical Jumping Hours Tourbillon carry reference numbers TMSKL26-TN-RAIN and TMSKL26-TN-ALLB respectively, priced at CHF 85,000 (excl. tax); three jewellery interpretations — Full Pavé Diamonds, Full Pavé Black Diamonds and Full Pavé Rainbow — are produced in small quantities at prices up to CHF 148,000.
• The case is a sculpted three-dimensional skull in Grade 5 titanium, measuring approximately 44 mm in diameter and 18.4 mm in height, with no conventional dial and no hands.
• Calibre KM 7012 TM — 409 components, 81 jewels, hand-wound, five-day power reserve — drives what Takashi Murakami Time Objects describes as the world’s first cylindrical jumping-hour display.
• Murakami explored more than 600 skull shapes before settling on the sculptural architecture used here.

Announced ahead of its 12 November 2026 embargo, Takashi Murakami Time Objects is the artist’s own watch brand, conceived at the intersection of contemporary art and Swiss Haute Horlogerie. The inaugural piece, the brand states, carries the guiding philosophy of “The Chronos Paradox” — a meditation on dualities: life and death, the instant and eternity. As Murakami puts it: “Watches govern time, while art transcends time. Both compel us to reflect on what time means to human beings.”

Design & Form

The skull does not decorate the case — it is the case. That distinction shapes every decision. After working through more than 600 skull configurations, Murakami fixed on a sculpted Grade 5 titanium form that sits approximately 44 mm across and 18.4 mm tall. Within the eye sockets, his signature flowers rotate via a ball-bearing system when the wearer moves their hand.

Time is read through a lateral aperture at 6 o’clock. There is no crown, no dial in any conventional sense, no hands. Tilting the watch outward reveals the display: hours jump instantaneously on a rotating cylinder, while minutes advance on a trailing disc. Black ruthenium discs with white decals handle the actual numerals.

Movement & Materials

Calibre KM 7012 TM was developed exclusively for this project. Hand-wound, it comprises 409 components and 81 jewels, beats at 3 Hz and delivers a power reserve of approximately five days (125 ± 5 hours). The tourbillon sits at 12 o’clock on the caseback side, decorated with Murakami’s flower motif and visible through the open sapphire caseback. A barrel bridge is engraved with the artist’s skull and flower design.

Case construction accounts for 33 components. The non-gem variants wear a microblasted black DLC coating; the jewellery editions are polished with or without DLC, and each carries 744 stones (9.3 ct total for the diamond versions). Water resistance is 3 ATM. The strap is black rubber, closing on a sculpted skull-shaped Grade 5 titanium folding clasp.

Market Position

Five expressions constitute Chapter One. At CHF 85,000, the Black Rainbow and All Black editions sit at the entry point for a 12-piece limited run. The three pavé interpretations — Full Pavé Diamonds at CHF 148,000, Full Pavé Black Diamonds at CHF 142,000 and Full Pavé Rainbow at CHF 140,000 — address collectors whose interest runs toward jewellery-grade finishing. Across all five, the mechanical concept and sculptural architecture are unchanged; only materials, finishes and gem-setting vary.

For collectors in the Gulf considering pieces at this price tier, the combination of a named contemporary artist, a world-first complication and a production run of 12 gives the non-gem editions a clear secondary-market rationale from the outset.

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