When Watchmaking Meets Street Culture
Inside the collaboration between Christopher Florentino, Art Angels, and Bucherer. Where contemporary art enters the world of high watchmaking
Luxury has long been defined by poise and precision; crafted over generations and preserved through traditions. Over the past 10 years, we’ve seen luxury shift to being shaped by something less predictable: culture.
This shift is pulled into focus by the recent collaboration between Bucherer and FLORE, with the carefully curated layered installation taking centre stage in their flagship store in New York.
This project brings together the worlds of high-end watchmaking and contemporary art – two disciplines rooted in careful craft. At its core, this collaboration is a significant shift in how luxury brands are positioning themselves, not just as custodians of heritage but as active participants in modern art and contemporary culture.
FLORE’s work sits in a deliberate contrast to the environment it enters. FLORE is known for his layered compositions, expressive characters, and text-driven canvases. The Brooklyn born artist curates a visual world which both feels chaotic and intentional. His “Urban Cubist” style is directly influenced by the architecture and energy of New York. While his later “Modernist” works explore more of a refined, color-driven abstraction rooted in art history. This juxtaposition is quintessentially FLORE, reflecting a duality that moves fluidly between street culture and fine art.
This sense of movement, of energy layered within structure, is exactly what makes his work an unexpected but compelling counterpart to watchmaking.
Where FLORE’s canvases embrace spontaneity, horology is denied by curated planning. Every watch component is carefully engineered, calibrated, and refined to exacting standards. Yet both disciples share an attention to detail, composition and dedicated time.
This tension between precision and expression becomes the conceptual foundation of the collaboration.
Art Angels and the Expansion of the Gallery Model
Art Angels sits within a wider cultural framework of the project. The contemporary art gallery was founded in 2013 by Jacquelin Napal and Kat Emery. Since then, the gallery has built its reputation on rethinking the traditional gallery model by connecting collectors, brands and spaces that extend beyond traditional gallery expectations.
By taking contemporary art and placing it in untraditional environments, Art Angels has consistently blurred the boundaries between art, design, and environment. This collaboration with Bucherer brings contemporary art into a space defined by luxury retail, and in doing so refrains from the expectations of how both are supposed to be experienced.
For Bucherer, this collaboration reflects a broader evolution of the flagship store. No longer just a point of sale, but something closer to a cultural destination, one that invites engagement with both the art installation and the art of their curated watch collection.
In a market where heritage alone is no longer enough, aligning with contemporary art offers a different kind of relevance. It introduces narrative, emotion, and unpredictability into a space traditionally associated with control and permanence.
A New Dialogue Between Precision and Expression
What emerges is no longer simply a collaboration, but a conversation, between past and present; precision and expansion; object and experience. Perhaps more significantly, it points to a possible future direction for luxury retails, where luxury is no longer operating in isolation but integrated in wider art, music, and creative spaces.
This collaboration signifies a cultural shift within luxury retail, where FLORE’s duality is embraced alongside the artwork which goes into the expert craftsmanship of watchmaking. This installation will be available in the Bucherer flagship store in New York City from 26th March 2026.
When will the installation be on view?
The installation is set to be unveiled at Bucherer’s New York flagship from the 26th March, with the installation expected to remain on view in-store following the launch.
What can we expect from the installation?
While full details remain limited, the presentation is expected to feature works created specifically for the Bucherer space, reflecting Florentino’s distinctive visual language and its dialogue with precision watchmaking.
Who is involved in the collaboration?
The collaboration brings together Christopher Florentino, Art Angels, and Bucherer, combining contemporary art with the world of luxury horology.