Rather than dedicate itself to producing complicated technical movements that hide inside the case, watch newcomer Nubeo seeks to create highly complex and imaginative cases that make an impactful design statement. Launched in the U.S. last summer at Westime in Beverly Hills, Nubeo collaborated with L.A. Laker Kobe Bryant to create the Black Mamba (from $20,900), an imposing matte black automatic chronograph. The watch, which takes the shooting guard’s nickname (referring to Africa’s lethal snake), boasts the most complicated case in watchmaking with 131 components fashioned from rubber, ceramic, and DLC-coated grade 5 titanium. The basic version is limited to 810 pieces in a nod to Bryant’s record of scoring 81 points in a 2006 game. Black Mamba represents a technical evolution for the brand, which established itself in 2004 with the Jellyfish Project collection of curvaceous men’s and women’s timepieces intended to evoke the fluid lines of the marine invertebrate. (310.271.0000, www.nubeo.com)
