Ray Allen: Q&A

Miami Heat shooting guard Ray Allen recently teamed up with Hublot to create the Ray Allen Limited Edition Collection for a good cause. The auction of the King Power Ray Allen, the Classic Fusion Ray Allen and the Big Bang Ray Allen (all of which were one-of-a-kind) at the Ray Allen Golf Classic raised $191,000 for diabetes research. The fundraiser had a special significance for Allen and his wife Shannon, whose son Walker has Type 1 juvenile diabetes.

Haute Time caught up with Allen to discuss the collaboration and get an inside perspective on the Ray Allen Limited Edition Collection by Hublot.

Haute Time: How did this limited edition collection come about?
Ray Allen: When you walk in the Miami Heat’s arena, you see Hublot everywhere. I couldn’t wait to win the Championship, because the year before, all the players got Hublot watches. I finally got to meet Rick De La Croix, the distributor of Hublot watches in the Americas, and it turned out we lived in the same neighborhood. After the 2013 Championship, I went to see him and he handed me a box with a beautiful watch saying, “This is my gift to you.” I was just bowled over. We talked and he asked if there was anything he could help me with – I mentioned the tournament. We started tossing around ideas about Hublot donating watches to the auction and then he said, “I could create a watch based on the shoes you wore.” And he did exactly what he said he would do, and, bam! Here we are!

HT: What’s your favorite detail about the watches?
RA: It’s hard to say. There are so many neat little nuances. My logo is on the back of the case. There are little perforations on the band, like the perforated ‘bubbles’ on the Nike Air Jordan XX8 Ray Allen shoes, which is pretty unique. Rick created a big box which holds the shoes too. It’s great to see Hublot, a high-end watch brand, including the memorabilia details that sports fans love. Some people are watch fans and some people are sports fans that buy shoes. This brings them both together.

HT: What portion of the proceeds is going to diabetes research?
RA: All of the proceeds – 100%!

HT: How do you feel when you wear your Hublot?
RA: It just gives me a sense of where I come from and how I got here. I think about the small, little watches I wore before. There was a point when I didn’t wear a watch because cellphones started telling time. But as I got a little older I realized that there’s something about wearing a timepiece that shows your evolution from a boy to a man. You appreciate a fine timepiece. You tell time, you know it and respect it. You don’t let it rule you, but you respect it by being on time, and having something nice on your arm does represent that.