Maradona Scores $500,000 For Charity With Hublot

Hublot's new charity spectacle series involves soccer and "giving." The first such event was held in New York City where members from the UK's Manchester United team attempted to kick soccer balls into small targets (I wrote about that here). The accuracy of the kicks defined the amount of money Swiss luxury watch brand Hublot was to donate to charity.

As the first event was successful enough, Hublot did it again. This time in Moscow, Russia featuring legendary Argentinean 'football' player Diego Maradona. Maradona is a well-known Hublot watch lover, and famously wears a watch on each wrist. Maradona was faced with kicking a soccer ball at 10 targets of various sizes. Each had a dollar amount value, and if Maradona hit all 10 targets, Hublot would donate a full $1,000,000 to the Raisa Gorbacheva Memorial Institute for Children Hematology and Transplantation. Maradona nicknamed the event his "Russian Challenge."

Wearing his duo of Hublot watches, Maradona aimed for the targets at a distance of 10 meters in front of a public audience. Maradona raised a total of $500,000 for the children's charity, and hit the smallest of all targets with the ball - which carried a value of $300,000. In celebration of the event and for Russia's Hublot watch fans - Hublot will also release a limited edition watch to commemorate Maradona's "Russian Challenge." It will be known as the Hublot Maradona Gold & Ceramic watch, and will be limited to just 100 pieces. The watch will be in polished red gold with a black ceramic bezel. The dial will be in black, and bear Maradona's signature in a blue. Look for more details on this limited edition piece soon.

The real winners here are the charities that benefit from events like this designed to offer PR pushes to Hublot, as well as the brand's fans who enjoy seeing Hublot active in the media.

Ariel Adams publishes the luxury watch reviews site aBlogtoRead.com.