Swiss watchmaker Hublot is not a brand for wallflowers. Whenever it brings out new releases, you’re pretty much guaranteed to discover an array of watches that are bright, bold and often totally bonkers.
It’s this liberated approach that makes Hublot so much fun – it doesn’t so much push the envelope as give it a double-handed shove. The latest pieces unveiled at LVMH Watch Week in Miami earlier this year, once again show the brand’s willingness to go in a direction where no other watchmakers have dared to go before.
Let’s start with the Hublot Big Bang Unico Green Saxem, a watch that looks like it’s made predominantly out of green Jolly Ranchers. In fact, the material in question is Saxem, an innovative material compound that’s a bit like sapphire and equally resistant, but can be coloured neon-bright. Here, the depth of that emerald green is matched by the luminescent material on the skeletonised dial that enables wearers to admire the flyback chronograph movement within.
That’s not the only head turner among this clutch of new releases. Hublot has released a wide range of watches in collaboration with French sculptor Richard Orlinski. The latest are particularly memorable with the Classic Fusion Tourbillon Orlinski now coming in two high-impact renditions in blazing yellow and sky blue.
The case of each watch features an intricately faceted composition that has become an Orlinski trademark. On the yellow piece, the brightness of the case is sharply contrasted with the black PVD skeleton bridges on the openworked dial. The pale-blue version opts to take the other route, its colour complemented by silver rhodium-plated bridges and satin-brushed components.
Pieces from the Spirit of Big Bang Jewellery collection demonstrate that Hublot’s smaller pieces can also pack a visual punch. The six pieces all have 32mm cases that are crafted either in King Gold – the brand’s 18K gold alloy that exudes a warmer glow than standard gold – or stainless steel.
What really grabs the attention though is the addition of a dazzling barrage of brilliant-cut diamonds and/or gemstones. There are plenty of them, too. The Spirit of Big Bang Jewellery Steel or King Gold each boast 479 diamonds apiece. Stealing the limelight, however, is the Spirit of Big Bang Jewellery Rainbow, where 493 gemstones create a dazzling, well, rainbow effect. You won’t need to bother trying to find the pot of gold at the end of it either, given the 58 rectangular baguette-cut gemstones set around the bezel.
Last but certainly not least is the Hublot MP-10 Tourbillon Weight Energy System Titanium. The “MP” in the name here stands for the Masterpiece collection, where the brand really flexes its horological muscles. Viewing this particular model, it’s tempting to question whether it’s really a watch at all given its wildly unconventional format.
For starters, the watch has no hands. In the place of hands are four constantly rotating displays: the hours and minutes in the upper third, combined with an invisible magnifying glass; the circular power reserve in the central third, and the seconds in the lower third which are indicated directly on the tourbillon cage. In a further omission, the watch has no dial either with the calibre taking central stage to become the face of the watch.
The winding system is also unorthodox. A traditional movement is formed of a flat dial paired with an oscillating weight on the case-back side. But that wouldn’t work here because the piece has no dial or hands, is not flat, and is read vertically. Hublot’s solution is to place two blocks of white gold on either side of the central architecture that wind the movement bi-directionally. This weird and wonderful concept is packaged up in a vast micro-blasted titanium case that measures a whopping 54 x 41 x 22mm.
All this complexity required five years of R&D and results in a limited-edition watch that’s quite unlike any other you’ve ever seen. In other words, it’s a watch that’s quintessentially Hublot.
