Everything
Last week, local and international watch media and retailers descended upon the Capella Hotel in Singapore for LVMH Watch Week. The event, which is now in its fourth year, marks the first physical trade show for the year and includes the major releases from the four marquee LVMH watch brands – Bulgari, Hublot, TAG Heuer, and Zenith.
While Hublot might not necessarily be everyone’s cup of tea – the luxury Swiss watchmaker is renowned for its big, bold, Avante-garde designs – the brand definitely impressed the masses with its mostly-subtle collection, featuring designs old and new.
In what was a big year for Hublot in 2022 – they were the official timekeeper for the 2022 Fifa World Cup in Qatar, which only would have helped bolster the brand’s global presence – the brand is on record for another successful year, starting with a slew of new releases in Singapore last week.
ICON was on the ground in Singapore, the fifth biggest market for luxury watches, to cover all the new releases from LVMH Watch Week.
Here’s what we loved from the Hublot 2023 releases…
Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Saxem Yellow Neon
The first thing to be said about the new Big Bang Tourbillon in this translucent, fluorescent neon yellow colour is simply “wow”. Achieving such a standout colour was no small feat, but instead, one that took Hublot watchmakers, engineers and chemists years to achieve. As a result, it’s a colour that has never been produced in watchmaking – and an aesthetic that transforms a mere watch into art.
To meet this highly technical challenge, Hublot developed and worked with a blend of materials called SAXEM – an acronym for Sapphire Aluminium oXide and rare Earth Mineral – to achieve a material and colour that is totally transparent and completely resistant.
Limited to just 50 pieces, this special Big Bang Tourbillon features an in-house movement, HUB6035 Manufacture Automatic Tourbillon Movement, which can be seen in all its glory through the open skeleton dial.
RRP: $294,000
Big Bang Unico SORAI
In 2019, Hublot decided to join its ambassador and former international cricket star Kevin Peterson in supporting SORAI (Save Our Rhinos Africa India) – a charity Peterson founded in 2018 to keep rhinos threatened with extinction safe from poachers. This new Big Bang Unico SORAI is dedicated to the foundation, with part of the proceeds from the sale of the watch going towards SORAI – as per the two previous limited editions.
The limited edition watch is presented in 44mm with a unique microblasted and polished grey ceramic case and bezel, a skeleton dial and the powerful HUB1280 UNICO Manufacture Self-winding Chronograph Flyback movement that offers 72 hours of power reserve.
The colours chosen for the third limited edition are those of sunset recalling the heightened danger faced by rhinos as night falls. Here, the sun is a symbol of hope, of a new dawn.
RRP: $33,600
Classic Fusion Original
If there is one watch that Hublot collectors will tell you first enticed them to the brand, it would undoubtedly be the Classic Fusion Original. After all, this was Hublot’s first-ever release back in 1980. Hublot now offers a faithful re-edition of the Classic Fusion that shook up the watch world.
Refined and sporty, timeless and simple, the Classic Fusion Original is presented in either titanium or solid gold, in three ranging sizes – 33mm, 38mm and 42mm. All watches feature a beautiful black lacquered dial that blends perfectly with the comfortable black rubber strap.
RRP: from $9,100
Big Bang Integrated King Gold Rainbow Editions
If you didn’t think you were one to pull off a “rainbow” watch, you might rethink that notion after trying on the new Big Bang Integrated King Gold Rainbow Editions.
The two models presented – one in 42mm with a Flyback Chronograph movement and one in 40mm with a time-only function – are unique in that they are not simply stone-set but fully paved from the case to the bezel to the bracelet in lustrous diamonds and stones, like ruby, amethyst, blue topaz, tsavorite, as well as a whole spectrum of sapphires. There are 174 gemstones in total for the Big Bang Integrated and 176 gemstones for the Time Only, and the bracelet for each piece features 768 and 748 set gemstones respectively.
RRP: from $232,000
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