Introducing the Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Orange Sapphire

Hublot’s Been Tangoed – The Big Bang with a Twist

The humble orange is something of a celebrity Chez Revolution and The Rake, thanks to its integral role in the preparation of the perfect negroni; our house drink. Sweet or bitter, orange or blood red, dried or juicy – it’s a versatile fruit. And so, onto one of the new novelties unveiled today by Hublot, the Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Orange Sapphire, a cool and ground-breaking case design from one of the industry’s leaders in material development. In a hue that will make us all smile here!

Sapphire Spectrum

If you’re going to be the leaders in the use of innovative materials and break new ground, then an in-house facility is what is needed. This is exactly what Hublot has in its Metallurgy & Materials laboratory, a dedicated research and development initiative that has worked with a level of tenacity that can only be applauded, to create solutions to the brand’s desire to use novel materials in its watchmaking.

Sapphire and ceramic are two such examples and the former has now been created in a proprietary guise in a kaleidoscope of options. Clear and black, red and blue and most recently yellow. Now Hublot has unveiled orange sapphire, a world first for a material that is through-tinted and is achieved by the use of titanium and chromium in a top-secret manufacturing process. And the realisation is as striking as it is novel. The transparent nature of the orange sapphire allows the observer to see through the case to the magic that lies therein.

A Dial of Two Halves

The watch houses a new automatic tourbillon manufacture calibre. Whilst Hublot’s case material development is one of its USPs, it also has some serious know-how when it comes to watchmaking. The most noticeable element of the calibre MHUB6035 is its transparency, almost like an optical illusion.

But there’s no trickery in the mastery of this movement’s 72-hour power reserve and the fact that it is an automatic tourbillon. The transparency comes from sapphire bridges and a sapphire dial, onto which the even number Arabic numbers are applied, which seemingly float above the movement. And its beautifully balanced.

How so? Well, the tourbillon sits in its cage at the expected position of six o’clock. Where this movement turns convention on its head, is the placement of the micro rotor on the face of the dial, at 12 o’clock as the perfect visual balance to the tourbillon. We are used to having to turn a watch over to see the oscillating weight do its job and it’s a bold and masterful stroke to place it on the dial.

Founded in 1980, Hublot is a relatively new kid on the block, and yet this new kid constantly pushes the boundaries and innovates. This watch is arguably exactly what the world needs at the moment; something vibrant to cheer us all in in a new colour. And that’s the point of colour, it creates emotion and there is something optimistic and bright about orange. Here’s to a happy 2021!