BY HARLAN CHAPMAN-GREEN
As one of the world’s most exclusive watch brands, Hublot commands a significant presence at events like Watches & Wonders Geneva. With each season, a plethora of unique timepieces grace the Hublot collection, making it a truly special experience. This year alone, Hublot unveiled over 30 novelties, each one a testament to the brand’s commitment to innovation and luxury. Today, we bring you our handpicked favourites.
Big Bang Integrated Time Only
The most intriguing release of the year is the Big Bang Integrated Time Only collection which walks the line between dressy and sporty for Hublot. With a 38mm case these watches are clearly designed to suit as many as possible, and so they come in black and blue variants in titanium and King Gold, Hublot’s rose gold which doesn’t tarnish or fade over time. They also include the calibre HUB1115, which looks to be made in-house based on the layout and finishing of it, it’s got a 48-hour power reserve. These cost $13,100 in titanium and $47,100 in King Gold before taxes.
Spirit of Big Bang Tourbillon Orange Carbon 42mm
This next piece is a tonneau-shaped watch with a carbon case. The way the carbon is formed and moulded means that each watch will have a unique orange pattern on it, which is formed via orange micro-glass. Inside and on display is the calibre HUB6020, which is an in-house-made manually-wound tourbillon movement with a power reserve indicator and 115 hours of power reserve. I like the offset time display on this one, and the case, but I think most of the comments will be talking about how similar to a Richard Mille this is, which is a fair point. It’s also only 30m water resistant, limited to 50 examples and costs $105,000 pre-tax.
Big Bang Unico Chronograph
The Big Bang Unico Chronograph, one of Hublot’s most renowned models, is a versatile and comfortable wear with modern looks. The 2024 collection introduces three new versions, including the watch in orange ceramic and dark green ceramic, and the model pictured is a pink-coloured sapphire crystal. With a 42mm case, this watch showcases Hublot’s versatility in materials science. The self-winding calibre HUB1280 UNICO movement, an in-house-made flyback chronograph with a column wheel controller and 72 hours of power reserve, ensures reliable performance. The pink sapphire model shown is a 100-piece limited edition priced at $121,000 before tax.
Big Bang MP-11 Power Reserve 14 Days Water Blue Sapphire
This was the model people wanted to see the most, other than the outrageous MP-10 of course. The watch has a 45mm blue-coloured sapphire crystal case, the reason it’s so big is mostly due to the calibre HUB9011. In fact, the movement is so big in this the case has to be carefully sculpted to flow over it. This is because there’s a set of seven barrels which are paired and run in a series across the watch; this allows it to have 14 days of power reserve. There’s also a helpful display to show you how much it has left. This is a 50-piece limited edition priced at $171,000 before taxes.
MP-13 Tourbillon Bi-Axis Retrograde Black Carbon
Perhaps the most uniquely Hublot watch on the list is this new MP-13 Tourbillon Bi-Axis Retrograde Carbon Black model. Its unusual case design allows you to see a lot more of the two-axis tourbillon rotating away happily at the bottom of the dial. Lots of people like to jump on Hublot and their watches, but it’s hard to deny they have the horological chops to back up some of their wilder watches. Take this one, which has a 44mm carbon fibre case with three-dimensional weaving meaning it’s more than layers of carbon sheets squidged together under pressure. It also has a 4-day power reserve with a display and a retrograde time layout, meaning the hands jump back to the beginning once they reach the end of their track. This watch, being the most complex to make of today’s bunch, is the most expensive at $176,000 before taxes.
Which of these Hublots is your favourite? We got to see most of their new collection, but you can always visit your local authorised dealer to see more.
