LVMH Watch Week: Hublot Lives for Color with Three New Boldly Hued Releases

Hublot has brought a much-needed blast of color to the 2024 edition of LVMH Watch Week. It’s not surprising, given that the brand is celebrated for its richly saturated ceramic finishes and gem set timepieces in every shade of the rainbow. However, amazingly, the brand’s research and development team has been hard at work creating new technologies that change how we perceive color.

And Miami Beach is the perfect place to bring the shades and the heat to 2024’s horological first offerings.

Hublot is well known for its wonderfully engineered sapphire cases, but when the brand introduced SAXEM (Sapphire Aluminum oXide and rare Earth Mineral) to the family in 2019, it opened up a new world of possibility.

The technology behind SAXEM comes from the world of satellite technology. And unlike synthetic sapphire, which is composed of aluminum oxide with metallic oxides added to provide color, this newish material gets its hue from rare earth elements.
 

The result has been a case material that is just as hard-wearing as sapphire but shines brighter and can produce a more neon-like effect. Likewise, Hublot packs a lot of power into the architecture of the Big Bang Unico Green SAXEM’s 42mm case by using the self-winding HUB1280 with a high-performance tungsten oscillating weight to fuel this next-gen fly-back chronograph (the previous Big Bang SAXEM employed the micro-rotor HUB6035).

Moreover, the instantly recognizable shape of the UNICO creates the illusion of emitting light rather than just reflecting it, while the new emerald-green hue is nicely set off against the black PVD-coated movement.
 

The Hublot Big Bang Unico Green SAXEM is limited to 100 pieces and is priced at $116,000.

Hublot is still exploring the properties of sapphire because the brand also launched the Big Bang Integrated Tourbillon Full Purple Sapphire in Miami to the delight of enthusiasts who can’t get enough purple on their wrists (although the violet tint is a little more subdued than last year’s purple version).
 

This see-through 43mm sapphire case has an anti-reflective coating, which allows the wearer to stare deep into the complex HUB6035 Manufacture tourbillon mechanism. Moreover, the movement, with its plate coated in ruthenium, micro-blasted and satin-finished micro-rotor plated in titanium, and three-day power reserve, almost appears to be floating in space due to its sapphire bridges.
 

The Hublot Big Bang Integrated Tourbillon Full Purple Sapphire is limited to 10 pieces and costs $527,000.

As we’ve discussed in many previous articles, Hublot’s ongoing collaborations with artists such as sculptor Richard Orlinski are as important to evolving the brand as its technological innovations. And vice versa.

Or, as Orlinski said in a press release for his and Hublot’s LVMH Watch Week novelties, “By giving me carte blanche, Hublot has enabled me to explore new creative frontiers. I’ve had the freedom to take the Classic Fusion to the limits of its potential.”
 

Amazingly, the artist first imagined this design in 2004. Unfortunately, the savoir-faire to produce the candy-coated colors for the new 45mm, ceramic-encased Classic Fusion Tourbillon Orlinski models has only appeared recently.

Available in two shades – sunny “Yellow Magic” and serene “Sky Blue” – these matte finishes allow the viewer to see the geometric planes of the Orlinski with fresh eyes. And the optimistic colors project a lightness of spirit.
 

Finally, sapphire crystals on the front and back allow for plenty of opportunity to admire the manually wound HUB6021 movement with its black PVD skeleton bridges, five-day power reserve, and, at 6 o’clock, its lovely tourbillon.

Both versions of the Hublot Classic Fusion Tourbillon Orlinski Yellow Magic & Sky Blue cost $95,000 and are limited to 30 pieces each.
 

For more information about the brand’s LVMH Watch Week releases, check out the Hublot website.

(Photography by Pierre Vogel)