Mastery Over Sapphire: The Big Bang Unico Water Blue Sapphire

Hublot was in a celebratory mood at Watches & Wonders. This year marked the 20th anniversary of their Big Bang models, which featured heavily with new faces and colourways. Perhaps the most exclusive piece they had on display was the Big Bang Unico In Water Blue Sapphire. Limited to just 50 pieces it’s a true collectors item. Less than a decade ago Hublot began experimenting with transparent sapphire cases, and their R&D team is still hard at work discovering new ways to master the medium. Changing colours isn’t just a matter of chucking in a new pigment, each one has it’s own quirks to perfect. Their latest conquest is the Water Blue Sapphire. It’s light and refreshing, like a breath of minty fresh air contained in a 44mm case. With so much transparency there’s nowhere to hide, and that’s fine because they don’t want to. The . Calibre MHUB1280 UNICO Manufacture Self Winding Chronograph Flyback Movement with Column Wheel is on full display and finished in a sleek grey with blue accents on the dial. The calibre is made of 354 components, 54 jewels and has bi-directional winding for quickly reaching it’s 72 hour power reserve.Hidden in the 3 o’clock subdial is a date display. Finally it is attached by a translucent blue rubber strap to match the sapphires hue.

Here’s to 20 more years of Big Bang.