Hublot just pulled off a true feat of haute horlogerie. Dubbed the Big Bang Integral Tourbillion Cathedral Minute Repeater, the Swiss company’s new 43 mm watch comes in two monochromatic colourways—black and white—with polished and satin finishes. Like the other Big Bangs in the Integral Ceramic series, which launched in 2020, the two new timepieces feature a case, bracelet, bezel and case back fashioned entirely from ceramic. But what sets it apart is that it’s the world’s first minute repeater to be fitted with a tourbillon. It’s also the first model in the popular line to be finished in black ceramic.
Hublot says it took some 20 years of mastering ceramic to achieve such a result. For the unversed, ceramic is a notoriously difficult material to both machine and finish. It’s also very costly. Still, Hublot managed to create a water-resistant ceramic case without affecting the movable trigger piece that operates the minute repeater. As a result, it can produce crystal-clear sound even within a 100 per cent ceramic case. Hublot says this is another first in the world of watchmaking.
Both Big Bang Integral Tourbillion Cathedral Minute Repeater models house matte dials in complementary hues—grey for the white edition and black for the black version—along with Rhodium-plated satin appliques and colour-matched SuperLuminova-filled hands. In addition, the pair is powered by Hublot’s manual-winding MHUB801 movement, which provides an 80-hour power reserve. That’s quite impressive for a standard tourbillion. To top it off, the watches feature Hublot’s esteemed minute repeater complication that received a Grand Prix d’Horlogerie de Genève award back in 2014.
“The first ceramic minute repeater in the world, the first Integral Big Bang in black ceramic, the first with a tourbillon: Hublot is pushing the limits of fine watchmaking far, very far,” Hublot CEO Ricardo Guadalupe said in a statement. “But as always, we do not see it as a zenith: it is a milestone which, in turn, will open up new horizons leading us to other horological explorations.”
Only 18 examples of each Big Bang Integral Tourbillion Cathedral Minute Repeater will be released at US$295,000 (nearly RM1.3 million) a piece.
Previously published on Robb Report.
