Four Watches That Are ‘Carbon Cool’
Next to being ultra-light and very strong is carbon visually a very cool material. It can be created and processed in a variety of different ways, each with an appearance of its own. In watchmaking, the advantages that this material offers where recognized at a very early stage by quite a few watchmakers. It is utilized primarily in sports watches, as this type of watches makes the most out of the benefits that carbon offers over steel and even titanium. Next to that do they also utilize carbon as an important visual element of the design. That this can result in very tempting watches is proven by the following four watches;
Hublot Classic Fusion Ferrari GT 3D Carbon
The car industry has also embraced carbon, even before the watch industry. In particular high-end sports car manufacturers such as Ferrari utilize it. With the Classic Fusion Ferrari GT 3D Carbon, the DNA of Hublot and Ferrari are combined into a single creation that embodies the best of both. While also available in King gold and titanium, it is the texture of the carbon case that makes this watch especially good looking. Hublot ‘weaves’ the carbon fibers, which makes the material look almost like the fabric of a well-cut, tailor-made Italian suit. Perhaps is that also the reason why it works so well with the design of the Classic Fusion Ferrari GT. It is also because of this that we expect the Hublot to do very well at the GPHG, where it is among the six watches pre-selected in the ‘chronograph-category’.
Roger Dubuis Excalibur Aventador S
Hublot is not the only watch manufacture who enjoys a solid partnership with an iconic car brand. Roger Dubuis teamed up a couple of years ago with Lamborghini, and this has resulted in some great watches of which the Excalibur Aventador S a good example is. It comes with a case crafted from C-SMC carbon, which has a beautiful texture and offers the perfect backdrop for the red and blue details. As a watch inspired by a supercar does also this Roger Dubuis have an amazing engine. Caliber RD103SQ combines two balance wheels, placed at an angle, to increase the precision of the movement. While the watch is an imposing 45mm, using carbon and applying extensive skeletonization of both the movement as well as the case, make it that this Roger Dubuis is very light and comfortable to wear.
Bvlgari Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater Carbon
With the Octo Finissimo Minute Repeater does Bulgari proof that carbon can also sound incredibly good. In 2016 did the brand launch this world’s thinnest minute repeater in titanium, and last year the carbon version joined the line-up. What is most interesting is that Bulgari chooses to show the raw side of carbon, which makes the watch even more imposing. On the wrist, the use of carbon gets another dimension as combined with the thinness of the watch itself and the bracelet; you can hardly feel that you are wearing a watch. While many brands opt for precious metals for their minute repeaters does the carbon sound so absolutely amazing that they might want to reconsider this position.
Richard Mille RM 70-01
For the RM 70-01, did Richard Mille team up with Alain Prost. Now focussing on cycling at a very high level, does the RM 70-01 includes an innovative totalizer that allows the four-times Formula 1 World Champion to instantly see how many kilometers he has ridden since the beginning of the season. On a bike does every gram counts, so obvious that Richard Mille also opted for carbon when creating the watch, which has a unique shape specifically designed to sit comfortably on the wrist when cycling. Richard Mille utilized Carbon TPT for this, which consists of hundreds of thin layers of carbon, of which each has a different angle in relation to the others to get the strongest result. This block of carbon perfection is then machined into the shape needed to create the very charismatic RM 70-01.
