Hublot Takes The Art of Fusion To The Text Level With Colored Sapphire
That Art of Fusion is still the basis of everything that Hublot does, is proven once more with the new Big Bang Unico Sapphire. The progress the brand has made in the field of sapphire watch cases now takes on a new height with colored sapphire.
While this sounds easy, it is in fact far from it. Sapphire is grown as it is a crystal. You cannot simply inject a color of your choosing, but need to take a different approach. To create the Big Bang Unico in blue sapphire, Hublot heats the raw material for sapphire, aluminum oxide, to a temperature between 2.000 and 2.050 degrees Celsius, together with chromium. In this delicate process, the sapphire will actually take on a blue color. In a similar process, Hublot also was able to create red sapphire, by using iron instead of chromium.
The challenges the brand had to overcome are numerous. First of all these watches are limited editions of 250 pieces. This means that all 250 pieces need to have the same hue. Also to craft a case you need to have a substantial sapphire to cut it from. The larger the sapphire has to be, the more difficult it is to make. Add to this the usual challenges to grow sapphire crystals such as bubbles and cracks that can make it unsuitable to craft a case from, and you know that this is an incredible accomplishment by Hublot, as well as a world first!
Housed inside the precious colored sapphire case is the Unico HUB124 automatic chronograph movement, which can be admired from literally all sides thanks to the sapphire case. This transparency also extends to the straps, which feature Hublot’s quick release system, allowing you to swap them for any other strap at a moment’s notice.
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The fact that Hublot has been able to create colored sapphire watches, and can make 250 of each is nothing less but a breakthrough. It shows that the Art of Fusion is more than just a marketing slogan, but a solid part of the brand’s DNA.
