Hublot Watches
The Swiss watchmaker Hublot is a relatively new entrant in the wristwatch market. In this day of large groups of affiliated companies it's unusual in still being a small, independent company.
History
Hublot began in 1980 when watchmaker Carlo Crocco formed his own company "MDM Geneve". The name "Hublot" for the watch design is based on French word for "porthole", a look which influenced the design.The company is best known for its "fusion" of sometimes unlikely materials. This began with the very first Hublot watch which used a - then surprising - fusion of gold and rubber. The company describes its watches as symbolising "the fusion between tradition and future".
The use of the black rubber strap has become something of a "signature" for Hublot. It has also now been adopted by some other watchmakers.
Collections
At the time of writing Hublot produces a number of watch collections for sale. These include All Black, King Power, Leopard, Titanum and Unico. My personal favourite is probably the Big Bang Black Caviar.For those with very deep pockets the company also sells a few bling style watches: the One Million Dollar and the Two Million Euro Big Bang editions, both of which include hundreds of baguette diamonds.
As well as the regular watches you can also buy varous limited editions. Some of these have sporting connections such as the Ayrton Senna, Maradona and Tourbillon F1.
Big Bang
Hublot's Big Bang range of watches takes the company's "Fusion" concept to new levels.The most striking design feature of the Big Bang is the use of a layered case and kevlar insert to give the impression that the rubber strap actually passes right the way through the watch case in one seamless band. The transparent back offers a view of the HUB44 mechanical chronograph movement developed for Hublot by La Joux-Perret.
In 2005 the Hublot Big Bang won three international awards: "Best Design" at the Geneva Watchmaking Grand Prix, "Best Sports Watch" at the "Watch of the Year Award" in Japan, and "Best Oversized Watch" at the Editor's Choice "Watch of the Year" of the Middle East.
Key of Time
The Masterpiece MP-02 Key of Time was introduced in 2011 and is innovative to the point of being bizarre. Features include a vertical flying tourbillon, titanium case and power reserve display. The heart of the watch is the HUB 9002 manual winding Key of Time tourbillon movement.However what's really special about this watch is its ability to manipulate the flow time - or at least the way it appears. We all know that pleasant moments seem to pass too quickly whilst dull ones drag on. With the Key of Time you can set the hands to move either four times faster or four times slower than real time! The watch retains the real time in a mechanical memory and you can reset the display whenever you wish.
The Key of Time is a very clever idea and as far as I know unique in the history of horological complictions.
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