After spending 20 years mastering ceramic to craft stunning timepieces, Hublot has revealed a pair of monochrome Big Bang watches that are claimed to be the world’s first full-ceramic minute repeaters. Ceramic is not a novel material in the world of haute horology and we’ve also seen a few minute repeaters featuring a ceramic case, but no watchmaker until now took on the challenge of creating a minute repeater in full ceramic. This makes the new Big Bang Integral Tourbillon Cathedral Minute Repeater is a truly unique creation that pushes the boundaries of watchmaking. In case you’re wondering what Hublot means when it says full ceramic, the watchmaker’s latest offering features a ceramic case, bezel, and a bracelet.
Ceramic is an extremely hard material both to machine and finish, which makes it very difficult for watchmakers to make watches using the material. Additionally, the coloring of the ceramic requires exceptional precision in firing to obtain a perfectly homogeneous result, further adding complexity to the production process. However, Hublot’s years of expertise in crafting watches with ceramic helped it overcome all the challenges in introducing the first-ever full-ceramic minute repeater.
“Being the first, different and unique has never been truer than for this Big Bang Integral Minute Repeater Ceramic,” says Ricardo Guadalupe, Hublot CEO. “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. 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.”
The timepiece features a 43mm case crafted entirely from satin-finished ceramic, which is accompanied by a matching ceramic bracelet. The Big Bang Integral Tourbillon Cathedral Minute Repeater is also the first in the collection to feature a tourbillon that has been crafted in-house. Housed inside the case is the MHUB801 caliber that has manual winding and provides 80 hours of power reserve. The componentry of the open-worked movement can be seen from both sides of the case. The dial gets black or matte grey indices with black or white Super-LumiNova.
The timepiece is available in black or white ceramic and both versions are limited to just 18 examples each. The Big Bang Integral Tourbillon Cathedral Minute Repeater will exclusively be sold in Japan with a price tag of $295,000.
