BIG BANG TOURBILLON AUTOMATIC GREEN SAXEM

After having mastered the techniques of crafting its watches – both cases and movement components – in sapphire crystal and it the numerous colours it can take on, there are limits to the hues and colour intensities it can adopt. To produce an emerald-like green transparent material, Hublot and its teams of researchers and metallurgists had to look elsewhere. The answer came far from the world of watchmaking in the form of SAXEM (Sapphire Aluminium oXide and rare Earth Mineral), a material that was originally conceived for satellite technology. While it does boast many of the same properties to sapphire such as hardness and transpareny, it’s different on a molecular level. While both are made of aluminum oxide, SAXEM is combined with rare earth elements. Its also structurally different, as sapphire is trigonal (three-sided) while SAXEM is cubic (four-sided). This subtle but significant distinction allows for SAXEM to take on intense colours and shine brilliantly, like a precious gemstone.

Within the vibrant and crystalline green SAXEM case beats Hublot’s MHUB6035 automatic tourbillon manufacture calibre, entirely developed and manufactured in-house. Built with a contemporary architecture, its 22-karat gold micro-rotor is positioned on the dial side of the movement. The winding is smooth and efficient with ceramic ball bearings, allowing the movement to reach a minimum chronometric power reserve of 72 hours. With an emphasis on openness and motion, the kinetics of the micro-rotor at 12 o’clock is complemented by the 60-second tourbillon carriage at 6 o’clock. The openness of the construction is accentuated by three functional sapphire elements for the barrel bridge, automatic winding gears bridge and tourbillon barrette. Specially for the Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Green SAXEM, the dial is tinted darker.