Haute Timepieces: Hublot King Power Tourbillon Manufacture

By Ariel Adams April 5, 2010

You know a watch brand is particularly proud of a piece when the movement is designed in what the industry calls an “architectural manner.” The idea is that the movement has decorative elements combined with technical ones to show off the abilities of the brand. A mere glance at the interesting and symmetrical dial of the Hublot King Power Tourbillon Manufacture and you realize that the movement designers had more than just mechanical efficiency in mind when making the watch.

In fact, this watch celebrates two important milestones for Hublot. First is the 30^th anniversary of the brand. At the same time, it also celebrates Hublot’s ability to now make its own movements in house. A clever business decision allowed the brand to acquire talent from a now defunct movement-making firm, formerly known as BNB Concept. Hublot can now rightly claim this caliber HUB 6002 Tourbillon movement all its own—a journey that took about six years to complete.

The tourbillon movement is manually wound and has a long power reserve of 120 hours. The dial displays a smaller, off-centered watch dial, and equal focus is given to the spinning tourbillon placed at six o’clock. You’ll note the decorative column-style bridges that flank the watch dial and tourbillon. Set in a 48 mm wide ceramic case, the King Power Tourbillon Manufacture watch continues the popular trend of modern watches being all black.

In fact, Hublot’s CEO Jean-Claude Biver is noted as the conceiver of the all-black watch concept. For him, the operative term to explain the black on black aesthetic is “visible invisibility.” The clever term refers to the fact that onlookers notice all black watches being worn on one’s wrist, but cannot identify specifically what the watch is. The wearer themselves are solely aware of the identity of the watch. Thus, the watch is visible to others, but invisible in identity. In addition to the black ceramic, the timepiece has PVD black titanium, and black composite resin in its complex case construction.

At Hublot, boldness is a way of life, and that feeling is represented ambitiously in most of their timepieces, and furthered by having designs that speak as loudly as the people who wear them. With the King Power Tourbillon Manufacture, Hublot has added a new level of appeal for luxury watch lovers. For any brand, an in-house tourbillon movement is a big deal, and at Hublot it is imperative for their future. The coming years will hold an exciting collection of marquee watches with complex and attractive in-house movements. The seminal piece is this watch, containing the accumulated focus of the brand’s rich character with technical merits that most discriminating watch buffs seek out. Priced at $160,000 and limited to just 30 pieces. www.hublot.com.