HANDS-ON: And now for something completely different – the Hublot Big Bang Rainbow Sapphire
The Hublot booth at Baselworld is a busy place, a multi-level monolith that’s more akin to a mini city than a trade show stand. We spent a few hours there, taking photos, shooting video and generally getting acquainted with the new collection. We had the door of our little room open, and we could hear the constant, polite hubbub that, in a lot of ways, defines Basel. One French phrase made its way repeatedly to our ears – ‘La Rainbow’. Curiosity got the better of us and we asked to see this rainbow everyone was talking about. A few minutes later a covered tray appeared in the room, and La Rainbow was unveiled. The Big Bang Unico Sapphire Rainbow, to give this piece its proper name, is one heck of a watch. Like the rest of Hublot’s sapphire-cased watches it’s housed in a 45mm Big Bang case, crafted from ice-like sapphire, with a composite resin dial which allows a clear view of the HUB1242 flyback chrono movement. So far so sapphire. The bezel though is something else entirely. The base is 18K white gold, and it’s set with 48 baguette cut stones – sapphires, rubies, topazes and tsavorites – in all the colours…
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It’s Longines’ 185th anniversary this year, as you might have seen so it’s no surprise that the key heritage pieces were very strong at Baselworld. As we’d hoped, the new Lindbergh Hour Angle model – which I developed strong feelings for after a visit to the Longines headquarters in Saint Imier earlier this year – did drop early, ahead of the 90th Anniversary of the pioneering aviator’s famous New York to Paris crossing. If the watch was somewhat expected, the style was not; it has has a surprisingly contemporary feel. Hello there black PVD bezel, for example. And the Longines Heritage 1945, well that gave us a serious case of de ja vu back to 2015, when the supremely talented artist Sunflowerman painted an almost identical model for the Longines Watercolour Watch Project. The king move, though, was Longines launching their first range to be fully COSC-certified, the Record collection. It’s an extremely accessible range in terms of price that may answer prayers for those wanting a time and date chronometer without the usual cost, but it may also serve to raise questions about why rival brands charge such a premium for a certification when Longines has managed to have prices from…
Two of the most visible trends at Basel 2017 have been bright colours and unusual materials. For their second collection in collaboration with the Renault Sport Formula One team, Bell & Ross’ BR-X1 combines both in one big, bold package. The chassis for this popping Bell & Ross is the large BR X1 case, in lightweight, hi-tech Carbone Forgé. The engine is the same, skeletonised automatic, modular chronograph we’ve seen in previous BR X1 models. But the real winner is the colourful livery. Renault Sport’s yellow is vey much in evidence, in case details and chronograph rockers as well as the thin outer bezel. But it’s inside the dial where things start to get really colourful. The 60-minute scale is demarcated into bold five-minute blocks, with chronograph hands in yellow, running seconds in green and a date window picked out in red. The combination of size, weight and colour makes this a very fun watch to wear. Of course Bell & Ross did not just pick these colours out of the ether, the inspiration comes from the highly technical steering wheel of an F1 car, where colour is used as the fastest way for drivers to identify functions in an environment where…
The dust is settling on Baselworld 2017, and we’re finally able to step back from the excitement and drama to have a bit more of an objective look at the fair as a whole. And it appears that, overwhelmingly, brands have been playing it calm and cautious. Fewer complications than usual were presented, but smartly priced steel watches were the order of the day. It doesn’t look like Hublot got that memo. One of the brands at the heart of the LVMH watch empire had a big, unashamedly bold line up of releases that made for a refreshing change of pace. You might be able to tell by my tone of voice. I was (and still am) excited. The headline release was the completely new, technical Techframe Ferrari, but they also had some pretty confident line extensions, like the King Gold Sang Bleu and Meca-10 models, as well as a bevy of outrageous new sapphire numbers. There is absolutely no doubt that these aren’t safe, conservative choices designed to appeal to as many wrists as possible. And I think that Hublot deserves some kudos for walking their own path.
TAG Heuer is a brand with the pedal to the metal – which is appropriate given their motorsports heritage. Having said that, TAG Heuer’s Baselworld 2017 releases have been both diverse and prolific. There’s the heritage hotness of the Autavia, but there’s also the slimmed down and blinged up versions of the aggressively modern and technical modular Carrera. But the real surprise is a completely revamped and reimagined Link – what was once bold and chunky is now sleek and dressy…