HANDS-ON: The Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Green Saxem
Hublot is known around the world for their larger, bold designs. Some collections literally have the word bold in their nomenclature. While this reference does not, the Hublot Spirit of Big Bang Green Saxem is definitely one of their boldest designs yet – both technically and aesthetically. The case Hublot has made a huge investment in the industrialisation of sapphire – a notoriously difficult material to produce. This sapphire, or SAXEM, case is a deep green that can compete with the finest emeralds, with a brilliance that comes close to that of a diamond. SAXEM, an acronym for Sapphire Aluminium oXide and rare Earth Mineral, is a unique and proprietary blend of materials Hublot has developed that results in stunning and colourful luxury watch cases. Hublot explains, “In order to obtain this unparalleled shade of green, transparency and radiance, the Hublot manufacture – an expert in the concept of fusion – mixed aluminium oxide, the basic component of sapphire, with rare-earth elements like thulium and holmium as well as chromium.” Hublot claims the resulting material is both harder than emerald (which is too soft to be machined) and has a brilliance greater than a standard sapphire. SAXEM also ensures that…
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Cometh the crisis, cometh the man. Jean-Christophe Babin, CEO of Bulgari, has grown in stature yet again over the last six months as Bulgari has taken a militant stance against COVID-19. Whether it’s delivering Bulgari hand sanitiser to hospitals to assist in their fight against this deadly virus, or delivering a fair with 16 of his friends in Geneva in the absence of Basel and SIHH (Geneva Watch Days, or GWD from here), the permanently tanned and uncannily youthful Babin has been even more active than usual. Which is why, when it was decided that we would attend GWD with a little help from our friends Mike Christensen and Marcus (the European-based videographer guru behind practically all of our best videos) we requested a sit down. But in the age of COVID-19, a sit down is a stand up. So Mike Christensen, our man in Europe (who you might know from his time as Editor of GQ Australia), stood up and put some tough questions to the man in charge. On the brands that didn’t join Geneva Watch Days, including Rolex “A lot of brands that decided not to participate saw we had 17 brands here, and strangely and conservatively…
As you may have seen here and here, we have been taking a closer look at the latest chapter in the TAG Heuer Carrera collection that sees a total redesign of one of the brand’s most historically important families. But within this new collection, the TAG Heuer Carrera Sport Chronograph green dial catches the eye differently. Both the boldness of the dial colour and the restrained bezel execution see this watch stand out in a refreshing light, and make it a different proposition from the rest of the collection. In the new TAG Heuer Carrera Sport Chronograph green dial you’ll find the same specs as the rest of the collection. That includes the 44mm steel case, that will sit just over 15.3mm off your wrist. As we covered in our collection review, those dimensions might be a little daunting on paper, but thanks to the redesigned case, it wears very comfortably on the wrist despite those larger numbers. You still get the same iconic Carrera lugs that can be recognised for the sharpness of their lines, and their natural flow from the case, but they have been shortened slightly. This, along with their gentle curve downwards to match the contour…
My dad once told me to never spoil a good story with the facts, and that’s a sentiment that seems to be well-loved within the watch industry. Whether it’s a Rolex reaching the summit of Everest, or the friendly tale of a hiker named Daniel Wellington, every watch is made just that little bit more special knowing it has some sort of associated mythology. When it comes to Cartier, these stories are no less exciting, and quite a few of them are actually true. The origin of the Cartier Pasha, however, is a little more murky, but we’ll come to that later. Back in April, which may only feel like a few weeks ago, Cartier revealed the return of the Pasha at the online edition of Watches & Wonders 2020. The watch had always blurred the line between sporty and dressy, providing utilitarian features such as a rotating dive bezel, date display, and a screw-down canteen crown with 100m of water resistance, all while maintaining a look of exuberant elegance and art-deco influences. These new watches honour that philosophy, though the removal of the dive bezel is the most obvious step towards the making of a more streamlined timepiece. The…