Hublot’s got a new watch. And instead of being technicolor or solid gold, it’s completely see-through.
The Big Bang Unico Sapphire is all about showing off what Hublot can do with sapphire. The 45 mm multipart case, bezel, and (of course) crystal are all sapphire and blend seamlessly together. It almost looks as if there’s no crystal over the dial because the rest of the case is already sapphire. The only components that aren’t sapphire are the combination titanium-and-sapphire crown and pushers, the titanium screws, the strap-release system, and the translucent silicone strap itself. It’s much lighter weight than you’d expect and is still waterproof to 100 meters.

One advantage to using sapphire as the case is you can see the movement inside from every angle. Here, that means a great look at Hublot’s in-house Unico chronograph movement, which is a flyback chronograph with a column wheel and a double clutch. To make all this even easier to see, Hublot has treated the movement with a black PVD finish. The watch has a 72-hour power reserve and is automatically wound by the rotor on the backside of the movement. Making a case entirely out of sapphire is no easy feat. Source: Hublot

Sapphire watches don’t come cheap. Milling the hard material into the shape of a watch case is a laborious process with a high rate of breakage, meaning that for every good case you get, you have to throw a lot of cracked and shattered components a...