HUBLOT – BIG BANG Unico "ALL BLACK" Chronograph

HUBLOT – BIG BANG Unico "ALL BLACK" Chronograph Limited Edition NEW

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The BIG BANG UNICO "ALL BLACK" has finally arrived !


Totally black, totally matt and totally faithful to Hublot's signature concept, it is the perfect fusion between the 100% manufacture movement and the iconic Big Bang design.

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And it's finally here. Launched last year, the hotly anticipated Big Bang Unico is now available in an All Black version as a limited edition of just 500 numbered pieces, in line with all of Hublot's All Black series.

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The watch is a perfect fusion of Hublot's very own unique "invisible visibility" concept, the iconic Big Bang design and the in-house movement - the UNICO, a chronograph movement with a column wheel and double clutch visible on the dial side, completely designed, developed and produced in the Hublot manufacture workshops.

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The design of the Big Bang Unico features a powerful 45.5 mm diameter case for a stylish mechanical look, and a bezel secured by 6 H-shaped screws with a new, subtle and more technical design (the head of each screw is now in relief, allowing the application of alternating polished and matt finishes). A notable feature is the design of the crown, which is screw-down with overmoulded rubber and decorated on the end with the famous Hublot screw "H". For the very first time since the creation of the Big Bang in 2005, the push-buttons are round. Each one is protected by a push-button guard integrated in the middle and finished like an engine piston.

 The sharp angles and intelligent sandwich system have been retained in the case design, but the strap attachment has been optimised: it features the now famous "One click" system which allows the wearer to switch between a wide choice of straps - each watch is supplied with a structured and ribbed natural rubber strap (also new) which perfectly matches the endpieces of the middle.

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Finally, the movement is revealed thanks to a skeleton dial featuring the famous indexes and Arabic numerals, redesigned to give them more volume (and hollowed out and filled with black SuperLuminova™ on the All Black version), as well as two counters "encircled" by a polished ring, one for the minutes positioned at 3 o'clock and the other at 9 o'clock for the small second; the date window is positioned at 3 o'clock. The hands have also been reworked, facetted on two levels and filled with black Superluminova™.

The UNICO manufacture movement is the brand's signature chronograph movement. And that is why it was chosen. It has been entirely designed, developed, machined and assembled by micro-mechanics, engineers and watchmakers at Hublot.

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This Flyback chronograph (a practical solution enabling instant restarting of the chronograph) is unique in the watchmaking industry, and features two push-buttons and a date indication. It is distinguished by the position of its mechanism with a horizontal double clutch and the famous "column wheel" visible on the dial side.

HUBLOT – BIG BANG Unico "Carbon" Chronograph
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Technical specifications

Reference 411.QX.1170.RX
Case
Carbon Fiber
Bezel
Carbon Fiber and Anodized Black Aluminium Lower
Bezel with 6 H-shaped Titanium Screws
Dial
Mat Black Dial and Rhodium-plated Upper Layer
Indexes with White Luminescent Satin-fi nished and
Microblasted Rhodium-plated Hands with White Luminescent
Movement
UNICO Manufacture Self-winding Chronograph
Flyback Movement with Column Wheel
Strap material
Black PVD Titanium with Carbon Insert Deployant
Buckle Clasp


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HUBLOT – BIG BANG Unico "ALL BLACK" Chronograph
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Technical specifications

Reference 411.CI.1110.RX
Case
Microblasted Black Ceramic
Bezel
Microblasted Black Ceramic and Anodized Black
Aluminium Lower Bezel with 6 H-shaped Black PVD
Titanium Screws
Dial
Mat Black Dial and Black-plated Upper Layer Indexes with Black Luminescent Satin-fi nished and Microblasted Black-plated Hands with Black Luminescent
Movement
UNICO Manufacture Self-winding Chronograph
Flyback Movement with Column Wheel
Strap material
Black PVD Titanium with Black Ceramic Insert
Deployant Buckle Clasp

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Its development required a completely original approach and thinking outside the box: the horizontal double clutch with integrated column wheel on the dial side for the central 60-second counter and the small 60-minute counter positioned at 3 o'clock. This simplification means greater reliability and flexibility in the chronograph's START STOP RESET functions, as well as enhanced function visibility for the wearer.

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The pallet fork and escapement wheel are fixed to a removable platform and are made from silicon, whose lightness provides a guarantee of performance. The movement's 330 components benefit from high precision and reliability, with several of them produced using LIGA technology.

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Its frequency of 4hz/28,800 vibrations per hour and its immaculate finish are also a guarantee of high chronometric quality. Finally, its automated production, which includes automation of the machining, stone fitting, oiling and numerous assembly operations also ensures consistent, controlled quality.
Its power reserve is around 72 hours.
In short, the entire piece has been conceived and designed to reflect Hublot's pure DNA: sport, performance and technology. No useless gadgets. The design is stylish, practical and rational.

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Jaeger-LeCoultre – Master Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon

 

Jaeger-LeCoultre – MASTER Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon Limited Edition NEW

Jaeger-LeCoultre Master Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon limited edition in preparation for the 2014 SIHH

In 1907, Jaeger-LeCoultre laid the foundations of what was to prove a key element in the identity of its watches. That was the year when the association between Paris-based businessman Edmond Jaeger and Swiss watchmaker Jacques-David LeCoultre gave birth to the world’s thinnest pocket watch featuring a blend of aesthetic refinement and horological sophistication that only a Manufacture uniting the full range of skills under one roof could hope to achieve. Today, Jaeger-LeCoultre confirms its ability to anticipate the future of Fine Watchmaking by unveiling the Master Ultra Thin Minute Repeater Flying Tourbillon watch, the eleventh creation in the Hybris Mechanica collection and the first ultra-thin Grand Complication model.

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Eleven, the number standing for inventions and exceeding expectations. Hybris Mechanica Eleven watch. A new era – that of ultra-thin Grand Complications.
This watch capitalises on eight separate patents, six of which are entirely new. Its entire development process was governed by two watchwords – ingenuity and performance. Its quintessence lies in a successful bid to achieve extreme slenderness while making no compromises on reliability.
Hybris Mechanica Eleven is equipped with an original tourbillon, a high-performance new balance-spring, a peripheral automatic winding system, a retractable single pushbutton, as well as a new minute repeater equipped with a silent-timelapse reduction system. As the latest addition to an illustrious and fertile saga of Jaeger-LeCoultre striking watches, this model consolidates the brand’s leadership in this field. Hybris Mechanica Eleven watch resolutely confirms that excellence and surpassing existing limits are second nature to Jaeger-LeCoultre.

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Contrary to the classic tourbillon with a construction that tends to obstruct the view of certain components, the Manufacture wished to allow complete visibility of the heart of the watch. Avoiding ordinary solutions, Jaeger-LeCoultre watchmakers have developed and patented an all- new tourbillon. Hybris Mechanica Eleven watch is equipped with a world première in the shape of a flying tourbillon fitted with a flying balance-wheel. This technical feat ensures a full view of both balance-wheel and spring that may both be observed in motion from a radically different perspective. The gaze is captivated by the regular swinging of the balance-wheel, with the balance-spring fixed above it in a highly unusual stage-setting. This expressive and appealing construction also contributes to reducing the overall thickness thanks to the prodigious inventiveness of the master-watchmakers in the Manufacture.

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These substantial developments required rethinking the regulating organ and developing a new balance-spring specifically hand-crafted in the Complications workshop. All the characteristics of this new tourbillon are geared towards achieving extreme precision, watchmaking’s ultimate goal.
A concentrated blend of culture and expertise, the tourbillon of the Hybris Mechanica Eleven watch vividly epitomises perfect technical mastery. Yet above and beyond the art and science involved in making this outstanding timepiece, the process represents a human adventure strewn with all manner of obstacles that the watchmakers of the Manufacture take pride in overcoming. In each of these prodigious tourbillons, collectors of Jaeger-LeCoultre calibres will discern a combination of unflagging commitment and sheer talent.

A highly demonstrative automatic winding system

In its absolute quest to optimise components, the Manufacture has conceived and developed an automatic winding system that captivates by its remarkable conception and execution. To provide more space and achieve record-breaking ultra-thin dimensions, the winding is handled by a oscillating peripheral weight with a platinum segment visible through narrow openings on the dial. This platinum segment takes advantage of the wearer’s wrist movements to revolve around the dial and wind the mainspring. It is fitted on a ceramic ball bearing mechanism specially developed for this device. It is also extremely effective and able to move freely in either direction. However only clockwise rotation actually winds the calibre. The sculptural purity of the perfectly integrated high-performance oscillating weight becomes an aesthetic element in its own right, thereby further enhancing the graphic power of the watch.
A minute repeater that barely skips a beat
Striking watches hold a place of their own within the realm of horology. They embody a highly daunting challenge for watchmakers seeking to achieve the purest sound, the most regular melody, along with unfailing precision and reliability.Due to their highly complex nature, minute repeater mechanisms represent prestigious watchmaking accomplishments. When in 1870 the Manufacture in the Vallée de Joux decided to create repeater calibres, it revolutionised this age-old art by endowing it with unprecedented precision and reliability thanks to its perfect match between hand and machine. Since then, the Manufacture has created and produced over 200 different calibres equipped with repeater mechanisms, making this one of its favourite themes interpreted through timepieces that have constantly explored the facets of this sophisticated complication. Hybris Mechanica Eleven watch stems from a new line of approach: a minute repeater movement entirely rethought and rebuilt to be ultra-thin.
A minute repeater strikes the hours, quarters and minutes on demand. 
When there are no quarters to be struck, a lengthy silent timelapse occurs between sounding the hours and the minutes. While there is always such an audible hiatus in the sequence, it is particularly audible when there are no quarters involved. To solve this problem, an innovative system reducing this silent timelapse was developed. It detects the absence of quarters to be struck and thus eliminates the marked pause between striking the hours and minutes. As a result, the appropriate high- and low-pitched notes seamlessly follow their appointed pattern without breaking the tempo.
Supreme expertise dedicated to pure sound
Hybris Mechanica Eleven watch benefits from the developments previously introduced in two exceptional models. To achieve a sound of perfect purity the transmission speed of the gong’s vibrations must be faster amongst elements diffusing the sound wave than in the gong itself. Sapphire is endowed with this very property. In 2005, the master-watchmakers of the Manufacture devised a system in which the crystal gong of the Master Minute Repeater was affixed directly to the sapphire crystal to which it transmitted the vibrations. Four years later, the development of Hybris Mechanica à Grande Sonnerie watch led to the replacement of traditional hammers by trebuchet hammers designed to ensure optimal energy transmission to the gongs. 

 

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Hybris Mechanica Eleven is equipped with two patented trebuchet hammers. They ensure stronger, cleaner striking on the two crystal gongs fixed to the sapphire crystal. This helps to amplify the sound diffusion. Fine Watchmaking connoisseurs will also take pleasure in the traditional architecture of this minute repeater, as evidenced in features such as the symmetrical position of the two hammers – a tribute to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s historical watches.
Hybris Mechanica Eleven is a testament to the unfailing commitment of the watchmakers at the Manufacture who developed specific instruments such as a sound box to match their exceptionally high standards. Each watchmaker serves as a guarantor of the sound and remains carefully attuned to ensuring the harmonious restitution of the music of time.

A technically accomplished pushbutton

Again as part of an effort to make the watch even slimmer while preserving an extremely pure aesthetic, this minute repeater is activated by a retractable single pushbutton for which the Manufacture has filed a patent. Hybris Mechanica Eleven is equipped with a discreet locking system at 8 o’clock. Actuating it brings out the pushbutton that triggers the minute repeater. Once the minute repeater is activated, the pushbutton returns to its initial recessed position, thus ensuring that nothing disturbs the flowing, elegant appearance of the watch.
The discretion, the user-friendliness and the technical feat represented by this retractable pushbutton are not the only advantages of this ingenious innovation. As opposed to the traditional slides used to activate the minute repeater function and for which the length of travel may vary according to the hour to be struck, this construction ensures a constant 2 mm travel distance that is enough to both wind the barrel and trigger the minute repeater.
Powerful aesthetic appeal pervading every detail Hybris Mechanica Eleven strikes the perfect balance between historical inspiration and avant-garde technology. It is nurtured by the distinctive elegance of early 20th century pocket-watches, which constituted the last incarnations of a cultural tradition before the wristwatch took over. Each detail of its refined design has its reason for being and serves two purposes in equal measure: establishing an aesthetic identity as well as ensuring the smooth functionality of the mechanism.

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The masterful movement with its consistently ultra-thin proportions is accommodated in a new case inspired by a “knife-shaped” 1907 pocket watch. Hybris Mechanica Eleven watch measures a stunning 7.9 mm thin (including the crystal) considering its 41 mm diameter. Of the various precious metals from which it could choose, the Manufacture has opted for white gold because of its excellent acoustic qualities. The bezel, the sides and the tapering lugs are all entirely hand- polished.
The hour-markers, the traditional black transferred minute circle and the silver-toned grained finish are distinctive style nods to Jaeger-LeCoultre’s historical pocket watches. Hybris Mechanica Eleven also features new longer Dauphine-type hands, meticulously crafted with a polished, grained finish accentuating the harmonious overall appeal of the watch. The 6 o’clock opening affords a dramatic view of the new ultra-thin tourbillon, while the small apertures on the outer part the dial provide an ideal ringside seat from which to observe to the rotations of the delicately snailed platinum oscillating weight.
Considerable care has been lavished on the finishing and the sophisticated details of the 4.8 mm thin mechanical automatic movement. The movement blank and the bridges are made of a copper-nickel-zinc Maillechort alloy, a reference to the noble tradition of Jaeger-LeCoultre pocket watches and a metal that acquires a delightful patina with the passing of time.
The haute horlogerie finishes, including Côtes de Genève on certain bridges, entirely hand- crafted and particularly meticulous bevelling featuring interior angles on certain parts, admirably reflect the vision pursued by the Manufacture and its sense of quality taken to extremes.
As a subtle reminder of the musical nature of this timepiece, the exact spot on the crystal where the gong heel is welded to the sapphire crystal is marked by a few musical notes. Issued in a 75-piece limited edition, Hybris Mechanica Eleven is powered by Jaeger-LeCoultre Calibre 362 and has a 45-hour power reserve. It is crafted in ultra-white 18-carat gold and teamed with a high-end alligator leather strap secured by a white gold pin buckle.

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Technical Specifications

Reference: 1313520
 

Movement: 

Mechanical with manual winding
Calibre 362  

Jaeger-LeCoultre designed, assembled and decorated by hand
Frequency: 21,600 vibrations per hour
471 parts

Diameter: 33,3 mm

Height: 4,8 mm
Power reserve: 45 hours
Functions: Hours, minutes, small seconds, 
Minute Repeater, Tourbillon
Dial:  

Silver-toned, grained
Traditional baton-type (transferred)
Hands: Dauphines

Functions

Hours, minutes
Minute repeater equipped with silent-timelapse reduction function
Flying tourbillon with flying balance-wheel
Automatic winding via a peripheral oscillating weight
Case:  

18K Extra-white Gold
Height: 41 mm
Width: 7.9 mm
Thickness: 7.3 mm
Finish: Polishe dlugs
Glasses: Sapphire
Sealing: Up to 3 bars
Bracelets: 

Black high-end Jaeger-LeCoultre Alligator leather
Clasp: 

Buckle in 18K white gold high-end pin buckle 18.0 mm

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