RED ALERT

In the realm of haute horlogerie, Hublot is the first to produce vibrantly coloured ceramic.

Situated nowhere near the traditional watchmaking hubs around Switzerland’s Vallee de Joux region, Hublot’s manufacture in Nyon is a different kind of horological powerhouse. Apart from the usual movement production rooms, assembly lines and finishing studios, it has a department dedicated to new materials R&D. This was the very department that came up with Magic Gold in 2011. Magic Gold is the world’s most scratch resistant 18-carat gold alloy made from the fusion of boron carbide and 24-carat gold.

Indeed, materials are at the heart of Hublot’s Art of Fusion philosophy, and the manufacture has used all kinds from the typical to the unique. Quick throwback to the mid 1990s: Hublot was the first high-end watch brand to combine gold with rubber, and through the years it has used literally everything including all kinds of gold, platinum, steel, titanium, tantalum, magnesium, sapphire, carbon fibre and ceramic. Having worked with such a wide array of materials, it was only a matter of time that Hublot went on to create something of its own.

It’s exactly as Hublot’s materials science engineer Sebastien Recalcati says: “If you want something unique and different, you have to create it yourself.”

This pioneering spirit in materials innovation