A Hublot day in Paris

Oct 11, 2014,15:48 PM
 

I was not ready for this day! I was just expecting to quietly attend the Salon Belles Montres located on the left bank in Paris. But, after having visited the Hublot booth at the Salon, I decided to walk a few minutes to reach the Bon Marché store in which a Hublot boutique was inaugurated several months ago. Here is a summary of this Hublot day in Paris.

When I arrived at the Salon Belles Montres, I went upstairs to the first floor to reach the room in which was set up the Hublot booth. Actually, two LVMH brands were sharing the room since Zenith was the neighbour of Hublot.

The Hublot booth was decorated with the now classic posters. I love some of them and I think that a lot of Hublot lovers would be happy to have one of them!

The Big Bang Unico is one of the most beautiful of these posters:




The Hublot booth with Benoît Lecigne, Hublot brand director for France, Belgium and Luxemburg. Do you notice that a Yann Denes' drawing was used to decorate one of the displays?

The exhibition focused a lot on the Ferrari partnership and on the Unico movement which are currently the two main drivers of the growth ambition of the brand. A MP-05 was even available for the visitors.




This Classic Fusion 8 days power reserve was unveiled at the 2014 Baselworld Fair and will be available in December. It is a watch I appreciate because it takes advantage of an increased power reserve without spoiling the slender style of the Classic Fusion case. Moreover, the power reserve display remains quite sober on the left. If you compare this watch with a "mere" handwind Classic Fusion, you will also notice the presence of the date window on the right and the horizontaly centered subdial.




This 42mm version of the  handwind Classic Fusion Skeleton is a balanced watch which is more suitable to smaller wrists thanks to its reasonable dial opening. It is powered by the HUB1300 movement and its 90 hours of power reserve. You will notice the off-centered subdial, one of the features of this movement:




One of the most important watches of the exhibition was the Big Bang Ferrari Titanium Carbon which can be considered as an evolution of the Red Magic. But even if we find again the red sapphire crystal, the case is not fully made of carbon because it gathers carbon and titanium parts. I have to confess that I prefer this version and I find the contrast between titanium and carbon more appealing than a 100% carbon case.






After this first visit, I joined the Hublot boutique located inside the Bon Marché premises. The lay-out of the watches brands boutiques at the Bon Marché is cleverly done, each brand having the ability to create its own atmosphere. In a way, this organization makes me think about what we see at Harrod's.

The Hublot boutique:








And of these famous posters!





The biggest surprise was for me the opportunity to put the famous Key Of Time, aka the MP-02 on the wrist.

It is a fascinating watch even if its complication is more philosophical than truly enjoyable. The ability to change the speed of the flow of time may give us the feeling to act as... God? But the reality is here: when we are back again to the normal speed... the actual time is displayed. It is an impressive technical feature because the watch has a kind of memory inside which understands that the change of speed doesn't have to alter the reliability and accuracy of the watch.

The MP-02 has a very unusual design which was a lot improved when compared to the initial version from the Confrérie Horlogère. Hublot created a stylistic coherence and when we compare the MP-02 with the MP-05, we find a similar family air. And the watch, despite its size is very comfortable on the wrist:




This King Power Porto Cervo - Tribute to Costa Smeralda was presented by Ken two years ago here:
hublot.watchprosite.com

But it was for me a pleasure to see it and to shoot it because I love its colours!

This watch has nothing really special when compared to other King Power except that the combo of colours makes it very attractive... at least for me!

It is at the same time a summer watch but with a warm style... and I dare saying it: with a subtle elegance. Am I crazy? How this 48mm watch can be considered as elegant?

The trick is the mix of materials which prevents the watch falling into the category of bulky gold pieces.

It is not a discreet or sober watch but it remains more refined than expected at the beginning.




This Classic Fusion Skeleton Tourbillon is one of my fav Hublot watches.

I like the way the Tourbillon behaviour is highlighted by the bridge and the design of the barrel. The contemporary skeleton dial is very coherent with the case and the watch can be considered a good proof of Hublot know-how on this type of watches.




As you could see it was a very busy Hublot day!

I hope to come back to some of these watches with more details later.

Thanks to the Hublot teams who perfectly welcomed me.

Fr.Xavier


This message has been edited by foversta on 2014-10-11 15:49:50


More posts: Big BangClassic FusionFerrariKingKing PowerUnico

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Beautiful watches.

 
 By: Luis6 : October 11th, 2014-16:33
If Hublot can make a skeleton watch like that with date, it will be perfect to my liking.

Very nice detailed and interesting...

 
 By: jam2 : October 11th, 2014-17:23
Very nice detailed and interesting features indeed! Thanks much for the very well explained details of the watches. And very nice wrist shots too! Making me more excited to reach Paris soon!! Cheers to everyone.

Thanks

 
 By: guillaume140 : October 12th, 2014-03:05
Thanks FX the Ferrari and Classic Tourbillon is Amazing

Wow, we wouldn't have such a day so often!

 
 By: KIH : October 12th, 2014-05:37
Luck you! Wish I were there!!!! Very nice pic and report and thank you for that, Fx! Ken