March 13, 2018

Always unique, always different. Once again, Hublot used its limitless imagination to achieve a world’s first—creating a new material—the first vibrantly coloured ceramic. Exclusively designed and produced in-house, in the Hublot Research & Development (R&D) department, this invention has been patented. A triple tour de force, the coloured ceramic invented by Hublot is innovative both in terms of the material itself, and the manufacturing process. Besides the vibrant colour, it is also harder than conventional ceramics.

Hublot brings depths of colour to ceramic

Hublot’s R&D department and Metallurgy & Materials laboratory have succeeded in inventing a magic formula that allows the creation of vibrantly coloured ceramics. This has never been done in industries using technical and aesthetic ceramics. In addition, Hublot has refined all the procedures necessary to produce every component of the watch case from this special material. All in all, it took Hublot four years to master this discovery and develop it from initial idea to its industralisation. This newly developed ceramic is incredibly dense, boasting a hardness of 1500 HVI compared to conventional ceramics—resulting in an extremely resilient material. The colour is achieved through a major innovation, whereby a fusion of pressure and heat sinters the ceramic without burning the pigments. Having mastered the basic hues with this method, Hublot is now ready to introduce a whole new world of coloured ceramics to its watch collections.

The power of red

Hublot has chosen a vivid red for their first coloured ceramic as it symbolises power, passion and glory. The Big Bang Unico Red Magic is undoubtedly an ultra-resilient ceramic watch full of fire. With just 500 pieces released, its 45mm case and bazel are made from Hublot’s patented red ceramic, boasting a polished finish. The flange, indexes, minute and second counters, Arabic numberals and hands all match this hue, adorned in the same red to highlight the contrast with the Unico HUB124 movement and its column wheel. This theme encompasses the entire watch, matched with a lined structured red rubber strap.

The red ceramic is set to be a showstopper—drawing attention from every angle and captivating all who see it. Once again, this major invention demonstrates Hublot’s continuous pursue for the Art of Fusion and that, under its impetus, the world of materials and alloys will never cease to be reinvented. This is indeed a material true to the Hublot motto: “be the first, be unique, be different!”