Hublot Launches New Big Bangs at LVMH Watch Week, Including a More Wearable MECA-10 (Hands-On Images)

As has become customary, the watch maisons owned by French luxury giant LVMH (Louis Vuitton Moët Hennesy) are among the first in 2025 to announce their latest wave of new timepieces in a major way, holding its annual "LVMH Watch Week" several months ahead of the even larger watch-industry new-product showcase in Geneva, Watches & Wonders. Today, we're taking a look at the latest releases from Hublot, which was founded in 1980 and joined LVMH in 2008. 

Spirit of Big Bang Chronographs

Hublot launched the Spirit of Big Bang collection, defined by its large, tonneau-shaped case and El-Primero-based chronograph caliber, in 2014. It is the first model in the “Art of Fusion” brand’s flagship Big Bang series with a non-round case — the second being the Square Bang iteration that rolled out at Watches & Wonders 2022, which has since soaked up more of the spotlight than its barrel-shaped predecessors. This year, Hublot brings the Spirit of Big Bang Chronograph back to prominence with three new models in three colored ceramic case executions: Sand Beige, Dark Green, and Sky Blue. All of these colorways have previously been available only in the round-cased Big Bang collection, and each of the three new models is limited to 200 pieces.

Measuring 42mm wide and 14mm thick, the tonneau cases, with their hallmark visible bezel screws, are made of hypoallergenic, lightweight, scratch-resistant ceramic and mounted on black rubber straps with color-matched inlays. Also picking up those difficult-to-achieve ceramic colors are the hands, hour markers and chronograph counters on the skeletonized dials. The Hublot Caliber 4700 that powers the Spirit of Big Bang is based on the famed Zenith El Primero (Zenith being a stablemate of Hublot under the LVMH corporate umbrella), boasting all of that high-frequency movement’s impressive attributes (including a 50-hour power reserve) along with upgrades like a low-friction silicon escape wheel. The straps attach with clasps made of the same colored ceramic as the cases. All three models will retail for $27,400.

Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Green SAXEM

In addition to the industry-leading expertise in multicolored ceramics that it demonstrates in the new Spirit of Big Bang models, Hublot also has in its toolbox an enviable mastery of making colorful cases out of unconventional materials such as sapphire, and, more recently, a sapphire-related material called SAXEM. Originally used in satellite technology, SAXEM (the anagram stands for Sapphire Aluminum oXide and rare Earth Minerals) is as hard and transparent as sapphire but able to achieve higher levels of chromatic brilliance and gemstone-like shine thanks to its different molecular structure, which mixes an aluminum oxide base with rare earth elements like thulium, holmium, and chromium. (For the science nerds out there, Hublot informs us that SAXEM is cubic, or four-sided, while sapphire is trigonal, or three-sided, which is the factor that allows for the latter to take on more intense colors.) Hublot first used green-tinted SAXEM in a Big Bang Unico model in 2024 and now turns to the material for the case of the latest edition of its Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic model, limited to just 18 pieces.

The Big Bang Tourbillon Automatic Green SAXEM continues the tradition of Hublot’s distinctive self-winding, skeletonized tourbillon timepiece being outfitted in eye-catching colors and materials, like the memorable orange sapphire-cased version that debuted in 2021. The emerald-like green of the polished SAXEM case and bezel (44mm diameter by 14.4mm high) is picked up in the skeleton dial, under a smoked sapphire crystal, with Arabic numerals and baton markers outlined in green paint with Super-LumiNova. The dial (and the clear caseback) also affords a view of the movement, Hublot’s MHUB6035, made in-house and noteworthy for placing its 22K gold micro-rotor on the dial side, in a place of prominence at 12 o’clock, balanced by the 60-second tourbillon cage at 6 o’clock. Other high-tech talking points include the ceramic ball bearings for extra-smooth winding of the mainspring and the functional sapphire elements in the barrel bridge, automatic winding gears, and tourbillon barrette. The watch comes on a transparent green rubber strap and comes with an additional black-lined rubber strap, with buckles in microblasted black ceramic or a combination of black ceramic and black-plated titanium. Of course, you’ll need a lot of green to own one of these green-tinted horological masterpieces — $231,000, to be precise. 

Big Bang MECA-10 42mm

The biggest news, at least in terms of high-tech horology, is the launch of a trio of  new Big Bang MECA-10 timepieces in new 42mm cases — downsized from the original 45mm size of the original run, released in 2016. In essence, it’s the same design, with the same robust 10-day power reserve, in a more wearable size. In typical Hublot fashion, it’s offered in three materials: titanium, the brand’s proprietary King Gold, and a new “Frosted Carbon” composite material, which is different from carbon fiber in that it has no fixed surface pattern, thus making each piece unique. In a very cool aesthetic move, Hublot has added a galvanic color treatment to the movements of each watch that echoes the case’s color tones — 5N gold tones for the King Gold model, metallic grey for the titanium, and black for the Frosted Carbon.

It is that in-house, manually wound movement, of course, that is most worthy of discussion. Hublot Caliber HUB1205, the successor to the original’s Caliber HUB1201, is built on three linear bridges attached to the mainplate, each bridge boasting satin-brushed surfaces and hand-polished bevels, and positions its balance wheel in the front of the movement for total visibility through the clear dial. The 10-day power reserve that gives the watch its name is stored in two mainspring barrels and uses an unusual “cremaillere” rack system to drive the prominent digital power reserve display, which is designated in days rather than the more common hours. According to Hublot, the system is one rarely seen in mechanical watches, employing a linear gear engaging a circular gear moving in a straight line. Meanwhile, two superimposed disks rotate in opposite directions, connected by a spiral spring in their center that serves as a differential, thus perfectly synchronizing the power reserve display with the winding level of the barrel springs. Additionally, the MECA-10 movement features a regulating organ with a lubricant-free, paramagnetic silicon escape wheel.

Each new Big Bang MECA-10 42mm model is equipped with Hublot’s patented “One Click” case-bracelet integration system for easy swapping out of straps. The prices start at $23,000 for the titanium version, and top out at $42,700 for the King Gold. The Carbon Black model, arguably the most intriguing from a visual and materials standpoint, sells for $27,400.