The Hublot «Pop Art» Edition

Just like watchmaking, the art of stone setting is an ancestral one, where the methods of meticulous handwork has been preserved and passed down through the centuries. With a respect for tradition and passion for innovation, Hublot practices traditional stone setting techniques as well as advanced technology to embellish timepieces in the most original ways.

And while diamonds have been and remain the most coveted gemstones for their rarity and prismatic scintillation, Hublot regards the world of gemology full of possibilities, incorporating precious stones such as emeralds, rubies and sapphires as well as semi-precious stones such as amethyst, topaz and hematite and countless others that transform a watch into so much more than just a timepiece.

Depending on the shape or “cut” of the stones as well as the desired aesthetics, different setting methods are used. For brilliant cur round diamonds and stones, Hublot uses the method of “grain” setting, where four small metal claws on four points of the gemstone. Baguette-cut stones on the other hand are usually set in a “channel”.

Besides the meticulous handwork that goes into creating each and every diamond-embellished component, Hublot goes to great extents in procuring gems from all over the world that are of a uniformly high quality. Diamonds for example are all Top Wesselton grade.

The most outstanding of all Hublot Haute Joaillerie creations and to a lager extent jeweled watches in general are the $Million Big Bang unique pieces. Using a specialized state-of-the-art microsurgery machine, of which only two exist in Switzerland, the stones are set without any visible claws, prongs channels. This “invisible setting” for just one timepiece takes several months to complete, where the slightest manipulation error results in the gem-setter having to start the entire all over again.

In certain pieces such as the Classic Fusion Haute Joaillerie One Million, Hublot even goes as far as to set baguette cut diamonds into the bridges of the skeleton tourbillon movement.

Going beyond the boundaries of traditional precious metals, Hublot has even developed proprietary innovations in the centuries-old craft of stone setting by incorporating traditional setting techniques into 21st century materials such as carbon fiber.

Bright, bold and strikingly colorful. Inspired by the Pop Art movement of the 1950 and to a greater extent the 60s, the Big Bang Pop Art collection is a horological canvas for artistic expression. A veritable fusion between the worlds of watchmaking and modern art, it is the very notion of challenging the conventional that Hublot related to in Pop Art.

Much like how Andy Warhol took American popular culture and reinterpreted them into vividly colored paintings, the Pop Art reinterprets Hublot’s signature Big Bang into the most prismatic ladies’ line to date; watches that are as much mechanical marvels as they are pieces of wearable art.

The Big Bang Pop Art come in either steel or, something of a rarity for Hublot, yellow gold cases that capture the retro spirit of the Pop Art movement. Accentuating the playful colors of the dial, the bezels are skillfully set with baguette cut precious and semi-precious stones, including blue topaz, purple amethyst, pink sapphire and green tsavorite.