In 1994 a terrible accident during an F1 race in Italy caused Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna to die. I believe that he was the last person to die during a Formula 1 race, and has been a testament to the needs of caution and safety in the work of super-fast racing circuits. Since his death, lots of new safety regulations and technology have been implemented to make the world of competitive racing safer.
Recently an event was held in his honor, to raise money for charity via the Instituto Ayrton Senna. Hublot, a long time partner with many drivers as well as the official timepiece maker of Formula One was there to offer two new limited edition timepieces. The event would have been Senna's 50th birthday, and at the event was a debut of a new documentary film about his life called "Senna." The film is being carried by Paramount Pictures, having been developed by Working Title and Universal together. Might be something we find in theaters soon.
The two limited edition Ayrton Senna watches from Hublot are quite interesting. Hublot here has been able to showcase a few new things. The first of which are all carbon-fiber versions of their King Power watch cases. Often times cases will have carbon fiber inserts, but theses 48mm wide cases are in all carbon fiber, though part of Hublot's typical sandwich construction. This in a sense is Hublot's answer to Audemars Piguet's forged carbon cases on some of their Royal Oak Offshore watches. While the cases are carbon fiber, the bezels are in matte ceramic and made to look like disc brakes. The screws and crown are PVD black titanium.
As I said, there will be two Hublot Senna watches. The first is the "Hublot King Power Ayrton Senna." In almost all black, the watch is 48mm wide with a black Nomex (with yellow stitching) strap, and yellow elements in the hands and hour indicators. The skeletonized dials shows off part of the HUB4247 automatic movement - which is neat. For instance, the column wheel for the chronograph is right there on the dial. Despite the skeletonized interior of the dial, it is still easy to read given the large applied hour indicators. The movement has the time, split second 30 minute column-wheel based chronograph, and a power reserve indicator. This latter feature is particularly handsome as done in color dots. Hublot placed Senna's signature in yellow, right over the subsidiary seconds dial. The watch is extremely cool looking with 500 pieces available.
I really do look forward to checking out these all carbon fiber Hublot cases. I am curious as to just how light they are, as well as the tactile feel they have under the fingers. These pieces also seem to have very intricate pushers. For example the start and stop pusher for the chronograph has a Senna logo placed in it, while the Hublot logo is int the crown. The execution of the piece is very thorough, and somehow avoids feeling cheesy. The second of the two limited edition pieces is much more limited and has another interesting quality. Limited to just 10 pieces, the "Hublot King Power Tourbillon Ayrton Senna" has a different caseback for each piece. If you look at the image gallery here I show you the 10 casebacks. Each is an image from a different point in Senna's life from the early 1980s to 1993. The pictures are emotionally rich points in Senna's driving career and were chosen by members of his family specially for the timepieces. The individual images on the caseback crystal are a nice idea from Hublot, and certainly will add desirability to the piece for Senna and F1 collectors. Inside the King Power Tourbillon Ayrton Senna is a tourbillon movement made entirely in-house at Hublot in its Confrerie Horlogere department (that is responsible for making Hublot's most complex haute horology movements). The HUB6300 movement has a flying tourbillon, column-wheel based monopusher chronograph, power reserve indicator, and time with subsidiary seconds dial. The flying tourbillon captures your attention in the lower part of the dial, with the subsidials being up top - once again you can see the exposed column wheel at the top of the dial in this instance. Like the split-second chrono model, there is a dot style power reserve indicator. The colors for the power reserve indicators are even applied in color SuperLumiNova. So with all the colors on the dial, these must look like spaceships glowing at night. The HUB6300 movement has a power reserve of up to 120 hours.
The Tourbillon Ayrton Senna is really quite a show stopper. I quite like the in-house made movement and the design. The yellow strap is also Nomex but here has green and blue stitching - clearly a signal to the Brazilian flag. As a testament to Ayrton Senna's life, regretful death, and continuing legacy - these two limited edition Hublot watches are well done, and the special casebacks on the tourbillon model feel meaningful. Hublot and F1 collectors will be hard pressed to pass these up.
1.Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph Tour Auto To celebrate their bond using the Tour Auto Optic 2000, a famous collectors' vehicle european rally also called the Tour p France Automobile, Hublot presented the brand new Classic Fusion Chronograph Tour Auto at BaselWorld 2013. The 45 mm titanium situation alternates polished and satin-finished surfaces.The satin-finished titanium bezel is screwed lower by six H-formed titanium screws. The bezel carry consists of a black composite resign. The opaline dial is indicated through the blue and red-colored stripes and also the black chronograph counters.
The rhodium plated skeleton hands are gemstone-polished as the applied hour-markers are satin-finished.The Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph Tour Auto houses the ETA-based HUB1143 self-winding automatic movement having a 42-hour energy reserve. Obtainable in a restricted edition of just 100 pieces, the Classic Fusion Chronograph Tour Auto (ref. 521.NX.2612.VR.TRA13) is finished with a black rubber and perforated whitened leather strap overflowing by deep blue and red-colored stitching particulars.
2.Hublot Mykonos 2013 Classic Fusion Chronograph Hublot presented two new special edition types of the Classic Fusion Chronograph devoted to Mykonos, the gorgeous Greek island area of the Cyclades. Characterised through the theme of blue and whitened and including just a little windmill - the indication of Mykonos - within the small seconds sub-dial, the two new models are 45 mm across and outfitted having a chronograph movement with date and 42 hours of energy reserve.The deep blue dial constitutes a beautiful contrast using the gold colored appliques and also the faceted, gemstone-polished, skeleton hands.
The two-color version sees gold combined with titanium which is a restricted edition of 25 designated pieces. Another version - obtainable in 10 designated pieces solely in the Gofas Boutique in Mykonos - consists of a unique red-colored gold league that Hublot calls King Gold, made up of 18K gold with 5% platinum added to help make the color more serious.Water resistant to 50 meters, the Mykonos 2013 Classic Fusion Chronograph models are finished with a tone on tone strap featuring blue alligator leather stitched onto black rubber for much better resistance and comfy versatility.
3.Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph White Hublot revealed a brand new watch: the sporty Classic Fusion Chronograph White. Although Hublot declared it had become created for males and ladies, we have seen it as being an eminently feminine watch, in spite of a diameter of 42 mm, a size that is generally more suited to males.The brand new model is going to be obtainable in two references: the King Gold Chronograph (ref. 541.OE.2080.LR.1104) and also the Titanium Whitened Chrono (ref. 541.NE.2010.LR.1104).
The King Gold version consists of an additional-precious gold that contains 5% of platinum. The bezels of both versions are characterized by six H-formed screws in polished titanium. They're set with 42 whitened diamonds for as many as 1.35 carat. The Classic Fusion Chronograph Whitened is outfitted using the HUB1100 self-winding mechanical chronograph movement beating at 28,800 oscillations each hour and including a little seconds sub-dial at 3 o'clock, a 30-minute chronograph counter at 9 o'clock along with a date display at 6 o’clock.
The movement, visible with the transparent situation back, provides a energy reserve of 42 hours.The whitened alligator strap is stitched onto tone-on-tone rubber for much better comfort and elevated sturdiness from the leather. The Hublot Classic Fusion Chronograph Whitened is water resistant to 50 meters.
Jay Z's desire for watches continues to be well recorded since Watch The Throne, therefore it was just dependent on time before he'd their own watch. Affirmed, the guy also known as Shawn Carter has revealed his first collaboration with Swiss luxury horologist Hublot, the company behind the award-winning Big Bang. The limited-edition Shawn Carter by Hublot Classic Fusion is available in either black ceramic or 18k gold, having a custom 45mm dial and Hublot's HUB1300 hands-wound movement having a 90 hour energy reserve. The movement is seen with the special logo design around the front, along with a viewing window around the reverse. It is a stunning pieces so that as you'd expect, seriously limited-edition: only 250 ceramic and 100 gold pieces being created, are available with the rapper's approaching collaboration with Barney's in New You are able to.
Here you will find the two new watches created by Shawn Carter and created by Hublot. Both of these watches - both limited models - are Classic Fusion models and bear the Shawn Carter logo design reduce the dial, revealing a few of the movement's architecture.
The Shawn Carter by Hublot Classic Fusion is 45mm across, though quite thin - the HUB1300 hands-wound movement is simply 2.90mm thick. The black ceramic model is going to be restricted to 250 pieces, having a retail cost of $17,900. The gold (yes, that's 3N yellow, not rose gold) is going to be produced in just 100 pieces having a cost of $33,900. Both watches truly are a part of Jay's collection together with Barney's, entitled A Brand New You are able to Holiday.
The Shawn Carter by Hublot Classic Fusion will support the same technical assets because the normal Classic Fusion, just like a 90-hour energy reserve and 50 meter water proofing. Running seconds is visible at 7 o'clock. Again, this is actually the very first time the Classic Fusion has been created in traditional gold, and it'll include an identical gold buckle around the black rubber-lined alligator strap.
Both gold and black ceramic watches is going to be on November 20th in the Shawn Carter - A Brand New You are able to Holiday - pop-up installation at Barney's, which runs through The month of January 3rd. Both watches may also be offered at choose Hublot boutiques on November 20th. Once these 350 watches have left, they're gone, although the Shawn Carter collection will survive inside the Hublot line to any extent further.
